BOREDOM IS DUMB

[Snuffy]

It's a dumb mechanic. If you were working to survive in a zombie apocalypse, being in a cozy, secure house would make you happy. That is all.

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

Boredom isn't a dumb mechanic, it doesn't matter how safe you are you can get bored IRL, the human brain desires certain stimuli and not getting them makes you bored and unhappy/angry.

More methods to combat boredom would be nice and the devs do add some methods now and then.

[jerrypocalypse]

Just sitting there though? That's why things like reading material and good food reduce boredom. And standing outside for a very short amount of time reduces it too.

That said, it's a mechanic to keep you from hiding inside 24/7

[BigJ]

Combat, building, reading (under certain conditions) should help with boredom, if your character likes let's say cars, reading books about mechanics should help with it.

Outside of that the mechanic is good from a simulator and balance perspective, it discourages going into a forest and make the game into a survival game, both gas and boredom/stress forces you to go back to looting.

[Snuffy]

Originally posted by Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia:

Boredom isn't a dumb mechanic, it doesn't matter how safe you are you can get bored IRL, the human brain desires certain stimuli and not getting them makes you bored and unhappy/angry.

More methods to combat boredom would be nice and the devs do add some methods now and then.

You've been roaming around an apocalypse killing zombies all day and you're telling me sitting on a couch for a bit after that to unwind is going to ♥♥♥♥ with my mental health? It's dumb from a realism standpoint and as a game mechanic. It's annoying for the player. It's simply unnecessary tedium in the game with no fun pay off. In fact, it subtracts from the game as it puts the player on a timer to organize their base, or cook, or literally do anything inside.

Boarding up windows to prevent a zombie from breaking through your window?
YEAH, I'M BORED NOW. TIME FOR DEPRESSION.

[Recel]

Most of the time it's not even an issue, since you will be out and about, so just being outside reduces it. The only time it actually becomes something to think about is if you are forced to stay inside a building or a car for a long time. Which is why I always keep magazines in the glove compartment and a few on myself.

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

Originally posted by Snuffy:

Originally posted by Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia:

Boredom isn't a dumb mechanic, it doesn't matter how safe you are you can get bored IRL, the human brain desires certain stimuli and not getting them makes you bored and unhappy/angry.

More methods to combat boredom would be nice and the devs do add some methods now and then.

You've been roaming around an apocalypse killing zombies all day and you're telling me sitting on a couch for a bit after that to unwind is going to ♥♥♥♥ with my mental health? It's dumb from a realism standpoint and as a game mechanic. It's annoying for the player. It's simply unnecessary tedium in the game with no fun pay off. In fact, it subtracts from the game as it puts the player on a timer to organize their base, or cook, or literally do anything inside.

Boarding up windows to prevent a zombie from breaking through your window?
YEAH, I'M BORED NOW. TIME FOR DEPRESSION.

Try not spending the entire day indoors then. Only the last stages of boredom trigger depression.

If i'm relaxing on a sofa irl I won't just be sitting there unless i'm physically resting because it is boring to just sit there for too long.

[Quineloe]

My character actually got bored from being indoors too long - when fighting zombies in the damn mall!

Yes, the mechanic is very poor right now and shouldn't simply be a matter of going up when indoors and going down when outdoors.

[Quineloe]

Originally posted by Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia:

Try not spending the entire day indoors then. Only the last stages of boredom trigger depression.
If i'm relaxing on a sofa irl I won't just be sitting there unless i'm physically resting because it is boring to just sit there for too long.

You can easily spend days indoors irl without getting bored. It depends on what you do, and the game doesn't care about that. Your boredom will constantly raise. Deconstructing furniture, putting up new things, disassembling electronics? That shouldn't bore regular people. The game just cares about you being indoors and raises the meter.

When I can 100% game this system by just reading skillbooks outside it's not a good system.

[Buntkreuz]

We had the same discussion yesterday.
Boredom literally makes no sense in this game.
You can do tons of things like carpentry, fishing, cooking, you are constantly doing things, you are constantly busy planing your next expedition, looting, working stuff etc.
There is literally 0 boredom except you would be just sitting inside your hideout.

A more fitting mechanic would be stress, not boredom.
The constant necessity to invest tons of energy into all these tasks, into all these activities would cause stress, more or less intense depending on what your character likes to do.
But boredom?
Not at all.
Its unfitting, its not authentic, its unrealistic and literally the exact false definition on how the game implemented it.
Boredom should be replaced with stress and its possibly one of the most ridiculous things in the game right now.
A game that attempts to make it a believable scenario but then has you gain boredom while you cook meals and craft items.
Being active and doing things is the exact opposite of boredom.

This mechanic should only trigger when you are literally not doing anything besides sleeping and standing around.
And boredom should vanish instantly once you start doing a thing.
Otherwise its not reflecting what it actually is and has no place in the game at all.

And just standing next to a TV or reading random stuff to eliminate it, makes it also an objectively bad designed mechanic.

[Buntkreuz]

Originally posted by EnigmaGrey:

Originally posted by Quineloe:

My character actually got bored from being indoors too long - when fighting zombies in the damn mall!

Yes, the mechanic is very poor right now and shouldn't simply be a matter of going up when indoors and going down when outdoors.

Doesn’t make sense. Seeing zombies removes boredom.

I think what he means was that he fights zombies in the mall and then retreats into a safe area, to heal, eat or whatever, and then got bored.

I also have this constantly.
I move around in town, go into a house, no zombies, i loot it, bind a wound or make a meal, my character gets bored, i continue to move to the next house.
Yesterday we were in our safehouse and cleaned the area around it from zombies, entered the house, i cooked a meal, my friend sorted a few items and crafted a few barricades, then we ate the meal inside, somehow we got bored.
Why? No one knows.
Technically the meal should even remove a bit.
It stayed that way till the next day even during sleep, became worse even.
We go outside looting, still bored after cleaning two more houses and looting.
So i decided to use a few newspapers and comicbooks.
Cool.

Let alone the problem that somehow reading comicbooks or other media destroys them.
The design is stupid.

The mechanic doesnt make much sense and the fact that stuff like books get destroyed after reading, only is done that way to avoid people using the same book ten times, to get rid of a boredom mechanic that shouldnt be in the game to begin with.

Replace it with stress and its all good. Im totally confused how a game setting a character into an apocalypse somehow features a boredom mechanic but no stress mechanic.
Imagine you are in your living room, outside are flesh eating infected, your cupboard shows you only have water and food for this day.
You sit on your sofa thinking about how you fix that situation.
Does that increase your boredom, or your stress?
Im pretty sure what that does.

I could imagine someone could get bored in such an apocalypse if that person was an experienced survivor.
A dude having killed 2000 infected and survived for 100 days could possibly get bored by typical survival tasks.

To me the solution is relatively simple.
Boredom should only trigger once activities become bothersome and repetitive, except they are part of a character quirk aka you having a hobby (if you like cooking, cooking shouldnt become a boring activity).
Stress should be implemented and be caused by some activities.

[jerrypocalypse]

Originally posted by Argentum:

Im totally confused how a game setting a character into an apocalypse somehow features a boredom mechanic but no stress mechanic.

There literally is a stress mechanic.

[Spanton]

Originally posted by Snuffy:

It's a dumb mechanic. If you were working to survive in a zombie apocalypse, being in a cozy, secure house would make you happy. That is all.

This might interest you...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2725360009&searchtext=bored

[Lost Latios]

Stress is already in the game...? Boredom isn't that hard to manage either. Furthermore, just because you're doing something doesn't make you not bored.

I do think that there should be some more depth to it. I like the idea of hobbies being a way to reduce it. If you like say running you should lose boredom from running. There should also be a perk for people who actually like menial tasks, which would act much like Brave does and helps keep that condition low.

It's honestly not that bad though... I find it funny honestly, especially when you have Agoraphobia.

"I'm bored..." *Steps outside* "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE!"

[jerrypocalypse]

Originally posted by Lost Latios:

Stress is already in the game...? Boredom isn't that hard to manage either. Furthermore, just because you're doing something doesn't make you not bored.

I do think that there should be some more depth to it. I like the idea of hobbies being a way to reduce it. If you like say running you should lose boredom from running. There should also be a perk for people who actually like menial tasks, which would act much like Brave does and helps keep that condition low.

It's honestly not that bad though... I find it funny honestly, especially when you have Agoraphobia.

"I'm bored..." *Steps outside* "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE!"

Yeah, the hobbies thing makes sense. And I'd imagine it could easily just be tied to your traits and/or occupation selection. It does have to be as powerful of a reduction as say TV or books, but it could help to mitigate it.

[Spanton]

Originally posted by jerrypocalypse:

Originally posted by Lost Latios:

Stress is already in the game...? Boredom isn't that hard to manage either. Furthermore, just because you're doing something doesn't make you not bored.

I do think that there should be some more depth to it. I like the idea of hobbies being a way to reduce it. If you like say running you should lose boredom from running. There should also be a perk for people who actually like menial tasks, which would act much like Brave does and helps keep that condition low.

It's honestly not that bad though... I find it funny honestly, especially when you have Agoraphobia.

"I'm bored..." *Steps outside* "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE!"

Yeah, the hobbies thing makes sense. And I'd imagine it could easily just be tied to your traits and/or occupation selection. It does have to be as powerful of a reduction as say TV or books, but it could help to mitigate it.

This hobbies one is pretty awesome, display shelves look amazing once complete...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2321449952