Anomaly (new DLC) Changes the Game Too Much

[Nox Tenebris]

Every DLC has made solid improvements to how the base RimWorld plays. Royalty added super powers (the "eh" DLC), Ideology made improvements to how a colony functions, and Biotech made improvements for how pawns function, grow/ evolve, and also some mech stuff.

Anomaly, however, feels like RimWorld is trying to be a completely different game. It doesn't really improve, but add. In the end, I feel like it is gonna be the one DLC that I have to decide if I want to tick on or off at the start of a playthrough since it seems like such a dramatic change, which I'm not a fan of.

New DLC should elevate the existing game, not entirely change it.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Nox Tenebris:

..
New DLC should elevate the existing game, not entirely change it.

I've already given an initial opinion in another thread, but I wanted to point out something:

Rimworld has a Bloat Problem.

Many of the players already use a ton of mods. I'm more of a purist, so I have to acknowledge I'm biased, here.

BUT, it has a ton of D:LC that add "game mechanics."

That's not something like a new Class, Faction, or Continent to explore with a few new mechanics. It's pretty chunky stuff with lots of new mechanics that the vanilla game wasn't balanced around or even intended to play well with.

That's fine and Ludeon has kept DLC fans happy, so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

But, you can only fit so many feathers into a bed. You can only put so much on a plate. You can only wind so many different strands of string on a ball up until you can't tell what color the ball of string is, much less manage to squash it into a game that's always presenting good gameplay.

I think the deviation from the standard DLC formula is a good one. I am normally anti-DLC for Rimworld, btw, so that's an opinion coming from someone who doesn't like the previous offerings for whatever reason. (Not going into that, here)

Will I buy it? I dunno.

But, I do think it's generally a good move to present some novel kind of DLC that does offer a thematically different gameplay. The others may, if one squints hard enough, but this is a pretty big change-up pitch from Ludeon.

I'd much rather see a DLC like this after all the rest of "stuff more stuffs in there" DLC. This looks like it's for occasional and highly themed playthroughs, giving players a different sort of Rimworld experience. It may not always be loaded, but I think it's a decent choice to give players something a bit special to play when their regular Rimworld runs lack appeal.

PS: I don't remember the price-point. I'd prefer to see something like this as a cheaper DLC, but I don't know how much content it actually has in it.

[Melkor]

Well you got mods my friend, this is for people like me who don’t want to mess around with load list and updates messing our games up

[Nox Tenebris]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Originally posted by Nox Tenebris:

..
New DLC should elevate the existing game, not entirely change it.

I've already given an initial opinion in another thread, but I wanted to point out something:

Rimworld has a Bloat Problem.

Many of the players already use a ton of mods. I'm more of a purist, so I have to acknowledge I'm biased, here.

BUT, it has a ton of D:LC that add "game mechanics."

That's not something like a new Class, Faction, or Continent to explore with a few new mechanics. It's pretty chunky stuff with lots of new mechanics that the vanilla game wasn't balanced around or even intended to play well with.

That's fine and Ludeon has kept DLC fans happy, so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

But, you can only fit so many feathers into a bed. You can only put so much on a plate. You can only wind so many different strands of string on a ball up until you can't tell what color the ball of string is, much less manage to squash it into a game that's always presenting good gameplay.

I think the deviation from the standard DLC formula is a good one. I am normally anti-DLC for Rimworld, btw, so that's an opinion coming from someone who doesn't like the previous offerings for whatever reason. (Not going into that, here)

Will I buy it? I dunno.

But, I do think it's generally a good move to present some novel kind of DLC that does offer a thematically different gameplay. The others may, if one squints hard enough, but this is a pretty big change-up pitch from Ludeon.

I'd much rather see a DLC like this after all the rest of "stuff more stuffs in there" DLC. This looks like it's for occasional and highly themed playthroughs, giving players a different sort of Rimworld experience. It may not always be loaded, but I think it's a decent choice to give players something a bit special to play when their regular Rimworld runs lack appeal.

PS: I don't remember the price-point. I'd prefer to see something like this as a cheaper DLC, but I don't know how much content it actually has in it.

See, it is funny, because what you are describing you having an issue with is exactly what the next DLC is. It is seemingly adding a new sanity mechanic, but that's pretty much it in terms of what we see that is really new. Instead, this DLC is adding more enemies, more rituals, more events, more research, new items, etc.

Compare that to BioTech that added a whole bunch of new mechanics. Children and growing up, xenogenes, mechantor. pollution, and I'm probably forgetting one or two. I bring up the difference because the "bloat" you seem to be referring to is about "stuff" and not "mechanics".

For example, Biotech can be super unintrusive if you want, because all of this stuff are mechanics and not just stuff. Don't like babies? Don't have babies. Don't like xenogenes? Have baseliners. Don't like mechanators? Never put on the chip. And eceteria. That's what makes it a god tier DLC, it can be as game changing, or not, as you choose.

However this new DLC seems like a take it or leave it deal. All or nothing. It doesn't seem nearly as deep or in-depth as Biotech, which means all the stuff you will be getting with this will just add to that bloat problem without a good reason for it (in-depth mechanics that support it).

Also, I know my post is already long, but I entirely disagree with your bloat issue. Using your analogy, you can wind up an infinite number of strands on a ball of yarn. It just gets you a bigger, weightier ball of yarn.

RimWorld has a lot, but it is great about letting players choose what systems they want to interact with, and which they don't. For example, I have almost 400 hours in it and I've never escaped the planet. Cuz I'm just doing other stuff every playthrough.

[About47Pandas]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Originally posted by Nox Tenebris:

..
New DLC should elevate the existing game, not entirely change it.

I've already given an initial opinion in another thread, but I wanted to point out something:

Rimworld has a Bloat Problem.

Many of the players already use a ton of mods. I'm more of a purist, so I have to acknowledge I'm biased, here.

BUT, it has a ton of D:LC that add "game mechanics."

That's not something like a new Class, Faction, or Continent to explore with a few new mechanics. It's pretty chunky stuff with lots of new mechanics that the vanilla game wasn't balanced around or even intended to play well with.

That's fine and Ludeon has kept DLC fans happy, so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

But, you can only fit so many feathers into a bed. You can only put so much on a plate. You can only wind so many different strands of string on a ball up until you can't tell what color the ball of string is, much less manage to squash it into a game that's always presenting good gameplay.

I think the deviation from the standard DLC formula is a good one. I am normally anti-DLC for Rimworld, btw, so that's an opinion coming from someone who doesn't like the previous offerings for whatever reason. (Not going into that, here)

Will I buy it? I dunno.

But, I do think it's generally a good move to present some novel kind of DLC that does offer a thematically different gameplay. The others may, if one squints hard enough, but this is a pretty big change-up pitch from Ludeon.

I'd much rather see a DLC like this after all the rest of "stuff more stuffs in there" DLC. This looks like it's for occasional and highly themed playthroughs, giving players a different sort of Rimworld experience. It may not always be loaded, but I think it's a decent choice to give players something a bit special to play when their regular Rimworld runs lack appeal.

PS: I don't remember the price-point. I'd prefer to see something like this as a cheaper DLC, but I don't know how much content it actually has in it.

Is it adding to much to the plate? Because-- You don't technically need to have Biotech on-- or ideology to enjoy this expansion. So your example of adding to many feathers-- you could take feathers out of the bed-- and replace them with different feathers for a different feel.

Do people forget that you have near complete control over pretty much every single aspect of the game... From how often you get attacked, get sick, what specifics your religion adheres to-- etc etc etc

I too am a purist-- but I do have QoL mods, like blueprints and stuff to make the game run a bit smoother for my taste-- All my mods surround customizing my experience before I play and the work flow of the game itself... no so much adding content etc.

All that being said-- I agree with the rest-- aside from the "too much analogy" esp if the game allows you to tailor your experience the way you want it.

[Saturdays]

Im going to buy this so hard

[Cream Corn Lover]

Simply dont buy it if you dont want the stuff

[The Yeen Queen]

Originally posted by Nox Tenebris:

Anomaly, however, feels like RimWorld is trying to be a completely different game.

How? It's adding new types of enemies and some new tech related to those enemies. Honestly I feel it's not changing things up ENOUGH. It definitely changes less than Biotech did, arguably less than Ideology.

[PewSquare]

I really don't understand it. Why whine that a DLC that nobody forces you to get changes a game you already have too much? That is generally what people want from DLC, to change the game. To add to it...
And I seriously think you are willfully ignoring how impactfull the other DLCs were. Biotech completely changes the game. With mech clusters, the mechs themselves, the whole genes stuff... ideology literally can change up the whole playtrough and force it into a theme. Royalty would arguably be the least impactfull one and even that one adds so much, it can completely change combat, and still you can just turn it off.

The only thing we could honestly do, is having less people whining about things we have no real information on. If the new factions/enemies are just like the current ones, you will be able to either not spawn them on the map (like disabling empire), or just disable whatever you want trough mods. And yet, a stream of completely pointless whine...

[Nox Tenebris]

Originally posted by Night Foxx (She/her):

Originally posted by Nox Tenebris:

Anomaly, however, feels like RimWorld is trying to be a completely different game.

How? It's adding new types of enemies and some new tech related to those enemies. Honestly I feel it's not changing things up ENOUGH. It definitely changes less than Biotech did, arguably less than Ideology.

That's the difference, though. BioTech didn't change the game, it expanded it. From the new xenotypes to the child raising, it created new ways to engage with systems already in place in the game.

Anomaly, however, seems to just change. The horror flesh monsters and new events will entirely change how you are expected to approach a playthrough. It is, essentially, a different game with that DLC ticked on. Which is why I've said it is closer to a mod than a DLC.

What I, and most others, wanted was an expansion. Like Royalty. Like Ideology. Like BioTech. Instead we are getting an addition. This is different.

[Hykal]

"BioTech didn't change the game, it expanded it."

That's what changing the game means.

[Nox Tenebris]

Originally posted by Hykal:

"BioTech didn't change the game, it expanded it."

That's what changing the game means.

It doesn't. Adding chocolate to a cup of milk is expanding the flavor to make it chocolate milk. Replacing it with a can of soda is changing it out. Congrats on entirely missing the point.

[Hykal]

Adding chocolate into milk changes it. How is Anomaly adding flamethrowers anymore different than Royalty adding monoswords?

All DLCs add things to the game, Anomaly is no different. Don't be stupid.

[Nox Tenebris]

Originally posted by Hykal:

Adding chocolate into milk changes it. How is Anomaly adding flamethrowers anymore different than Royalty adding monoswords?

All DLCs add things to the game, Anomaly is no different. Don't be stupid.

I clearly explained the difference. I'm not talking about flamethrowers. I'm talking about the DLC making RimWorld a different game. A horror game. Did Royalty make RimWorld a super power simulator? No. It added new faction functionality, expanding on the system already in place. And, sure, gave you more stuff such as psychic powers and monoswords.

Anyway, that's the last I'll speak on it with you. There is no point in debating someone who makes a frequent habit of missing the point.

[Hykal]

With one psycaster, you could turn an entire raid into nothing. With one mechanitor, you can have an army of robots. With gene-editing, you can be a super powered vampire, make an army of supersoldiers. With Ideology you can turn them into cannibal zealots.

All DLC, all QOL updates, all mods turn RimWorld into a different game.

There's a reason you got them Jester awards, son.

[TwisterCat]

I see what you're saying. That is the point of this one, or so it seems.

How can this DLC have any synergy with... anything? Maybe it'll work well with Biotech, but even then, that's the past, and the most versatile DLC possible.

That a significant problem of Royalty. It just didn't blend well with anything, and the actual idea behind it was ~ kind of weak to be honest, but it was also the first.

So, if it's going to be another themed expansion, I prefer if it does change some fundamentals. It needs to stand on it's own. It needs to have a lot of content. It needs to change the tone of the game to work.

It's difficult to pull off, but they had no shortage of time to make it work. I don't think Anomaly can work as an idea, if it doesn't change the game a lot.