This game makes me feel like a huge c#n& and other Stardew Valley oddities!

[WinterPig]

Despite me liking the game a lot I have a few issues with it, which annoy me greatly.

- No one gives a damn about me and neither should I give a damn about them. When I started the game for the first time I thought I had to meet with everyone ASAP, I wanted to show those people that I'm a nice person and how friendly I am. So I ran around like a headless chicken for the first day or two trying to say "hi" to everyone and all I got back was "yeah hi whatever bye". "Okay then" I thought. Next I went on about my farm business, mining and whatnot. It is now fall of the year one and I'm not a bit closer to anyone because I NEED TO MANAGE MY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ TIME, ENERGY, FARM, FISHING, MINING and countless other things I feel like I'm pushed to do, otherwise I feel like I'm wasting my time.

I do not have enough time to do everything at once and I do not want to leave my crops and other stuff behind.

- There is no point of socializing with other townfolk? You can marry someone, have a baby yeah great but they do not talk with me anyway, I have to do everything. I have to engage all the time. I feel like I'm the centre of the universe in this town but no one gives a damn, even though I shouldn't be. I feel like the game is not alive, not to the point it should have been in my eyes, which makes it an awkward game to play? It's hard to describe. And besides all other people in this town are either lazy or seem depressed all the time, do not want to talk with me. The only cool dude is Linus because he is just trying to enjoy himself and survive I guess. Sometimes I give him food because he is homeless and lives in a tent (he was looking through the trash for food so...)

- Energy management is tiresome, and RNG spirit bull&/it is annoying. Rainy day with pissed off spirits? Good luck getting anything done. I cannot even redesign my farm because every single floor tile that I placed takes energy. Which means you either have to run back and forth between your house and spa or eat all you got.

- Sprinklers are pointless except the tier 2 and 3 one. I never bothered with tier 1 because of the resources and bad performance, by the time I got to iron I was already on tier 2 but it requires other stuff I cannot obtain so I will not use sprinklers until I can afford the best one it seems, which sucks.

- Shane is a douche.

I just wish those people sometimes came up to me to talk while I'm running around the town with my berries for the juniomos or while I'm fishing. Once or twice I stopped to fish close to where Elliot hangs out on the bridge, he came up to me and stood right next to where I was and supposedly looked at me fishing... before giving me the "..." icon because I was standing in his way. Ugh.

It's like I'm the only person in this town while everyone else is simple window dressing for the buildings, that's the feeling I get after 15hrs on my save. I've tried but those walking sacks of potatoes don't do anything remotely human. :x

I like the game but for a person like me it is "painful" to play.
Yeah, I'm not the most social person ever and many things annoy me in this vidya gaem.

[Hayden]

Let it all out.

[WinterPig]

Originally posted by The Hawk:

Let it all out.

Screw you GTA V shrink.

[1337DragonWolf]

We're listening.

[ZephyrLuxx]

Keep talking to people, bringing them gifts, getting to know them, etc. The town feels more alive when people open up to you, and you start getting little cutscenes and all. They're not much, but they made the characters feel more alive to me, anyway. People don't just open up to you immediately. You have to win them over. You don't even have to spam gifts. Even saying hello increases your friendship points with them slightly.

Is there a point to getting to know people? Well, other than the bachelors/bachelorettes for marriage, the other people give you friendship recipes, some of which can be helpful later on. Also, if you're an achievement hunter you have to learn them all so that you can get the achievement for cooking them all.

Marriage is just a nice little aside. Occasionally your spouse will make you food, water crops, feed animals, mend fences and so on. But, one of the biggest perks for getting married is the stardrop you can get from your spouse.

Energy becomes much easier to manage later on as you level up. Bringing food with you to the mines or when you're out chopping wood helps a lot. If it's early game and you're low on money just pick some berries, take some leeks, or craft a couple of snacks. If you have the money, just buy some salads or whatever from the pub.

I've got to say, I'm kind of glad that people don't stop me in the middle of what I'm doing to talk to me. I'd rather not be interrupted while I'm trying to do stuff. The socialization in this game is simple, but it works. Just take the time to chat with people.

[WinterPig]

Originally posted by ZephyrLuxx:

Keep talking to people, bringing them gifts, getting to know them, etc. The town feels more alive when people open up to you, and you start getting little cutscenes and all. They're not much, but they made the characters feel more alive to me, anyway. People don't just open up to you immediately. You have to win them over. You don't even have to spam gifts. Even saying hello increases your friendship points with them slightly.

Is there a point to getting to know people? Well, other than the bachelors/bachelorettes for marriage, the other people give you friendship recipes, some of which can be helpful later on. Also, if you're an achievement hunter you have to learn them all so that you can get the achievement for cooking them all.

Marriage is just a nice little aside. Occasionally your spouse will make you food, water crops, feed animals, mend fences and so on. But, one of the biggest perks for getting married is the stardrop you can get from your spouse.

Energy becomes much easier to manage later on as you level up. Bringing food with you to the mines or when you're out chopping wood helps a lot. If it's early game and you're low on money just pick some berries, take some leeks, or craft a couple of snacks. If you have the money, just buy some salads or whatever from the pub.

I've got to say, I'm kind of glad that people don't stop me in the middle of what I'm doing to talk to me. I'd rather not be interrupted while I'm trying to do stuff. The socialization in this game is simple, but it works. Just take the time to chat with people.

I'll definitely keep at it and see how it goes.
I'm enjoying the game don't get me wrong, I guess some aspects are just not what I expected.

[1337DragonWolf]

Originally posted by ZephyrLuxx:

Occasionally your spouse will make you food, water crops, feed animals, mend fences and so on.

I love it when my wife tells me she feels the need to "hammer something". x3 Baby, you can hammer me whenever you want. Even while I'm fishing. I like surprises.

[Meteorite Shower]

I didn't socialise at all until Year 2 when I was ready to delve deeper into it. Trying to do everything at once when you're obviously not ready is a headache. Just focus on what you can do well and move onto other things later.

[1337DragonWolf]

This is honestly a game where you should take your time. I mean, sure, it doesn't FEEL that way when the clock runs so fast, but that's the beauty in it. Watch people, analyze the flora and fauna, determine the best strategies. You can't do everything at once because you SHOULDN'T. You have so many possible things you can do from the very beginning so you can pick up one or two and explore it thoroughly, then slowly start exploring the other possibilities.

[ZephyrLuxx]

Originally posted by Meteorite Shower:

I didn't socialise at all until Year 2 when I was ready to delve deeper into it. Trying to do everything at once when you're obviously not ready is a headache. Just focus on what you can do well and move onto other things later.

I didn't really socialize much until my first winter when things slowed down a bit and I didn't have much to do aside from fishing, mining, and waiting for my jellies and wines to finish. It's a little hard to make time for it when you first get into the game becuase it just feels like there's so much to do. But, waiting until winter to really get into gift giving and chatting seemed to work for me.

Originally posted by 1337DragonWolf:

Originally posted by ZephyrLuxx:

Occasionally your spouse will make you food, water crops, feed animals, mend fences and so on.

I love it when my wife tells me she feels the need to "hammer something". x3 Baby, you can hammer me whenever you want. Even while I'm fishing. I like surprises.

LOL! XD

[Rafein]

Meh, I don't mind the Socal, because last thing I want is everyone running up to you when your trying to do something.

As for raising it, there are cuts scenes. And at different levels, they give you Recipe's. Like Shane at 3 hearts gives you a recipe that turns crab pot fish into food that gives you a nice chunk of energy.

As for Energy, well, you can eat the crops you grow, or the fish you catch, or the food you pick up all over to refill. After maybe 1st Spring, Energy should managable. Time is more the issue. Otherwise, know your limits. Don;t plant a ton of crops if you can't/don't want to manage them. Trying to do a farm with 200 plots, with no sprinkers, no upgraded tools, your just asking to get burned out.

[abstractAPPLE]

I have to agree that having someone at zero hearts compared to having someone maxed out isn't really a big game changer. The effect seems minimal.

[M.O.S.B.]

Have you tried talking to the people more? Or bringing them gifts?
Yeah, marriage is kinda boring.
Just stack up on blackberries in the fall as a start for energy.
Go mining more often in the day then, plan the farm days and mine/fish days.
RNG is RNG.
Shane joined Joja, what did you think?

Reality is a hologram, life is an illusion.

[Suze]

A good way of keeping a few friendships going, is to go to the pub on fridays evenings, theres usually 10 people there to have the daily chat to all in one go.
I know some players who just concentrate on friending 1 or 2, then move on to some others, once youve got 3 hearts they open up much more and send gifts and recipies, some of the cut scenes are lovely.
Forage a lot for free berries/nuts/mushrooms to eat, and dont try to do everything at once. have fun.

[Old Skool Raver]

I think you'd get a very annoyed very quickly if every time you walked passed someone they stopped you to talk to you.

You'd literally never get anything done.

[Ajra]

Originally posted by Carl Johnson:

I think you'd get a very annoyed very quickly if every time you walked passed someone they stopped you to talk to you.

You'd literally never get anything done.

I agree with this, but I could also see a little of the Animal Crossing style of interaction from New Leaf: when a villager wants to say something, an exclamation appears and you can choose to answer or ignore. It would be a neat little addition, but sometimes I get annoyed at that as well.

I agree with everyone else though, there is a lot to do but you don't have to do it at once. I save the mines until rainy days so I don't worry about crops and just go mining, or now that I've reached the end, fishing.