Wiki Use and Stardew Valley

[Vivi]

Okay...A GIGANTIC question has been nagging me for quite some time...does Stardew Valley rely on wiki use? Because so far, I think it does...I feel like I can't get anywhere without figuring something out on the wiki. Does this game actually tells the player enough info so the player isn't required to jump on the Stardew Valley wiki and figure out the answer? I'm afraid this is both time consuming AND it might spoil some of your gameplay.

I need help.

Thank you guys for replying on my last discussion :)

[LazinessForever]

Well, for me, I never really had to use the wiki all that much. The only times I really ever used the wiki was to find out if a certain fish was available for the season I was in. I felt like the game gave me enough information to get make progress.

What kind of info do you think the game is lacking that you'd need to jump on the wiki?

[Dee Twenty]

I think most aspects of the game you could reasonably figure out on your own, the seeds for crops all tell you how long they take to grow, crafting recipes are all shown in game unlike say Minecraft, the only aspect where I feel a guide or Wiki is almost required is figuring out who likes which gifts. The NPC's will occasionally mention stuff like "Hey, my wife really hates this item." or "My daughter really loves this item." but I've never gotten any of those hints until after I already had the NPC's giving them to me up to 8-10 hearts in the first place.

I'd like to see more ingame hints in this regard, not necessarily spelled out for you, but stuff like how in one of the Queen of Sauce episodes she mentions that she received a letter from Haley requesting the recipe, and that recipe happens to be one of Haley's most loved gifts, more things like that would be great.

[timewar]

The only thing I had to look up was where/when to get certain fish and artifacts. Other than that, I think it explanation isn't really necessary.

[Lurlex]

There are plenty of people that are almost religiously passionate in their idea that wiki use ruins ANY game, and the Force is strong with the player base for SDV when it comes to that point of view. I typically see at least one person rush to be the first to post in a thread asking for general tips to adamantly instruct someone, "DON'T LOOK ANYHTING UP AND JUST PLAY ORGANICALLY, SPOILERS, OMG OMG."

.... I, however, am not in that camp. I think almost any RPG-type game or life sim in general like this is something that is best enjoyed with a little inside knowledge, and friggin' yes, that means you get over yourself and invest a bit of time in reading. Sure, you can play without it, but that means you're missing about 65% of the game you didn't even know existed because you refused to spend a few seconds reading about it.

Now, about your fear that it's "overly time-consuming"? Simply not so. There are plenty of big fans on this game that have logged over 100 hours of gameplay. I'm not sure where I'm at, but I'm sure I'm over 50 at this point. The amount of time I've spent quickly scanning a few lines on the wiki because I suddenly encountered a new item I've never seen before and want to know what it can be used for is such a miniscule fraction of that overall game time, it's not even worth me worrying about.

I keep a wiki window up in the background at all times, and if I need it, I pause the game, alt-tab out, read for about ten seconds, then I'm done. Then I remember what I read for good (usually) and never have to look again. Over time, that means you reference the wiki less and less as well.

If you're one of those people who feels like any kind of research aspect in a game means the game is too complicated for you to enjoy, then my answer is ... this isn't the game for you. You'll never know it and completely "win" it (nor, in my opinion, enjoy it) as much as someone that's willing to pull up a wiki article will.

Read about crops, villagers, birthdays, gifts, fishing, etc .... and get it out of the way (you won't need to do it again once you do), or go back to platformers. That's my blunt answer. I've seen Let's Players try out Harvest Moon and SDV both on Youtube, and I'm constantly facepalming over their poor gameplay decisions as they announce to their audience that they don't play games they have to "read about.." The thing is, these LPers stop after three episodes because they can't understand why they're sucking so hard.

[Dee Twenty]

Originally posted by Lurlex:

I've seen Let's Players try out Harvest Moon and SDV both on Youtube, and I'm constantly facepalming over their poor gameplay decisions as they announce to their audience that they don't play games they have to "read about.." The thing is, these LPers stop after three episodes because they can't understand why they're sucking so hard.

I'm kind of curious which ones you've watched, the ones I've watched have started out saying "I love Harvest Moon, and I'm told this is like Harvest Moon, so I'm excited to get this started." Now some of them aren't that good at the game, but they at least have a good time playing it and are fun to watch.

[catsandra]

Everything Lurlex says. It's almost straight out of my brain, so... ditto!

[catsandra]

Waaait I do have something valuable to add. I played this game about 60 hours without referring to the wiki- for the most part- and did fairly well. I did read some basic tips for beginners, and that is why I had a silo before the coop or barn which makes a huge difference. But I definitely would have done better if I had researched first. And that doesn't mean the game is lacking direction. What sim/RPG gamer worth their salt doesn't use guides? That's how you get the most out of the game!

But that said, no, you don't have to rely on wiki to play this game and enjoy it. It's the same with every game... of course the game doesn't hold your hand and guide you step by step, what is the point of that?!

[Marbur]

The wiki is a really good information source.
Use the guides, if you like to get your information in steam:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/413150/guides

My Guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=673802003

[Necrius]

I wouldn't say it relies on wiki too much. Sure, some "guide dang it" moments do exist, but it's tame compared to some other games. Some wiki knowledge could be moved into the game or at least dev could add a personal notes page in the journal, so we could write down stuff ourselves.

Originally posted by catsandra:

What sim/RPG gamer worth their salt doesn't use guides? That's how you get the most out of the game!

I hate people like you. You, meta-gamers and wiki fanboys, are the reason why devs don't bother with good introductions, tutorials and in-game information sources. And this rotten arrogance ("sim/rpg gamer worth their salt", huh ) is just annoying.

[Vivi]

Ah, I always have a wiki tab ready lol...but I was questioning whether or not it's worth it...whether I should play the game without the wiki or with the help of the wiki...thanks for all your quick replies!

[iiKelly]

No you can definitely play the game and discovering everything for yourself if you wanted to. The wiki's just there if you want to use it. I personally just use it to look at the gifts people like so I don't give, oh I don't know, Sebastian a piece of wood and he hates it. You know what I mean?

[Vivi]

Yep...I use the wiki for that reason too. :D

[Zara]

In the end, it is a matter of whether you like to "know things" (as in, look up what you want to know), or "learn things" (as in, "play organically"). I'm a bit of both. If I don't understand something in a game, and can't figure it out in a reasonable amount of time, I'll look it up. That being said, I don't think a single thing in this game has NO explanation in game, and thus you don't NEED to use a wiki. The biggest thing that the wiki is helpful on is the "social" aspect of the game, meaning what people like/dislike. Yes, you can figure it out yourself by giving the people stuff, and remembering/writing down their reactions, but I honestly can barely be bothered to make nice with most of the them anyway, so I just look it up instead.

[paralistalon]

My philosophy on guides/wikis is for me to beat the game once without any help, then gorge myself on the guide so I can have all those "Ohhh, didn't know I missed that one!" moments that I can use on a second playthrough, if I choose (usually if the game is deep enough that you can make completely different choices). With this game, I did have to Google a couple of core mechanics, like it really doesn't tell you that you can use the pickaxe to untill land, that you have to right click to put bait on a rod and that you can't put bait on a bamboo rod, what to do with the skeleton key, that you have to manually put hay on the bench in the coop, to use the hoe on worms, and things like that. After about 30 hours into the game, I gave in and just read everything in the wiki. This game doesn't really have an ending, and while most of the information is hidden in the game in small doses, it takes a VERY long time to uncover everything yourself.

Again, after 30 hours, I was starting to succumb to the pressures of real life and my job and the feeling that it's too time intensive to make and keep a list of every villager's likes/dislikes/loves in order to access all the cutscenes, so my justification was that after I read the entire wiki, I wouldn't feel as pressured to play this damn game as much. Well, it only partially worked, because even after learning all the information, the game is still fun to play. Sigh, lol.

[Exiled Alchemist]

It all depends on what you need it for in the first place. I normally use it for basic mechanics, help with best ore levels, and checking if I have enough materials for a building.

Other then those few things I try to stay away from the rest of the wiki till I'm ready for my second replay.