Ghost flicker needs to be slower.

[(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞]

It is near impossible to tell if you get a picture because it flickers so fast that half the time you successfully take the picture, it doesn't appear on the actual camera image which often results in death since you have to keep chasing it or staying in sight and don't even know if you actually got it until after you either die or the hunting phase ends.

[dimensional42]

Agreed. This is annoying. You have to be super lucky to get a picture of the ghost if they are flickering in and out. They need to stay rendered for a half second longer for people who don't have Ninja-like reflexes, and even then it's nearly impossible due to different latencies for different computers.

[mldb88]

I think the issue is a lot of people use hunts to try to get photos rather than trying to provoke non-hunt activity. You can get pictures just fine if you focus more on provoking ghost activity like asking it to show itself, smudging, interacting with it via the spirit box, etc. The bigger issue is getting a REALLY good shot and the journal thinks you're photographing the bone that's only 2 pixels wide in front of the TV 3 rooms away.

[Power of Seven]

The extreme amount of ghost flicker has been added in one of the last few patches, because I know that it used to be much less than that.

My guess is that it was changed on purpose. As previously mentioned, ghost pictures are frustrating to get, so players would all stand around with a camera and wait for a hunt as you could easily get a ghost picture that way. I still find ghost pictures to be the most annoying task to complete.

Another reason is that the extreme flicker makes it really hard to tell where a ghost is going during a hunt. Really experienced players were able to juke the ghost by watching it and then circling around the kitchen counter, or similar tactics. It's now much harder to tell which direction a ghost is going because it can vanish for over a second, making the ghost somewhat more deadly as a result. (There's been other changes to make the ghost much more dangerous during a hunt.)

Finally, in horror games, the monsters are the scariest when you really can't spot them very well. The intent is that you kind of get a brief glimpse so your imagination fills in details that frequently make the ghost more frightening than what it really is. That's also the reason why the ghost can be just a shadow and you can't really see it, because that's also effective on newer players.

[BrackObama2]

Originally posted by mldb88:

I think the issue is a lot of people use hunts to try to get photos rather than trying to provoke non-hunt activity. You can get pictures just fine if you focus more on provoking ghost activity like asking it to show itself, smudging, interacting with it via the spirit box, etc. The bigger issue is getting a REALLY good shot and the journal thinks you're photographing the bone that's only 2 pixels wide in front of the TV 3 rooms away.

Totally agreed with both of your statements.

I have no idea why, but people tend to "use" hunt as a way of taking pictures, it's just dumb. Me and people I play with never do this, there are way better ways of getting ghost's pictures, just like you said.

However there is an issue with taking photos of evidences for sure and I ran into them often. Sometimes it won't register, sometimes you take a clear picture of interaction, but it registers as something different.

[(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞]

Originally posted by cCheerSs:

Originally posted by mldb88:

I think the issue is a lot of people use hunts to try to get photos rather than trying to provoke non-hunt activity. You can get pictures just fine if you focus more on provoking ghost activity like asking it to show itself, smudging, interacting with it via the spirit box, etc. The bigger issue is getting a REALLY good shot and the journal thinks you're photographing the bone that's only 2 pixels wide in front of the TV 3 rooms away.

Totally agreed with both of your statements.

I have no idea why, but people tend to "use" hunt as a way of taking pictures, it's just dumb. Me and people I play with never do this, there are way better ways of getting ghost's pictures, just like you said.

However there is an issue with taking photos of evidences for sure and I ran into them often. Sometimes it won't register, sometimes you take a clear picture of interaction, but it registers as something different.

I have encountered some ghosts that only ever hunted and never showed themself at all.

[Evilcheesewheel]

Gotta love spending half an hour trying to get a picture because the ghost is a little ♥♥♥♥♥ and only ever hunts.

[Kaitlyn]

Originally posted by mldb88:

I think the issue is a lot of people use hunts to try to get photos rather than trying to provoke non-hunt activity. You can get pictures just fine if you focus more on provoking ghost activity like asking it to show itself, smudging, interacting with it via the spirit box, etc. The bigger issue is getting a REALLY good shot and the journal thinks you're photographing the bone that's only 2 pixels wide in front of the TV 3 rooms away.

This may be true for some, but I can vouch for myself at least and the people I play with - we absolutely try our best to get a non-hunt photo. We will sit in the room sometimes with crucifix in place and try and antagonize the ghost into showing itself, and it rarely works. I get tongue tied yelling and taunting the ghost so much, but most times we don't get an appearance, we get a hunt and then just have to make due.

[mldb88]

Originally posted by Kaitlyn:

Originally posted by mldb88:

I think the issue is a lot of people use hunts to try to get photos rather than trying to provoke non-hunt activity. You can get pictures just fine if you focus more on provoking ghost activity like asking it to show itself, smudging, interacting with it via the spirit box, etc. The bigger issue is getting a REALLY good shot and the journal thinks you're photographing the bone that's only 2 pixels wide in front of the TV 3 rooms away.

This may be true for some, but I can vouch for myself at least and the people I play with - we absolutely try our best to get a non-hunt photo. We will sit in the room sometimes with crucifix in place and try and antagonize the ghost into showing itself, and it rarely works. I get tongue tied yelling and taunting the ghost so much, but most times we don't get an appearance, we get a hunt and then just have to make due.

Antagonizing or using trigger phrases like show us a sign, are you hear, show yourself, etc? Also amateur and shy ghosts sometimes can be a right pain in the ass to get to cooperate, and it doesn't always work but usually is better than just immediately going for a hunt.

[BrackObama2]

Originally posted by ReZero_Eclipse:

I have encountered some ghosts that only ever hunted and never showed themself at all.

Yea it happens, personally for me that's the beauty of the game. Even if sometimes it's just straight up pain in the ass. Every time it's different, one ghost shows itself a lot, other is shy as hell. Also keep in mind that they have their strong and weak sides, some ghost may not do a damn thing while there isa light on and more than one perso nneaby, or vice versa.
You can use hunt for your advantage, but you need to plan it out, not just call the ghost out, get killed and go on forums crying about it.

[mldb88]

Originally posted by cCheerSs:

Originally posted by ReZero_Eclipse:

I have encountered some ghosts that only ever hunted and never showed themself at all.

Yea it happens, personally for me that's the beauty of the game. Even if sometimes it's just straight up pain in the ass. Every time it's different, one ghost shows itself a lot, other is shy as hell. Also keep in mind that they have their strong and weak sides, some ghost may not do a damn thing while there isa light on and more than one perso nneaby, or vice versa.
You can use hunt for your advantage, but you need to plan it out, not just call the ghost out, get killed and go on forums crying about it.

Exactly, like using a hunt to figure out if its a banshee by antagonizing it from the polar opposite side of the prison with crucifixes to prevent the hunt.