Solo Mission Disappointment

[Grambo]

Honestly... I don't know what to say. This feels like a truly epic fail as a DLC. The missions are interesting enough, but even finding them in incredibly obtuse... and once you do find them, they are basically only there for a very specific level... to earn an item. If you load on a save with advanced characters, expecting a challenge... you'll be disappointed as you'll simply get all the items on all the characters... and that's that.

I genuinely hope this isn't indicative of the future of this game. It remains a great implementation of the original game, and the Guildmaster mode was a wonderful new way to play... but this new DLC is hot garbage and frankly should have been a free DLC.

[Finieous]

Originally posted by Grambo:

once you do find them, they are basically only there for a very specific level... to earn an item.

Isn't that exactly what the store page says you're getting, though? A scenario for each character, that provides a single character-specific item for that character.

Originally posted by Grambo:

I genuinely hope this isn't indicative of the future of this game.

It's a digital implementation of the same add-on you can purchase for the board game. Seems like a reasonable direction for the digital game to head. It was also something that many people asked about, since it's available for the board game but wasn't (yet) available for the digital implementation. Forgotten Circles (the single-character expansion) is another asked-about add-on, as is an eventual Frosthaven implementation on the same platform. What might not be expected is the creation of characters and scenarios that don't exist in the official board game, but once you have the stable platform that could be reasonable.

Originally posted by Grambo:

but this new DLC is hot garbage and frankly should have been a free DLC.

No argument on the price... free is always better. But it's exactly what the store said it was when you paid for it.

Can I ask what future direction YOU would like to see?

[Grambo]

A very reasonable query. Let me first respond to each item...

Regarding the store page, nowhere on it does it suggest the exact mechanics. They suggest that you must be level 5 to unlock... but it certainly doesn't say "at which point it will auto-complete the scenario and gift you the items".

Regarding the digital implementation of the boardgame add-on... fair point, though I do not possess the physical add-on in question, I can only say that I'd at least not have been so disappointed at the terrible way this was implemented. The UX/UI is as abysmal as anything I've seen of late, with no explanation and no user guidance other than hoping players poke about and "figure it out".

And as a game developer who makes his living making games, I *never* object to a developer making money for their work. However, this scale, scope, and quality of this implementation feels very much like the type of content most developers will release as a free update.

Regarding your query about the future direction... I'd like to see the game run with its digital future. The Guildmaster interpretation was great. I'd like to see them actually create a new set of stories and scenarios to actually extend the content of the game beyond purely the boardgame designer's vision.

[jamman39]

I think it’s a good add-on for the price. I think I paid north of $15 for the physical version of it.

I do think the marketing for this add-on was pretty crappy though. Reminded me of the way Dark Souls 3 advertising went, lots of “we’re gonna challenge you to death!” “‘Most difficult challenge yet!” Stuff

The original board game add on sold it as advanced puzzle content to let you prove your mastery with a character.

[MrPyro]

Originally posted by Grambo:

A very reasonable query. Let me first respond to each item...

Regarding the store page, nowhere on it does it suggest the exact mechanics. They suggest that you must be level 5 to unlock... but it certainly doesn't say "at which point it will auto-complete the scenario and gift you the items".

Wait, what? If it has just auto-completed the scenarios and gifted the items to you without you actually playing them, that sounds like a bug.

What should happen is that at level 5, a scenario becomes available for you to play with that character, where you just take in the single character it's the scenario for.

If it has just given you the items with you not playing the scenario, I'd report as a bug

[Thrawn_1986]

As I never saw a price tag prior to release I was really hoping it would be free. Especially since I had just talked some people into buying it right before it went free on EGS.

The items are cool and all, but the real purchase here and the real reason to play more gloomhaven is accessing more scenarios. If indeed you were unable to play the scenario then that does sound like a glitch and I'd be upset too.

[Zeel Ara]

Originally posted by jamman39:

I think it’s a good add-on for the price. I think I paid north of $15 for the physical version of it.

I do think the marketing for this add-on was pretty crappy though. Reminded me of the way Dark Souls 3 advertising went, lots of “we’re gonna challenge you to death!” “‘Most difficult challenge yet!” Stuff

The original board game add on sold it as advanced puzzle content to let you prove your mastery with a character.

And yet you see people here complaining that it is *literally* impossible. Everyone familiar with the board game already know what they're buying. I'd wager that the description is a naive attempt at educating potential buyers that don't know anything about the product.

[Slow Dog]

Originally posted by Grambo:

Regarding the store page, nowhere on it does it suggest the exact mechanics. They suggest that you must be level 5 to unlock... but it certainly doesn't say "at which point it will auto-complete the scenario and gift you the items".

You're playing Guildmaster? The scenarios only appear in the campaign. Guildmaster just gives you the items to play with, as you've discovered.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Yeah, on the main campaign, it should never just give you the item. You should always get the scenario.

Guildmaster is a bit different and not what the DLC is for, so maybe it does just give them to you.

[Grambo]

Yeah, that was correct. Guildmaster it shows you can unlock it, but it does nothing. Campaign does unlock it.