Hyper-slow growth, 0 fun, dead game

[Luftkopf]

Actually, it kind of is. All Giants added was stones which can only be sold, the ability to change your outfit (as if you feel the cold,) and the ability to use the train to sell out of town (because a train driver will totally get out of his cockpit to let some random person drive his train for a few hours.) Everything else was created by the modders from FS19. I pre-ordered a game I already had, except that now we can't turn off the mods we don't like. That's the scam.

As for the topic. If I wanted a hyper-realistic farming simulator game, I'd turn off the gaming platform, head out into the real world and get a job as a farmer. I don't want to spend four hours doing diddly squat while I wait for a game to let me plant crops. That's what I've just ended up doing. Sleep, ride my horses, sleep, ride my horses, sleep... on and on.

I like a bit of realism in my games but at some point you have to come to terms that it's a game and we don't want to dedicate our entire lives to it. It's NOT realistic. If it were, there'd be baby animals. My new-born lamb is a full grown sheep. My cows reproduce without the aid of a bull.

So what is Giants actually allowed to bring to new versions of the franchise if they're not allowed to add features similar to those modders have previously added? A new version of Farm Sim is only valid if it only features improved graphics and basic mechanics? Some people criticise Giants for not having already added features that modders have then made, while others are complaining that Giants IS doing that?

I understand the argument against EXCESSIVE realism, but there is a long distance between a healthy level of verisimilitude, and an obsessions with MAH REELIZM!!!

I found playing vanilla FS19 got too boring and repetitive without seasons. Plant what you want, when you want, nothing matters. Plant now, harvest tomorrow. I would have stopped playing after a few months if I didn't find the Seasons mod, even though it was more detailed that I really wanted. I could have done without the crop rotation feature, and bales rotting away in the rain, but I could live with that, because Seasons gave me a sense of actual time passing, letting me get more into my farms. I don't need an industrial level, technically accurate agriculture simulator, but what Giants have delivered is a nice game that I enjoy.

So what level of realism is valid? Who should have to wait for modders to craft things to fit their tastes? FS19 required me to find mods to make FS the game I wanted, now it seems you have to rely on someone to make mods to get it set up for you. I understand how that is frustrating, but I don't see how that makes it a scam!

[Iconia Star]

So what is Giants actually allowed to bring to new versions of the franchise if they're not allowed to add features similar to those modders have previously added? A new version of Farm Sim is only valid if it only features improved graphics and basic mechanics? Some people criticise Giants for not having already added features that modders have then made, while others are complaining that Giants IS doing that?

I understand the argument against EXCESSIVE realism, but there is a long distance between a healthy level of verisimilitude, and an obsessions with MAH REELIZM!!!

I found playing vanilla FS19 got too boring and repetitive without seasons. Plant what you want, when you want, nothing matters. Plant now, harvest tomorrow. I would have stopped playing after a few months if I didn't find the Seasons mod, even though it was more detailed that I really wanted. I could have done without the crop rotation feature, and bales rotting away in the rain, but I could live with that, because Seasons gave me a sense of actual time passing, letting me get more into my farms. I don't need an industrial level, technically accurate agriculture simulator, but what Giants have delivered is a nice game that I enjoy.

So what level of realism is valid? Who should have to wait for modders to craft things to fit their tastes? FS19 required me to find mods to make FS the game I wanted, now it seems you have to rely on someone to make mods to get it set up for you. I understand how that is frustrating, but I don't see how that makes it a scam!

Oh don't get me wrong. I understand that Giants added the mods as part of the main game because those mods were well received back in FS19. That's not just a valid decision, it's also a good business practice. But they shouldn't be getting the credit for them.

Anything that they add that some player didn't think of, they get credit for. If they'd added some use for stones other than selling them, that would be worth it but they didn't so it's just a useless addition. If they'd added a temperature gauge so that you couldn't work if you were too cold, that would make changing your outfit some purpose other than aesthetics. However, here's me working in the snow wearing a t-shirt. Even the train rental is a silly idea for the reasons I pointed out.

My point was that Giants created Farming Simulator... NOT FS22. It was the modders who did that and they didn't even get a mention. Instead the people at Giants said "Look what we did!" and charged full price. That's the part that makes it, to paraphrase myself "KIND OF a scam." They even removed the transport missions which gave us something to do and a way to explore the map when we'd done all of our main jobs.

Whether or not they actually improved the graphics is too subjective to say for definite. I know I can't see any difference but others probably do. I can't even go into my own house now and the graphics through the windows is so distorted that even the games in the 1990s would be laughing at them.

When I played FS19, I had almost all of the mods that were brought into FS22. Seasons, Global Company and a good number of the vehicles (though I preferred the Valtra tractors because I could change their colours at will.) I turned off the seasons because I had nothing to do for three days and NOT game days either. I even set it up so that I had four farms all doing different things and trading with each other because I'm a role player.

There is no right or wrong way to play the game. If you want an increased level of realism have at it. Go and have fun with it. If you want to play in real time with a 28 day month, that's why it's there. Even I've been disappointed that I've not seen any deep snow in my current map yet. Just light sprinkling and I'd love to see what it looks like when it really gets going.

I still want to be ABLE to turn it off though. I want to be able to try out the new additions but also think "That part isn't for me, I don't think I'll keep it running."

[Bobbydj1980]

I play with the max days set for seasons and have no downtime with all the new editions for prepping fields before sowing in-between that I tend to animals and my greenhouses

[TheSarkY]

I play with the max days set for seasons and have no downtime with all the new editions for prepping fields before sowing in-between that I tend to animals and my greenhouses

im not sure what are you doing so long, green houses take 5min to give them water, deliver pellets maybe another 10.
animals dont need more than 30min work. so what are you doing for max days in seasons? ive played with 3 days so far and even that is little bit longer but alright lenght.

[Bobbydj1980]

I play with the max days set for seasons and have no downtime with all the new editions for prepping fields before sowing in-between that I tend to animals and my greenhouses

im not sure what are you doing so long, green houses take 5min to give them water, deliver pellets maybe another 10.
animals dont need more than 30min work. so what are you doing for max days in seasons? ive played with 3 days so far and even that is little bit longer but alright lenght.

I've expanded all of my fields and having to plow them spread manure and lime cultivating rock picking and when that is all done I'm usually running contracts

[vortex1988]

The problem is that by preventing me from choosing the duration of the crop growth they prevent me from being able to choose whether to play in arcade or simulation mode, which was one of the most beautiful features of the farming simulator saga, in which through the mods I could choose whether, in the single save, I could play a more arcade or simulation game.
This being the case, I cannot play arcade mode, especially now with productions, and it becomes boring as you have too much time and almost nothing to do, if you want to simulate the passage of time normally, without sleeping 10 days between an operation and another one.
I hope Giants fixes this by letting us choose the crop growth rate in case I disable the season and set a month for the duration of the game.

[Iconia Star]

I play with the max days set for seasons and have no downtime with all the new editions for prepping fields before sowing in-between that I tend to animals and my greenhouses

I'd love to know how you managed it.

I planted 2,000 trees in my last game year, have all of the animals and 9 fields to work on. Just planted olives and grapes but need to wait a while before I can even do my mulching. My trees have just started growing so they're not ready for cutting. My animals are happy. In my morning, I throw another pallet of honey onto the flatbed, 15 minutes to complete any contracts and I'm done for the day at 10am (time is set to x5).

My character just came out of a 4 month hibernation to plant some sugar beet then went right back to bed.

[Ekan]

	So what is Giants actually allowed to bring to new versions of the franchise if they're not allowed to add features similar to those modders have previously added? A new version of Farm Sim is only valid if it only features improved graphics and basic mechanics? Some people criticise Giants for not having already added features that modders have then made, while others are complaining that Giants IS doing that? I understand the argument against EXCESSIVE realism, but there is a long distance between a healthy level of verisimilitude, and an obsessions with MAH REELIZM!!! I found playing vanilla FS19 got too boring and repetitive without seasons. Plant what you want, when you want, nothing matters. Plant now, harvest tomorrow. I would have stopped playing after a few months if I didn't find the Seasons mod, even though it was more detailed that I really wanted. I could have done without the crop rotation feature, and bales rotting away in the rain, but I could live with that, because Seasons gave me a sense of actual time passing, letting me get more into my farms. I don't need an industrial level, technically accurate agriculture simulator, but what Giants have delivered is a nice game that I enjoy. So what level of realism is valid? Who should have to wait for modders to craft things to fit their tastes? FS19 required me to find mods to make FS the game I wanted, now it seems you have to rely on someone to make mods to get it set up for you. I understand how that is frustrating, but I don't see how that makes it a scam! Oh don't get me wrong. I understand that Giants added the mods as part of the main game because those mods were well received back in FS19. That's not just a valid decision, it's also a good business practice. But they shouldn't be getting the credit for them. Anything that they add that some player didn't think of, they get credit for. If they'd added some use for stones other than selling them, that would be worth it but they didn't so it's just a useless addition. If they'd added a temperature gauge so that you couldn't work if you were too cold, that would make changing your outfit some purpose other than aesthetics. However, here's me working in the snow wearing a t-shirt. Even the train rental is a silly idea for the reasons I pointed out. My point was that Giants created Farming Simulator... NOT FS22. It was the modders who did that and they didn't even get a mention. Instead the people at Giants said "Look what we did!" and charged full price. That's the part that makes it, to paraphrase myself "KIND OF a scam." They even removed the transport missions which gave us something to do and a way to explore the map when we'd done all of our main jobs. Whether or not they actually improved the graphics is too subjective to say for definite. I know I can't see any difference but others probably do. I can't even go into my own house now and the graphics through the windows is so distorted that even the games in the 1990s would be laughing at them. When I played FS19, I had almost all of the mods that were brought into FS22. Seasons, Global Company and a good number of the vehicles (though I preferred the Valtra tractors because I could change their colours at will.) I turned off the seasons because I had nothing to do for three days and NOT game days either. I even set it up so that I had four farms all doing different things and trading with each other because I'm a role player. There is no right or wrong way to play the game. If you want an increased level of realism have at it. Go and have fun with it. If you want to play in real time with a 28 day month, that's why it's there. Even I've been disappointed that I've not seen any deep snow in my current map yet. Just light sprinkling and I'd love to see what it looks like when it really gets going. I still want to be ABLE to turn it off though. I want to be able to try out the new additions but also think "That part isn't for me, I don't think I'll keep it running."

So much negativity. Do you even have fun playing?

[Iconia Star]

So much negativity. Do you even have fun playing?

I'm not being negative, I'm being honest. The game as it stands now is nothing more than FS19 with a few mods. Most of those mods even work in exactly the same way as they did when we had them in FS19.

Seasons, crow sound effects, GPS, Global Company, almost every new machine, the greenhouses, solar panels and wind turbines. If I wanted to play FS19 with those mods... I'd play FS19. I already had that game. All Giants did was change the number and made me pay another £60.

Some of the mods have been altered granted. Like the GPS which now delivers as well as just goes to a location (though the next time my farmhands park my Rubicon up a tree, I'm going to push them off a cliff). But have you followed an AI driver now? They drive like they've been drinking so it doesn't work as well as the original mod. Especially if they randomly hit a lamppost and get stuck because there's an object in front of them.

The one part that Giants DID come up with (grapes and olives) has EIGHT steps before you even see a result. Plant the rows, wait a couple of days, mulch the rows, cultivate the rows, fertilize, fertilize again, harvest then prune the rows. not to mention that it takes six game months between the second fertilize and the harvest.

Oh wait... they also added collectables because what game is complete without useless trinkets to run around looking for? The least they could have done was let me play the video games that I found (with the help of a YouTube video because the game didn't even tell me that they existed.)

Farming Simulator 19 was the first simulator game I'd ever played. Now I have a special library of simulator games on the PC and the Playstation (I play a lot of games). Truck Driver, Bus driver, Euro Truck... holy cats even Car Mechanic. No, I'm not having fun playing it any more. I spend most of the time in the game sleeping. My character wakes up at 8am. She goes back to bed between 10 and 12:30. Is this Farming Simulator or sleep simulator (I can't remember who came up with that question but it wasn't me)?

Why would it be so wrong for me to expect Giants to come up with their own ideas instead of just stealing the ideas of the players and taking credit for them. Why is it so hard for Giants to put a little note in their game along the lines of "With the help of the modders and the people who played the mods we've improved the basic game so that you don't lag out because you have 150 mods installed."

I was planning to use FS22 to revitalize my YouTube channel with a new idea for tying all future games together. How would that even be possible when all I'm doing is hitting the snooze button? My problem not theirs.

The point is... this isn't a new game or even a new version. It's the old game where the players are being forced to accept mods which they may or may not like without the ability to turn off the parts that they don't want.

As I said. Giants didn't create this game, the modders did. Giants just ripped us all off.

[Illinois Farmer]

You could a say that with every new fs game. There are more new features in fs22 than fs19, also some things took a step back but modders will make new maps, new mods, add some of the older ones. It happens every release. Also if the game is so boring why do you care enough to post? Just play fs19 if you love that so much as well.

[gr4474]

Saying it is a ripoff is going to far. I can complain with the best of them...but you need to take a breath. Please.

[Iconia Star]

You could a say that with every new fs game. There are more new features in fs22 than fs19, also some things took a step back but modders will make new maps, new mods, add some of the older ones. It happens every release. Also if the game is so boring why do you care enough to post? Just play fs19 if you love that so much as well.

What do you mean why would I care enough to post? The answer is simple... because I do.

Because if a restaurant served me yesterday's leftovers, I'd care enough to bring it up. I care enough because I spent £60 on a game that I already had expecting it to be a better version. I care because I played FS19 for almost a year almost every day for six months of that year. Because I bought it twice. Once on the Playstation and once on the PC when the console version had slot limitations and I couldn't get 16 different tractors in various colours. Because my games are important to me... especially the ones I pre-order. Would you like to have some more reasons? I'm sure I can come up with a few.

But the most important reason was that I wasn't expecting to buy a game only to go to sleep for four months a year.

Tell you what will probably happen. I'm kind of a trophy hunter. I can't stop playing a game until I have all the trophies. Even games that I don't enjoy or I'm not very good at (it took me three attempts and a lot of google to get a successful colony in Surviving Mars). For FS22... I don't have all the trophies yet. Would you pay for a movie, watch the first ten minutes then refuse to finish it?

Do you think I'm the only person in the world who probably won't be forking out my cash for the next "version"?

I don't know if I'll go back to FS19. I played that enough to pick out a favourite tractor when before I started, had never heard of the ugly green and yellow John Deere or the Valtra. When I first saw the Rubicon 9000, I googled it to see if it was a real machine. I also googled the windrower to see if they really could do what the game claimed.

The funny thing is that after playing FS19, I keep watching videos of a guy who goes around farms checking cow hoofs for infections. Is it scary that I find these videos fascinating?

I don't know if I'll stop playing FS22 after I get the trophies. I might find a way to get my tie in with future games using FS22. I might even do a survival challenge when a suitable map comes out. Just for the sake of saying "I did it. I gave it a fair chance to grow on me."

That doesn't mean I don't feel bad for the modders who didn't get the credit for coming up with the improvements on 19 and had those ideas stolen to see some other person or group get credit for them. Gee, I'm glad I don't know how to mod, I would be so upset.

I'm not saying everyone should hate the game. I don't hate the game and there are likely people who will checkout FS22 as the first simulator game they've ever played and not see how much it's the same as the previous version.

I was asked a question... and I responded... It's that easy. Why do I even NEED a reason to care?

I just hope you understand where I'm coming from.

[Illinois Farmer]

What ideas did they steal from modders? Seasons? One of the realmius team works for giants. Also when you agree to the terms on giants editors in fact giants pretty much owns the mod. I see your frustrated but the game will develop and grow.

[Iconia Star]

What ideas did they steal from modders? Seasons? One of the realmius team works for giants. Also when you agree to the terms on giants editors in fact giants pretty much owns the mod. I see your frustrated but the game will develop and grow.

I listed some ideas that were stolen from modders previously.

Seasons
Global Company
Crow sound effects
GPS
Almost all of the new machinery
Greenhouses
Solar panels and wind turbines

Another that I didn't mention: Multiple contracts

There may be more that I haven't noticed yet.

If Giants really does "own" the mods created, I'd like to direct your attention to ModHub. Check ANY mod for details and you'll see a disclaimer in small print on the top right.

"All User-generated content on ModHub is the property of the content creator. We are not responsible for this User-generated content or any damage it may cause to your game. If you think your User-generated content or parts of it are on ModHub without your consent, please contact us."

If the game does develop and grow then fine good for them. However, they most certainly don't "pretty much own the mods" and never claimed to. They're also going to stagnate if they keep using mods as main features and taking credit for them. It's not a wild claim, I've seen it happen many times.

There's a company called CCP Games. They made the game Eve Online way back in 2003 which is still running though not as populated. In 2007 they released a major update that took them three days to implement and users couldn't log in until they finished. But they made a mistake. They advanced too fast and most computers couldn't cope with the new graphics engine. CCP apologised and gave more than two million players a free gift. It was just a tiny little ship and couldn't hold any equipment, but it was fast and could get you out of a sticky situation quite effectively.

When you reported a bug in the game, they gave you a reward in-game by way of a "Thank you for brining this to our attention," and they'd fix the bug within 24 hours. Something more game developers could learn from.

The reason I'm bringing this up is to show an example of such exceptional customer service that I STILL say that Eve Online was the best game I ever played. Not just me though. Others have said the same thing over the past two decades.

On the other hand Ubisoft called PC gamers hackers and thieves in 2012 and a large number of people stopped buying their games. They don't care but the players who stopped sending them money do.

What will I be saying about Giants in 20 years? Will I be talking about them at all? Will I even remember who they are?

[mackintosh]

Well, they have been around for over 17 years and we are talking about them.