#Remove Traveler Mastery

27 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

golden hill
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I feel like introducing the Traveler Mastery on launch was a mistake. I played the demo version of the game and enjoyed it quite a bit, and after trying out the new version of the game, I feel like it is a bait-and-switch. Personally, I like roguelikes for their replayability without having to grind. Don't get me wrong, some limited amount of unlocks is tolerable or even fun, but I think that the introduction of Traveler Mastery is crossing the line. We already have to unlock memories, essences, and stars. In my opinion, the Traveler-specific stars should have been enough character-specific progression. There does not need to be gatekeeping of the star slots. This game does not need to be an RPG.

I'm sort of glad that the hotfix that was just released (https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2444750/view/503961862016074063) will give me a boost in that area, but I don't think it will help me recommend the game to my playgroup, as they won't be willing to suffer the grind themselves.

Edit: I have decided to refund the game. I didn't go so far as to leave a negative Steam review, but the fact that the reviews are currently Mixed rather than Overwhelmingly Positive like the demo shows that I am not alone in thinking something went wrong with this launch. It is too grindy. If my idea isn't the right one to help solve that, I hope that y'all can agree on some other solution! Best of luck to you all as a community.

Edit 2: 2 hotfixes in 2 days to help address grind concerns is impressive. I'll be keeping an eye on reviews.

Edit 3: Reviews are at 92% Very Positive at the time of this writing. Seems like others are pretty happy now. Most of the negative reviews are having to do with some performance issues or balance issues, and I'm pretty confident at this point that the devs will take steps to address these. I've purchased the game now.

Shape of Dreams - 2025/09/11 - Hotfix Note - Steam News

Hello, Travelers! Thank you for the tremendous support you have shown since launch, and we also deeply empathize with the frustration and disappointment some of you have felt. The Traveler Mastery system was designed to bring players a sense of growth and progression, but in many ways, we now see that we did not consider enough of its impact.

lethal mountain
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Mastery is nothing but a reason for new travelers who haven't played the demo to lose interest in the game.
I honestly don't understand what the problem is with using dust collected from other characters to unlock ones you haven't played yet.

lapis talon
lethal mountain
# lapis talon I haven't played the demo and I like the mastery system. If I could use dust fro...

I first unlocked the basic skills, then proceeded to unlock the character-specific skills.
It's extremely frustrating as a gaming experience that while basic skills are supposed to be shared, using those very skills isn't even permitted when switching to a different character.
If mastery didn't affect basic skills, I could understand it. But sealing even basic skills completely undermines the desire to use that character, making it utterly nonsensical.
Requiring a separate action to use something you've already unlocked is far too tedious.

lapis talon
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I guess I see where you're coming from on the skills that are shared between characters. I don't think we agree on how big of a deal it is. I still think it makes sense to have the character-specific talent tree skills be unlocked by playing that character

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The per-character progression reminds me of Hades which I really like. But, Hades did also have cross-character (weapons) progression too. So yeah there's definitely a balance for both

lethal mountain
lapis talon
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It makes it feel rewarding to do well with new character (Character A) because there are things you can only unlock with Character A, versus using Character B to just boost all of the progression for Character A by playing on high difficulties

lethal mountain
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I have absolutely no idea what's wrong.

golden hill
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As an update, I've decided to refund the game and move on. I don't like the grindiness that the devs seem to want the game to move towards, and I don't like that the community here insults people's valid feedback (not just mine). This game was so promising, it is so disappointing to see the launch messed up so badly.

gleaming rampart
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I like the system. There doesn't seem to have been sufficient time since release to quantify how long it will take to grind out the stardust. Assuming the replayability is good, it shouldn't feel like too much of a grind. I had a ton of fun in the game for an evening. Excited to play more. I think the hotfix is generous and the right call. There seems to be a lot of room for experimenting in builds. Looking forward to trying all the characters!

wooden raft
gleaming rampart
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Seeing as there are many difficulties, I think it's likely they will become more necessary the harder you set the game mode.

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That seems standard.

golden hill
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I never got good enough or unlocked enough things to increase the difficulty and win.

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Normal difficulty was just fine. To me it's less about winning and more about being very averse to live service/f2p gaming gimmicks. If playing a game feels like a chore to me, I won't play it.

meager linden
sharp creek
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Yeah I was going to buy the game before I saw this change. I had a bunch of hours in the demo too 😒

lethal mountain
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If mastery were a rewarding bonus, that would be great.
But right now, it's just a constraint forcing you to play “charming but weak” characters to unlock their true potential.
I just want to enjoy controlling “charming and strong” characters, but not being able to fully use even basic skills is nothing but frustrating.

south olive
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Completely valid concern. My group of 4 friends decided to seat on fence until something is done about the excessive grind of release build, especially those levels.

And yeah, I had 36 hours in beta, while most played pal had about 50 hours. It's not like we aren't into grindy stuff, it's just current implementation feels like straight up downgrade compared to demo. 😔

sharp creek
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It wasn't broken to begin with. I have no idea why they changed it. If people had complain during the beta sure but...

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who was asking for this?

tawny ingot
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the mastery xp gain is way too low
an hour and a half for 70k xp is crazy

golden hill
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I see that the devs have released 2 hotfixes in 2 days to address the feedback, which is quite impressive. Even if they didn't remove Traveler Mastery altogether, they definitely took steps to reduce the grind required for it. I'll be keeping an eye on reviews to see if the changes went far enough to make others happy.

sharp creek
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Yeah I'm waiting to see before buying it

sharp creek
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Well they got my money

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They really are listening to feed back