2025 Winter update

[shrewd saffron]

PLEASE STOP WITH THE GREAT ONES FOR ONE UPDATE

Listen, at this point they're just goofy looking fantasy animals that promote one playstyle over everything else. Not everyone has the time or inclination to grind for a single weird trophy for hours on end. By and large long term players enjoyed the game very much before the Great One epidemic even began. I promise you we still would if we had an update without one.

Second, FOR THE LOVE OF COMMON SENSE REWORK THE BALLISTICS SYSTEM. Yes, I know the people calling for this are few and far between but this longer this goes the more long term players will leave the game. As it stands every decent weapon in the game is dlc and there's massive differences between the guns that the stats do not reflect.

Updating the guns to be as versatile and strong as they are in Classic at he least would make everything so much more fun to play. You wouldn't have to constantly worry you didn't get perfect angle or the bullet drop was far more than you expected. This is a hunting game, hunting rifles aren't meant to be balanced, they're meant to work.

I won't lie, when I first saw the Laperriere Outrider .30-30 I was extremely happy. It's the rifle I use every year to hunt anything and everything between feral goats and elk and the discord community has been begging to get it buffed for years. I thought it was finally happening.

Then we saw it in action and I lost all hope I had. Same range restriction, same class range, same terrible performance. On top of this the teaser image clearly shows new bullet designs alongside the rifle. I don't know whose idea this was but it feels more like intentionally insulting. "We see you want a change so we made it look different but baked in the same problems" sort of thing.

The animals are amazing, the environment is perfect, the weapons are garbage. Every single update. The devs clearly don't care enough to do actual research into a cartridges capability for hunting.

Legitimately out of all the issues the .30-30 cartridge has in this game, being far too weak, being the entirely wrong class range, having the range restricted for no reason, only having 4 rounds instead of 6,

This was the problem? The bullet drop and wind drift? You didn't even change the maximum zero distance this is absolutely useless

Compare these two charts and tell me why they are the same class range? In fact, tell me why the .30-30 has a restricted range compared to the 7.62x39mm

[manic wolf]

Everyone down voted me when I said to get rid of these class restrictions for guns. We should be able to use the guns we like and want to use instead of being forced to use specific weapons.

[sand heron]

Yes

For the love of Christ, all of this

[shrewd saffron]

I swear I upvoted that. I absolutely hate the class system in this game and despise how much you have to play around it to get full score on a trophy you worked hard to get in the first place

[gray isle]

agreed; give actually good ballistics

[manic wolf]

Most guns in the game should be at least 3-8 at a minimum

[gritty flax]

I think the 30-30 should definitely be a Class 3-7 rifle and should at least be able to drop Whitetail Deer out to about 100 meters. It's pretty underpowered in the game currently.

[manic wolf]

I can't believe it is just a reskin that you can throw any scope on (finally)

[gritty flax]

yeah that is pretty annoying to say the least. We should have been able to put any scope of the original 30-30 from the beginning imo

[gray isle]

ive seen people drop cow elk with it out to 340 yards IRL

it should be a 3-8 equal in power to the Moradi .44 but with much less damage dropoff at range

[gray isle]

as much as I wouldve loved this its not possible with the whitlock, its a Winchester 1886 with a topmounted bolt as well as top ejection and no accompanying furniture for a scout mount, itd have to be a different gun or be radically altered to accept a modern non sidemount scope

[manic wolf]

I mean it does look incredible. Also now that we have a version that can use any scope I'm not mad about the other not having the option. I have both a Winchester 30-30 that can't top mount and a marlin 30-30 that can top mount so it kinda matches my IRL.
Also it's a crime that it is less powerful than the moradi lmao

[low surge]

I think the class system would be fine as an at a glance this is what it can be good for but it should not be a restriction. And the ballistics do need work badly as well.

[gritty flax]

as much as I'd prefer replacing the COTW class system with a system that is more like theHunter Classic, where each animal has its own set of ethical ammo for it, I think the class system in COTW is here to stay at this point unfortunately because it's been in the game so long. But that doesn't mean the class ranges for certain weapons can't be altered to make the system less invasive and annoying. I think moving the .270 and 6.5 to a Class 3-7 range as well would be a great place to start.

[manic wolf]

Yea i don't care that it exists and weapons don't do good damage to a bigger animal, but just let me choose it at least. If I have to track my kill further that's my choice

[shrewd saffron]

The class system is causing a ton of problems just by existing since everything has to play around it. Honestly, most animals are very much in the wrong class. I'd put wolves at class 4 tbh, I've been shooting wolves with my 30-30 and they go down just as fast as whitetail deer, I mean the tiny whitetail deer I knew in Tennessee. Like 120 in a big buck

[willow kiln]

Devs need to stop clinging for an authentic class. The medal should not change due to the caliber of the ammo. But the cash and xp should. Not right class, no money no xp. For newbies it will have matters, for old with millions only fun. Old balance will loss it's meaning.

[gritty flax]

I agree, I think the medal should only change if the trophy organ is damaged. A deer whose antlers got shot off isn't going to score the same, but one that just gets shot with too small or large of a weapon isn't necessarily going to lose its score because of that.

Obviously we shouldn't be able to make money by shooting animals with too big of a caliber, because shooting a rabbit with a .300 is probably going to ruin most of the meat and any other parts that could be sold. Making it so that you can't earn XP for using the wrong weapon would also encourage new players to get in the habit of using the right weapons for each animal. There should also still be an additional fee for repairs when taxidermizing animals that have been shot more than twice or with too large of a weapon, because that probably would significantly damage the hide. Still, as long as the trophy organ isn't significantly damaged, I think we should be able to kill animals with any weapon we want and still get the full medal for them.

However, considering how long the harvest check system has been in the game, I'm not expecting any of these big changes to it that I've mentioned here. I just hope we'll get an update to reclass certain weapons to make their class ranges make more sense.

[low surge]

At the very least some animals should be re-classed and weapons should have more ammunition load options so you could have multiple different class ranges on one weapon

The one thing I will give the class system is that it does give non hunters and non weapon savvy folks a way to choose their weapons, if it’s done correctly it could even be somewhat realistic emphasis on somewhat

[willow kiln]

Exist sistem is normal. Vital organ, trophy organ, two bullets. And let's honestly admit. Many of us have rare animals killed from inappropriate ammo. It's normal. Devs need to split on two competitive groups. One do animals another group do guns and ammunition. Only then we will see good rifles and ammunition.

[shrewd saffron]

Okay, but couldn't a basic tutorial about the available weapons do that.

Say the .223 ammo description says "Suitable for small to light medium game such as foxes, roe deer or whitetail deer."

The .375 could say "Suitable for large game like bears, moose, and dangerous game like lions and buffalo"

[low surge]

Well that would be an item description not a tutorial and a tutorial would be kinda tough when you don’t even have access to big game weapons at the start (currently class 9 weapons) and a lot of weapons are locked behind leveling and DLC, the item descriptions might work if every player has the knowledge of what animal weighs similarly to one another but it’s not as quick imo

[shrewd saffron]

That's down to how crappy the UI is. If you chose a weapon in the store and it showed a full page of information including the maximum zero, animals it was suitable for and the proper ammo for it that would be as good as a tutorial.

You get access to a 4-8 rifle at the beginning of the base game in the .270 Stradivarious and Warden rifles. They don't require any particular weapon score just a bit of money to buy sights and ammo

[low surge]

I’m just saying a badge or a number range is faster to read in general the UI could use some work tho

[dull sphinx]

Lately I've been thinking about something that could potentially help with the class system without entirely changing it, seeming that EW absolutely refuses to let go of the idea of traditional videogame balance.
I think if we're not going to fix classes themselves, the harvest check requirements should be changed. As of now to pass that harvest check you need:
•Appropriate ammo
•Vital organ hit
•Undamaged tophy organ
•Animal shot 2 times or less

Now obviously all that is intended to promote 'ethical hunting' but how the hell does it affect the measuremnts of my animal horns/trophy "organ" ? I'm not trying to promote the idea of hunting Buffalo with a .22Lr but ffs the average Buffalo hunt where the Buffalo charges sees the Buffalo shot atleast 3 or 4 times and often at least 1 shot will go though the brain. Also, if EW ever adds an animal like giraffe or Zebra, they'd theoretically never be able to pass the harvest check because their 'trophy organ' is their skin, which you kind of have to shoot to get to the vitals.

My point is, the harvest check system, as far as im concerned, is redundant in its current form and I think for the satisfaction of the playerbase EW should have the harvest check have no affect on the score or medal you recive for your trophy (perhaps with the exception of hitting the skull on most animals) but rather, let it have an affect on the money or XP you recive from the animal.

I think this way EW will be happy (not thay it particularly matters really) because they gey their arbitrary balance and the players will be happy because they recive increased freedom of equipment usage, replayability and can finally use our favorite/irl cartridges for the animals we hunt irl with them in the case of irl hunters

Ps. Sorry for the essay, it's easier spoken than typed

[low surge]

The trophy organ really only makes sense for some predators and deer as they are either judged on the skull or become difficult to mount properly if the skull is damaged (if a deers’ skull cap is damaged you can’t properly judge the width of the anthers as it will change that) but the trophy organ should be dependent on species, and some species should not have this requirement

[marsh walrus]

On the topic of great one racks-

Im happy we got a mule deer g1 don’t get me wrong but I agree with that dude that said they look like fairy tail animals. I understand it’s a game so I don’t plan to make a big deal out of it but as a hunter I’d enjoy it more if they were more realistic. They can still be giants but I’d rather them take racks from record books or something like that and tailor them a little bit. Just my thought on it 🤷🏼‍♂️

[glacial birch]

Here are my thoughts on weapon classes and weapons ballistics

I do think the weapon class system should stay in place, but in a manner similar to the Hunter Classic and with consideration for real world applications

For example the 30-30, the subject of much ire as of late, should be considered permitted for everything from coyotes and roe deer all the way up to Roosevelt's Elk and American Black Bear (And maybe even moose considering how often its used to hunt moose here in Canada)

Now some of the reasons that I say that the remade ammo class system should take real world ballistics into consideration

• Calibres like the 30-30, 270 and 6.5 have all successfully taken larger animals like Moose while also being quite suitable for smaller big game animals like Roe Deer and Coyote
• While yes a record-book Grizzly Bear was taken back in the day with a 22 rimfire here in Alberta, this is not the norm, and in-game you could still be penalized
  • I have read the story and the trapper (A Cree woman, yes it happened on her trapline) shot in the weakest part of its skull, which she knew about, and dropped it in one round. She then shot it several more times to be sure it was dead and not just KO’d. (http://bear-hunting.com/2022/7/grizzly-with-a-22-c#:~:text=Bella Twin was a calm,for a good long time.
• It would open up the doors for new ammo types for many of the weapons with the 30-30, 45-70, the Inline Muzzleloader, the 45 Calibre Airgun, the 9.3x74R and the 375 to name a few
  • The 375 can be used to take everything from Impala all the way to Elephant IRL, so I can't see why it shouldn't have a bullet that covers Class 5 & 6 Animals
  • The 45-70 and 9.3x74R could use some dedicated Class 7 to 9 ammo for big game hunting
  • The 45 Calibre Airgun could also used some ammo suited for animals like wildebeest, black bear and elk, since this is the minimum calibre for big game hunting with airguns in some states

[shrewd saffron]

The large bore airgun as a hunting weapon has come a very long way and they've been used for everything you could imagine in the US. If an airgun can do this irl then why on earth can I not use a .30-30 for them in the game

[shrewd saffron]

A ballistics system like classic's would make this game so much easier to run with and much less infuriating to deal with

[buoyant raven]

don't think they will do away with the class system at this point ..... but by adding more than 2 ammo types that will allow a weapon to span multiple classes they could still salvage this mess ....

It's absolutely silly that I have to carry 3 or 4 weapons in order to target multiple classes ....

Classes 1 & 2 and even class 9 are a different matter but for 3-8 I should be able to carry the ammunition for the class that I'm wanting to hunt ....

If you don't want to make the ammo and clutter up inventory then just make most weaposn 3-8 in the same way that the 7mm is 4-9 .... Then the different ammo loads are simulated

[dull sphinx]

It's honestly gotten to a point where I take whatever rifle I want and hunt whatever I want with it. This usually involves shooting animals below the minimum class range but I'm no stranger to taking Buffalo with the .303 British at this point

[glacial birch]

I am considering running no more then 2 Rifles/Shotguns/Bows and 2 Handguns in all my loadouts (At least my one loadout that features a Compound Bow fits within these parameters, and I think I could get rather creative with all but one loadout which is my "Setup" loadout featuring the 454 and the Drilling Combo, its for setting up tents/blinds/decoy spreads)

[dull sphinx]

My average load out is a rifle, a scope, like 30 rounds of ammo max, base binoculars, and a first aid kit. Occasionally depending on the rifle I'll carry a handgun with those illuminated iron sights.

On a multi-player server I'll carry a .22lr, the SKS and the .375 H&H just because the servers are so unstable that if you see a nice trophy you have to act fast if you want it with its medal

[outer hamlet]

Absolutely agree within some limits, there should be a penalty for blasting grouse with 470 nitro for example, but not being able to get the trophy on a red deer shooting it with a 300 is just stupid

[brisk sequoia]

I don't think stopping Great Ones is the answer. They could do what you are asking and still promote Great Ones, like a Great One Elk.

The reason they don't fix it the way you want is so they can keep selling weapon packs. That's my opinion. i don't believe Great Ones has anything to do with it.

[shrewd saffron]

Great ones take a ton of time and resources. People have to put in time and focus on it. Taking time to individually model everything for each GO pulls a ton of work off the main game. Things like weapons and mechanics are left on the back burner in favor of graphics and visual design.

It's not asking much at all to hold off on a GO for one or two updates and give us actual fixes and weapon reworks. If they really want to make all the guns playable then they need to be at the same level as dlc

[brisk sequoia]

But that's my point. They don't want to make all the guns playable to the degree you want because if they did, they couldn't sell new weapon packs.

There would be no point in having new weapon packs if they didn't nerf the old ones.. They all would be just cosmetic at that point. Sure gun lovers would still buy them but a lot of the community would just overlook them.

Why buy a weapon pack if they already have a gun thats just as powerful and accurate. Most gaming companies do this. I play Battlefield and Call of duty occasionally and they do the same thing. You will have one gun that's meta then they nerf it and then they want you to buy the next best gun. I firmly believe thats the reason and not Great Ones stopping them from doing it. Im not saying I like it. It's just how they make money

[shrewd saffron]

I get that, but in this case the rifle they've overlooked is the reserve weapon and pissed off a majority of people. They need to take the time to make the weapons as good as the rest of the game or start losing customers on a bigger scale

[brisk sequoia]

I understand your frustration and totally get it. I just was defending Great Ones because I don't believe that's what's holding the power of the weapons back. I hope they fix it because its obvious what it means to you.

[shrewd saffron]

I don't mean it's holding them back I mean GOs take way too much focus off the work they should be doing

Putting out a well made map with a solid weapon, a decent story, and fewer bugs would mean a lot more to the players than a GO at launch.

A second update a month later adding a GO would be fine if they absolutely had too

[shrewd saffron]

Bump