Returning - is there a point yet?

[Salvadore]

Are totem areas still safezones?

Is it actually full loot now, or still only partial loot?

Is the revamped combat considered "working"?

Is pvp between players mechanically possible? (lagless, hits register properly, etc)

Is there a difference between weapons/armor, as in has actual values been implemented to see a difference between items besides looks?

If I log in, will I still have my OP pre-order weapon, and will it be much more OP than anything else and INDESTRUCTIBLE?

Do skill values actually factor in on...anything...yet?

Is there anything to REALLY do in this game besides hoard? Gathering for the sake of crafting is not a valid answer here. Crafting for the sake of crafting is not a valid answer here. Building for the sake of building is not a valid answer here.

**Honest answers please, and don't just link me to an update section. I want to hear from the dead canaries like MrDDT that actually still play the game. I'm not interested in my own interpretation of reading the update section. THANKS!

[Drevar]

Totems are still safezones. The option to remove one's own safe zone in exchange for better scavenge loot on your tribelands is pending.

Pouches/containers on your corpse are lootable now. You can loot someone in water. You still only have a limited time to loot before the corpse disappears.

It's working according to the devs and the players that I've heard from.

Everything I've experienced says yes that is all mostly fixed. There is more sliding/phasing issues with animals than other people (due i think to client side prediction). There are multiple hit locations possible, but right now only 2 areas are actually hit and cause armor damage. The next combat pass is supposed to fix this. Parrying works very well, if you are fast enough to do it, hehe.

There was a pass done at armors so there is some difference, but I don't feel it is enough. More tweaks are coming to crafting to make the possible differences more noticable, but when? Soon(TM). Weapons actually have different ranges for being able to hit with.

Yes PO's are still around and indestructable, but they took a nerf to damage. High end crafted weapons surpass them, but they degrade and the damage they do degrades the more damaged they get. Many agree the degradation is not fast enough, though.

Skills and stats directly affect damage. More stats and skills affect total HP (on test). AGI greatly impacts swing speed (on test).

On test the new "quest" system allows a player to create tasks that generate XP for both the questor and creator. Haven't tested this much, but it is essentially still just hoarding only you are getting someone else to do it for you. Walls and gates keep people out, but since everything is pretty much lockable within the tribe it really only affects animals. With aggressive revenants coming (many weeks out, still), walls will be more important. Supposedly, eventually they will be able to loot stuff in your tribe, unlike players. Other than that crafting is still pretty much just crafting and building for its own sake.

There is still no "win" condition and I doubt there will ever be one aside from personal and tribe goals set by players themselves.

[Salvadore]

Pouches/containers on your corpse are lootable now. You can loot someone in water. You still only have a limited time to loot before the corpse disappears.

So, you cannot loot equipped equipment off of people? Just their pouches/containers?

There is still no "win" condition and I doubt there will ever be one aside from personal and tribe goals set by players themselves.

Right on, wasn't looking for an ultimate "win" condition, but more of a reason to log in. If there was a reason for pvp, especially group pvp, this game would be phenomenal. I'm talking resource contesting, land contesting, etc.

Having a real reason to use all that hoarded "stuff", a well designed and impenetrable tribe town, or even a reason to hoard MORE is what I'm looking for. I've already done the initial hoarding (when it was harder) and don't really have a strong desire to hoard just to hoard.

WTB interaction between other players, for any real reason besides acquisition of hoarded things ;]

[GuideRaguel]

So, you cannot loot equipped equipment off of people? Just their pouches/containers?

Yes you can, you can loot Equipped Items and Items in the containers/pouches your victim is carrying.

Right on, wasn't looking for an ultimate "win" condition, but more of a reason to log in. If there was a reason for pvp, especially group pvp, this game would be phenomenal. I'm talking resource contesting, land contesting, etc.

Having a real reason to use all that hoarded "stuff", a well designed and impenetrable tribe town, or even a reason to hoard MORE is what I'm looking for. I've already done the initial hoarding (when it was harder) and don't really have a strong desire to hoard just to hoard.

WTB interaction between other players, for any real reason besides acquisition of hoarded things ;]

Some Mutant creatures are really tough, so tough infact you will probably require a small group to take on.
In an upcoming patch, the bonuses given from Animal/Mutant items will increase the older and stronger they are.

So its a plan to let some creatures get as tough as possible and then group kill them to get the best bonus possible.

[Drevar]

A lot of people want a "reason" to log in, a "reason" to do crafting, or PvP, etc. and yet they never give an example of what "reason" would cause them to want to play.

Leaving the goals and reasons to play up to the developer is what you get in a themepark game. Here you kind of have to have your own reasons, your own goals, and then hope the devs give you all the tools to achieve them in some form. A lot of those tools are a long way off; the few that are in place or coming into place soon are just the first iterations and will still need a lot of development to be complete and mature systems.

[MrDDT]

I want a reason to wear armor, why worry about getting 100 bonecrafting when I dont need armor for anything? I can solo any animal in the game naked.
I want a reason to make better weapons, why worry about 100 weaponcrafting when I have a preorder thats as good or better than other weapons?
I want a reason to fight over resources and areas of the map.
I want animals that are more than 10 per zone so when you go out hunting the world feels alive.
I want a reason to buy something from someone else. Without this economy and most of the skills in the game are pointless.
I want a reason to build walls in my tribal area. You can build and build in this game wondrous cities yet they serve no purpose.
I want a reason to build a house or a campfire.
I want to see bonuses on items and weapons that matter. When someone with 40 skill can make the best weapons in the game there is a serious issue.
I want a reason to have other people in the tribe other than myself. Why would I need someone else in the tribe when I can do everything?
I want a reason to travel around the map for resources or rare items.
I want a reason for contested areas for someone to control.
I want a reason not to be on someone's land and be afraid while in enemy lands.
I want a reason to be afraid while running around the world.
I want a reason to goto another crafter and that crafter say "Hey do you have this? I heard you are good at it and I need that to make this"