Ok, step one, I'm bored and I need some writing practice, so I'll write this. You all have probably seen more than enough of threads like this, but if you are as bored as I am, you'll have time to read it. If not, feel free to move on.
Now that's out of the way, let's move to the actual post. Although I bought Xsyon before release, I was busy with some work related issues so I wasn't able to actually play right away. That's why I'm writing this so late.
Right from the start I decided to go solo, so I picked skill that would best support that: Toolcraft. After entering the world it was time to think up some goals for myself.
Goal 1: A homestead
I started in Sugar Pine. Finding a suitable place for homestead seemed like a dreadful job at first. Not so much because much of the land is taken, but more because there is no clear indication for where you can place your totem. So I ended up running around suitable locations while spamming the "Place totem"-button. Finally I hit a free spot and there I had it. Nice spot of land, close to water and junk piles.
Goal 1: check.
Time spent: ~0.5 hour.
Goal 2: Tools
Just like finding a place for homestead, this one seemed just as dreadful a job. That was until I got the recipe for Scrapper's lasher. After that it was simple and dull. Just gather scrap plastic, craft, throw away the finished lashers and repeat. Finally I decided I got all the recipes I need and decided to move on.
Goal 2:check.
Time spent: ~2 hours.
Goal 3: Baskets
I really needed baskets to put my stuff in. I had the tools needed so all I needed was the skill. Lots of grass around so this should be a snap, right. Right? After a long, long, long grind I decided to give up. Since crafting baskets was out of the question, I was left with the option to trade for them. Luckily, there was a fellow player nearby who sold me some baskets for bunch of screws and rivets. Since I didn't have any use for either, the price was good for me and few minutes later my camp had 3 nice baskets.
Goal 3:check.
Time spent ~8 hours.
Sidenote: At some point I got unconfirmed information that unless you choose Basketry as your starting profession, you can't get the recipes for baskets. So all that time spent grinding was for nothing.
Goal 4: The camp
I already got the baskets, now it's time to build some sort of shelter around them. Laying the projects took a few minutes, so all I need to do is gather the materials. This project is still a work in progress, been that way since I realised that after the camp is done, I'm pretty much out of things to do.
So here I stand, inside a partially finished camp, with no incentive to finish it since that would leave me with nothing to do ...It's a dead end...
Now, here are some what if's that could keep the game going:
1) What if there was item degrade, all of the stuff I have and use would degrade over time and/or use, so I would have to make new ones, or at least repair existing ones. But since there isn't, I alreade have all I need and want forever and ever.
2) What if the fish was not enough to feed me. That would force me to go out hunting to get me some meat for lunch. But as long as I can get all the nourishment I need from the fish just few steps away from my totem, why should I go hunting?
3) What if the water got from the lake and streams wouldn't be good enough, that would force me to create a well, that would also need maintenance and parts, giving me one more thing to take care of.
4) What if we run out of resources. Although this won't happen without item degrade, in conjunction with it, it would create a situation where I would need to pack up and move somewhere else to be able to continue crafting.
All in all, Xsyon is a nice sandbox, unfortunately it's filled with dry sand and no toys so all you can do is stack up the sand to create a pyramid. After that you can continue making pyramids or move on. For me, well it's "free" for a while longer, but once the free time is used up, unless the game gets something to create new goals on, you won't be seeing me around.