What are your gripes/criticism of TiTs?

[Theron]

You're assuming the game is balanced around all stats being maxed out. It might be, but I doubt it.

There was somebody who got up to the Zheng Shi intro at Level 1 (couldn't beat Urbolg).

I've gotten through Zheng Shi having invested no points and doing very little Stat Training. (I prefer to not use the Gym until Augment-Weave Armor.)

If using Melee weapons increased Physique & Ranged increased Aim, ect., there would be very little point in granting stat points on level up.

 

[EvolutionKills]

You're assuming the game is balanced around all stats being maxed out. It might be, but I doubt it.

Nope. But there is a simple fix for that. If you don't want people to easily max out their stats, then you can adjust the amount of bonus attribute gains you get on level up. This is something you can come at from more than just one angle.

As is, the current inconsistent and arbitrary system of stat gains we have results in a esoteric and unintuitive system that ultimately does nothing to prevent min-maxing. I know how to min-max in TiTS and I will continue to do so. But wouldn't it be nice if the people who didn't min-max also had a game system that actually made sense, offered consistent and intuitive progression, and was straightforward enough to not need a wiki to understand?

 

[Theron]

If it's possible to max all stats, it's not min-maxing, it's just maxing. Min-maxing is making the most of your limited points.

The player is directed to New Texas on Day 2. 10K for a Lifetime membership at the Gym is expensive for the first planet or two, but peanuts later.

The unintuitive things about the Gym, in my opinion:
1. It's better to eat at the Bucking Bronco instead of going all the way back to the Ship to sleep.
2. You should Train first, then spend Stat points. In fact, it's possible to bank enough you don't have to Train later.
3. You shouldn't put your Affinity in a stat you plan on raising primarily with Stat points.

I think the developers see Slow Stat Gain as a bonus, not something they expect the player to do.

 

[Gabranth]

Honestly?

Grinding stats isn't fun.
Just load up the save editor, and max them when you reach max level.

Although I do like the idea of my attributes improving the more I use my weapons. It just (works) makes sense.

 

[Wafflesnake]

You're assuming the game is balanced around all stats being maxed out. It might be, but I doubt it.

note that this is for the main dungeons the team puts together for the main story. community written encounters are given a difficulty by their writer and typically only get an initial balance pass. ex. though i never had an issue with them, consider how long people complained about the rat raider difficulty before they got nerfed

 

[EvolutionKills]

If it's possible to max all stats, it's not min-maxing, it's just maxing. Min-maxing is making the most of your limited points.

The player is directed to New Texas on Day 2. 10K for a Lifetime membership at the Gym is expensive for the first planet or two, but peanuts later.

The unintuitive things about the Gym, in my opinion:
1. It's better to eat at the Bucking Bronco instead of going all the way back to the Ship to sleep.
2. You should Train first, then spend Stat points. In fact, it's possible to bank enough you don't have to Train later.
3. You shouldn't put your Affinity in a stat you plan on raising primarily with Stat points.

I think the developers see Slow Stat Gain as a bonus, not something they expect the player to do.

I know all of that. Please don't be pedantic with 'min-maxing'. Raising your stats by grinding a lot in the early levels, so that you can cruise on by without needing to train at higher levels; effectively rationing your limited amount of free level-up attribute points? That's literally min-maxing ('...making the most of your limited points') as you defined it, and can result in max stats for the player.

Again, New Texas just isn't a probe location. There aren't any other gyms in the entire game (as opposed to how many different transformative or weapon vendors there are). Heck, there are more places to purchase ships and ship upgrades. You can't even do something as reasonable as purchase an 'at home' gym and slap it inside your ship next to the Dong Designer (which ironically enough, appears on Tarkus with the upgrade is on Zheng Shi, both probe locations).

The current system is janky, inconsistent, and unintuitive. Wanting to get the most out of it requires consulting outside resources like the wiki. What raises your stats is largely arbitrary, and I don't think anyone can honestly argue that is not the case. I think the system as it stands now is a detriment to the current player experience, and would greatly benefit from being expanded with a consistent logic so that new players could actual intuit how the system works from within the game. Ideally a complete overhaul into a usage based system would be the most intuitive and straightforward system from a player's perspective, but I get that might require a more bottom-up rebalance of content and mechanics (e.g. percentile based stat checks).

The game isn't just an erotic text adventure. They put a full-blown RPG and combat system in here. If you're going to put in a progression system, why not put in a good one? Stats can already be raised outside of leveling up; that Pandora's Box has already been opened. So why not make it straightforward, easier to understand, more intuitive, and less grindy to do so? Again, even if a new system or overhaul is over-tuned and makes stat gains far more plentiful and easier to get, you can also adjust the stat points on level up to smooth out the progression speed.

Any game mechanic worth doing, is worth doing well.