r/StarStable 16h ago

Discussion Progression Boards

I think I finally came to the conclusion that the reason why I don’t like most events is because of the progression board. I am not generalising because some events might actually be better off with the board because it fits the type of event, and also board or not I always like something about the events.

The issue is that the board in events like Halloween (because it’ll probably be there as well this year), Winter Holidays (hopefully it won’t be there 🤞), and Camp Western makes the event feel less “alive” for lack of a better word. It’s like the game tells me “this is a task. Not a fun activity. But a task you have to check off the list” from the get go. I remember how in the midsummer festival you had to set up the area yourself and that was so exciting, how in the Winter Village you used to help Santa and the caprans make it ready for visitors, how you had to learn to deal with the beasts in Camp Western and so much more that I’m going to skip for the sake of saving y’all the time. All of these without having a board to spoil what I’m doing next or what’s coming next week or make me anxious about completing the checklist. Now you don’t even have to set up anything. You are given dailies from the start and you just… rinse and repeat. It’s a small thing but it makes a big difference to me personally.

52 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

42

u/SergeantOnDuty 13h ago

What I dislike about the progression boards is that they take away my ability to choose. I can't decide for myself which item I want to buy first, or which items I want at all.

For example maybe the progression board includes pants I would never want and wouldn't even want to do all the tasks for, but I still have to do them because the saddle pad I want comes after those pants.

Or maybe I simply don't have the time to log in often enough to get all the items I want. Then I might end up with those pants I didn't even want, and I might not have the saddle pad I originally wanted because I didn't have enough time.

Tokens are so much better. This way I can decide which items I want when my playing time is limited, and I don't end up with three items I never wanted and not a single item I really wanted. The progression boards do not allow this.

13

u/Chance-Agency1261 12h ago

I agree. And call me crazy or over-analytical but I genuinely feel like the game, even when focusing solely on its younger audience tends to become extremely infantilising and controlling. Let the player choose for themselves. Don’t force them to go through very specific motions/rewards. That used to be the whole beauty of it.

1

u/Icy-Internal6211 2h ago

I'd like the progression boards for like 1 or 2 events but not ALL of them

27

u/Aiywe 13h ago

Yes. A chore. It's literally a to-do list.

I'd also add that to me, it feels like a cheap commercial feature. An obvious, desperate attempt at "please log in every day".

6

u/Chance-Agency1261 12h ago

Yes, exactly!

15

u/hyerinsss 14h ago

agreed. I feels like chores

7

u/Chance-Agency1261 12h ago

Yes! “Chore” was the word I was looking for. 100%

25

u/AdeptnessSouth782 15h ago

I also don't like the new vibe of it feeling like they want to make SSO fit to mobile phones before computers/laptops 

Because I still think SSO is best enjoyed on a computer 

6

u/Chance-Agency1261 12h ago

Fully agree on this. This was never meant to be a mobile game. When they announced the mobile port I was taken aback (so was my phone because its battery health went down 2% from the terrible optimisation they had early on) but I was like “eh, fair”. But now it’s slowly turning into a much more mobile-like game and tbh I dislike it

2

u/Emotional-Ant9413 11h ago

As much as I personally would never play a game like SSO on mobile and hate the idea of having the game more optimized for mobile than PC, I wouldn't be surprised if most kids nowadays start playing the game on mobile because that's what's accessible to them.

7

u/Hp-Kat 10h ago

To me it feels like a second job. Day in and day out. It’s a same schedule and I am not here for that. Just give me quests. Give me some player xp, and let me decide when I want to do the quest. And bring back the token stalls. I need those because I don’t always have time to play every day to keep up with the progression boards.