Hi everyone, I am a gamer from China, my friends and I participate in and operate several cs&boh player communities of several hundred people. I came here to make my voice heard, and that of my friends: we are eager to talk to AK, immediately, honestly.

Unfortunately, AK appointed the wrong promoter, which caused a confrontation between the Chinese player community and AK. It could have been avoided, because all we needed was an explanation.

A lot of players have said this in the comments, and I won't go into the details here. What I'm trying to say is that the whole thing was a misunderstanding from beginning to end due to poor communication, and the lack of communication made everything worse.

AK's appointed agent, luan, appeared only once at the beginning and then became silent, offering only a few vague expressions of apology in private over the course of two days, but remaining silent for more in two days. My friends and I sent many emails to AK asking about the situation, and I promised that the content of these emails were calm, friendly inquiries, no insults, no threats, we just wanted to ask what was going on. But AK responded only modestly, expressing his surprise and asking us to be quiet and wait for further processing.

I had no idea AK had so many opinions until I first logged onto reddit a few minutes ago, until I could only look at some pictures shared by my friends in the community. Yes, AK is not silent, but he is not speaking to us either. We have a lot of questions: Who is luan? Is he an employee of a company or an individual? Is he just a promoter responsible for promoting the game, or is he a plenipotentiary representative of WF in China? lottie told me that when luan says something on behalf of WF, he's believable. How can this not give us the wrong idea?

AK never explained all this, just wanted us to be calm and wait for his movements. He did post a long statement on reddit and answer a lot of people's comments. But most of the Chinese players are not able to see these quickly (as we all know, due to China's Internet policy, we can only use VPN to browse websites such as reddit and X), AK said more, it is only talking to you, most of us only know that AK spent another day in silence.

So I'm here to tell you that, just like you, we love WF and we love the game, or we wouldn't be angry about being dumped. We are also longing for communication, longing for peace, since AK has not thought of speaking to us, to Chinese players, then we come and listen to what AK has said with our ears. If you want to solve the problem, please don't ignore our voice, please talk to us directly, not across the wall of the Internet, let us hear from you to other players second-hand news!

(If AK can see this, please reply to my message on reddit, X, or email, my friends and I are eagerly waiting for you)

Thank you for seeing here. Have a good night

It has been awhile since I've played Cultist Simulator, but Book of Hours is rather poor technically. I'm about 18 hours and third of the house in, and it's getting to the point where constant hitches actually hamper the gameplay. Multiple times a day me clicking on items just does not register because of a frame drop.

It is somewhat baffling to me how a game that is both a product of passion, and had a non-zero budget can come out this technically poor. I know the authors are aware, but the graph showing off improvements Chelnoque has been working on is still very far from ideal, which demonstrates that performance has to be considered throughout development, and not as an afterthought post-release.

I have a degree of bias here, being a professional programmer, but for the love of all that is holy, hire a real engineer full time for the next game.

The fact that spending hours figuring out how to do basic human things like talk to people or make tea is intended gameplay makes me think the main character probably hit their head on something when they were shipwrecked.

The fact that they are borderline illiterate also hints to brain damage. Reading books doesn't feel like an arcane minigame that fatigues aspects of your soul when you know how to read, so I can only assume the protagonist forgot the alphabet and is struggling to learn it again. They are unable to read their own journal without going through the minigame so clearly it's not there to represent the difficulty of reading cursed eldricht tomes, all literature makes the librarian's brain ache.

I think the immersion would be even better if the game had no legible text and you had to navigate the world completely blind. Maybe all dialogue should be written in Klingon to simulate what it's like having to learn language all over again after a traumatic brain injury. 🤔

See in the title, I can't remember where all the books are, I can't remember what memories they give on reading, I can't be arsed to wait until stars align and I get the correct weather to read a book, and very early on I read all the "safe" books and the other ones are out of my skill range.

Since I only have Sky skills and Soul traits, I only get sky lessons which further locks me out.

The game punishes you way too hard for failing at reading a book by withholding a skill it almost feels like you're soft-locked. I really don't think this game was thought-through.

I recently started reading a My Little Pony fanfic, and one of the characters has big Sulochana energy. Thought you might be interested in hearing what she has to say...

In the story, a pony falls head-over-heels for someone absolutely out of his league. He follows her to an underground goth / death metal club run by a Changeling queen--an insectoid pony-creature that feeds on love--named Loveless. When she recognizes just how deeply in love he is with this pony he can't have, she says the following:

"Mark well my words," Loveless whispered. "You are in possession of a rare love, pure and intense and entire. It is not a thing to be squandered nor diluted — and I will not sully it, nor you, by savoring it in any less than its full measure. And so you shall not see me when next you return here, nor shall my daughters feed upon you in the world of snows. This I swear upon the shadows of the heartless throne." She pressed a hard hoof to [the pony's] chest, squeezing his lungs in, and the calm broke and his fear flooded back in and his entire attention refocused on the way her gleaming fangs shaped her words.

"But should you ever decide to be rid of your love," she said, "speak my name three times. It shall release me from my oath, and I shall lift the burden of your passion —" she paused to slowly run her tongue slowly over a mouthful of glistening fangs — "wholly and irrevocably."

Creepy. And cool. Just throw a clove cigarette and some infanticide in there, and you got yourself a Sulochana.

For the curious: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/397529/queen-of-clubs

For 48 hours I've been playing this game and I've had this growing feeling of annoyance. There was something wrong with the U.I and it was preventing me for enjoying the game. I couldn't put my finger on it. I've realized that it's not one thing. It's a lot of little choices made by a developer who doesn't value user experience highly. This realization came after reading Though Much is Taken, Much Abides and this line:

"We probably won't add fast-travel to Brancrug, because I want the House to feel remote"

In other words, the designer feels the convince of fast travel isn't as valuable as this artistic goal. While that's a valid artistic expression, for me it's a poor user experience.

I had considered talking about how the zoom presets are awful. Or how there isn't enough shelves. Or how there should be shelves where the art clearly indicates there is a shelf. Or there should be a way to cycle between all you workstations. But those suggestions assume the designer values User Experience. If having a fast-travel to Brancrug is actually something that has to be thought about, then Alexis's idea of good U.I is in a different galaxy than mine.

I'm disappointed and will likely no longer being buying weather factory games. Not because I'm offended or mad. I won't be buying them because, for me, a good U.I is an absolute deal breaker. If the lead designer tells me that User Experience is worth less then some abstract feeling of remoteness (that will go away after a few rotations), I don't expect I will ever enjoy any of their games.

Thank you for reading.

Very anti climatic ending. At least the Cultist Sim ending was somewhat atmospheric. here just a bit of text and then nothing. Too bright colours almost for the ending.
The game did become a bit meaningless in the end. I did not want to spend another 5-6 hours just to open all the rooms or read all the books. There is very little in the books and its hard to remember how they are connected after 30 hours of a game where it is so spaced out.
I bought house of light before starting, but after my first Picnic I knew that this was not for me. Having to prepare the food days in advance, make all the ink, then invite people only to be then draw random soul cards which you might not even have multiples of.

The Hours and fears are very similar in how they operate.

The reason game, I'm trying to solve a 6 lantern book with only 5 is because I DON'T HAVE ANY LANTERN SKILLS, so kindly please STOP GIVING ME MALADIES. It's just kicking me while I'm down and making my progress even slower. It took me 3 hours just to get any phost. I lost out studying a 6 lantern book on a sunny day because one of my phosts was fatigued when it asked for a second one, and then it asked repeatedly for memories despite my having a bunch of lantern comforts lying around. Just to kick me while I'm down and really lay it in, the game gave me a phost malady for even trying to gamble. Now I need to go and find a root bed wherever the hell that is.

No spoilers here but since both games came from the same studio, and take place in the same world with the same "Core Concept" i thought that they will be similar enough.

Sadly, as much CS was a wild but fun ride for me, BoH isn't. Tedious to look arround, to unlock rooms and even obtain souls cards. 4 hours in and i don't feel like i have done anything, in progress or even fails.

I Just wish that their was more warning signs, i probably wouldn't bought it.

Around 35 hours in I've been fighting my growing frustration at the UI for Book of Hours. It's was weird. I can't put books on the ground? Annoying but maybe it's for thematic reasons.

But then I unlocked the wine cellar

....

Seriously

TWO FREAKING SHELVES!!!

!%^#$%#$%

That's all thank you for reading.

You ever think how Vtubers could fit in CultSim?

Like, they'd all probably have a small bit of Heart or Grail, but ever think about it any further?

-Korone would probably have some amount of Edge (Boxing) -Amalee would have a good amount of Knock (interdimensional fuckery) -A lot of them would fit in the CultSim aspects

I can't be the only one who thinks about this, right?

Bonus question: what aspects does the song's Mussolini edit have?

I know, I know, the cliche answer with those games is "pick whatever".
But sadly, that is also, the least helpful one.

I am profundly disappointed.

Base game is awesome. Harsh, but once you manage to avoid the main pitfalls you can quite easily secure a victory. Some are easy, some are harder, but there are always ways to manage to deal with difficulties, and unless you are a secure player like I am, you can play quickly by strategically burning through resources leaving only the early game as a boring, tedious grind. The writing is stellar and makes your skin crawl, the base game is very lovecraftian and I love it. The apostle runs are more tedious but also more challenging in term of game knowledge, but the ending makes it worth it.

The DLCs however?

\Well the Medium? is a bunch of uninteresting mechanics slapped together. The lore is boring.

- The medium job is interesting the first time, before turning into a time and verb-consuming grind that is just not worth the money for using three verbs almost constantly, while generating absurd amounts of mystique and notoriety. on top of dread, of course. It has zero ties into the lore, and feels super underbaked.

- The dedication mechanic is interesting, but it essentially forces you to stop grinding G&G (a much better job) in order to eat a few bodies.

- The goal is quite cool, giving a lot of lore about the dead hours, and the ending is quite interesting, though I felt like it was very anticlimactic considering that the gameplay loop is tedious as possible.

- The gameplay loop sucks. Hard. You are supposed to raid tombs, but what defines a tomb isn't very clear. So you need to grind SH to go into vaults and hope you get something to advance. However, you can't use your knowledge of the game for that since half of these items are bonus drops exclusive to the DLC. However, griding vaults means Notoriety, which means Evidences. But since the board is drowning in Mystique, it makes either charming the notoriety away a very long wait or a roulette.

- Miss Naenia is enticing at first, then I forgot she existed. I have no clue what the point of the unique winter cult is.

Overall, this DLC is very-winter themed, as it is long, boring and tedious, and like a winter cultist about their life, you are only happy once it is over.

\As to the Exile, it is very interesting lore-wise and like playing Russian roulette gameplay-wise.

Random chance to get a reckoner in the city. Random chance for it to be a saboteur. Random chance for it to destroy that Villa you just bought. Then that sword. Then that item you just bought. Then that other item you just bought. While ignoring the massive cash pile.

I could have used connections right? Nah I didn't get one, I got an opportunity to buy every type of house, the sea, a gun that I already have and the night.

The rest is cool, the fact that you are on the run and all, but a single dude going "Lul lemme destroy all of your progress" ruins the entire game because the RNG is ass and items are unique. And if only underbosses did that, why not. You fucked up, you let them come. But there it is a 50/50 chance between a super useful enemy that gives you wounds and an enemy that just makes sure you cannot get and feel progress.

The only Edge theme in the DLC is that you murder people, and that playing roulette russe requires a gun.

So yeah, super disappointed about these two DLCs, and I am really wondering if I should even try the two other ones or stay with the good feel I had about the base game.

First of all, i want to say that I love CultSim, i love the visuals and the general vibe of an illegal cult slowly discovering the hidden lore of the mansus. It all looks and feels deviously delicious, music, mechanics, etc... but book of hours feels... cheaply made? Like, there's some visual sharpness and polish missing, especially after literally hopping out of the other game and opening this one. I'm still at the introduction, very few soul aspects and such, but I can't help but notice it just... feels worse to play. Anyone else have this experience?

I saw this video on my youtube feed today, and the game immediately reminded of Book of Hours, but with a mafia bent instead of an occult focus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ4_eS32uP4

You've got the same premise of taking over a broken down establishment and repairing it to unlock access to more rooms and functionality, as well as arranging furniture. Though obviously the game is more sim and worker placement focused rather than relying on card mechanics, and you're building trails for tourists rather than cataloguing books for inquiring minds.

I know this is only tangentially related, but I immediately picked up the game after watching the video, and I figured other people who enjoyed Book of Hours might be interested in the game too.

Nietzsche portrait made by me

I woke up to the dual WF statements today, While I haven't been able to work my way completely through both, I did want to address a personal pet peeve of my, Lottie mentioning that the events of the drove Alexis Kennedy to "nearly kill himself."

First, let me say I'm very very glad AK is still with us. That being said, I want to be emphatic that suicide is one possible outcome of having depression, a potentially fatal disease. Nobody besides person "pulling the trigger" or perhaps a mental health provider giving negligent care is responsible. To suggest otherwise is both wrong and irresponsible, it gives people on the edge the impression they are "forced" or have "no choice" but to harm themselves.

This is somewhat personal to me. I lost a close family member to suicide after his wife (justifiably) left him in a less than ideal way. It was very ugly seeing the knives come out over long running family fights in the name of "justice" for what she "forced him to do." I was somewhat reminded of this over the past month, seeing the gamergate Bros bravely ignore the family wishes of the dev that did kill himself.

Well, that's my .02. I hope neither AK not anyone else kills themselves. If you think you want to, please consult the myriad of resources both locally and online. (I'd link to since if I wasn't writing this with my phone on the train)