The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

TheRealCheese · 2014-02-19 12:48:30

I am all for fun with electronics and code locks and whatnot, but clocks are killing the game for me. I still have not gotten over the middleclass hump, but that is not what is bothering me. The last few days, I've encountered so many clocks that I think I have only had 2 successfull robberies. I know you're gonna say: "Well Cheese, old buddy, old chap, you can build a clock for around 700$ and cash in yourself as well?" but... I don't want to. I don't want to HAVE to build my house a certain way for it to be worthwhile. With a 5k starting bank roll I can build a house that I like and several different trap options are open to me, but with how people have gotten better at building houses and among that a lot of clocks, I can't even reach that 5k starting bank.

MMaster · 2014-02-19 12:55:24

I have never used clocks in any of my houses (when I don't count testing) and still was able to get to top 10 several times. I think clocks are nasty for robbers, but also usually easily discoverable before taking any risk.

LiteS · 2014-02-19 12:58:16

But clocks are nearly always possible to figure out simply by walking back and forth and checking the timing between steps. 16 should be more than enough.

I thought clock houses were cheap earlier too, but it simply taught me to suspect that any house could have a clock until I check for sure.

TheRealCheese · 2014-02-19 12:58:38

MMaster it wasn't a problem before, I could rob 5k-10k houses with a few deaths, but houses are so hard now, especially clock houses, even in that range that I get three pages of purple houses and nothing to show for it. I know part of it is that I'm just not a very good robber, but it's still souring me on the game. I enjoy building but I don't get to, because I have no money.

jere · 2014-02-19 13:01:43

Clocks aren't really that strong. I can't imagine any scenarios where a clock offers you anything that great that you can't get out of a magic dance. Clocks, by the way, can always be sawed to, they're predictable, and they're bulky too.

What you're seeing is that people are simply getting better.

TheRealCheese · 2014-02-19 13:03:01

jere - Well that sucks for a bottomscraper like myself. I was content at the middleclass hump but I am not on the bottom where I am now.

MMaster · 2014-02-19 13:03:56

TheRealCheese wrote:

MMaster it wasn't a problem before, I could rob 5k-10k houses with a few deaths, but houses are so hard now, especially clock houses, even in that range that I get three pages of purple houses and nothing to show for it. I know part of it is that I'm just not a very good robber, but it's still souring me on the game. I enjoy building but I don't get to, because I have no money.

To be honest I have almost all my money just from building. I don't enjoy robbing as it's too risky. Just build your house to be more inviting and don't be impatient. I usually get ~$18000 a day (no matter how early/late in the game).

Tip: most of the people coming to your house until you are at more than $30000 are going to have tools for $2000 or no tools at all. So 5 saws at most. It's not that hard to protect your house against that.

Last edited by MMaster (2014-02-19 13:11:18)

PlasmaChroma · 2014-02-19 13:09:52

MMaster wrote:

Just build your house to be more inviting and don't be impatient.

I think this is something a lot of people overlook. You don't need to have immediate commit gates. Having a little "play" area that has nothing to do with getting through but looks like a convincing decoy can pay off a lot, especially if said play area happens to occasionally get deadly if you play too much. Although it seems that having a weak commit, like 1 dogmeat or 1 water breakable will still draw in a lot of people.

All that being said, it's hard to gauge how much room is worth using on something that doesn't bulk up real defense.

TheRealCheese · 2014-02-19 13:13:48

PlasmaChroma wrote:

All that being said, it's hard to gauge how much room is worth using on something that doesn't bulk up real defense.

Especially with the starting purse.

MMaster · 2014-02-19 13:16:15

PlasmaChroma wrote:

All that being said, it's hard to gauge how much room is worth using on something that doesn't bulk up real defense.

I usually build the starter house in a way where the exit door (vault door) are located at place where I can start building my predesigned house. This way people still see the inviting starter house, but at the end they will find something else and as soon as you have all the remaining place filled with parts of your predesigned house just change the entry to the predesigned one, finish the gaps and you are done. You have house that you wanted. It took a few days to do it, but there it is.

LiteS · 2014-02-19 13:20:15

PlasmaChroma wrote:

MMaster wrote:
Just build your house to be more inviting and don't be impatient.
I think this is something a lot of people overlook. You don't need to have immediate commit gates. Having a little "play" area that has nothing to do with getting through but looks like a convincing decoy can pay off a lot, especially if said play area happens to occasionally get deadly if you play too much. Although it seems that having a weak commit, like 1 dogmeat or 1 water breakable will still draw in a lot of people.
All that being said, it's hard to gauge how much room is worth using on something that doesn't bulk up real defense.

I've died several times in new houses like this. The bottom houses tend to have the most innovation in my opinion. I've seen more new traps near the bottom of the list than the top, since the top is more about building a house that has a high cost per square brute forced through.

One thing you have to ask yourself when building is this: What kind of robber am I going to trap? The one with 2k in tools, or the one with nothing at all? Where will the robber with no tools go in my house? Why?

There are beautiful traps that are defeated by a single water or drugged meat, but will kill 100% of robbers with no tools.

Side note: These deaths have made me implement a new self imposed rule: If I feel the need to explore a house, I take a dog meat. The ol' "Wife with shotgun has a shorter path to the door than I do" trap has gotten me one too many times.

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#1 2014-02-19 12:48:30

The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#2 2014-02-19 12:55:24

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#3 2014-02-19 12:58:16

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#4 2014-02-19 12:58:38

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#5 2014-02-19 13:01:43

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#6 2014-02-19 13:03:01

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#7 2014-02-19 13:03:56

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#8 2014-02-19 13:09:52

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#9 2014-02-19 13:13:48

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#10 2014-02-19 13:16:15

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

#11 2014-02-19 13:20:15

Re: The prevalence of clocks (Warning, rant)

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