When you first enter the jungles, you select your rank, right? There should be an 'oops' button for going back to the outpost without selecting one and being able to do it select again the next time you go to the Jungles.

It's really, really frustrating to preparing for a 7 or Bastard run and then accidentally hit the Jungle button because you're being inattentive or you hit it by habit. I am pretty livid at myself right now for having gotten pretty decently well into preparing for it and now having to do a Rank 5 instead.

**commiseration** I've cursed myself more than once for similar reasons. But, no, I don't think we should be able to back out. I like it that there's that irrevocable moment of truth when -- no backing out, this is it, no escape! -- you have to choose.

And if you weren't ready... hey, don't grumble. It could have been worse! Breathe fervent words of gratitude that the choice was not added to the end of the DK process, as it so easily could have been. At least, this way, you will be able to kill the drive and get another shot at executing your plan.

Yeah, I don't think CMJ intends for that to be a "DK rank preparation grace period". He's said before that he doesn't support Rank 0 activity, he just hasn't made efforts to streamline the switch from the previous DK to the new DK's rank.

Having to select it at the beginning of a DK makes absolutely no sense to me, then, because not only are Bastard ranks far too hard without some of the more expensive equipment... well, it makes the Elephant Gun and Cat Launcher and such pretty well worthless if there's never going to be a chance to afford them, right? Trying to Titan Hunt while on a Bastard run strikes me as an extremely awesome way to just get yourself killed a whole bunch.

well, I think Bastard Rank itself is supposed to be an extremely awesome way to get killed a whole bunch...

Yes, well, we all know that. But Fred's right -- and if we make a big deal of it, we may just see the 'loophole' closed, y'know?

Edit: Too late.

Fixed now. When players start asking me to build extra stuff on top of bugs, it's time to just fix the damned bugs. For a while the redirect was set to the forest, because hooking into the village caused infinite redirect loops - the redirect problem has been fixed, so this can hook into the village where it's supposed to be.

Far too hard?

It's called Bastard Rank. In fact, if you go by the nav text, it's called BAAAAASTAAAARD RAAAAAANK! in bright red letters.

Yes. It's hard.

Well, whoops, me and my big mouth. Sorry, guys. I suppose it's no longer an issue, then. I guess I can't feel too bad, if it's been considered a bug for such a long time. I can think of a few certain people on the Island who are now going to fucking hate me now, though... ;_;

edit: Though, I do have to ask: were players ever intended to be able to beat bastard rank? I can definitely still see a 7 being very possible, if you start with a plasma gun and such, but was Bastard always meant to just be a laugh? "Haha, look at how hard this is!"

Nothing in the game is designed to be impossible - but Bastard Rank came about as a result of me seeing players linger until lv15 at normal difficulty, then head into the forest, choose Rank 7, and beat the drive.

(yeah, I don't think there's a way you can say that so that it doesn't sound like blatant cheating )

I saw lots of people beating R7 without really realizing how widespread the cheating was, and thought "Well now, clearly we need another rank on top! An extra-special, Bastard-hard rank!"

It's interesting to note that if a bug is left uncorrected for long enough, then cheating becomes the norm - and if cheating's the norm, then it isn't really cheating anymore, because nobody has an advantage. Sadly, this did kinda make the Rank system pretty much meaningless.

And yes, the fact that this is still possible is due to horrendously bad game balancing on my part. :-/ This is down to the Prancing SpiderKitty quests, right?

I guess I feel a little better about it, after reading all that, but I do still feel pretty responsible for annoying a lot of people and just being a whiny jerk in general.

And... I can't say I see saving the Dan quests through a DK as cheating at all. It strikes me more as strategy, and 2.5k or even 25k isn't that huge of an advantage to start with, when everyone else is perfectly capable of doing it as well. It's just being prepared for that Rank 7 you want to get done, I would think!

(Please don't plug all the 'loopholes' at once, huh?)

The game just got harder. It was always going to. Now it is. Let's see what the power gamers can do with that, hm?

Matthew. Matt, Matt, Matty, my boy.

Run.

Just run.

I can hear them coming for your blood already.

Oh, Matt. Don't feel too bad - someone was bound to do it sooner or later.

(and hell, even if they didn't, I might have just woken up one day and thought "Right, time to fix that awful Rank System bug that's been hanging around for far too long.)

You're making it sound like I did everyone a favor!



Don't you worry. I'm already drafting plans for my secret underwater palace. There, I will be safe. From the torches, at least.

Aaaaaand it's times like these that I am so very happy I don't actually do any DKing.

**starts giving his/her lynch mob the orders and directions to Matthew's house**

Gosh, such a ring of finality.

But--though I've never done a R7 or a Bastard, so I'm sure I didn't appreciate the "grace period" as much as some did--I think it's a good thing, having the bug fixed. Now the standard method for beating hard Ranks will have to be rethought. And standard gets boring, doesn't it? (Correct answer: yes it's absolutely mind-numbing.)

However, on a related note, is it possible that the game could ask for confirmation when a) you ask the Watcher to lower your Rank and b) when you choose a Rank? I've accidentally lowered myself from 5 to 4 and that is a pain in the ass.

Ha! Think about trying to collect your Dan quest. No more Rank 0 travel to IC, THEN choosing your rank.

Too funny. Though I'm crying on the inside.