So, after a LOT of hours playing this, I sadly have to say I become a little disappointed with the 'end' game and some of the features of the pack. Loved it but I could die for it and it didnt raised me to that level!
Lumaceon, you have a great concept here but I think it needs a serious rework to make it a "AAA" pack.
It all goes more or less well until I craft my first paradise.
Then, I realized that I was missing something in the game. Suddenly, I didnt see a point in continuing the game, I felt it 'hollow'! It would be just more grinding for no apparent reason, no real purpose except to get the 100%...
To start I think you should increase the biome area of effect, so we can keep building our base while researching other biomes and not be forced to afk in a biome or having a soul shard tier 5 next to the pylons and mass murder mobs so we can research it faster. It seems all cool the first biomes but when you get to the 4th chapter... its just to many biomes to research. Adds to the sense of grinding!
Your 'grinding' quests in the 3th chapter are not that bad, when they required 100x more items, where way worse! But they still gave a weird sense. They are still too big, so it felt grindy and at the same time there is a lack of diversity in the quests. I didnt felt compelled to build some efficient base that would be able to face any crazy demand you gave me. It was more a quick and dirty base, with a lot of specific areas optimized for a single quest and once it was delivered, this area was abandoned! In the end, it felt I only build to grind faster.
It would also helped if the 'machine' to create/change the world gave more feedback of what happened... I felt lost many times, clicking on t and no message saying what happened.
The last chapters, in my opinion, give no real satisfaction. No real feeling of accomplishment. I unlock some biomes, grind like crazy for some stuff and the end result is a planet of the sky with a different colour. I had no sense of progression. I felt I had finished the game. It was like, I like a magic world, its finished, the rest of the quests are alternative endings, dont need to do them! Specially with the amount of work they require.
Well, not work, amount of time I will have to wait while I gather the resources. This is, I think, the real problem. You have quantities instead of diversity. You promote mass production instead of
smart and clever builds. Quests should be smaller in quantities but diverse with the items required. And by diversity, I dont mean to get every king of sapling... For example, the thaumcraft quest could be multiple tasks(see side note), where you first ask to deliver a small sample of mana beans(64 of each), then a alchemy golem, then a small sample of each viz, maybe finish with kami wand(with thaumcraft tinkerer mod). This gives progression to the game and the build you are making to accomplish the quests.
If all quests are structured this way, it will give a better longevity to the pack, since players have to build a real base capable of everything and not a small section where mass-production happens. The clear example of this was the way I produced the dirt. I mass produced it while I sleep and when it was done I just removed the quarry and it was done. A smaller number and the quest rewritten to make me build a mass dirt production with wood barrels and not locking my progression while waiting for it to finish would be way better.
That, to me, is the main problem with the pack. But what really disappointed me was that it failed to deliver what it promised at the beginning. We start with the concept of multiple biomes and have to load them and work with them to progress and stuff... Well.... after my sieving system was in full force, I had no reason to use the biomes anymore. I even spent most of the time with them disabled so I had a better mob spawning rate in my mob farm!!! Only used them for a specific situation and unloaded them a few mins later. In the end, I feel I played a normal sky block game.
Sadly, to this problem, I have no suggestion... I dont know how to fix it... If AE didnt had the tile entities limitation... that would more easy
In the end, I really loved the concept. I still think its the best one between the ones that are publicly available. I feel it has a lot of space for improvement and to make it one of the best packs out there! A better quest storyline and some way of better integrating the biomes in the base we build and it will be one of the best 1.6.4 mod packs!
So, dont take this as a negative critic. Its not is purpose, totally the opposite although it doesnt sound like that! I give a very positive evaluation, specially taking in account it was built in a month.
Now, it just needs to be improved. And if you need and want, you can count with my help! I really think this concept and this pack deserves all the time that was and will be invested in it to make it the best pack ever.
side note: please, use multiple tasks instead of multiple quests. It gives a better organization to the quests, you dont have 300 crossing lines and it doesnt lag the client to dead when all are flashing. I play the pack at 160 fps and when I had the book open on the 4th chapter I dropped to 20 fps..... Instead of groups of 4 quests, 1 quest with 4 tasks... Less blinking stuff. It seems HQM is badly optimized when it is about visual effects