What is your biggest loss in TLD?

[Andrey Grebenkov]

Hi, guys. Yesterday I lost my first chatacter on the 130th day of survival. Damn wolf. All plans for the future, everything accumulated and crafted over these months (since october 2019), all this gone into dark. Rest in peace, Grethen  

So, I'm very interesting to read about your "sad" experience in TLD? Not first, but most memorable, i mean. 

 

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

Most memorable, but also my contribution to a 'stupidest death' thread previously...

400+ days into a run to get both the 500 day and faithful cartographer achievements (before the last update so FC was pretty difficult).  I was stumbling around in HRV, looking for the last location I needed to map, then I could just retreat somewhere safe and burn through the last few dozen days I needed to reach 500.  It was getting late and I ran out of steam so attempted to head for an ice cave for the night.  Got in a tangle with a wolf, escaped and tried to climb up a rope to reach my destination.  Inches from the top I fell back with fatigue.  Luckily I was right by an open cave in the river valley, so headed there and laid up for a big 12hr snooze ready to get the last mapping done in the morning.

I'd been bitten by the wolf and forgot to put on a bandage due to messing about on the rope.  As soon as I hit sleep and saw the health bar begin to drain, I was frantically mashing every button on the pad, but to no avail.  

 

I've also lost a few loper games around the 50/60 day mark when, having crafted clothes, tools and a bow, I got messed up by the first wolf I shot at (after weeks of creeping by them, scrapping out of encounters by using the heavy hammer etc.).

[GarlicPops]

I actually have two memorable losses that can also be counted as "stupid deaths". 

If my profile picture doesn't make it obvious enough, I absolutely love living in Bunkers. There were two instances where I had an excellent early game living in the clothing bunker in ML but died in ridiculous ways, the first one was when I was exploring the dam during an aurora and got electrocuted because I didn't know wires could insta kill you, the second one was when I was exploring a cave and decided to strip naked and sleep for 12 hours straight, which caused me to freeze to death on a promising save.

Even though these deaths were stupid they helped me learn more about the game and prepare in advance, such as always wearing clothes while sleeping in caves and sleeping in shorter intervals to make sure I won't end up freezing to death, as well as staying away from exposed wires

[ajb1978]

Back when I was still trying to unlock Faithful Cartographer I had a guy who'd been around the world a thousand times surveying and re-surveying everything over and over.  I was walking up the fallen tree bridge in the Ravine. My cat jumped up in my lap and jostled my hand, causing me to walk right off the log and into the abyss.

[ManicManiac]

Every attempt to complete my personal challenge that was cut short because I found an "Instant Kill Spot" causing me to have to start over from scratch.

I've been working on completing this personal challenge for nearly a year now

Edited June 2, 2020 by ManicManiac

[Ahatch]

Biggest loss was a 275 day interloper run where I accidentally  stepped into the fire burning myself to death , bad way to die with my best run on interloper at the time. Had a nice run on Forlorn end by chopping a piece of wood and freezing to death and another time I tried to sleep in a fishing hut with the bearskin bedroll and froze to death. 

[Vhalkyrie]

I've died in so many ways, I had a thread about it a long time ago called "You Never Forget Your Many Deaths".

My most memorable has to be Death By Chocolate bar.  I don't remember how many days it was, but it was a fairly long run and I was fairly established.  I ate a low condition chocolate bar (it wasn't that low - just bad rng), and got food poisoning.  This was the first time I got food poisoning, and I misread the first aid description.  I thought it was "Take Antibiotic" OR "Sleep 10 Hours".  I thought, "Oh, well if I go to sleep, I can conserve medicine" (which I had plenty of btw).  I was woken up near death and in a panic.  I thought my low condition was due to not eating enough food, so I ate everything available and went back to sleep.  Then Died By Chocolate Bar a short while later.  I went back and read that the treatment was antibiotic AND 10 hours rest.  Oops.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Vhalkyrie

[piddy3825]

Not so much long term character like so many here, although I gotta couple I could tell.    But back in the day when I was first introduced to the game I remember launching some "test" games where I would just see how much punishment my character could take before fading into the long dark.  I remember deliberately going out on the thin ice and breaking thru just to see how many times in a row I'd have to fall in before I finally died of hypothermia!  Or from how high up Will could jump and still walk away.  Surprising was how much punishment ole Will could take before he died.  lol

[manolitode]

My biggest loss was when they removed the Wintermute theme song. While I can see a few reasons why, it remains the most distinguishing and exquisite intro song of all games I ever played. 

As for silly deaths, I visited Moose overlook in HRV some 150 days in and managed to get headbutted two times by an invincible moose. Unfortunately I was 8 rosehips short and couldn't cure the last broken rib and therefore was unable to climb up from the valley.  

[romerabr]

On 6/2/2020 at 1:17 PM, ajb1978 said:

Back when I was still trying to unlock Faithful Cartographer I had a guy who'd been around the world a thousand times surveying and re-surveying everything over and over.  I was walking up the fallen tree bridge in the Ravine. My cat jumped up in my lap and jostled my hand, causing me to walk right off the log and into the abyss.

First cougar death in The Long Dark

[RazorBlade]

Today I lost a Survival game with 87 days in record because I was stupid and didn't turned off auto-walk when I was passing the Raven Falls Wooden Bridge and noclipped through the hole in the bridge. After I spent almost 5 hours getting to Ash Canyon and back to get the new equipment...

[Stinky socks]

Haha, @RazorBlade, looks like auto walk in ravine strikes again. I did that one time as well!

@romerabr, ROFL!!!! first cougar death!

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Stinky socks

[UpUpAway95]

Power failure occurred just after my first bear kill... and the game didn't save it.

As for deaths... they are many but I honestly don't count any of them as "loses."  It's all experience... and the ultimate purpose of the game. 😀

[Old Hermit]

i was new on TLD ~130 days stalker, i just crafted my first bearskin bedroll and was entering Bleak Inlet the first time.

it was night and a blizzard was coming, and i was near one of those hunter's blinds, and i thought: "i can sleep right here, my new bedroll is all powerful now. the wind is pointed towards the other side. what can go wrong?"

at the same moment i clicked sleep button, i saw at the last second the wind changing and the temperature meter dropping ^^

bedroll my a**  

[darkscaryforest]

On 6/3/2020 at 4:56 AM, manolitode said:

My biggest loss was when they removed the Wintermute theme song. While I can see a few reasons why, it remains the most distinguishing and exquisite intro song of all games I ever played. 

Responding a year late to this, the crossroad elegy theme that plays on the menu definitely defines the game for me. As a newer player who started about a year ago, that song just oozes the identity of TLD since it's the only one I've heard.

So you have my sympathies, because I can imagine how jarring changing the theme I've gotten used to would be. Sometimes I envy older players who got to see all the changes go into the game over the years, but maybe it was also frustrating at times.

To answer the question:

I was super hyped and prepared to go up Timberwolf Mountain summit first time in interloper.  I was in PV coming from the community center and got up to higher ground after crossing a bridge. Until that point, I had always gone left to the trucks/cars at Point of Disagreement before continuing to the abandoned prepper's cache and rope to TWM. But for some brilliant reason, I decided to try a more "low-key" route and veered up onto a hill to get a look, more towards the picnic area which I had never been to. I thought if viable I'd sneak back around to the rope. While heading up, I sprained my ankle and like 1 second later I heard super loud howls. I couldn't see them, but knew they were super close so I crouched and figured I should bandage before backing away. I stupidly opened my inventory to do that instead of using the radical. When my inventory was open, I heard the charge bark as the wolf must have wandered close enough to me from the other side of the hill. I died from the struggle...with 2 flares on my guy.

Edited May 21, 2021 by darkscaryforest

[manolitode]

5 hours ago, darkscaryforest said:

Responding a year late to this, the crossroad elegy theme that plays on the menu definitely defines the game for me. As a newer player who started about a year ago, that song just oozes the identity of TLD since it's the only one I've heard.

So you have my sympathies, because I can imagine how jarring changing the theme I've gotten used to would be. Sometimes I envy older players who got to see all the changes go into the game over the years, but maybe it was also frustrating at times.

While I listened to the menu music the other day I was thinking how the Crossroads theme had grown on me lately so it was a funny coincidence that you brought it up It's nice to hear that you can connect many of your TLD memories to that song. Makes me curious whether Wintermute and Crossroads would be considered equal by someone who hasn't played the game and attached them to emotion. The songs do seem to have been cooked in the same pot. Strings and piano, length of 2:50ish, starts very minimalistic, crescendo around 0:55 and diminuendo around 2:20 for both songs. I know there's many more variables to why you like a song or not but it will be interesting to see if they use the same blueprint for the episode 4 theme. Guess we'll both have to readjust again when that time comes

As for other changes over the years, most of them have been very welcome, at least in my opinion. 

[Lord of the Long Dark]

1000+ day interloper character lost on a terrain clipping glitch. 
  Totally not how you want to go out. 

[hozz1235]

On 5/29/2021 at 2:00 AM, Lord of the Long Dark said:

1000+ day interloper character lost on a terrain clipping glitch. 
  Totally not how you want to go out. 

PERFECT scenario for having a back up save.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

3 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

PERFECT scenario for having a back up save.

Nah. I ain’t no save scummer.  Never will be. Hardcore player, I am. 

[hozz1235]

20 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

Nah. I ain’t no save scummer.  Never will be. Hardcore player, I am. 

Got nothing to do with it - you died because of a flaw in the game, nothing you could have controlled so why should you be punished because of it?

[JaySovereign]

While having graphical issues when I put my new ssd in, which lead to the game crashing, whichever save I was playing on at the current moment was gone forever. I don't think any were too memorable, though. Maybe around 60 days or so.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

7 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

Got nothing to do with it - you died because of a flaw in the game, nothing you could have controlled so why should you be punished because of it?

Exactly my point. 

[hozz1235]

14 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

Exactly my point. 

Yup, so "save scumming" would have been acceptable in that situation.

[Jynxer]

Ok, so not my biggest losses, but my most stupid deaths lol. 1st one was on the damn ravine trestle (150 ish day) and I was a lil tipsy off that Kokanee beer from BC 😉. I was a bit paranoid about crossing and missteped.... into the long dark... 

my second stupid death was on TWM on that log going to the deer clearing... didn’t realize auto walk was on... ( 181 days gone)

but still love this game! I only found it in October of last year, so it’s def been my pandemic game. And I don’t see myself giving it up anytime soon! Thank you hinterland  for such an immersive game! Imma keep on surviving no matter what!! 

[Guest jeffpeng]

Back in the day when attempting my first day 1 summit runs. I got everything right for the first time, made a snow shelter down the rope next to the hollow tree, and died in my sleep since a supposedly safe fire got blown out by the wind. Certainly not the "biggest" loss one could have, but it was terribly heartbreaking since I was like "yeah, I got this figured out!" only to wake up a Popsicle.