The Blackrock prison

[Black_Bird]

I just read the dev diary of august 2020 and I couldn't be more excited when I saw the picture of what I think is the Blackrock prison. 

Honestly it looks really nice and I didn't thought we would get an illustration of it so thank you for these nice teasing. 

We are all probably gonna have a lots of theories about the survivors inside the prison and where it is located (maybe a new small region).  

 

PS: Thank you Raph and the team for the amazing work on the survival mode and on wintermute ! 

[Sherri]

I'm super excited about this teaser image. I wonder if there will be several NPCs inside?

[Black_Bird]

On 9/9/2020 at 7:23 PM, Sherri said:

I'm super excited about this teaser image. I wonder if there will be several NPCs inside?

Yeah I think there will be ! We can already see lights comming out the doors and windows and we can probably imagine that prisoners/prison guards are still alive. 

But I think that because of the aurora and everything... , prisoners have probably took control of the prison and either killed or emprisoned the guards. We can also imagine that maybe the prisoners who escaped the bus accident may have been for some of them able to get to the prison and join the prisoners inside of it. 

[ajb1978]

23 hours ago, Black_Bird said:

But I think that because of the aurora and everything... , prisoners have probably took control of the prison and either killed or emprisoned the guards. 

A friend of mine is a corrections officer in a medium-security state penitentiary.  They have procedures for these scenarios, including one where the power goes out and the generators fail.  Essentially everything goes into lockdown immediately--all inmates return to their cells.  And the thing about prison is it's not like TV or movies--the inmates aren't itching for a chance to rebel, because the majority of them just want to do their time and go home.  You will get a couple bad eggs, and when they go off the rails the prison staff throw them in segregation.  The other inmates just back off, because again they just want to do their time and go home.  Actual prison riots are extremely, stupidly rare.  People literally win the powerball jackpot more frequently than a prison riot happens.

So a more realistic scenario would be the power goes out, the guards put everyone on lockdown long before anyone realizes "this is permanent and the power isn't ever coming back".  Then after a while food reserves start to run low, and most likely the actual battle would be infighting among the prison staff.  A faction that argues "Screw those inmates, they had their chance, let's keep the rest of the food for ourselves" and the faction that argues "they're still human and we're not going to stoop to their level, keep them fed."  While the prisoners are helpless in their cells.

[Megaloceros]

5 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

A friend of mine is a corrections officer in a medium-security state penitentiary.  They have procedures for these scenarios, including one where the power goes out and the generators fail.  Essentially everything goes into lockdown immediately--all inmates return to their cells.  And the thing about prison is it's not like TV or movies--the inmates aren't itching for a chance to rebel, because the majority of them just want to do their time and go home.  You will get a couple bad eggs, and when they go off the rails the prison staff throw them in segregation.  The other inmates just back off, because again they just want to do their time and go home.  Actual prison riots are extremely, stupidly rare.  People literally win the powerball jackpot more frequently than a prison riot happens.

So a more realistic scenario would be the power goes out, the guards put everyone on lockdown long before anyone realizes "this is permanent and the power isn't ever coming back".  Then after a while food reserves start to run low, and most likely the actual battle would be infighting among the prison staff.  A faction that argues "Screw those inmates, they had their chance, let's keep the rest of the food for ourselves" and the faction that argues "they're still human and we're not going to stoop to their level, keep them fed."  While the prisoners are helpless in their cells.

Thank you for this great information! I will say that in Wintermute, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) Blackrock Prison is described as a maximum security prison for particularly dangerous criminals. In Wintermute, prisoners destined for Black Rock escape from their prison bus due to a rockslide and we know for a fact that they murder several people, which Mackenzie sees in his travels during the episodes. So the prisoners bound for this fictitious prison were particularly violent toward civilians, and I won't spoil the ending of episode 2 but I suspect you know it supports my point. It is thus reasonable to conclude that those in the prison could also be rearing for rebellion. 

However, you make a great point; the prison, being maximum security, probably has extensive fail-safes in place. I could see it go either way. Maybe we'll arrive and meet a warden, or maybe Mackenzie will be brought there by you know who and find it overrun by prisoners. 
Personally, I hope your prediction is correct; that is a very interesting scenario. 

[TFA303]

Great discussion- I  wonder what the aurora does to the electric locks and systems in the prison?

[Black_Bird]

On 9/12/2020 at 3:58 PM, ajb1978 said:

A friend of mine is a corrections officer in a medium-security state penitentiary.  They have procedures for these scenarios, including one where the power goes out and the generators fail.  Essentially everything goes into lockdown immediately--all inmates return to their cells.  And the thing about prison is it's not like TV or movies--the inmates aren't itching for a chance to rebel, because the majority of them just want to do their time and go home.  You will get a couple bad eggs, and when they go off the rails the prison staff throw them in segregation.  The other inmates just back off, because again they just want to do their time and go home.  Actual prison riots are extremely, stupidly rare.  People literally win the powerball jackpot more frequently than a prison riot happens.

So a more realistic scenario would be the power goes out, the guards put everyone on lockdown long before anyone realizes "this is permanent and the power isn't ever coming back".  Then after a while food reserves start to run low, and most likely the actual battle would be infighting among the prison staff.  A faction that argues "Screw those inmates, they had their chance, let's keep the rest of the food for ourselves" and the faction that argues "they're still human and we're not going to stoop to their level, keep them fed."  While the prisoners are helpless in their cells.

With the quick clip that we saw in the March dev diary, I think that my idea of the prison being under the control of prisoners was righ. 

 

[Stinky socks]

Sam Will Fisher will regain control and broadcast the message "wintermute" to proper government channels.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Stinky socks
Fixed name

[Skellygriff]

i really want blackrock to be really hard to get into. In survival mode, there should be a key in bleak inlet cannery that opens a secret hatch in hushed river valley similar to prepper cache in pleasant valley and mystery lake. Then that hatch has a prison guard corpse who has a key card that can unlock the gates to blackrock during aurora. Blackrock should have an ammunition workbench, a normal workbench, a forge, tons of storage, beds, milling machine, and amazing loot. Then the blackrock region should have a delta or anywhere where you can beachcomb and have an ice fishing hut for the best endgame location. the opened gate to blackrock should be an outdoor location as a safezone against wolves/moose/bear. Just so blackrock can be the greatest endgame base, but very very difficult to get to.

[Sherlock Holmes 18]

1 hour ago, Skellygriff said:

Blackrock'a girmenin gerçekten zor olmasını istiyorum. Hayatta kalma modunda, hoş vadi ve gizemli gölde hazırlayıcı önbelleğe benzer şekilde sessiz nehir vadisinde gizli bir kapak açan kasvetli giriş konservelerinde bir anahtar olmalıdır. Sonra bu ambarın, aurora sırasında kapıları kara kayaya açabilen bir anahtar kartına sahip bir hapishane gardiyanı cesedi var. Blackrock bir cephane tezgahına, normal bir çalışma tezgahına, bir demirhaneye, tonlarca depolama alanına, yatağa, freze makinesine ve inanılmaz ganimete sahip olmalıdır. O zaman blackrock bölgesinin bir deltası olmalı veya en iyi oyunsonu konumu için bir buz balıkçılığı kulübesine sahip olabileceğiniz ve sahil peteği yapabileceğiniz herhangi bir yer olmalıdır. kara kayaya açılan kapı, kurtlara / geyiğe / ayılara karşı güvenli bölge olarak açık bir yer olmalıdır. Blackrock en büyük oyunsonu üssü olabilir, ancak ulaşılması çok zor.

Having all this stuff together reduces the value of other regions in the game. You think, "There's everything here, and I can live the way I want, but where I am now has some shortcomings, and I can't live the way I want to." Which do you prefer? I think it would be a bit ridiculous, but I don't necessarily want it to be a region that contains all of this, and in other parts of the game. 

[mfuegemann]

This would make Blackrock prison a preppers paradise. I do not think this will/should happen.
For me it should just be a new map with things to explore and some huts/caves scattered around, to take refuge. Please no new obstacle course like in Bleak Inlet.

And mostly I am looking forward to the new chapter of the story.

[Stinky socks]

We need some uber hyper aggressive NPCs there so you can never get in😁👍

[mfuegemann]

I would like a harder difficulty option for the story mode. In my last playthrough on the hardest settings, things went way too smooth with all the sandbox experience I have now.

[Stinky socks]

2 hours ago, mfuegemann said:

...with all the sandbox experience I have now.

Terminal condition. There is no cure. How can you expect it to be hard when you rehearsed everything a million times in the survival mode already? 

This is like saying, why is call of duty campaign mode so predictable when you already completed it fifty times?😊

[mfuegemann]

18 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

Terminal condition. There is no cure. How can you expect it to be hard when you rehearsed everything a million times in the survival mode already? 

This is like saying, why is call of duty campaign mode so predictable when you already completed it fifty times?😊

Yes, therefore a harder environment setting would be nice to choose from.

[Stinky socks]

Harder, by taking away parts of the game? No guns, no good clothes+even colder weather, no man made tools, no bedrolls, less animals? I don't think removing content from the game is the best way to make the game harder🤔

I think the game is already hard as it is for general public. If you rehearsed everything many times, know where everything is and how to do everything, the game has outlived its usefulness for you.

I don't think developers should should spend their time on thinking of ways to make the game harder, but rather turn their attention towards more useful features and/or more content if they want to keep developing it.

You can't make a successful game by catering to the 1% of gamers. This may sound stinky, but that's how I feel.

[mfuegemann]

So let's wait for the new chapter. It will be great, I am sure.

[Michael1986]

On 3/25/2021 at 1:44 AM, Stinky socks said:

Sam Will Fisher will regain control and broadcast the message "wintermute" to proper government channels.

Will has a secret activastion code implanted in his mind by the CIA

it is:KİNG

 

Hobbs done goofed up

[Michael1986]

On 9/12/2020 at 4:58 PM, ajb1978 said:

A friend of mine is a corrections officer in a medium-security state penitentiary.  They have procedures for these scenarios, including one where the power goes out and the generators fail.  Essentially everything goes into lockdown immediately--all inmates return to their cells.  And the thing about prison is it's not like TV or movies--the inmates aren't itching for a chance to rebel, because the majority of them just want to do their time and go home.  You will get a couple bad eggs, and when they go off the rails the prison staff throw them in segregation.  The other inmates just back off, because again they just want to do their time and go home.  Actual prison riots are extremely, stupidly rare.  People literally win the powerball jackpot more frequently than a prison riot happens.

So a more realistic scenario would be the power goes out, the guards put everyone on lockdown long before anyone realizes "this is permanent and the power isn't ever coming back".  Then after a while food reserves start to run low, and most likely the actual battle would be infighting among the prison staff.  A faction that argues "Screw those inmates, they had their chance, let's keep the rest of the food for ourselves" and the faction that argues "they're still human and we're not going to stoop to their level, keep them fed."  While the prisoners are helpless in their cells.

İt would be more realistic if warden and the guards used prisoners to do their bidding or go search fo supplies

[Stinky socks]

 

3 minutes ago, Michael1986 said:

İt would be more realistic if warden and the guards used prisoners to do their bidding or go search fo supplies

Hmm, so that explains why they tried to catch Astrid. A healthy female for procreation purposes.

[Michael1986]

On 8/22/2021 at 8:54 PM, Stinky socks said:

 

Hmm, so that explains why they tried to catch Astrid. A healthy female for procreation purposes.

if that was the case then why not just kidnap the Miltons female residents ?

[Leeanda]

3 hours ago, Michael1986 said:

if that was the case then why not just kidnap the Miltons female residents ?

I agree. Astrid obviously has some use to them. Presumably related to the case she's carrying..

Edited August 24, 2021 by Leeanda

[Stinky socks]

s that theory can't hold up because William has the case

[Leeanda]

32 minutes ago, Stinky socks said:

s that theory can't hold up because William has the case

He might have it but Astrid is the only one who knows what's in it and what its for!. There are several other possibilities too. 

She might  have information about one of the other prisoners on the bus or they might just need a doctor for some reason!

Edited August 24, 2021 by Leeanda