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I'm not really looking forward to the trader (whatever form that might take).

On 10/28/2022 at 12:54 PM, ManicManiac said:

While I'm curious (even excited) about many of the idea's hinted at... I've had some real mixed feelings about the update/expansion.

I've never been in favor of the idea of "human NPCs" in the Survival Sandbox.  The idea of a Trader in survival, is one I don't really care for... I think it would very much undermine the Survival Sandbox experience as we know it today.  NPCs were a natural fit for Story Mode (of course), but I would argue that's where they belong.  I really don't like the idea of an NPC in the survival sandbox like those traders we would find in Fallout or 7 Days to Die...  If there is no way to disable the feature in the expansion, then I suppose I'd just avoid ever going to that location (or locations).    Frankly, I just really do not like this addition.  I much prefer the lonely desolation of the survival sandbox experience we have now, and my character's survival depends simply on my abilities to forage and manage what resources I and find/gather.  Having an NPC to just run up to and just "trade" for stuff... feels like it would just kind of ruin that for me.

Even if they avoid a direct interaction (with say a drop box where an unseen "merchant" leaves a trade based on what our survivor drops off)... I still don't really like the idea just being able to "pop-round to the corner store to by stuff." 

As I mentioned before, if this isn't something that can be turned off... then it's a place I think I'd rather just never go to.  I much prefer struggling on my own as I make my way across Great Bear Island.

I know some forks are really excited for this; but I'm not really optimistic about how it will impact my survival experience.
When I do get the expansion, I'll of course go and see for myself... maybe the way they implement it will turn my opinion around; I don't know.

:coffee::fire::coffee:

Edited by ManicManiac
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I am also interested how the trader will be implemented and for what game stage it should be useful. 

In late game, as a hunter and trapper, I would like a place to sell/exchange all the surplus pelts. But then at this point I do not need anything I can think of now.
An option to harvest pelts into cured leather would be more welcome.

 

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5 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

I'm not really looking forward to the trader (whatever form that might take).

Even if they avoid a direct interaction (with say a drop box where an unseen "merchant" leaves a trade based on what our survivor drops off)... I still don't really like the idea just being able to "pop-round to the corner store to by stuff." 

As I mentioned before, if this isn't something that can be turned off... then it's a place I think I'd rather just never go to.  I much prefer struggling on my own as I make my way across Great Bear Island.

I know some forks are really excited for this; but I'm not really optimistic about how it will impact my survival experience.
When I do get the expansion, I'll of course go and see for myself... maybe the way they implement it will turn my opinion around; I don't know.

:coffee::fire::coffee:

This was the point I was trying to make on other threads... it does, almost unavoidably plant the idea in the player's mind that one can just buy whatever they might be running short of.  This is more an issue for me rather than the loss of never being able to talk with any NPC's in survival.  The more I look at this photo though, I'm convinced the trader will be 1) a person and 2) have a store that is only in the DLC zone.  That makes him easy to avoid using.  Hopefully, though they will still put in an option to turn him off completely (so that any temptation to use his services is eliminated on those runs where I would select to turn him off).

I anticipate the 'information" he shares, then, will be about the DLC "tales" (quests?).  I wouldn't mind if a Methuselah-like NPC existed in survival - occasionally appearing with a campfire and cup of hot coffee to share information; but I now doubt that will be the case with this trader anyways.

Edited by UpUpAway95
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Have to agree, that image and the boots icon sure makes it look like the Trader is a real guy.  And sitting in a boxcar also leads me to believe that the physical location won't even be that challenging to find.  Which is a little disappointing on the surface, but HL has made so many good decisions keeping survival so true to the concept that I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

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When the first episode of story mode came out it was unbelievably WEIRD to see another person in TLD..... obviously necessary for story mode but that first time was jarring.

I agree, a living trader would feel jarring to the ambience, and a robot would feel wrong.
A randomly-stocked vending machine might work (fixed stock) that is accessible during the aurora.....

Oh well, I guess we will all know soon enough! :)

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11 minutes ago, stapeliad said:

A randomly-stocked vending machine might work (fixed stock) that is accessible during the aurora.....

Good to see people came around to the "vending machine" idea. Nobody picks up cash in game, so I think it'd be a decent way to make a useless item into something worth carrying.

Got a couple of ideas about how it should be designed, too. Unlike the broken glass-front vending machines you see in game, the functional ones should have metal fronts (or at the very least a wire mesh over the front) to show why they weren't just broken into.

Sorta like this one.
426629903_vendingmachine.thumb.png.ef6ef6e8c4d51b23443447bee9ac1bac.png

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1 hour ago, JackTrysGames said:

Good to see people came around to the "vending machine" idea. Nobody picks up cash in game, so I think it'd be a decent way to make a useless item into something worth carrying.

Got a couple of ideas about how it should be designed, too. Unlike the broken glass-front vending machines you see in game, the functional ones should have metal fronts (or at the very least a wire mesh over the front) to show why they weren't just broken into.

Sorta like this one.
426629903_vendingmachine.thumb.png.ef6ef6e8c4d51b23443447bee9ac1bac.png

Sure.  Fixed stock, max 2 items, things like sodas and ketchup chips only.  Really don't want to see a vending machine dispensing socks or pistols on demand.

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1 hour ago, stapeliad said:

When the first episode of story mode came out it was unbelievably WEIRD to see another person in TLD..... obviously necessary for story mode but that first time was jarring.

Bit OT, but were the NPCs actually necessary for Story either...? I find them horribly distracting

Edited by Mistral
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1 hour ago, stapeliad said:

When the first episode of story mode came out it was unbelievably WEIRD to see another person in TLD..... obviously necessary for story mode but that first time was jarring.

I agree, a living trader would feel jarring to the ambience, and a robot would feel wrong.
A randomly-stocked vending machine might work (fixed stock) that is accessible during the aurora.....

Oh well, I guess we will all know soon enough! :)

It doesn't bother me in the least.  A human trader in a fixed location can be easily avoided, especially if the journey to that location is going to be as long and arduous as the interview claims.  A single, wandering individual who appears maybe once every 30-50 days in game by a campfire with a hot cup of coffee and a bit of actual conversation would be, for me, a pleasant break from the sheer boredom of wandering around looting things listening to Will or Astrid spouting off there random nonsense with almost every "find." 

Amazon in TLD every time an aurora hits - THAT bothers me.  Just imagined - walking into the Chasm Cave in TWM and spotting the Amazon logo painted on the back of the computer there... instead of bufferr memories, the Amazon website pops up during an aurora... place your order and the next day you see a plane fly over the summit dropping a box with a parachute off.  No thanks.

Edited by UpUpAway95
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But does a shop in the middle of nowhere with literally no one around make any sense?

how is that shopkeeper surviving (clearly better than I am)?

if so, why can’t I turn the Camp Office into a shop and hope someone comes by to bring me a new peacoat or something? 

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9 minutes ago, stapeliad said:

how is that shopkeeper surviving (clearly better than I am)?

I do hope that either the trader doesn't last forever in a survival save, or our decisions can affect the survival of the trader. Maybe the trader won't survive forever; maybe if we don't give him certain supplies while trading, he'll have a less chance of surviving longer. Just some thoughts I had. I hope the trader doesn't stay in one place forever. 

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1 hour ago, stapeliad said:

But does a shop in the middle of nowhere with literally no one around make any sense?

how is that shopkeeper surviving (clearly better than I am)?

if so, why can’t I turn the Camp Office into a shop and hope someone comes by to bring me a new peacoat or something? 

Depends on what he has for sale.  Let's look at the "wandering trader" - Perhaps one time his story is that he travelled near a forge and made a few arrows and can spare a couple to sell you for, say, a pair of socks because he was attacked by a wolf and had to rip his up for bandages.  That sort of trader is surviving by scavenging in the world just like you are.  I think that sort of trader would fit right in... and also not disrupt the "scarcity" of items in the game the way a fixed shop would or an Amazon-type drop box would.

A shopkeeper in one place is probably surviving by virtue of his  "trades" with the people who reached the transition zone before you (since the story Grey Mother tells is that everyone began walking towards the coast, not that everyone is dead).  You could try to set up a shop, but since you're the tail-end Charlie (the last guy who started walking to the Coast), it is unlikely that you'll see much business.  The question is why, upon reaching the relative DLC riches of the Far Territory, would you turn around and go back to the main game areas?

The scenario that makes the least sense to me is having a functional "mail-order" delivery system in place anywhere on GBI... even with an "aurora only" functioning internet.

Edited by UpUpAway95
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I think:

Transfer Pass, Forsaken Airfield, does, item variants, improvised crampons in this update

8-10 weeks from now next update will come (at the same time with XBox Release makes sense) with additional content from the roadmap. Whatever it will be. But it makes sense to release similar things alltogether within the same update, so acorns together with the enhanced cooking for example.

When they add the Ptarmigans it would make sense to give us the new arrows too, and so on.

Then in June (not official, just my guess) the next Region will come and when it's a very wild and shelterless Region, i can see it coming with enhanced shelter building and fire starting.

I expect that the Highlights from the roadmap will be distributed evenly through the next 12 months

Edited by Karl Grylls
did i mention i need to edit less? Holy...
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14 minutes ago, Karl Grylls said:

I think:

Transfer Pass, Forsaken Airfield, does, item variants, improvised crampons in this update

8-10 weeks from now next update will come (at the same time with XBox Release makes sense) with additional content from the roadmap. Whatever it will be. But it makes sense to release similar things alltogether within the same update, so acorns together with the enhanced cooking for example.

When they add the Ptarmigans it would make sense to give us the new arrows too, and so on.

Then in June (not official, just my guess) the next Region will come and when it's a very wild and shelterless Region, i can see it coming with enhanced shelter building and fire starting.

I expect that the Highlights from the roadmap will be distributed evenly through the next 12 months

Any word yet on whether the console release will also include the 2nd expansion update (bringing console on par with PC again) or will be consoles continously lag behind the PC by one update?

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4 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Any word yet on whether the console release will also include the 2nd expansion update (bringing console on par with PC again) or will be consoles continously lag behind the PC by one update?

check the FAQ when it will come to your platform ("When does it launch?")

so i assume that consoles get the update a bit later, but therefore getting more content at once. But as i said, i'm just assuming, not knowing

Edited by Karl Grylls
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6 minutes ago, Karl Grylls said:

check the FAQ when it will come to your platform ("When does it launch?")

so i assume that consoles get the update a bit later, but therefore getting more content at once. But as i said, i'm just assuming, not knowing

The FAQ aren't really clear on that (and a few other things regarding consoles and the "free update stream" (says something about people who have bought the DLC will be "drawn into the free update stream" before release - but no "free update" released yesterday on the Xbox regardless.  I'm not sure how this is going to mesh into Microsoft's system on the Xbox (don't know anythiing about how the PS system works) since Xbox Live won't let you play a game at all while connected (even if the game is SP) unless it is the most up-to-date version.

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