First ever NPC?

[bysinda]

So could it be? First ever NPC in survival? I admit sometimes it does feel a bit lonely, to see another human would be mind blowing! Could it be Methuselah?? What do you guys think?

[Leeanda]

Seeing Methuselah popping up now and then might be rather cool..not necessarily as a trader but maybe he'll offer words of wisdom for the price of a coffee or a steak. 

[bysinda]

Just imagine, it's a cold moonlit night, you are making your way across the swaps of Forlorn Muskeg and see a dot of light far ahead, from a campfire you didn't build!

Or you are exploring woods, listening closely for a wolf or a bear that could be roaming the area, and suddenly hear someone clear their throat 

Getting excited just imagining it  

[ManicManiac]

Quote

I've been avoiding the subject, but I've had a while to think on it.

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.

Granted, as always if these things are not optional in settings... then I'll simply avoid or ignore them.  For those excited by adventure prompts and NPCs... I'm glad you will access to those things you'd have wanted to see in Survival Mode - I just hope I will have the option of "turning them off" so I can still enjoy the other elements about the update/expansion that I do look forward to.  As always, I absolutely respect Hinterlands decisions... I always have.

Source: Announcing TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY - Page 6 - News and Updates - Hinterland Forums

  

On 9/19/2020 at 9:16 PM, ManicManiac said:

I think Story Mode is where the human NPCs belong... not in the Survival Sandbox.
I appreciate that idea is proposed as an option... but I just don't like the idea of NPCs in Survival Mode.

On 10/8/2020 at 10:46 AM, ManicManiac said:

Just because it's identified as "optional" doesn't mean folks have to automatically like the idea. 

  

On 11/16/2020 at 7:55 PM, ManicManiac said:

I'm not sure I'd like the idea of this being added into the Survival Sandbox (much for the same reasons I wouldn't want human NPCs to invade the Survival either).

On 11/17/2020 at 2:24 PM, ManicManiac said:

The reason I prefer the Survival Sandbox the way it is... is very simply that I think NPCs (this would include an animal companion, in my opinion) belong in the Wintermute Story Mode, or possibly in a Challenge Mode.
I like the lonely isolation of my Survival Sand box, and I think an NPC or animal companion would undermine that.

 

  

[Leeanda]

50 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

Source: Announcing TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY - Page 6 - News and Updates - Hinterland Forums

  

  

 

  

I do agree that it's about the isolation  but just occasionally,very occasionally, it can get a bit too quiet.. whether that's just because I hardly see anything most of the time I don't know... But   it can just get a bit too quiet ,for me at least...  Overall though I don't mind it.

[bysinda]

@ManicManiac

No one ever agrees on anything, heh

However, the idea of some other presence I find very...refreshing? Like when I was crawling back to Hunter's cabin in Mistery Lake half dead and saw light in windows and was like woaaaaaaah nowaaaayyy

But of course cabin was empty and dark, couldn't shake the feeling of slight disappointment 

[bysinda]

Maybe they can make someone appear not right away but after 300+ days or something like that 

Because when I was on 500+ days run on Loper I've already seen everything...been everywhere...same old same old...and though this was still enjoyable I did crave some excitement and novelty. When the run is new you have a lot of stuff to do and explore, NPC could be some sort of unnecessary distraction, but when you have nothing left to do would be nice to regain a sense of purpose 

Or maybe they can make him an elusive presence, a hermit who avoids meeting you but leaves you notes with his inventory written down offering exchange and telling you to leave items he needs in a box, but you never see him, only his footprints near the dropbox indicating that he's been here not long ago...

[ManicManiac]

@bysinda

Well, I'm certainly not trying to be critical of anyone who likes the idea 🤭... just trying to convey why I don't really look forward to it.
And since it's been talked about a lot over the last few years, it seemed easier to just cite those previous conversations.  

[hozz1235]

There have been other posts on this topic, but I'm not going hunting for them.  My thoughts?  It will have to be some sort of "live" transaction, so perhaps a locked hut where you interact with the trader through a "trading tray/slot" (kind of like bank tellers used to use)

[conanjaguar]

2 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

There have been other posts on this topic, but I'm not going hunting for them.  My thoughts?  It will have to be some sort of "live" transaction, so perhaps a locked hut where you interact with the trader through a "trading tray/slot" (kind of like bank tellers used to use)

Maybe the trader is terminally ill with some contagion or just pure insane, like that one guy in Bioshock? (I disremember his name…)

”Fetch me some snappy-snaps…”

[Sherri]

While I love the idea of a rare NPC to encounter in survival mode... it could also be something achieved via a location where, with guidance from notes or signage... you drop off items and later come back for what has been traded to you. So there is someone out there like you, but you never actually encounter them. Which would maintain the loneliness and solo atmosphere of the game while also giving a glimmer of hope that someone else is 'out there'.

I'd be happy either way.

[hozz1235]

25 minutes ago, Sherri said:

you drop off items and later come back for what has been traded to you

This is a possibility, but I'm not too fond of it because you "never know what you're gonna get"  With my luck, I'd get tinder

Edited June 23, 2023 by hozz1235

[bysinda]

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

This is a possibility, but I'm not too fond of it because you "never know what you're gonna get"  With my luck, I'd get tinder

It does say "rare goods", so no tinder for you! 😁

[Sherri]

8 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

This is a possibility, but I'm not too fond of it because you "never know what you're gonna get"  With my luck, I'd get tinder

That could be solved with a menu. 

- Bring me 5 empty cans = a pair of crampons

- Bring me 6 scrap metal and 6 coal = 10 arrow heads

etc.

[yollarbenibekler]

Please add the option to put a bullet in his head. I want to be left alone.

[ben676]

If there was an actual NPC with a cache off goods he's trading I'd be tempted to kill him and take everything. If he's getting the goods from somewhere else then that suggests there's a route off Great Bear.

 

I suspect that the trader will be abstracted. So you leave items for him in a certain place and then return later to find them exchanged for something else.

Also, please no story elements in survival. 

[Sherri]

5 hours ago, ben676 said:

Also, please no story elements in survival. 

The transmitter caches/bunkers have story info so that ship has sailed.

[bysinda]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:38 AM, yollarbenibekler said:

Please add the option to put a bullet in his head. I want to be left alone.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Oh man, good one 😂

[bysinda]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:02 PM, Sherri said:

The transmitter caches/bunkers have story info so that ship has sailed.

Also those notes you find on your way from coastal highway to desolation point have a short story line. Every time I read that Sean wouldn't wake up I get a little chocked up 🤧

[StillNomad]

The way I see The Trader is somewhat like this. Wintermute and Survival sandbox are two separate environments. The story can have NPCs for it has a story. The survivor sandbox is purely survival. What is this survival from? Based on the game's original premise, nature is out of order due to the GM storm. There is no one else. The GB is an island and is disconnected/isolated/forgotten from the world. The survivor is stuck here. Would they like to be rescued and taken back to civilization? Maybe they would like to. That is why they are surviving, for there is hope of being rescued one day. The game ends the day they are rescued.

Now if an NPC is introduced in survival sandbox as a trader to trade commodities, that means there is a connect with the outside world. Why would the character want to continue living on GB island fighting bears/wolves for scraps and not want to go back to civilization & comfort? More importantly, why would the outside world not travel to GB island for one of many reasons? This is where survival mode would break for me.

So, the designers will have to plan this very thoroughly and design a mechanism that doesn't break the original concept of surviving this quietness, isolation, wildlife, etc. If they do indeed bring in an NPC for trading commodities, it may be like the one in episode 2 (?) in ML (I forget, it was a long time ago) where McKenzie exchanges some commodity with a Forrest Talker for something important in the story/side mission. Just a voice behind a door and an animation like the transmitter fixing. The one that @Sherri suggests is also very doable.

AFA limited unique food commodity is concerned, my personal preference is the ability to prop up a small greenhouse and grow basic stuff like potatoes (a-la The Martian) as the game has now released. Boil sea water for salt, oil from fish cooking and flour from some root as suggested above. More recipes from already available stuff for more buffs. This maintains the original premise of the game while still being useful for those who play the long game where you will have something to do.

Sorry for the long comment. Just my 2cents.

[StillNomad]

On 6/24/2023 at 5:02 PM, Sherri said:

The transmitter caches/bunkers have story info so that ship has sailed.

Can this be seen somewhat like the Archivist challenge? We were already reading notes left behind by the general population on their laptops/PCs. Here, the survivor is getting to know more about the GB region and finds what the place was used for by govt? researchers? someone else? Also, if I'm not wrong, the TFTFT is only available with the DLC. So the Signal Void tales will only be available for those who buy the DLC suggesting it is not a massive story component as such.