Cairn Contest: Write the Unwritten Stories

[conanjaguar]

The vast majority of cairns that I have found in TLD are "Lost Cairns", with their stories "yet to be written". It would be nice if, with a bit of community input, we could flesh out these cairns. Like maybe a database of short quotes that players can add to after they die in a run, like Subnautica's Time Capsule mechanic?

(In case it isn't obvious, I absolutely LOVE Subnautica's Time Capsules .)

[ManicManiac]

Previous Thread: 

On 7/21/2020 at 10:49 AM, ManicManiac said:

Well... except for the fact that those initial backers did  financially contribute to development of the game on a level where having a cairn dedicated to them was an incentive.  They effectively bought the privilege of having a cairn regardless of whether or not they took the time to write a message and send it in.  I think it's good that Hinterland honors them regardless. 

I don't think that giving away or "re-selling" those backer's cairns would be the right thing to do...
After all... those initial backers helped Hinterland bring this wonderful game to us in the first place, even arguably more so than those of us who supported it later.

Edited September 22, 2023 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

 Also found this from Milton Mail Bag: Dispatch 33
[person asked a question about the blank cairns, this is part of Raph's response]

Quote

Yeah...it's tough because we try to contact those backers and don't always get through. We're still hopefully we'll be able to get them to contribute their info. I don't feel good about the idea of taking those away from backers and giving them or selling them to the general player population, because they are meant to recognize the contributions of our earliest supporters.

[LunarLime]

I think instead they should just add new cairns to the game. Plenty of new regions have been added, and no new cairns have been added to the game since the first batch of them.

If they did add some more, I can see new stories told about them from notable members of the community, or contest winners for example.

As for the blank ones in the game, I think it's best just leave them blank in case the backers that have a claim to them decide to add their story to them. At the end of the day, we don't really know why those backers left their cairns blank. Could be because they can't get in contact with Hinterland. Maybe they lost interest with TLD. Maybe they just simply forgot. And not sound morbid, but it's also possible that some of them might not be alive anymore unfortunately. 

Whatever the reason, I don't think it's right to take away their backer reward because they were simply late to the party. I think it's best just to leave them blank, just in case even one of them gets their cairn's story written. 

[Serenity]

12 minutes ago, LunarLime said:

I think instead they should just add new cairns to the game.

Better redistribute the existing ones across all regions. It's really noticeable that they just put them in the earliest regions. For example they are everywhere in Winding River. So many in such a limited space.

Though to be honest, I'd prefer an option to remove them. I have nothing against backers contributing content to a game, but I find it immersion breaking when it's attributed to them in game. For example in the Harebrained Schemes Battletech game I installed a mod to remove marking characters as Kickstarter backers. They are still in, and you can still tell from the elaborate backstories, but it's much better that way.

[hozz1235]

If you're interested:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hinterlandgames/the-long-dark-a-first-person-post-disaster-surviva

[xanna]

Always here with the relevant links @hozz1235 🙏

[hozz1235]

Was reading through some of the backer rewards.  This is a quote from the highest: 
 

Quote

For YOUR ULTIMATE SUPPORT get direct access to the developers to provide ideas and feedback, DESIGN AN EASTER EGG for the game (we'll work with you to make something really cool)

There were 2 backers in the category.  Wonder what the Easter eggs are?

[conanjaguar]

2 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

Was reading through some of the backer rewards.  This is a quote from the highest: 
 

There were 2 backers in the category.  Wonder what the Easter eggs are?

I’m pretty sure one of them was the “Stacy” in Stacy’s Grade Soda, if I recall correctly 🤔…

[hozz1235]

5 minutes ago, conanjaguar said:

I’m pretty sure one of them was the “Stacy” in Stacy’s Grade Soda, if I recall correctly 🤔…

Yeah, there are many "naming rights" in the backer benefits, but I think that is separate from these Easter eggs mentioned.

[conanjaguar]

4 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

Well... except for the fact that those initial backers did  financially contribute to development of the game on a level where having a cairn dedicated to them was an incentive.  They effectively bought the privilege of having a cairn regardless of whether or not they took the time to write a message and send it in.  I think it's good that Hinterland honors them regardless. 

I don't think that giving away or "re-selling" those backer's cairns would be the right thing to do...
After all... those initial backers helped Hinterland bring this wonderful game to us in the first place, even arguably more so than those of us who supported it later.

2 hours ago, LunarLime said:

As for the blank ones in the game, I think it's best just leave them blank in case the backers that have a claim to them decide to add their story to them. At the end of the day, we don't really know why those backers left their cairns blank. Could be because they can't get in contact with Hinterland. Maybe they lost interest with TLD. Maybe they just simply forgot. And not sound morbid, but it's also possible that some of them might not be alive anymore unfortunately. 

Whatever the reason, I don't think it's right to take away their backer reward because they were simply late to the party. I think it's best just to leave them blank, just in case even one of them gets their cairn's story written. 

Very true, I hadn’t exactly thought of it in that light…

2 hours ago, LunarLime said:

If they did add some more, I can see new stories told about them from notable members of the community, or contest winners for example.

That’s exactly what I was trying to say .