All the women have survived...

[Girlybits]

... and are happily soaking up the sun on a beach somewhere.

Because I only ever come across male corpses.

So if you want to make it out alive. Play as a female. :lol:

[piddy3825]

I decided to play the girl character and I had to chuckle about what I deemed were some stereotypical traits that I wondered if they were intentionally programed into her attributes. For example, the girl could sew. Never once did she have a sewing related repair failure like the male character had. She couldn't repair any tools on the first attempt and that happened on multiple occasions, nor could she light a fire on the first attempt even when indoors and using a lit torch with newspapers. LOL

But, once she got that rifle fixed, she was an amazing crack shot , dropped everything she aimed at. Fast too. I swear she could run from the bank of Jack Rabbit Island to nearly the front door of the Quonset Gas Station on full sprint.

[jackattack]

And they took all the children with them.

[Vagos]

Basically why everybody died? Surely magnetic storms doesn't cause death.

I have this question from the early beginning.

[Eachna]

I decided to play the girl character and I had to chuckle about what I deemed were some stereotypical traits that I wondered if they were intentionally programed into her attributes. For example, the girl could sew. Never once did she have a sewing related repair failure like the male character had. She couldn't repair any tools on the first attempt and that happened on multiple occasions, nor could she light a fire on the first attempt even when indoors and using a lit torch with newspapers. LOL

But, once she got that rifle fixed, she was an amazing crack shot , dropped everything she aimed at. Fast too. I swear she could run from the bank of Jack Rabbit Island to nearly the front door of the Quonset Gas Station on full sprint.

Really? Male characters don't automatically have trouble lighting a fire? I thought that was just part of the game!

As a female player with a female character I do find it a little creepy that there are no signs of women in world (other than the nursery in the one house and the family pictures). But, there are no discarded dresses, no female corpses, etc. Nothing where I could look around and think there were any women in the 20+ km radius of the game world when the disaster struck.

I'm really hoping to see female NPCs in Story mode.

[Maikleeps]

Either they didn't take this into consideration or they will surprise us with the story. Let's be curious!

[NotThatGuy]

And they took all the children with them.

This is fine by me. I know it's a post-disaster survival simulation, but I have no desire to stumble across the frozen corpse of a child, at least not in the sandbox. Something like that could have a purpose (and could be used to good effect) in story mode, however.

[ANelson]

Looking around, it seems as if the area has been abandoned for awhile. I'm guessing the corpses we do find were the "I'm not leaving my home just because (insert government agency, or disaster relief organization) tells me to. Someone might steal my vintage cool whip container collection."

It takes awhile for beds to degrade to just the metal parts, like at the PV farmstead.

It also explains the rapid item degredation. 100% condition doesn't mean brand new, or even like new, simply perfectly servicable. People probably didn't leave behind their best stuff.

I'm guessing that families (with children) and apparently all the women decided to listen when told to get out.

A touch off topic really, but this made me think about it.... probably more than I should.

[jackattack]

And they took all the children with them.

This is fine by me. I know it's a post-disaster survival simulation, but I have no desire to stumble across the frozen corpse of a child, at least not in the sandbox. Something like that could have a purpose (and could be used to good effect) in story mode, however.

I agree completely.

Also, the addition of [whatever] corpses might be realistic, but it can also be interpreted as condoning violence against [whatever].

[Eachna]

And they took all the children with them.

This is fine by me. I know it's a post-disaster survival simulation, but I have no desire to stumble across the frozen corpse of a child, at least not in the sandbox. Something like that could have a purpose (and could be used to good effect) in story mode, however.

I agree completely.

Also, the addition of [whatever] corpses might be realistic, but it can also be interpreted as condoning violence against [whatever].

I don't condone violence against women or children, but I also don't condone it against men. If we can all handle male bodies planted face-down in the snow having been chewed on by wolves, I think we can also handle a few female corpses as well. If they wanted to be a little "gentler" to female corpses they could put some inside the houses.

The story mode of the game is "supposed" to be about exploring the question "HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO SURVIVE?"

The only way to explore that question is to give players unsavory options. I'm going to be really let down if there are no female characters in Story mode, and I'm kind of worried about it specifically because there are no female corpses in the Sandbox.

I want to see some kick@ss ladies forcing us to make hard moral choices, since there's sure to be lots of kick@ss men.

Looking around, it seems as if the area has been abandoned for awhile. I'm guessing the corpses we do find were the "I'm not leaving my home just because (insert government agency, or disaster relief organization) tells me to. Someone might steal my vintage cool whip container collection."

I'm guessing that families (with children) and apparently all the women decided to listen when told to get out.

Are you saying you think only women and married men are smart enough to evacuate a location in case of a natural disaster? I'm not a guy, but I'm pretty sure single guys are invested in staying alive, just like married guys.

When I look around the maps, I see a disaster that hit very quickly. I don't think there was much opportunity to evacuate people, I feel like it's just supposed to be a very lightly populated area. There are too many locations where life was interrupted mid-motion for me to think people casually chose whether to stay or go. Of course, we all see different things when we look at the sandbox maps, it would probably make an interesting Rorschach-like experiment.

[jackattack]

There is a general assumption that single people are more likely to face danger or difficulty head on, especially if they are young men. We expect them to rely on their youth and vigor to carry the day, and to lack the perspective and life experience on which to base good judgment.

There is an associated assumption that people with partners, kids, or "dependents" of any kind are more likely to avoid danger or difficulty, especially older men with families and women with kids. We expect them to consider not only their situation, but how their actions and choices affect those who rely on them.

Not saying these expectations are true or correct or fair, just that they exist.

[Patrick Carlson]

Gender aside, it is interesting to see who goes and who stays during a disaster. Self-interest, or an interest in others, whether that be immediate family or family in a different area or region all have an influence on those who are caught up in chaotic situations.

In my home state, Harry Randall Truman famously refused to be evacuated prior to the terribly violent eruption of Mount St. Helens. The inn he operated at the foot of the mountain ended up under hundreds of feet of debris after the eruption. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Randall_Truman

[Eachna]

Gender aside, it is interesting to see who goes and who stays during a disaster. Self-interest, or an interest in others, whether that be immediate family or family in a different area or region all have an influence on those who are caught up in chaotic situations.

In my home state, Harry Randall Truman famously refused to be evacuated prior to the terribly violent eruption of Mount St. Helens. The inn he operated at the foot of the mountain ended up under hundreds of feet of debris after the eruption. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Randall_Truman

Absolutely. There are all kinds of stories about either irrational or heroic (or both) decisions during disasters. Of the people who didn't evacuate before Hurricane Katrina hit, half had pets they didn't want to leave behind.

One of the stories I've always thought was most sad/poignant is that of Ida Strauss. She stayed by her husband's Isador's side on the Titanic and died with him. He was offered a seat on a lifeboat, but he refused to leave before all the women were evacuated, and Ida refused to evacuate without him.

I'm hoping there will be little stories like these to test your limits in Story mode.

It's "easy" to shoot some random guy in the face for his kewl lootz in a video game. How do you steal the last can of dog food off a woman who is traveling with her dog when you find her? Or how do you rob the scrappy older couple who stayed behind in the storm and gave their truck keys to their young neighbors who wanted to leave with a baby? Does it become easier when you know that other people are counting on you to stay alive at least a little longer and accomplish some goal for the greater good?

I don't feel like you get to ask a question like "How far will you go to survive?" and then not have any women in the game.

[haraiva]

I decided to play the girl character and I had to chuckle about what I deemed were some stereotypical traits that I wondered if they were intentionally programed into her attributes. For example, the girl could sew. Never once did she have a sewing related repair failure like the male character had. She couldn't repair any tools on the first attempt and that happened on multiple occasions, nor could she light a fire on the first attempt even when indoors and using a lit torch with newspapers. LOL

About the "stereotypical traits", I don't think they were intentionally programed, it's just your bad luck with the tools and the fire...RNG doesn't care about stereotypes.

I've been playing with the female character every time and I've had my highs and lows when it comes to repairing or making fires just like you would with the male character. I'm sure the devs aren't sexist to the point of intentionally tweaking the chances you can light a fire or sewing together a damaged sweater, you'd think they have other things to do.

As for the female corpses, I'd say why not? We see plenty of them on television when they're brutally murdered or whatever, so it wouldn't even be that shocking to have women who are dead from natural-ish reasons in the environment. I'd say no to children corpses though, I was already freaked out at the prospect of going upstairs in the farmer's homestead in PV the first time, after seeing toys lying around...

[Lifferds]

And none of the corpses seem to have any usable clothing. My, or their, feet must be an odd size because I have never gotten a pair of boots off a corpse. Maybe that storm fused the clothing to their bodies.