UpUpAway95

10 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I do have some downloaded games on my console but I find they tend to have more problems so I'm loathe to buy a digital console. The boxed games will probably outlast several generations of consoles.

I like having digital versions now, since I frequently change games and I can do that without walking across the room to the console to change discs (and the Xbox X has a quick resume feature that makes moving between games instantaneous).  I'm OK with an added delay on the "free update" (for the now seemingly minor changes it makes), but I would really love a firm date rather than just getting the "TLD requires an update" message some random day - tomorrow or a month from now - when I try to launch the game.  I do have the manual ability to accept or postpone an update, but a postponement just allows me to manage bandwidth costs more efficiently.  It means I can't play the games with updates available until I allow them to update.

Just now, Leeanda said:

I only go online if I'm playing a certain game that needs it . I've never been online when I'm about to or are playing tld.  I did once try to play forgetting it was on and it told me I needed to update but I just quit and took it offline until a later more convenient time.   It shouldn't force you to update anything by refusing to launch the game in my experience. But I am a disc user not digital so maybe that's the difference?

Probably... my copy is digital.

13 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

We do have the advantage of not needing to update at all until we want to. I know some if not most on pc had it automatically installed.  We do tend to get left behind a bit .I know it's part Microsoft though too.   But it would be nice if we were considered a bit more than we are.

Not really, if your Xbox is connected at all to the internet such that you're playing on a Xbox Live profile (which most people are), the games insist you update them before they will launch.  The only way to play an outdated game is to take your Xbox completely offline (and then some games won't launch unless you are connected so they can verify the DRM - an issue that can be further compounded if you are not trying to play it on your "home" (or primary) Xbox.

ETA:  I also can't remember whether or not HL made TLD available thorugh the Game Pass (which of course is online play only) and would further muddy the waters regarding this sort of update and DLC release.

2 hours ago, Leeanda said:

To be honest I was looking forward to seeing the new mechanics and refreshes while I wait for the dlc but I love this game so I'm happy to wait . It'll give htl time to sort out some of the bugs too. 

I would prefer they actually delay the "free update" on console to coincide with the release of the DLC AND give us a definitive release date for the consoles well in advance of it.  That way, if we start something new now on the old system, we can still play AND have a chance to do a formal "goodbye" to that last character in the old game.  As it stands now, we have no idea when our old save files will become unplayable AND no way to get around that issue by going back into a time capsule.  It does make it seem that we, on console, are second-tier players - our unique issues are afterthoughts to HL.

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.

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?

37 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Agreed. (Except the jealous bit) Apologies @ManicManiac

No apologies from me for the jealous bit - I AM exceedingly jealous.  @ManicManiacI really hope you're enjoying your new content.  Hopefully, we console users will be rejoining you in The Far Territories soon. I do apologize for the hijack though.

Anyway, before we console users jealously hijack this thread further...  @ManicManiacVery interesting write up and love the pics!

1 minute ago, Leeanda said:

I might be tempted to just leave it altogether until the whole lot is ready.   Not sure why they've done it this way..

Same... not sure though... I think Xbox live will probably force the "free update" portion regardless, so we'll love our old saves at that point even though we may not have purchased the DLC.  Unlike the PC, there is no opportunity to play the time capsule and one cannot play a game that is connected online (Xbox Live) in any way unless it is updated with the latest version available through them.  I remember having similar issues when I started playing Minecraft on the Xbox 360.  Update after update would make critical changes and essentially render my old worlds (and their builds) unplayable... and there was no way to revert back to previous versions after having downloaded the update.  It's an infuriating system on the Xbox - not necessarily HL's fault though.

Just now, Leeanda said:

I killed mine off. I'm doing a mini stalker run to keep myself amused for now.   

Can't say it makes sense to have different times for the basic updates though.

It is confusing... and may get even more confusing given the anticipate time to release on the console (1 to 2 months) vs. the planned timing for the next expansion on the PC (6 to 8 weeks).  Not sure if they plan to bring the 2 expansion updates to consoles at once or whether we'll continue to lag behind by at least one update throughout the whole process.  Release delays could make things even more confusing as time goes on.

33 minutes ago, Karl Grylls said:

Many people don't seem to know that you can play your old save files via the time capsule feature (only on steam). I think Hinterland should spread this more, since i saw some disappointments here. So you can play your old save file like nothing of this has happened

Also, they need to make it clear that consoles were not updated at all this time around.  Console players are still playing on their old saves with none of the updated main game content (no does, no craftable crampons).

24 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

That explains a lot.  I was expecting an update on console for the new refresh and mechanics now but obviously not.  I should triple read these things!

On the positive side, we get to continue to play our old files for a while longer.

Some streamers were indicating yesterday that they thought the new sound was a growl.  However, I have a bit different theory... having been stalked by a cougar IRL for some distance (while cross-country skiing), I can say honestly that for a long time, I never saw it.  I sensed it, I heard it, and I saw tracks, but not the cat itself.  It was terrifying... and this new sound could just be an slow-burn introduction to the cougar stealthily pursuing players across the game maps and terrifying us.  If so... kudos to HL.

To answer the OP - I basically drove myself to exhaustion being sure to keep up with the ski group I was with.  Cats are opportunistic hunters, usually preying on the stragglers and the weak.  Since I did keep up (until I literally passed out and one of my friends carried me out the rest of the way) and- basically we all stayed together in a tight group, the cat never actually attacked any of us.  It was also sighted by several other users of that trail - which was subsequently closed for a time by the park wardens.

The other cougar I encountered IRL was right in our farmyard at dusk.  I was feeding our horses, who seemed to see something behind me and stopped short of coming to their piles of hay.  I turned just as the cougar pounced out of the dark attempting to catch one of our barn cats.  The cat ducked under a nearby outbuilding, both escaping and also giving me time to run the short distance to the house.  If the cougar hadn't been distracted by that cat, I probably would not have survived.  That night, that cat took down 14 of our neighbour's livestock.  Fish and wildlife treed it on our property and captured it the next night.  They said that it was unusual for a cat to kill and not eat so many animals, but sometimes young males will do it to "show off" to females.

As a console user, I haven't actually gotten access to any of the DLC content or any of the free update content; but from watching streamers yesterday, I have to say I am less excited than I was before the DLC released... and that's not a good thing.  I agree with the OP, heavily teasing content like the travois, base customization, etc. and then not releasing any of it in the first part of this expansion was not a particularly good idea from a marketing perspective. 

In addition - The plan stated in the teaser  is to release new content every 6 to 8 weaks; but the DLC on consoles is only expected to release for the first time in 6 to 8 weeks.  Does this mean, the consoles will be at least one update behind the PC throughout this entire upcoming year?... or will the console release include the stuff anticipated to released on the PC in the next part of this expansion?

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm thinking one of the cures for insomnia may be the herbal tea improved rest buff.  Potentially, insomnia may mean that you cannot regenerate any health regardless of how long you sleep until you cure the condition with a herbal tea or another new curative recipe.

Nice!

Lots of stuff that has peaked more interest for me.  One part saddens me though - the statement that rifles will be significantly rarer, revolvers less so, and then increasing the availability of the distress pistol.  This seems somewhat unfair to "rifle oriented" stalker mode players, while potentially making interloper quite a bit easier... allowing more reliance on the distress pistol.  Of course, it may mean that they have significantly nerfed the power of the distress pistol overall, restoring the balance.  Still, I'll miss being able to leave rifles for use in certain areas (on runs where I play with them) and be forced to cart them around from zone to zone to zone.  Still hoping for a scoped variant somewhere in the DLC... what about it HL?

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.

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.

3 hours ago, Leeanda said:

Presuming the mainland isn't as bad as great bear and that they have the resources to fix the planes. 

Just not presuming that the aurora events on GBI are "global" events.  When will leaves the mainland, it's only snowing.  The water pipes are frozen and the hot plate is broken, but the lights in the hangar are working just fine.  It is entirely possible the mainland was never hit at all... electrically.

1 hour ago, RossBondReturns said:

It's possible they might remove the regular Crampons on Stalker and above.

This would make improvised crampons the only option for those playing the highest difficulties.

Certainly possible that it would be associated with the baseline resource setting... baseline resources low (which is the one that eliminates the high-end clothing, knives and hatchets, etc.) affecting interloper, but not stalker.  If they go that route, I would expect then that the crampons would only disappear from interloper and custom games where the baseline resources are set to low.  There may or may not be a separate toggle to deactivate them separated (as is the case with the guns).

58 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Surely the aurora would be a problem for planes?  Isn't that what brought wills down in the first place? 

However, if the concept is that the rescue plane is coming from the mainland, the damage done by the previous aurora that brought down Will's plane isn't necessarily a factor... unless one actually happens again as the rescue is being launched.

As a Canadian, I've eaten ketchup chips many times and probably paired it up with a Grape Crush pop at some point, although I prefer Orange Crush to the grape.  Ketchup chips go best with a Molson's though.

https://www.nanaimofoodblog.com/2020/10/challenge-the-definitive-ketchup-chip-ranking/