Counter poll

[Hotzn]

Folks... the counter is driving me nuts. Help me pass the time. Anything is welcome. Vote. Speculate. Watch the timer and come back here to tell me it has slowed down or accelerated. Conspiracy theories. Comfort. Please... hhhhhhhhhhhh...

I also want to make an announcement. When the timer runs out, I will also release a post about my relationship with this game. How I bought into a great journey for just 20 €. And where it has taken me. (EDIT: Work is piling up on my desk on the day of the counter, so I'll have to postpone this. Guess people will be busy with the update anyway...)

And just to let people know where I stand in this poll: Although I have no doubt that this game will be finished one day, my choice at this time would be the second from the top. But I would also be happy with anything else they plan to do when the timer runs out. Actually I am a bit afraid that one day this game could be completely finished and development could stop. I have a hard time imagining what that would be like.

[cekivi]

The second option is also my current assumption. Although I'll also be presently surprised to be proven wrong.  

[Timber Wolf]

I went with the third one.
 

10 minutes ago, Hotzn said:

Actually I am a bit afraid that one day this game could be completely finished and development could stop. I have a hard time imagining what that would be like.

I know exactly how you feel!

[Scyzara]

I voted for option two as well. Hope that's not too optimistic, though. 

[Ruruwawa]

I would be very surprised if #1 is what happened (although I wouldn't mind a hair from Raph's beard... just saying )

I would not be surprised if any of #2 - #4 happened.  

If it's just #4, however, I'd advise Hinterland to fire that ad agency.

[LonelySurvivor]

Where can I get some of this hair?

[tnbp]

The counter drives me a little nuts, too. I can't say that I'm a fan of this particular approach. After many, many, many months of waiting for story mode and months of radio silence, in general, to just put up a mysterious countdown aggravates me more than entices me. The secrecy of it makes me nervous that it won't be story mode-- and with the anticipation and mystery of this countdown, if it's NOT story mode, I don't know how I won't be pretty disappointed. I'm hopeful it will be option 1 in the poll...

[Doc Gonzo]

The next podcast will be released (ducks and runs out).

 

[cekivi]

On ‎2017‎-‎04‎-‎28 at 10:34 AM, Doc Gonzo said:

The next podcast will be released (ducks and runs out).

 

with water boiling there's a good reason not to. If you don't bring the water to a boil for a few minutes at least there will be pathogens left. These can start multiplying again as the water cools and you can still get sick. The risk would be lower but the water would ultimately still be "dirty"

[Pillock]

14 hours ago, cekivi said:

with water boiling there's a good reason not to. If you don't bring the water to a boil for a few minutes at least there will be pathogens left. These can start multiplying again as the water cools and you can still get sick. The risk would be lower but the water would ultimately still be "dirty"

That's a very cryptic response to a comment about the podcast?

[cekivi]

4 hours ago, Pillock said:

That's a very cryptic response to a comment about the podcast?

Wow. How in the world did that post wind up here? I was replying to a thread about timers and reading books

 

[tnbp]

Well, it's almost 8am on Sunday where I live and the countdown is set to end at noon on Thursday, so now I'm thinking there's zero chance for option 1 since Hinterlands stated outright that there would be one final sandbox update prior to story mode.

My hope at this point is that the sandbox update will be awfully compelling with only a short time before story mode follows. All we can do is wait in the deafening silence. 

[Hotzn]

So... less than 2 days on the counter, and as tnbp said it seems unlikely now that story mode will be here when the timer runs out, since there should be a sandbox update before that. So... we'll probably not see "Everything" (option no. 1) happening. The vast majority voted for option no. 2 - "Something big". We'll see...

[KlabauterMann]

I know what happens on May 4th! But I don`t tell you ;-)

ok, ok - before you kill me, I will tell you: 

I will stream "a long night of THE LONG DARK" at twitch at May 4th, whatever happens. Even if there are no updates at all, I have some challenges to perform:

• - Map-Challenge of costal highway
• - Blizzard-Challenge
• - Rescue Challenge

 

Details here (stream will be in German):

 

PS: My guess in ths poll is 2) but I am totally irritated about the non-communication of hinterland about that countdown...

[tnbp]

15 hours ago, KlabauterMann said:

PS: My guess in ths poll is 2) but I am totally irritated about the non-communication of hinterland about that countdown...

What's odd to me about the way this countdown has gone is that what probably should have been a time of excitement and expectation has instead been a time of nervousness and uncertainty. The clock hasn't created, for me, a sense of anticipation; but, instead, I'm almost trying to ignore it in order to curb what is starting to feel as likely impending disappointment.

I don't know... I'm sure this is all going as they intended it but it's definitely not how I would have done it. This clock accompanied by so much silence has been like receiving a text from the girlfriend that says, "Honey, we really need to talk." Maybe she wants to take a vacation together or discuss getting married-- but probably not. So you just shut it out of your mind until you actually have the chance to deal with it. You don't look forward to the conversation, no matter what she really wants to talk about.

But here we are: one more day of endurance-- not excitement. I'm VERY cautiously hoping for the best. 

[Timber Wolf]

25 minutes ago, tnbp said:

What's odd to me about the way this countdown has gone is that what probably should have been a time of excitement and expectation has instead been a time of nervousness and uncertainty. The clock hasn't created, for me, a sense of anticipation; but, instead, I'm almost trying to ignore it in order to curb what is starting to feel as likely impending disappointment.

This sounds to me like a You problem.

I have absolutely no issue with how they have handled this situation.  My excitement for whatever will come at the end of the countdown has been slowly growing since they put it up.  Whether it's a new website, new information, a sandbox update or the release of story mode - it's all good to me. 

Remember, this is their game to make and market however they see fit.  They are in no way beholden to those of us who have purchased the game.  Not even for people like me who have purchased multiple copies of the game and given them away to complete strangers just because I love the game so much!

[tnbp]

9 hours ago, Timber Wolf said:

This sounds to me like a You problem.

I have absolutely no issue with how they have handled this situation.  My excitement for whatever will come at the end of the countdown has been slowly growing since they put it up.  Whether it's a new website, new information, a sandbox update or the release of story mode - it's all good to me. 

Remember, this is their game to make and market however they see fit.  They are in no way beholden to those of us who have purchased the game.  Not even for people like me who have purchased multiple copies of the game and given them away to complete strangers just because I love the game so much!

Yup, it might very well be a me problem, which is why I said what the clock has created "for me."

And I agree that they can make and market the game however they like.  It's their game.  I bought my copy well over a year ago and I've gotten my money's worth.  But be that as it may, I am still free to feel how I feel about how they market it.  Their approach hasn't worked FOR ME, as an individual.  I love the game.  It's one of my favorite games of all-time.  I will continue to love the game.  But I don't love how this unveiling process has happened and I know I'm not alone in that.  And we all have a right to feel (and even express how we feel) however we do about it.  KlabauterMann said he was irritated.  I also have not-positive feelings about it, so I agreed and posted about it.  You may feel excitement about it and others may agree with you and post about it.  But that's not how I feel, for one.  I would have appreciated more information.  I would have liked to know what we were counting down to, so I could be excited about it in anticipation of a known quantity.  So I guess that is a me problem-- but, again, I know with absolute certainty that I'm not alone in those feelings...

[Felli]

@tnbp, I wouldn't say it's a 'you' problem. I think other people feel the same way. 

I said something like this back on Steam a few weeks ago so I apologize if anyone feels like this is deja vu. I usually stand back and observe, only really adding to the conversation when I feel it necessary. That being said, I don't feel any worry of disappointment or nervousness over the countdown. Perhaps it's my optimism, or the fact that I am old enough to have had my share of 'betrayals' and trust that Raphael and Co, will not break that trust. I understand and can sympathize with each person here and how it's affected them good or bad. Coming in here and simply criticizing someone for being upset or praising someone for being happy or excited doesn't really help anyone. Understanding why people feel this way does help. So even if you don't agree and want to comment, the best way to do it is by being civil and polite. Firm but not condescending. Personally, I'm okay with how they choose to do things. Not everyone is going to agree. The official forums here are amazing for being civil and polite despite arguments and disagreements. Our community is one of the best there is.

However, since we all seem to be discussing the countdown and our feelings in general, I'd like to post some observations:

Before I continue I want to put it out there that this doesn't refer to anyone in particular in this thread or other places. This is simply some observation from the sidelines.

If  I may, I think a lot of this 'doom & gloom' I've seen here and especially on Steam seems to come from a few camps of people:

1. Those who have been burned by Early-access before and are now hyper aware of every little thing that can go wrong. Every delay, every moment of silence, anything that could be perceived as a sign the the project will be abandoned. This has lead to a lot of anxiety over what the countdown means, and has even caused some normally rational people to lash out unexpectedly at the developers and other forum goers.

2. The group who doesn't understand how the process of game design and Early-access really works. They've already been soured by their experience enough to try and inject it into every post they make. This countdown has given them ample ammunition.

3. Those who feel that because they bought into the Early-Access program, the game must be tailored to their whims. This includes all PR and announcements as well as marketing decisions. Some have even misinterpreted what has been said and gotten upset at what amounted to nothing.

These are of course just generalizations and there are far more reasons than these three but this has been a majority of the posts I've read.

No matter how you feel about the situation, at the end we all need to take a step back. We all love the game. We've rode out the highs and lows of development and we've all had our gripes about how certain things are handled. What we have to remember is not to get into the mindset that this is our game. We don't own it. We didn't make it. This was community informed, not community-driven. Sure a lot of our feedback was taken into consideration but in no way did they have to ask us for permission to do their work. We are all passionate fans, we all want the game to be the one we looked forward to from the beginning. But we can't force anyone to do what pleases us personally.

There is more at stake for the people at Hinterland than for us playing. I would like to think they planned this out painstakingly before setting the PR plan into motion. This is their one moment to get this right. This is one of the most important moments the director and his team will ever face. This will make or break the studio. So all I ask is that you give feedback, be constructive and state your opinion but don't forget those who poured years of work into this game. If this ends up being a PR disaster then they've learned a valuable lesson. The modern world and especially the internet has infected all of us with it's cynicism, and I'm only hoping it isn't causing all of us to unconsciously look forward to drama and failure.

TL;DR - I'm okay with the countdown. I'm okay with people who aren't okay with the countdown. But please don't let the internet cynicism seep into things and turn you all against each other. Don't forget the person on the other end and how it affects them too. Just my $0.02.

 

[Carbon]

Well said Felli. A voice of reason in the howling wild of the internet. Thanks for posting.

[tnbp]

Felli, thanks for posting. I was/am cool with what Timber said. I'm civil.  I just wanted to clarify my position.

Besides, in just over 12 hours, we'll all know exactly what we feel and why. Hopefully it'll be sweet. And honestly, from some of the hinting/teasing Raph has been doing on his twitter, it might be much bigger than what my low expectations are. So we'll all find out together, soon enough.

[cekivi]

All I know is at 1:00 EST I'll likely be stuck at my desk (or on a TTC bus if I'm running late), working on my thesis, while I wait for my lab's weekly group meeting to start.

Hopefully group meeting will be quick  so I can head home to see what actually happened!  

[Hotzn]

Folks... countdown is now at less than 7 hours. The end of the timer is near. Cleanse yourselves. Repent. Ask for forgiveness from those you have trespassed against. I have meditated, and in my inner self I saw an endless white surface, perfectly even. A realm of infinite possibility, able to shape into anything one could imagine. Indeed I felt within myself the power to call into being any shape I desire. But my desire is calm, passive, motionless. I am like the bay that is silently greeting the ocean waves, gently lapping its shore. I am like the sunflower patiently waiting for the dawn, dreaming dreams of a warm sun. I feel universal love. I am pure, a child reborn. The world may end. The counter may even run out. I am at peace.

*checks counter... 6h 24min... sigh*

[tnbp]

53 minutes ago, Hotzn said:

....in my inner self I saw an endless white surface, perfectly even."

I can only assume that, when walking on this white, even surface, you inexplicably suffered an ankle sprain at some point...

[karabass]

and the winner is...

[tnbp]

Well, I'm definitely not angry about this development.  This would be a foolish thing to experience anger over in my life.  But this is definitely, in my opinion, a pretty big misstep.  I feel as disappointed as I thought I might be with really nothing at all happening at the end of the countdown.

Maybe they're thinking that no attention is bad attention?  I'm not sure (though if they do, in fact, think that, I disagree wholeheartedly.)  I think it was a perfectly reasonable expectation that SOMETHING would have happened today regarding the current game.  Maybe the final sandbox update, at least (and I think the wording of their recent Steam announcement lent itself strongly to that being a possibility.)  But to put up a cryptic countdown with no explanation and then to not temper folks' expectations despite being fully aware of what those expectations were just seems like a mistake that, to me, they should have seen coming.

I still love the game.  I'm still going to play the game when it finally comes out, too, and I'm probably going to love it just as much if not more so.  But I definitely don't love this decision and the way it all went down.  In my opinion, this should have been known to be an obvious, huge mistake before it happened.  Even just coming out and saying that the countdown is leading up to the release of a new website and concrete information about the release date would have created some hype, some reasonable expectation, and would have been so, so, so much better than the route they ultimately chose.  Folks on Reddit are going wild and this decision might really bite them in the backside in the long run.

Like I said, I still love the game (though I guess I no longer have a reason to play it until August(!)) and I will love it in the future.  But I don't know how this wasn't seen as a mistake coming down the pike.  Odd decision, to me.  I hope they rebound and recover from it.