Favorite Notes Left Behind?

[Yeoman]

I know not everyone is a fan of the cairns and the notes, but I personally love them. Especially the notes. It made me wonder, what are your favorite notes, and why?

So far, the ones I’ve liked the most were found in the PV farmhouse and the DP warehouse (I think). The first one was actually telling you how to make bread, and the second one was telling you how to sharpen a blade. They just struck me as really kind, and felt somewhat fatherly/motherly. Like someone out there who realized the power went out and the world as they knew it was ending, thought to themself “someone may not know how to do this, and this could really help them out. I’ll leave a note here, just in case.” And they took the time to leave a note to help someone who they will probably never meet. Just thinking of that gives me a warm feeling :)

What about all of you? What is your favorite note, and why?

[IFIYGD]

I enjoy finding and reading them all, over and over. Since they were written by Kickstarter backers, not Hinterland staff. It shows some player thoughts, and I enjoy how Hinterlnad found ways to fit them into the game, and make them relevant.

Not sure it's my favorite, but my most recent find, and one that has me most intrigued, and thinking about how it relates to Story Mode, and how I can work it into my own internal Surivival Mode story, as I keep going...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1343151414

[Mr Negative]

Maybe they should let some of the early access buyers pick up the slack for the backers who will never write their cairns.

[drIdentity]

I like the one where the woman gets close to the guy (Steve? Scott?) who we've already seen shares his candies, but then he doesn't wake up in the morning. It's in the lighthouse. Melancholic.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by drIdentity:

I like the one where the woman gets close to the guy (Steve? Scott?) who we've already seen shares his candies, but then he doesn't wake up in the morning. It's in the lighthouse. Melancholic.

Sean.

And I always think that is an Easter Egg reference to jacksepticeye, who streamed the game on his channel early on, and gave the game a good bit of positive PR (his videos were what truned me onto the game and got me to buy it- without jse I would not have known about the game for a long time...). His real name is Sean.

Whether they reference him or not, I will always associate those notes with jse. :)

[I'll be the one]

Originally posted by TheNobleYeoman:

I know not everyone is a fan of the cairns and the notes, but I personally love them. Especially the notes. It made me wonder, what are your favorite notes, and why?

So far, the ones I’ve liked the most were found in the PV farmhouse and the DP warehouse (I think). The first one was actually telling you how to make bread, and the second one was telling you how to sharpen a blade. They just struck me as really kind, and felt somewhat fatherly/motherly. Like someone out there who realized the power went out and the world as they knew it was ending, thought to themself “someone may not know how to do this, and this could really help them out. I’ll leave a note here, just in case.” And they took the time to leave a note to help someone who they will probably never meet. Just thinking of that gives me a warm feeling :)

What about all of you? What is your favorite note, and why?

The note I remember the most is the one at the Mountaineer's Hut.

[I'll be the one]

Originally posted by Mr Negative:

Maybe they should let some of the early access buyers pick up the slack for the backers who will never write their cairns.

I agree with you. I posted this and suggested people who have contributed like Hadrian on Youtube have earned a right to write something.( I suggested this to him and his reply was "I'm down for that") Most replies came saying that was the backer's choice to leave it blank.

[Yeoman]

Gosh, that one with Sean is super sad. I remember finding the final note in that series of notes (where he doesn’t wake up) and I was honestly really bummed out for a bit XD it really drove home the “quiet apocalypse”, since as I’ve stated before, this game is typically a vacation for me, rather than an apocalypse.

As far as the cairns, yeah, it would be nice if something could be done on them. Maybe if the backers hadn’t done anything with them by the final episode of Wintermute, then the devs would finish them, or figure something out to make them not all blank.

[Nil Desperandum]

I don't have a 'favourite' per se, but I think they are a brilliant way of introducing the game lore into the sandbox/survival game.

@The NobleYeoman: I do believe the cairns were implemented in the game as an acknowlegement to TLD's backers by Hinterland - the fact that some of them have quotes and some don't is because the individual backer (with the corresponding number) hasn't yet given Hinterland a quote to go on their particular cairn - I may be wrong though, though I recall reading something somewhere. *sighs in frustraion at memory problems* If I don't write everything down I forget.

[{O|G} Erik the Red]

I haven't found them all yet, but this one just sent shivers all throughout; a first bit of evidence that lore of survival mode is not just an ordinary winter season (since there are no seasons, only permanent cold).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1512886663

I get the feeling that the Last Summer won't be much of a warm summer...

[Yeoman]

Originally posted by X-Erik the Red:

I haven't found them all yet, but this one just sent shivers all throughout; a first bit of evidence that lore of survival mode is not just an ordinary winter season (since there are no seasons, only permanent cold).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1512886663

I get the feeling that the Last Summer won't be much of a warm summer...

Dang, I’ve read that note before, but when you point it out, it is pretty ominous. Is there any official lore in the game that actually says it’s permanent winter? I’d always assumed it was just a gameplay mechanic.

[{O|G} Erik the Red]

Originally posted by TheNobleYeoman:

Originally posted by X-Erik the Red:

I haven't found them all yet, but this one just sent shivers all throughout; a first bit of evidence that lore of survival mode is not just an ordinary winter season (since there are no seasons, only permanent cold).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1512886663

I get the feeling that the Last Summer won't be much of a warm summer...

Dang, I’ve read that note before, but when you point it out, it is pretty ominous. Is there any official lore in the game that actually says it’s permanent winter? I’d always assumed it was just a gameplay mechanic.

Well, it is just a gameplay mechanic, or more precisely, a lack of one. Sandbox survival doesn't have seasons because they weren't added; yet our survivor is capable of ticking off the days, years perhaps, with the weather not getting seasonally better; in fact only worse with world decay. A dynamic 4 season game was out of reach at the time (too ambitious) I presume, and likely more seasons or a continuation of story may happen in another game, a sequel perhaps.

But the permanent winter feature of sandbox, while maybe just a game limitation, does play out a like a catastrophe, not being the area's natural climate (really the only place with subzero Celsius temperatures all year are the extreme polar climates). While this may not be the case in story mode (which I was a little disappointed it wasn't referenced more, but there was plenty of other world building and backstory that we also needed to learn), it does seem the Quiet Apocalypse is the conjuction of a brutal winter and the geomagnetic disaster, as well as prior economic Collapse; the biggest question remaining being just how far widespread in scope does the disaster reach?

And technically this (the notes) is just a Backer contribution it says, perhaps based on the survival experience and not really part of lore, officially. But it is in game so maybe it can now be included as lore? I was also happy to note that the buffer memories (some at least, haven't found most yet) do also make mention of an early and harsh winter hitting the Island.

[Yeoman]

Ah, okay. That’s what I was thinking. I personally would prefer they add the seasons as DLC rather than a second game, but if it would be more practical to just have a second game that went through all four seasons, I be willing to pay for that too. “The Longer Dark”, perhaps?

As for the notes, while they are fan-made, I feel like since Hinterland included them in the game, they’re probably safe to count as lore. Besides, to the best of my knowledge, there isn’t really anything in them that builds lore anyway. A bit of flavor, but most are either pretty cryptic, or mundane enough that they don’t change the story or setting any. I mean, it’s not like we’ve found any notes talking about the great xenomorph invasion of 2019 XD

[JiffyPopKids]

I have not taken a screenshot of it, but my favorite note is found in Camp Office. It goes on about how when they were "knock kneed goofy kids" they would weave baskets out of the reeds and fight with swords made out of sticks. They would sit behind the counter of the camp office and watch their dad greet the tourists that would come and have parties at the lake cabins and hunted.

"When the summer was nearing it's end, and the cattail heads turned to fluff, we blew our wishes into the sky. always to return. always."

Edit:

I had the message in one of my runs, so I took a screenshot of it.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1547263975

[jswilliams]

Re: Heather.

Calgary? CALGARY?!!? I mean, if you're gonna dream, dream big! Palm Beach or bust!

[drIdentity]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by drIdentity:

I like the one where the woman gets close to the guy (Steve? Scott?) who we've already seen shares his candies, but then he doesn't wake up in the morning. It's in the lighthouse. Melancholic.

Sean.

And I always think that is an Easter Egg reference to jacksepticeye, who streamed the game on his channel early on, and gave the game a good bit of positive PR (his videos were what truned me onto the game and got me to buy it- without jse I would not have known about the game for a long time...). His real name is Sean.

Whether they reference him or not, I will always associate those notes with jse. :)

Wow I didn't know that. Remembering jacksepticeye...Sean.