No Trader Playthrough

[zombiehunter]

Greeting Survivors,

 

After playing several playthroughs of doing the trader quests all of the time I thought I'd want to do something different.  So I started a new game and did not allow myself to even go to a trader...not to sell or buy anything or do any trader quests.  I also turned off loot respawn (I always do that anyway), and turned off air drops.  I played at Survivalist level with 64 zombie blood moons and went with a Strength build.  I wanted to share a few observations.

 

• You basically have to craft everything.  This could be good for those players that think the traders are OP.
• Without the traders, I couldn't craft any dew collectors.  This really didn't matter as I know where to find murky water and I also found a water filter mod fairly early.  Water was not a problem at all.
• Food was not a problem...it never really is.
• I didn't find my first real (non pipe) weapon until day 20.  I found a level 5 AK-47 in the snow biome.
• I didn't find my first pistol (level 1) until day 27.
• I never had much money, so it was hard to buy out of vending machines.  I like to buy Jail Breakers and Rock Busters, but couldn't do it much in this playthrough.
• I usually pick up items just to sell them but in this playthrough I didn't, which saved inventory space.
• Generally, progression was slower than playthoughs with traders.
• I found that my main objective was finding the books and magazines I needed to be able to craft the items I wanted.
• It felt like I was really alone in the world.
• I felt like I had more freedom to do what I wanted or needed to achieve my goals.

 

The playthough was fun and different but I started to get bored with it after I obtained everything I wanted, which was sooner than I usually get bored enough to stop and start a new game.  I played until day 66 until I stopped.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to share and for those who think the traders are too OP with their rewards, I think you should try a playthrough without using the traders.  You may like it better.

 

Cheers.

[SylenThunder]

1 hour ago, zombiehunter said:

Without the traders, I couldn't craft any dew collectors.

Not entirely correct. There are two or three POI's that have a broken dew collector that is lootable. There is a chance for the filter to appear in the loot list for that block. Do not destroy them.

[zombiehunter]

31 minutes ago, SylenThunder said:

Not entirely correct. There are two or three POI's that have a broken dew collector that is lootable. There is a chance for the filter to appear in the loot list for that block. Do not destroy them.

Yes I know there is a possibility but I only came across about two of them and neither had a filter.  In fact, I have never found a filter since they were introduced.

[Callum123456789]

1 hour ago, zombiehunter said:

Yes I know there is a possibility but I only came across about two of them and neither had a filter.  In fact, I have never found a filter since they were introduced.

ive found one in the 1k hours ive played a21 so far lol its a 5% chance to drop basically none.

[Adam the Waster]

3 hours ago, Callum123456789 said:

ive found one in the 1k hours ive played a21 so far lol its a 5% chance to drop basically none.

It should be better. But I still want a water pump

[Callum123456789]

9 minutes ago, Adam the Waster said:

It should be better. But I still want a water pump

Having mod slots for the dew collector would be very nice I.e the water filter could be a mod for the dew collector that makes it as it is now but without one it takes 50% more time and makes murky water rather than the water filters being so tied to the traders you could get a dew collector up without almost always needing to get them from the traders.

[FranticDan]

9 hours ago, SylenThunder said:

Not entirely correct. There are two or three POI's that have a broken dew collector that is lootable. There is a chance for the filter to appear in the loot list for that block. Do not destroy them.

Yes, a 0.25 % chance, so essentially zero

A 5% of a 5% chance. IMO way to rare, I've never found one, and its the only way to find one in loot, a little disappointing they can't be found in working still boxes, or construction boxes

[Rotor]

It is the way I play, except I do allow myself to visit to sell.  And I add dead is dead, even before it was an option.

 

I do agree that is a totally a different game, and it does feel lonely, and progression is slow.

 

IMO it is the better game .  Congrats on giving it a whirl.

 

I do use the mod to craft water filter.  Although initially I played without it, it became too heavy loot centrist for my taste.

 

 

[Maharin]

I've been playing without traders after my first few games with them.  They make too many problems trivial for me.

 

A solution for the "no filters" problem is to make water purifier mods scrappable into filters or make filters a rare drop for scrapping some vehicles (keeping them as rare as you want by adjusting the drop rate).  I currently just play without filters.

[vom]

Playing without trader and dead is dead is the most enjoyable.

 

The people who grind trader missions aren't even playing the same game.

[Ramethzer0]

I feel like the OP is describing 75% what it felt like for me to play this game during A16.4 on public worlds.

 

 

[Banginurz]

16 minutes ago, Ramethzer0 said:

I feel like the OP is describing 75% what it felt like for me to play this game during A16.4 on public worlds.

 

 

While I don't disagree, I think everyone should play how they  want to.  IMHO, though, my no trader play through has stuck with me the most as a survival-style of game.  I progressed much slower, so things I took for granted in a regular playthrough meant much more.  Such as pocket mods, crucible and any ammo I found.  Just my 2 cents.

[Ramethzer0]

14 hours ago, Banginurz said:

While I don't disagree, I think everyone should play how they  want to.  IMHO, though, my no trader play through has stuck with me the most as a survival-style of game.  I progressed much slower, so things I took for granted in a regular playthrough meant much more.  Such as pocket mods, crucible and any ammo I found.  Just my 2 cents.

You'll hear no argument from me about people playing how they want to play.

 

But I did kinda internalize a few things regarding the OP's experiences at first, so I'll add a little bit of context here:  I get a strange dual edged chuckle when people 'discover' a thing that's definitely been around before and presents it as news.  On one hand, I am happy they found something that gives them joy (whether its recapturing the challenge in 7 days or discovering music from the 80's for example) but I also cant help but the chuckle that comes when people say 'Oh, you gotta try this!'

 

I also couldn't help but notice that the OP also included their experience of water scarcity as well, which is a thing I have been advocating for quite a while now.  To which I too share the opinion that water scarcity is just a matter of bad luck, or a lack of knowledge as to where to actually loot water.

So, I am absolutely going to link this thread to any others where those sort of complaints start to rapidly accumulate.

Edited January 1 by Ramethzer0 (see edit history)

[Vampirenostra]

Almost same for myself, I rarely visit the trader just to sell junk or unwanted armour parts/weapons, the only 2 things I let myself buy are filters and magazines. Would be really OP to have an option to disable traders, but enable craftable tier 6 and  filters. And yes I know I can mod recipes for filters, but guess you still can't really enable tier 6 crafting.

[BFT2020]

14 minutes ago, Vampirenostra said:

Almost same for myself, I rarely visit the trader just to sell junk or unwanted armour parts/weapons, the only 2 things I let myself buy are filters and magazines. Would be really OP to have an option to disable traders, but enable craftable tier 6 and  filters. And yes I know I can mod recipes for filters, but guess you still can't really enable tier 6 crafting.

I am working on a Q6 crafting mod right now

[Vaeliorin]

50 minutes ago, Vampirenostra said:

Almost same for myself, I rarely visit the trader just to sell junk or unwanted armour parts/weapons, the only 2 things I let myself buy are filters and magazines. Would be really OP to have an option to disable traders, but enable craftable tier 6 and  filters. And yes I know I can mod recipes for filters, but guess you still can't really enable tier 6 crafting.

I've been using q6 crafting mods for several alphas, and have been using one for Alpha 21 basically since it dropped in experimental.  I hated q6 not being craftable when I'd have the "stats" to craft it weeks before it would ever drop (mostly talking tools, though) but now that the difference between q5 and q6 is fairly meaningless it's not such a big deal.

 

That said, I've played no trader rewards before (thanks to BFT's mod) and not buying anything other than books and filters, and it was fine.  The way loot and such is set up now, not having the opportunity to reset high value POIs (basically anything with a lot of books) would suck unless you hardcore focused vehicles early game (though when I've cleared out my starting town and want to move to another town is usually when I end my runs, because I just can't be arsed moving everything.)

[Rotor]

2 minutes ago, Vaeliorin said:

(though when I've cleared out my starting town and want to move to another town is usually when I end my runs, because I just can't be arsed moving everything.)

 

I look at that as "soft" game reset.   

[Vaeliorin]

5 hours ago, Rotor said:

I look at that as "soft" game reset.   

I usually end up doing that with most games.  When playing Factorio or another factory game, when I get to a point where I need to rip apart and rebuild my whole factory, I usually just stop playing.  It's not the starting over that's really a problem, it's dealing with all the inventory management that drives me nuts.

[Rotor]

4 hours ago, Vaeliorin said:

I usually end up doing that with most games.  When playing Factorio or another factory game, when I get to a point where I need to rip apart and rebuild my whole factory, I usually just stop playing.  It's not the starting over that's really a problem, it's dealing with all the inventory management that drives me nuts.

 

When I gotta get up and go, I just go, I dont get up but what I can carry.  Or if I have it, whatever the bike can carry :).  That is why I call it a soft reset.  

[zombiehunter]

On 1/1/2024 at 8:01 AM, Ramethzer0 said:

But I did kinda internalize a few things regarding the OP's experiences at first, so I'll add a little bit of context here:  I get a strange dual edged chuckle when people 'discover' a thing that's definitely been around before and presents it as news.  On one hand, I am happy they found something that gives them joy (whether its recapturing the challenge in 7 days or discovering music from the 80's for example) but I also cant help but the chuckle that comes when people say 'Oh, you gotta try this!'

I don't believe I was "presenting it as news."  I was simply sharing my experience from playing a no trader playthrough for the first time.  I've got over 1000 hours in this game, always playing the "quest grind" and wanted to experience something different and wanted to share that experience with the community, realizing that some probably already have played this way.

 

I also don't believe I said "oh you gotta try this."  I've read several posts from players complaining about how they believe the traders and their rewards and stock are way too OP.  My comment, "Anyway, I just wanted to share and for those who think the traders are too OP with their rewards, I think you should try a playthrough without using the traders.  You may like it better." was directed at those folks as a suggestion.

[Ramethzer0]

1 hour ago, zombiehunter said:

I don't believe I was "presenting it as news."  I was simply sharing my experience from playing a no trader playthrough for the first time.  I've got over 1000 hours in this game, always playing the "quest grind" and wanted to experience something different and wanted to share that experience with the community, realizing that some probably already have played this way.

 

I also don't believe I said "oh you gotta try this."  I've read several posts from players complaining about how they believe the traders and their rewards and stock are way too OP.  My comment, "Anyway, I just wanted to share and for those who think the traders are too OP with their rewards, I think you should try a playthrough without using the traders.  You may like it better." was directed at those folks as a suggestion.

 

Part of it I feel was presentation, and part of it was my reaction to it as it seemed implied regardless.   I admit, it's sometimes hard to read inflection and subtext in the written form.  At some point in time a writer has to let go of the ownership of how a body of work is received, otherwise you're gunna be splitting hairs with a reader and ultimately no one actually moves.  But, that was my reaction to it.  You were not specific about 'oh you gotta try this' but it was further down the forum by another poster.   I wasn't attributing it to you, nor did I use language that did.  I don't consider your experiences as a bad thing, and I'm happy you shared them.  I bet this is context that was missing in my post previously to your reaction mine.   So, here we are, trying to understand what each other really mean, as I feel were likely both guilty of the same thing without trying to write a full tome of text to explain such things in greater detail.  I don't think most of us have time for that.

 

I hope some folks do try your suggestion.  For those that are affected by the traders, it may or may not work for them.  I think there is far more nuance to that situation than most folks let on about, so my expectation is that its not a 100% answer to the problem.   My personal opinion is that I think traders are a bit wonky as rewards are varied and not scaled well, and maybe in time these things will be trimmed/normalized and this wouldn't be the first time that TFP has made a similar decision.  I am, admittedly, far more patient for that outcome than pushing the issue towards the modding community as a solve that may not persist or even be compatible after the next experimental passes.

[BFT2020]

On 1/1/2024 at 12:57 PM, Vaeliorin said:

That said, I've played no trader rewards before (thanks to BFT's mod) and not buying anything other than books and filters, and it was fine.  The way loot and such is set up now, not having the opportunity to reset high value POIs (basically anything with a lot of books) would suck unless you hardcore focused vehicles early game (though when I've cleared out my starting town and want to move to another town is usually when I end my runs, because I just can't be arsed moving everything.)

 

I got a crafting mod that you might want to look at also.  It makes any items out there broken in loot and traders only having Q1/Q2 items for sell.  Crafting becomes more important to progress and Q6 gear is only found in Tier 5 or higher POIs.  It will be at the same location you got my Trader mod from.

[Vaeliorin]

2 hours ago, BFT2020 said:

 

I got a crafting mod that you might want to look at also.  It makes any items out there broken in loot and traders only having Q1/Q2 items for sell.  Crafting becomes more important to progress and Q6 gear is only found in Tier 5 or higher POIs.  It will be at the same location you got my Trader mod from.

I take it it doesn't include your no repairing mod?  Honestly, if it wasn't for the T5 POIs for Q6 gear, I'd probably be interested, but I hate T5 POIs and avoid them like the plague (well, the T5 Crack A Book isn't awful, but I do not like the other ones.)

[BFT2020]

29 minutes ago, Vaeliorin said:

I take it it doesn't include your no repairing mod?  Honestly, if it wasn't for the T5 POIs for Q6 gear, I'd probably be interested, but I hate T5 POIs and avoid them like the plague (well, the T5 Crack A Book isn't awful, but I do not like the other ones.)

Nope, it is not the official BFT crafting mod. 😏

[Rotor]

One of these days I will get to a tier 5 PoI.  My goal is not to accomplish them, but to carve a trench around it am dynamite it to oblivion.

 

If that is possible.