PC No Trader Playthrough

Z

zombiehunter

New member
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 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.
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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.

 
Adam the Waster said:
It should be better. But I still want a water pump
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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.

 
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.
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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

 
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.

 
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.

 
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 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.
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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.

 
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.
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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.

 
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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.

 
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.
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I am working on a Q6 crafting mod right now

 
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.
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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 said:
I look at that as "soft" game reset.   
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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.

 
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.
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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.  

 
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!'
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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.

 
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