Steep learning fine, but this is madness!

[Uriah54]

After being frozen solid while trying to learn how to make clothes, I am about to have another go.

I have two questions though.

Some people have said that there is a building "north of the river" in which you can warm up. Where? I found a big building north of what seems to be a market, but I can't get in. Is this the wrong building, and if so, how do I find one I can enter, and how do I enter?

Second, in the few minutes I was playing, I was told I was going insane. From my reading, insanity is supposed to only start after 48 hours, and only if you do certain things. (None of which I have done). Is this WAI? Seems a bit tough, frozen to death, starving and insane, all in a few minutes. I think I managed to make a fireplace, but ran out of humours before I could do anything else.

I realise this game has a steep learning curve, which is one reason why I decided to play it. But this does seem a little extreme.

[Nikixos]

craft a crow feather cape and jute clothes to never worry about cold again, you can now stand by a fireplace or carry burning stones in your inv, enter ANY building incl a pilgrim hovel, the barn is nw after porting to providence

[JohnCarver]

Welcome to Salem. There are quite a lot of ways to counter-act the cold. Fires, torches, warming rocks up in the fireplace and keeping them in your inventory. That should all buy you time until you can get yourself suitable clothes, blankets, or even to the point where you can drink broth.

[Uriah54]

Grateful for the prompt replies, but I ran out of humours before I could learn "needle and thread". There is not enough time to make clothes, let alone a building or broth.

I need to find somewhere to warm up. I can see what I need to do to get warm, but while exploring the landscape to see what is what, and learning what to learn, it is not easy to be 100% efficient. Losing the ability to eat is a death sentence. No eat - no learn. So where can I go to reverse the cold so that I can survive long enough to learn how to make fibre? Let alone catch a crow, or find enough feathers to make something. The advice seems to be for players who have a few hundred hours under their belt and a lot of skills learned. In the words of Corporal Klink "I know nozzink!"

And in any case, my major worry was going insane. How could I whittle anything or hug a teddy bear when all I could do was pick up berries and chop logs? As I said, I read that you should have at least 48 hours before starting to go mad, and only if you did certain things. I did none of those, and only played the length of time to be frozen solid. Is this what is supposed to happen?

[Adelewhy]

When you warp into town you end up over near the blue box in this photo. Near the river are at least 3 different small houses (circled them for you) you can go into in order to warm up. It might take a little while though depending on how cold you are. Also to make thawing out faster, you can toss stones into the firepit in town and heat them and then put them in your inventory once they're redhot. That will help as well.

https://imgur.com/a/NQQd3

Also you said a message popped up warning about insanity. As you encounter different things you'll get popups that warn you about them (for example: first time you get sick you'll get a popup about sicknesses). New players do have 48 hours before insanity starts so it most likely was just an early warning so you can be prepared to combat the insanity once it starts.

[Andromedan]

Insanity will start accumulating after 48 hours regardless of what you do, resulting in madness levels; it happens by being online. However, you can do things to remove small amounts of insanity, like studying inspirationals or using the hookah in Providence (no idea where it is now though) once every 24 hours. Getting clothing early on is somewhat of a struggle, but with the advice you had already received, this should not be a problem. The steep learning curve becomes a lot less steep if you keep educating yourself with the wiki and forums. Good luck

[TotalyMeow]

Grateful for the prompt replies, but I ran out of humours before I could learn "needle and thread". There is not enough time to make clothes, let alone a building or broth.

You don't need Needle and Thread, you just need Patches and Rags. You might even manage to make clothes before leaving the tutorial, if there are enough reeds present in your tutorial instance (iirc, they don't respawn so you can get lucky or unlucky with what you get).

[Uriah54]

Grateful for the prompt replies, but I ran out of humours before I could learn "needle and thread". There is not enough time to make clothes, let alone a building or broth.

You don't need Needle and Thread, you just need Patches and Rags. You might even manage to make clothes before leaving the tutorial, if there are enough reeds present in your tutorial instance (iirc, they don't respawn so you can get lucky or unlucky with what you get).

Sorry, that was my mistake. I meant "Patches and Rags". I had to increase my Needle and Thread to learn P&R.

I am persisting, but this is getting really hard. Started a new character, my first being a solid block somewhere north of Providence. Went through the tutorial again, headed out. I have increased my N&T and need to gather stuff to learn P&R. All well and good - I can look in logs etc for spider webs. But am getting cold. Need to warm up. With the helpful hints provided above, rushed back to my lean-to to teleport to Providence and a building to thaw a little before heading out again.

Another problem: cannot teleport as "Trial by Fire" somewhere near. No idea what this is - looked it up and still not too sure. Seems to be something players use to besiege other players.

Logged out to avoid death by freezing and try to find out what I can do. Temp is 89, which I think is close to lose of ability to eat. Have no idea what to do.

With less than half an hour in the game, is this meant to occur?

Shall I give up another character and start again?

I don't want to appear a whinger, and am quite prepared to suffer for a while as I get to know my way around, but the barriers to survival are extreme and do not seem to be able to be solved when one starts. Without accessing the forums I would have no idea what is going on.

Should I not leave the tutorial until I have somehow learnt how to make clothes? I could not find any resources to allow me to learn P&R in the tutorial area. That may be my ignorance, but that is my point. I don't know what I am looking for. Is it too much to expect a little time to learn something before I am dead or an iceblock? Or must I just start character after character until I fluke a lucky start? That does not sound like much fun.

Don't get me wrong. I have no objection to a slow start, a difficult start or even a frustrating start. What I keep finding though is an impossible start, or one that assumes a lot of preknowledge. Please look at this as constructive criticism from a new player. (I did play many years ago, but only briefly and things have changed a lot from what I remember).

[JohnCarver]

Have you tried just making a torch?

[Uriah54]

Have you tried just making a torch?

Well, no.

I logged back on (Temp now 87) and could not locate "Torch" in my craft menu. Looked it up - requires knowledge of Coaling. That is some way off. Also requires something to light it. A fireplace? I spent some of my precious minutes looking for stones, but found none. Thought it more important to learn how to make some clothes than just wander off into the wilderness searching for something that might save me from death.

I appreciate your help, but it does not seem applicable to a new character with no knowledge. I started this game as I rec'd an email about a new launch. I assume that the makers of the game want new players, but my experience makes me think that few will last more than one attempt. I am an experienced gamer, with thousands of hours of various games, both on-line and system, including about 5 MMOs I played for years. (UO, EQ I and II, LOTRO and one whose name escapes me). I have always persevered even if tough at the beginning, but this start is, as I have said before, proving quite impossible.

To put it simply, a new player, with no knowledge, seems doomed to die within half an hour. Even if one reads a fair amount, it just does not seem that in Hypothermia that I can survive. Or is this "Trial by Fire" unusual? I have no idea.

All I want to know is whether this is working as intended. Am I supposed to simply try, try and try again? Because, without any marketing knowledge but many years in business, it seem unlikely to me that many new players will persist.

The advice I have rec'd is useful, and if I could advance even a little it might be effective. But no matter what I do, some unforeseeable and unpreventable problem arises to end my play. Am I just unlucky? Is this bar to teleportation to comparative safety a rare occurrence for someone in their first 30 minutes? Please do not tell me that I should build a stockade or something. I have not had the time or the knowledge to do anything bar wander looking for things that might be helpful. I need advice for the weak, ignorant and vulnerable with no assets. Or is multiple death the learning curve?