discussion Should Human Flesh ('Long Pig') be added back into DST? [DISSCUSSION]

[Subscriber01236]

Since the other topic talking about this disappeared I thought I'd make the follow up thread since I thought it was fairly interesting.

I personally think it'd add a interesting choice to public servers, if you were starving would you try to hunt and kill a fellow survivor or continue searching for Berries/ other food. In a group of friends with little food left one friend could sacrifice their life for a while so their friends would have enough to survive to get more food.

I figure it'd fit pretty well into the general theme of Don't Starve, a uncompromising wilderness survival where everyone must to whatever's neccasary to survive.

Feel free to post your thoughts below and answer the polls above!

If anyone wants to suggest something to add to the poll/ OP, just say!

[Subscriber01236]

5 minutes ago, TheHalcyonOne said:

It was probably removed for a reason, you know.

From what I can gather it was due to a bit of community backlash when it was added (wouldn't know, didn't know it was actually considered until today), though I remember and found a topic way back when also discussing it asking if cannibalism should become a thing and according to the poll, the majority seemed to say yes, and some people seem to be interested enough in the topic as it was brought up twice recently. 

Perhaps thoughts changed on the topic when it was actually added, and I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on it.

[Faintly Macabre]

2 minutes ago, Subscriber01236 said:

From what I can gather it was due to a bit of community backlash (wouldn't know, didn't know it was actually considered until today), though I remember and found a topic way back when also discussing it asking if cannibalism should become a thing and according to the poll, the majority seemed to say yes, perhaps thoughts changed on the topic when it was actually added, and I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on it.

I meant the previous topic.

[MdsTheGriffin]

It should only be able to be eaten if you are  starving.. and every time you eat it.. it makes you go insane. 

[Subscriber01236]

6 minutes ago, TheHalcyonOne said:

I meant the previous topic.

Oh right, well I asked about why it was deleted in a status and JoeW (Love ya!) very speedily replied, it was deleted because " it was UnionGaming trolling... again "

[Mobbstar]

WX can cannibalise other robots (and other WXs) already... awkward~

[Subscriber01236]

1 minute ago, Mobbstar said:

WX can cannibalise other robots (and other WXs) already... awkward~

WX was a cannibal before it was cool!

[Faintly Macabre]

7 minutes ago, Subscriber01236 said:

Oh right, well I asked about why it was deleted in a status and JoeW (Love ya!) very speedily replied, it was deleted because " it was UnionGaming trolling... again "

Ahh. Fair enough!

As for me, I think the framework being left in the game is enough. There's obviously some polarization on the subject so I think it should probably be left to modders to put it in the game rather than the devs. Don't Starve is dark, but it's a silly sort of dark; I don't find "long pig" particularly offensive but I don't think it's particularly funny either.

[Serph]

No.

There are mods out there if you want it.

 

[Subscriber01236]

24 minutes ago, TheHalcyonOne said:

As for me, I think the framework being left in the game is enough. There's obviously some polarization on the subject so I think it should probably be left to modders to put it in the game rather than the devs. Don't Starve is dark, but it's a silly sort of dark; I don't find "long pig" particularly offensive but I don't think it's particularly funny either.

Yeah I can appreciate them not removing the assets, letting mods add it back in easily.

I imagine having cannibalism in the game could possibly mess with the ESRB rating/ other stuff(?) on DST when it comes out on consoles so I figure them willing to go through all that would play a big part in whenever or not they re-add it in the end.

I think if done right it'd be a pretty neat addition to DST and I've always figured it would be a part of DST done when in absolute desperation which I figure kinda suits the 'uncompromising' part of the game.

Spoiler

 

[MikoWebster]

I don't find it morbid or not. It's the situation that makes it morbid, not the act.

For example in several tribes it's considered a great honour to have ones body consumed after death, that said though I can understand why the west has such an issue with the concept, given it's so tied to the idea of murder over here due to Hollywood.

Because of this duality I'm kinda not that fussed if it's in the game or not. It'd be interesting for sure, but if it's going to make people feel hyper-uncomfortable it probably shouldn't be included. The idea of having it as an optional feature is kinda cool.

[The Letter W]

only if we get to bring back the tagline "don't starve together: eat your friends!" 

[magia]

No it should not. If you want to have it, there are mods, have fun. Main game should not promote immoral/revolting acts. Why would you ruin perfect family-friendly game with something what is basically pointless in the long run? It does not change much in terms of gameplay (starving in don't starve is really hard already) but spoil overall view on the game one could have. Judging from fan art in the forums and experience in-game, it's played by children. I'm against demoralizing children.

[GiddyGuy]

1 hour ago, The Letter W said:

only if we get to bring back the tagline "don't starve together: eat your friends!" 

I hope to see some pvp servers named this and @SuperPsiPower just being king Maxwell in them.

[Arlesienne]

10 minutes ago, magia said:

Judging from fan art in the forums and experience in-game, it's played by children. I'm against demoralizing children.

Played by children? That's worrying. The game most clearly is not meant for kids. From the themes through the tropes evoked to the base concept alone. Curiously enough, nobody seems to complain about Wigfrid getting boosts from killing or Wendy summoning Abigail with a blood sacrifice. Or anything else.

Well, not my monkeys. I just want to play with mature people.

4 minutes ago, GiddyGuy said:

I hope to see some pvp servers named this and @SuperPsiPower just being king Maxwell in them.

Really? You do?

...Drop me a message to elaborate. I have had my group's members asking for a PvP server.

[DwerBomb]

I remember being one who wanted long pig in game. But looking at it now...

It doesn't really matter. I mean, I wouldn't mind it. But it's not something we need: the downsides are worse than the good sides

[GiddyGuy]

28 minutes ago, Arlesienne said:

Really? You do?

...Drop me a message to elaborate. I have had my group's members asking for a PvP server.

I was kind of just kidding if you couldn't tell by the kind Maxwell part, plus I mostly ever play PvE since PvP makes feel like I'm not getting anything done, but I sometimes play PvP once in a while I do like a bit of an adrenaline rush.

Edit: Wouldn't Maxwell look great in a party frock with a thulecite crown?

[Bebbit]

35 minutes ago, magia said:

Judging from fan art in the forums and experience in-game, it's played by children. I'm against demoralizing children.

Ouch. I'm just assuming here, but I don't think you're good enough at art to start insulting the artists here. Regardless, I see your point but Don't Starve already has dark themes and it wouldn't make much difference if people dropped long pig. It would look like they just had meat in their inventory. Hell, they could even call it "Mystery Meat" to lighten it up.

[GiddyGuy]

40 minutes ago, magia said:

Judging from fan art in the forums and experience in-game, it's played by children. I'm against demoralizing children.

I don't think most childen have enough patience to learn a hard game, but I could be wrong as it still is a videogame.

 

[DarkXero]

1 hour ago, Arlesienne said:

Played by children? That's worrying. The game most clearly is not meant for kids. From the themes through the tropes evoked to the base concept alone. Curiously enough, nobody seems to complain about Wigfrid getting boosts from killing or Wendy summoning Abigail with a blood sacrifice. Or anything else.

 

50 minutes ago, GiddyGuy said:

I don't think most childen have enough patience to learn a hard game, but I could be wrong as it still is a videogame.

 

I have played with children many times in DST servers.

Once, the kid was dancing at the fire pit and organizing chests. All the time. Even during winter.

Another time, her parent told me to not kill Glommer in front of her. Or catcoons. They had a mod to give Glommer a family.

Yet again, a guy that followed me and did exactly what I told him. Answered with very basic sentences. Was kid.

 

So yeah, you would be surprised.

After all, game is easy for kids, because caring for a noob is like taking care of a child.

Sometimes they learn new stuff. Other times, they just wait for the telltale heart and then keep eating your food.

 

Children mostly likely pick Wendy or Webber, because "they look cute".

[ThaumicParrot]

I think long pig would reintroduce a cool and melancholy mechanic, it would make survival feel more realistic and would let you weigh your own consequences. Should you kill your friend if you're starving? That's for you to decide, and I think it would put more emotional attachment into the game. But WX-78 should drop an electric doodad instead.

[CameoAppearance]

I play with the Long Pig mod quite often, and it actually doesn't make that big of a difference to the food supply. I've also never had someone kill another player specifically to eat them, only eat the body after something else killed them. What generally happens is that depending on my current group's appetite for recreational cannibalism we either give the meat to our camp bird for eggs or we feed it to each other for fun.

Mind you, I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the mod only makes players drop a single piece of Long Pig on death and it's neither filling on its own nor usable in the crockpot. If players dropped 2-3 pieces/it had a higher hunger value/the crockpot would accept it as meat, eating each other would correspondingly be a more valuable tactic and killing other survivors for food would become more viable as a result. (Probably not that viable, because it wrecks your sanity and I wouldn't want that to be changed. So eating a lot of it would be a bad idea for the same reason that eating a lot of Glommer goop is a bad idea.) It's not an option in the first place unless PvP is on, of course.

Honestly I'm satisfied with the mod version, except for the glitch where Long Pig turns invisible when it finishes drying and this is unlikely to be fixed because it's an unimplemented item. (I don't know why it happens, since the dried version has a sprite.) I voted for 'optional and turned off by default' in the poll, because that would be pretty similar to how it is now in practical terms.

In its current form I don't think Don't Starve is inappropriate for children; I wouldn't recommend it to kids, but that's mostly just because it's difficult and a lot of kids would get frustrated and give up after the tenth time they died. (Although I am admittedly thinking of singleplayer on default settings here, not customized worlds or multiplayer with a helper.) Whether the dark themes and frequent animal death would upset a kid really depends on the kid's temperament. It's also not a very gruesome game, despite being dark and difficult; combat is bloodless and pretty cartoony. It legitimately seems like a game that can be enjoyed by all ages.

But having said that, it's more of a game for general audiences that can be played by children than one that's specifically marketed to children or even especially popular among children, so I don't think every game mechanic needs to be weighed against the consideration of whether it's OK for kids. Anything blatantly inappropriate for children, rather than just possibly-too-dark, is probably also wrong for the tone of Don't Starve in other ways without needing to bring age into it.

[Zeklo]

If it were to make it into the game and could be used in the crockpot I want every result made from it end with a '?'

Like 'Meaty Stew?'

[BiddoBams]

2 minutes ago, Zeklo said:

If it were to make it into the game and could be used in the crockpot I want every result made from it end with a '?'

Like 'Meaty Stew?'

How about a new crockpot dish: Soylent Green?

[Zhuzha]

2 hours ago, magia said:

Main game should not promote immoral/revolting acts.

But here's the thing: it doesn't promote cannibalism. If Long Pig were the best food item in the game, or eating human meat were to give players permanent stats boost, then you could've said that the game presents cannibalism as a good thing. But, If I remember right, Long Pig had a huge toll on the character's health and sanity, and you'd think twice before eating it, even if you'd be starving and there'd be no other food. To me it sounds quite the opposite of promoting cannibalism.

2 hours ago, magia said:

Judging from fan art in the forums and experience in-game, it's played by children. I'm against demoralizing children.

Just because a game is played by children, doesn't mean it was made for children. *ahem*CoD*ahem*

And while DS is not overly graphic or gory, and its cartoony graphics and silly puns might be appealing for kids, it's not that child-friendly. It's quite hard and has plenty of dark themes that might be inappropriate for children. For example, here's a short list of life lessons impressionable little Billy might learn from "Don't Starve":

1) Missing a recently deceased loved one? No problem! Just perform an animal sacrifice, and you'll see them again in no time!

2) Graverobbing will yield you precious gems or items that can be exchanged for gold.

3) Speaking of which - if you find a body of your fallen comrade, you can always steal their belongings and then use their remains to create fertilizer or clothing.

4) Enslaving a race of sentient beings and making them do your bidding is A-OK!

5) You're lost in the woods and you're starting to get cold? Start a forest fire - that'll warm you up!

Also, if you're playing as WX or Webber, you're already committing acts of cannibalism, if you eat gears or monster meat respectively.