by dchow002 » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:35 pm For background, I played briefly towards the end of the last world, mostly as a hermit, I found a nice abandoned village to settle in. However, it never felt like “home” and I quit the game soon after. Fast forward to October of 2015, I was googling sandbox games, and Haven inevitably pops up. Checked it out and saw the massive update and decided to give it another go.
Part 1: A semi-hermit life
Observation 1: There is no stone. I end up traveling a good 2-3 hours east before I find stone (yes I'm exaggerating, but it felt like an eternity. Can't do much without an axe!). My initial plan was to make it to the edge of the world and hunker down. On my walk looking for rocks, I contact a player I traded with in the past world, and he invited me to settle north of him. Unfortunately, he lived west of the starting area so I traveled another good 3-4 hours to get to him.
Pictured below is what my claim looked like after about a week in (minus the ore smelters). One of my regrets is not better documenting my initial journey.
I ended up getting alts moved up, of which I'm sad to say multiple have passed away after hard labor
.I was super proud of my new palisade and felt secure. However, I was immediately humbled after I managed to agro a badger and it nearly bashed my palisade (the walls were still hardening) and the badger was hellbent on trying to eat me. I think I spent a good 15 minutes repairing my wall with my lumbar stockpile until my friend’s covillager could rescue me
. Of note, his villagers I met were very friendly and would drop of hand me downs they’ve outgrown (i.e. a q30 bow, which made hunting deer and boar possible). Although, I still got knocked out 1-2 times per day when missing .About 1-2 weeks in I was finally able to mine level 1 (thanks to a hand me down pickaxe and bear cloak), and was making my way towards a brick wall. (The joke is about 2-3 days later the Cuck-Hombre change came with mining).
Here is a picture of my expansion with a new tree area with hopes of making silk one day.
A few days after the metal change, I’m informed that my friend’s co-villager was moving to a bigger plot in the village, and was invited to take his old plot. (Personally, I think my buddy was also making sure I went through the ropes of being a hermit and learning the game, which I appreciate).
Part 2: Aspiring villager
First off, this is the new home handed to me.
A giant upgrade, but with room to grow. Having experienced a brief hermit life, I have thoroughly enjoyed village life. I had plenty of people to chat with, trade with, and get advice from. I felt like such a pest asking questions about farming, taming, silk worms, but everyone was patient with me. Even the infamous Jordan Coles (who I must admit, I was a bit intimidated by after reading his forum posts in the past world).
Within the last two weeks of my gameplay, I get my hands on my first sword, armor, and other hunting gear (through a combination of hand-me downs and trading). First order of business: I go on a rampant killing spree of boards, badgers, and every little critter that knocked me out in the past
. With my new found boar meat, I was able to mine into level 5, and catch up my industry to a reasonable level. Got a mini silk industry and cheese industry going (waiting to eat my first piece tomorrow!). 
In my last week, I have been able to finish my personal brick wall, which required an ungodly amount of glue to destroy (IMO). Another joke, the day I finish ramming the old pallisade is the day we have a villager able to bash palisades, (what a waste of good bone!).
I also got to do what I never dreamed of, a little bit of group PvP and raiding. Not being fully developed, I was relegated to ferrying the dead bodies of the slain, but I still had a blast.
This summarize my journey over a month, and it’s a easy decision for me to resub. Aside from being the immersive sandbox I've been looking for, I’m glad to find a group of players welcoming to a relative new player like myself, and I look forward to more adventures!
Disclaimer:
Please don’t read into this as a village propaganda: On a personal note, while Ainran is a bunch of raiders (myself included for at least one event) they have been welcoming to me as a “noob.”
Mini thanks to my trading buddy (Anonymous) who invited me to set me on this journey. Also thank you Valentine and Eric for not killing me after I first settled as a hermit. And of course all the other villagers who have let me pester them with questions and trade with me (even when always not favorable to them).
