I finished the mission a while ago but I'm just finding out now that it's possible to save the hostages in the first mission. How do you do it? I am obviously not going to go back and start the game over again but it would have been cool if I knew I could save them. I first seen the room when I entered through the back vent, but didn't go in or open the vent because I wasn't finished in the previous room (the big assembly line with the 3 guards). Walkthroughs are telling me that I was able to defuse the bomb (I'm assuming it's that weird thing in the middle of the room with the hostages???) but I didn't even get the chance to, the hostages were already dead when I first laid eyes on the room. I didn't even know they were alive to begin with, I just thought it was a room full of dead bodies. 
  
I'm playing through on the hardest difficulty if that is any help.

If you fuck around at Sarif Indsutries for over 15 minutes before leaving for the mission the hostages are dead when you get there.

I actually think this is what Jeff was talking about. If you don't start the mission soon, you get a transmission saying that "things have gotten worse" and that they've already killed the hostages. I never got that transmission and they were alive when I did the mission (and you are correct about what the bomb was).

Also: did you trigger any alarms? That may do it, but I'm not sure.

You dicked around and Sarif too long

@xyzygy said:

@Undeadpool: Nope, no alarms. I'm going for the no alarms achievement. But I do remember getting the message that you mentioned and I wondered at the time if it had any consequence - should have put two and two together! Guess I'll know for next playthrough!

THERE'S A NO ALARM TROPHY!? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I'm at the end of the goddamn game and I WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT FROM THE START

Yeah, it's best if you just take the helicopter to the plant right away. Once you're there, I think you can take as long as you want to reach the hostages, and you can look around the Sarif offices all you want when you return. I don't know why they made the first mission that way. I'm pretty sure it's the only instance of that kind of timing sensitive consequences in the entire game. It kind of discourages taking your time and exploring, which is one of the best things about the game.

yup, i started by looking at adam's emails... realised there's a mini sidequest to catch the guy smuggling that drug... by the time i've hacked into a couple of rooms it says things have got worse.
 
but the hostages die, someone says "oh dear the hostages died" and that's the only negative effect in the entire game....  i felt cheated by the game but it was meaningless anyway.

@xyzygy: It isn't a HUGE difference, it's just that if you save the hostages, one of them turns out to be head of plant maintenance and has a few unsavory connections. Long story short: you know the high-end weapons dealer? (not the one in the gas station, the one in the apt building)? He'll give you a discount if you save the man and his wife.

I went straight there and could only save one person.  I did the mission pretty quickly so I don't know what I could have done differently.  I didn't use stealth so maybe if I had they wouldn't have killed the rest of the hostages but I sort of doubt it.

@JasonR86: Wee the hostages already dead when you entered their room? If so this is due to not starting the mission soon enough. The time inside the mission itself doesn't count. Otherwise the only other way for them to die is if you trigger the bomb by walking through the door of their office and not disarming it in time.

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

You can always play through again...

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses.  I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses. I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

You are not cheated out of anything significant for one. Secondly you are first given a warning to hurry up before the last warning and hostages die. Thirdly you can explore it after the mission. Fourthly this is not the kind of game where you will be able to discover find and do everything in one play through anyway no matter what you do. Some choices/paths will give you something, others will take something away.

If you think the game is shitting on your face by going for a little consequence that's your prerogative, I guess.

There are more choices that can result in negative effects than this over the course of the game, I recommend at least two playthroughs to find them all and reading the news as the game progresses. It gets AMAZING.

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses. I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

You are not cheated out of anything significant for one. Secondly you are first given a warning to hurry up before the last warning and hostages die. Thirdly you can explore it after the mission. Fourthly this is not the kind of game where you will be able to discover find and do everything in one play through anyway no matter what you do. Some choices/paths will give you something, others will take something away.

If you think the game is shitting on your face by going for a little consequence that's your prerogative.

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses.  I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses.  I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

You'll get over it. There's a lot more to this game than this tiny bit of dialogue, xp and a pissy little sidequest.

@Binman88 said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses.  I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

You'll get over it. There's a lot more to this game than this tiny bit of dialogue, xp and a pissy little sidequest.

Thanks for reassuring me without condescension. And yeah, I was sort of fretting because I thought that one fumble would mess with the bigger picture as well (i.e. the story or ending).

I don't remember getting a warning. In fact I think I did the mission right away. I actually screwed up thinking that I could just complete the main objective and the swat team would rescue the hostages. I guess that resulted in them getting killed. That's what I assume anyways because I wasn't late to the mission but didn't ever actually find the hostages.

@RoyCampbell said:

Extra XP and a side-quest sounds a bit significant to me, especially at the beginning of the game with all those augments available to you. In videogames, when I'm shouted at to get a move on, it doesn't mean much at all; most of the time, nothing happens. When Megan was repeating her lines telling me we need to go, I was looking at the newspaper and all the stuff scattered around the office. There was no consequence there, so I nudged off David's warnings. When I was talking to all the NPCs, they were saying lines of dialogue I wouldn't have heard after the first mission; all they talked about afterwards is either how I "fucked up" or something along the lines of "You hear what happened down at that facility?" When you're at the beginning of a new game, and there's a ton of stuff to look at and explore, the thought of "I'll look at it later after the mission" doesn't occur to me and it shouldn't occur to anyone that is into looking into every nook and cranny like I am.

In the grand scheme of things no it's not significant. It sounds significant to you. But I did it both ways, and it's not, it's just a bit of XP, like I already said. The side quest is you just go meet one of the people you saved and he tells you that you can now get a discount from one of the 2 vendors in Detroit that's it. If you are diligent in your exploration you can get enough points before you even get to the second mission to unlock all the important upgrades one would want. I had more praxis points by exploring Detroit then Jeff did when already in China.

Just like the person who I replied to initially you start assuming the worst shit imaginable and being outraged by that, just from the opposite direction.

You either use guides and scrounge message boards for every possible outcome, hidden area, item, or just go with how the game plays out, simple.

@RoyCampbell said:

Extra XP and a side-quest sounds a bit significant to me, especially at the beginning of the game with all those augments available to you. In videogames, when I'm shouted at to get a move on, it doesn't mean much at all; most of the time, nothing happens. When Megan was repeating her lines telling me we need to go, I was looking at the newspaper and all the stuff scattered around the office. There was no consequence there, so I nudged off David's warnings. When I was talking to all the NPCs, they were saying lines of dialogue I wouldn't have heard after the first mission; all they talked about afterwards is either how I "fucked up" or something along the lines of "You hear what happened down at that facility?" When you're at the beginning of a new game, and there's a ton of stuff to look at and explore, the thought of "I'll look at it later after the mission" doesn't occur to me and it shouldn't occur to anyone that is into looking into every nook and cranny like I am.

Once again, if you think that the game is shitting in your face when you don't get a bit of XP, I'll tell you a big secret, you're not going to get the maximum amount of possible XP in your first play through no matter what you do. So it's going to be shitting in your face pretty much 24/7

You either use guides and scrounge message boards for every possible outcome, hidden area, item, or just go with how the game plays out, simple.

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

Extra XP and a side-quest sounds a bit significant to me, especially at the beginning of the game with all those augments available to you. In videogames, when I'm shouted at to get a move on, it doesn't mean much at all; most of the time, nothing happens. When Megan was repeating her lines telling me we need to go, I was looking at the newspaper and all the stuff scattered around the office. There was no consequence there, so I nudged off David's warnings. When I was talking to all the NPCs, they were saying lines of dialogue I wouldn't have heard after the first mission; all they talked about afterwards is either how I "fucked up" or something along the lines of "You hear what happened down at that facility?" When you're at the beginning of a new game, and there's a ton of stuff to look at and explore, the thought of "I'll look at it later after the mission" doesn't occur to me and it shouldn't occur to anyone that is into looking into every nook and cranny like I am.

Once again, if you think that the game is shitting in your face when you don't get a bit of XP, I'll tell you a big secret, you're not going to get the maximum amount of possible XP in your first play through no matter what you do. So it's going to be shitting in your face pretty much 24/7

You either use guides and scrounge message boards for every possible outcome, hidden area, item, or just go with how the game plays out, simple.

You seem to be misconstruing that "shit in my face" comment every post you reply me with. I was having fun talking to people and exploring and whatnot, then I find out the hostages are dead, and then everyone thinks I'm a failure and I missed out on some stuff. That's what I'm talking about; I feel as though I was punished. I'm also not looking to "max my XP", I just felt cheated in that one instance. And no, I've made it a rule not to look at message boards before a hyped release. I'm not a fan of spoilers in any capacity and I've also stumbled upon an intentionally spoiler-heavy title of a thread by a troll. I just don't try anymore. Now please, if you're going to reply again, ease off with the "I'm talking down to you!" tone and just have a conversation with me.

You are the one who used the "shit in my face" hyperbole instead of being rational about the issue.

And like Binman88 I told you it's not significant. But you chose to ignore me, yet when he posted exact same thing you took his word for it...

You were being punished by the game. And I'm telling you straight up you will be punished by the game further along the road, not for this decision but for others you will make or do. I'm being as straightforward as I can be.

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

Extra XP and a side-quest sounds a bit significant to me, especially at the beginning of the game with all those augments available to you. In videogames, when I'm shouted at to get a move on, it doesn't mean much at all; most of the time, nothing happens. When Megan was repeating her lines telling me we need to go, I was looking at the newspaper and all the stuff scattered around the office. There was no consequence there, so I nudged off David's warnings. When I was talking to all the NPCs, they were saying lines of dialogue I wouldn't have heard after the first mission; all they talked about afterwards is either how I "fucked up" or something along the lines of "You hear what happened down at that facility?" When you're at the beginning of a new game, and there's a ton of stuff to look at and explore, the thought of "I'll look at it later after the mission" doesn't occur to me and it shouldn't occur to anyone that is into looking into every nook and cranny like I am.

Once again, if you think that the game is shitting in your face when you don't get a bit of XP, I'll tell you a big secret, you're not going to get the maximum amount of possible XP in your first play through no matter what you do. So it's going to be shitting in your face pretty much 24/7

You either use guides and scrounge message boards for every possible outcome, hidden area, item, or just go with how the game plays out, simple.

You seem to be misconstruing that "shit in my face" comment every post you reply me with. I was having fun talking to people and exploring and whatnot, then I find out the hostages are dead, and then everyone thinks I'm a failure and I missed out on some stuff. That's what I'm talking about; I feel as though I was punished. I'm also not looking to "max my XP", I just felt cheated in that one instance. And no, I've made it a rule not to look at message boards before a hyped release. I'm not a fan of spoilers in any capacity and I've also stumbled upon an intentionally spoiler-heavy title of a thread by a troll. I just don't try anymore. Now please, if you're going to reply again, ease off with the "I'm talking down to you!" tone and just have a conversation with me.

You are the one who used the "shit in my face" hyperbole instead of being rational about the issue.

And like Binman88 I told you it's not significant. But you chose to ignore me, yet when he posted exact same thing you took his word for it...

You were being punished by the game. And I'm telling you straight up you will be punished by the game further along the road, not for this decision but for others you will make or do. I'm being as straightforward as I can be.

@RoyCampbell said:

Binman was the most straightforward with his two sentences and he wasn't a dick about it. And what have I been doing this past page and a half? Obviously not ignoring you.

And yeah, the "shit in my face" comment was honestly how I felt and best represented what I wanted to get across. Getting punished so early in the game is not a good first impression, I guess I'll "learn" from it but it doesn't make it any better.

How am I being a dick here? I'm just explaining it to you:

You are not cheated out of anything significant for one. Secondly you are first given a warning to hurry up before the last warning and hostages die. Thirdly you can explore it after the mission. Fourthly this is not the kind of game where you will be able to discover find and do everything in one play through anyway no matter what you do. Some choices/paths will give you something, others will take something away.

If you think the game is shitting on your face by going for a little consequence that's your prerogative, I guess.

I'm making my way to the hostages now, and I guess I'll have to expect the worst (David told me the situation has gotten much worse, and the S.W.A.T. guys told me 8 people have already been murdered).

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@RoyCampbell said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@tarquinbb: Actually if you take time to talk to people a lot of them give you shit for it including the SWAT team. You also miss out on extra XP, and a side-quest for a discount from one of the merchants in Detroit. As well as changing the news report on the hostage situation.

Wow, that pisses me off.

What did? There is some consequence to your actions. The guy above is shitting on a game because he didn't think there was any, now you're pissed that there is :)

I was too busy enjoying the exploration and sights (in the Sarif offices), only to be scolded and surprised to know that I was on an invisible timer, and now I've been cheated out of all those bonuses.  I was friggin' reading ebooks and going through ventilation shafts into other people's offices and talking to everyone I could find; y'know, enjoying myself. There's always gotta be a game that shits in my face when I get any sort of fun out of it.

Are you an idiot, or something? The transmission you get says, "hey, hostages have been taken at one of our plants, YOU NEED TO GET TO THE HELIPAD RIGHT AWAY."  Like, seriously? What more sort of emergency message do you need to get? Once you complete the mission you have all day to walk around the Sarif offices with your thumb up your ass.

...or hack it
 
Also it was actually a really cool thing for the game to do so quit getting mad duder

I think it's actually kind of awesome that your actions (or lack thereof) have consequences. Will definitely hurry up next time and at least get there while they're still alive.

I was messing around too in the Sarif offices, but that's because so many games are so fucking lazy with their 'urgent' missions that I never expected it to do something like this.
Not like I care tho, I won't miss them, silly hostages.

Knowing about Jeff's experience beforehand, I went straight for the chopper. 
 
Never once even saw the room the hostages were in.  I never even knew there was a bomb until I just read this thread.