that 1 stranger

Hackers make the game... interesting sometimes...

There's several steps in this game that determine where people are in the line-up. Step One is usually when a person first gets the game. They probably don't know the controls because they bought the game for DayZ and not ArmA II. They also probably didn't play the tutorial missions to learn how everything works. This is where people usually die within several minutes of spawning because they think zombies are a serious threat. They compete with a learning curve of controls, finding out where supplies are, and learning how to use everything properly or have it glitch away. Step Two is when they actually have a solid grasp of the controls and what happens when you do x and y. This is when people start learning how to actually survive. They go raid towns and cities to collect supplies, and then run off to do it someplace else. They learn not to mess with zombies, where not to go, and what to look out for. This is usually when players first find bandits because now the bandits (at least the good ones) are waiting for them to move between towns and cities so they can collect. What usually gets players killed here are bandits. Step Three is when the player has died enough times they now know "the routine" and can gear up fairly quickly. Within an hour, the player has the five things they need to survive plus a little bonus. They head off to the most isolated areas of the map (usually North or West). Zombies are nothing more than a nuisance to the player at this point. Also, the player will start to notice the tent cities and take note of where they are. What usually gets players killed at this point are bandits who stay back at the tent cities, or hackers who do server nukes, teleports, or drops. Players will rarely ever go into the cities and just hold up in a central location. At this central location, they will either make a little tent city to put stuff in that will duplicate, or they will go to some industrial location near a tent city and just raid that. Step Four is where the character doesn't even go into the cities for supplies. They just raid the camps in the North and the West, or go to one they set up already in step three. At this point, going into the cities is mainly done as sport to either kill bandits, save survivors, or kill survivors. Players no longer fear dying because they can just wait a couple of hours and raid the camp (since tents respawn with equipment in them every four hours as long as you don't save it after removing the equipment). Players at this point really don't care if they die. They look for a challenge, and the game rarely delivers with zombies. This stage ends with either the player killing players (regardless of what the player is), or the player just stops playing because they are bored. Just my observations from myself and people talking about it.

So I hear quite a bit about how the bandit skin and hero skins are useful or not useful. To me, neither one is useful because they don't give you any benefit regardless of your humanity. Like a model citizen, I thought about it and came up with an idea. I haven't see anything in the forums like it (and this time I actually did a search!) Instead of having humanity, let's just change the thing to experience. You get experience by killing zombies, killing players, killing animals, giving transfusions, using epi pens, bandaging a wound, eating food, drinking soda, putting up fences, fixing up vehicles, and whatever else is activated by the mouse wheel in default controls (except for opening and closing doors, of course). As you gain more experience playing with that character, the character will actually start to look more and more badass. For example, replace that god awful baseball cap with a beanie or skull cap. Maybe put some gloves on. How about a bandoleer to replace those thigh packs. All of these things just stack on top of each other to slowly make one bad ass mother fucker. None of this would change inventory or add any sort of bonus to your character. It would just make him look like he's actually knows what he is doing. If you like the idea, I request that you put down some ideas for clothing and gear that can be worn on your characters civilian clothing to make them look more awesome. PS Put some damn gloves on the gillie suit while you're at it. It's kind of stupid looking to see a bush running around with hands that are more visible than the face :P

Actually, I think the dead giveaway is when you see a piece of football field running around lol. Seriously though, you're right. The ghillie suit isn't the easiest thing to spot, but the black boots are a dead giveaway when you're close. Another suggestion I have for the ghillie is to hump the back to represent the backpack. Yeah, it's more likely to get you spotted, but it's also more realistic. A person in a ghillie suit is already hard enough to spot as it is from a distance. ---------- A full-blown clothing customization tool will probably be in the standalone. Even then, I wouldn't want too much power in it. I'd like to have access to change things as I would level just to make myself more unique. ---------- It can also say, "You are one of the few people that were prepared for the zombie apocalypse. As your reward, I grant you the power of making a fashion statement for the tactical community." I don't think it would take away from the immersion if you got to choose some basic-looking gear and then unlocked more as you gained more experience. However, making yourself look like a badass on the becach with zero experience would defeat the purpose of the system and take away from the immersion. I would also be afraid of spending more time customizing my character to look cool rather than actually playing in bat country. The argument can go either way in my opinion. To me, I would just like to see my character evolve and look more like a badass the longer I kept him alive. That would be an amazing reward that most players would like to achieve.

My goal is to find a bag bigger than the coyote backpack...

As far as I'm aware, there is no benefit other than a slightly modified skin of your player character. You either get to wear a flannel or a scarf depending on your actions. You still have an equal chance of someone shooting you no matter what look they see you in. If people see you in the bandit skin, they are going to shoot you. If they see you in the hero skin, they are going to shoot you. Point is, you're going to be shot at. I like the idea of having that feature removed unless it gives you some sort of bonus. I have no idea what kind of bonus a bandit would want that a hero wouldn't though. I actually think that humanity should be replaced with experience or something. At each level, your character changes slightly in terms of aesthetics. Actually, I'm going to go suggest that now. Thanks for making my brain work! :D

I don't use tents because people will find them. Unless I go into debug land (and very far in mind you), someone is going to find my tent. Even hackers will teleport and find my tent. I carry everything on my person, just as a reminder that if I die, I lose everything. No pressure at all really >_>

Bears? So I can finally achieve my dream of being Davy Crockett?

Most, if not all, of what I'm going to say has already been said by other people on the forums. I'm just too lazy to respond to each one with my two cents, or unwilling to necrothread. I'll give my personal opinion as to why it would be functional and worthwhile in the game as justification for other people to decide on. It's all about the player community being happy while also keeping things fair and balanced enough to be fun. Molotov Cocktails I've seen a lot of empty whiskey bottles in trash, and ever since I found them, I've been wondering two things. One of those things was the ability to create molotov cocktails. It wouldn't be that hard really. Jerrycan + empty whiskey bottle = molotov cocktails. That's almost a standard in every zombie apocalypse scenario. If one was to ask where they would get the fire from there are such things called matches. They even had molotovs in Saving Private Ryan, so you know it's legit. Body Armor and Armor Piercing Rounds With all these soldiers lying around, I don't think they would be missing their body armor or their helmets (especially helmets). You could make them degrade with wear and tear of the environment. Still, it has the most utility. It protects against zombie fist clubbings and players alike by reducing damage. Now as much as I am a fan of this, I also know that there must be a counter to prevent bawling. That's why I suggest armor piercing rounds. You could make all this all drop at the military spawns, since that's logically the most likely place to find body armor and armor piercing rounds. And soldiers. Because zombie soldiers would have such things right? The Dead Rising This has probably been beaten into the core of the Earth, but I want players who have died to come back as zombies. I don't mean players control the zombies so much as the player's dead character model becomes a zombie. Besides, people die and then go back to retrieve their gear all the time. Why not have it so that the gear becomes mobile and they have to fight their former self to get it back? You could even make the player zombies have 12000 blood so they are a durable boss-type zombie. In fact, let's extend this idea a bit. Let's make it so some zombies play possum and then when they detect you, they suddenly get up and Hammer Arm you until you faint. I think this would add a whole new level of "OH SHIT" factor to the game. We all crawl by corpses and not even give it a second thought. It will be a new constant threat to be aware of in the game on top of everything else. Hunting Knife as a Weapon. The hunting knife would make an awesome secondary weapon just because of variety. The hatchet is already a dual purpose item (both a weapon and a tool), so why not the hunting knife as well? I think enough has been said about this already, but my personal opinion is that watching people go knife vs. knife or knive vs. hatchet over some supermarket beans would be hilarious. You can watch from the restaurant across the street in Elektro too. Dinner and a show for date night (and if someone starts bawling, it's a night at the opera). Crowbars and Locked Doors. Mr. Freeman is as much of my role model as the next guy. His first weapon of choice? Okay, it's the gravity gun, but Half-Life 1 it was a crowbar. I've only ever seen the Crowbar as a weapon, and it sucks compared to the hatchet. I would like to see it as a tool belt item that can open locked doors. Oh yeah, I also want the ability to lock doors. All these open doors and no way to lock them? Madness! This will be more feasible when zombies can't just do a little shuffle and walk through solid objects. A man can dream though... a man can dream. Full Whiskey Bottles Remember how I said I wondered two things when I saw empty whiskey bottles? This is the second thought. Just the ability to get drunk and try to shoot zombies (good lord I sound like a huge fucking hick right now) would be enough justification. But, since everything has utility and mechanical purpose in the game, I submit the suggestion that they could be an alternative to pain killers. The downside to using it would be that you still can't aim to save your life because... well... you're drunk. Fruits and Vegetables In the game, I live on a steady diet of water, meat, frank and beans, Pepsi beans, pasta, Coke, and sardines. Where are all the fruits and vegetables? All the fields in this game and not one single potato? I know the zombies aren't vegetarians, and there isn't anywhere near enough wild life and game to make fruits and vegetables an endangered species. I want my damn potatoes! If I have to planet them my damn self, I'll do it. DON'T YOU FUCK THIS UP FOR ME!!! I NEED MY POTATOES!!! ... What do you mean Potatoes aren't a vegetable? Are you saying the United States public education system lied to me? Tool Belt the Water Bottle I digress. This is probably something that has been pounded into the ground. Hell, do a Google search for "DayZ Toolbelt" and the first result is talking about the water bottle. However, the water bottle is so sexy, and I would love to see it get even better. It takes up space in my inventory, and my tool belt just has so much space with. You can carry multiple things on your toolbelt, so just limiting it to one isn't kosher unless you limit EVERYTHING to one on the toolbelt. Backpack-Like Vests I like my vest. It carries things for me and serves as an on-hand inventory. This is probably my most complicated suggestion because I want to be able to expand my inventory by picking up a better vest on the ground. I can pick up better backpacks, better weapons, and better clothes. Why not better vests? It would allow me to expand my at-the-ready inventory, which means I can carry more useful things on my person. Like full whiskey bottles and molotovs. Crafting Bullets This kind of seems unnecessary because I am practically tripping over ammo wherever I go. Still, I think some people would like to craft bullets because you can never have enough bullets. Hell, there are probably people who want to craft guns, upgrades, and attachments too. Of all my suggestions, this is the one I'm least thrilled about because, while functional, it just doesn't bode well to me. Still, I think more than enough people would want such a thing to put it into the game. It's just something I wouldn't do personally because it's tedious and sounds like a mini version of repairing vehicles in my mind.

I was referring to the ability to physically expand upon the inventory in that gear menu by adding more slots via picking up a new vest. The backpack expands your inventory overall, but it's not on hand. A vest would allow you to have more stuff in the gear menu, which leaves you with more options of what to carry on you for immediate use rather than in your pack.

http://teksyndicate.com/videos/build-epic-650-pc-july-2012

I like the idea because it's a solid idea, but most home-made silencers in real life are one shot or few shot use. Mostly one shot. It's not very practical, but in a desperate situation it might come in handy. However, if you're in a desperate situation you probably wouldn't have time to craft the silencer lol.

Bitchin idea, and probably very easily to implement in the game as well.

I was expecting people to come here and justify why they are a hero or why they are a bandit. Which they did. I was expecting people to come here and swap stories about how being a good guy/bad guy is rewarding. Which they did... for the good guys. I was expecting people to come here and try to find people to team up with. Which you helped do. I was expecting someone to make the threat of, "I'm going to copy everyone's name here and shoot you on sight" because they are an internet and DayZ badass. Haven't seen that. I was expecting a flame war. I saw one starting up and then it quickly died out because the guy decided to stop talking like an internet badass. I was expecting someone to come in here and start bawling about how the good guys need better stuff for being good. I saw half of that. I was also expecting someone to start going off topic... which is what you and I are doing right now. :D Those are the things I can list off the top of my head at the moment.

I like it. Keeps things mobile for me.

You, good sir, are both a badass and a gentleman. So was this before or after your Alt+F4 incident?

Actually yes. Yes I was. lol

I just have this picture of you standing in the middle of the road going, "OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT *bam* OHSHIT!!!!!"

One time, a witch turned me into a newt.

I love how this thread turned into Battlefield wanderers and Red Cross relief talking about how to play a game the right way when there is no wrong way to play... ... Unless you're a hacker. Then you can go take a short jump off a tall cliff for all the shits I give about you.

I'm going to ignore the slightly off topic discussion about starting equipment since I believe the water bottle should be a tool belt item lol. :P Players starting at the beach with a gun and ammo will result in the beaches looking like a reenactment of Normandy in 1944. The problem I see with giving everyone a gun to start with is that you're giving them the go ahead to kill things in the game without consequence. If they die, they just respawn back at the beach with a gun and ammo. Plus, you will have people camping the beaches to get more ammo from newly respawned players. Once they get their ammo, they are going to go out and cause problems in the cities and towns to get bigger and better weapons. That will turn Cherno and Elektro into maps from Call of Duty. Regardless of the gun you give them, it's still a gun. Players with guns are serious threats, even if it's just a Makarov. One shot to the head will kill you outright, and some people in this game are really good shots, really lucky shots, or all of the above. Another thing is that if everyone starts with a gun, the game stops being DayZ and starts being Battlefield 3 with zombies like all the naysayers out there believe it to be. I'm sure people will disagree with me on this, but I doubt one can convince another otherwise because it sounds like we are all set in our beliefs.

One of my favorite hang out spots myself in the Electric City is the restaurant across from the Super Market. It's dinner and a movie, especially when you watch someone go into the supermarket and hide when someone else comes up. You are close enough to hear them talking sometimes too. Elektro is one of my favorite hangouts because people will just go ape there and you are right on the main to watch the fireworks. It's also kind of amusing that most people tunnel vision the Super Market and forget that the restaurant across the street from it is the perfect place to blast people from. Not that I ever did such a thing. Shooting a gun in the Electric City is practically suicide.

Hello Wolas, and welcome to DayZ's super ethical reality climax, where it's murder time fun time for all! ({[ I stole that from Saints Row the Third, and modified it for my original purposes. Still probably going to get sued by THQ lol :P ]}) I'll give you some beans and advice Wolas. Don't snipe from the hill. It's a good way to get yourself killed. Snipe from a place that you would snipe the snipers from. Think about hunting snipers, not bandits. Bandits can be snipers as well, and most people who are walking bushes are instant targets of anyone since you can't tell from a distance if they are bandits or not. Also, once you fire, break out. I've seen far too many people think that they are invisible thanks to a patch of turf on their back. Those anti-son-of-a-bitch sticks are huge and give you away way too easy. Never put them on your back either. Damn things are so tall they need aircraft warning lights. Course, you're a smart kid and probably don't need to be told these things lol.

I'm going to just admit to this before saying anything else, I have not fully read the entire thread. I've only skimmed through it. I believe to have the general idea, and will now throw my two cents into this because I believe it to be a worthwhile topic. First and foremost, this is a game. I don't play games to simulate real life. Nobody does. If someone plays a game because they want to do what they do in real life, then that's just absolutely stupid. Instead, I play games to do things that I can't do in real life without consequence. We all know zombies don't really exist. We all know that we can't go out and shoot someone in the face with a M107. We all know that we can't con and scam people out of their hard earned and good luck rewards. We play video games because we want to do the things we can't do in real life. It's entertaining, dramatic, and therapeutic. We all want to live larger than our own lives. Your reward system is already in the game. It's called the other players. If you are nice to people in the game, chances are they will be nice to you. You want a system that reflects society when society plays the game. You get taken advantage of, and take advantage of, in real life. The game reflects that by the actions of you and the other players. If you help someone, chances are they are going to reward you by not shooting you in the back. Face it, you don't help people in your daily life so that they owe you a favor. You help them because it makes you feel good about yourself. You want to be physically rewarded for that, and I can understand because life doesn't reward you for being nice to other people except for making you feel better about yourself. However, if you want it to be realistic as society would have it, then nothing needs to be changed.