datubaman

For those of you who don't know what a black box is, click this link: http://en.wikipedia....t_data_recorder There have been several occasions in recent days where I really wanted to report a player for hacking, but didn't have any screenshots or video evidence, or wasn't sure and would have liked to have been able to review the encounter to make certain that it actually was a hacker and not a goof on my part. I believe all of us have been in this sort of situation before, and it is frustrating. Knowing that, right now, there could be hackers out there who got off scott free because we either didn't get any evidence or lacked the capabilities to do so. Granted, while the days of being catapulted into the air, sudden sever-wide deaths, and the Thunderdome are seemingly done and over with for the most part, hacking is still a problem and the community needs a tool to fight it. I propose the implementation of a black box feature to DayZ. This is roughly how it would work. The game would automatically record what the player sees and hear continuously from the time that they log on to a server to the time that they log off of the server (a session). The video would not include times when the game is minimized, showing a black screen instead, But the audio would include things from outside the game, like in TS or Vent so that if that sort of setup is used that audio is still there. Once the session is over, a temporary, time-stamped, video file is created and placed into a folder that the player can access at any time they so choose within the next ten days (240 hrs), after which the file will be automatically deleted (if the player wishes to keep the file, there will be an option to do so). If the player finds a hacker, all he need do is take the file, put it in an email, give the player;s name and the time they need to skip to and let the Admins get down to they Admin-ey business and smite the poor hacking bastard like the scum of the earth they are. Note that the files are not sent directly to the admins, but are sent at the discretion of the player. What this would do is give every player a tool that they can use to help fight hackers. All they need do is take the file and send it to the Admins. But it also has some other uses, too. Since the player can access and review each session, so that if they die, they can easily look and see where they derped up and learn from their mistakes. Thus, a tool to fight hackers becomes a tool to help players improve their skills. And for those of you who are utterly amazing at DayZ or just want to share something funny that happened to you, you can share your experiences with much greater ease with this. Just take the file and upload it to YouTube so that all of us can stand in awe of your skills / laugh at your misfortunes. This is a feature that the DayZ community needs, not just to help push back the hackers, but also to help the DayZ community grow, both in number and in closeness. It is a tool that we can use to protect this game that we enjoy so much, and at the same time, celebrate it. I believe we need this sort of tool, and I hope that you agree with me on that. Thank you.

I believe that there is a consensus among the DayZ community that using AltF4 to despawn and save your gear is a shameful act that would get you banned on most servers. However, I would like to challenge this view and propose some instances or reasons where using AltF4 would not only be reasonable, but maybe even the recommended course of action. Without further ado. 1. Hackers. -This is probably the only one on this list where it is already generally agreed that using AltF4 is a recommended course of action. We've all been there, and it is incredibly frustrating when you have put in several days building a character only to loose all that hard work to some guy who wants nothing more than to screw you over for no reason at all. So, when you encounter a player that you suspect is not playing fair, AltF4. 2. Framerate Issues -We've all probably been there. We're moving along, everything's fine and dandy when we accidentally aggro some zeds. We sigh and we raise our weapon to fire upon them, but just as we are about to fire, our framerate goes to crap. Unable to aim our weapon properly, let alone keep track of the zombies, we are helpless as they beat us down and kill us. Dying because of framerate issues is extremely annoying, A zombie encounter is the worst possible moment for your framerate to suddenly vanish. It makes it impossible to properly fend off zombies or do anything else for that matter. Here, using AltF4 is acceptable because of that reason, as a loss of framerate is something that interferes with normal gameplay. 3. Lag -Another situation we've all been in. We hop onto a server and we find that it is more congested than New York at rush hour. This lag causes huge problems from weapons not picking up, to items not spawning, to bandages not working properly. Using AltF4 after getting injured on a laggy server is, in my opinion, another instance where the practice would be acceptable. Though, honestly, it would have been smarter to just find another server beforehand. 4. Bambi Hunters -This is the only instance where I believe it is acceptable to AltF4 during normal gameplay. In DayZ, a Bambi is defined as any player that, equipped as they are, is unable to properly defend themselves against hostile players. Killing a bambi is a practice that, for the most part, is looked down upon by the DayZ community, and for good reason. Being killed just minutes after spawning in without having anything that would be worth looting can easily ruin a game for someone. This is can not just force someone to ragequit, it could potentially make someone ragequit permanently. As in put the game down and never play it again. I myself have certainly felt this way before, after I was killed multiple times without anything in my inventory by kids who think they're playing CoD. So, if you have nothing in your inventory and you start getting shot at, AltF4. Go ahead, do it. Don't let them ruin your day because they are to dumb to realize that there aren't any perks for getting a twelve-kill streak. Generally speaking, anything that goes outside of the bounds of normal play is probably acceptable. If you have any other possible scenarios where AltF4 could be acceptable, go ahead and reply. Now, I'm not saying that it is okay to AltF4 to avoid dying after getting sniped in Cherno, only for instances that go outside the normal bounds of play, such as those stated above (except for #4). Activating Flame Shield... ...now.

Here are my four suggestions for Day Z My first suggestion is to add waste into the game. Currently, when you consume a can of beans or a Coke, the item disappears from your inventory and you never see it again. I suggest that instead, once a canned food or drink is consumed, you are left with the empty container. This would force a dilemma on the part of the player. They would be forced to choose between leaving a trace of their passing through or inventory space. This could also work with ammo. Any time you shoot a gun, an ammo casing would be left on the ground, a possible trail for a hostile player to follow. My second suggestion is the addition of snack items. These would be small little foodstuffs like skittles or snack bars that would replenish a small portion of hunger, depending on the snack item's nutritional value. Would leave wrappers as waste. My third suggestion is to add smell to the game. Now, I'm not saying that you guys should start trying to invent Smellovision, but to add smell as a detectable factor, like sight and sound. After a while, your character would start to smell, and that smell would attract zombies. And the one way to get reduce your smell is, you guessed it, take a bath. A high smell would also add a sort of green aura around your head. And my final suggestion is to add BOOZE! This has been suggested before, but I guess it needs reiterating. We already have the empty whiskey bottles, so why not have full ones. Consumption of the whiskey would replenish thirst, but at the cost of putting the character into an "intoxicated" state. Controls get sluggish and loose, the screen gets all wibbley, and your character starts to smell. Just a thought.