aragos

I pointed this out in an earlier post, albeit not the OP, that the issue may not lie in banditry, but in game direction. Of course, I also pointed out that providing too much direction is also counter to the spirit of the game. Hey, perhaps i'm wrong about the only goal being survival. It's definitely a survival game, and in other survival games you 'lose' if you don't, but this isn't a regular game, so perhaps survival is the only goal you have to work towards, if you so want to. Perhaps denying other people their survival is a goal also? I would also point out that if someone who is wanting to play 'correctly', and want to survive for as long as possible, is probably doing it wrong if they're anywhere near a location in which players who want to zerg-rush other players with the Makarov upon spawning. In this case, I would say the penalty for griefing is that you then can only zerg on other griefers, as other players with an ounce of sense are nowhere near the spawn locations. It's not even close to difficult to get away from bean-war-beach, so I refuse to accept that as an argument for dealing with griefing, but I guess this is besides the point. If I was going to be pedantic, I would point out that randomly sniping someone doesn't make you not survive. Edit. I think what i'm getting at over all, is that situations that may arise in DayZ, such as getting sniped upon entering a town for what appears to be no reason, we're automatically assuming are problems, because that doesn't jibe with what we know about games. Instead, we should be then be understanding that that is what happens in this game, regardless of what we have played before. Good points all. Love the last paragraph. I got to thinking how you could make the game, in a completely non-punitive way, reward survival (other than the sake of pure survival). I think it was Napoleon who said "give me 10 yards of ribbon and I'll conquer Europe." Medals mean (in the military) public recognition. Ok, a public recog system. Points for highest # of kills, per day, and per server. Put the name up in lights for all to see...and hunt. Points for longest time surviving. Same thing. Doesn't change the game--no punishment, no reward--but it does call out those who are really, really good at what they are doing. Just an idea.

Well, yes and no. I agree that imbalancing toward one group or another (CoD or The Sims w/Zed?) would be a huge mistake. What hurt UO was that PK'ers would just 'farm noobs' which in turned prevented new players from ever getting anywhere in the game. DZ is a different type of game. Simply put, you don't have characters, leveling, et al. Which means it really isn't then end of the world if you lose that sweet sniper rifle--odds are, you'll get another one pretty quickly. How much would it suck if you never had the chance to spawn in at all, since every time a noob gets shot, a PK'er gets experience points, levels and skill boosts as well as the gear? Really, really hurt UO. But then again, that was really early in the whole MMO field--a lot of the human nature things we all see all the time (Pk's, carebears, and so on) were new then. Lastly, no real need to cuss folks out at the end. Sort of ruined a really great point you were making.

I get the argument BM--the question is is this just another FPS NooBKillah opportunity' date=' or something really different in a game? Personally, I'd like a big enough and varied enough world for everyone--from the killers to the builders--to play. If it is just kill or be killed, the game will burn out quick; folks will get bored after killing Bean Boy the 3000th time and head off to COD XVIII, Revenge of COD XVII. As it is now, there is no real motivation not to kill and loot; that's been a problem in MMOs since Ultima Online started back in the 90s (and it almost killed that game in the crib). If it was all about that level of survival (kill em, take stuff, repeat) then the human race would have died out in the caves. :) [/quote'] It looks like you consider the core element of DayZ (survival of the fittest) to be an actual problem. It looks like DayZ isn't for you. If you want to make friends, it's best you make them outside the game. Experienced players value their beans and would rather not risk losing them to other people. I find the best way of making friends is approaching them unnoticed, and stand behind them doing something like saluting or the friendship dance. When they realize that if you wanted to kill them you would have already, they usually won't try to kill you back. Though there's always the risk of them just being dicks or freaking out when they notice you and killing you anyway. I suggest you join a clan if you want friends to play with long-term. I don't disagree with what you are saying, and yes, joining a clan is the best option for the way I like to play. My point is that the game isn't an absolute--which is what makes the mod fun. If it was just PvP, there are better games out there, with newer graphics, and so on. The "core" of the game, as you put it, is what the individual player makes it. If you make it 'survival of the fittest' from the start, that is what the game is to you. And that is cool with me. If you make it "how can I survive alone" then that works too. If you make it "I want to work with a team" that is just as good. The wrong attitude, IMHO, is to make the game X...where X just happens to be your game play style and preference...and where Y is absolutely wrong, stupid, and so on. That is the nature of many of these rants (from "I just wanna kill zombies" to "lookit me, I'm l33t Noob Killah")--both sides see this mod as an absolute, when it really is (and I agree totally with you here) a survival game. What makes it cool is that you get to pick out how you want to survive. Want to prey on the weak? Ok, that is a tactic. Team work? Ok, that too. The game is set up for all of it, which is what makes this game so popular. Example: If you nerf banditry in favor of survival (e.g., you make it so a dead survivor has 0 stuff on him, for example), then you get another zombie horde slog. Not really all that fun and would just get boring quickly--and there are a lot of mods and games out there already just like that. If you nerf survival over banditry (e.g., you respawn with all your gear after dying or dead survivors have extra stuff on them or something like that) you get a CoD or MW clone. That would only appeal to the PvP crowd, and that would damage the game as well. Simply put, either one would destroy what makes this mod so cool. Personally, I'm enjoying the hell out of the game, even though I die a LOT. Best money I've spent in years on a game. I like team play and especially like hunting down bandits; it appeals to the Batman part of me :)

^This. Our rag-tag band did pretty good for itself. Yeah it was a great time. Def need to link up again.

^and don't call him Shirley.

Chalas and Crew-- Awesome time last night. Let's meet up again asap. Loved the warning to bandits in Electro before we went in. They scattered like the flies they are.

Our team was on last night when this happened. They hosed you, no doubt about it, after begging for a helo ride, etc. Sort of jerkish, but that is the game. We though CT was just awesome. Anytime you need a ground crew on VA25 ping us.

Just saying guys--we had two teams on six last night on VA 25. Best time in game so far. Bandits FLED from us. Awesome.

The more I think about it, I think a 'start' class would work. But no improvement, leveling, et al. All it would do is give you a possible boost in one skill (e.g., a Doctor gets more benefits from bandaging or blood transfusions, a Soldier a better starting gun, etc.). But you still start out on the beach, and you write the story from there. In other words, no real classes or leveling, just a 'backgrounder' start. Being a good Soldier takes months/years, a good Doctor years/decades. You can't get that chopping wood.

The consequence is that you're putting your gear on the line every time you start a confrontation. I plowed through a bandit and his friend when he fired upon me in the woods. They didn't see my buddy trailing back a little ways with a lethal bead on the both of them. When you go against a player, you're putting your beans on the table, and you don't always walk away with two cans. Just gotta say that last sentence is amazingly awesome.

i'd do a couple of things. first verify that you have the right new patch installed. second, make sure you are on the right server (w/new patch etc.). Between patches yesterday, I was spawning all over the place, sometimes at 100% other times with almost no blood, etc. Any error messages,etc. when you join?

^well said Pocket4. I would love more Zeds, but intelligently. Cities crawling with them. Wilderness--they should be rare. Like the idea about background/etc. Not sure I want specific RPG type classes, but a simple "what was your job before it all went down?" Doctor or Army medic? Doc can stop bleeding w/o bandages. Medic gets bigger pack and meds at start. Soldier? You get a better (not great) weapon. civilian? more food, and so on. Your starting skin is that of what you did on DayZ -1. Would add some variety to the game.

^What he said. 500 zombies over 225 sq km is an outbreak, not the end of the world. Now, 5000 Zeds....

I think everyone has some good ideas here. Having been an alpha and beta tester for years, just need to say that this is a work in progress. And it's Rocket's work. End of the day, it is the designer's vision that makes the game. Personally, I love Sandbox. Take the Sandbox away, then you just have another mission based FPS (and been there/done that over and over and over). But is this really a Sandbox game? Or is it a PvP with an overlay of survival thrown in? That, I think, is the crux of confusion in a lot of these discussion. Example 1: You think that the game is a Sandbox, player coop game. You load up, get killed and looted by the first dude who walks by. Carebear or Killer, you figure out pretty quickly that it is PvP. Example 2: You love you some PvP noob slaying. You spawn in, snipe a guy, and then get jumped by his 10 buddies. You suddenly say "WTF, I thought this was every man for himself." And so on. Do we need a way to mark a bandit? IMHO, nope. Bad idea. You might as well make Zed blaze orange with chemlights attached. It would detract from the entire suspense of playing the game. However...if it is just bandit vs. victim out there, the game will get old very, very quickly. Bandits will run out of victims, sooner or later, and then they will leave too. Empty servers. Another opportunity for something really different and special is lost. How do you deal with these issues? 1) Don't suppress the opinion of others. Theirs is just as important from yours. The only real issue is that you and the other guy who is disagreeing (e.g. Carebears vs. Killahs) is that they may have an entirely different view of what the game is supposed to be. More open discussion, esp. at the Alpha stage, is key. This is actually the time to openly talk about what we, the players and ultimately the consumers, want to see and do. 2) Clearly state what you want/mean. IF saying, in response to someone "well, you are just an [insert snide comment or insult here]" then you are missing the point entirely and are just a troll. Move along and go smack down the kiddies on the nearest Twilight fan fiction forum. 3) Understand that there is a damn good chance that what you suggest will be completely ignored. Deal with it by finding a game you like or some alternative. Or learn to live with it. Me? I'd prefer a lot, lot more Zeds. Ability to get things up and running (power stations could turn on the lights in town, rebuilt cars/helos/boats/tanks/etc could be used, ability to create and fortify areas and so on)--if that is what you like to do. Wanna be Mr. Sniper? Why not, go ahead. Want to get that M2 Bradley up and running again--awesome. Sandbox games make it so everyone can create their own stories. We all have, whether we know it or not. See you out there. Unless you see me first.

Got this today. Anyone have this happen? Bug in the new server patch or has someone literally killed all the Zs on map? Does stuff actually spawn?

Thanks Bandit; figured that out quickly. However, it was good for one thing. I was in noob land, so it gave me a chance to get out of sniper ville before I logged off :)

will it work with the Steam version of CO?

Ditto. You guys sound like my kind of players. What server do you normally play on?

^He'll be here all night folks! Try the veal!! :D

sounds like a bug mate. Don't forget this is all still in Alpha test :)

Sounds like an interesting group, US based. Which server are you all normally on? Noob (at this game, not FPS) looking to join up a team of decent lads.