GodOfGrain

starving him out is a legitimate strategy :D

+1 for combat logging If he was not in combat, why did he not run out of the building and hide in the woods to log out?

+1

Like. But I think there should be a certain variety in such tools and differnt door-strengths: Crowbar for normal doors, some crates ... in some civilian / industrial houses Lockpicks for heavier doors and crates ... in warehouses, some civilian houses ... hospitals Cutting torch (tool) + gas cylinder / military loot Explosives / military loot Side effect: Could be used as currency!

"I don’t want to get people’s hopes up about a skill system or skill tree..." and then his sentence continues with "...so we’re more looking at how players develop the abilities to do certain things, and how players develop the ability to get better at doing things." :D And later: "A couple of examples we thought of were very advanced skills, such as advanced repair of aircraft and vehicles. That’s not a skill that everybody has. And various doctor-related skills. They aren’t things that everybody just has; they’re things that maybe people can learn, but they’ll require practice and maybe some social interaction." The interview was in Feb. 2013.

He also says "Yes, KOS is a problem and we have to do something to address it". But he has not come up with any ideas to address it. [Edit: Ok, destruction of gear by bullets is a good addition indeed] Microskills would be an important part within a context of several game design elements which push the game in the right direction. And it is a very logical step; logic nearly dictates the implementation of microskills. With the planned introduction of player bases, which allow hoarding of items, the value of a player's life will decrease even further. And if I remember right: Dean wants a survival simulation with interesting social interactions. Both design aims are severly hurt if progression relies solely on gear. By the way, he also expressed himself in favour of skills in DayZ, not only in the following example: http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/120173-on-game-design-progression-through-equipment-and-a-system-of-micro-skills/page-3#entry1207095

[Regarding my statement that a vast majority of 95% of players would not start grinding in this system] An estimation of course. In a game like Skyrim stats are very important, so they are grinded by a good percentage of player base. The system I have in mind for DayZ rewards a player for "time alive" and for performing certain actions (medical / mechanical). The "Time alive"-system cannot be abused but by avoiding danger; that's what we want, as it should reduce mindless PvP. Game design should not allow players to stay alive without taking risks and actually play the game. Mechanical skills could be grinded, but only under certain circumstances with low risk, never without risk, and it takes a lot of time. Medical skills cannot be grinded (risk of infection in medical actions). Combined with the idea that it takes a lot of time, really a lot of time, to reach marginal improvements in e.g. stamina, carrying capacity or in actions like lighting a fire ... I'd say it is not worth it for players to grind skills. (Skills do not affect combat) It would be a certain reward for players who stayed alive for a long time, something to distinguish a newspawn from a veteran. Something which lets you identify more easily with your character. But nothing which you "need to have". From the start on, you would be 90 to 95% as effective as a vet player with 300 hours survived. By the way, it is not only about improving your character. As I have written, the system could also be used to simulate negative effects, shortterm of e.g. illness or hunger, longterm to simulate the healing process of gunshot wounds. Yea, perhaps that is the direction to go. Not to emphasize on "getting better" over time, but that it is more likely that your character gets weaker and weaker - until death.

There is a huge difference to normal games. In other games you have skill progression as the core mechanic which defines how good you are in the game. That is why I have called it "micro skills": They are in no way game-deciding & do not affect combat. You are right, there is an incentive to e.g. hide in the woods or carry heavy car parts over kilometers. But the incentive is not very strong. That means that 95% of players will not grind skills (nor feel in any way that they are missing out). The remaining 5% may choose to grind, but who cares? The don't gain any advantage over you in battle.

hehe, yes. Even I would continue to play the "hunting game", would continue to look for action. But I'd approach it differently! Because I have more to loose. If you actively engage in PvP all the time you will die sooner or later. Higher value of life = Less PvP Increasing the value of a player's life won't solve all problems. That's the challenge of a game like DayZ which wants to work without arbitrary rules. The game has to employ a multitude of game elements working in the desired direction.

Hmm, you adress three points: 1) Medical skills (learning by doing) 2) Mechanical skills (learning by doing) 3) The (additional) "progression-by-time-played" system Regarding 1) Yea, ok, I think i get ya. Exploitable by performing medical actions on a fresh-spawn (where it doesnt matter if he dies to infection) On the other hand, the system works regarding all actions performed on the own character. Perhaps there is a solution? Regarding 2) Cannot see your point. The proposed measures should make it unfeasible to grind mechanical skills. Grinding would be possible to some degree, but unfeasible Regarding 3) Yes, it is possible to stay hidden and have your friends feed ya. Some people will do that, most wont. (Because it is a ) boring and b ) should be unfeasible due to scarcity of resources) Most people would follow their normal play style, but just be a little bit more careful

yea, bumped :D Adress KOS via microskills, Dean! Or do something else :D But do something. We need player interaction besides exchanging bullets. A higher value of life due to microskills will at least result in a more passive / evasive behaviour of players. Especially for group play it will become much more immersive, we would get away from: "Here you have your gear back, buddy".

See this link for a system of microskills to increase value of life: http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/158609-sa-suggestion-introduction-of-microskills/

Skill-System

Logging in on my favourite server (bmrf.me, whitelisted, expert, no third person.) (74.91.123.48:2303) 7 players online Shooting myself through Krastnostav to find some painkillers, bad luck. Still shaking. Besides that, geared up to max: Holo-M16, M107, 3* night vision (lol), GPS, camo... But no painkillers. Approached the NE airfield ... zombie contact ... soon I see a survivor running into the firestation (some buildings added on this server). Didn't get a good angle for a clean shot, decided to get closer to drop him in CQ. I made my way to the hangers, getting closer to the tower, my weapon ready. Try to keep my pulse low. Then i read in chat: "Hello at NE, I am friendly" - i run to the next trees and type "OK, friendly as well at NE". I thought: If I can't approach this guy without getting discovered, I might aswell give up on that... I run to a good position 200 metres east of the tower to have a good view. I ask if we shall meet; he says yes, he would be unarmed. All i see though through my scope is a guy in camo running through the airfield - with an automatic weapon. Oo Unarmed? He runs into the firestation, about 10 zombies chasing him. "Help", he screams, "I am down" - yes of course, I am that stupid "I'm up again, but they broke my legs" You'd believe that? I didn't. Imagined a guy with his AK ready, sitting and waiting. Once i see someone standing on the rooftop a couple of minutes later, i pull the trigger. Missed the shot, he runs. But someone keeps shooting... there is someone else. Since I gave away my position I relocated, running all around the airfield. Took position again west of the airfield, good view. I see some zombies 500 m away attacking a bush. I asked this guy ("friendly"), "hey, are you sitting in a bush? zombies?" - "Yes, that's me, i cant get away" Took the zombies out with my M107, relocating immediately a couple of hundret metres. Then I understood the situation a bit better... There were two other guys in the tower now, and our "friendly guy" in the bush. Those two guys have killed the one standing on the firestation, cause he opened fire. All of us communicated over side, thought about how to clean the air... how to get help to Mr. Friendly with the broken leg - without getting shot. I offered the guys in the tower a trade, a NVG vs some painkillers and a coke. On my terms of course, to lower my risk. They seemed nice, and probably they would have agreed. But hey, it is difficult to organize a "safe" trade if your on your own... So I said to myself, what the heck... "Allright, I am coming to the tower. Friendly approaching from the west, please have weapons lowered" As I am close to the tower a guy comes out, flashlight in hand. All cool, but then a shot from somewhere, probably far away (sniper hill). I run back, asking in direct what the hell is going on. I quickly decide that it is not one of them, as they would have had better chances to kill me, and run inside. Immediatly getting bandaged by one of the guys. We say hello, everything seems cool, although the situation is still quite tense with the sniper overlooking the area. Another shot. "Mr. Friendly" died, the guy with the broken leg. He had managed to crawl into the tower, was on the upper floor. The sniper got him. Well, we talked for a while, discovered that all of us are German. (That's always quite easy because of our accent ;) ) I always have some smokes in my backpack, so finally we get out safe. In Krastnotav we logout. Perhaps we'll meet again sometime. 6 out of 7 player have been at the NE airfield. 4 of them have been friendly.

bump :D

On the other hand... If it there is Balota with high military loot locations... and an endless supply of unaware bambies for target practice... would attract a lot of organized bandit groups camping the territory. With 50 people on a server it could develop into a real deathtrap. Certainly for any unaware commuter :D (Assuming that loot respawns or is "respawnable" as in DayZ Mod) Than there would be this "natural selection effect" among groups contesting the airfield. Could provoke some good battles :) In the end, you will have really good Bandit-Groups controlling the Airfield... and from there venturing out to Cherno for example. To get some supplies and kill some bambies. So in consequence, Cherno will also become much more dangerous. Think of these new appartment buildings in Cherno... with a high military loot area next to it... Would become quite a deathtrap sometimes. Electro not so much, quite far away... Yea, some fresh spawns will have a harder life - probably shorter life. But it is quite cool. If you want to survive, you have to get away from this. That means up North or to the East.

Totally agree with OP Haven't played the SA actually, but them seems like a design flaw to me... It's quite simple: For the first 10 minutes after spawning a character has little value to the player. No equipment / No history / No time investment Therefore Balota is not a "high risk / high reward" location. It is high reward for no risk, as you don't invest anything by trying. And of course, a constant supply of weapons and ammo south is not good regarding PvP...

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/120173-on-game-design-progression-through-equipment-and-a-system-of-micro-skills/ Yea, have talked this through. I just post this link whenever I see a related discussion. In short: Skill system = Important instrument to reduce KOS, mainly by assigning value to a player's life Skill system = High potential to combine with other game areas and increase complexity / realism But; Many pitfalls. A "getting better at what you do"-system wouldn't be good. Can be done in a proper way though, and I'd support it.

It would be a shame to release the standalone without the SSh-68 helmet.

Yea Razor, but DayZ isn't about giving people what they want but taking it away. It is about following that vision, of creating a hard and unforgiving game - explicitly for hardcore gamers. If you move towards the demands of the average player base, the game will become average.

It was a very smart thing from Bohemia to release this buggy alpha video to slow the hype train. (*Rocket hitting the wall with his axe, bulletholes and bullet-sounds :D and he hits it again and again, to say: LOOK AT IT, YOU ARE BUYING A FUCKING ALPHA :D )

That's true, but there is an important psychological difference between item degredation through bullets and the other examples you have mentioned. Regarding tires, player thinks: " Hmm wheel fits in the right pocket of my jacket. Shouldn't be that way, but OK. " Regarding tent, player thinks: " Ok, that makes sense. Otherwise there would be tents everywhere . " Regarding car, player thinks: " ******* **** cars *** DayZ **** ****. Gimme a ******* key to that thing. " But regarding item degredation its different. DayZ combat is a very emotional thing. You survived a firefight, want to get your well-earned loot, and then, everything is in the deep red. From one shot to the head. What do you think? "What an unrealistic bullshit"

Yea, but for gear to be relevant motivator you have to prevent that you get it back 30 mins later. That's what happens in every organized group in about 80%. Haven't believed so far in item degredation (after shot by player), because it is either not sufficient enough (e.g. just a couple of gear parts destroyed or demaged) or, the opposite, it becomes unrealistic if all the gear is in the red from a couple of bullets. But there is a good solution made by Xianyu in this thread: http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/151802-sazombies-attracted-to-dead-bodies/ Yea, if Zombies are attaracted to dead bodies and start eating / ripping the boddy apart, then there is a realistic reason why the gear is destroyed. That is very good actually, adds another layer of difficulty to profit from PvP.

Well, Zombies kinda tear dead or unconcious players apart in DayZ mod already

hey, that is really good. Could help reduce KOS 1. Tell zombie AI if they spot dead player in vicinity (really close, e.g. 5 meters or so) they start eating it 2. Have: Number of zombies eating player * variable item degredation 3. Make it random which items are damaged (otherwise it looks stupid) --> Much more difficult to kill player and actually profit from it --> While item degredation through bullets is nice, it becomes unrealistic if its too much, E,g., you shoot someone and half his gear is destroyed. With this system, you rely less on degredation by bullets, but you have realistic mechanic why items gets destroyed. Like, really like :D