Thaatu (DayZ)

Seven days later, two belittling comments. I'm surprised that those comments are not even aimed at me, but at the game. Rocket implemented ambient music for a reason. The sad thing is that apparently most people just turn it off so that it doesn't affect their "combat readiness". The general trend seems to be that everything that has a negative effect on combat readiness is going to be opposed. Anyway, after eight days the suggestion is opposed seven to eight with me counting as the only supporter, so I think this thread can be buried. I hope someone will get some ideas from this. I hope that at least some of those who read this, especially new players, will leave ambient music on. It adds a lot into the game and the dev didn't add it by accident.

Should the ambient music be removed then? It makes assumptions of the character's state of mind. Still it has been intentionally added to provide a frame of reference for the stress of the character. Mentality is not universal, but neither are physical attributes. Some people are stronger, can handle pain better, have stronger bones, etc. Skills aren't universal also, but the game makes lots of assumptions on those. Everyone can perform a blood transfusion or repair a helicopter engine. I wouldn't say making mental health a universalised issue would be that far off from what we have now. I still don't believe effects that relate to how players view one another deter players from summarily killing each other. Matters of conscience are the best deterrents, but those don't exist yet in virtual reality.

Wounds are in, bleeding is in, fractured bones are in, concussions are in, even fever is is. Physical damage is a big part of the game. Mental damage on the other hand is not represented in in any other way than as the ambient music, which most probably turn off anyway. True, DayZ is at the moment at its alpha version and the stand alone will probably change things drastically. That is exactly why I'm suggesting this and abusing the MultiQuote-button so much. :blush: It is still an alpha because Rocket wants feedback and suggestions. If mental damage is not included in the game, it misses out on a huge opportunity. It would be fairly easy to implement even with the current humanity system and as I said before, mental health is a big part of survival horror. Just as long as it doesn't go to "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" -levels, because that would scare away a whole lot of players. Just subtle changes that wouldn't affect how players fight each other. I would actually redo some things in humanity-scoring. Any killing should reduce humanity, even zombies, but only slightly. That way mental damage would be a concern for everyone. The humanity max and min should be tweaked accordingly. Also the new "combat mode" could be used in this. If you kill someone who isn't in "combat mode", you get a multiplier to humanity loss. It can be assumed that the victim was either unaware of you, unarmed or was hesitating to shoot. I'm not sure about banditry showing on the outside, unless the player wants to. It would have to be worked on very carefully, so as to not to go overboard with it. The bandit texture is pretty distinct, but has mostly just lowered realism and, I guess, player freedom. It doesn't really offer an alternative to killing. I don't want the game to be black and white, but just really subtle shades of grey. That being said, there is no reason not to shoot people. That should be looked into and there are realistic and reasonable ways to mend it, without infringing on anyone's freedoms. And again, I'm trying to suggest something that would enhance the immersion and the thriller aspect of the game and provide a downside to mindless killing, one which exists in reality. And no, I'm not trying to "avenge" my two deaths. Every suggestion like this has been attacked by the same argument: "Your just butt hurt because you suck at the game...". Players who say that probably resist every suggestion which hampers their gaming style and just want the game to stay as an alpha mod. I apologise for these long posts. It must be annoying to argue against these. I just hope that before we all get tired and let this thread be buried, someone of importance sees it and consideres all the points made here. Whatever is decided I'll enjoy the game as the devs want it to be.

I see Garymooyson has a lot to say. Reminds me of Schindler's List. Except the character in the movie was a psychopath and the character in the game has no personality. The player can log off, rest for a while and suffer no accumulation of stress. Obviously killing doesn't affect the player, because the player doesn't really kill. The character on the other hand does. If he kills enough he just changes his clothes, which is kind of a silly effect for low humanity. There are lots of controlling mechanisms in the game already. For example transportation is limited and some weapons are rare, so I can't deside to become a chopper pilot just like that. Need for food and water restricts players' actions. Also stealth is clearly encouraged. Aren't all those changes you suggest considered to change the game? The game doesn't tell people to kill others, but gamers make up a huge part of the it. Those gamers aren't given any reason not to, so most resort to shooting on sight. About harder survival, isn't mentality a big part of it? I'm not advocating mental problems from solitude, uncertainty and fear of death. Those are already implemented and are represented by the ambient music (although judging by user-posted videos in YouTube, most people apparently turn music volume completely off). The biggest taboo in modern culture, into which all the characters were raised judging by their clothes and the setting of the game, is murder. The characters don't reveal any remnants of their upbringing. DayZ is a survival horror/thriller game. The concept of mental damage would amplify all those categories. Survival, check. Horror, check. Thriller, check. Also some players seem to regard DayZ as a more realistic take on zombie games. Realism, check. It would mostly affect bandits, people who kill other people for their selfish needs. In a world where humanity has a real and terrifying foe and for all we know is quickly becoming extinct, how come it wouldn't affect their consciousness? Bandits are basically siding with monsters. It should take a toll on them. Consider it a feature. It still doesn't control anyone. I'm not saying there should be a constant sound of a HMG firing at your ear. Subtlety is the way to go here. Sounds you as a player wouldn't distinguish from real ones. You would never know if a sniper actually shot at you, or was your character just being paranoid. Twice murdered. Killed by zombies a whole lot more. But lots of players are getting murdered by players who play the game like it's GTA.

I initially played in full servers, so I got my share of bullets flying at me. I was really lucky for getting murdered only twice and killing only one player in self-defence. I admit you must have a lot more experience on it than me, but I hope that doesn't nullify my experiences. As said, I think non-murderers are at a disadvantage when there is no downside to killing. Everyone is just so used to it in DayZ that they don't even realise it. I agree. It's a bad choice for an engine then, because the last time I checked, ARMA2 can be called a simulation. Also isn't one of the arguments against WarZ that DayZ is a zombie survival simulation, not a shooter? Besides, hearing voices doesn't restrict anything and doesn't really prevent freedom. Can't the same restriction-argument be used for the effects created by physical damage? I've found that bleeding has repeatedly restricted my freedom to do what I want. Keep 'em coming. I'll be here all night. :P We'll maybe not...

I play solely on almost empty servers and have been killed only two times by a bandit. I don't think I have any reason to cry. More important is this question: Do you deny the reality of psychological damage? Again, do you deny the reality of psychological damage? In that sense DayZ really is the most freeing experience, even compared to reality.

I hope at least the upcoming trailers and advertisements give some examples of other tactics than KOS... It might convince some, but the majority of new players will play as they get played. If they see no harm in banditry, then we'll have a million new bandits.

Shouldn't ZORC's post be directed at SP45M, not the original poster? Anyway, I think a better way to fix mindless deathmatch is to give players a reason to maintain their humanity. No one can deny that bandits have an edge, a HUGE edge, compared to other survivors. They are able to shoot at everyone without even giving it a second thought. This means that survivors will always get shot at first. There's no logical reason not to shoot everyone. The punishment for low humanity is new clothes! Low humanity should have REAL consequenses. Unless all the characters in the game have gone through SEAL training, psychological damage should be a concern to players. Just simple things, like if you have low humanity, you would hear random sounds. A zombie where there is none, gunfire or the snap of a bullet coming at you. This would be an effective way to simulate paranoia and schizophrenia. If you became too insane, so that you would hear voices all the time, suicide wouldn't be a bad option. It should be quite easy to implement in the stand-alone version. I don't think it is possible in ARMA2 to make players hear sounds individually. It might actually be fun to play with a complete lunatic. In the threads I've searched through (for example:http://dayzmod.com/f...mental-illness/), suggestions like this have been shot down by the "Bandit Party" that seems to run DayZ, mostly for being unfair or unrealistic. If anyone can argue that psychological damage simulated by random distressing noises is not realistic, especially in a post-apocalyptic environment such as in the game, I will be surprised. This would make bandit's life harder for sure, but it wouldn't restrict anyone's actions. At the moment it is unfair for normal survivors that humanity doesn't mean a thing.