rigges (DayZ)

I'm impressed; there are actually some good discussion and design ideas coming from this thread. I think it stands to reason that people that care about a game being interesting and different are actually playing this mod and not the usual run and gun fans. A few quick points because I've been working too hard today to write a wall of text: “If it ain't broke don't fix it” I think people appreciate Cross-Server persistency for many reasons which are clearly bigger than the gameplay reasons stated. The fact that I can actually jump on and play at any time with any friend from around the world just by finding a server which suits all of us, is excellent, and that is just a mild point. I am a lecturer in game design and I don't believe if something isn't perfect that it should be chopped out. If my left leg wasn't as strong as my right, I wouldn't chop it off, but I could find ways to make it stronger. I think there are a lot of design challenges around Cross-Server Persistency and what really should be looked at is how to make it work best for this game. Simple concept of not hopping into an area that a group of people have set up as a camp would be to set up hotspots. The more items placed in a general area (tents, fence, vechs etc) the hotter that spot. If you have a camp that is "Hot" enough, people can't spawn into that area, they could be bumped a certain distance outside that area. Based on these concepts, only certain areas should be allowed to get hot, leaving cities and major loot areas always cold. If you want to control a very important area, then you need people manning the post. Of course, other issues come with these ideas, but it is really about working with what is in place and not removing anything, as clearly, based on the numbers, things as they are, work pretty well. I wouldn't go for the "every time I join a server I'm on the coast" because people can't go on adventures that take longer than one day. As I don't have time to play for hours on end, I'd like to think I can start travelling to a place on the map one day and return other day to continue my quest. Oops, promised no wall of text, but I still have a million other points. Guess I’ll keep all that to myself, the key point still stands, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, work around what is there because what is there is pretty great.