Shadow Man

I have mixed feelings. The zombies really needed to be made a lot more dangerous, which they are. The problem is that the game doesn't allow you to deal with them. The axe still has to be in your main weapon slot and still doesn't hit very reliably. They still glitch all over the place, they get aggro'd from impossible distances and if you do shoot one then from that point on you're running. You can lose them if you get far enough away, but you have to run so much that the chance of pulling more aggro is very high. I wouldn't mind being chased by a horde if I had at least had a chance of sneaking by them. Also don't even think about gutting an animal within 200 yards of a zombie. I think a big problem for a lot of people is the change in play style that has to come from zombies that kill you much more easily. Although Rocket hasn't categorically stated it, I do think he see's DayZ more as PVE than PVP. If people play with the same mindset as they always have done(that being to gear up and look to for other players to fight) then they're not going to like DayZ. You have to survive the environment. If the zombies are killing you, then you're not very good at the game. Maybe time to stop killing on sight?? ;) :P The zombies still need a lot of refining. I'd like to be able to form some plan to deal with them, but at the moment their behaviour feels very random. As someone else mentioned about being three stories up and crouched and pull aggro, you can also still sprint past them and they somehow don't notice you. To counter the high aggro there needs to be more stealthier ways to dispatch them. I've used the crossbow more than ever before, but those bolts run out very quickly. I'm hoping for a proper melee weapon that isn't an axe, or at least a method of holding an axe and shouldering your main weapon. Although there are still problems, its a step in the right direction.

I'll be interested to see how it works with all the zombies and loot spawning right at the server startup. So, theoretically you will be able to wipe out all the zombies from the server? The pros and cons are hard to weigh up. I like the idea of clearing an area of zombies, but I don't want it to be too safe. There should always be the chance of zombies turning up from somewhere. With the loot its also hard. The ability to loot cycle is a real issue for me so this is welcome change. But if every server restart becomes a rediculous swarm of maniacs trying to get the loot first, it could be tedious, or it could balance out nicely. I guess there's no way of knowing how it will affect the way people play until we're playing it.

I had a go earlier today for the first time in a few months to try the new patch. What disappointment. Not the game, I just wasn't able to play. It was a public hive server and I lasted half an hour before news reels were overlayed on the screen, I was teleported and then started endlessly bandaging. It puzzles me why they put SO much effort into something so childish. But I guess thats all it is.

Having just left the server its 11.40 GMT The anti hax messgaes repeatedly displayed the name Rustler despite there not being a player called Rustler in the server player list. There were teleport attempts and my character was being controlled. There was what can only be described as a news reel overlay at the bottom of the screen with a gps displaying a face and messages reading "All hail Rustler" I logged out when my character started performing actions etc that I had not done. Upon exiting the game I had AVG threat warnings telling me to send battleye to the vault. I dont know how to provide much more info unfortunately.

I had the same thing, this worked but now after I have updated/reinstalled dayz commander I get an AVG threat detected warning. I got one that said battleye too. Anyone else get this or know anything? It wants to put it all in the vault.

Personally I think the huge number of private server options has killed the game to some degree. Its the one thing I think consoles have over pc games. You but a game for the 360, and thats what you get. Whether you like it or you don't, you have no choice but to play the game one way. To me this is a good thing. By this I'm not talking about playstyle, its about what the environment makes available to you. The idea of DayZ was to create a very specific environment. The more start options you have the more it waters down that environment. Once people play on a server that gives them all those elusive weapons then they get used to playng like that and its very hard to go back to vanilla DayZ and killing zombies with a hatchet. Its also a contributing factor into why no one tries to stay alive. Because they don't need to. They just start again with all the gear. The whole point of DayZ is the struggle to find those weapons, and by playing on a server that just throws them at you is as good as cheating. Its not surprising that so many people started playing wasteland. Anyone who played the original Elite (sorry to those too young to have played it) will know how rewarding it is to spend time in a game world and to progress and climb up through the ranks. The sense of achievement is huge. But if there had been the option to have as much money as you want, or any ship you want etc. It would never have been the classic that it is. Its because you wouldn't need to play the game. Thats just what has happened to DayZ. People aren't playing it anymore because we've got far too used to games giving us "options". What I would like to see for the SA is nothing but the proper game as it was intended. If they allow it to be modded or have private hive server options then it will go the same way as the mod. Keep it pure and could go down in history as an all time classic. I dont agree that you should be able to play a "casual" version of DayZ either. If you want some time out from it, then play something else by all means. Just not DayZ. I remember playing Dead Space 1 and being really affected by its atmosphere, even to the point that I would say to other people "Thats one scary game, you have to try it!" Imagine then, if they tried it on some casual setting where you could just walk through killing all with ease. DayZ should remain in our minds and memory as a harsh game to play. So that choosing to play it means you're always in for a stressful time.

The swamp is going to be a very busy place for a while...

No.

Lol, no. Whiteboy seems to find it hard to resist responding to any comment with a pony type avatar without putting brony or something at the end. Its his way of being subtly disparaging perhaps. In a similar way to thinking a guy wearing pink must be gay. If you haven't heard the term brony, have a butchers on wikipedia. Ahem, back to topic...

Better still, find a way to stop hackers and force them to play legit. They'll soon give up.

Nope couldn't find it, you'll have to remind me. Also, if you don't care what other people are doing on other servers, do you mean you aren't planning on using these easy mode servers? If not, why are you suggesting them?

@whiteboy Why do you play DayZ? Seriously, what do you get from it?

I'm kinda stuck on this one. I remember when I first played Bioshock, and you get the option to harvest the little sister for the first time. I actually sat there, stuck in a moral headlock. She doesn't attack you or pose any threat directly. You actually benefit (in the short term at least)from harvesting and killing her, knowing also that the other option will restore her back to a normal girl. This was a very powerful mechanic for involving the player emotionally. You don't think twice about drilling all the other splicers. Would DayZ benefit? I don't think being able to kill them will make the game better, just more realistic, which is an argument for it. I just don't know.

What the hell? Easy settings? Its ludicrous and to be honest I'm tired of hearing these sorts of requests to make things easier. This is how it should be seen: Rocket decides "I'm making a game" He then makes the game, and we play it. THATS IT. Just because we think stuff should be in it doesn't mean its part of his vision. He may use some of the stuff we say as inspiration or problem solving, but if it doesn't fit the concept then its wrong. The concept in a nutshell is its a hardcore apocalypse survival sim, where you have to struggle. He takes a risk simply by sticking to this concept because games aren't made this way usually. The devs try to give the consumers what they want so they'll get sales. Making the game easy is the biggest load of shit I've heard. Why not just make a server where loot spawns all over the floor and vehicles are everywhere and zombies do 1% damage when they hit you. If an artist paints a picture, you dont say "I wanted more red in that." You may say you do or don't like it, but its up to him what to paint and up to you to choose whether you want to buy it. I hate the infinite servers with all their options. Whats the real DayZ then? Which one is closest to what Rocket wanted? Not many I bet.

To those who want FF optional, go play something else. When you've finished and want to play a survival sim, DayZ will be here waiting.

Well I'm pretty much sold on the idea. I hate nameplates as they were before and always play on servers with them disabled. But if this could be done right, its the closest thing to being able to recognise a player by "face". I would be happy with permanent names too, maybe with a 6 month wait to be able to change it. Its always kinda bugged me that death isn't really that consequential. I would welcome the removal of player lists in servers. I know alot of people like to know this stuff, but for DayZ to actually function as it was intended, it requires some radical concepts which go against what many are used to. You could even have it so that you dont even know how players are in a server. Maybe it could tell you if there are zero, or between 0 and 10, or 10 and 20 etc so you only have a vague idea. A possible solution to the nameplate in shadow/bright light etc would be that the lettering ould be coloured and made to mimic the lighting effects of the person you are looking at. In a similar way to how you get glare on your compass, the name could be made to blend into the texture of the terrain behind it, so you have to look hard and move about to be able to see it clearer, much like you would struggle to see a persons face if the sun was behind them. It would also limit you "getting lucky" while scanning terrain. The name may start to fade in but if it were similar colours to the terrain you may miss it. All in all you have my beanz.

Wait, am I the only one that sees a flaw here? I for one dont use a can opener in real life much anymore...

Well I think its a great idea (removing CH). Never liked it. Always play on servers with CH disabled. Hip firing should have a wider spread to replicate the real life innacuracy. Maybe with the right variety of weapon types, new players could be helped a bit. Low impact/high spread shotguns would be good.

Ideally I would like zombies to walk in straight lines. They shouldn't be able to inflict too much damage but should be slightly harder to kill. The payoff is there needs to be swarms of them. So many in fact that once you go into cherno, you could struggle to get out without most routes being blocked by them. Unfortunately this isn't really possible. So many zombies would bring the server to a grinding halt.

A small explosive on the back of your backpack which detonates if a player tries to go in there without asking. Powerful enough to knock out or cause serious bleeding to the robber, but not so much that it blows a hole through the chest of the guy wearing the thing. May need to alter the game so that to be able to pickpocket you need to be stood behind the player. Also it could require reinforcements to the backpack, otherwise it causes injury to the wearer and/or damage to items in the backpack. Could be part of a crafting system and require many parts so as not to be too easy to make. You could be really extreme and increase its explosive power like a satchel charge, blowing up them and yourself in a "fuck you" sort of manner. This also leads on to it being used like a suicide bomb. If you dying and cant find a way to save yourself, you could arm yourself and run into a player's base and detonate. Ha ha! Suicide bomb is not really a proper idea, would probably just lead to exploding players everywhere just for lolz.

YES! Great idea :D Maybe instead of a boxing glove, a hand. Holding a gun.

Yes, or maybe something like the Alone in the Dark thing (but better) where you can look at your own body to see injuries.

This is still going then lol I think the motion sickness is probably due to the ArmA engine. Depending on how good your hardware is it can be somewhat choppy. If you look at BF3 in comparison the difference is obvious, and even those with top spec pc's don't get ArmA anywhere near as smooth With regards to 1st/3rd person, as long as the servers are one or the other, NOT both then I think thats the only way we'll not lose 50% of the players.

There is something appealing to stuff like this. Kidknapping, torturing etc. Trouble is, as the victim there is not enough of a reason to make you say "Ok, dont shoot" and let them take you. In real life you would be tryng to keep yourself alive. In other games you may end up with some reward or perk. In DayZ you'll most likely think "screw it" and try and do a runner. Because of how DayZ is, being kidnapped is as good as being dead. This is why bandit playstyle is so heavily favoured. The victim doesn't enjoy the game while being kidnapped. You could argue that being kidnapped isn't meant to be enjoyable. True. But who's is going to sit there watching the screen with a disabled UI for half an hour, while three bandits muck about? Unless its good footage for a vid then not many. Unless the victim is given a means to change his situation(some sort of game mechanic)then it won't change much. But doing just that is coming dangerously close to altering what DayZ is supposed to be.

The only statistic I would accept is one that has how long your character has been alive. This should be the main objective and focus of playing the game. I would accept a server lockout for two reasons: 1. It would detach you from your previous character. As much as I hate people talking about going back to get their gear, I must confess that I tried once(and failed) out of pure anger after being killed by zombies while fully kitted out. 2. You could join a different server and have a much more "new" experience because of different players, loot or vehicles. Getting too familiar with your surroundings is a bad thing. You're meant to be kinda lost. Its bad enough knowing the map by heart.