zZz13

Rocket, include Landmarks on the map. We need Landmarks i.e - easily recognisable areas to dot Chernarus and keep with the setting such as these gems: Human Sanctuary

I agree with you, the ambience created in STALKER is legendary. They absolutely nailed the atmosphere. Rocket, incorporate some features seen in S.T.A.L.K.E.R into DayZ. And don't forget about the atmosphere ambience of music. It's paramount to creating the tone of the game but I'm sure you are already way ahead of us on that. ;) [/media] [/media]

There should be an economic system in the game. There is very little to motivate players in DayZ to do good instead of bad. We need a REWARD/PUNISHMENT system. For example, reward morally good players with co-ordinates to better loot that has been buried and punish mass murderers with BOUNTIES on their heads. With this system what you'll organically create will be a system where the watchers are being watched. The Bandits feed off the Bambi's (beginners) and the Watchers (heros) will feed off the Bandits. Now if you were to go one step further, you could add in military to watch over everybody... There needs to be some kind of system in place where your choices affect your character and the consequences faced to curb and refrain from the all out Team Deathmatch mentality we usually come across in it's current format (Elektro anyone?) This is a world in which you have to survive, where alliances must be made in order to complete certain tasks as opposed to a "shoot-on-sight" mindframe. We need to create a world that comes alive. There needs to be currency in an economic system - perhaps use cigarettes or bullets as currency. There should be a "survivors HQ" where you can interact with other bambi's, trade and socialize. From there, you can go outside and discover the region. Perhaps have military NPC's around the HQ. Can you imagine the chaos of having 15 bandits strategically attack the survivors base to steal a military tank? What a battle.... Alternatively, bandits/mercenaries must also have their camps for similar use. We need a variety in the monster department. Zombies are fair enough but they shouldn't be so agressive for no reason. Mostly they should stand around and walk aimlessly. When you set them off, have swarms of them run at you ala Left 4 Dead. Include zombified dogs that scavenge around the region or that hunt in packs. Include mosters akin to lurkers or bloodsuckers ala S.T.A.L.K.E.R which would make entering a wooded area at night a dangerous prospect. It would really add to the atmosphere. I agree with the random events taking place wether environmental or otherwise. They should be extremely rare which would set alight the YouTube community in recording such an event such as a transmission stating that a cargo plane has been downed in a certain area. It would give the feeling that DayZ was constantly "Live". What you suddenly have is a massive on-set of priorities in getting to the crash before others in a bid to loot the contents. Others could included forest fires, or promises of military evacuations should any survivors reach the evac point. There is so much you could do with such a scenario...perhaps you make it to the evac point only to find the the military dead or perhaps you could fight the swarms of zombies with the military only to have them all killed and to find yourself alone once again...ah, just another day in DayZ. One I particularly like would be that of weather Emissions where players would be scrambling for concrete cover!

Add Zombie dogs that run around in packs through the forests.

For what it's worth, I'll add my two cents... I think DayZ's setting should remain in Eastern European/Russian territory. Other games (we all know which one) are already set in the United States. The way forward is a development of Chernarus in my book. I believe the atmosphere created in DayZ is spot on with regards to the setting and so it should be built upon rather than scrapped altogether. DayZ should also incorporate the cool concept of dangerous environments for players along the lines of Emissions in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.