crazykage

Why not? I would think that this would be the PRIME place to do it. BECAUSE it is the "official" forum. Why shouldn't this be the FIRST place people go to for up to date information. THIS is where all the true "die hard" fans are. Why else would we be HERE, discussing these and other things? Why aren't ALL of us at reddit, or tweeting, or using FB exclusively for discussion, debate, or complaint? Because this is where the majority of people who are truly passionate about the game come. I will also restate the fact that I think it IS smart for the devs to use those resources, and I think they should continue to do so. But why NOT here? How is the potential for flaming or raging or trolling any worse here than on reddit? Frankly, I think it would be worse over there. I know for a fact that people deliberately down vote sane, logical, intelligent posts. Which is why Rocket makes an effort to also read down voted posts: he knows what the trolls are doing, yet he doesn't shy away from dealing with it. And I'm not even saying he personally needs to talk to us every day. But he and others, COULD stand to interact with their most die hard fans a little more.

I just want to reiterate, that my "concerns": 1: Do NOT leave me wholly unsatisfied with the greater picture. Truth be told, I am more pleased than unpleased. 2: That my concerns, once again, do NOT relate to content we know to be coming. This is an aspect of the games current phase of development. 3: I do NOT have any concerns about development PACE. Fast or slow, take as much time as is needed, I say. 4: My concerns relate chiefly to design CHOICES, and DIRECTION. IE. the decision to, from the beginning, have unrealistic, arbitrary mechanics such as ballistics (being worked on as we speak), and the inventory system. OR the design direction that seems to lean more towards simplification over (appropriate) realism. 5: Lastly, the fact that more interaction is, in my opinion, needed here in the forums from members of the development team. There are legitimate reasons, which have been expressed already in this thread, why this isn't so. In addition, one COULD argue that I should just knuckle under and use twitter, FB, or reddit (I refuse out of personal principles I wont get into). It is ALSO true that work is being done to create some sort of upgrade to the current system already here. I don't think it is enough. Yes, there are a LOT LOT LOT more people registered here than on the space engi forums. True. But the same could be said of reddit no? Yet Dean is more active there than anywhere else. I honestly think the community, and the game itself, would severely benefit from a more active presence here. It would be so awesome if, say, Mr. Rocket himself popped in now and again to say "no, we have no intention of doing that", or "we are already considering how that might be implemented", or "Wow, why didn't we think of that? We will have to take a serious look into that." Of course, there are going to be ragers, trolls, and flamers. Ignore them. Just like I was saying about Space engis, the devs there accept ideas from the community, yes. But only those that fit into THEIR vision. The ones that don't are rejected, and naysayers either politely complain and insist, or rudely complain and insist. The later get squashed by the moderators, and the general community even begins to reject the views of those who repeatedly show a lack of maturity. I honestly do believe it could be done here. Outside of all that, I have no other concerns, bitches, moans, groans, or complaints. EDIT: Also, a further thanks to all who have posted or read thus far, and kept any (if any) immaturity to themselves.

agreed. but to craft all that would require a lot of various items. which would force you to forgo carrying other things you might need. What could fix this? my proposed fixes to the inventory system that implement realistic weight and dimensions, rather than arbitrary squares. IE, a pistol is NOT the same size and dimensions as a helmet or ammo can.

but are they laser guided M203's???

Just wanted to stop here say two things before I retreat from my monster I created and go to bed. First: Gews, you bronie bastard you! You ROCK! Nice work with the quick reaction time in finding that intell. And second: WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, amazingly, the thread has been surprisingly clean of such trollish behavior, and I SHIT you not, NOT ONE FUCKING PERSON said "tl/dr". I JUST realized that when you mentioned it, and I am STUNNED..... But anyway, YOU read the entirety of my post (THANK you), so I did you the courtesy of reading all of yours, and....fuck me, you make some damned good points. But I remain concerned (EMPHASIS: CONCERNED. not panicked, crazed, and plucking out my eyballs with a sledge hammer). Most of the issues I addressed, it seems to me, should have been planned from the beginning! Ballistics is arbitrary, inventory is arbitrary, feels drastically oversimplified, WHYUNO MAKECOMPASS&MAP, etc.... I honestly feel like these things should have been common sense, and should have been planned for from the beginning while people were still up at 3am around a meeting room table, drinking prodigious amounts of caffeinated beverages while they took notes and tossed around ideas, before the first "1" or "0" in the lines of code was even TYPED. But then, I do have to remind myself that I may know what it is that developers do.....but I don't KNOW what it is that they DO. Just like being a civie and knowing what the military does, until you get in and you learn that its Military, not military, that Marines aren't soldiers, they ARE a department of the Navy (the men's department), and no, nobody else holds a candle. Then you meet some Army sold'ja bois that did some shit that puts everything YOU did to shame, and gives you some perspective. Long story short, you don't KNOW what its all about until you've done it. And fuck me, I just realized, Dean Hall HAS done them both! lol. still concerned tho. but only cause I care. EDIT: damn its 0124 am. I am tired. going to seelp. Ill be back in the....later, to continue the discussion.

saw that, didn't get a chance to redress my post here. was too busy catching up on all the interesting posts that cropped up. LOTS of interesting view points. I gotta stop giving fucks (beans), or I am literally going to run out of fucks to give (can only hand out so many beans per day). So many valid points, for and against mine and others views. I read a post, and say "Damn. Good point!", and then I read a response and say "FUCK! He's got a point too!". The debate here is HEATED, but civil. Thank you everyone.

THIS^ ALL of these issues are like those I mentioned in the beginning of my op: they can ALL be attributed to the fact that the game is in alpha. They are mostly bugs (which would be fixed during BETA), and they are not in and of themselves parts of the game's core design and gameplay concepts like ballistics or inventory. IE. they are bugs, not design decisions.

Thank you Max. I am grateful. THIS is a perfect example of what I was talking about near the end of my rant. LET THE MODERATORS DO THIER JOBS. I KNOW they can do it. I cant even remember how many times I have reported a purely inciteful, insulting, trollish post, only to see it ERASED from space and time by the fast acting moderators in a few minutes or even moments. Let that continue to happen, and eventually it will be like a massive, activated charcoal filter cleansing the water that is this forum's community, until naught but tolerable, sane people are left behind. Then we can all finally POLITELY hate each other's views, instead of insulting each other. lol.

I mostly agree with you, with the exception of the "disaster". Its nowhere near that far gone. It CANT be said at this (still) early stage. But yes, they had an engine, a map, and a WHOLE HOST of FUNCTIONING mechanics (like ballistics, the core of realistic inventory, a functioning map AND compass), and they threw it all out (seemingly) in favor of arbitrary, over simplified systems. And they continue to concern me with their apparent priorities.

Im quoting this one post, but this response is addressed to all of those saying something similar (but maybe without the outlandish kate upton sex thing. Really man?). I don't believe for a second that rocket or the rest of the dev team are taking our money and running. I don't care that rocket climbed Mt. Everest. If nothing else, I am impressed. That takes some fuking BALLS. If you can make it to the top of that mother, you can do ANY fuking thing, including making an outstanding video game. I don't think the game is terrible as it is. Well, ok, it IS terrible. But its an ALPHA. I EXPECTED that, and all in all, I am actually well pleased. I have CERTAINLY gotten my 30 bucks worth of entertainment value from it and THEN some. I DO however have some CONCERNS (note, I tend to capitalize words to show emphasis. Grammatically asinine, I know. But as I said before, I aint tryin ta rite an engrish paper here) about many of the design decisions, as well as the direction the game seems to be going. For all I know, EVERY one of my concerns will be fixed and addressed perfectly to my satisfaction at some point in the development process, and I will find myself in video game nirvana. But I DONT know that. I DONT know what the general direction the devs are shooting for is. I AM concerned by what appear to be their priorities. But then again, that is why this is titled CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, and not "U FUKING SUK DEAN UR GAME R SHIT!". This is just some of my, somewhat less than humble (admittedly) opinions that others may or may not agree with. I hope others DO agree, and I hope these issues get notice and are properly redressed. That's all I am shooting for. But, as said, you are free to disagree, just please (continue) to do so in a respectful manner. Some of the viewpoints I have read in response to my OP aren't what you would call FRIENDLY, but at least they are, for the most part, not insulting. Hell, thus far, my critique has been the most scathing thing IN this thread, and I wasn't even going for that initially. And again, THANK you, oh insufferably impatient ones, for ACTUALLY taking the time to read that thing. I actually DO appreciate it.

I don't doubt it for a second. Why should he? I am only one voice among LITERALLY thousands. HUNDREDS of thousands. I make my voice heard, others who agree join in on the "chant", and THEN, maybe he will bless us with his attention. The dude's a very busy man. I don't doubt for a SECOND that he doesn't care what I and I alone think, and I DONT CARE that he doesn't. Getting that man's personal attention wasn't my goal. And btw, I don't know how old you are, but I know for damn sure I aint your "son". -with respect.

And THATS the OTHER problem: You are correct! If I do NOT take a careful, well aimed shot, and hit my target anyway, not because I was lucky and ACCIDENTLY did it right, but because a random number decided that my impact point would be HERE instead of there, that's just as bad! I mentioned this a while back in another thread, but this isn't just arbitrary, its also disrespectful to BOTH players. I expect to be rewarded for my efforts with success. But on the other hand, I respect my potential opponents enough to want the same for them: if I made a dumb move, or decided to take a risk I shouldn't have, and another player has me in his sights, and he does EVERYTHING right, I respect that player enough to want them to be successful. I don't WANT to get lucky either! I WANT my decisions and the risks I take to have IMPACT. I DONT want to be able to run across a massive open field while my opponent 400 meters away fires shot after careful shot, singing "TROLOLOL LOLOL" all the way because I know he has next to no chance of hitting me. And now that he has fired, and I am still alive, even though by all rights I shouldn't be, I know where he is and can make an attempt to flank, which I couldn't have done if ballistics weren't random. The repercussions for this go beyond just that initial moment. And yes, I could get closer, but that should be a tactical choice made by me after weighing the alternatives and DECIDING that is what I want/need to do. NOT something I am forced to do by an entirely arbitrary mechanic. I sincerely hope the devs do something about this. If they don't, I doubt very much that any other new features will keep me playing.

I just don't understand why some people think that the M4, in its current state in game, isn't WRONG! yeah, ok. So with pristine attachments, you can pick off, with some difficulty, targets up to 300 meters away. Yeeeaaaah. I can do the exact same, with relative ease (IRL), using nothing but the stock weapon and iron sights, at FIVE hundred meters. Now, ill grant you, that's real life. NOT in game. But why do we have this in game at all? Its arbitrary. Its unrealistic. It caters to a "casual" style of gameplay. Instead of compensating for real life skill and training in game by utilizing some sort of skill based mechanic, we instead have to search and search for attachments that arbitrarily increase accuracy, not by making the gun itself easier to shoot (say, by having a bipod reduce weapon sway or a heavy barrel reduce muzzle climb), but by changing the actual algorithms that govern bullet travel angles to reduce spread. And EVEN THEN random chance will just screw you over and send your shot wide of your target. Frankly (and this is ASSUMING the devs don't have plans to fix it) its just lazy development. Attachments should make my guns easier to USE, not slightly decrease a random deviation that skill or not, I have ZERO control over. And don't EVEN get me started on that whole argument "but our characters aren't military guys, so they should have no idea how to shoot..." Our characters are whoever and whatever the hell we, the player, WANT them to be, and that kind of deliberate handicap serves ONLY to level the playing field, punishing, at random, players who did everything right and deserve to be rewarded with a kill, while rewarding, randomly, players who should have known better. And forget, for a moment, killing other players. What about zombies? I might need to be able to hit my target reliably and accurately. Or hunting? Its the main issue that is keeping me from playing right now. I cant TEST anything out because the items I want to test are stupidly rare. And I cant really PLAY because the one thing to do when I get geared up (hunt other players) I CANT do because I know I will randomly miss my shot for no reason.

Well, bear in mind that I speak in general terms; ie. there shouldn't, at this point, be such a thing as a "rare" item. That's an aspect of gameplay, NOT testing. Gameplay concepts like that can wait until the game is in a more complete state. But specifically? I have never even SEEN an AK, MP5, Pristine ACOG, and have had and EXTREMELY hard time finding arrows and crossbow bolts. Seriously. I don't get it. Why give us a crossbow to test out, but make the bolts SO exceedingly rare (in addition to being unrecoverable), that the players have a difficult time finding them and testing them. I mean, what happens if somehow, a bug makes it past beta, and a player fires a bolt at this ONE tree or something, that causes every player to suddenly teleport 100 feet into the air and be stuck there, floating. And all because nobody KNEW about the bug, because few people could find the bolts to test the crossbow out. An extreme example, I know, but I feel it illustrates my point.

And THAT is why NOTHING in this game, at this stage of development, should be SO rare or hard to find that you could search for days and not find it. How are we to test, properly, all the subtle nuances and interactions of all the items against the game world and one another, if we cant even FIND them? Adjust the loot tables to make certain items rare in BETA. That is the time when we should focus on bug fixing and gameplay balancing. Also: am excited for tents, but you know what I REALLY want? Realistic ballistics....and a pony.

It took literally ALL of my not inconsiderable reading comprehension skills to read your comment, filter out the nonsense, and understand what you were trying to say. And you say MY comment was stupid. I did not, at ANY point, suggest that server hoping was right or ok (which, depending on the circumstances and the player's intent, in an ALPHA testing stage, is debatable to begin with). What I DID say was that people would resort to it. So tell me, oh one who fornicates with mothers. Dost thou speaketh English?

Don't get too hyped. I look forward to functional, persistent storage as much as anyone else BUT: I am willing to bet they (tents) will be an EXTREMELY rare loot item. You will either: NEVER find one. OR: NEVER find one, and resort to server hoping, and STILL never find one because other hopers beat you too it. ALSO, don't forget the DayZ Murphy's law: You will NEVER find what you seek. And when you DO, you are mere moments away from some disaster that will take it from you.

I rented one for a month. Low population despite absolutely NO admin abuse on my part made me not renew it. But honestly, I don't see the point in renting a server at all unless you are going to set up a private hive, which cant be done at this stage. I suspect that in the future, perhaps at around beta time, admins will probably be given more tools to work with. But until then? yeah, pretty pointless IMO...

Shrub, are you a PROFESSIONAL Russian? But the seriously...is cool story, comrade.

Its hard to take YOU seriously when you misspell "serious/seriously". EDIT: at the risk of sounding offensive, I will state that this comment was made in well meaning sarcasm. Please, don't take this comment too serostly.

it was. its a commonly used phrase.

Or nipples on a breastplate... (GoT reference)

NO! Maps in game should have NO other marks on them other than ones YOU make yourself with a pen. No automatic "you are here" indicators, no "this is where you wanted to go" waypoints. Maps (paper ones at any rate) don't do that IRL. The only thing that should (in game) is a GPS. I should, given a map and compass, be able to use my surroundings (identifying features like roads, distinct topography, towns/cities), deduce my location on the map, then, using the compass (WITH the map opened, like in Arma 2) identify the cardinal degree direction I want to travel and the distance between them (say, for example, I am at point A, and want to go to point B. From A, B is about 1200 meters away at bearing 250 degrees), and then, putting the map away, pull out my compass in first person, and align myself with 250 degrees, then GO in that direction 1200 meters to arrive at my destination. THIS is how you properly shoot an azimuth. Doing it with that kind of accuracy isn't possible in game ATM. You CAN get a general idea by aligning yourself with a known, straight feature on the map, then establishing the azimuth of the line that feature is on in first person, and THEN inferring the approximate angle you need to go based on that. But because you cant view the compass with the map simultaneously, you cant be exact. And when travelling a long distance, a variation of only a few degrees at the very start can cause you to miss you mark by a LOT. IRL, land navigation using a map and compass is actually VERY easy, especially if you are good at estimating distances visually, and have a well established pace count. But even without a pace count, its very simple. There is NO reason why it shouldn't be just as simple in game. And considering that it doesn't take all that long to go from one side to the other (usually, I don't even need a map and compass to get around in DayZ, but sometimes I wish I could shoot an accurate azimuth), frankly, needing automatic waypoint/position markers is just....pathetically lazy. EDIT: YES, using the "feature alignment" method to establish a cardinal degree, then opening the map and using a protractor, placed on the screen, to establish the EXACT degree of travel I want to go in WOULD give me an exact azimuth. And NO, I will NOT play this game with a god damned protractor at my side...