ArmyofSolo

Are you trying to prove my point for me? You're doing a good job of it. That's exactly the situation I want to avoid. I don't want to walk up to a hero, say Hello, I'm Friendly, then get shot in the face. I don't think anyone likes that, that is why most people just kill on sight. I am not hung-up on the word "humanity", I only used that word since that is the word that is currently used. Call it Disposition, call it Good, bad, or indiferent, I don't care what word is used. Forgive me for being condescending, I can't help myself sometimes. That, and I like to see how people react to it. :)

I can appreciate your dislike of them. If you want a true survival game and that's it, then you would dislike them. Personally, no storage, nothing to build, nothing to work towards = walking/running simulator. Not fun for me.

Oh young grasshopper, I am not sure I agree with your statement. You see, as I stated above, one's reputation is drastically affected by how one actual behaves. So if a bandit self-selects a hero alignment so "he can see other heroes through tree's" (your words, not mine), that would only cause their own death. Once the "hero" bandit killed his first few heroes, he would have larges amounts of negative hero rep. Actual heroes would now be able to view him and see his rep from a further distance due to his negative hero rep (further than the bandit could see them). Not through tree's as you somewhat awkwardly stated, but within visual range (which is amplified with the use of scopes and/or binos). Advantage hero. You see, one's reputation has an actual impact. It would be better for that "hero" bandit just to have chosen his self-alignment as a bandit. He would then be on equal footing with the hero, not at a disadvantage. I also think you missed the point of the special information/benefits. First, it isn't a "faction" it is a simple statement as to what type of person you are proclaiming to be(good, bad, or indifferent). It also isn't to give certain players advantage over other players per say. It's a motivational tool to create tension amongst dis-similar groups (bandits versus heroes) by creating some level of cooperation amongst like groups. This reduces the urge to kill on sight, by adding real reputation consequences to those who aren't who they say they are. It also urges geographic co-habitation, even though it would not be a requirement. Honestly, I think it is hard to change peoples minds that the current system isn't broken (which it absolutely is). It's easier just to shoot at people you see and then go farm some zombies so you retain your humanity. I guess some people like that? I do find it a bit weird that people insist that the current system is the most realistic, and therefore the best choice. I just don't agree with that. I don't think in "the real zombie apocalypse" people would kill everyone they see, then go farm zombies to they get to keep their hero clothing. Strange other people don't feel the same way I do. You know what they say though.... opinions are like bung-holes..... everyone has one.

While I think the idea would work, and would ultimately add excitement and additional value (playability) to the game, I understand that not everyone feels the same way. Honestly, my idea/post is only a overall vision and not all the details are spelled-out. Nonetheless, I think the "Current Problem" I noted is mainly accurate. If nothing is done, then I don't see the problem changing too much.... Current Problem: With the current humanity system, playing as a Hero, Civilian, or Bandit is rather pointless. All three are required for an immersive and entertaining experience, but manipulations in the current humanity system prevent accurate alignments. As a result, the tension/conflict between the three alignments is reduced and funnels people into a shoot on sight mentality.

I agree, there would be plenty of bandits that would self select themselves as a hero, at least to start. Just as in real life, some people 'pretend' to be good, when in actuality that are bad. However, I somewhat addressed this in Part 3, the reputation. If someone self selects themselves as a hero, if they play like a bandit the effects are amplified and will get lots of negative hero points towards their rep. The more negative your rep, the more obvious it would be that you are not actually a hero. At that point, you lose the 'benefits' of being a bandit, and your hero self classification is no longer a disguise. It would end up being a negative in the long run for a bandit to self select their alignment as a hero. FYI, killing a "hero" with negative hero points, gives the most positive hero points (to the hero doing the killing). A bandit who self selects hero would quickly become the biggest target out there. I also didn't mention anything about a "safe zone". Only an area on the map that would help coordinate locations for like minded players. I don't think I said anything about not being able to be killed there.

If it's robust enough to make everyone look unique, then the character customization would be a good thing. I'm just not sure in a game, you can make people look different enough to make them recognizable on sight.

I have a hard time with the no names online thing. On one hand, I can understand the logic behind not showing names, on the other hand, there should be some way to recognize the people you game with day-in and day-out. In real life, people are unique enough that you can remember and recognize them from a distance. Not only from the way the look and dress, but also from the way the move and how big/small they are. That isn't possible in the game currently. In my opinion, it is something that needs a solution. I don't know how you do it without showing names (with a certain amount of focus).

I completely disagree. There may be a short period of time where you'd hold-up by yourself, but over time you would find like minded individuals and start working together. As you will notice, the 'benefits' I listed primarily relate to working/living/coordinating with other like minded individuals. You seriously don't think good honest people would team up and live close together for the greater good of their group? Not only that, you would start to recognize the other local like minded individuals much easier as you got to know the surroundings.

Each type of player receives a 'benefit' so it doesn't imbalance anything. Not only that, the benefits are not PvP related per say. Being a hero and being able to recognize another hero has nothing to do with a PvP scenario, just the opposite. As a hero, you wouldn't want to attack another hero unless absolutely necessary. As it stands now, you have no way of knowing other than to get close enough and see if the person shoots you. If they shoot at you = not a hero. It would be nice if there was a better way. In life, the choice to be a good guy or a bad guy is a conscious decision. You make it before you do good or bad actions. Only your reputation is based on the history of your actions. Are you saying that people don't make a conscious decision on if they are good or bad? That they somehow only find out once others label their actions?

Stated Goal: To increase the efficacy of all types of game play styles (Bandit, Hero, or Civilian) while balancing the pros and cons of each by creating a new “Humanity/Reputation” system. Current Problem: With the current humanity system, playing as a Hero, Civilian, or Bandit is rather pointless. All three are required for an immersive and entertaining experience, but manipulations in the current humanity system prevent accurate alignments. As a result, the tension/conflict between the three alignments is reduced and funnels people into a shoot on sight mentality. Suggested Solution (3-Parts): Part 1: Self-Selected Humanity Alignment In part 1, players will self-select their humanity alignment by choosing 1 of 3 options (Hero, Bandit, or Undisclosed). What players choose in this option will impact how the humanity/reputation system will play-out while in-game. There is nothing to prevent a bandit from listing him/herself as a hero (a bandit in disguise) and vice-versa. However, calling one’s self a hero but acting like a bandit would have additional implications and vice-versa. The Self-Selected Alignment is not a means to punish players who choose a certain alignment. Its purpose is to escalate the tension between dis-similar groups while at the same time allowing similar alignments to get along together in ways not currently possible. Self-Selection occurs during the first spawn-in on a server. However, re-selecting an alignment would be possible at certain intervals as well. Restrictions on when or how often the self-selection could occur would be in-place to prevent players from trying to manipulate the system. Part 2: Benefits of Self-Selected Alignments “Hero” Benefits: If self-selecting Hero as your alignment, you should get certain benefits while in-game. Examples of benefits could include: Heroes can see other Heroes more easily. Exact methods of implementing this could vary. Visual clues, increased name recognition, player list noted as Hero, etc. The goal would simply be for other heroes to recognize other heroes in proximity faster/more easily.Geographic benefits could be implemented in such a way that sections on the map would provide benefits only to heroes. Benefits designed to make it attractive for heroes to congregate in a certain geographic areas would create hot spots of heroes. For example, maybe hero homes in these “hero” areas would allow for increased storage capacity, be better disguised/camouflaged, and/or have an auto door shutting ability (in case of danger). A self-selected Hero would not be required to build a home in this area, it would simply be an option if you wanted the extra benefits it afforded. Likewise, it would not prevent a bandit from building a bandit home in the area. However, bandits would quickly find that building a home in amongst heroes would not be the best way to assure survival.Increased carrying capacity. Since heroes aren't “on the run” they can carry more on their person/in their pack than a bandit can. “Bandit” Benefits: If Self-Selecting Bandit as your alignment, you should also get certain benefits while in-game. Benefits for bandits could be similar to that of hero, but in reverse. Examples: Bandits can recognize other bandits with faster/easier means.Geographic areas for bandits to build bandit homes. Similar to the benefits of heroes building hero homes in hero areas. Increased running distance/speed. Being “on the run” makes bandits lighter and faster. A hero isn't going to out-run a bandit. “Undisclosed” Benefits: If Self-Selecting Undisclosed as your alignment, your benefit is your anonymity. You’re harder to recognize, and maybe have more stealthy qualities. You are also not immediately noticed as a mortal enemy of a hero or bandit so you can move around the world with less risk. Part 3: Advanced Reputation System In addition to the self-selected humanity alignment, each individual player will have a “Reputation”. The Reputation will be tied to the players’ self-selected humanity. For example, if a player selects their humanity as a hero, they will either get positive hero reputation (for doing hero actions), or negative hero reputation (for doing bandit actions). Vice-versa for Bandits. Undisclosed players will also have a Reputation, they will either get positive hero points or positive bandit points. Other players can see your reputation. The more it is in any one direction, the easier it would be to see the reputation. Repercussions of a player’s reputation will manifest in various ways. However, it should be noted that the player’s self-selected humanity has a big impact on the severity of the repercussions. For example, if a player self-selects Hero as their humanity, then doing bandit actions will very quickly get you negative hero reputation. Whereas if you were Undisclosed, doing the same bandit action, would get you less bandit reputation. Doing the same action if you had self-selected your humanity as a bandit would get you positive bandit reputation points. Ways to earn positive or negative reputation points: Handcuff/steal from other playersShoot at other playersKill other playersShoot at other players vehicles (requires a vehicle registration ability)Destroy other players vehicles (requires a vehicle registration ability)Steal other players vehicles (requires a vehicle registration ability) Healing other players, killing zombies, etc. do not give positive or negative points in any fashion. Your self-selection humanity determines how many points you get for each above action and whether those are positive or negative points. There would also have to be some “self-defense” recognition so defending one’s self does not issue points against one’s reputation (or very minimal points). In addition to the points that accumulate on the player’s reputation, there could also be other items that ‘attach’ to a players rep. For example, if a hero kills a bandit, that hero would get positive hero points. However, what if after that bandit was killed, he/she could put a bounty on that hero’s rep? Likewise, if a bandit killed a hero, that hero could attach a warrant to the bandit’s rep. These bounties and warrants would be like badges of honor to the players and would grow as their skill and time grew in-game. However, having higher bounties and warrants would also make that player more of a target. Their Reputation will proceed them, if you will. Conclusion: Having a Humanity/Reputation system that makes people want to play as a bandit, hero, or be indifferent will create more tension and reduce frustration. Bandits will be more likely to band together as will heroes. Geographic hot-spots will make certain areas more dangerous than others. But if you’re out looking for danger, maybe that is a good thing? Over time, heroes will become more heroic and bandits will become more evil. As their respective reputation grows, they will find more people to band around them. Having a healthy good versus evil (with other in-between) will create a game that is more than just looting or killing on sight.

I think the KoS Kiddies are missing the point of Airborne's idea. If you want to play like a bandit and kill people on sight, you could still do that. You just couldn't play like a bandit but look like a hero (you would look like a bandit, which is what you actually are). What the heck is wrong with that? There will still be bandits and hero's, but the bandits will just have to live with the consequences of their actions. So what if they look like a bandit! They can still KoS all they want, that doesn't change a thing. \ Here is what the KoS kiddies are really saying when they oppose something like this..... "I like to kill people on sight. Because I have very little skill, I like to appear as if I am a hero so it is easier for me to KoS. I will do whatever it takes to manipulate the system and even brag about my 60k humanity, so I can look like a hero. I'm really a bandit though because KoS is all I know how to do. Please don't take that away from me, because I suck at games that require thought and/or skill. CoD is too hard for me because everyone kills on sight and looks the same. If I have to look like a bandit, then hero's will try and kill me. I don't like that idea because I suck at games. I am going to go and make some more my little pony banners now while I try and put down good ideas in the dayz forums."