doctorbadsign

Yep. The zombie apocalypse is a very Darwinian world. You want to survive you need to have what it takes, if you don't you're dead. Thankfully its just a game so you can respawn after you die and learn from your mistakes, get better and eventually not die so often. New players just need to go through the process we all went through with the mod, when I started on the mod I couldn't aim a gun or even have a chance to spot players before they killed me. I wasn't with the mod from the start so the servers I joined were full of veterans. I just got on with it and learned how to play.... I'm still not that great, but putting the hours and thinking about what you're doing in game in really helps

Yeah I just did this, kinda felt wrong to have all the bad ass gear straight away. It definitely needs to be addressed. The loot in Balota should be minimal, some empty clips army boots and maybe a few other things, but a new spawn shouldn't be able to leave there geared up like a god.

Apologies if I misconstrued you. I think we are pretty much on the same page. I think harder zombies would be awesome, but it would be difficult to balance because you need to account for the player who has nothing and has just spawned in. I'm excited to see what they do with them though

This might discourage it yes, but the whole notion of discouraging it is based upon the assumption that it is somehow an illegitimate way to play the game. People don't like it cause they lose their shit that they spent ages collecting, but killing someone on sight is just as legitimate as teaming up with them and helping them out. Its just that one has a positive impact for the person on the receiving end, and the other has a negative impact. In a real-life scenario in which law and order has broken down and everyone had to struggle to survive you probably would get people who would kill someone to take their stuff, and some psychos who would kill because they enjoy it and for no other reason. You'd also probably get psychotic/unstable people who lost their minds and decide that they want to chase you down the road with a wrench shouting wildly and making strange noises because there is nothing left to live for. What exactly is it that people find so wrong with KOS? Other than being annoyed about losing their gear? I just view it as part of the world in game, people get crazy and desperate and want to kill you, so you need to be careful. I don't like it, but it doesn't spoil it for me.

I agree, much as I hate being killed on sight by other players, they are not breaking any rules by doing so and I do not feel arrogant enough to claim that I am playing the game the right way, and they are doing it wrong, or that I am a superior player or anything. Its bullshit. People play how they want to, there is no right or wrong way. Wanting to change the rules of the game (or the features) to disallow KOS or to lessen it, is like wanting to change the rules of chess because your friend keeps getting checkmate in 4 moves. Its not the rules that need to change its the way you respond to the other player. What do I mean by that? I've said it before. Friendlies start communicating with each other, add each other as friends on Steam and play together, watch each other's backs, gear up, protect new spawns, get revenge on KOS'ers, trade items with each other. If enough people fight back in such a manner people might see a pay off in playing like that that matches the benefits of killing on sight. Nothing about the features of DayZ can get rid of KOS. If enough people did something about how they play the game, things might change.

My first encounter was with a random guy. Basically said 'the game looks really nice' and 'I'm still just trying to work out what I'm doing' then we went on our separate ways. In terms of other encounters they have mostly been non-hostile. With one standing out as a friendly meeting. I have been KOS'ed about 4 times, but mostly its just a quick hello or a slightly tense momentary glance in each other's direction. On one slightly amusing occasion I was trying to take the shirt off a body I saw in the road to make rags, and a guy approached saw me and then ran away---obviously under the impression that I'd killed the player (which I hadn't). That made me chuckle. I came across two people earlier today, one of which had a gun aimed at me, which is fair enough cause I was wielding my axe, I put it away told them I was now unarmed and it was fine. I let them know there was a first aid kit in the corner that I had no room to carry and went on my way. To be fair I've had more non-hostile encounters on the SA than I have ever had playing any mod.

I guess it's just my instinct left over from the mod to conserve drinks (and assume that one is enough to replenish your thirst). What misleads me is when it says 'you have quenched your thirst'---which to me says I've had all the drink I need. Yet I still get the 'I feel thirsty' 2 mins down the line. Perhaps this is all that needs changing?

Eeek I feel sorry for the mods here. I expected this kind of stuff from the minute I started downloading the game. In fact the first thing I said to my friend was 'I wouldn't be surprised if we can't get on a server'. We managed to initially, but could see something like this coming. Where is the common sense? I guess the multiple warnings thing doesn't really get through to many people. The game is not broken forever, just go do something else for a bit :)

Thanks :) I think that gamers should be able to intuit this however, as I had no idea. Not sure how it could be worked, but you shouldn't have to come here to find out.

I am happy with things at the moment, I'd like to see increased timing on thirst as I get thirsty 2 mins after drinking. However I think the devs deserve a break :) they've done a good job and deserve a beer/rest.

I have found a fix for this: Step one: Exit DayZ Step two: Play something else for a while, do some chores, eat bacon or whatever.

24 hr system is fine in my book. However the hunger/thirst needs to be in real time too!!!!!

It happens. Quit moaning and do something about it. I've said the same in two other topics now; go group together with other players who don't like KOS and team up with some friendlies. People need to stop waiting for someone else to fix it, nothing is going to stop someone who is intent upon ruining your gaming experience. Get together with others and fight back against it, help players out, build up trust etc. etc. No patch or update or new system or anything is going to change the minds of people who want to pull the trigger on you upon spotting you. Players can make a difference if they wanted to, actively seek out people you can play with who will protect you and help out others, form groups and develop tactics. If all the people who whine about KOS and the lack of friendlies got together and played with each other, you'd have a motherfucking army.

It happens, it's part of the game---everyone recognises it as part of what DayZ is, whether it annoys them or not. There is nothing you can do other than deal with it. Once you kit up go hunt down those people if it makes you feel better. If it ruins the game for you, don't play it. Harder zombies, more complex medical systems etc. etc. might help, but at the end of it all you'll still have people who get a kick out of ruining your day by killing you regardless of whether you have kit or not. What can we do? Moaning about it doesn't help that's for sure. Why not post some topics here, get together with players who hate it equally as much as you do and start some kind of coastal patrol unit that goes and kills these people. Moaning about it and expecting people to suddenly change what they do isn't going to help. Expecting the devs to come up with something magical to stop it isn't going to achieve anything. The best we can do is change how we play the game. I see so many people claiming to be friendly players, moaning that no one else is friendly and kills them all on sight. If all those people spent less time moaning and more time grouping together in game things might change. Get together in groups and go protect new spawns.

Okay so Rocket has said that the loot table needs balancing. I think that the best way to get an idea for how to improve it would be by using a survey that follows the formula outlined below. The first question should be "How many hours have you spent playing DayZ?" this can be used to eliminate statistical anomalies (people who've only played for 15 mins will not have found as much loot as people who've played for 12 hours). The following questions should take this formula: Q: How often have you found [insert loot category here (e.g: melee weapons, clothing items)]? A: [A range of options from 'never found any' to 'I often find this item'] Followed by: Q: How badly do you need [insert loot category here]? A: [A range of options from 'can't play without it' to 'don't bother picking it up'] I don't know how to set up such a survey, but I'd imagine it would give some useful data for the devs to take into account when trying to balance the loot. If for example a certain item was often found, but never needed it could be changed. I don't mean to suggest that DayZ should give us exactly what we need everywhere, all the time, but using such a survey might give an idea of how to balance the loot based upon users experience. Cheers DoctorBadSign

Don't like the alpha, don't play it :) You've bought the game now, you can check back when more content is added, there's no need to whine about it.

I don't get the hunger/thirst thing either. I also don't like the fact that the meter is not in time with the day/night cycle. In reality it takes days to die of thirst, yet in game you get pretty damn thirsty within the space of one evening (often minutes after you have a drink). This throws the whole thing off for me. I'm fine with whatever length day/night cycle, but the length of time it takes to die from thirst or starvation needs to be adjusted accordingly. No one has ever died from starvation in between dinner and breakfast...

I bet this will be changed very soon. I don't think it ruins the immersion for me, my problem is that they are quite easy to miss. Especially since they appear in the area that the mod used for side chat---which I have developed a habit of ignoring (due to the idiocy that is found there).

I get what you are saying, but if I wanted to stare at a black screen I could turn my monitor off and randomly wiggle my mouse and it would have the same effect. That isn't really what I want from a game. I'm not saying you should be able to see perfectly at night, or even well. But pitch black renders it unplayable for me.

Yeah I agree. This is kinda what I was getting at with the it shouldn't be about what people want in the game, cause you will then just get people asking for guns all over the place. What I was getting at was essentially the above. Finding out if there are any items that people cannot survive without, yet also cannot find as well as items that people never pick up that they find everywhere. The latter could be replaced with more of the former to give players a better chance of survival.

I adjust the brightness and gamma in DayZ Mod because I want to actually be able to play the game when it is night time. Its not my fault they made it almost impossible to see. Have you tried running through a forest or looting a barn in pitch darkness? So far as the Standalone goes, I played night time a bit last night and I didn't need to adjust any settings because it was a full moon and I had a flashlight to see in the interior of buildings. I'll have to see if this works on all occasions, but to be frank, if you have to adjust a setting to actually be able to play a game, its not the player that is at fault but the game itself (edit: of course I don't mean performance wise cause that can be down to the hardware of the player)

I haven't noticed the hunger so much, but I would certainly say the same for thirst. I had a drink and about 5 mins later I was thirsty again. In terms of food, I hadn't actually found any so I can't speak for opening tins (I hadn't found a tin opener either).

I don't think it should necessarily be towards players that aren't moving---that would be kinda annoying if you had to answer a phone call or something whilst playing. I do think that people staying in one place and making a lot of noise (i.e. firing a gun) should find themselves surrounded by zombies. I don't wish to see snipers eliminated completely by such a mechanic (cause sniping is fun after all), but it should make them more tactical and move after making each shot rather than just camping up and shooting loads.

Crafting an alarm system would be cool. Being able to craft a zombie distraction device with it would be pretty sweet too. Set it on a timer so it goes off just before you want to loot somewhere.... Or maybe you could gaffer tape your zombie distraction device to another player before sending them on their way or sneak it in their backpack... Cooool

I was going to say something along these lines. We should leave things like panic and anxiety to the personality of the player. If I'm wondering around and my friend gets shot dead by a sniper, I would probably feel real panic so there is no real need to simulate it. Other players might be more like 'oh my friend just died there must be a sniper...' and feel less panicked and deal with the situation in a more level headed manner. Adding something that makes your character react a certain way even if you do not feel thus affected is just going to piss people off. As riley4ever noted, I get anxious and panicked in real life playing DayZ and this affects the way my character reacts to situations in game. There is no need to simulate anything here.