Gunshow

^^^ THIS :beans: As has been said, anything that CAN have an animation, SHOULD have an animation, with appropriate time to execute it too, some longer/shorter than others. Anything 'instant' is just very immersion breaking for me personally. Roshi's idea being one i've wanted right from the start. Ideally, anything stored in the backpack can't be hotbarred, only items in pockets etc, meaning you have to actively open your inventory, both showing an animation and perhaps a zipper sound alerting others as to what you're doing.

Damn you sir, I was thinking about this on the way to work the other day, didn't think people would be on board. Beans for you for putting it out there!

Just a thought I was having, felt like I'd throw it out there to see if anyone rated/hated it. How would everyone feel about this sort of active "sleep" feature if it was added in game?. Stops server hopppingStops combat loggingIncreases survivor interactivity due to getting to know the people on their chosen serverIncreases player immersion by removing disappear upon disconnectMy idea would change the way servers are worked at the moment by making their players persistent, because I would like that once a character has been created, players would decide on their server (which would need more filtering options to make it easier to choose one with the parameters you're looking for i.e. 3PP:OFF/ON, aiming dot etc) upon joining they would essentially be 'locked' to it, committing that neither that character nor the gear they have would be able to leave, stopping there being any gain from server hopping. The sleep feature i'm thinking of would have survivors "sleep" on the floor of where they choose to disconnect, provided that they wait until a timer has expired before exiting, during which their survivor will be running through the sleep animation in game. If however the game is force closed through alt+f4 (combat logging) or other other means, this system implemented correctly would have their character remain on the server, dropping to the floor where they disconnected, essentially "fainting" under pressure instead of outright disappearing (which I personally find very immersion breaking), during which time they could still be killed or robbed (depending on their aggressors mental state, of course). After the player has disconnected correctly and the survivor is asleep, their character will also remain in place, asleep in the server until they return, during which time they could again still be found, robbed and/or killed, meaning you will want to find somewhere out of the way to sleep in instead of in the middle of the Balota runway for example, but unlike combat logging, you will actively have the choice of where you want to sleep until you come back. This system will add more to think about in terms of exploration in regards to how far away from shelter you travel also, because once the weather and temperature based illnesses are implemented, deciding to leave your character out in the Chernorussian cold, open to the elements could mean that you run the risk of getting sick meaning you will need to find medicine. This would hopefully make survivors think about how long they intend to be playing and scavenge accordingly based on their method of travel, making sure they have time to either get back to a building for the night or set up camp in the woods. As an added incentive for this system to work I think a short term buff upon login could be added if a player slept for a sufficient amount of time or if they slept indoors instead of in a tent. This could also add extra items such as bedrolls, sleeping bags and of course tents which can be kept on your back or in a backpack if you are knowingly going to be travelling for a long time and will not make it to a built up area before you need to disconnect.

I wouldn't go as far to say that fully custom bases as far as building it from the ground up should be implemented as I do think that, as you said, there are far too many variables to account for ontop of the engine not being compatible with that mechanic as far as i'm aware, although I may be wrong as I didn't have any contact with the mod or any of its subsidiaries, so don't hold me to that. The biggest thing I'm hoping for, which i'm sure is 100% doable as it has been seen on both DayZ the mod as well as ARMA3 is either dynamic, movable objects that can be put into vehicles if they're too large to carry on foot i.e. metal/tyres etc that can be arranged in/around a town to serve as walls. Tents would still be able to be used and accessed by yourself as well as anyone that comes across them, the walls would serve purely as a deterrent and as added immersion, although theoretically more options for storage could be thought of, possibly through the implementation of interactive cupboards/non-functional fridges etc that are currently in the SA but only as a static object. In regards to server hopping however, I would hope that that particular issue will be resolved long before any particular progress in this field.

Absolutely!, didn't actually think of the lighting issue. Excellent. That would be the job of whoever is running perimeter defence to man the lights. Obviously, with all this, the bigger you build, especially in large marked cities/towns, the higher chance you have of someone passing by and wanting what you have. Hopefully with an impressive enough display you'd think that the right survivors would rather join than oppose. Even if they did, I'd like to think they'd retreat and tell others so they can formulate something as a group

(Little disclaimer by me written post finishing the bulk of this) First off, I will apologise for this maybe coming across as unorganised or not flowing very well. I started to get carried away by the idea and took it in a few different potential directions, hopefully it is still coherent enough for people to see what I'm trying to get at. Also, I understand that this is very early Alpha stage and there are much more pressing matters which need attending to, i'm purely brainstorming ideas to you for discussion and/or criticism regarding far off future updates. I know that Dean has spoke a lot about how SA would deal with basebuilding differently to the mod in that having the server have to handle enough dynamic objects in Chernarus that people could essentially fortify a building (or town, with enough manpower) would create far too much strain, hence his decision to work towards the more practical underground "instance" variation. I was wondering what everyones thoughts were on this, or if this decision has been set in stone in the mind of the DayZ devs because personally, while I can see the dilemma of having the server persistently keep track of survivor's moved objects, potentially causing lag or pop-in, the idea of an "underground" base seems very unimmersive to me and not very in keeping with the game's overall aesthetic. I would love the risk/reward payoff of going out to collect supplies (wood, sheet metal, nails, tyres, rope etc etc) and bringing them back to a either a building to barricade windows and doors if your numbers are few, or with a bigger group, a small town; making it your own in a Walking Dead Woodbury sense: Obviously this would not be easy to create and would take a lot of time, but i'm just brainstorming. These walls wouldn't be impenetrable and would need someone to remain in the town to defend against potential threats whether it be zombies finding their way inside through a gap in the perimeter you've missed or has become damaged over time, or primarily, other survivors looking to take what you have, whether that be the haven you have created or the supplies you will have most likely gathered inside. I think that this could also add more reason for strangers to be willing to work with each other, although trust would be a big issue, because while I understand that some groups do recruit outside of DayZ and organise through metagaming means of Skype/Teamspeak, a large majority of people probably only actively game with maybe 4 other people they know, tops, meaning that to successfully expand they would need more manpower to achieve what they want, bringing me back to wanting to find people they can trust to help them achieve it. In terms of an endgame I think this could provide survivors with more to do and perhaps an overarching purpose in this post-apocalyptic world, as once they have established themselves enough food and water to live, they will want shelter and safety. I'd like to think that to more RP based players this would be something worth investing time in, as I love the idea of a group of survivors bumping into one another on a supply run to Zelenogorsk and deciding to work together for more than just "if I get killed, you kill who killed me and get my things". Perhaps eventually designating roles such as 'perimeter defence' or 'doctor' for example, although granted for the latter to work I think there would need to be more in the way of XP based upgradable skillsets, medicine perhaps learned maybe through reading books or through practice, giving people a reason they would think of someone as their specialist medic instead of just "the person who has the bloodbags". These skills would of course be reset upon death, rewarding players for the longer they have managed to survive. Anyway, I digress...as an extension of this wall idea, again if you excuse the incessant referencing of the Walking Dead, the town Morgan created in "Clear" (S3E12) was filled with traps intended to keep the walkers out, this could also be introduced as a countermeasure ranging from simple traps outside of the perimeter such as spikes (Sticks+Axe/Knife maybe?) mostly to keep zombies away from the walls, to ones such as tripwires for the living. Now, like I said, i'm very curious to see if any of these sort of unfinished ideas appeal to anyone else other than myself, so as I've lost my train of thought, please do discuss and expand where you see fit.

Wonderful, yes, this is all we need right now. People spreading the word to those that weren't already aware, of how to get "Everything in 30 minutes MAX". http://youtu.be/upjohqXsJm0 (Video now removed after I messaged him personally: I don't see what people are gaining from sever hopping in general, how is it providing any sort of sense of achievement?. It's just a cheap exploit of a game in Alpha stage by people who are too dense to actually play the game how it was intended to be played. Server hopping is a huge problem at the moment, obviously not THE biggest one, i'm not trying to say that, but to weak willed people who for whatever reason bought DayZ in Early Access then only want to PvP in Balota or grief others, it's an easy way to give players with actual morals a disadvantage. I genuinely love DayZ and it's prime directive of providing a harsh post apocalyptic world in which we as players must survive in. I was hyped for this a long time ago and now, even in this early alpha stage, it has impressed me greatly and I am eager to see how the continue to improve upon an already solid base. I'm thinking this server hopping could be easily solved through means of locking characters and their gear to specific servers once they have been joined, without causing any issue for any regular players.

I am very aware how cliché these choices would be, but I personally think they'd be ideal regardless: “In the House, In a Heartbeat” - 28 Days Later OST http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2H8FWDvEA “Walking Dead Theme” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8nglsPiZxQ