McBonkhead

I like it. Protect your medi-mule at all cost.

Neurotoxic gas would also explain cannibalism and KOS too. ~No sleep for you comrade! >:( :D

I want to take a hard look at the current kill on sight (KOS) phenomenon here in Day Z Alpha. And present it in a way that is non-objective, with an emphasis on finding a way to make feel more like a post-apocalyptic zombie simulator, as apposed to what we have now. And yes, I know this is just a game; but it's a very realistic game, and that put's it square into the category of a true sim. To start, what do we have now? Well, we have a place players can go to kill other players 'at will' with perma-death. That to me is not a survival simulator, it's a psychopath simulator. Don't get me wrong – If that's what the devs are going for then go nuts (literally in-game insane). This level of heartless killing can very well be explained by a mental infection similar to the movie “The Crazies”. Great movie by-the-by. And I have seen the YouTube videos of people pretending to be serial killers in DayZ, now that is some seriously scarey fun. But if this is a true survival game. A surviving the zombie apocalypse game, then most people would be just regular people. And for regular people, killing lots of other people would be very, very hard on the nerves. I would drive most insane actually - Now lets go down the rabbit hole a little bit: About 1% of the population has a brain dysfunction variation of psychopathy. That is to say, they have a hard time with understanding other people's feelings and struggle with the idea of empathy (putting yourself in other people's shoes). That doesn't make them serial-killers, but it does make it a challenge for them to get along in everyday life. It could also make them hard-as-nails loners in a world full of zombies, so lets keep this in mind. The rest of us would try to survive, we would work together for the most part, for the good of all that is left of humanity – We really would. The problem here is that in it's current state, DayZ is kill or be killed, without consequence. You can argue till your blue in the face about this, but if this is a zombie simulator of ordinary people trying to survive. Then we would band together and fight the good fight, for the most part. And those that chose to start killing other people to just take their stuff, would defiantly feel the mental and physical repercussions of their actions. Ask any real life soldier that has seen combat, they will tell you just how traumatic - post traumatic stress disorder can be. I propose that in DayZ, KOSing other players repeatedly would drive your character insane*. This could manifest as “the shakes” and be a serious physical penalty to motor-control. Aiming would get real hard and you would display all the classic signs of going bonkers: Seeing and hearing things that aren't there. Paranoia will destroy ya. Talking to yourself uncontrollably, this could be quite fun and weird for others to hear. It would also be a warning that this player has killed a lot of other players recently. Running uncontrollably screaming or going into a fetal position could be an end result of a person on a killing spree. Oh, what fun. *and as for that 1%. If this is a simulator, then a small portion of the populous would not feel any effects what-so-ever from KOSing other players. A good look at this aspect of society is investigated in the documentary “I am fishhead”. It talks mainly about the idea of the corporate psychopath, but it is very eye-opening to the whole subject matter in general, in my opinion. In conclusion, I realize a lot of pro KOS players are going to hate this idea. And if this is a psychopathic-infection, serial-killer simulator then I would have to agree. It's defiantly a deadly “kill or be killed” world in DayZ Alpha. But it's up to the devs to make a decision on this. And banding together to live to fight another hour, another precious minute... this is DayZ in all it's glory. I hope the future sees most of us trying to get the hell out of dodge. Happy hunting everyone. ~Oh, and please add to this idea if you are so inspired! Cheers!

As an avid bicycle rider myself. I can tell you wheels will definitely be a problem to keep from getting flats. I would say we would be dealing with bikes with permanent flats and a lot of rim-riding. Oh, and no oil will means those rusty bikes will squeak like a siren. What's that noise echoing through the countryside? Me thinks someone is riding a bike! ~squeek-squeek-squeek-squeek-squeek-squeek. :D

MadMax + Handcuffs + Vehicle = Best ending to a movie, ever.

A friendly F1 high five here, from a old school, apoca-porn, zombie lover. I'm a conceptual artist by trade, and have a few off-the-wall ideas to throw at your great alpha-stage, survivor simulator (Yes, I will be coming at this from the simulator angle.) The world needs a good zombie simulator and DayZ deserved to be it, in my opinion. - long live perma-death! So to speak. Lots of ideas getting dumped here and it sounds like the devs got a good handle on most of the features that the player base wants to see in-game. Here's a few, messy notions that I'm not sure have been hit on yet, but I think would help put the simulator into your players attempt at survival. Taking also into affect, that this is an adult game. First off, poop. Everybody poops. Rabbits poop, birds poop, and more importantly, people poop. When they eat the wrong food, you poop whether they like it or not. A pile of persistent poop would tell you if other players are about, or say, a big pile of black Russian bear scat would let you know that it's time to be real scared in those dark woods your lost in. This could be handled as simply as the text line: “you have to relieve yourself”. At which point you would have to emote the action or inevitably face the consequences. Leaving behind... well you get the idea. Having to urinate or throw up could produce a similar effect. Imagine coming across a sniper taking a wiz. Vigilance is terribly important in DayZ, and this would take it to new heights in realism. Soiled cloths would need to be cleaned or you could be 'smelled' from a distance. I notice you can clean the dirty shovel with disinfectant, so this isn't to much of a leap... And finding a pristine pare of soiled pants might make you think twice about putting them on. Aside from the obvious foot prints, blood trails and such, pooping would ad a level of tracking to the game second-to-none. So what happens to poop after a while then? Does it just disappear, mostly... but occasionally you get something special. Mushrooms. I came across a lone mushroom in the woods of DayZ and it gave me hope. I couldn't click on it, but eating mushrooms in a zombie horror game is a must do! Psychedelic effects, lose of character control, running naked in the woods. Priceless. So please add to this disgusting idea if you can, I think it's possible. And it would add a air of realism no other game has tried yet that I know of. I'll post a few more ideas soon, looking forward, happy hunting all.

Which one? 'You Never Wash Up After Yourself' or 'This Mess We're In' Both are... Eeeeew! :lol:

Somebody mention underground Russian structures? http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_underground16.htm Yamantau Mountain = scary.

The best sanctuary at the moment is the middle of the woods. ;) But in-game restriction of actions just won't fly. There's got to be a plausible reason for it. The rules to not shoot each other in a bar, will be the other people, with guns, in the bar.

42hrs: Czar of Mother Russia.

Agreed. Time IS the reward for staying alive. :thumbsup:

I agree that nothing should feel "placed for convenience". But we need a way to climb that chain-link fence at the very least. If it's surmountable, it should be surmountable - time and vulnerability should be our only obstructions.

Yes, yes a thousand times yes. :thumbsup:

And the debate of whether it's true or not. http://www.debate.org/opinions/could-the-russian-sleep-experiment-possibly-be-real

I completely agree with you, somewhere in the middle is the right thing to do... We need to survive.

You just hit on something there!

Oh my god, I want a bushy mountain-man beard. Beans for you!

Now that's a frickin' fountain of knowledge and incite boyz. The only topic I would have to double-tap would be the idea that this topic has been done-to-death (excuse the pun). In Alpha no topic is taboo, or can be over discussed. We are here to give input, and I for one will play the devil's advocate to get as many people to play this as I can. And not just make it a turkey shoot for us in the know. We're talking about making the learning curve, a curve, and not a cliff - Now that's what I call a conundrum.

Agreed! I like the first point too. Building drama isn't hard when you had to shoot zombie family members on day one.

I'm not sure... Have ALL the ProKOS players chimed in yet? :P

Here's a great clip from a TED Talks on the history of violence. It's a good incite into all this, as DayZ is all about the gritty realities of a zombie horror simulator. The 12 minute mark is particularly interesting on the KOS subject. http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.html

The subject is complicated. Just search the forums for KOS and PvP PvE and you will see what I mean.

So I've been pouring over these forums and it's pretty fricken obvious that the community is divided over PvE and PvP. But fear not! The answers are all over the place here, and some of them will fix the situation with little effort or change to the status-quot. Here's what I mean: The KOS k.i.s.s. Servers are already dividing into PvP and PvE specific places. With certain servers saying they are hardcore veteran pvp zones and others wanting role-playing, survival game-play only. The problem is players that want to KOS - with an advantage, will always enter PvE servers with the intent of murdering everyone they see. That's just the way it is right now, so boo-hoo sucks-to-be-you humans that want to restart civilization... Now here's the easy-breezy fix. We already have to terms 'Bandits and Heroes' in the game lingo, so lets say everyone starts out as a 'Hero', just for being you. Killing another player however, makes your player profile a 'Bandit' on a global cool-down for say... 24 hours. So the only thing becoming a Bandit does is limit your choice to PvP specific-servers-only until the global timer runs out. So a KOS killing sprees will still happen on PvE servers, but that Hero-turned-Bandit will now HAVE to pick a PvP server next time he/she logs in. Let's say they killed 10 players, now they are a Bandit for 10 days. It's now time to have fun PvP'n in the PvP zones with all the big boyz. In conclusion, this strips grief from the game. Most PvP, proKOS players will gladly play as Bandits in this hellish version of DayZ. A truly hardcore horror show. And the Heroes that just want to survive, after things have fallen apart, can focus on putting all those things back together. ~Salute to all of you, Bandits and Heroes alike. EDIT: You would only get the 'Bandit' status for the reasons above, If your a 'Hero', your a hero no matter what server you choose. And yer dahm hardcore if your a Hero on a PvP server full of Bandits. :D

The only reason a KOS player wouldn't like this idea is because they want to grief noobs with an advantage. And don't get me started on the power of humanity to be empathetic during a time of crisis, I could write an essay on the subject. The point is, that a leet gamer clique shouldn't have the power to change everyone's way of playing. Adapt or die you say? Nope, the majority will want a chance to make the choice to play with the bad boyz, and right now they have no choice. Their needs to be a soft-core noob buffer that doesn't effect gameplay. Not just getting thrown into the wolves like lambs to slaughter. You want to feel relief to see another wandering soul? PvE hero server. You want shoot people in the back? OK, the gloves come off. PvP Bandit server. Everybody wins.

My first day in DayZ SA, I jumped from a lighthouse railing - You know, to see what would happen. I broke both my character's legs and I had to crawl all the way back up, just to finish my toon off... So there you go, Classic horror story.