bad_mojo (DayZ)

Arma

Because you assume the character sucked at applying bandages when the apocalypse started. What if they were already a doctor? Their skill might decrease because they're not in regular practice anymore. There's also still the problem of people 'boosting' their skills. If I improved bandaging, wouldn't it be wise to find bandages and then let a zombie hit me over and over to use them all up and rank up my skill? Players aren't stupid, you can hide the skills, but people will figure them out and figure out how to boost them.

I think just general improvements to the in-game voip system would benefit everyone. Being able to whisper for example would go a long way towards bridging the gap between super-safe teamspeak and yelling out loudly in direct chat. Maybe to encourage more usage of the walkies, they could be put into residential loot, or maybe even as starting gear. The reason you don't value a "random tag-a-long" is because you put so much stock in playing with your group. I'm sorry but I don't think your girlfriends time being wasted can inflict the same sense of loss that I've felt when I've genuinely lost someone in the game. Meeting people and spending time getting to know them, only to have that link abruptly severed, sometimes right in front of my eyes. Knowing I'll never see or speak to this person again, those experiences are far beyond any of the times I've had people in my teamspeak group be killed. Your last example of the starving to death with a friend is a good example of how existing relationships with people can take priority over the game. You know that if you let your friend starve to death because you ate all the beans, it will not be the end of it between you two. He will still be linked to you through teamspeak. There's really no option to betray this person and leave them for dead, you're essentially stuck with them forever. This totally negates the whole social dynamic Rocket was going for in DayZ. His inspiration for DayZ came from a military training course in which he had to steal from and betray his fellow brothers in arms, in order to save himself. When pushed to our limits, it's amazing how quickly we can betray those closest to us. Also, I wrote this thread months ago in the mod. I think it applies to this discussion.

I'm not trying to imply it would be impossible to find yourself in the zombie apocalypse with friends, I'm just saying that I feel DayZ is currently aimed towards a solo experience. When you go to lengths to circumvent that solo'ness, the experience loses value in my eyes. It even affects my experience because I've talked to over 9000 people in my DayZ career who told me they were trying to link up with a friend on teamspeak/skype. They'll talk to you, with long pauses, staring off into space. Usually ask where such and such a place is, and if they're close. If not, "can you kill me?" usually follows. I'm not saying teamspeak doesn't have its place, but in my eyes it cheapens the experience of DayZ, for all people involved.

I'm of the opinion that the game shouldn't ever support finding (or spawning with) each other. Because it's an apocalypse and I don't feel like it would fit the setting. I feel like players who have to play DayZ with friends are missing out on an interesting experience of self reliance and self preservation. Having to navigate the harsh world of DayZ all on your own, forging bonds with strangers you meet along the way, or running for your life from figures on the horizon. I feel like the story DayZ was meant to tell, comes from a solo perspective. Meeting people should be an achievement, not an arrangement. I may play DayZ for the social aspects, but I never bring my social life into DayZ.

Exactly, I have to go back to early on in the mod and reference some CHKilroy videos where he was trying to hint to a friend that he should kill the guy they were with. It brought in a whole other interesting social aspect of having to read between the lines and know each other good enough to get the message across without actually saying it. It didn't work out for Kilroy but the fact that he was attempting it really interested me in DayZ. I certainly wouldn't be here today if it weren't for those videos.

Post processing in your video settings will disable the blur. But, the blur represents your health level. The blurrier it gets, the lower your heath is. You are taking damage and probably not in a 'healthy' state. So, your health is getting lower and not regenerating. Hitting escape and video is just hiding the problem. Disabling post processing will hide it completely, but it will also remove the intended debilitating effects the developers have added. It's a more difficult game if you lose your vision when injured, I chose to play that game, many do not. It's up to you how difficult you want it.

Why should the mechanic substitute it? That's what you are doing in real life, it has nothing to do with DayZ or the world it is trying to portray. But, when someone is in-game with a group of 10 people and they all run around communicating without making so much as a peep in-game, that's lame. They use teamspeak to circumvent the vulnerability. I'm not saying this should (or could) be blocked. I'm just saying the attitude towards this discussion should be different. People jump all over these threads with examples of how teamspeak can be used in good ways, it's almost the same as saying there's no wrong way to use it. You can be in teamspeak and still use direct chat & walkie talkies.

You can still be in teamspeak, just don't use it for dayz. It's like having the gamma setting in the options, but not turning it all the way up.

They need to implement this...

If they keep letting people disable post processing(disabling the debilitating effects of being shot) this will continue to be a problem. It's pretty hard to shoot back if you can only see blurriness.

I've suggested sleeping over and over. People react badly to the suggestion.

So, because someone exists and you can see them, they must die. Gotcha. I disagree, but I understand. I meant that he could have pulled out a scope and checked that rooftop prior to leaving the safety of cover. But, that doesn't really matter since my point is that you're looking at this game as a big pvp competition, where everyone is out to kill you, so you better get them first. You say tomorrow you might be under his scope. But, what if that guy never sets up ambushes and kills random people? What if you are under his scope and he just watches you pass? Is that a lack of skill on his part for not taking the shot? Does everyone have to run around Chernarus like a ninja and kill everyone they see? Why not kill people based on their actions rather than your paranoia? I guess that's my point.

Not that I am defending his combat logging. I smiled when I read your OP. But, I wanted to say it's easy to win when you're the only one playing. What I mean is this guy seemingly posed no threat towards you. He was running in an open field, pretty much helpless, and you reacted like he was hunting you down. Like he was engaged in combat with you, which he wasn't he was being shot at from someone hiding 200m away. Even worse when you admit you just logged in, since that might mean he cleared your rooftop, only to have you appear out of thin air.(But, I doubt he cleared anything if he was running in the open.) Anyway, my point is that you shouldn't act so high and mighty for sniping at a random guy who posed no threat to you. That's not having superior skills & positioning, that's just preying on the weak.

I can't wait for the snow to start falling.

Survival is its own reward.

I think everyone being able to do everything exactly the same isn't helping to create a living world. I feel like we should all be different in terms of our skills. The things we were prior to the apocalypse should shape who we are during it. I think this variation can be accomplished with a specialization system, but instead of acquiring these skills through repetition of actions, we should design our characters before spawning. We would get a number of skill points to divide among the different skill sets. These would be set for the entire life of your character, never changing, never improving. The important part of a system like this would be good balance between the skill sets. For example, if we got 10 skill points to use, it would require 6 points in one skill to (top out &) become a specialist. So you would only be able to specialize in one skill. It would also allow someone to be a jack of all trades and not specialize in any one skill, but have a bit of skill in each. Skill sets -Weapons -Medical -Bushcraft -Mechanical -Culinary -Athletic -Pilot/operator -Explosives Specializing in a skill set should give you advanced abilities not available to non-specialists. For example, only a medical specialist would be able to perform blood transfusions. But, once the blood has been taken and crafted into an IV bag, he could then give it to anyone to use. Similarly, a bushcraft specialist could take some sticks and rope and craft a bow drill to start fires. A non-specialist wouldn't be able to craft this item, but would still be able to use one. This way, specialists can offer services(or be kidnapped and used) to non-specialists in exchange for something. Gaining a few points in a skill would simply increase your abilities in that area. For example, some points in weapons might increase your accuracy. Points in medical might speed up your speed while doing medical procedures. Pilot skill might let you fly a helicopter, while somebody with no points in that skill can't even power it up. Athletic skill would perhaps increase your stamina and melee strength. Other ways this system could effect your character is by changing your initial spawning load out. Being a pilot specialist might give you the option of spawning in a flight suit and helmet for example. A mechanical specialist might get overalls & gloves, maybe even a wrench. Weapon specialist gets some military clothing. You get the idea. Some ability ideas for each skill.... -Weapons Ability to repair weapons back to pristine condition.(Compared to worn for regulars) -Medical Ability to perform advanced medical procedures.(Surgery, transfusions) -Bushcraft Ability to craft various survival(and comfort) items in the wilderness. -Mechanical Ability to fully repair vehicles or use advanced machines(power up factory and use the lathe for example) -Culinary Ability to craft advanced meals using regular food items. -Athletic Ability to sprint faster, for longer, and swing melee weapons harder. -Pilot/operator Ability to fly air vehicles and see damage indicators. -Explosives Ability to craft explosives. These are just some ideas I had for abilities and skill sets. I'm completely open to criticism, I'm more interested in the system than the actual abilities or skills.

I'm not saying you shouldn't be able to stitch yourself up. I'm saying if open heart surgery entails holding a pristine surgeons kit and clicking the action, maybe we shouldn't let everyone do it. If someone wants to play the role of a former combat medic, they might specialize in medical and put the rest into weapons, explosive, athletics & bushcraft. Or someone might put it all into athletics and chase down their victims with an axe, taking the role of a raging cannibal. Maybe more than one specialization would be better. So you could fly the b52 while doing the surgery. But, my suggestion is really about picking the skills prior to spawning and not changing them during play. The skills would reflect the back story of your character, their prior occupation, interests or training. I'm not saying we should limit anyone to just one thing, but I don't want to see everyone having everything either.

The other 10% make this game worth playing.

The reason that people would be canceling the 30second timer is the same reason people are trying to quit in the first place. Because they're in a dangerous situation. This mechanic shouldn't accommodate logging off in dangerous areas/situations, since the point is to stop that.

People aren't all equal in real life. I can't fly a helicopter or perform surgery, but I might be able to run faster than someone who does. Most of us can bolt some wheels on a car, but can we all rebuild a damaged engine? I'm not trying to keep people from doing things they realistically could, I just want to create some specialized tasks for specialists.

The skills would only give you advantages, they wouldn't be required for you to survive. You wouldn't need 10 people to play, but the groups who have 10 people should benefit from it. For example, currently you need two people to perform transfusions, but transfusions aren't required because we regenerate blood ourselves. The people who have someone to help them get that benefit of being able to do transfusions. It's the same with the skills I suggested.(Except for the pilot, but nothign is set in stone.) I agree with you that other people shouldn't be required to play the game.

If you can sit there and watch the 30seconds count down, people will still combat log. They will run into a house, point their gun at the door and hit exit. If you enter within the 30 seconds, they'll cancel and shoot at you, if you don't they'll log. Letting you stay in-game for the 30seconds and giving you the ability to cancel the countdown, makes the whole system pointless.

I know you said SA only, but in the mod I hacked a freshly spawned bandit to death for no reason other than the scarf on his face. I still feel bad about it.

Yeah I see that you're trying to tell us we all need to be bandits because that's life. So building a skill system that favors bandits is okay because it's life. You're telling us how to play and wanting to change the game to suit that play style. I don't agree with you. Anyway, I had a few hours to think about skills and dayz while I was at work. I've come to the conclusion that I don't like a skill system where you have to work towards unlocking a skill. I find that type of a system wouldn't support what I believe dayz is about, basically for the reasons I explained in my other posts. But, I do like the idea of a variation in the players. I think everyone being able to do everything exactly the same, isn't helping to create a living world. I feel like we should all be different in terms of our skills. I think this variation can be accomplished with a specialization system, but instead of acquiring these skills through repetition of actions like you've suggested, we should design our characters before spawning. We would get a number of skill points to divide among the different skill sets. These would be set for the entire life of your character, never changing, never improving. The important part of a system like this would be good balance between the skill sets. For example, if we got 10 skill points to use, it would require 6 points in one skill to (top out &) become a specialist. So you would only be able to specialize in one skill. It would also allow someone to be a jack of all trades and not specialize in any one skill, but have a bit of each. The skill sets I came up with are as follows... -Weapons -Medical -Bushcraft -Mechanical -Culinary -Athletic -Pilot/operator -Explosives Specializing in a skill set should give you advanced abilities not available to non-specialists. For example, only a medical specialist would be able to perform blood transfusions. But, once the blood has been taken and crafted into an IV bag, he could then give it to anyone to use. Similarly, a bushcraft specialist could take some sticks and rope and craft a bow drill to start fires. A non-specialist wouldn't be able to craft this item, but would still be able to use one. This way, specialists can offer services(or be kidnapped and used) to non-specialists in exchange for something. I think I'm going to create a thread in the suggestions forum and go into more detail and make some pictures, but that's the basic idea of a skill system I could tolerate. What do you think? Edit: Made the suggestion... http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/171505-character-specializations/