pillock

I will play both, more or less equally, as I do now. I don't really distinguish between them in terms of playstyle; I just like being able to have two characters on the go at once - ideally I'd like to have more available.

Later in development, there won't be glitched ladders or bugged zombies. You're looking for the solution in the wrong place.

Why would it increase server hopping? You would have just as much chance finding the rare item in the server you are currently in as in any other server that you hopped to. Plus, you wouldn't know when the item limit was reached, so it'd be pointless to just keep hopping forever. If there is a "rumour" that so-and-so player has such-and-such item on this-or-that server, I don't really see, either, how this could create "storytelling" or "lore". That player could join any one of thousands of servers when they next log in? How the hell would you ever track them down? And what sort of idiot is ever going to risk leaving an ultra-rare item in their lootable persistent storage?

Easy solution: Lock people off the server they died on for an hour or two. (Exception: server owners on their own server.) This solves suiciding for a better spawn, it solves the running back to your corpse to regear; it solves players unfairly rejoining a gunfight they've been eliminated from; it makes permadeath mean more, since you wouldn't know the whereabouts of specific gear and other players when spawning post-death. You'd still be able to play with your friends after you'd died, because they could just switch to the new server you'd joined.

Didn't any of you know that you can collect fat from dead animals, heat it in a pan over a fire, then use it to grease up the rungs of ladders? The OP was assassinated by a cunning player who was doubtless waiting nearby for hapless victims such as Archer0n.

It's pretty much the same, mate. All they've added is jet-packs and underground base building. Apart from that, it's all the same.

I think it's probably outside the realm of reality to think that there wouldn't be.

Agreed. I also think cutting down trees should take it's toll on your character. Cutting down a sizeable tree with an axe is fucking exhausting, especially if you're under-nourished, and very, very time-consuming - not to mention extremely noisey. I'd also like to see stuff like broken axe-handles, further down the line. Lumberjacking ought to be difficult and risky.

I think it's probably true that "the majority" of the DayZ community "doesn't care" about different gun calibres. But this is probably because that majority has pretty much zero knowledge of using guns. I am one of them: I don't care. I certainly wouldn't miss these kind of details if they were left out, because I didn't know about them in the first place. However, I'm not going to complain if they do make it more complicated, and more difficult to use and maintain weapons - I think it would probably enhance the experience, overall - and this is from the PoV of someone who certainly regards himself as a "casual" player. Guns that degrade, get damaged, and need constant care and attention to keep in working order sound great to me, and if ammo is difficult to match with your gun, then all the better. Having said that, I don't regard DayZ as being all about the guns. Accordingly, IF they put these sorts of details into the fire-arms mechanics, I think they should certainly give at least if not more than equal weight to things like character health, driving and vehicle maintenance mechanics, crafting and so on. These things are all far more important to me in terms of the overall experience, and far more relevant to most people's general knowledge and to the survival scenario.

My hope is that all vehicles will eventually be highly customisable - so if they include big fuck-off military machine guns, you could mount them on to a make-shift gun turret you've built in the back of your Lada, or whatever. If they include aircraft, then the same rules should apply: if you have the materials and the tools to fix a gun to it, fine. But we can definitely do without any sort of useable military vehicles. Oh, and if the average-joe survivor comes across a working helicopter and they try to steal it, this should happen:

No to a specific log-in sound - but as soon as you start moving or adjusting your inventory in any way, you should make some noise that people in your immediate proximity can hear. Perhaps you could reduce your noise-making by crouch-walking and/or removing your shoes.

Leaving aside the fact that the above is complete bollocks, I'm pretty sure shops were invented longer ago than 50 years. I mean, there simply aren't enough amenities in Cherno to service the population, especially if all those flats were occupied.

In that case, what's communism got to do with anything?

Is the game actually set in the 80s?

Still, there aren't enough shops.

This is absolute cobblers. Even ignoring the fact that the OP said this... jeans are still tearable with your bare hands - especially if you have the adrenaline rush of recently being in a fight, and especially if that fight was with an undead corpse. Granted, they're not easy to rip, but you could do it if you neded to.

I don't like the idea of 'skills', either - shooting, crafting, medical ability, etc - it's too "gamey" and would rely on arbitrary stats. But I do think characters should be developable in terms of their physical condition. If you look after yourself, keep yourself fit and healthy, illness and injury free, then you should see an increase in physical fitness. You can run longer, run faster, you are physically stronger, can hit harder, carry more weight, resist disease better, recover from minor injuries faster. These things should take a long time to develop, I think, but there should be noticeable difference in performance between your character who's been successfully surviving for weeks, and the crappy new spawn you have to use if you die. That'd give much more value to your life as opposed to mere gear. After the inclusion of persistent loot storage, gear will potentially be easily replaceable, especially for organised groups. The time- and effort-earned physical prowess of the character would not be easily or instantly replaceable.

that's all well and good for the time being, but I don't think it's right in the long run. zombies shouldn't be sneaking up on you, especially if they're running. Moving fast should be noisy, and that goes for the zombs as well as the players. Imagine you're in the forest collecting wood or stalking an animal or whatever - you think you're alone. Then you hear the sound of something crashing through undergrowth. Is it an animal? Is is a zombie? Is it another player? If it's a player, are they geared? Are they friendly? Have they seen you? In my opinion, this'd be much scarier than unrealistic stealth zombies. Everything in DayZ needs to be louder noisier. I have high hopes.

Not sure if it's worth going down the 'guts n gore' horror route, but there is definitely scope for creating a tense atmosphere that makes you jump, as you describe. The best way to achieve this, in my opinion, is for the game to make much better use of sound. You hear the distant crackle of gunfire getting closer - it puts the fear into you; you are looting a building, and you hear footsteps on the upper floor; you're playing at night, and an explosion breaks the silence; etc! Think of how the early Thief games made you jump out of your skin when an unexpected noise suddenly indicated there was a guard nearly on top of you. DayZ needs to do this.

More loot + craftable clubs from junk items = new spawns break down barricades. Hopefully.

There's a thing called an 'ignore list'. You can put other forum members on it if you want, and never have to read the pointless garbage they post ever again. It's especially useful for those that choose to consistently derail threads and slag off the OP without contributing anything of their own except for poisonous vitriol. It's great!

Wait... you eat something that's burnt (ie. charcoal), get sick, then eat more charcoal to cure it? This game's fucking weird.

Yeah, I'm not too happy about the principle of it - I thought I was getting the best price back in February, which is part of the reason why I shelled out for it at the time. But it doesn't make a great deal of difference to me in practice, and I have enjoyed playing the earlier version. But I don't think they should be putting it in any sales until well after release, really. Maybe we could contact Steam and badger them for a credit note for the difference, based on misleading information, then get Farcry3 for near-enough free!?

No need to get nervous meeting new people. There are many excellent resources on the web for combatting social anxiety. Just follow one of the many step-by-step guides, and soon you'll be mixing confidently with a range of new friends you made yourself. Just do a google search, and you'll be surprised and rewarded by what you find. Remember one thing though: when meeting people for the first time, always carry a loaded magnum in your backpack, with an accessible hotkey assignment.

Yeah, I agree with this. I like the idea of being able to spawn anywhere within, say, 100 metres of the sea. If it's completely random each time, you might be suiciding for hours before you got the spawn the wanted, rendering the idea pointless - which is good. I also think "arriving" at the coast makes sense intuitively, somehow.