pillock

Mmmm. Cooking. I assume it'll be possible to light a fire underneath an unconscious player? Yum yum.

Well, I don't play DayZ for the shooting. I'm fucking crap at gunfighting, in fact, and very nearly got killed last time I tried it (the only reason I didn't die was that some helpful random guy was on hand to give me morphine and covering fire). But I still get plenty of enjoyment from the game. It's the promise of things like hunting and crafting and vehicles and persistent storage and barricading and base building and such that keeps me interested. And I don't think the current shooter-only gameplay is particularly detrimental to the long-term appeal of the game, even if it remains the main focus after those extra features are added.

Get yer wallet out, then.

Probably most a lot of people think this when they first start out in DayZ. "They need to change the focus of the gameplay away from PvP combat, or the KoS playstyle will become entrenched forever." I did at first, but I actually don't believe in it anymore. Or rather, I don't believe it's necessarily a bad thing, even if it does become entrenched. I like that there are areas - military bases and big cities - where armed "criminals" (for want of a better way of putting it) shoot people for fun. It creates an atmosphere which is good for the "survivor" character that I like to play. Those places are where the best loot is, so people compete for it - and some people go there just for the gunfighting, to notch up another kill. This means that if you do go there, you have to be on your guard and keep your head down if you want to get in and out out alive - you do not stay there long if you don't actively want to be involved in a gunfight. You can find plenty of good kit by wandering the depopulated towns and isolated barns in other parts of the map, relatively risk free - but if you want to go to a place where there is good gear in abundance, you have to watch your back and be prepared to fight or run for your life. I think that's a good gameplay balance. I do think KoS will become less prevalent as more survival features are added and there are other things for players to do - but I hope the tension and danger of going to the popular loot spawn areas isn't lost completely. Increased zombies might compensate a bit and change the dynamic slightly, but it's not the same. You don't want to be able to just wander freely on the whole map, picking up loot without danger, surely? That's not fun.

Useful anti-bear weapon, for future reference, then?

It's a prison. You're not supposed to get out.

If you think DayZ has clunky controls, H&D took the biscuit

Attachable trailers would be good. And panniers. But giving people backies would be nice too.

So it becomes a sort of big pistol with a bit more punch, maybe?

Why would you saw off a rifle barrel? I don't know much about guns, so... But wouldn't it just ruin accuracy with the only benefit being that it's a bit smaller and more convenient to carry?

Draw/paint one yourself. Your friend will appreciate that more, and it'll look cooler than a printed-out version.

Given that DayZ is a survival game (is that a given?), the only stat that matters is how long you've been alive. Number of murders you've committed is not something to brag about, in my opinion, any more than the number of morphine doses you've administered, or the number of spaghetti-tins you've opened or the number of books you've read or the number of LRSs you've found. This is a game without objectives, except the ones you set yourself. If the game starts recording stats like "kills", then it immediately sets an artificial objective for players - a badge of honour, even - which doesn't necessarily conform to everybody's idea of what they want to achieve in-game. Once the mere act of staying alive actually becomes a challenge (finding food and sheltering from the elements without being injured by zombies, players, wild animals, etc) it might become worthwhile for the game to record people's life-spans. Until then, all stats are either just pointless or else positively detrimental to the game.

Then... we write off the £20 and play something else?

Call yourself a medic? You've just blinded everyone who tried to read your thread.

That chap Bertie is one of the most irritating human beings on planet earth.

Useful link

Interactions with other players are very overrated. Mine usually go like this: "Hi!" "Hi." "What you doing?" "Just, y'know, trying to find loot." "Yeah, me too. You need any food or anything?" "Na, I'm good thanks. You?" "No." ... "Alright then, see ya." "Bye."

Once cooking is up and functioning, I'm assuming we will be able to make jam?

Na.

That's fucking awesome! I've managed to "run" 2.3 meters so far!

Hope it isn't ruined by a server reset!

Quake II was mousey. But I do remember Duke Nukem 3D being keyboard. 1996 ish? Anyway, the point is, WASD was never designed to be realistic, even though so-called realistic tactical first-person shooty games have used it ever since. A good fix might be simply to slow you down while you're side-stepping (though I think probably you should be able to jink slightly to the side while still maintaining a decent speed - so long as you don't do more than 1 or 2 sidesteps)

The thing about that is, it takes quite a while to develop. you wouldn't expect to get scurvy just from a couple of hours without eating fruit, or else we'd all be in big trouble.

Must admit this hadn't occurred to me - but, yeah, I spose it is unrealistic. I guess we've all got so used to the mouse+WASD system since it was introduced (was it Quake? I remember Doom being keyboard-only) that we don't question it. Strafing is sidestepping: yes, you can do it easily at a slow/walking pace, but at a full-on run, you can only really do one sidestep at a time, or you'd probably trip yourself over.

Doesn't it say the next raft of changes are going onto experimental branch in a couple of hours from now?