Valadain

I'm guessing it is a glitch as this glitch exists in the stable under certain conditions. You have to manually unload, then reload the gun to fix it. I agree with you. If it is intentional (doubtful), there are thousands upon thousands of guns to choose from. They need to pick one that has the properties they want and go with it. If they can't find a single shot bolt action, they can just pick a bolt action with an external magazine and not put the external magazine in the game. Poof, one shot gun.

This is actually one of the major reasons they need to find a way to separate corpses from the player (so that they remain after log-out). Avoiding torture or debasement with an Alt-F4 should not constitute combat logging (but should also not avoid leaving your gear for loot). Me, I take it in stride. Other people, for good reasons, may not.

If you have enough time to wonder, either they aren't KoS or you have the advantage and shouldn't get killed. They may be something else, betrayer or whatever you might want to call it, but that is all about strategy. I met a guy in game, traded with him, he dropped mention of some great loot on a roof somewhere. I thanked him and said I'd go check it out shortly. Of course, I didn't go anywhere near that roof, I went the opposite direction and didn't look back. On topic though, no I don't see a need to distinguish. If it works perfectly, it takes all of the suspense away. If it only partially works, it is useless and just causes annoyance (a hero killed me for no reason! I became a bandit for defending myself against a previously bandit new-spawn that wasn't bandit yet and was shot on sight!) Not to mention, realism. My suggestion to everyone wanting this system is to come up with a social system (these clothes mean hero). Wear them. Enforce it by grouping and killing anyone using the clothing to KoS.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you in general, but I fell down the hole on the Mosin argument as well because the ones I was shooting were not 80 years used. They were 80 years stored. The barrels weren't worn out. There is also plenty of new 7.62x54R ammo to be had. That said, I don't think it is the right gun to be the "sniper rifle" in this game. Particularly if we are assuming they are 80 years used or using random surplus ammo. Most people I know that get a lot out of their Mosin have put a lot into their Mosin, more than an apocalypse survivor is going to be able to do with limited resources. This includes, mounting a scope or adding a compensator. There are bipods you could easily add, but not the one in game (Atlas is for mounting on a picatinny rail).

That's something people will have to learn. Not to turn around as a first reaction. I'm all for trying for a less violent resolution, but some people take it to an extreme. On the flip side, with all of the nasty stuff people are doing to captives, you shouldn't necessarily assume someone is stupid for not giving up and dying with a little dignity.

Had trouble following that too, but I think the point was that you can't easily tell which server just kicked you to report it.

If they are coming at you with a shovel, you have a chance, so certainly challenging. If they are shooting you, no. And I agree there should be some changes to mechanics to help on that. But on going into big towns, do you really want no player threat at all? Maybe get robbed, but not chance that some psycho is going to try to shoot you dead? Do you want to know that every player you meet is going to be warm and fuzzy?

But your character is dead, why do you care about their motivations? They are just a challenge, a game mechanic, the sociopaths that come out of the woodwork during a disaster.

That's pretty well what people are taking issue with. A Mosin isn't more accurate than an M4. So right now, the situationality is completely manufactured.

You are right of course, somewhere I completely side-tracked from the point I was trying to get at, which is that the Mosin, being stock, shouldn't have optics. It shouldn't be the sniper rifle in the first place. It is great out to the effective range of the iron sights, but beyond that is a lot of customization that pretty well changes the rifle entirely. I think that's where my sleep deprived brain shut down at some point in this conversation, I just don't think of 800 yard shots with the Mosin. I think about iron sight shots, which pretty well limit effective range to the shooter. Regardless, apologies for going off the reservation there. Same to Gibonez and anyone else I was frustrating!

Dead Island was actually one of the games I had in mind when I suggested an FPS can't provide good melee. It is about as good as it gets, and it was terrible. You just can't relay all the information necessary for skilled melee in an FPS.

The big thing they need to solve is how groups can get together more quickly than is currently possible in the game. Vehicles can be a means, but depending on how they do bases, that could also be a possibility. The problem right now is that you never know where other people you might want to play with will be when you log in, so if you don't have many hours to play, you are effectively stuck solo or spending your whole session just walking to the other person, at which point, you do it all over the next day. If vehicles are going to be the way for this, they need to be somewhat accessible. Otherwise, I'd suggest maybe with bases, if you log out for more than X hours, you can choose to spawn in at base (as the whole realism thing is kind of lost when magically popping into a location anyway and the only real exploit would be if you could pop across the map in less time than it would take to walk by quickly logging out and back in, which is why the X hours suggestion).

This is such an easy fix, that I really don't know why anyone would be worried about it. You make fuel rare. Cars can be all over the dang place, but if you make fuel rare, people won't waste it cruising the map. Even so, I'm fairly certain it is already confirmed that they'll use a repair system.

Random ammo, sure, but I guess I've just never gotten surplus ammo that is random. A single batch always seems to fire the exact same way for me. Otherwise, not really sure what physics in involved that would make a bullet fly random, aside from wind and aim.

I generally agree. That's actually what has me a little leery of the talk of reducing guns in favor of improvised and melee weapons. Melee combat in an FPS will never feel authentic. At least to me. Maybe I'm the odd man out.

I think "more likely zones" is appropriate, but you assume a pretty static reaction to the chaos of swarming zombies. Why are guns on top of the hospital? Because people took them there and then died. Why would an M4 be in a random house? Because a soldier fleeing zombies tried to make a stand in that house and died. In fact, another mechanic you could easily use is that any weapon spawning "out of zone" is much less likely to be in good condition as it was most likely abandoned or chucked aside in the midst of a zombie meal. Still though, I think random with some probability weighting would definitely add depth of play and reward for persistent searchers. On the flip side, I wouldn't mind seeing a few areas that spawn rarely, but can spawn pristine weapons of only the appropriate type (armory, gun store, police station).

I'm not sure why you need a "hide body" option if you can just whack the body with an axe and effectively ruin the gear you don't want to take.

I said a "head-sized" target. Again, whether you are putting the grouping in a head is all about your skill with the gun.

I like the suicide option. You are pinned down by bandits who are clearly going to kill you. Play it out. Chuck your backpack on the ground and smash it with an axe till ruined. Same with your primary and all but one bullet in your secondary. Then write that final chapter of your current survivor's life and punctuate it with a pop. The zombies screams are rushing towards you. You are lying on the ground with broken legs. Are you really going to just crawl your heart out as they smack you and eat you alive? No.

I never said barrel length has anything to do with accuracy. I said that accuracy has to do almost entirely with the user, not the rifle, within reasonable ranges. I've shot these rifles. Mosin, M1 Garande, and Mauser to name a few. With scopes and iron sights. At 200 yards, sights or scope zeroed, you can put a shot in a head sized target no problem. Further out, a lost more skill comes into play, but the bullet is still going to go straight, it is just a matter of aiming. That is harder on some rifles than others. But the rifle itself isn't spewing bullets randomly. It is putting the bullet down the barrel period. Just depends on where the barrel is pointed.

You are absolutely right on the weapon spawns, they obviously want to test the new guns they are adding, which is the whole point of alpha. As for the "testing firing characteristics", they are testing them alright, but not "to get it right". Arma is a heck of a lot closer. They are going the wrong way entirely, towards getting them "right for their vision" but wrong, wrong, wrong. This isn't intended to be harsh or any sort of condemnation. It may very well be that I unfortunately was drawn to this game by focusing on the wrong parts of the mod (the Arma parts of realistic guns and skill-based play). I'm absolutely enjoying the game and will play it for what it will be, but I won't lie. I will be disappointed if the gun-play is completely thrown aside.

Yes, though I expect it to be a short-lived experiment as people realize that it just concentrates power in the hands of those with the least morals. And they realize that melee combat in a first person shooter mode game is always going to be a terrible chaotic glitch-fest.

I don't KoS myself, but I do wonder about those who want a survival game complaining so hard about it? It is pretty much the number one most challenging threat to survival. For the most part, it really is the game. Finding food, water, and evading zombies isn't all that challenging. Not getting spotted and shot in the head is pretty dang challenging. Finding a way into town without exposing yourself to bandits is challenging. Not knowing if the guy you are about to talk to will trade with you, group with you, or kill you (or in some cases all of the above) is part of the suspense. If every player you encountered gave you a big hug and talked of the wonderful days before the zombies, how long would you keep playing? How would you be a hero if there were no villains? On topic, I'm with the more guns, less ammo crowd. If you have few guns but plenty of ammo, you just consolidate death in a few hands. The guys with the guns and the ammo will kill those with just the ammo and have more ammo. With guns aplenty with no ammo, however, you have no such consolidation and never know if the guy with the gun is empty or has enough rounds to put you down. Short of that, just leave guns and ammo around as is. This is a FPS engine. The gun play is excellent in the Arma engine. Melee in an FPS will always feel forced and crude as it relies on so many things that simply cannot be provided in a first person game.

In your scenario B, if they are in a group they have the ability to communicate. Not doing so makes their intentions absolutely crystal clear.

The fact that there is even an argument here shows how flawed the random bullet mechanic really is. An M4 is not more accurate than a Mosin. A Mosin is not more accurate than an M4. They both fire a piece of lead down a metal tube in a straight line. The difference is the shooter. Yes, a gun may have things that make it naturally more comfortable to shoot for an average person. But some of the best marksmen in the world were using a Mosin in all its wood-laden glory. Accuracy is about knowing your rifle. Range is about the bullet. If you want the world to be sane to you, the other factors need to come into play. A Mosin is heavy, it will have a bit of sway, it should be found in whatever condition it was in (with or without a scope and/or compensator). An M4 is light, easier to aim, you can attach damn near anything you ever find. But at the end of the day, if you know the zero and when to pull the trigger, either gun will shoot exactly where it is supposed to shoot. Period.