pantsd0wn

Oh man it is absolutely hilarious that the devs have now broken BASIC MOVEMENT...hahahahahahaha! I cannot get over how incompetent these guys are...holy fuck!

Haha, just had another char reset...I hope everyone remembers Dayz Standalone for what it is, not for what it could have been.

This game had a lot of potential. The vision and scope of this game was awesome, and obviously tapped into a ready-made market. Unfortunately, IMO, this game is dead before it even really begins. Complete and utter incompetence on the part of dev's. The last patch (44.123800) was a travesty, and despite the fact a couple major updates were present in it, it was effectively ruined by throwing in too much stuff that is broken, and breaking stuff that up to that point had worked. Either wait for this game to at least become a beta (actually unlikely IMO...I doubt it will ever exit Alpha) or wait for H1Z1 which will be far more complete and free to play in a few weeks time. Either way, wait.

...sigh... It is good they are doing network optimization (guaranteed messaging), although sometimes it is difficult to correlate the devs work with actual improvements...since desync, rubberbanding, and laggy movement and actions are still a reality - I dunno man...fuck... It is good they did the mouse change! Period! yay! But in the past I have referred to this dev team as trolls. I currently stand by that statement for the simple fact that IF we assume they understand what the words "stable" and "experimental" mean...they MUST be trolling the community. Simple as that. There is NO excuse...nothing about being alpha or being "early" in development (hint: it's not early any more...ffs)...NO excuse for releasing unfinished, acknowledgedly buggy content to the "stable" branch. NONE. ZERO. ZIP. That's not how it works. If the devs were to stick to their guns about not providing clear update information or change-logs for experimental, because "things can change quickly and we might remove or add anything at any given time and it's too hard to keep an accurate change-log for that". Fine. Then USE the experimental branch to experiment. Let the more adventurous of us test that. Leave STABLE alone for STABLE updates. Provide only minimal change-logs for that if needed...but on all fronts, only implement tried and true, tested and working updates to stable...this is simple, but something the devs seem incapable of conceiving. I doubt they are this stupid really, which is why I call them openly trolls. This is the only other possible explanation, other than they simply don't give a fuck. It is VITAL to the popularity of this game that they start treating their players with consideration. Even though it is Alpha, many people play this game since, at least at the beginning, it was very playable. Do not release buggy shit to stable, FFS...you are damaging the games reputation and name. It is not good for the game, and not good for BI. Do you not see this? I am trying to help you...damnit. So I consider my feedback, as negative as it might be, extremely important and VERY applicable to this latest update. Please devs, for the good of the game and for the future of it, stop trolling the community with low quality work released to stable!

Yup...some of my posts would support what Kanthos has written, but mods love deleting my shit cuz they can't handle it! 50/50 if i get banned supporting other posts like this...mods = gods!

At this point from my perspective, this project needs a severe lesson in community management. I am unaware of a better example (although I am sure there are far better examples) of why "social networking" sucks donkey balls when it comes to managing information dissemination about...anything really. Spreading info around to twitter, blog, fb (not much there really), and the always god-awful reddit...forcing the community itself to manage the information available for itself...makes for the situation we have now, where more and more people are willing to express their dissatisfaction with the fact we are being kept largely ignorant with what is going on with the game some of us play daily. I would put it this way: since it is highly likely that those who wanted this game have already bought it, future sales will depend on the continuing popularity of the game. Therefore, it is vital to the future of this game to manage it's existing community with care. A large part of that is to be forthright about changes/updates, and clear about future plans but always with a bit of care in place about making too grandiose of promises that will inevitably fail to be implemented. Be mindful of your existing player-base now, and be successful in the future! Fat chance my comments reach those who should hear it, though. It is for me, worth at least the attempt...and where better but the official forums, and the official current exp. and stable release threads?!?!!?

Ho ho! So this thread is re-opened, after some editing, and we now have more progress (new release on exp.) being reported via Twitter exclusively! Very confusing since we are still in the same old thread... Question for anyone at all connected or in even intermittent contact with anyone on dev team: Is this forum dead? Have dev's decided to no longer create new stickied threads based on releases to exp. and/or stable? It would be nice to know just that one piece of info...

Thanks for the link. Pretty much summed up as demonstrating the "walking simulator" aspect of the alpha right now. Misc. comments on plans, new staff, etc. everything we have heard already, all with the overly-positive reaction of the interviewer. The intro movie really does not reflect actual game play at all, as it currently stands. Positively cringe-worthy. It could have been worse. The game might not have loaded.

How condescending of you. If swearing is banned in your world, I really think you have a lot to learn about life, my friend. "My swearing doesn't mean any more to me than your sermons do to you." - comment made to Rev. Joe Twichell, quoted in Mark Twain and Hawaii, by Walter Francis Frear

I appreciate your ability to adjust your response when my own also changes. Although I had made most if not all of those points in previous posts, I admit that my irritation with things clouded the way I was trying to get that across. And to anyone who is upset about swearing on this forum...is that really a big deal? I think this forum allows it, so honestly I think you will have to allow for it as well. In my world, a few good swears can more accurately convey a message than a paragraph of text...

...n..n...no.

Solutions presented: - hire a community manager to handle all communication with players/alpha testers - choose one primary medium to distribute announcements - maintain regular news updates. they don't have to be long, but letting the community know what's happened this week, and what's up for next. - re-acquaint staff on what "experimental" and "stable" mean, and follow a schedule for updating both, in properly staggered time-frames. - when a patch is ready to be implemented, write an as-complete list of changes in a changelog as possible, and clearly deliminate what changes were made in what version. So far with those solutions, you could far better maintain excitement for the game within the community while also keeping them informed, and less inclined towards disappointment if date-related goals are blown, or an update is postponed or even cancelled. This could and likely would produce better sales as time progresses. Players/alpha testers would be far better equipped to actually play test the game. Not only would people be better able to actually play (since game-stopping bugs would be far less likely with the use of a proper ex. to stable schedule), but with an accurate idea of what is changing from one version to the next, would be able to offer more pertinent and timely feedback as necessary. Not only are these things possible, they should leave a trivial impact on the budget.

dude, I am sure you are so cool and calm you could be the next high scorer for mass murderer in your local school...I really don't give a fuck. I was responding to your accusation that I was "worked up", and you know it. So they have "done nothing terribly different" than other dev's publishers...yeah, some of the worse ones maybe. On the other hand, they have also done worse, or at least not done better, than some others. Get it? The fact it likely falls on deaf ears is moot. At least fellow alpha testers can chime in. I'm not acting entitled, and that is an insult. I act like I care, I hope that comes across, and I act like I think I know how it could be better, I hope that comes across as well. I don't just hint at things, I am telling them outright what could be done...MUCH fucking better. This is what an alpha tester does...offer feedback to the developer about how they are doing...bug reporting, idea generation, and fucking telling them when they are sucking, and at what they are sucking. Don't agree? Fair enough, you do it your way, I'll do it mine. Are you saying communication "doesn't have to be done?" Are you saying that neither fellow testers, or god forbid a dev actually reads this forum, a dev cannot handle me berating them for their poor choices in communication? Seriously you try to come off as superior in your opinion, you call me entitled...why do you think that what YOU think is good, bad, or indifferent, is in any way more important than mine? I think it is you who are entitled. You just don't expect much. But you get upset at people who expect better. Have you considered if enough people voiced their very real concern about the communication or lack thereof going on, that ole' Dean might actually break down and hire a community manager so he can get back to fiddling with throwing matchsticks around in buildings that you can fall through in the latest fucking build? That alone would be a huge improvement for EVERYBODY CONCERNED, even you.

You wouldn't be getting...worked up...over a forum post would you? I think i was pretty clear about how their extremely poor management of their alpha software, both in communication and actual release methods, hampers any honest effort by someone (alpha tester) to actually help make the game better for all. For you to say things like "they don't have to relay information at all", really seems to indicate you don't understand what I am saying. "Does it matter?" Yes, the point is that it does matter to a great number of users/players/alpha testers...to be clear, yes, I could walk away and not give a fuck. I choose to make a post, testing the waters of how others feel who are in the same situation, and potentially, possibly, maybe somehow influencing a shift in gears. I call them trolls, because by my definition they qualify.

Dean and team are trolls. Period. I respect the vision of Dean and his work on the original mod. Definitely respect the fact he got Bohemia to hire him and pour money (?) into a standalone. But...fact is, this is just about as unprofessional as it get's: - communications (or lack thereof). Multiple sources for tiny snippets of info, forums neglected, no employee actually responsible for community management. FB, Twitter, Reddit...for fucks sake you twats, many of the people who play Dayz are NOT social media consumers. In fact, many of us despise those. What a clusterfuck. - dev blog inconsistently updated (not regular in any way), filled with what often ends up to be misleading or straight up inaccurate information. - timelines, even extremely short-term ones, neglected and blown constantly. - the only thing we have to go on is that Dean and team like to take "working holidays" to conventions/shows/whatever the fuck they are (I don't know or care) that I certainly don't give a fuck about (and I do not think i am alone), to talk about a game that is sorely lacking in development, given the time that has already transpired. Hint: don't go to any more of these, and just fucking work on your game! - procedural problems. Releasing what can only be described as experimental builds to stable servers too early. Releasing ghost builds that are unannounced. No reference to them on forums; if there is anywhere else, I am not sure. Seriously, you have "experimental" and "stable"...fucking pretend you are software developers and look up in a god damn dictionary on what those two terms mean! The way I see it, I have paid for the privileged of alpha testing and thus improving this game along with the developers. The dev's themselves are hampering me from doing that job effectively due to issues above. In other words, they are sabotaging the alpha process by exhibiting unprofessional behavior. I haven't seen a more convincing or obvious case of a project that is poorly managed and desperately in need of a firm hand in that regard. At this point I WOULD LOVE IF EA TOOK OVER! Bobby Kotick the fuck out of this shit! And that should be clear in how bad it really is... Conclusion: they are not serious. They are trolls.

Desync and rubberbanding is still an issue. A little advice: don't drop anything important on the ground unless you drop something first to test if you are for want of a better word, lagged. You can have a fine ping, no desync, and yet shit does not appear on the ground where you drop it...what happens is it appears on the ground at some point in your past...so it's like the rubberbanding issue (maybe related?) except your dropped loot gets rubberbanded to a previous position and you don't. Pretty fucked up. I know it was just a hotfix to let us play this weekend, so it's understandable...but I sure as hell hope they can fix this shit this week some time. And the whole "getting wet", "soaked" mechanic is pretty broken. You will suddenly get soaked in the middle of a sunny day for no reason at all. Try it on ship wreck in north coast...climb a ladder or two there in the sun = soaking wet. It's happened to me running in the forest as well, sunny day, dry forest = soaking wet. Infected feedback in appropriate thread. tl;dr, Set it back to the old infected placeholder code until you fix the building clipping, super hearing/sight, and for teh love of god, fix melee as it is the absolute worst in any modern game. I start to wonder if anyone checks their god damn code any more...bloody hell.

How's this for feedback: - you have some of the most god-awful melee in any modern game on any system. Congrats. - increasing infected speed without addressing clipping and melee issues is just trolling the community...stop it. - ruining gear instantaneously at random on hit from infected...get a clue. - respawn in front of player as fast as player can shoot ...brilliant! I am starting to believe dev's are trolls.

Hey guys! Instead of shit-posting some more due to updates or lack thereof, how about some nice suggestions for the team? In no way do I wish dev's to focus on dinky stuff like I am going to suggest at the expense of improving/fixing current core gameplay, but I will still just throw this out there... I am not a big gun collector in real life, but those I do know, when they purchase a new rifle, shotgun or handgun, tend to enjoy (and seem to think it is vitally important) to "sight" the weapons in so they become familiar with the unique characteristics of a weapon before they hunt with it or w/e. So I am proposing putting into the game, that once you find a gun, and find its ammo, you need to "sight" it, that is, do a little target practice, to be able to use it effectively (esp. at range). The guns would all still work un-sighted obviously, but they would have some significant improvement (especially over distance) after you sight them. It might mean you have to set up a couple cans of soda or beer, and then move a few paces away and fire off a few shots...this would "bind" to the player that weapon, and improve, like I say, the overall characteristics of that weapon, for that player. I am not sure how exactly you would implement this, but anyone like this idea in general?

First off, I really like the game, love the atmosphere and the potential here...I am a long-time S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan and former modder for that game, and am attempting to re-kindle some of the sheer love of being in the game world as I did in that series of games. Having said that, after having spent quite a few hours (about 80 so far) in the alpha (although not nearly as many as a lot of ppl around here), I feel I have to express my suggestion for the continued development of the game, and I hope (and I realize it is a long bet) that I can reach the developers themselves with this post...who knows? Although I have not actually been through many patch updates yet since most of my game time has been in the last 3 weeks or so, I have been excited to see some significant devlopment occuring...BUT (and here is my point): The reality is the gameplay feels very alpha...I have experienced many game-breaking bugs, melee is barely functional, zeds very much live up to their "placeholder" status, and so on. This is all OK since it is an alpha...alpha, alpha, alpha...I know. But the reason I lead out with this is that I find it a little discomforting that the latest development seems to be on relatively trivial things (weather and effects of weather on player, new small buildings, etc.) instead of core gameplay mechanics currently in the game. It is singularly distressing to be preparing to deal with getting wet/cold and sick in the game, when zeds still walk through walls...it is just wrong. When changelogs have more new elements than fixes for existing problems, something is potentially wrong at the uppermost levels of the development team. Ideas are being thrown about too wildly. Leadership and prioritization of resources are potentialy lacking. I could be wrong. Maybe there is a reason for working backwards...but I sure would appreciate someone in the know alleviating these very real concerns. Again, as a developer of software solutions in teh business world, and as one who has been on modding teams as a hobby, I ask that Rocket and his team of developers fine-tune what they currently have in the game, rather than adding new mechanics to what can only be described as an ongoing mess of unchecked bugs as it is. At least in my world, the first rule of development is to make sure that what you currently have in place is working well, then when introducing new elements you can test how they affect what was previously working...this allows the developer to better identify and better fix anything that pops up. Can anyone please tell me why the development of this game is breaking that rule? tl;dr: my post is two-fold I guess...first is to ask why is the focus of development on seemingly small details rather than fixing core gameplay? Second, can you do something about that? Thanks. And of course, the requisite "alpha, alpha, alpha" a few more times for good measure. I think Rocket and co. have a great thing here. I would love to see it flourish. I would also love to play it and enjoy it!

You can pretty much merge this topic with the following...I don't think this idea is very unique or going to go away moving forward: http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/176561-redefine-your-definition-of-done/

This is the type of argument that if it is true, IMHO, is representative of just how "green" this development team is. Why? See my reasoning in OP. It is, as they say in my world, "back-asswards". It does, at the very least, make it more difficult to fix bugs. At the medium, it makes it impossible...and at the very worst indicates teh team does not consider some things important to even try to fix. (Perhaps it will always be the case that running will randomly break your legs...realism, no?) I cannot stress enough that I am not jumping to conclusions that this is true. But I am asking teh question. The direction of recent updates does lean me a certain way tho... Can I ask also: why does it seem to be the case that defensiveness...even to the point that it seems I am personally offending some of you guys...is so much a part of the overall response? Are you not curious how a dev may respond to this type of question? Do you really feel a sense of loyalty to the dev team that you feel you need to defend their decisions? Honestly, I think even if they read this thread, they could take it, guys.

I hear you. I acknowledge in my last post that maybe I even sound like a troll. The truth is, I honestly find it worrying what I see as a trend towards developing "fluff" (what I consider fluff...again not ment to insult) rather than focusing on the core game. That's what the intent of my posts are all about. Sorry if it comes across as condescending or "know-it-all". It truly is not my intent to sound that way. Basically, I am expressing my concerns as if I was a paid alpha tester (rather than paying to alpha test, which could be seen as a priviledge as well, I understand.) This game has lots of potential! I want it to succeed!

I have read this argument a few times around teh forums here. Is it in fact true? How many are on dev team, and is there really that much uncoordination of the team? You have various members doing ilttle goofy things like adding in new hats, while you have a core team of developers doing zed AI? Seems ridiculous to me. Asset creation is a whole department on it's own, but should be being driven by a team leader (rocket?) with an established roadmap in place with fixed dev points. In other words, the guys making hats should not be currently drawing a paycheck until the time is ready to actually put them to work on designated tasks. I dunno, I might be considered a troll myself now that I think about it...perhaps engaging in this conversation is without merit with co-fans of the game...I really just wanted to attract teh developers attention on this...is there a blog or soemthing I have missed where they outline their general plans, and not only that, but how they will accomplish them (a roadmap)?

OK, so in your opinion my concerns are unfounded. For you, it makes sense to add weather effects in before having basic model collision in place. Cool. I mentioned an acknowledgment of the fact that zeds are "placeholders". But to what extent that is literally true, and what the devs mean when they say that, could be completely different. Some clarfification would be nice no? If you are saying, as somebody familiar with the engine, that it makes sense...well, I cannot in good consience argue with that being unfamiliar with teh engine myself...but some explanation would be nice...since it defies reason in a number of ways.

As i said in my OP, I realize it is Alpha. Please don't troll. It actually isn't "simple logic" to add new things in before fixing what in already there. I thought I made that clear. In fact, it defies logic. Yes, you really do want things working BEFORE you add new elements, because then you are able to more quickly diagnose and fix problems that may occur once you do implement new elements. THAT is simple logic. I suppose it depends on what you consider "core mechanics". Should walking/running be a core mechanic? Pathing AI? Inventory management? Combat, both projectile and melee? I believe these are all core, and should be working "out of the box" even at this early stage BEFORE you add new things that could possibly affect those mechanics...thus allowing you to immediately identify WHY problems are occuring and giving you a great chance to fix them almost immediately. Scenario: "now that we have zed basic AI working properly and melee combat somewhat acceptable (even though we continue to use the placeholder models and animations), let's drasticly increase the amount of zeds and see what happens." You wouldn't want to do so BEFORE you have those things in place, since the existing issues are simply multiplied, and you do not get to "see" the true result of increasing the numbers...in other words, you now have simply more problems to deal with. Back to my whole "I enjoy the game and just want to suggest or even influence! the direction of development argument"...did you miss that part? Did you hear me crying a river over lost loot due to bugs? Having said that, the reason you can spend 80 hours in this game already has less to do with the high quality of gameplay currently available and more to do with how long it takes to run from one place to another while playing poker on your phone, lol... Hey is this game alpha guys? Please don't troll this thread with repeated statements of that nature...its embarassing to you.