rocket

LOGGING player authentication is part of this update. ACTIONS based on this logging is not part of it.

Pretty damn good idea. Okay, I like it. If it detects you in debug zone, or you have a fracture, the respawn option will be enabled. We'll try that out. It is posts like this that are the reason we tollerate the BS. That is a new feature, as I said, I will consider how spawning works when group-play is looked at properly. But I'm not going to add that as a hotfix. It was a rhetorical question :) I am confident the issues will be largely solved in the coming three months.

This is just nibbling around the edges of the problem. It should be solved at the base level. Otherwise the hackers will always be one step ahead. They are exploiting vulnerabilities because DayZ is using ARMA 2 in ways it was not intended. It was designed as a very trusting application. Dealing with the root cause is the only solution, and no amount of forum butt-hurt will change the reality that it needs to be dealt with in source.

To add to this comment, the respawn was never intended to be used the way it is. Therefore, I need to confirm if the original design idea was a good one, or a terrible one. For this we actually need to test it and not base it on opinions here. Because clearly, there are people who think it is a good idea and those who think it is terrible. The test may never make it out of closed testing so you might not even experience it.

Okay, let me put it like this: 1. I cannot realistically do any more to curb hackers in the mod, because this just alters game data and not the source. 2. Therefore, do you think it is sensible for me to do nothing else. This would involve me, probably, taking a holiday and maybe visiting my family. Or sleeping. Now, these sound like great ideas - I but I figured I would keep developing while those who can deal with the hacking issues... do. So, should I just take a holiday? or carry on?

The addition of clothing is a key design feature I would like to expand. This has significant programming implications, but I consider it one of the main design priorities. I would prefer all this kind of thing to come from players. I just need to give them the tools to achieve this. Absolutely, 100%. This is a key art priority of mine. But not in the short term (content issue: standalone) Body armor would form part of the clothing system, most likely, if it got implemented I do still envisage some for of above ground fortification. But as noted, I see us having the elaborate, large scale building over months (years) using below ground development. This is the sort of thing we would deal with in standalone. Come up with a standardized method and apply it to everyone. Not really. Part two continued shortly....

Correct. It is possible we may be able to extend the time, given the recent optimization and updates by BIS in the beta patches. But I am taking a cautious approach to the update (something which I believe appears to be lost on some of the posters in this topic...)

Again, the mod can do little more to curb hacking. This is an issue that is solved/dealt with through the source in the engine itself, in assistance with BattlEye. In some ways, DayZ is already going beyond what it "should" do as a mod to prevent hacking and that is why it breaks single and multiplayer if you have DayZ activated when you run ArmA2.

As much as I get pained by many replies, some of the perspectives are so valuable they are worth all the pain and suffering they are surrounded by.

First post. Rest is mainly people placing emphasis on certain words or intention, blowing it out of proportion, and then others arguing with them. tl;dr: I am trying out some logging and performance changes in a closed test.

Firstly, it is spelt "Rocket". Secondly, I'm not even going to dignify this thread with a proper reply. What makes you think you deserve to know the "truth" when you don't even give me the common courtesy of spelling my (rather simple) name correctly.

I appreciate your points, but given I cannot even control this single topic on the forums... my powers to control thousands of servers are... well... limited.

Most of this will have to be dealt with standalone, without which it would affect ArmA2 because we'd need to change default pathfinding mechanics.

Um, like I said, I am doing that. 5 seconds though because 20 seconds causes major performance issues. 5 seconds was caused before and we had major doppelganger isssues. Check back my previous replies I outline it. It is not in the changelog yet because it is not completed.

Hacking is a separate issue. We don't comment on security matters for what i hope are extremely obvious reasons.

Like I have been at pains to point out... nobody is getting banned. I am gathering data to see if we can get identify what is happening, and cater the solution to that. The next step from that would be to issue warnings, IF we could identify an effective algorithm. Then, maybe, we could look at bans. You guys can be as bad as the media sometimes... you latch on to one or two words and ignore the rest. Someone see's the word "ban" and you go batshit crazy :)

Point taken.

Agreed. I'm going to spend more time on this issue and going to trial something more extended around the disconnection despawn times.. However, quid pro quo... I will do this only in return for a ceasefire agreement between the RDF and the ARA,,,

Suicide is a serious issue, both in game and out of it. But it is not something I'm prepared to gamble the project on, it's just not that important. Same with some other controversial things, such as drug's and cannibalism. They are all things I think, would become particularly relevant and prominent in any survival situation (I know first hand). But they also need to be carefully considered. I'd rather the standalone wasn't delayed simply because a newspaper or tv show want's a controversy so does an expose on how the game is causing/promoting x, y, and z.

It was removed because it is inaccurate. Visibility depends on individual zombies with elements of randomness and many factors. The visibility number you saw, no longer makes sense. It is just part of the equation. The result now is much more complex.

I love the fact people are challenging, and bringing up real and serious issues. That is why I do the pending update threads - I have already gotten significant benefit from this threads for things I did not consider. But seriously, you guys fucking eat each other alive in here sometimes. I've never seen discussions so quickly degenerate into pretty much "I hope you get cancer" within two or three posts.

Person1: its a vidya-game Person2: its not a vidya-game. rocket said so. Person3: it is a vidya-game, because I bought it on steam. Person4: its not a vidya-game, because rocket said so once Firstly, things have changed a bit since I started out making this for four people to play. Just a little. So quoting me like the bible without putting my words into context is a bit meaningless. Yes, DayZ is an experience designed using a computer game, and it is experienced as a computer game. I intended it as a design experiment, and at times have proposed various awesome things about it. But who says I am even right? I'm not really focused on fun, because that is not the core of this experience. The "fun" comes from the experience which I am focused on providing. If I skip the experience, then the reason this is fun will disappear and you will be left with the rotting hulk of what is a rather bizare mod. You guys need to stop overreacting. Seriously. All I said was I am going to start logging login and logout data, in closed testing. Then I outlined some possible plans, and you guys go batshit crazy. Soon I am going to be causing further damage to the EU financial situation and some kind of bust-up in the Kardashians...

The day sucks when i have to quote myself :)

Okay people. I just read through five pages, in between the time it took me from the office to home. And that five pages was filled with: Person1: Wow this is awesome! Person2: This is the WORST thing that ever happened! Person3: No, it is awesome and I want to have Rocket's children! Person4: I hate Rocket! I want you to have his children so I can then murder them! Please, can people just accept that the Rocket Defense Force (RDF) and the Anti-Rocket Alliance (ARA) are needed for this project to continue. Both sides are required, and can actually coexist. We need the fanboys and fangirls If it wasn't for the fanboys and fangirls, I would have quit this mod and sold out months ago. Nobody want's to put up with a crap-ton of abuse all the time. I have become grumpy and cynical enough (ask anyone on the team or who has any sort of relationship to me at all) without having no positive feedback. We need the haters Or I will spend all my time working on "cool new stuff" and ignore the bugs, because solving bugs is not fun. It is not exciting. It is not sexy. And it doesn't frontpage on PCGamer, Kotaku, RPS, etc... New features do. So without the haters... this project will die. So please, for the projects sake. Realize that you all need each other. The only thing "wrong" with this community is that some folks: 1. Think that two different point of views cannot coexist. I generally hold two opposing views at once until I have enough data. That is what Alpha is for! We try something, we consider all sides, we gather data, we try something else. That is the purpose of this whole experiment. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why sometimes people jump on one another simply because they hold a different viewpoint, especially when it concerns features that have not even been implemented yet. It is one thing to put forward an opposing view, it is another to attack them outright. 2. Think that trying something sets a feature in concrete. New things will be tried to either solve bugs, or add new functionality. This is especially true with a mod because it cannot affect the source. Nearly all fixes at this point involve new development because most errors in the mod itself have been worked out, at the basic syntax level, and now it is a question of functionality, max loading, etc... We will try it, if it doesn't work we will roll back. 3. Think everything needs to be fixed now. I've said it will go standalone, that is obvious. It has caused massive sales. But I need concrete stuff, something worth saying, before I come to you and tell you something. I've said it will happen, and this will affect the direction of the mod. There is only so much that can be done in the mod, to the point where diminishing returns apply. Not all bugs can be fixed easily, and many would be much easier (or only possible) in the standalone version directly in source. Yes, this sucks, but that's the nature of the beast and the fact is: the mod is fairly playable in its current state for the vast majority of people. 4. Think the project is dead/dying/gotyay. DayZ is nothing more than an effective message and precursor to something more. The timeframes can be shorter than you think, because of the wealth of data obtained.. .that you guys have provided. As always, follow my advice of maintaining a sense of adventure and a spirit of exploration with the project. If not, you're gonna have a bad time. EDIT: 5. Think there is something "wrong" with this community. There is nothing wrong, the community here is extremely healthy. Too healthy, you guys all slaughter each side of the "debate" at every opportunity because everyone they think must be right. The fact is, nobody will really know how good an idea is until it has been implemented. So we gather opinions and factors and discuss a bit here on the forums so you can help me to temper the ideas and eliminate the very bad ones. This community is fantastic, and you'd all see that, if people would stop to see that all this emotion and interest is a good thing... if only it could be focused on the project and not on the opposing side.