Jay_Alexander_

Another option is to go the Minecraft route. One character per server. Changes in one server do not carry over to others. I'm sure this has already been suggested and shot down. There's probably a technical reason why this can't be done, or a practical one that I haven't thought of.

Server hopping is currently part of the game. That doesn't mean it SHOULD be part of the game. That's why there's a suggestion page on the forums. Server hopping is an effective way of building ones inventory with low risk. Players cannot be blamed for exploiting this. That said, server hopping is bad for the game. In my opinion, DayZ’s fun is found in surviving by your wits and skill. Much of the joy comes from stumbling upon a valuable item, or narrowly surviving a lucrative supply run in a city or town. Server hopping is an exploit that allows players to circumvent this. The answer is to allow each player to choose three servers to inhabit at the beginning of the game. The player may then exchange any one of those three for any other once per week/month/whatever works. The average daily uptime (based on the last month maybe?), average number of players online, and age of the server would be listed beside the server in the server list, allowing players to make educated choices. This would ensure that at least one of the servers chosen is likely to be online at any given time. The ability to switch out a server once per week would limit server hopping while still allowing players to pick the same servers as their friends, even if their friends get the game later. A popup that appears before viewing the server list could explain all of this.