sachad

You were being a tad smarmy there, friend. And eating two cans in rapid succession is going to make you stuffed, end of story.

I'm no lone wolf, I'm simply cautious. I don't run around towns in the middle of the street like a carefree idiot, I sneak through gardens and go from cover to cover, making sure my presence is masked. When encountering players I try to observe their behavior, and if I do decide to engage them, I make sure I always have an exit strategy. I don't need to bother with armor (which will get ruined after taking a few hits anyhow). I don't have a problem with them per se, more with the silly discussions that come with it. When you're talking about adding AP rounds to counter plate carriers in a survival game, or an anti-game, if you will, then that, to me, is a step in the wrong direction. If you ask me, if your playing style requires heavy armor to keep you alive, maybe it's time to reconsider your playing style.

I agree that it is a bit of a clunky, weird system. For instance, it always strikes me as very strange that I can stuff a med kit or protector case inside a pair of jeans. But to pose the question is to answer it. It is indeed a balance issue. You could probably stuff a fair few rifles inside a drybag or mountain backpack, but that would not do the game any good IMO.

See, I've found a much more viable tactic of not getting bullets into my body. I mind my surroundings, and don't wander around in the open. And the people shooting at you are idiots, since they're attracting a lot of unwanted attention. And what do you think will happen when you take a Mosin shot or a couple AK rounds to the chest while wearing a vest? You may not die, but you're still going down. There's only so much damage they can prevent. Also, you're describing arms races. If vests start protecting people, others will clamor for armor piercing rounds. Then that will lead to people wanting armored vehicles to hide in, and then we'll want RPGs to destroy them... Two months later, we're playing Battlefield Chernarus. Like I said, leave that stuff to the modding community. As soon as the game is properly released, they will go to work on things like this. Then everyone can play however they like.

Do the experiment. Do not eat for a whole day, then try stuffing two cans of uncooked Spaghetti-Os in your mouth, one after the other, then tell us how you feel.

Like I said, this isn't MilSim. Soldiers train very hard to be able to operate with their heavy equipment. Regular, untrained folk, i.e. the type of people we are representing in the game, would collapse from exhaustion, dehydration and the various other nasty things Chernarus will throw at them. They'd never get away from hordes, let alone players. You're operating from the mindset that this game is going to remain the deathmatch it is today and that bullets will whistle past your ears wherever you go. That's not where this game is headed. And yes, I do believe the focus should be on adding more civilian weapons and equipment, instead of military-grade.

Doesn't even have to be sharp. You can use sledgehammers, too :P

Ha ha ha! I bet you suckers wish you'd kept that Repeater, eh!

My point is, what does adding this kind of highly realistic military gear even add to the DayZ experience? This isn't MilSim Chernarus. You say vests would be in high demand? I say bullplop. No sane survivor would be running around in full kit, carrying 60-80 pounds of equipment. Today's deathmatch gameplay is decidedly not representative of the end product. Save this stuff for the modders, please.

Ugh... topics like these make me wish they'd just strip every bullet-resistant vest from the game. Now we're already asking for armor piercing rounds... what's next? Dragon's breath? Flechettes? This is talk for Arma, not DayZ.

Team work is its own reward, or should be at least. I agree that right now, there isn't much incentive to go play hunter in the woods, but that'll come. People resort to gun violence because the survival aspect of the game is hardly a challenge. Food and clothing is everywhere, zombies are only a threat if you're an unarmed bambi, and until recently, even if you did take damage, regaining health was a quick process. But now that blood regeneration has been nerfed and it is becoming more difficult to stay energized and hydrated 24/7, we've taken another step in the right direction. It has been a long time since I carried saline bags, but since 0.54 I always try to carry one or two. Once zombies become a real threat, I expect players will naturally start working together. Not much point in blasting people away willy-nilly if the noise attracts a horde. As for visual indicators of how you play, that has been suggested many times, and shot down as many times. In the real world, you'd have no idea what someone is like, until you interacted with them. The game should be no different. The main attraction, for me, is that there are no rules, and no objectives except staying alive. Every person you see could be a friend or an enemy. Right now, there is no real need for friends in order to stay alive, so there's no downside to killing for the heck of it.

One, it's not a game. It's an early access alpha, i.e. the stage of development typically not released to the public. Two, the decision to go for a new engine was made to improve the game. Who in their right mind would pass up on an opportunity to improve their game? Changing the engine is a work that has been going on since pretty much day one. It's not like they up and decided one day to just go for a new engine. Three, I would say that a lot of the player drop (if there even is one) is due to frustrated people (like you) who do not understand the concept of early access, and were expecting a full, finished game, despite the constant warnings that this is in fact not the case.

Sigh... do we really need to start the whole game development cycle argument again?

I'm with Grime here. Nerfing the food/drink system means you need to consider a little what you eat. Instead of scarfing down every food item like a starved wolf, be considerate of which foods offer the best nutrition value per consumption. Peaches, tuna, sardines, rice and powdered milk are your go-to options. It's definitely more tricky to get/stay healthy, but by no means is it impossible. It probably needs some tweaks, but to say that the game is impossible now... hardly. And survival should be more difficult anyway.

I was going to say, I wouldn't mind to let people try this if they're really desperate, but it'd have to have a high chance of going very wrong.

I've always been told that when you hear a can opening when no one is around, that means a new player has joined the server. No idea if it is true but it is certainly an interesting theory :p

It's a game of luck, since all AK types seem to have a fairly similar spawn chance at barracks and prisons.

Adds a whole new dimension to the phrase "boning a carcass", does it not?

I neither confirm nor deny these allegations.

I'm no fan of the default Izh, but I've killed more people with a sawn-off than with all other weapons combined, probably. Granted, I only killed maybe twenty or so in all, but still. Just point and click, or double-click if you want to be absolutely sure they're never getting up again. Forget aiming. Though this is primarily a defensive weapon, great for close quarters. It won't do you much good fighting at a distance (the default Izh does better at that). Even better if you can find a few snaploaders.

And it just looks and sounds more badass.

God I hope the hackers get you... I've held an M4 for exactly 2 minutes, and I traded it for an AKM. It's just not worth the hassle of getting one. When I read these stories about guys who spent weeks scavenging around for crash sites so they can assemble their M4, only to lose it due to whatever reason, I smile a little inside.

6-slot waterproof civilian vests...

That will be in the final game. They're still working on persistence, but things are screwy at best for now.

Safe to say that if you're still KO after 30 minutes, you're no longer a combatant.