sanguine00

Yeah, I know. And the game being difficult, or being an "anti-game" makes the people who play it feel like special snowflakes, which is great. I feel it, too. I would still contend that ramping up the difficulty to satisfy a niche of long-time hardcore players would be questionable design. There will be mods for people who want a more casual experience. And those who want FamineZ with zombies that shoot bees out of their eyes may also need modding.

Very exciting stuff. Thanks for the recap!

I agree with this 100%. I love that when spawning in, the focus is shifting to survival first, and once you get over that initial hump, you can start to do other things. It creates an "arc" for the lifetime of your character. It's DayZ. My argument was never that survival should take a backseat to PvP. My original point was that the more experience you get in the game, the more you learn the systems and thus can "beat" the systems more easily. And while there's definitely room for the vanilla game to become more difficult from a survival standpoint, I only wanted to warn that the perspective of a player with 1000 hours is much different than one with 1 hour, and you risk losing that 1-hour player if you make survival so esoteric that it's impossible for a new player unless they read Nicklander's book. Somehow based on that sentiment I got dragged into a PvEvPvP discussion. I think it was the 72-pt font guy.

And I'm sure it would be a bestseller. But in this thread, you've only spoken to balancing issues with the PvE aspect of the game, nothing that simply "doesn't work". And I agree, the PvE aspect does need balancing, but so does PvP. Claiming that it doesn't need attention simply because gun go boom and player fall down (or zig-zags away) is reductive and yes, a giveaway of your focus. And that's fine for you. But the designers of the game have been clear that there will be multiple viable play styles in DayZ, and all will receive the appropriate attention to make them challenging and enjoyable. Not to mention, systems such as the damage system (which is being re-done) will affect both PvE and PvP. Oh no, something that will benefit everyone who plays the game. Must burn you to the core.

Again, what is and is not a "major problem" depends on your perspective. If you are a survivalist, then yes any PvP-related problem isn't a big deal to you. Also, you have no idea what I focus on. I was speaking from the perspectives of others who hold a different point of view than me (or you). You should try it sometime. I love the survival aspect of the game and enjoy it immensely.

72-pt font notwithstanding, the point was it depends on your point of view. PvP'ers have issues with the gunplay that have been ongoing for literally years. Sway, hold breath, effective range of some weapons, bullet speed, the built-in rangefinder in the PSO-1 is not calibrated, etc. People who understand the development side know that these will be addressed when it makes sense to do so, but to those who just want to PvP it appears they are just being neglected. And similarly it appears that the survival mechanics are being neglected to those who simply want Grizzly Adams Simulator 2016. There are dozens and dozens of items and mechanics already in the game in service of the survivalist play style, but merely having the content isn't enough. It needs polishing and balancing just like the PvP mechanics do.

The problem with this mindset is that you seem to think "PvP" and "survival" are mutually exclusive. They aren't. It's funny you should say that, because talk to many PvP'ers and they feel that's the aspect of the game that is being neglected. DayZ is a multi-faceted game that is in development. All of the systems feel half-assed because they aren't done yet. Then you simply don't agree with Bohemia's vision for DayZ. Read the second half of Brian's entry in the Status Report from December 6.

Yup. And I suspect many (not all) people who claim the game is too easy probably have several hundred hours in the game, and would have dropped it if it were as difficult when they started as they want it to be now.

People running up and down the coast clubbing each other with AK buttstocks! DayZ is ruined!

Completely agree. I have never understood the "coast must be empty at all costs!" mentality. Chernarus is a huge map. What's so terrible about giving players incentive to see it (all of it)? There is absolutely no reason to usher everyone to Tisy. The idea of smaller military checkpoints to give players a lower-risk option to get "Class B" loot (or a rare chance at higher-tier loot) is a neat idea, especially for lone wolves that feel overwhelmed trying to tactically approach NWAF or Tisy.

Just wanted to agree with this. I've never been on board with the NW loot "progression". Chernarus is such a beautiful map (and only getting beautiful-er) but I feel like the loot system is being used to herd the players to a limited area, which feels kind of flat, to be honest. I understand not wanting to have high-value loot too close to player spawns, but there's gotta be a better way, right? Of course, this is all a discussion about something that's a work-in-progress, but in past Status Reports it sure sounds like they're all-in on the idea of using loot zones to usher players to the NW area of the map.

By that logic there should be no guns at the military bases, no handcuffs in the police department, no airplane parts at the airfield etc. etc. Everything we get in the game should be found in camps or on dead bodies, which of course would be a catch 22 since there would be no loot for people to carry or stock their camps with. I think to balance the reward aspect of DayZ you have to suspend disbelief a bit and put loot in places that make sense. Not a guaranteed spawn, as the OP has already clarified, but you should know where to go to have a higher chance to find certain items.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions! I have two: As many modders may want to ramp up the quantities of items and vehicles above what is available in the "vanilla" games, do you take into account modding when optimizing Enfusion's performance? What major milestones (Player controller, animation system, etc.) are left to be met before you can say that Enfusion has been fully implemented in DayZ Standalone?

I think many (including myself) have always assumed that it was the Early Access revenue that resulted in the scope of Standalone being expanded to include the development of Enfusion (and all the time and resources that would need). If that's not the case, what led to the decision to embiggen DayZ's development after it was already under way? Edit: I'm not presuming that it's my right to know the answer to this. I'm just curious and hope it's something you can share.

Someone opened a feedback tracker ticket with video evidence of peculiar accuracy issues with a Longhorn: http://feedback.dayzgame.com/view.php?id=25609 It's possible that your issue has more to do with the configured range of the Model 70, or maybe it's the same thing. I've noticed some strange bullet dispersion in 0.57, but I may have just been upset that I missed, lol. I'll leave it to Wobo to investigate if it's actually anything to be concerned with.

I wonder if the animals cause similar performance issues to the infected. Personally, I feel the animals are more critical to the game than the infected, but I know I'm in the minority, there. Also, where are you seeing in the SR that the infected will be spawning in Stable? My reading comprehension must be horrible as I can't find it. :(