con_hathy (DayZ)

Read me: Many people seem to be missing the point of this post. They think I want to eliminate Bandits, which I don't and I say that multiple times. They also say people should play what they want, and as I say bellow that is why the playing field needs to be leveled. Also I've been told that it is level because "We all have the same in game characters with same set of in game skill and access to the same weapons", Which is true, but as anyone who has tried to play the hero way knows, that shared character makes it very hard to be friendly. The field is not level, if it was then laying prone and shooting everyone who goes by would not be the best way to play the game. I also don't think the solution is to make the game so hard that you can't be a lone wolf, that is destroying one of the play types, not balancing it. I've also been told it's my own fault I died because I "can't protect myself" well I'm sorry that I felt like giving a can of beans to a new-spawn, I deserved to get shot by a sniper hidden in the woods that I had no real way to defend myself against. Well unless I was the sniper and I just shot everyone, they should have protected themselves. There is an obvious KOS/bandit problem in the standalone. I know that the mod attempted to fix the situation simply by changing your skin when you kill a player, but there are problems with this. 1.) You can be labeled as a bandit even if it was self defense 2.) It still had very little consequences for the bandits 3.) It would easy to cover the skin with your gear 4.) Having "bad" people look different is unrealistic and maybe a little prejudice My system should fix most of these problems, though I know it may have some of its own. It is based on karma. The players can't tell who is a bandit, but the game will go out of its way to make their lives miserable. Zombies are more attracted to them, they are more likely to get sick, and maybe the really bad people will have a tendency to trip and fall off buildings. For good people it would be the opposite: zombies don't like the way they taste, they have the immune system of a god, and they aren't as clumsy on roof tops. The punishments and rewards need a lot more work but this is just an interesting idea I had. Now for the implementation of the system: It will not be based on killing, okay yes it will but it will be very different. Imagine a scale from 1 to 10. 10 is nicest, 1 is a jerk, and 5 is neutral. All players begin with a 5 and if they kill bad people it goes up, if they kill good or neutral people then they go down. After they die their score will not be reset, they have to actually do good things to move back up. You want to work for a 10 so that you can have the rewards of the karma system. You can still be a bandit if you really want so that element isn't removed from the game which keeps things interesting. This is the simplest form, but there could also be a way for players to "rate" each other when they meet. They would have to be in proximity so people couldn't just down vote people for kicks, but I'm not sure how you would implement something like this. They could also move up if they kill zombies chasing other players or rescuing someone who has been handcuffed and left for dead. This is still very basic and would take a lot of work but it seems to be the best option to me. I am open to suggestions and will enjoy hearing your feedback. A quick note: The reason I am not purposely creating pros for bandits and cons for heroes is because they already exist naturally in the game. Bandits are safe because they don't bother trusting anyone, and they get gear for free. Heroes, as of now, have really no pros with the exception of feeling good about themselves, however they have a ton of cons like being shot on sight a lot, and as a result of this they also have to hunt for gear very often but can't just loot dead people. That is why the problem exists in the first place. If the system hurts and helps both sides nothing will change. I want to make it easier to be a hero and harder to be a bandit, but only a little so that they fall on to a more level playing field so people can pick their play style based on how they feel rather than becoming a bandit because they die less and get cool gear, which is what is happening now. This does go both ways, if there are a lot of perks for heroes then the bandits will die off and I admit that would make the game very boring. I just don't feel like we should hurt people for not KOSing because they already are.

As a possible deterrent for people to kill on sight, KOS, I think that DayZ should implement a sort of emotion system. In the apocalypse you might be willing to do things you wouldn't normally, but your most basic morals would probably remain intact. Adding these basic eye for eye instinctive morals into DayZ might deter KOSing as well as make the experience more realistic. -Killing innocents would have a negative effect :( -Killing bandits would have a positive effect :) -Trading/Socializing has a positive effect (limited) :) -Recreational activities (camping, music, etc.) could be added to have a positive effect (limited) :) -Antidepressants have a positive effect (limited) :) -Emotions return to neutral over time :| Better "bandit" system than the mod: :ph34r: -Accounts for the status of the person you shoot -Detects firing in the general direction of a player, even if you miss -Accounts for socializing, trading, and generally providing aid :beans: -Happiness speeds up work (running, crafting, etc.) -Sadness slows work -Joy increases health and may heighten senses (better vision/hearing), as well as speeding up work -Depression slows work dramatically, and if bad enough can cause you to become suicidal, requiring the player to convince the character not to do it.(I don't know how yet) -Depression might reach a point where the character can not be stopped and will kill themselves (I know it is dark, but it's the apocalypse, and it is intended to get gear out of the hands of players who hunt others and generally makes their lives hard) IMPORTANT: -You can still be a bandit, though you might want to hold people up rather than kill them, but major consequences only come into play if you are hunting down players looking for people to kill.

The system wouldn't tell the player who was a bandit, you could still tell people you're friendly. And like I said, killing a few people is fine, it won't really have negative effects unless you camp and snipe or ambush everyone that goes into an area.

My only fear is that making it too hard will make people even less trusting because it is so much work to stay alive.

Like I said that is just to get gear out of the hands of people who hunt fresh spawns, if you don't do that than you're fine

Well I'm kind of confused here, you said that people should be allowed to play how they like, but you then say that I should stop playing how I play because not shooting people is stupid. Also if you are such a big supporter of KOS then I really don't understand why you don't like shooters, that is the whole point of them, KOSing. Or is there still too much teamwork and you just want to kill everyone? I do agree with you on something, those pesky new-spawns, they should really learn to defend themselves, idiots, getting sniped after only being alive for a minute, it would be so easy to avoid if they would just play as bandits. Right? You said that there is nothing else to do so you play it like a shooter, but all of us "KOS-cry-babies" seem to get along just fine already with the hunting elements that they've added and occasionally killing one of you who thinks it's fun to snipe new-spawns. We do like violence, we just direct it at you and you seem pretty butt-hurt about that. Once again if you can't enjoy the survival aspect that really is there, then DayZ is not the game for you. And a final note, the feild being level means that YOU don't have the upper-hand, no one does. I don't know if anyone ever explained that concept to you. Also there is more to it than the same character. Try to be a hero for a day and see, hand out beans, hunt bandits, and just, don't shoot everyone you meet, it won't kill you, actually scratch that, it will kill you over and over because you are at a disadvantage.

I think that a slot for the makeshift bow might be a good idea. No one wants to keep it as their primary weapon, so maybe they could just sling it over their gear so they can save it for hunting.

I don't see why you wouldn't want to level the playing field. If all you want to do is shoot people I'm surprised you spent $30 to buy a game about survival. You could have bought any number of other games. For starters ARMA, Call of Duty, Battlefeild, or one of the thousands of other shooters.

I'm not sure people want a game so hard they can't play without friends.

actually the way some people carried bows was to sling them over their shoulders and use the actual string of the bow as a backpack strap. This could defiantly fit over a backpack, or under it, and its more realistic than a ax magically floating next to your backpack.

This is probably the best idea I've seen. I mean horses could could replace cars, it's not like gas stations would be up and running in the apocalypse. It would be more realistic have a couple of horses, or maybe even cows, pull your car like a wagon or chariot.

I don't think you should be able to just die but maybe using a knife or gun would be good, in case you broke your leg, but you don't want to have people picking their spawns

This would be a good use for the weapon cleaning kit

In one devblog they mentioned allowing players to create underground bases, I assume they could become quite large and complex. If bandits could break in it would be very cool, and we could see some interesting designs like mazes or traps.

The reason I am not purposely creating pros for bandits and cons for heroes is because they already exist naturally in the game. Bandits are safe because they don't bother trusting anyone, and they get gear for free. Heroes, as of now, have really no pros with the exception of feeling good about themselves, however they have a ton of cons like being shot on sight a lot, and as a result of this they also have to hunt for gear very often but can't just loot dead people. That is why the problem exists in the first place. If the system hurts and helps both sides nothing will change. I want to make it easier to be a hero and harder to be a bandit, but only a little so that they fall on to a more level playing field so people can pick their play style based on how they feel rather than becoming a bandit because they die less and get cool gear, which is what is happening now. This does go both ways, if there are a lot of perks for heroes then the bandits will die off and I admit that would make the game very boring. I just don't feel like we should hurt people for not KOSing because they already are.