Five_Seven_Clown

I agree with what many people are saying about modding, if there is an easy mode too many players will choose that over harder, riskier gameplay. DayZ will become a "platform" rather than that niche anti-game that got so many people talking about it in the first place. I think the one big lessons we can take away from the early access experience; is that you now have a bunch of owner/players who all want different things from the game they bought into. And many seem to feel that they should have a say in how it is developed!. Even if the DayZ developers had shared a detailed vision of what the finished product would be (I don't think that happened), the existence of the Mod and its sub mods would cloud that vision in the mind of the players. To me it sounds like Modding is the answer to any and all criticism from people who are not satisfied with the final product but as everyone has there own idea of what that is we'll end up with a wide verity of games all purporting to be DayZ! If modding is to be a thing I think there could be some parameters on what can be done and still be called DayZ. For example new maps, I think new maps would enhance the experience as would new items in the correct class in the loot tables. As for difficulty, DayZ is an odd game, if it is to be that anti-game some of the norms will need to be ignored or turned on their head. I think the spirit of DayZ shares some similarities to Minecraft survival mode. DayZ gameplay breaks down into phases :- Spawn and immediate actions to prevent death. Risks are everything, the environment, AI and other players both geared and not. Character attachment is low. High risk looting, grab what you can for the coming journey. Big risks are AI and other players both geared and not. Character attachment is medium. Planned route to high end loot. Risks mainly from other players that are geared, attachment is medium to high Living in comfort, self sufficiency. Risks are low from other players but attachment is high but after too long wanes as you crave the risk. During each phase you are free to play however you like but objectively the game is harder at the start than in later phases but that is ok because your goal is to make life easy for yourself if you can, that is where the attachment comes from. After phase 4 your goals are limited. Hoard, PvP, Chopper hunt, RP, tent/stash and the Tisy bio-hazard base etc. Maybe what the game needs is an endgame that is not death. Perhaps a rescue or retirement option for your character as the ultimate goal if you have survived long enough.

I like the old adage, "easy to use, hard to master". I think you guys are on the right page and when the pieces fall into place you'll have user experience that we want. I think the mod's fatal flaw was all the querks with the mechanics and UI that caused the players to need to work around them like some kind of sick metagame. The Alpha can sometimes be like that too. If the UI gets the polish and a new player only needs to know a few keys you can make the game quite punishing and they will quickly learn how to survive.

My experience so far. Server performance may be a bit bogged down (10/50 1pp US NW-01). Some rubber banding after restart, lots of sodacan/ammo/drinking sounds. It's perfectly playable for me otherwise. The inventory seems ok, twice I've had a bit of lag moving things around. I lost a can of beans after I opened because I had no inventory space. Apple tree searching seems to be a quicker animation, I _feel_ the seaching is quicker.

I like the idea, but only highlight them in inventory/interact mode to replace the "items near by" box when you hit tab. Clear out the centre of the inventory screen so you can see highlighted items in the world, pick them up and drag them to your inventory that is arranged at the edges of the screen.