philbur

Meh... I try to think in terms of actual "in-game" time I spend with DayZ...rather than where we are in relation to the roadmap. I would be bat-shit crazy to believe the timelines and promises at this point, that's all. To use the past build release timelines is a bit of a stretch because the closer they get the easier it gets (in theory). I was one of those that questioned Bohemia's role in development of SA, seeing as how they seem to keep a distance from anything related to it. Once again, though...in the absence of anything pointing to the contrary, one can only assume they are just as sceptical . As I have spent a lot of my available PC game time immersed in SA, I can say with confidence that as far as value-for-the-money goes, this title has indeed delivered it's share....but when I sit back and think about it I realize that it is a false metric because I am really only "playing" a work in progress and not a fully realized product. It then becomes more apparent to me just how ridiculous I must sound when I talk about DayZ SA as such a fantastic game and how I highly recommend people try it. That's why I post the odd rant about the developers...it's embarrassing to be a fan boy for this title when the dev team continuously makes me look like a fool to those same potential subscribers. Let me apologize to those same developers....as I think there are reasons I have not considered for the current state of affairs that the actual situation is most likely in a better state than I fear. But as I tried to explain, it's the poor way in which they have dealt with "us" that really disappoints me.

POW! This post has pretty much taken care of any of the things I have been trying to say for the last couple years. There is no better way to call it. If the Developers had done a better job of communication then this would be different, but it appears as if the subscriber-facing personnel for this project have been unable to manage the project in a way that sets expectations that are achievable, and made the news about ongoing dev team activities a consistent, interesting, and logical process. There are points in any process where a review and revision is REQUIRED, and performance evaluations are a key component. Currently, when I try to visualize the DayZ SA studio I am ultimately seeing a warehouse filled with random people doing random tasks at random times and occasionally getting together to have a random play session. I am sure that this is not the case, for the most part...but optics are the only driver that matter with such poor and inconsistent messaging. DayZ has such great potential, but with the current state of the development team and their amateurish approach to processes and milestones it is actually doing the game a greater disservice than any of the bugs or blockers could ever do. I can accept delays, bugs, and even failures.... Just don't lie to me. Peace Out, Devs...and get your PR "component" straight. ;-)

I am still on the fence about renting a server...but seeing as there are very few servers running on Eastern Standard Time (Eastern North America) I am probably going to do it. My question is this...Can an Admin (me, basically) just pop around in third person watching others play the game? I used to have Quake and Half-Life servers and No-Clipping around the maps was actually really entertaining for me. Thanks in advance.

You know...that's exactly what I think when I come across wildlife as well... In real life game trails and browsing meadows usually exist beyond the normal areas of human interaction, and yet the devs chose these areas to spawn game. The dev team "should" know this or they "should" have at least consulted someone who has experience tracking/studying wildlife. Spawn locations and pathfinding are easy to modify so I can only guess they did indeed choose the current patterns just so we can bump into game more easily and because of this we would be encouraged to test hunting/tracking skills

Great job on this, firstly...and I would suggest you build a large sample size of the individual sightings and then use it to determine not only patterns, but the Devs thinking behind how they intend to iterate future spawns and behaviors. The nav meshes for Infected and probably animals as well will no doubt be improved upon in the coming builds so you would be spending a lot of time tracking them without any certainty that your data will survive to 1.0. Keep it up, though...as this has reminded me there are other playstyles available to me other than the "coastie constable". I might start a character just for the sole purpose of tracking and killing game,, thanks!

As a potential server owner I have read the rules many times (sort of like reading the manual on a car you are contemplating buying) and while the OP might have a point "philosophically", it sounds to me like he intentionally decided to push the limits of this particular aspect of server ownership "because I can" and is now trolling the Forums in an effort to gain martyrdom. Sort of like those people who intentionally exploit loopholes just so they can pound their chest and dare the "Man" to do something about it. My man....I would ask that you look at it from the point of view of the Studio and think that maybe due to the relative infancy of this game, they would rather keep the server lists fairly straight forward and prevent the confusion among players who might be unfamiliar with the whole MMPOG thing. It's all about making newcomers feel welcome and when server names start to get "creative" it might be easy for those inexperienced gamers to become frustrated by what they might have originally been expecting. When I read your server name I personally chuckled, as I know it is just a funny name...but for the sake of political correctness it actually DOES mislead potential players. I doubt your name will be taken by anyone else in the future...so just change it for a while and go back to it when you are indeed able to modify the loot tables (Private Shard ownership does indeed have its' privileges). Don't let this get bigger than it needs to be...and be assured we ALL appreciate that you have dedicated your time and money to contribute to the growing server community.

Well. Thanks for taking a shot at this, Lok... but let's face it...you gotta admit the Dev team are not doing us any favors. (some would say they don't HAVE to do us any favors, of course). The Dev team are only "damned" if they "don't". Any reasonable person who is likely to be a long-term player of DayZ SA will outlast the ADHD mood swings. "Hours of Hicks interviews" can hardly count as the same as what we get from a short but Directed to the Forum Community video or SR. His interviews were for those who either have never played SA or who are no where NEAR as involved as the average multi-year Alpher. The last SR was a feeble effort that gave us only false hope that 0.60 would arrive.It SHOULD have been a proper "Welcome to 2016 Survivors!" post. The various platforms for Devs to communicate only serve to disperse the information instead of consolidating it. Yes...you guys do try to make sense of the information and provide us with it whenever possible, but why should you have to...when they can do it and thereby give us a sense of being better involved and respected. You guys should not have to be their messengers. I am guilty of thinking the new forum would resume where the old one left off, I suppose, and yes I will be patient. This latest disappearing act (amid rumors of a possible major build release) is just an opportunity to focus our "impatience" and until the Dev team makes an effort (we're talking maybe a 5-minute blurb to shut us up!) then rave on, we will. Sincerely, Me.

The OP would never have started this thread...and many more would be less bummed...IF THE DEVS WOULD AT LEAST SAY "HI ALL" in the tracker! Last post was over a month ago with a photo of yet ANOTHER weapon concept (yippie whoopee doopie do!) and Hicks' last post was even longer.... SOMEWHERE in the DayZ SA fraternity there MUST exist someone who could assume the role of PR liaison for us? This would turn the majority of activity in this forum back towards the game and less towards speculation and impatient venting. IMHO.

I agree with your point on there being way too many places to stash info. As this is still an Alpha I would prefer to have just a few Topics and one exclusively for the Devs. As far as dev interaction frequency goes, I was very satisfied when Eugen used to chime in every once in a while and Brian always used to have the odd smack-down with a post or two...which was always fun to follow. Hate to say it...but I am still of the mind that a good, solid, and complete video for each build release would be enough for me. I am definitely NOT keen on how the devs post about something upcoming and they "best-case" it... THAT is really poor business. I also could do without the random post of something that is "in progress" until, at least, it is due in the next build. The feeding frenzy that follows a few pics of weapons or loot (that is no where NEAR ready to iterate) is getting old, fast.

Sheesh! Glad I'm not in the crosshairs on this one! But...I personally am going to get another copy of DayZ so people that come over to my place to hang out can jump on a second PC I have in my game room and share in the adventure. (I have sold a few copies this way already). It does not mean I want a loot farm, emu. Agreed on the PM route, though... I love hanging around the Forum, but it sucks when we get carried away with personal BS (been guilty of that too). I have a strong opinion of how base building should be implemented...but looks like I am way off track compared to the majority of other comments, so basically going to suck it up and try to figure out a way I can make it work to suit my playstyle. Ark and Rust just give me the wrong sense of immersion and I hope the Devs here go a route that is original and specific to the world of Chenarus, that's all.

Thanks guys. I have thought about it for a while now and yeah, I would definitely like to give it a go. "I Understand" that it is still very early as far as the server control featureset goes but what the hell... I spend more on smokes and junk food than it will cost to rent a server but I do hope I can piggy back off another Private Shard to keep the cost down. To be honest though, the way I see it, the ability to play on a predictable, local server that is admin "ass-hat" free is almost worth the fees alone.. It creeps me out a bit when I check out some of the more serious RP servers out there and I don't want to ever tell someone how they should play....so It's hard for me to decide on a direction I should try. Thanks again.

The FAL is essentially an updated version of the Canadian variant FN C1.... So, the breech block carrier has a "pig-tail" that extends back into the butt when fired and the return spring is located behind it to drive the carrier forward to load the next round. The Butt Stock is therefore a fixed part of the weapon and cannot be "folded" during use. I can see where the stock can be deployed prior to use, but you are right about there not being much point to it. (other than maybe making it more backpack friendly even though it has a barrel long enough to be a garden hoe ). Also...the recoil on this weapon is not your average gentle kick...it is significant. There is a grenade launcher attachment, but it needs blank 7.62 rounds to function (oh no! not ANOTHER ammo type!) and the fore stocks can be swapped out easy enough for composite units...but this weapon is specifically designed to be a stand-off battle rifle...not a close quarters assault rifle or a close defence weapon, that's the fun of having to choose which style of weapon best suits your needs. Sorry...probably old news to most of you, but I love the FN for what it is...and I really hope they don't pimp it out to please the CS-GO and BF4 players out there.

I honestly think BiStudio and Hosting companies for SA servers have so far been pretty disorganized and uncertain of how, exactly, to go about administering them. If you are expecting that SA will have an advanced server control panel at this point I would suggest that you are expecting too much at this time. I'm not saying that what you are asking them about is not reasonable...don't get me wrong...I agree that you SHOULD expect a response to this....but at this point in the game's development it would probably just be a temporary state of affairs until the client side of things gets polished off and the dedicated servers get some attention. Don't forget that the game, including the server side of things, is still a long way off from being finished so customizing access to servers and other 3rd-party add-ons are also still a long way off from being properly implemented. So...as an answer... the "Product" you are asking about basically still does not exist...if you get my meaning.

Yeah...currently it varies on how the Zeds react to your presence but at least they don't spawn in and out based on a players' relationship to others... In the last few builds (when you actually have infected in your area) you can navigate around them while stalking other players...but it will change dramatically if, for example, the player you are watching decides to empty a mag from his AK into a bunch of Zeds and all of a sudden the "dynamic" re spawn mechanic decides to pop in a couple right beside you. Or something like that. I would hope that the full behavioral features of the infected will not be further developed and tweaked until deep into the Beta, so the devs won't waste time on it. Do you guys think they should worry about the core world elements (weather, animals, structures, topography, CLE, etc.) before they determine the final preferred behavior of the Zeds? I thought they should get the "world" sorted out...then introduce the "Player" mechanic...and then the "Infected"...in that order. Perhaps simplistic, and it would have made for a far shorter Alpha cycle, but it just would have been easier to develop that way. The news on 0.60 is not as clear-cut as I was hoping...and I thought the team were going to be better at implementing very specific improvements/additions so there would be a cleaner progress map...but who knows, I am just a tad sceptical about the level of improvement from build to build going forwards. (which is probably why I am not that concerned about the game's development timeline being as glacial as it seems).

Just...DON'T have the Infected respawn based on client-driven events.... It remains a mystery to me how they will get this feature perfect, as dynamic spawns might be tough on a full server where let's say we have a couple folks trying to clear Cherno and Elektro of all the infected.... Does this mean the overall number of infected will try to remain balanced by means of spawns out of the view of players (like loot)? or will they simply appear at random (which might be right beside you)? As I interpret it, "dynamic re spawn" means the bastards will re-enter the sever at random times NOT based on server restart (correct?) So if we have an example number of 1000 infected allocated to a server and let's say 100 of them get shot over a few minutes time where would they spawn and would it be a mechanic that would create situations like in the Mod...where this was an easy way to track other players? I know Hicks touched on this late last year, but I am sceptical that they managed to get this right with 0.60... Here's hoping!

He is here posting because he didn't REALLY think they were serious. I honestly think the majority of people who have melt downs about the development speed of this game really did not "understand" just how crude and unplayable it could become during the process. I really hope they either stop posting their flame-outs or better yet, renew their expectations after 0.60. The rants are all the same, and we all have heard them...and I appreciate where they are coming from...but it just clutters up a helpful forum. Heh...maybe the Mods can Sticky a topic like "Rants and Refunds"

OK...You bought this "game" when I did too...good for you and I am glad you decided to support this project early on. So...what exactly do you mean by "and what? still nothing"? Is there a blank screen when you launch the game? I would file a bug report if I were you. Seriously, though, Remember that three years ago it was NOT a "game" it was a project to create a Game. Two years ago it was a work in progress. A year ago it was a work in progress using a new engine. This year it will become a Beta of a Game. And maybe it will be a finished game this year as well. Basically there is only two things you can do to resolve this problem. Keep playing "nothing" until it becomes "something"...or move on to other games that don't have Early Access Alpha warnings and disclaimers plastered all over the web page where you bought it. No offense, but you have to admit that there has been enough content and playability in this game to still make it worth the price you paid....especially when you consider that it is just going to keep improving. Have a bit of faith...just like you did back in 2013.

You will not be able to play DayZ without internet....until they include the offline component. This has been planned but will probably be one of the last features added

I bet you spent 20 pounds on a few other things that might be worse...Dude. How is it that you can't hold off a few more months? Just walk away for a while...like most of us have done at one time or another, and come back to it when you hear news that things currently pissing you off are fixed or changed for the better. Sheesh...0.60 is "supposed" to give us better frames, so play 7 Days to Die until you see something on the forums about the new update. This gets said so many times I don't know why I bothered...but it would be a shame for you to miss out on a potentially great game just because a little ADHD got in the way. Peace

Hi all! I am going to start a server and had a couple questions for all you pros out there; Initially I am looking to start my own server because I am the type of Survivor that actually enjoys having a consistent player base to interact with and I dont even mind the PVP aspect as long as it does not come as a result of some little kid just server hoppping and KOS-ing just to grab gear. I am looking into options and I thought about maybe just setting up a Private Shard SLAVE that can tie in to a Master that fits my particular preferences in gameplay and attitudes. The added benefit of less cost to me on a monthly basis is a plus, of course, but also I think it would be good for someone with a single server to have an alternate source for slightly differing playstyles and also to allow a bit more loot options. Does this appeal to anyone running a Private (Master) server? An example would be perhaps a solid RP server where there are specific preferences in gameplay styles and where the addition of another server would add sort of a "seperate world" where they could venture into for some danger or additional adventuring. I would allow PVP only to add to the difficulty and would watch logs for plain ole KOS garbage. If, for example a couple of people were venturing around Riffy and were shot at by another group as a matter of trespassing...then fair is fair and maybe a bit of a feud could start that would need to be settled between them. You see, this is essentially RP but it involves PVP aspects...and I don't see any examples of this gameplay style being followed on the current batch of Private RP servers. Again, having two servers to bounce around on, with differing rules regarding preferred playstyles, would give players the option of either one depending on their mood at the time. Also, I would choose a provider in North East US or Canada, which could serve as an alternative to a European server if the time of day is a concern to you then you can simply bounce over to one or the other to maximize your in-game preferred time of day. I am just getting my head around this, and have not logged any time on a Private Shard, so ideas are welcome. I will ultimately just go with a low POP Master if I need to, but it would be nice to have another server to share worlds with. This is basically the idea behind the DayZ Mod "Maps" where you could play Taviana one time and then "travel" to Chernarus for some more adventuring...etc. etc.

Here's a thought! Maybe the reason this last SR was so unfulfilling is because Brian is going to follow through on his suggestion about doing video Status Reports?! Remember that? I was looking forward to this format, and I would imagine the team will want some significant content teasers to display to us before he rolls out the vid. Dare to dream, Coastie...Dare to dream. Record a good 30-45 minutes of gameplay on the next build and talk about all the added features and also show some of the known bugs with it That would pretty much shut me the hell up, as I would know everything to try, and I would not be pissed about finding bugs or functionality issues. Then...release that build and make room for 3.4 millions cans of Beans!

Clarification on that, so as not to sound like a hypocrite... I really enjoy just stalking players around the coast and Electro/Cherno to see what they are up to. The longer I can track them without them seeing me the more interesting it gets. When you follow someone long enough you will eventually get to see either a KOS, Bandit, or genuinely "nice" survivor. If they pop someone with no warning or reason then I feel totally cool about introducing them to the respawn screen. I guess I don't take advantage of the PVE elements but I got pretty jaded over the last two years doing just that. Call me a "coastie" if you want, but I am having a great experience doing it. As far as base building goes, I really hope it does not turn into a raid-fest...but from what I see in Rust, Reign, and Ark....it might just give the A-holes another way to grief other players. If you play on full pop servers (good game, BTW) then I suspect you will get visits from teams of raiders quite regularly...and if THAT is the case I suppose there might be work for me "up north" helping you hermits out!

The M72, and the Russkies' RPG are great breaching weapons for creating doors where there was none before, heh heh...They are perfect for this so yes, the damage model will hopefully reflect this as they are awesome counter-sniper tools as well! I second the notion that the "Vicinity Window" should really be killed off, as it only helps those that don't want to take the time to explore their surroundings.

Ping! Any suggestions, guys?

You touched on something I hope will be obvious to the dev team. Less emphasis on base building and more on barricading and modifications to existing structures. We have towns, villages, and cities, already with a TON of great ideas for Survivor bases... If you want to spend your hours in-game chopping trees, scrounging for metal, and hoarding all the other materials then go ahead and play Rust, Reign of Kings, or whatever it takes to get your OCD Bob the Builder fix in. The day I can spawn in to my fortified little camp in an apartment tower overlooking Cherno and snipe KOS'es and Bandits is the day truly feel at home.