emuthreat

Yeah, bad tangent there. Just recently ran across a story about a baby that got flashbanged in a play pen because of poor intel; which brought me to the topic of flashbangs and other tactical gear. Riot gear perhaps, maybe even a ballistic shield. Or even trollier, rubber bullets. Never use a loaded magazine from a police staion without first checking what's inside, it could be nerfed for LTL engagements. "Yessssss! Finally a mag for my MP5k, let's run to Cherno and tear 'em a new one.... What happened?!? I dumped the whole thing into that guy's back from point blank?"

You are right, nobody wants to have to protect Barney the security guard from Half-Life. I did mention that they should be short-lived events, as they aren't immune, but rather had been sheltered during the beginning of the outbreak. The first time an elk chased by zeds ruined my peaceful looting of a junkyard, I started wishing that people with comparable AI would equally stir things up. Where the elk run away, NPC Randys would run towards you screaming for help, bringing all kinds of random trouble. Even if you can protect them at first, they will eventually vomit blood and try to forcefully trade faces with you. Because only WE are immune, evrything else is just cannon-fodder.

I really wasn't trying to be inflammatory. It was the use of "immersion" that I didn't quite take well, and I was mostly just posting about how the two are incompatible. Any of the 3PP tweaks that you mentioned might help to balance PVP advantages for stationary over approaching players. In defense of the lobotomy analogy: a phlebotomy that adds blood was my first thought, but it sounded like that may actually exist in some way. So yeah, sorry for harping about the immersion thing. Didn't mention exploits, but I probably should have searched for a better simile. I was mostly commenting on how the people looking for immersion are not going to be playing in 3PP, unless they have to because of server populations; but the people who like 3PP because they can crouch and spin around in a bush and see everything going on around them, will likely cry foul over any tweaks that limit their ability to circumvent LOS restrictions. No hard feeling about the misunderstanding, I truly did not mean to offend or agitate. It is just very clear now, that this is a sensitive subject all-around.

What make are those rounds? They look all shiny like the swiss GP-11 rounds.

3PP and immersion are mutually exclusive concepts, unless you are talking about creating a camera angle from just inside the player's skull. Similar question: Any plans for a lobotomy that adds grey matter? Not trying to be rude, or call anyone dumb. I'm just stating that by definition, 3rd person perspective is not immersive; it is right there in the name--third person. Meaning that you as the player, are playing from the perspective of an observer, with the avatar being the "first person." Immersion is not an option, as long as 3PP is a option. I prefer first person, especially indoors, but have started using 3PP while traveling with others. Mostly because they call me stupid or crazy for using 1PP. I'll bet that the developers don't even have to tweak the 3PP FOV settings, or add a whole new system for calculating the fog of war. They could just limit 3PP servers to civilian loot only, and watch all the players move to the servers that spawn the "leet gears, bro." Have fun peeking around walls and over rooftops, and good luck sniping from the fire stations with a repeater.

I'm not sure what you mean by NPCs. All zeds are NPCs already. It would not hurt my feelings a bit to see a van or bus full of "survivors" getting eaten alive from the inside until it crashed. Imagine a group of people who holed-up for the first weeks of the outbreak, but eventually had to go out and expose themselves to the virus when supplies ran out. As long as it doesn't result in any NPC immune survivors mucking around the map, I think it would add quite a bit to the immersion and realism of the experience. Like the crashed bus between Turovo and Svetlojarsk; such placing could be made much richer if a dynamic event led up to the crashed bus being there. You'd be sitting on a hill, scoping an elk and trying to gauge the range, when a bus runs off the road and plows over the elk. Now through the scope, you are watching the few turned survivors in the bus tear the rest of the passengers apart. Maybe a few are lucky enough to escape the bus, but not before becoming infected. Maybe they spot you and run at you asking for help; by the time you finished killing the crowd they brought to you, the "survivor" isn't looking so hot. Now that bus full of food and clothing, maybe some light arms and medical stuff too, is surrounded by fresh zeds and the ruckus has brought more. Do you pick off the crowd and go see what's there? Maybe the bus will explode if you don't happen to be carrying a fire extinguisher with you for whatever reason. Can you clean up, rush in, get what you can, and get away before the fire gets too big? You definitely wouldn't want to be out in the open when it explodes, as every zombie not otherwise occupied within 3 kM would now be looking and walking your direction. If of course, we want to use that old film trope of every flaming vehicle eventually resulting in a mushroom cloud the size of Novo Tower. I'd personally ike to see as many of these type of dynamic events as the game could handle. It would add a bit of credibility to the spawning origins of zombies too. It seems perfectly plausible that anyone who hasn't turned already, might be trying to escape through one of Chernarus' many port cities. Same goes for the helicopter crashes. Maybe the military isn't immune, but has implemented NBC protocols--which someone didn't follow. In the unlucky event that some personell survive the event, they should quickly turn after any player interaction. See chopper going down, run over ridge to find a solider in a ripped NBC suit trying to drag his broken-legged comrade to safety, comrade turns, gets put down by solider; surviving solider says something to you in Chernarussian, you say "sorry friend, *bang* better now than later." Dynamic events that happen realistically would add loads to the game--as long as the life expectancy of any NPC survivors is limited to a few minutes tops.

Yeah those cargo ships can be a slippery slope, especially where the main deck is broken. I'm lookin at you, Rify.

I'll bite. Try googling "wrong address, no-knock warrant." Flashbangs should definitely be a police spawn item, but maybe only in the larger cities. I'd like to see a stun gun or taser added. That cattle prod just takes up too much space.

Cooking pots and rope would make a nice alert device to hang over a doorknob while looting a building, or between two ferns to guard your campsite.

Look no further for your authentic anti-material rifle, with caveats. The PTRD: 14.5mm Russian anti-aircraft barrels had been fitted into a single-shot anti-tank rifle during World War 2 era. Weighing in at around 17 Kg, it could require two men to carry, the barrel and receiver separating for transport. and the best part is NO MAGAZINE. Meaning if you really wanna take out that V3S, you better do it right on the first try, or risk losing your badass man-cannon and the rest of your gear in the huge puff of smoke and dust that you created. Rather than a military spawn, these babys should only be found in the private stashes of the rural veteran-turned-farmer. Maybe in a big box hidden under one of those second floor haystacks in the barns with stairs; requires a pitchfork to uncover and spawns in damaged to badly damaged condition. Ammunition would have to be re-manufactured from demilitarized rounds found as kitsch throughout the map. Edit: Refer to orlok's post above. That is the criteria I used when suggesting this weapon.

Workaround noted, thanks. Love that thing, it makes the trees shimmer like the sunrise. Good way to clear a field of zombies too.

Axes are definitely sharpenable now. I've also noticed that painting a pristine fire axe ASAP seems to help preserve the quality longer. It was only when the axe absorbed some hits from zeds that it appeared to take damage.

So I managed to sneak a military tent out of harms way. But while I was halfway through relaying my tent and backpacks to a safer location, the server reset. The tent was on my back, and I had only made it about 250 meters. I patched the tent twice with a badly damaged leather sewing kit, and it upgraded to worn. After setting down a damaged green mountain backpack I grabbed on the way back to my staging area, I patched the tent, picked it up and ran for about a minute before the server reset. When I came back, I was wearing a pristine green mountain backpack; and the damaged mountain backpack that I had brought back the sewing kit in was still in the tree where I left it. The sewing kit that was now ruined was still sitting where I had earlier patched and picked up the tent. Has this happened to anyone else? The tent was worn as a backpack when the server went down.

I've recently taken to slashing every raincoat I find that isn't pink or yellow. It keeps me VERY busy. Enjoy looking pretty while staying dry.

When I try to go to the bug tracker, it won't let me log in. "This account is protected. You are not allowed to access this until the account protection is lifted."

It was a regular server reset, about 3 hrs before the Wednesday maintenance. The tent definitely changed into a backpack, as the only green mountain backpack that I brought there was damaged, and the one I spawned back with was pristine.

I looked under every tree within 30 meters of my path. It definitely got turned into a pristine green mountain backpack; the one I brought the sewing kit back with was damaged, and still found under a separate tree where I left it.

I mostly stash canned food, ammo, and extra clothes right now. I just checked, the bags from my angry looting of NWAF was all erased. However, it felt like some of the items that I dropped or traded-out while looting last night stayed in the same place and condition as I left them. Next Tuesday night, I'm going to make a stash inside a building and see if it will keep. Even without persistence fixed fully, it could be helpful to have shared stashes, maybe leave a note saying what you are looking for at the time. Next time you visit, that specific magazine you have been searching for was left by someone who only wanted some of the .357 ammo. It sure beats running around the map five times, or the dreaded server-hopping for the right loot.

I haven't heard of any established trading post or protocols, aside from Bernaya River Co. Trading threads on the forum are a good way to trade your charachter and all your *ruined* gear for one bullet and some lolz. I was thinking something more along the lines of a mountain-man rendezvous, with all meeting/stash locations being kept in-game on a word-of-mouth basis. Working on the honor system, we could establish a network of mountain supply stashes where people can deposit unwanted items in fair trade for something they want or need; kinda like a take-a-penny-leave-a-penny. Once a stash makes it up to about six bags, it should remain stable and useful if everyone is sticking to the honor system. If not, it creates a mission for co-op members to scout dropsites for the thieves who are siphoning off the system. I'm pretty sure that with tent persistence added, we might see bags sruvive Wednesday Maintenance. Even with the wipes, restocking the stashes would provide something to do besides PvP. Implementing such a system this early would mostly have the benefit of extra time to screen people, and see if this is a workable idea. Guess I'll go see if I can find my bags today...

Perhaps become part of the underground resistance, all that is required is your word. Play how you want, but we can bring order to servers through loose grouping and resource stashes. Wanna explore? Groovy, drop off your excess gear in backpacks at known loot trees, or arrange for a pickup if it isn't convenient to make the run to a drop site. I would like to see the emergence of a "pen and paper" system of loose confederation among players. I found a military tent today, it turned into a green mountain backpack after the server reset while I was transporting it---LAME. But I did manage to clean out three bags worth of clothing and mid-high tier ammo and gear in my frustration. If only there was a way to play with honest people who could share stashes across many "home" servers for the common good. Even a half-dozen shared stash areas throughout the map would be enough to gear-up after a death, or save your life if things go bad on the road/hills. Tents are here, this is why I bought the game when I did. I think it is time to start hoarding ammo, food, and tents for the long run. It would only take a few dedicated people to start a network of survival preparedness assuredness.

Did you hold "G" while charging and releasing the left mouse button for a good throw?

I usually play in 1PP on 3rd public servers. 1st person deaths without any sight or sound of a cause are very mysterious to me, but at least they haven't happened yet on .53. The last one I can remember was at the top of the airfield ATC, after coming from firehouse. I was staying low and had been scoping the field between each move; didn't see any blood or have any sound of a hit. I was even using 3rd person to search the area above the stairs, the death screen came right as picked up a Magnum. Hasn't happened since.53.

I wouldn't worry about strafe-spamming zombies. Do you call it a fair fight when the zombie leaves his rendered body and hitbox in a village somewhere while chasing you through the countryside with his noisemaking/damage-dealing equipment fully operational?

Stationary battles worked out just fine for my first few toons. If you can't win a stand-up fight with a brain-dead husk of a man, while yourself armed with a shovel, you might consider laying down in the ocean.

Like a Schroedinger's Zombie of sorts: the zombie is in a room with a door that is both open and closed; the zombie is stuck inside the room, yet the zombie is also chasing you 3 Km across the map. If you try to log out, you may be considered both alive and dead until you log back in. Running into a narrow hallway and letting go both sides of sawed-off Izh will NOT kill the invisible zombie. I wasted all of my shotshells, trading aggro with a friend, trying to kill one of the paradoxical parasites last night. It cost me my 2nd mosin I was carrying. If only I had a box and a small bottle of poison to break.