Noctoras

nah, patience, wait till 2 May, since then it will be the half year anniversary after the previous patch went live :p

The only real blocker issue I see is the server crash one - all others the player base will happily accept in order to get their hands on the new patch, that's for sure. Experimental doesn't mean a polished product. That said, that's a status report along the lines I reckon most people expect it to be. Giving the problems a name, explaining it to some extent - it's a major improvement above previous "we have blockers, eh" status report, I appreciate that. I also appreciate the shorter community spotlight, which had been too big in some previous issues.

indeed, if loot is the blocker, there is no blocker for release - for those who cannot handle it, there always is a stable version to revert to.

enough time to bash it when it finally goes live ;) after half a year without a new exp, I don't want to cititcise before having played it.

well, this time not the players but the zombies got different clothes.

You actually expect a reply? ;)

Just having had a look at current SteamCharts - I have to correct my previous statement with regards to 0.55 - actually currently there are evel less people playing than in 0.55 (so much for the "silent majority" ...), although I definitely attribute it to the long time between patches. I don't know why a "vocal minority" is so keen on making a challenging game look bad, where guns are not as frequent as smarties. I just cannot stand this majority-minority stuff anymore, this is so detached from reality unless someone really makes a in-game-survey. Of course, the opinion of the "vocal masses" may differ. This majority-thing is simply abused for generalising one's opinion and can be (ab)used both ways. Said that, done here.

This is off topic, but not commenting doesn't tell anything at all about whether they like the game. So the 3 million people who BOUGHT DayZ but are NOT playing it hate DayZ, right? I am just using the same logic as you. There is one way: Ask them. Those who play. Those who bought it, but don't play anymore. This "silent majority" bullshit can be used by about anyone to argue for just about anything. It doesn't make it any more true. Millions of people do NOT complain every day about mosquitoes and yet around in open air bars. Your point being that the silent majority likes mosquitoes? TLAJuggz tops it all and basically illustrates what I mean. Someone claims something is a FACT (which it is not) and he says "I agree" ... this is like someone disagreeing or agreeing on water being a fluid. Noone knows about whatever silent majority, because it is silent. People have the opportunity to express content or discontent - whether they use it or not a valid rating on actuall content or discontent. I'll leave it at that, since the topic at hand is something different. We do have opinions on the game and on the dev communication. This is cool. They are different. That's what a forum is there for - exchange opinions. Claiming to speak for whatever majority on the other hand is pointless. Best regards N.

I can't hear these claims of the self declared have-a-lifes about this anymore. Really, noone knows what the majority thinks. We have our opinion and people tend to surround themselves with people of a similar opinion. This is human. Well, I guess thinking to know it all also is human, but it doesn't make it any better.

Actually you guys could think about NOT announcing some features or items at all. These easter eggs will no doubt be an extra benefit for the community - I don't think it's necessary to show each item planned in advance. Surprise has its own merit. What does in fact constitute an issue in terms of communication is the 6 month period between two experimental builds. People (me included) see half a year and little communication within that timeframe. The last status report has been an improvement, because you moved away from "there are blockers" to detailing them to some extent. People thus can see what you work on, no matter if they understand the underlying programming or not. They will not feel abandoned, even if it's a mere technicality. And while previous status reports sometimes have been taken with an amount of irony ("there is blockers. here are your 25 community videos"), I have hardly seen such after the latest status report. People don't want to understand each line of code. But the want to hear what is being worked on. When it comes to deadlines / goals, it is tricky. Saying nothing at all will not cut it, giving optimistic estimates might not be the best way either. A conservative goal with a bit of a buffer would be a solution. Noone will try to crucify you for releasing a patch 2 weeks earlier than planned, people will sure as hell praise you guys. Two months late (no matter if goal, deadline, prognosis or whatever) will cause an uneasy mood. Generally, as I said, I think the team is getting better communication wise lately - which doesn't mean that there is no more space for improvement ;) This got longer than expected, so I'll stop right here. Regards N.

I for my part have only missed the point of the youtube video in the very first post :P

Fair enough, My bad then ;)

not getting in the topic's discussion, but the first iteration of 0.59 exp. was almost half a year (more than 5 months) ago, went online Nov 2nd.

This is arguable, apart from PvP there hardly is a danger, if you do not really act like a goof. So I do respectfully disagree with this part. The analogy with the silent majority is often stressed and often true. However, you never know where the majority is unless you test it. 0.55 for various reasons should not be taken as a reference for customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Number wise I agree that 0.55 was rock bottom for a while, but it was fixed too soon to really show whether players would be interested in that as a whole and secondly no loot at all partially didn't make it a good testing ground either. I know that calling the current game a WalMart simulator is/was not the nicest thing I could say, but this is how I percveive it, especially with guns being maybe 30x as frequent as screwdrivers. For me it also kills immersion, if the Chernarus population has less need for tools or canned food than for guns. (ready made food and weapons+attachments are the items spawning way too frequently in my opinion) I also disagree with modding being necessarily a benefit for community. The Division or Dark Souls 3 tell us that people don't just fracture into 1,000 mini games, if not all their wishes are fulfilled. A fractured player base is a more than realistic scenario in my humble opinion, though. That said, I do not call for modding to stay out. Modding has been announced as a key sales argument, so it must be in now. It just doesn't mean I like it or think it will be positive ;) Since I think that a message board is also for discussing or presenting differing opinions, I will just leave these lines there.

Now what I really appreciate is the list of infos on the "blockers". This is giving the community more of a feel for the problems faced and is more upfront. I for one have more than once been critical about non communication, so now I will appreciate the change in style. Hoping for 0.60 to go on exp. soon, it has been almost half a year since the last experimental went online ;)

Good post, I think this feeling is shared by the majority of players. The information need exceeds "there is some blockers" and "it's done when it's done" - I know, these quotes are polemic, but they illustrate what many people probably feel - left in the dark.

Hm, it shouldn't be the löawyers job to play nanny in my opinion. And that's what it is. I agree, after DayZ I am VERY reluctant with the early access principle now - but that's the point. We all draw our conclusions, learn our lessons, I don't see why the law should be invoked there. True, one could argue differently (with drugs for example the law wants to be your nanny), but personally I would not want a "law against fraudulent early access products" :)

Very good point with the zombies eating up the body and ruining gear in the process. once zeds are back in numbers it might indeed be a viable solution to at least mitigate the issue

I don't like the system either - but I lack a good proposal at the moment, since the body SHOULD be lootable for other people (which in turn should not be able to loot it for yourself). Bit of a quagmire.

and because you do not understand a terror network's operating structure, people should not inform you of terrorist dangers? Your logic is ... queer, sorry. Your flower puffing might sit well with the devs, but I think communication IS important, no matter if 100% of the target audience understands. So I for one appreciate the announced move.

Don't generalise. No gun would mean melee suddenly becomes interesting again .. my char finds a book on hunting, crafts arrows and thus can be a silent hunter. So many possibilities. Having a gun should be cool again - I dont want my only worry to be whether to take the AK74, AKM or better go for the FAL and steyr in my tent. All of course with loads of ammo. Nothing against guns, but I want melee action again, I want an improved melee system, where skill matters. Currently melee is pointless, since even your pet rabbit has three guns.

This thought has crossed my mind as well, since their "community scram", which took place with basically the DayZ PvP Streamers. The development ever since has basically consolidated this focus so far, PvE has not been seen since early 0.55 :(

looting your dead body is already a ridiculous problem. You will make it worse by choosing spawnpoints ... "I have lost some blood .. nah, getting healthy is way too long ... stash gear, die, spawn, regear. Don't want to see that happen

You DO hit a nerve there. If it's going to be a PvP simulator, the map is too huge and the gearing process is borderline pointless. I also see what you see that currently the direction we are heading is worrying and if nothing changes the game will end up as no good shooter, let alone a good survival game. Personally, I hope that Red_Ensign is right, but quite frankly, I doubt it. A lot of development has focused on marginal PvP byproducts, such as weapon sounds, weapon sway, more weapons and even further more weapons and vehicles to possibly shoot them from in the future. Melee is broken and unnecessary anyway, if you are geared with shooting weapons in 15 minutes. Medical and disease system has remained VERY basic and diseases are no thread. Skill system is redundant, if all it does is make you load guns 30% faster. The thing I do realistically hope for are more zombies in numbers and more dangerous zombies. I am positive for that to come into the game, just as I am positive about predator animals. These should provide for at least some survival feeling, but I agree, the focus has focused too much into the PvP field

Books, books, books. As basics for doing small surgery like wound debridement or heal broken legs, a book on medicine could be a precondition. A book on huntin for manufacturing a boy and arrows .... just two randomly picked suggestions. Books would have so much potential for a skill system and they already are in game - I still think a char skill system where the only difference is doing the same action 10, 20 or 30 times quicker is a waste of programming resources.