To the DayZ development team.
Starting this of I currently have 300+ hours on the DayZ standalone game with more than 1000+ hours on the Arma 2 DayZ mod and other mods like Arma 3 Exile ect.
The reason I am naming that is because I would like to share my opinion about DayZ and how it can be improved and brought back on its feet.
DayZ is an hardcore survival game, but there needs to be a line between fun and being a chore. DayZ is currently not fun unfortunately. The game feels as if it does not know what it wants to be. In the past when DayZ standalone was announced all that the people wanted was the Arma 2 Dayz mod without the bugs and with better graphics... Not with 100 more clothing items.
DayZ still has massive potential that can be seen by just looking at the amount of people still playing the Arma 2 DayZ mods. There is still a market for this game it just needs to be looked into. Unfortunately the player base has changed and have grown used to features like base building in mods like Exile and Epoch. Though this is only because it is a late game feature and something to do after acquiring a full gear set. If DayZ can invent a new "late game idea" it could already attract that player base.
Now to get to the feedback on how to improve DayZ and how to get the player base back. Firstly we have 3 stages in the game = Early game, Mid game and Late game.
But before we jump into those stages DayZ needs to improve on something. Its atmosphere. When I think back I get a certain feeling in my belly when I think about the Arma 2 Dayz mod, and that is what you want to create here as well. I think a huge missed opportunity thus far is sounds and music... by adding these (with additional options to turn them louder, softer or off of course) will immediately make the game more atmospheric. I mean just imagine a horror movie with no music... not scary. So for example adding this or something similar: ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r68uZehZqN8 ) Could greatly improve the overall feeling of the game. I mean just read the comments on that video... that is what made DayZ great THAT is what you want in this game!
EARLY GAME: Weapons:
Currently the early game basically is just running around on a coastal city picking up clothes and engaging in fist fights and melee weapons. This is unfortunately boring. Human interaction is what makes DayZ a great game but not by forcing it onto people, it is having the option to kill. Thus weapon spawns needs to be increased. If weapon spawns are increased it will immediately improve early game fun and increase the tempo of the game. I am not saying make every house a gun shop but there needs to be a decent amount. It also adds the opportunity for a early game character to kill a fully geared person, already adding a new dimension to your game. Of course I do not mean start spawning M4's and AK's in civilian houses. There needs to be civilian weapons like in the early Arma 2 DayZ mod. With weapons like Lee enfields and Winchester shotguns spawning at civilian buildings. High tear weaponry must still only be acquired at military locations like Balota airfield, North West Airfield etc and then only the top tier loot at heli crash sights. Then another important point, from my experience having a gun and no ammo is something really frustrating so I think having the guns have a 75% chance of spawning in with a fully loaded mag in the gun and a 45% chance of having extra mags spawn with the gun would make the game more enjoyable for players, since the player base have become accustomed to getting guns much earlier and easier that before. Items:
This leads me to my next point. The amount of useless items in the game is to high. This needs to be reduced. I know you want to have immersion, but we come back to the point of being fun and being a chore. If I am a fresh spawn I don't want to pick if I want a green or red shirt... I think that having a variety is good but to keep it to a minimum. Spawning:
This is a small point but I still feel to bring it up. When you spawn on the coast line it does not feel as if you need to survive. What I mean by this is that there needs to be a sudden hint of danger. In my opinion this can be done by adding new spawn clothes. These clothes are teared and shredded and barely hanging on to the player almost as if the player was ship wrecked. Also I feel that the first impressions are important. Look at a game like ARK for example. When you spawn there, your character clearly shows he is confused, adding to mystery and a certain feeling. If this can somehow be implemented that would be fantastic. Character stats:
Having to constantly feed my character like a baby is a chore. Having to eat and drink is a big part in a survival game yes, but its still a game. Having the character have to eat and drink less and having the player focus more on the game and enjoying themselves rather that worrying about feeding their character could greatly improve the game play. Keeping it simple and easy, but still fun is what matters. All that I am saying here is just increase the time it takes to become hungry and thirsty.
MID GAME:
Now that we already have higher gun spawns and less unwanted items and a atmosphere the game will already be more fun and exciting early game, but this will only last for a couple of hours then the players will want to do something new. They will thus want to start moving inland for higher tier loot and having more things to do. Unfortunately having a running simulator is not fun but you cant have a million vehicles spawn either. Bicycle:
This is a good middle ground for not having to run, but not having a vehicle either. The Bicycle can be introduced in a very simple way. By having a box named "BUILD YOUR BICYCLE TODAY!" spawn in industrial loot areas that players can pick up and then build a bicycle that they can use to ride inland (additional things could be added like having to have a toolbox to be able to build a bicycle). The bicycles will despawn after restart so that you do not end up with 99999 bikes. By adding this ,your player base will explore the map a lot more and will help by making the game less boring. Humanity:
Adding another element to the game is humanity. Now this system is a difficult one and for a developer team I know this is though, but its very very important as this is one of the things that made the core of the Dayz mod. My suggestion for this is as follow. You start with 0 humanity. When you shoot a player you lose a certain amount for example -500. When you shoot a player in self defense (They shot first) you then do not gain or lose any humanity. To gain humanity a new system needs to be added called "Shaking Hands". This is an option that players can get. When standing close to a other player you can scroll on them and say "shake hands". When both players do this within a certain amount of time you will gain a certain amount of humanity for example +500. You can only shake hands once with an specific player so that friends cant abuse the system. If you then shoot a player that you shook hands with you will lose double the humanity with -1000 for example. The rest of the humanity topic will be discussed in the late game section.
LATE GAME:
Now this is where DayZ currently has a little bit of a problem. So now the player has kitted up and has all the weapons they need, with a healthy character. They have explored the map and lets say they have killed a few people and they are standing on -1500 humanity now and they even found a vehicle. What do they do now? Hero and Bandit:
Now that the Humanity system is in place, heroes and bandits can once again be implemented in the game. Having 5000 or -5000 humanity will either make you a bandit or a hero. But this has to have a meaning. Two new locations need to be added on the map. A Hero and Bandit trader both at different locations. ( I am only calling it traders for the time being ). At this location for example the Bandit one it can be a large building somewhere north in the map. To be able to enter and see what is inside you would have to have -5000 humanity to open the door, if you do not have the required humanity simply nothing would happen. Once inside it can be like a "pub" feeling with an NPC standing behind the counter. The player can then interact with this NPC. Two options will then be displayed. "Ask for bandit clothes" will be the one and "Quests" will be the other. When selecting ask for clothes the NPC will then spawn a certain bandit outfit that can only be obtained by him in a chest which the player can access next to him. The same idea will be at the hero trader just with a different theme and different location. The clothing needs to be iconic and I would suggest using the same clothing models for hero and bandit as it was in the Arma 2 DayZ mod. This will now let players know who is bandits and heroes and give players something to work for. Quests:
Another part of the late game. After achieving the hero or bandit status the trader can be asked for quests. These quests will be things like "Kill 50 zombies" and the reward will be a certain gun with 3 mags for example. The Quests also start small with something like for a bandit: "Kill 1 player" then for smaller quests there are also smaller rewards like for that quest it would be an certain bandit head piece. The Quests will be bandit or hero related. for example the hero cant get a quest telling him to kill 5 players. There will then be for example 5 quests for each trader. Not making them to long that the player gets bored. After the 5 quests are complete a sixth one is unlocked called "Travel to Namalsk" (This is now entering later plans for development) Then the Namalsk map is unlocked to be played on. This not only gives a purpose for late game but keeps the cycle going adding the early game then to Namalsk.
Of course people will want to keep playing on Chernarus and thus we need an alternate late game from the Namalsk idea. People are use to having base building so having an more realistic version of a base building idea could solve that.
BONUS IDEAS:
-You only have 60 players max on a map. Do not make Chernarus bigger. You are only making the game play more boring and causing the game to become more of a running simulator than ever before. Player encounters is what makes this game fun. The more encounters the better.
-For late development, character customization even if it is basic is important.
-Having a functioning map where markers can be put onto so that new players don't get lost so easily.
-Having campfires give bonuses like healing faster etc.
And that is it! Thank you so much for taking the time in reading this and I truly hope you take this seriously and realize that there is still a huge opportunity for this game!
If anybody feels that they disagree or would like to improve please comment below.
Kind Regards
Alex
