Mezzanine

I think new players that started last patch (1.5.6) who are against the current zombie numbers are really going about this the wrong way. Understand this: zombie numbers were never meant to be that low, it was a bug. Most people who started 1.5.5 and prior were getting pretty bored with the trigger happy newbs running around main cities with no sense of danger and no threat for repercussion. With that said, instead of writing an ENTIRE post again, I will quote myself from a previous one... Just learn to use your wits.

Don't shoot, sneak. Shooting should be limited. I have yet to run out of ammo after looting Cherno on a brand new character.

Sounds to me like you had bad luck with those loot spawns. Like I previously mentioned, I ventured into Cherno, alone, while heavily zombie infested, and came out with a ton of loot. Maybe you ran into spots where people had already looted the items. Maybe you just hit the wrong spots at the wrong time. Whatever the case, it happens. I remember everyone who began playing this game Pre-1.5.6 were very much into the fact that you didn't know how long you had to live, or when you would find items you needed to survive. Sometimes you'd be starving, unable to find food. It took patience. It took teamwork. Sometimes it took a helping hand from a fellow survivor. Maybe you don't want to walk around for half an hour and not find any loot. Maybe that's frustrating to you. To people who played the game before 1.5.6, this was the way things were, and it made it fun to them, that's why so many people started playing it in the first place. This is what made the game unique, nothing was guaranteed. If those "taking a break from COD" don't like it and drop the game, then good riddance. There are enough COD deathmatches out there. People playing this at 1.5.5 and prior were having a true blast the way it was. For ONCE, this mod is something fresh, new and different. Please, stop trying to dumb the game down. Its challenge is one of the things that makes it great. It's understandable that you are frustrated, but to be completely honest, outside of 1.5.6 it's always been this way (minus the zombies respawning way too fast at times). I hate to say it, but if you don't like the way it is maybe it isn't the game for you?

Exactly! ;) I've voiced this opinion on other threads today but maybe this is where we need rocket to find a way to create a "pure" server system' date=' just for the latest alpha *test* updates and with a separate persistence data base. Also make it clear to those server hosts (and players) that complaining about or seeking support for an outdated version is prohibited. You are either an *alpha tester* or you are not, IMHO. [/quote'] ^ This here is what's up. When the game was patched to 1.5.6 just as the influx of new players came in, and the low zombie BUG emerged (yes, 50-200 zombies on full servers WAS a bug), you did not see older players trying to revert back to 1.5.5 because the game was so drastically different now. You saw us (I know I can say this for myself) still trying to help with testing the game, posting threads about the bug, making people aware of it and getting people in the discussion. This was all the while all the trigger happy newbs were free ranging in cities going loot crazy. Now the game is back to a state that is closer to the original concept, I for one along with many others, new and old players, are having fun. It's completely possible to survive and get loot with the current state of the game. I experienced it first hand with a brand new char going into Cherno. Learn to "ADAPT".

I like how you take a few sentences out of my entire post and choose to nitpick; I'll grant you a reply anyways, because I've seen you post the same thing in multiple threads now. I realize this isn't a real zombie apocalypse, it's a game, so your point is taken. However, I don't know how long you've been playing, but I do know this is closer to the original vision Rocket had in the earlier builds of the game. There has to be a sense of danger, a sense of helplessness, as far as I'm concerned. It forces people to not only be more careful about what they do, and make the tough decisions, but also work together. I, as well as many others, do not want this to turn into COD FFA on a huge map. I definitely think teamwork will be on the rise once again. Good times.

All I can say for all the new 1.5.6 players who don't like the patch is this: LEARN TO ADAPT. Pre-1.5.6 was nearly as hellish as it is now (maybe not such fast respawn times, that's it). That's what made the game great, THAT'S what drew the masses here in the first place. This is not a COD shoot em up. If after this latest patch I can go into Cherno with a brand new character, alone, no extra ammo, and come out with an ALICE pack, a tent, revolver, Enfield, knife, matchbox, compass, watch, plenty of food and ammo, all while evading a crapton of zombies, then so can YOU!

Let me start by saying I love the "new" zombie numbers. Though they aren't exactly new, when I started playing this, 1200-1600 zombie counts were common place on most servers. That's one of the things that hooked me on this mod, the tension and thrill of actually firing a shot, and deciding whether I should fire at all because ammo was so scarce. I think the real NEW part of it is the spawning system, which I will say could use some very light tweaking. Rocket, don't change the zombie NUMBERS though, they are fine as they are, back to the old, harsh days of survival. The problem is, there was a HUGE influx of players right about the time when the low zombie population BUG emerged. I'm talking exactly at the same time, right around when the servers shot up from about 15 or 20 to over 50 in a few days. All these new players were experiencing a game basically devoid of zombies. I stopped playing the game as much because I kept running into ghost towns with no loot, no/low zombies, and no fun. All I could do was hunt other players, which without the threat of zombies really is no fun. Mind you, this is coming from me, a BANDIT player, saying it was way too PvP focused with no threat for repercussion. It was beginning to turn into a Deathmatch on a really, really large map. This patch, though not fully functional according to Rocket, is definitely a step in the right direction once more. Though Rocket said it is bugged, he also said he's looking into it and seeing how it plays out. I think it's playing out just fine, and I hate to say it, but a lot of you new players never got to experience truly zombie infested towns until now. And now, you have to adapt, and don't want to. Here are a few tips with people having trouble looting and getting around towns: 1. USE MORE QUIET WEAPONS WHEN YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO SNEAK AROUND. A makarov which you start with, is the most quiet handgun I have encountered (certainly more quiet than a 1911 or Mag Revolver). Try to select your battles carefully: scout the area, wait until you have a clear shot to the head with some good distance away from any large group of zombies, and take the shot. Just DON'T take the shot with an Enfield, for example... Even better, don't shoot at all, sneak. It works, it really does. Do you think, in a real apocalypse, you'd run around the middle of a town firing off your pistols when you have absolutely no clue who or what is inside one of those houses/buildings down the road? 2. YOU KNOW THOSE EMPTY TIN CANS AND WHISKEY BOTTLES? PICK ONE OR TWO UP. You can use tin cans and bottles to distract zombies. Yes, if you press 'F' while you have one in your inventory, you will see the option to 'Throw'. Throw them in the right spot, it'll lure a zombie away from your path and you can continue your sneaking/looting mission. 3. CONSERVE YOUR AMMO. There really is no need to be playing COD Hero in this game. In fact, now you are finally learning how to actually survive in a world where ammo, food and safety is scarce. This is the zombie apocalypse. Do you think, in a real apocalypse, you'd run around the middle of a town firing off your pistols when you have no idea when you will find your next clip? 4. GROW SOME BALLS. Yeah, not much I can elaborate on here. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, the mod started out being pretty hardcore. I remember dieing 4 or 5 times when I first started, but each time was intense and a learning experience. Since then I've been full on survival mode, and I've been able to live for several days on a single character (and I'm talking about BEFORE the low zombie bug was in place). Please don't tell me about how HARD it is to sneak around town and how HARD it is to get loot. Last night, I went into Cherno alone on a brand spankin' new character. The city was obviously HEAVILY zombie infested, I easily encountered/saw about 80 zombies. I was able to sneak by all the way to the church, market, fire station, hospital, and some random open buildings. There were zombies EVERYWHERE. I used my brain, I threw bottles, cans, etc. I only opened fire once, and it attracted a mere 3 zombies. How? I used my trusty makarov, and my position was such that I KNEW it wasn't going to be a huge fight. How did I do this? I scouted out the town from a distance, I checked my corners before moving. I OBSERVED and made smart decisions based on my observation. I had PATIENCE, which is one one of the things that drew me into this mod early on as well, the need to be patient. 4 well placed Makarov rounds, 3 zombies were down and I continued on my way. I went into the city with a Makarov. I came out of the city alive and well, only getting hit once, with a tent, ALICE pack, Magnum, G17, Enfield, knife, compass, matches and plenty of ammo. Just learn to use your wits guys. And Rocket, keep things close to what they are now. It's awesome, and we don't want a full on deathmatch again. Maybe adjust respawn timers, that's it.

Hey all, I'm posting this because surprisingly no one else has! I have been on several servers over the past few days and I've noticed that on most servers I log into, the zombie count is extremely low. I remember when I started playing this mod a little over a week ago, zombie counts on servers were anywhere from 600 to well over 1000. 2 Nights ago I was on a server that had only 20-30 zombies spawned at any time. I thought it was an isolated case, but the next day, playing on a new server, I saw only 60 zombies. Mind you this was a 50/50 server. This trend has continued up to this very moment, with several servers hovering around 150. Has something changed in the code? Is it a server issue? What's going on here? I'm not even scared to walk into villages anymore, the suspense is gone. Which leads me to the other problem: loot. You can find loot sometimes, and in certain spots, but overall i've been finding it hard to even find 1 tin can inside an entire, zombieless village. So what's going on?

Cool man' date=' could you possibly provide a link? Would be awesome. [hr']

I really wonder if that's something to do with the problem... hmm. But if it was, why would ALL servers have the same thing going on? Not everyone would be running those kinds of servers right?

Still no official word :(.

It was his video that made me get it. A friend of mine reffered it to me after it popping up on 4chan. Definitely wasn't kotaku, though I'm sure that brought in a large wave after it went up. I got it over a week before that though.

Would be cool to have a dev reply to this to clear things up. I think you guys are doing an awesome job and the community appreciates all the work you are putting into this mod, for FREE! It's not an entitlement issue, I think people are just wondering what's really going on. Also, if there's anything the community can do to help/test for bugs like this specifically, I know I am more than willing to help out. Hell I'm even considering renting a server out to help alleviate the overflow of players. Let us know what you can! Thank you.

My main concern is for the future of the mod too. I know it's alpha, but all these new players are, in my opinion, now getting a watered down version of the original concept. Not that it's deterring many, but I do think that it's a major glitch that should be put on top priority, if it hasn't been already.

Yeah, I feel like the immersion of the game is really gone right now. I love PvP to death but its supposed to complement the survival aspect of this mod... which is surviving the ZOMBIE outbreak. Hopefully it isn't "working as intended". That would really suck :/.