Katana67

For sure, I am! I'm also concerned with the detrimental effects that TS has on the game! I can maintain more than one critique of the game at a time.

One, TS gives an advantage over those who are using in-game communications. Equal access does not equate to equal use. Simply because it's able to be downloaded by everyone, doesn't mean it isn't detrimental. Anyone can theoretically download an aimbot, but that doesn't mean it isn't unfair. Two, an M4 w/ 60 round mag is an IN GAME ITEM. TS is not. Not a coherent comparison. Nothing unfair about having an M4 in-game because one had to expend in-game time/effort/risk to get said item. With TS, no time/effort/risk is expended as one would with say... finding, powering, tuning, and using a walkie talkie. Three, TS inherently renders useless in-game communications. Why form a radio station if you can just fill in your pals on the latest happenings of the server without consequence? Why use a walkie talkie when you can get a consequence-free VOIP program? Why care about your life when you can insta-radio your clan for a pickup? The issue is not that it allows you to talk to people, it's that it's NOT REGULATED by the game. It circumvents what would otherwise be rewarding in-game communications mechanics which have IN-GAME consequences.

Yes, they added a good bit of tension in the mod. Helicopters need to have some form of armament as well (i.e. door mounted guns). Which should actually have a finite ammo count. And should be a lootable/addable item to a helicopter, and shouldn't come standard. And should need to be maintained.

Not needed. Just gives people a reason to hold a grudge against a particular player. Especially in the mod where we had the moronic sidechat, where people could actually air these grievances if the form of hyper-blue spam Plus it was annoying in the various mods, when they gave out "W killed X from Y meters with Z weapon" type kill messages.

Happenstance?

That and our characters have NO background. At all. So referring to their lack of knowledge in said background, which does not exist, is irrelevant.

You were saying?

Yes, but there are few weapons which can push 5.56x45 to 1000m and beyond accurately. Even these guys were having trouble getting their rounds on target, on a range. Nevermind that "effective" range is called such for a reason. Cartridges cannot go to X distance. Their effective range is dictated by the combination of the round AND the weapon. Simply because an accurized bolt-action can hit a fixed target with known dope at 1000m doesn't mean that any weapon that fires the same caliber is equally as capable. I mean the Mosin has 2000m on its irons, but that doesn't mean it can hit a target with any semblance of accuracy at those ranges. Moreover, I don't mean this as condescending, but what does the ability to engage players at 1000m plus really offer to the experience of DayZ? EDIT - And no, 1000m shots are difficult no matter who you are. That said, our character's "backgrounds", which they do not have... are irrelevant.

Only issue is that I doubt tents, if looted rather than constructed, will be commonplace. Might be a good idea. But I'm not sure I like it. I'm beginning to favor the private hive approach. As Rocket's intended fix for structures only fixes one issue.

Well, they don't have a civilian background either. They have no background. They are avatars for the player. DayZ's emphasis has always been on bringing out the individual player's skillset through the character, not letting us play specific characters with specific backgrounds.

Which they've said they're not interested in implementing (which I disagree with).

While I agree that the fog system is detrimental, I'm not sure I want people able to reach past 1000m in DayZ.

Can anyone direct me to the context of that comment?

Yeah, I mean, I think folks are overestimating the long-range combat in DayZ. The fog pretty prevents you from shooting accurately past 800m. My furthest shot in the vanilla mod was at 800m. I'm sure others have hit 1000m. But the majority of sniping in my experience, even in ARMA/DayZ happens at 300-500 meters. Likewise, I think people may be overestimating the significance of windage. I doubt it'll be that hard to manage, rangefinding isn't that hard to manage in-game either. I also think we'll have to wait to see what kind of optics/weapons they make available to us for sniping. Because if they stick with the LRS, then sniping will be very limited.

I think, in the long term (and I still highly, highly, doubt they'd do this ever) that they need to explore procedurally generated maps. I won't sit here and justify procedural generation, but we're getting to a point (and will be in the next few years) where procedural generation no longer provides bland and unimaginative worlds. The Chernarus map, and Chernarus plus map, is a great map. I've enjoyed it for two years now, and with the standalone, I'm still finding new stuff. But I memorized the original map pretty dern quickly. I suspect, eventually, I'll have this one memorized as well. That removes a bit of the mystery for me and causes some of the aspects to become formulaic. But, with dynamic events, they too become formulaic on a fixed map. Case in point, Red Dead Redemption. The dynamic events there are great, but become old after one has experienced them all. So, I think you're right in approaching the problem from a "player initiated" point of view (i.e. just offering the ability to burn down trees, destroy buildings, etc.) "Base building/constructions(confirmed). Burning down a forest. Falling trees. Digging underground tunnels. Rivers that dry and fill up. Clan camp sites. Flooding from bursting dams. Tides that submerge and expose strips of land. Zombie panic events. Thunderstorms with hazardous gales. Radiation zones that require a Gasmask/hazmat. Meteor crashes. These ideas are absurd for technical reasons alone, but what i want to express into your thoughts is the concept of a changing world that makes the place around you feel real" The items I've highlighted above seem easily plausible or were the case in the mod. But what makes the place around me feel real is the sense of exploration I get, which is where I think procedurally generated maps would excel. Likewise, the idea of DayZ as a MMO is sort of a farce when we're all split onto relatively small hives and servers. There's no unified world. Chernarus is a big place, but it's not 40,000 players big... or even 1000 players big. Also, we need to figure out how far they're going to go (or be able to go) with persistent objects.

See, I'm not sure what they mean by quadrants. I mean, if they mean "divide the map up into four sections" then those are some VAST expanses of diverse loot locations (some with more value than others). It could be useful for a solution for server swapping, but it couldn't only involve the quadrants. I mean, it could spawn you CLOSER to valuable loot locations in theory. So there would have to be some discrepancy there. Not sure as to whether it'd be worthwhile implementing such a complicated solution, when one could just have all-private hives. I think it will be useful in both respects. I know that I'll be barricading an isolated cottage to store stuff in for sure. I think you're underestimating the significance that this will have for basebuilding. The tactical element is more time sensitive, based upon resource happenstance, and assumes that we will not require tools to set up. We don't know that much about the system at this point. But I assume it won't be something that can be done under fire. They've said that they're trying to emulate TDL's barricading system, and it is quite cumbersome (for good reason).

That's a completely ill-informed assertion. One, they have a team (in Slovakia IIRC) dedicated to developing the zombies now. Two, they're developing A LOT of things at once. It's not like one automatically gets short-changed by the other. It's not like they have to pick between developing zombies or implementing a few items. Three, they have artists and modelers developing items... the programmers aren't involved in it unless it has pressing/unique gameplay mechanics (as per developer statements). A crafted ghillie suit could follow the same template as other crafted items. Four, if one made that argument for EVERYTHING then they should ONLY be working on zombies. There's much more to the game than just zombies (which, again, ARE being worked on/improved). Five, nobody's asking them to PRIORITIZE these items over anything. They can get to them whenever they see fit.

I don't have an issue with private servers. But I see your point. I never really encountered this issue. I always just played one character at a time. I've always been an advocate of doing away with the public hive. But if they're going to keep it, then they need to address server hopping.

Client-spawned anything is awful, hence why everything is being loaded to the servers now in standalone. The mod's loot was not balanced in the least. Likewise, they're not drawing from the same pool of resources to spawn zombies and loot. They have different requirements, so it's not like 25% less loot spawn = 25% more capability to spawn zombies. As to your first point, barricades are what the player makes of them. I have a hard time thinking of barricades as an "on the fly" mechanic. Not only will they REQUIRE the player to gather resources, thus requiring a bit of time and intent... but they also will (surprisingly, as barricades) be BLOCKING off something. Nothing will INDEFINITELY be "your own". It never has been. However, one can take steps to make breaking a barricade more difficult. Like using metal instead of wood. Or putting a padlock on a door. Before, you just had tents. So all the player had to do was FIND the tents, which would make them much more vulnerable than a barricaded house. Where the player would first have to find the house, figure out what needs to be done to break into it, find whatever resources are needed to break into the house, and loot. All while the threat of defensive players is there.

Again, focus less on whether it's right or wrong... realistic or expedient... and focus more on whether or not it undercuts intended gameplay mechanics. And yes, TS is inherently designed to circumvent in-game communications. It therefore renders in-game communications largely useless.

Summerised! Summarized #grammarnazi #learntotakeajokefolks

I can guarantee others will use it to teleport into houses, Dean has said as much, and they're working on blocking off areas in which people can spawn. I'm sure there will be a tool for removing barricades, but that tool SHOULDN'T be to switch servers. Likewise, I'm sure we'll be able to barricade our structures with a variety of materials, which could possibly require different tools (i.e. bolt-cutters, breaching round, axe, explosive charge, etc.) to breach. Similarly, and I've said this earlier on, in order for "re-visiting" locations to be more efficient/expedient/attractive than server hopping, the refresh/respawn timer with loot would have to be INSANELY quick. That, I'm not in support of.

Either way, as long as public AND private hives exist, the issue won't have ACTUALLY been resolved.

Remember, way back, when they were selecting player-run radio stations for the game? Remember when walkie talkies were supposed to be persistent objects? And they were supposed to pick up proximity audio? Remember when players were supposed to limp if shot in the leg? And so on? Whatever happened to all of that? I suspect development happened... And yes, walkie talkies are utterly useless with third-party VOIP programs being the norm. Even direct chat is undercut by things like TS. Another thing that needs to be addressed eventually.

But there are systems which depend on players not being able to do certain things (like spawn inside of barricaded buildings) in order to just function as intended.