iongaming33@aim.com

So, the new east coast spawning got me thinking. Personally, I really prefer the southern spawns, and was hoping this east coast spawning was a temporary thing. Anyways, I started wondering why they moved the spawns, to mix things up? Some people seem to think it was to shift the attention away from the Cherno-Balota Airfield super-combo. But now it's just the Berezino-NEAF super-combo. After looking at the new map, I may have an answer. The main road now almost loops around the entire map, and if you look at the west edge of the map, two parts of the main road cut off towards the west. The main road also no longer cuts off north. This leads me to believe that if they expand the map, they will expand west, and west will become the mod's "north". Let me know what you think.

Yeah with those roads and empty spaces you can clearly see where towns and cities are supposed to be. Theres just a ton of gravel areas/parking lot type things even if you look at DayZDB. At the northwest you can see a giant area where it's rumored some sort of prison will be.

In some cases, definitely, but I'd be willing to bed against that. I know I will be putting my shit in a far away location. People that make those little stashes will often come back to empty tents.

Yeah, we're talking long-term here. The dispersion of players will come with the same things that caused it in the mod. Tents & vehicles spread people out a ton.

Yeah that billboard has been in since Chernarus came out in 2009. Sahrani was the main map in the Original Arma game or Operation Flashpoint if you're an old-timer. Sahrani was an amazing map probably better than Cherno IMO, too bad it never caught on for the mod, the map was so fun for the week that it was popular. I'd love to see Sahrani adapted to standalone, but let's get tents and vehicles first hehe.

I count 1 ATC, 2 Hangars, 2 Jail Buildings in each. Then 3 barracks and some tents in Balota. But that's the point, why would all that be added in if it was going to conflict with the spawns. The point I'm arguing is Balota's weight as a reason for shifting the spawns.

Yeah I see what you're saying. You'd think they could forget all the "stretching" and just reform and retexture debug, which seems to go on forever.

Yeah I don 't think it's all too much because of Balota. If it is, that's a result of some poor design decisions. Think about it, the NEAF is virtually the exact same as Balota, aside from 3 barracks, which were ADDED. If they were going to change the ENTIRE dynamic of spawning because of something they added, then why would they add, and then keep these barracks? I agree I'd rather see those barracks go and get the south spawns back. Either there are other reasons, or they goofed with those barracks. I also think map expansion is possible. Take Tavianna for example. Similarly sized to Chernarus, Tavi has been expanded on many times by the Origins Dev Team.

That's why I really prefer the south coast spawns, it really spreads everything out. Two big cities instead of one, still potential for some east-coast action, but generally not 100 people are in Berez, 30 in Elektro, 30 in Cherno, and 40 in Balota (obviously spread out more).

Agreed, there's no real reason to wander the map until tents / storage is brought in. Also with the new guaranteed server-client messaging and other fixes, I'm pumped to see 100+ players on a server.

Just typing out the title of this topic makes me shutter at what the "fanboys" are going to say about this. So, before I get to this, I'll have everybody know that I have played DayZ since January* 2012, and recognize the mod as one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever been a part of. So If you do some browsing through the forums you will indefinately see some posts from impatient people saying things like "when are cars coming when are tents coming zomggggg ur soo slowww rocket". And then if you scroll down a bit you will see a post from somebody else, maybe a mod, saying "The game is in ALPHA, you were warned of all the bugs etc...", which is a valid excuse. When we bought the alpha version of the game it did warn all players that the game was incomplete and lacking content. So, what I'm here to discuss is, when does that excuse stop being valid. Now, some people will undoubtedly throw out the "Beta" answer, but I'm looking for a bit more then that. I personally think that when you release an early access game in the alpha state, which is becoming quite the trend now, you have a certain responsibility to at least make the game playable. Bugs and such are obviously expected, but I don't think you can just toss out a game like DayZ, to a community like DayZ's, and have it not be in a playable state. Obvously unplayable is a bit of an exagerration, but there are some serious issues with this game. Patches that take months in "testing" should not be released to stable with huge imbalance issues like fists being more efficient than axes, and then not even a hotfix in weeks? Nobody can deny the extremely slow development of this game, but I 'm not even asking for more content, the core gameplay is just not there. I don't know how someone could release a game like DayZ to a fanbase as massive as DayZ's, in such a broken state (zombies being the attrocity that they are etc..), and not expect everybody to be pissed. The fact that the ALPHA excuse has to be thrown around so much should point out that something is wrong. I went on a bit of a rant there and I guess what I'm trying to say maybe the "alpha" excuse isn't always the way to go. Instead of constantly reminding people that they bought an early access game, maybe we should try to examine and fix these core problems. What do you think? Should the game have been released? Was it the responsible and right thing to do to give this incomplete game to the DayZ fanbase? EDIT: I'd like to clarify that I am not sitting here begging for more content, I am simply examining the development strategy and community reaction to it . I have other games to play, and still enjoy the mod, so don't confuse my motives here. I want to see DayZ grow and succeed, I just don't see the alpha release as the right move in the game 's current state. I am not saying an alpha shouldn't of happened, just that some of the core gameplay mechanics should've been in working order before even an alpha release. Constructive criticism should not be met by "ITS AN ALPHA!!!". As I said before there are many instances where this response is warranted, yet I have seen many valid posts met with nothing but early access reminders. EDIT #2: Okay, people are really missing what I'm saying here. I'm NOT saying "This game blows why does it suck make it better now plz". I bought the game, I knew what I was buying, I have played many alphas. What I AM saying is that constructive criticism on these forums shouldn't be answered by 'Its in ALPHA". If somebody has a valid complaint, their voice should be heard. There will always be ignorant people who do not know the meaning of alpha, but if somebody has a valid comment to make about the game that isn't completely absurd, read it, discuss it, that's what these forums are partially for, trying to make a better gaming experience with the beauty that is DayZ.

If you honestly cannot see what I'm getting at here, then I happily encourage you to go look at some other posts.

Not by definition, but when it's all that somebody can say when faced with constructive criticism, it's an excuse.

I see that you're confusing my content with some that other posted here, so I'll clear it up for you bud. I am looking for an educated conversation on whether or not people think the alpha should have been released when it was released, in the state that it was in. If you think it should have, good for you, that's why it is an argument. I am also commenting on the fact that I feel the "It's an alpha" excuse, yes excuse, is thrown around in spots where it shouldn't be. Not once have complained about the bugs in the game. I'll say it a third time, I love the game, I play the game, I enjoy the game. It's a shame most people are misreading this post.

Please don't confuse the context here. I willingly bought the unfinished ALPHA, I play and enjoy it. What I'm talking about in the post is people replying to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism here on the forums with "Alpher deal with it", mentality.

The thing is, the mod WAS massive. I think the only reason that the Alpha got released was because Rocket/Dev team finally succumbed to our begging for the release (Myself included). There were no competitors that you speak of, the development could've gone on for a lot longer without a release, and, if it meant that maybe the core mechanics like zombies worked, I don't think that would've been such a bad thing. DayZ has been massive for a very long time, especially with all the spinoff mods like Epoch. The alpha release wasn't some last-ditch attempt to retain a tiny fan-base.

Again that isn't what we're talking about here. We're discussing wether or not the game should've been released in the state it was in.

I think you're misreading the post. I enjoy the game and certainly can read the disclaimer , I just believe releasing the game, disclaimer or not, might've been a bit premature.

This. This is what I wanted from this post. I see the pressure that was put on the dev team to release but I don't think releasing the game in it's current state was the responsible thing to do.

As a player who has played the MOD since it first came out, I'll tell you this. Maybe you SHOULD hate the game a little. I'm not condoning shooting fresh spawns or whatever, I only shoot first if I feel threatened. Anyways what I'm asking you to do is to examine why people are driven to just shoot people. With DayZ being an early-access game as we begged for it to be, theres an extreme lack of content. You can get fully geared in less than an hour if you know the routes to run. Once you have one of the 4-5 primary guns, what do you do? There are no tents to try to store gear in, no vehicles to look for and slave away repairing. So what do you do? Most people just seek some use for these guns and ammo. Sure, playing hero is challenging and can be rewarding, but most players find it easier to just take some target practice. You gotta see the mindset of the people you are criticizing.

Remember in the mod when you logged in, some text popped up in the bottom right of your screen? It told you the map, your location, and how many days you've survived in the apocalypse. This was one of my favorite things when the mod came out. It was very immersive, and made me proud when it popped up saying "Day 37". I feel this should be put back into standalone. When people start moving up north due to tents, vehicles, and more guns (I shouldn't even need to explain the importance of certain items/weapons that can ONLY be found at airfields/military bases, but that's a whole different point.) Anyways, when people actually start surviving in this survival game, I think it's important that they know how long they've been alive to attach them to that character a bit more. I think most would prefer the text that pops up in the corner of the screen on login, and no, I'm not talking about the annoying BEC chat that tells you every time someone connects/disconnects, I mean some bigger text that pops up in the corner of your screen. Obviously, it wouldn't tell you your location, maybe Chernarus, but it would tell you "Day 1, Day 19" etc... Another idea would be the journal system that was put into the mod recently, your character always has this journal on him that tells you how many days you've been alive. Anyways, I hope everyone sees my argument on how immersive this feature is, and I hope it gets added to the game. It might even already be planned. If you happen to think up any reason why this could be a bad idea, please post it below. Thanks for reading and have a nice day. -Jigsaw

If it were a journal, I could see a "Zombies Killed" page or even one for players killed, like it is in the mod. Not sure how the devs would do it, would you need to find the journal and start recording or would you just always have it? Could things like that take away from immersion?

That could be hard to do because of the current damage system. There's a line between "bandaged" and "not bleeding". I know sometimes with the current system it is possible to be shot/knocked out without a drop of blood being spilled. The current system is definitely necessary. Also imagine if you lean out from a wall, get popped, your buddy bandages you, and has no blood, saline, epi, or anything to revive you. You could just log and be safe with your gear until your buddy finds the necessary materials. The system is brutal, yeah, and mistakes happen, but it is completely necessary.

So, after about 100 hours of playing with a large group, I wondered what could make group play better, and why we never used bloodbags. There's clearly a plethora of bloodbags in the game, and it's pretty simple to take blood, hook up an IV, and use it later. We know how to take blood, and how to regenerate it, so why is no one using them? The answer is simple. Bloodbags are useless without the knowledge of blood type. Without the knowledge of blood type, you're taking about a 30% chance with your life when receiving unknown blood (roughly). I have 2 ways to remedy this. #1. The obvious one- Make blood test kits WAY more common. With a ton of test kits layin around, everyone would know their blood-type, and it would be a lot easier to transfer blood safely. #2. The cooler one- Have a 50%(negotiable) chance to spawn with a medical I.D. tag in your inventory. When examined, it could tell you your blood type, or if you have any chronic diseases (FUTURE!?!?). Let me know what you think, I'd really like to see bloodbags become more viable, and the only way I see that happening is the knowledge of blood-types. Interested to see your comments. -Jigsaw

I see your point, but if I get an Elektro spawn with A+ I'm certainly not killing myself for a blood type.