Chiefmon

Pretty much. It's stupid, but it's funny. Also, yes. It is shameless self-promotion.

Thank you, I didn't realize there was a thread for this. Thank you and consider this thread closed.

You are right, I shall omit the anecdote from this post. Please save the sarcasm for someone who deserves it.

I see forum members constantly posting about penalties against bandits. I notice a very wide schism between the Pro-PvP and the Anti-PvP. This post is an ATTEMPT at bridging the schism by explaining the underlying psychology and logic behind being a bandit and by showing the basic flaw in balancing bandits with survivors. The biggest problem with the Bandit issue is the disproportionate ratio of Bandits:Survivors. Right now I would have it pegged at 6:4. This leads to what I would call 'The Bandit Dilemma'. Here is Survivor Bob. He is scavenging and surviving. He sees a survivor across the street in Cherno. What can he do? He has 3 choices: Evasion, Diplomacy, and Elimination. Evasion: Simply avoid the other player. This is often not feasible since they will usually see you first or at the same time. RiskRelative chance of loss compared to gain :None Gain:None Loss:None As you can see, there is no risk in a successful evasion, but cannot be relied on, leading to our intrepid survivor to the other two choices. SUCCESS YIELDS NOTHING TO BOTH SIDES Diplomacy: Try and talk to the other and forge an alliance. This is, for many, the best outcome. Both players gain a better chance of survival, but at the risk of death on their first encounter. They could gain a companion, or they could be shot on sight. Risk:Med-High Gain:High Loss: Increasing relative to life length The loss in this one is unusual. If Bob is a new player with just a bandage and a flashlight, death is not a big loss for him. If He has a helicopter waiting outside of town, a gillie suit, and a GPS, death would be a huge loss. So, the more progress He makes in this game, the higher the risk with diplomacy. SUCCESS YIELDS GAINS TO BOTH SIDES Elimination: Attempt to kill the other player as expediently as possible. IF I fire first, I have a low chance of death. A n00b with only a Makarov can kill an experienced player with a rifle if they can get a good burst off before the other player has time to respond. This decision will prevent the other player from harming Bob. Also, the other player could have better loot on him. Risk: Low-Med Gain: Variable based on location Loss: Increasing relative to life length Bob open firing on the other player could yield excellent loot, especially if they are further inland where the better equipped survivors loom. This is not discounting the chance of a super player on the coast or a n00b on the NW Airfield, but is instead relying on statistical tendencies. The CHANCE of death is lower than risking diplomacy even though the loss is equally severe. If they BOTH choose elimination, one or both will die. SUCCESS LEADS TO GAINS FOR ONE, DEATH TO THE OTHER So, what should Bob do? Anyone who has taken a Economics class has surely heard of the prisoner's dilemma. It's the same as the Bandit's Dilemma. 2 prisoners are called on to testify against each other. If they both stay silent, they both get 1 year in prison. If they both talk, they both get 5 years in prison. If one talks and the other doesn't, the silent one gets 20 years and the talker goes free. Both are naturally inclined to talk to avoid the 20 year sentence, but they could both get the 1 year sentence if they work together. The problem is, much like with the Bandit's Dilemma, they have no idea what the other will choose. Early game, the logical choice is to work together. Even if you die, you lost only an hour of play. Late game, everyone will logically choose to kill each other. If you die, you lost 5 hours of play. I myself adopted a shoot-on-sight policy when I went to the NW Airfield because I didn't want to lose all my stuff. (Thankfully it was abandoned, so I did not have to kill anyone.) For the good of both, they should work together. Late game, an extra sniper providing cover fire is a great advantage. But what if he shoots you instead? He would get all your stuff and you'd respawn kicking yourself for trying to be diplomatic. Here's the flaw in balance: The more items a player gets, the more reason they have to kill anyone who gets near them. The less they have, the better reason to be diplomatic. So we are stuck in a world where, through natural selection, Bandits are well armed and the diplomatic are either constantly killed or are forced to take up banditry as a form of self defense. If EVERYONE stopped being bandits, everyone would prosper. But now we are moving toward a exclusively PvP world. When the ONLY way to become fully armed is through banditry and shoot-on-sight tactics, the bandit population will only grow. Back to survivor Bob: B=Bob S= Other survivor D=Diplomacy E=Extermination BD/SD- Both call out friendly and salute. They team up and exchange supplies. The other survivor is low on food but has tons of soda, Bob has tons of cooked meat, but is low on water. They both benefit and continue on, covering each other and scavenging. Working together, they eventually get a car repaired and set off on a grand adventure. BD/SE- Bob waves and is promptly shot in the face. Bob dies. BE/SD- The other survivor calls out friendly and Bob empties a M1911 into his chest. The other survivor dies and Bob picks his corpse clean of supplies, making out with more food and water than he could consume. He comes across a repairable car later, but doesn't have the time or inventory space to repair it. BE/SE- They open fire on each other. Bob kills the other survivor and survives with 1000 blood and a broken leg. He doesn't last long against the zombies that heard the gunshots. That is the Bandit's Dilemma in a nutshell. This does not take into account the jackasses who kill for fun. Seriously, those guys are asshats. WHO KILLS A SURVIVOR 5 SECONDS AFTER HE SPAWNS!? YOU HAD NO REASON TO WASTE A SNIPER ROUND ON ME! Also, for those interested, just gonna put this here: Yeah.I don't usually do this, but please do comment. I wish to know whether people feel that this is accurate or not.

I was too.

I am ONLY joining servers that 6updater has white. Still stuck at waiting for host

Same issue.

http://dayzmod.com/f...ew-forums-idea/ Backspace. http://dayzmod.com/

Seriously, I am getting sick of relying on glitches to get zombies off my tail. Either reduce their speed or make it so that they will give up the chase after awhile. I ran for 20 minutes with one zombie on my tail and I kept getting more and more frustrated as he would get ~30 feet behind then activates his afterburners and be 2 feet behind me. And before someone points out that this topic has been posted dozens of times, I know. I just really wanted to make the cross country joke. You are correct. Upon reflection I should not have posted this. Consider this thread closed.

STICK IT IN

Ok, I'm new to Day Z. My biggest problem is the fact that only SOME of the buildings are enterable and you can't tell until you get to it. I was scavenging with a new character and was running cross country away from a horde of zombies. I saw a house and ran to it figuring I could go into the front then out the back. The door wasn't openable. I died. I see a large mansion with zombies roaming outside. I slowly creep around, careful to avoid all the zombies, get to the front door and... can't be opened. I can't escape. I died. Exploring industrial area. A guy in a car shows up and starts shooting. Dive to what looks like a small boathouse. Can't be opened. I died. Either make all the buildings openable or give the openable doors some different color. I know that wouldn't be very realistic, but having a small cottage in the middle of the countryside impenetrable isn't very realistic either. UPDATE: Consider this thread closed. The commenters made very good points that addressed my issues.

On my first go at DayZ I couldn't get the audio settings good, because the volume didn't change no matter where I set the sliders. I just want other survivors' voices to be very loud compared to everything else. What do?

New Items: -Walkie Talkies/Radio- A player could get a pair of walkies to share with a friend. They could be tuned to a custom channel, much like real talkies so that players could split up and be able to communicate without the immersion breaking use of Skype. Once two talkies are in synch, a player could drop one in a room and go hide on a hill with a sniper, calling for help through the talkie. The game would make the sound source at the dropped talkie so the player could set up an ambush. Players would have to turn the talkie off when in zombie infested territory to avoid the extra noise, but would also be deprived of communication. This could set up the beautiful scenario in which two players split up and they suddenly lose contact. One of them would be horrified at what could have happened. Did his partner die, and can no longer communicate, or did he just turn it off? Then a new voice comes over the talkie: "We got that noob." Bandits killed his friend then taunted him through the radio. Even better, the bandits could take the other player hostage, only turning him lose if they come in for negotiation. Radios would work in the same way, only that they would be much longer distance and stationary. Imagine, a few players riding in a vehicle when the radio picks up a signal from a radio station. Some others are trapped in the station with dwindling supplies and a horde of zombies outside. Or maybe a couple of players could play music files over the radio until someone gets tired of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" and shoots up the station. -Blankets/Sheets- Comes in different colors. When in use, the player is slowed. It can be used as a makeshift camouflage and will slowly increase the player's body temperature. Can be used to avoid infection and to stave off cold. Using during the day time could cause heatstroke. *see heatstroke entry* Using the blanket on a doorway or window will block it. It would not stop bullets or anyone from entering but would effectively block the sight of passing zombies and bandits. Sheets do the same except warm less efficiently and weigh less. -Siphon Pump- Allows players to siphon fuel from vehicles. A viable alternative to approaching a gas station. Also allows for exciting moments when a friend is distracting an enemy group while you drain their tanks so you both can get away safely. -Climbing Gear- *SEE TREE CLIMBING ENTRY* Allows players to climb trees much faster than normal -Plants- *SEE HERBAL THERAPY ENTRY* Traps: -Tripwire- Each unit is 4m long. Players that run through it will fall and take a small amount of damage. Walking will allow one to bypass the tripwire. Zombies will always trip. Can be set up across doorways or on open ground. Anyone who looks directly at it will be given a prompt to disarm. Excellent for defending buildings. Can combine with grenades for a Grenade Trap. -Beartrap- Heavy, will break the bones of anyone unfortunate enough to step on it. East to spot, although hard to see in tall grass. Caught players can free themselves by pulling the release latch and crawling away. Will pop the tire of any vehicle that runs it over. -Mines- Anti-vehicle and anti-personal, incredibly rare and deadly. If something steps or drives over it, it will explode, doing massive damage. Disarm-able, but risky to do so, I recommend having a realistic little disarmament mini-game. Nothing too hard, just so that people will panic if they are disarming during a firefight or zombie horde. If they fail, then BOOM! -Grenade Trap- If a player looks at a tripwire with a grenade in their inventory, they will be given the option to set up a grenade trap. It works the same as a tripwire trap, only that it will arm the grenade when tripped. Walking players will not trigger it, but a running player will be in trouble. Concepts: -Traps- Well, I think it could be a good tool for the sneakier players. -Tree Climbing- Think about it, panicking and sprinting for the treeline while being chased by a horde of zombies. Hiding in the tree, taking potshots at the growing group. Zombies can't climb, but you'd be a sitting duck for anyone with a gun. Bandits could also light the tree on fire and watch the player squirm as they weigh their options. -Heatstroke- We have penalties for low body temperature, so why not high? Sprinting in a ghilie suit on a hot summer day cross country should make them pass out pretty quickly. -Herbal Therapy- This is a big one, but how about making herbal medicine? Some plants would be good for painkillers, some would help fight infection. Use real plants so that smart players would have the advantage. Have some deadly ones mixed in like Hemlock. That way, a smart player will be using St. John's Wort and the idiots will be nibbling on Hemlock.

USE THE SEARCH BAR! http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/25958-choose-your-background/#entry253291

Absolutely.

This is EXACTLY what I want to happen. It would be amazing.

SIGNED LIKE A BOSS

I know that this has been suggested before, but not in the way I envision it. When you choose one of the following survivor backgrounds, you do not get different items on spawn or anything. Instead, you receive little class specific buffs, abilities, and a corresponding armband to designate them as each class. All of the buffs are designed so that they would benefit a group more than an individual. By having these little buffs, it will encourage people to work together as opposed to shooting on sight. I will give explanations about each survivor ability at the bottom of this post. THESE ARE IDEAS TO BE IMPLEMENTED WHEN THE DESIGNERS SHIFT GAME ENGINES, NOT FOR THE DERPY ARMA II ENGINE. PLEASE JUDGE THESE IDEAS WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE DIFFICULTY WITH WHICH THEY WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED. Medical Background (Medic): Carries out medical treatments on other survivors twice as fast and can perform them while moving. Also gains the 'apply pressure' ability that will allow them to stop bleeding for as long as both survivors are not moving. (in case there are no bandages) Any survivors within 3m of the medic will regain 1 blood unit per second. DOES NOT APPLY TO SELF OR OTHER MEDICAL PERSONNEL. DOES NOT STACK. Military Background (Soldier): Gains ability 'Rally' which gives designated survivors +20% Accuracy with firearms when within 30m of Soldier. DOES NOT APPLY TO SELF, DOES NOT STACK. The survivor that chooses this Background will also gain a +5% Accuracy bonus. Gains ability 'Blood Brothers' to be used on another Soldier. When within 3m of each other, reload speed is doubled. CAN ONLY BE USED ON OTHER SOLDIERS AND IS 2-WAY. Engineering Background (Engineer): Can build kits twice as fast. (Tank traps, wire fencing, campfires, ect) Gains ability 'Tinker'. Tinker allows the engineer to make vehicles run 1.5x as efficiently (i.e. 200L of gas will make a car go as far as it would if it had 300L of gas.) Gains ability 'Blockade'. Blockade allows the Engineer to force a door to stay closed against mid level damage. Blockade would have a cooldown. Gains ability 'Overclock' Overclock allows the Engineer to mod flashlights to shine brighter, but will permanently burn out if left on for longer than 5 minutes straight. Athletic Background (Athlete): No negative effects from prolonged sprinting. Gains ability 'Carry'. Can pick up a wounded or unconscious survivor and run with them. Cannot shoot or use items while carrying. Gains ability 'Show Off'. When within 30m of a friendly survivor, Athletes do 50% bonus damage with melee weapons. Athletes will autovault over obstacles. Social Background (Socialite): Can see how many survivors someone has killed. Gains ability 'Disguise'. Can change the appearance of the armband so that they may trick other survivors or bandits into thinking that they are of another background. Gains ability 'Surrender'. Surrender waves a white flag and forces the user to disarm for 60 seconds. If hit by a zombie or survivor, the 60 second wait time is cleared. Gains ability 'Sabotage'. Sabotage allows the Socialite to make a gun jam, a car not start, or a grenade explode instantly when the pin is pulled. Socialites will see English subtitles beneath the Russian on the signs throughout the world. Hunter Background (Scout): Gains ability 'Track'. Track allows the scout to examine the ground for tracks. The traveled path of the trackee will glow for the Scout. Gets 50% extra meat from hunting animals. Crossbow bolts fired by the Scout will have a trail along its flight path allowing for an easier retrieval. Survivors within 5m of the Scout will have their noise levels reduced by one bar. Loner Background (Lone Wolf): Gains +1000 maximum blood. When within 30m of other survivors, accuracy goes down by 25%. Gains ability 'Adrenaline Rush'. Adrenaline Rush increases sprint speed by 25%, forces the player out of shock and allows them to WALK on a broken bone. Adrenaline rush lasts 20 seconds. For this duration, bleed rate is multiplied by 4. Adrenaline Rush can only be used once every 24 hours. Medic- Meant to be the most sought after member of a group. Disguising as a Medic is a bad idea since Disguise doesn't give the socialite the small healing aura. Soldier- Supposed to be a leader type. Blood brothers is a bond between two soldiers that will allow for a last stand next to each other with nonstop firing. Engineer- More of an independent background. Would be sought after if a small group had a vehicle. The Engineer's blockade ability would allow for a moment's rest when a group or individual dives into a small house to escape a ravenous horde. Athlete- The first line of defense, meant to do heavy lifting. Socialite- A bandit's best friend. They can swap out their armband to trick a group into accepting them. If a group already has a couple of medics and a Scout, one could disguise themselves as a Soldier so they could more effectively infiltrate their group. Surrender is meant so that a player could effectively declare I AM FRIENDLY to other players. Most of the shooting I've seen is due to everyone living in fear of being shot. This would allow a short cease fire so that a player could negotiate as opposed to open firing. Sabotage would be useful in group vs. group situations. A socialite could leave a bunch of sabotaged equipment out in the open for the enemy. The ability to read the Russian signs is meant to be an incentive for all groups to have a Socialite with them. Scout- Great for sneaking and chasing enemy bandits/survivors. Lone Wolf- For people who want to play the game solo. Adrenaline Rush is meant as a risky escape. Bleeding horribly and limping from a zombie horde could be better than laying their being eaten. The Lone Wolf would have an incentive to avoid large groups. The final goal with these classes is to reduce the amount of survivors killing each other. I want a bandit to aim his sights at a survivor, see that he is a medic, then threaten him into healing him. Better yet, I want people to keep an active look out for the other classes so that they can all benefit from each others' presence. PLEASE COMMENT WITH FEEDBACK OR OTHER BACKGROUND IDEAS!

Let me reiterate, this is for the FINAL edition. Right now DayZ is in pre-alpha. I figure that recommending these HUGE upgrades early would make them more likely to be made.

Can't tell if sarcasm or genuine enthusiasm...

I also think there should be a scream hotkey. That way a player could scream to attract help if they are being chased by zombies or as a threat for someone to back off. "Come any closer, and I'll scream. Then we both go down."

Abso frickin lutely

I am in favor.

I would be inclined to agree BUT, the average lifespan is under an hour. It's hard enough to survive as it is and making a weapon learning curve would allow the lucky players to snowball.

COMPLETELY SHAMELESS BUMP