cannedpeaches

Yeah, this sounds... solid. I don't if I'd depend on a "Fallout Caps" style currency emerging from it, not as long as murder's still an option in the game. But I do definitely like the story that a number of zombie dead on a corpse could tell you. Maybe a similar souvenir for bandits killed? Collectible "Bandanas"?

I don't know if this is the kind of bitching that only noobs are inclined to do, but ever since the starting Makarov was removed and the AI visual range was boosted, I've found the game prohibitively hard to play. In fact, I've stopped playing. Now, I'm not saying this is true of everybody. I could just be really, really bad at the game. It wouldn't be the first time. But, two thoughts before I exit stage right: firstly, if this was a tweak designed to curtail uncalled-for PvP, it's not working. Secondly, solo players or players who LIKE city life and spicy PvP action will have a harder time having fun in Day-Z, if not an impossible one. Point 1, elaboration: It seems like this was supposed to embed the Day-Z experience more deeply in like, the actual sociological cohesion that might happen in a zombie takeover. As in, PvE is so hard that most people lack the energy for PvP. But in reality it seems PvP has become more common since the tweaks: I would surmise it's because killing another player is just an easier way to upgrade your loot now than looking is. And with the removal of starting Makarovs, newbies under fire don't even have the illusion of being able to defend themselves. Point 2, elaboration: There's a lot of folks who derive a sick sort of pleasure from wandering into Cherno lightly armed and carving out a meagre and hardscrabble life. I'm one of them. Now, I can't go into Cherno or Elektro or Stary because if I happen to pick up some Zed groupies I can't outrun them, nor can I fight them. Couple that with the miserably low loot spawnrates I've experienced outside of the cities and it's looking anything but murder is a mug's game. I think it boils down to a rock-paper-scissors kind of equation. Either you can get rid of the starting Makarov, you can turn up the visual range, or you can make the zombies the indefatigable runners they have always been, but having all three is setting the qualifications for initial survival just way, way, too high.

Thanks, of course, if you took your time to drop in and offer some advice on how to get through the game's opening salvo, but Moriarti seems to have the best gist of what I'm saying. It's not that I find the game impossible to PLAY, post-tweaks: it's that I find it impossible to ENJOY. Just one man's opinion, but I think that Day-Z works best when it accepts and validates a variety of playstyles from banditry to solo stealth to armed groups. The most recent revision seems to reward only stealth - and mind, stealth ain't a mechanic that the current Arma II platform mixed with the improvised AI routines makes very satisfying. In fact, I've had to start server-hopping just to get decent kit because I can't stand to slink around on my belly for a half-hour to crawl into Kamenka for the distant hope of finding an M1911 in its sole "high-value residence." I mean, open poll, how many of those who responded are having as much or more fun now as they were two or three weeks ago?

If it was voted for, it was voted for by members of the forum who visit regularly - i.e. veteran players. Veteran players who don't have to respawn as often because they don't die as often. Veteran players who often have friends in game to help them gather gear. The real problem with this is from a design perspective: it seals the game off to newbies. The starting Mak functions a lot like the "Oh shit" handle in a car. It's a safety blanket. Tells you that you've got some sort of control on any exigencies. Take that away, newbies don't know what the hell to do. I mean, when you started, did you know that you needed to head into towns and find the brick two-stories to get armed? Probably not. So you're taking a feature that helped ease in newbies, and removing it to serve some invisible "majority" composed like 100% of salty veterans. Welcome to the Hardcore-ification of Day-Z. Hope you like shrinking servers.