pkolbo

Loading and spawns. Both are broken for me at the moment. When I get stuck on the loading boss, if I alt tab, sometimes it will dump me into the game. I still think he is OP. Spawns are still pretty bad. I actually use them to hunt other players and it has worked out quite well. I can tell the general area (definitively in the airfield) if there is another player present because Z's will have spawned. If no Z's, its safe to run in. I don't think its working as intended. Its also so frustrating to scope an area, see its clean except for a couple here and there that you keep your eye on. Then you turn around and one and sometimes as high as 8 have spawned just behind/in front and are glitching at you with incredible speed. No thanks. All the guys saying "yay realism" to the 7.2 aggro must not recognize the way spawns have changed is what is aggroing them like crazy. 1.7.1.5 spawn rate was undetectable to me. Now I use it against other players.

I totally agree. He's obviously trolling for praise, so lets bash him instead because it doesn't effect us one way or the other....wtf? Seriously, I liked 1.7.1.5 better than the two new patches. If you are having fun, I would stay there, as the new setup is gearing differently. If you want to try the new patches out, your character will not be deleted. On one upgrade I got the character selection screen, but I just quit and found a different server and all my stuff was back. But your mileage may vary.

Yep, this is turning into a shooter more than a survival mod. I get much higher drops on dead zombies too. For instance, I have an m14 and 1911 equipped. I kill 15 or so zombies (as you do now that its near unavoidable) and I find 2 DMR mags and 3 1911 mags on the dead Z's. It totally ruins it for me. It was supposed to be lucky to find higher tier loot. Now it is just a common fps now. Down a bunch of z's, don't worry about your ammo or supplies because they are abundant.....Boring

You're doing something wrong. You are "crying" just as much as the guy you quoted. You are being a judgemental dick. Your opinion of how other people should play is not an absolute. The world would benefit from you not being an ass just because you think so highly of your alpha mod "skills" that you can look down on the way other people enjoy the game. Now, here's my opinion of the GAME. I feel the changes that came through in 1.7.2.3 were a step farther in the wrong direction. Now zombies are easy to lose AND easy to avoid. There are 0 consequences to firing a pistol in the middle of town. I feel that is wrong. I also feel like loot got stepped up and I'm finding higher tier weapons more often, but that just may be because I know where to look for them. Anyone else confirm? I find way more DMR and 1911 mags (while M14 and colt equipped) on Z corpses than I am finding tin cans. That's not right. I'm sure it has to do with the desire to increase player interaction with the Z's, making the gun and ammo requirement higher. So it make sense to have ammo (specifically for your equipped weapons) dropping on Z corpses. But that is moving this game into an entirely different genre from what it was in 1.7.1.5. I got shot last night by a player after contacting them over direct chat. I lost a lot of great gear, but I'm like, meh, it will be easy to get again. Nor did the excitement peak when I saw them. I guess the magic of this game got broken for me now that I've seen that aggroing zombies and finding loot are easy. Zombies are dispatchable, so I am not bothered to really work to avoid them. It's just that the stakes are so low and I'm no longer attached to my gear or life. But I'm not saying make the zombie aggro even higher to add difficulty. I'm saying make aggro somewhat clear to avoid, but when you get it, you can't shake it. Make weapons (and bandages and morphine sticks) spawn less. Zombie avoidance is what makes this game unique. Every other FPS game in this entire world makes engaging the enemies its entire goal. This game did not, and now it does. And since the Z's are just modded civilians, the game is going to have limitations in the interactions with players because the foundation is not there. So use that to your advantage and make aggro hard (glitchy is forgivable when you know you screwed up and its your fault super Z beasts are storming down on you). What I have noticed now is the barrier to entry is super high. Until you get that first weapon, expect to be sliding around the whole town on your belly. I hope new players discover this fast. If you are on a veteran server, get used to looking at the world through a face of weeds. I would argue that is NOT fun, nor is it going to increase your new user base. I went back and played 1.7.1.5 before the beta patch came out, and I would agree that is was too easy, but for some reason it was so much more fun. A large part, for me, was the way Z's spawn. It has gotten better than 1.7.2.3 but I can still run up on towns and see that Z's have appeared where there weren't any. I've had Z's spawn less than 10m from me. Fix that and the "random" and "too hard" comments will drop away. Because people really are enjoying avoiding Z's. But you can't avoid something that pops into place behind your back. And when that happens, its frustration, not fun. If I know it was my fault (like in 1.7.1.5) aggro is not annoying or frustrating, its my fault. Understand this is a game and the point is fun.

epley, thanks for the link. did you get it to work? I get the 1.60 error.

I tried this and it worked and had a glorious evening of playing 1.7.1.5. But now, after I open six launcher and 1.7.2.3 auto updates, I replaced the addon folder with the 1.7.1.5 but now I can't connect to any 1.7.1.5 servers. It says "Waiting on host" after Arma loads up. I have a feeling it has something to do with the new "Beta 94876" vs. "Beta 94444". Anyone know how to properly roll back from 1.7.2.3? Edit: It's here, supposedly: http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/30635-accidentally-updated-to-94876-fix-inside/

I am tired of commenters who think people are saying the zombies got too hard. Listen up. That is NOT the issue. The zombies are not FUN. That is the issue (in our humble opinion). I have no problem dealing with them, they are not hard. It is the risk/reward of sneaking vs. wind sprinting through towns that is the difference. Getting and losing aggro easily has lost a sense of danger and respect for zombies that was in the last patch. I found that old gameplay to be unique to this mod and well balanced in 1.7.1.5. Now, I simply don't care about the Z's. In fact, they are much more a frustration than they are part of the fun. Add to that the unrealistic spawning (which is most likely causing people to believe in the "random" aggro events) and there is no sense of strategy or danger. I can't count on my intelligence helping me because if I get through or clear an area, Z's will refill it immediately if I activate the area with my presence again. But I have this strange feeling that keeping the Z's respawning so close to players is what is attributing to the large performance gain some people are seeing in this last patch. I cannot fathom how I happen to approach every town just as the local zombie toolshed-raves have ended. I constantly see piles of zombies exiting doors at the same time. Sorry, that breaks immersion for me. It was different last patch. Lastly, since aggro has become more common-place, people are now having to deal with all the strange, inconsistent mechanics that come along with zombies being aggroed. Last patch, I could forgive a zombie breaking my bones or acting erratic or inconsistent or teleporting. It was my damn fault he got aggroed. Inconsistency while aggroed added a sense of danger. I was damn sure to keep my head on a swivel as I snuck through towns, noting directions and adjusting my strategy on the fly. Man that was fun. Now that we are supposed to be dealing with this aggro on the regular, it only increases the player's recognition of the inconsistencies in Z behavior. If Rocket wants the game to go that way (more like L4D i guess?), the inconsistent Z behavior on aggro is not forgivable and detracts from the game's fun. In my opinion, the setup in 1.7.1.5 was just right. It tuned the zombies in such a way that took advantage of the shortcomings in the game, not exposing how poorly implemented the Z's are. I am unsure if Rocket can hope to tune the zombies well enough and/or fix the problems to such a state that people will be satisfied with their interactions with the Z's. That is why I think Z's should be navigable yet unforgiving after aggro. If you want zombie deathmatch, go play L4D. Leave me with at least one 1.7.1.5 server, please.

Anyone know how to get the previous patch? I try and enter 1.7.1.5 servers and it detects the conflict with 1.7.2 and I can't join.

Its true, you can no longer crouch and weave through zombies. But if you go prone, you can basically navigate the same way you did with crouching in 1.7.1.5. Crouch or stand and you will get aggro. The exponential distance increase is just too large for you to track every zombie and remain out of LOS especially in the cities. The problem with prone is I play the game in 3rd person now. I never had to before. It's the only way. Also, prone with a primary weapon is twice as slow. So I have my secondary equiped 98% of the time, making having a primary only for....PVP i guess? Forcing prone uses many different mechanics making it harder to aim, see and plan that really take the fun out of it. I really enjoyed the previous patch. This new one is just too much. Sure it may be more realistic (arguable) and even a tougher challenge, but its much less fun. To me, its not a higher challenge, its just forcing a different play style...so much so that I finally figured out why it is called dayZ. Z, for your prone key.... I still prefer having less aggro with a higher cost of causing aggro. The stakes were higher than they are now when you can aggro easily and then easily lose it. I don't understand the appeal behind wanting the player to kill more zombies. Every other FPS is a killing glutton of a game. This one was choice because it made you understand and feel out the enemy, and keep it close. Not just run and gun, which is what's happened now. Well, run and gun, or scrape your knees up all day. I won't tell you to "man up" because we don't share the same opinion. I'm glad it is fun for some. It just no longer is for me. Time will tell if this choice is happier for all.

Lee, I couldn't agree more. Ironically, I felt more engaged with the zombies in 1.7.1.5.

I'm still intent on trying to figure out a new strategy as well, since 1.7.1.5 was so much fun, I do not want to give up on this game. I do get aggro on every visit to town, UNLESS, I'm fully prone. It seems to be the only way to get around town without a 100% chance of detection. The good thing about the aggro is that you can now lose the Z's pretty easy. I'm getting better at it. But what it comes down to breaks the whole reason I played this game. 1st. I HATE playing this game with bushes in my face constantly. Trying to plan routes and understanding what's around me is futile while prone. 2nd. Aggroing easily + losing aggro easily is BORING. It basically encourages players to ignore the Z's completely. It's so much easier to run into town, lose them in the supermarket. It takes the fear out of aggro completely, since it happens constantly. In the 1.7.1.5 patch, sure it was easy to avoid getting aggro, but when you got it, you had better have an amazing escape plan. THAT was fun. The Z's were much more part of the game and were scary. Now its like. I aggroed. who cares, I'll just windsprint or shoot them, its not that big of a deal. I think that was so much more fun. It should be Low chance of aggro that is NOT randomized, but based on skill coupled with a near impossiblity to lose the z's once aggroed. Then I fear the Z's. That is fun. My last issue is the spawns. If you are going to have Z's with binoculars strapped to their domes, they can't just magically appear ahead of you 20m or behind you in an area you just cleared out. But thats not that big of an issue because Z aggro just doesn't matter any more.

I got tired of crawling around everywhere, so I decided to hop on a late evening time server as it felt like the game has devolved into monitoring a Visibility index in the upper right corner of the screen. Luckily at night, your visibility rating is down to 0, so I figured I could go back to sneaking around, dodging zombies and, you know, enjoying a suspenseful unique gaming experience. Yet somehow, even though I was crouching and sneaking in grass with 0 Visibility, I managed to simultaneously aggro two Z's from 40 meters. So then I take off running through town and all of a sudden the magic is broken for me. Sure, in this new patch I can probably lose a majority of them zig zagging through the fences, but that is about all this game is to me now; running from zombies. I used to patiently sneak through town, watching and avoiding zombies, taking my time and planning routes. But because its going to happen anyway, you might as well go full sprint through the town and duck into a couple choice houses knowing you can lose the zombies around a corner later, or pop off a couple in town with your 1911 without aggroing any more. Or maybe you do. Who knows what "exponent" you will draw. I understand that trying to increase the difficulty and engaging the zombies in the action a bit more may be appealing, but the way you could patiently weave through shambling corpses in the 1.7.1.5 really makes them a deeper, more connected part of the game to me. Knowing what moves to make, adjusting your plan on the fly and understanding that when they were on you, you were to blame. That was fun. It made the game so much more suspenseful. The danger was so close and could fall on you at any moment but as long as you kept an eye out, you could successfully weave your way through to your goal. It was like I survived. Successfully navigating towns without aggroing anything felt like tiny victories. I felt I accomplished it. It wasn't luck, it was experience. Each time I got better. I was going to survive. But now with random aggroes from 100m, each trip feels like a failure. I'm too busy patching up worst case scenarios to take stock of my supplies and plan the next raid. I'm desperately in need of painkillers and am just too frustrated to keep going. Maybe that's the point though? Honestly, I would happily keep playing 1.7.1.5 with all its bugs. I bought Arma II specifically to play DayZ and for the last two weeks it was more than worth it. I guess my question is, is there a correct strategy here? Is aggro a random element, or am I missing some vital information that will get me through town? I'm afraid I'm done dancing with zombies and it makes me sad.

I went back in to try and see if I was doing it wrong. I tried hiding and crouching staying out of sight of any zombie, but it was useless. I couldn't see them, but they sure as hell could see me. I understand that there needs to be some risk of discovery, but what the hell are we supposed to do against a 90% discovery rate regardless of behavior? Before I could make it through a town no problem. It wasn't easy, but it was doable and extremely fun. I experienced a feeling I've never had playing a game, discovering loot and planning routes. Now I feel dumped on. Everything's changed, and as much as I like a challenge, the allure of the game is gone. No longer is it a fun risk, its now just run into town, get slapped by zombies and hope I've hoarded enough bandages from the previous patch to survive. God this was so fun just a patch ago!

I enjoy a challenge and don't mind altering my play style if it turns out to be a fun experience. The only problem is I've already gained a ton of experience on the mechanics as they were before. And I really enjoyed sneaking through town, on the lookout in both sight and sound for zombies, always aware of a misstep or another player could change everything. It was doable. You knew what you had to do and you believed you could make through. Now you just have to throw that out the window because everything has changed. That does not equal fun. What I can't figure out is what exactly you need to do to survive. I've tried sneaking as before, only to have a random zombie sprint towards me from out of my view range, over a hill (not a joke). Add to that the amount of new spawned zombies means they are facing every direction, so avoiding their new, longer sightlines is nearly impossible. There is no plan of attack because they either move towards your path telepathically or respawn in such numbers on your target that one of them is bound to "exponentially" see you - Ok, I get it. No sneaking. Next, let's try aggroing a group and taking them out to the countryside and killing them away from town. No problem, got all 12 of them down. Time to head back in and scoop up the hard earned loot. Wait, nope, another 17 just spawned and are shambling this way. All-right then, no baiting. What I can't figure out is where the fun is? The only other option I see is straight up gunning them down as you run through town. Who has enough ammo to do that? Plus, that is not why I play this game. There are many other games that have much better fps mechanics, no offence to the dev team. Or is it that you now sprint in trying to loot on the run? I don't think it's possible with the Arma II inventory mechanics. I liked the previous patch. Sure maybe it wasn't realistic, but zombies were still a threat. And sneaking around them was fun and based on skill. You had to look and listen and it was exhilarating. Even more; it was possible. Now it feels more based on some RNG exponential luck of the draw, not experience. The loot being random was fun. Aggro being random is not. Actually looking and moving and crouching and fearing I felt was the heart of the game. Now there's so much aggro, it has devolved into a thin veneer of an fps without the ammo to go with it. I can no longer tell why I am playing this game at its current level. Maybe over some time I will be able to see the strategy to the zombies, and I still hope that it is true. But its a cold shower to change things so drastically when there are other missing pieces that have yet to be addressed.