Virfortis

Now don't misunderstand me, I'm fully aware that snipers are a REAL thing, but one of the biggest fears about being a sniper is that the moment you are seen, and the moment you're outflanked, you're a dead marksman. That's it, it's over. In games, that doesn't happen, and snipers are so romanticized that everyone wants to be one. A sniper has no-one, maybe a spotter, but it's two men against an army? They shoot for officers, leaders, but they don't just pick people off willy nilly. Since we can all respawn, that means the actual role of a sniper is useless, so all that's left is the rifle as a killing machine, instead of a strategic precision weapon. That's why sniping in games is so prevalent, it's maximum glory with minimum guts. That's why it needs to go. As a long time sniper, from 1942-DayZ, I have to ask: If DayZ is all about being hardcore, difficult, and tear inducing, why is the easiest form of shooting in this game? Everything else easy like regenerating health, army kits, safe zones, and grouping are gone.

For a game that isn't supposed to have balancing, Rocket sure loves buffing snipers. It isn't about balance, it's simply about facing a sniper being such a binary system. People open up with "well if you are fighting a sniper" You don't fight a sniper, you don't see one, you can't plan for one, and you can't find one. You die, one shot, every time, while they sit up somewhere in perfect safety. They can log in and shoot you, log out and find another server, rinse and repeat. They don't have to worry about missing, or pulling zombies, and they're completely self-sufficient, whereas the survivor can't do so much as cough without dying. If there is a sniper, you are dead and they are perfectly safe. The only way to "outplay" a sniper is to simply never go near any form of civilization, and I can play THE ARMORY for that. I've been saying for years that snipers ruin FPS games, and at the end of the day my argument has been proven right every time. Games with them become all about sniper warfare. It's impossible to force people into a middle ground unless it's constant close quarters (ala Call of Duty) or there are vehicles (Battlefield) and even then, mass snipers becomes a chronic problem. (Strike at Kharkand, bridges down, line of 30 snipers) Get rid of scopes, ditch the NVGs, and watch DayZ become fun again. That's not balancing, that's a gameplay shift. If someone kills with an Enfield, rock on dude, but an AS50 as 800m? Why? If long range sniping and killing people without fear of being shot at is what you want, there's Sniper: Ghost Warrior for that. It's time the sniper rifle left the FPS, and if DayZ is going to become the WoW of FPS games (talking about popularity/everyone comparing to it) then this is vital to gameplay. Think about it: If Rogues could one shot kill everyone at long range and be able to vanish easily, would anyone on WoW play a Paladin?

DayZ is a video game, a mod for a video game no less, and games are meant to be enjoyed. Currently, the only fun is mass killing and acting like frat boys. So how do we make DayZ fun for the actual gamers? Simply put, not yet. Maybe in the future we can have positions and defenses that negate zombie spawning, making camps and cities habitable, but at the moment the mainstream audience is too busy playing "Killtacular" to bother thinking up new ideas. First we fix that by changing the mentality players go into DayZ with, which is only possible by altering the internet collective. After that, people won't shoot the moment they see a player (don't throw that 7.6% at me, it's a botched statistic) and we can get some interaction outside of clans. After that, the fun will begin to practically create itself, with groups dynamically deciding who to trust and avoid, and with Direct Channel fixed, we can move on to having a better "gun down" system, meaning better interaction.

You should have posted in the suggestions area' date=' not here, because we cant help you ;) Nor do we care if you think its false advertising. [/quote'] I did, I got told to go die in a hole/fire because it's a "carebear" suggestion.

See, this is what I thought it was, but I didn't want to assume for you guys. American's see guns as a symbol of power (in general), and even in L4D they're self-defense weapons. It's not seen as a piece of equipment to be used in the event of a hostile situation, it's seen as a symbol that puts you in a veritable glass ceiling above every other human being. That is why we have big heroes with big guns, it's a symbol of power/dominance. In the UK, nobody wants guns. They've seen firearms and deadly weapons for what they are and they just don't get why Americans obsess over it. So in a survival situation, if someone in the UK started gun-nut killing, that would be a big deal. In America? Everyone has guns and they practically expect it to happen. This mentality of "shoot everyone, might be hostile" is a cultural thing, and at the end of the day proves that there would realistically be a LOT of survivors that don't just go out and kill on sight.

I doubt his artistic impression for this game is a bunch of hardcore pvpers circle jerking over the poor noobs they've been shooting all day with their huge stockpiles of guns from artfully farming low population servers. This. Having a high difficulty ceiling is possible without catering, pandering, obsessing, and glorifying mass-killing. Rocket is not balancing the game, but he's definitely got some clear favoritism. DayB (for the zombies pose no threat) isn't an anti-game, or an artform, it's an example. An example of WHY these games don't exist in the mainstream market, or pop up more often. It's a clear example of why it hasn't happened yet, and shows exactly why gamers are so looked down on in society. Everyone flocked to it, not knowing just what the catered to community is here. If they knew, I seriously doubt many would have bought into it. We are the only mainstream society in the world that abuses players openly and considers it a good thing to tell lesser skilled players to go kill themselves. We practically invented the current form of cyber-bullying, whereas the casual gamers have no problem acting like decent human beings. NO WONDER they're slowly taking over the market. If I was a game company, I would be ready to jump off a building the moment someone on my team suggested making a game catering to the "hardcore" because I know exactly what they're like. The LAST thing I want to do is end up on Fox News because my game was involved in someone committing suicide because they were bullied online (and yes, that has happened, and it only takes once). The only reason DayZ is alive right now is because it's a voluntary, free mod. If this were an actual game? I don't even want to start about the bad PR the community would generate.

Love the "It's not a deathmatch!" sayings here, just mimicing word of mouth like it's law. One quick look through the Gallery section of this forum proves this statement to be excruciatingly invalid. Axe murders, sniper montages, mass killing. Only a small handful of videos about working together, and most of those end up as betrayals. The "DayZ IRL" is even about deathmatching. The game has devolved into a deathmatch, it's just a really slow one because of DCing and the fact that people spend hours alone. Rocket wants to say that there's only 7% murder rates, but what goes overlooked is that those 7% account for most, if not next to all, player to player encounters. The other 93% is dying to zombies, rocks, ladders, etc. But never does it involve another player. (There's a good book about this called How to Lie With Statistics. While rocket hasn't intentionally lied, the data is being read wrong) As soon as 2 players are involved in DayZ, guns go blazing if they have them. So while it makes a small percentage of overall deaths, it's the gist of player-player encounters.

Team America! Hell yeah! guns and guts and killing for all! Seriously, we have Rambo, Commando, Duke Nukem, Master Chief, Ghost, Soap, Sweetwater, Sarge, need I say more? Those are "American" heroes in nerd culture. That is who people want to play as, and so that's why everything has to be guns blazing. Culture is a large factor in personality. This is commonly played off in movies (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Mummy, Etc.) but it has a very definite ring of truth to it. In the good old land of Uncle Sam, the gun is a symbol of strength and power. So then what is the symbolic nature of the gun in England? See, I won't speak on that because I am not from there and have no right to sit there and say I know the answer for sure. I would like to ask someone across the pond to please speak up on this topic. Let's see if there's a correlation. So what does this have to do with DayZ? Nothing, by itself. DayZ isn't a US based game, HOWEVER, it allows the player to determine what their gun is for (self-defense, hunting, mass murdering) and it is very popular in the US. It only stands to reason that it's the general feel of the game, guns and glory, because the majority of players are US based (that I know of). I could go even further into the Pavlov's dog method of gamplay (see movement, unload weapon) being utilized in FPS games to such an extent that it is considered the norm in game culture, but that's another discussion. At the core of it though, you're asking something that is a very oft-asked question: Where are the Role-Players? They're what will make DayZ living and breathing. They were called carebears and promptly trolled out of the game, so now we're left with what's left: Players that drool at every kill.

I say we remove NVGs and watch the tears flow. That would be the end-all solution to this entire issue. Is nighttime too dark? Well it's daylight if you have NVGs, that's the REAL problem. And you can't just throw flares because one shot kills so how are you even supposed to know someone is there? You only have 10 flares and can't blind unless the flare is practically on top of them. So remove NVGs, let everyone have to deal with the same issues, and let's see just how bad black-time really is.

But DayZ isn't about Zombies, it's about everyone killing each other in some deranged paranoid power fantasy. The Zombies are only there to set the mood. Let's not forget that food works like health potions, you respawn, your weapons have stats, and anyone with certain select pieces of gear can play god any time they want to.

Welcome to DayB, the premiere Bandit survival apocalypse mod. No interaction ends without someone dying, and it's going to be you unless you shoot first. The concept of social interaction is laughable. Next time, ruin the whole concept of survival by joining a big clan, you'll find that you can be a good guy then while you sit on TeamSpeak and chat about nothing in-particular. Join one with their own server and you don't ever have to worry about food, water, or respawn gear ever again. Yep...this is totally a different game...totally new and hardcore and all.

Ladies and Gentleman: Typical DayZ griefer mentality, right there. This is the "hardcore" we're apparently catering to. No thought, no viewpoint, just jump up and flame because they feel self entitled. I said that while DCing was an exploit, it is the only counter to the god-like sniping that pretty much anyone that cares about character will say is immersion breaking. So the question is not should DCing be fixed, the question is what should we do to start levelling out in-game advantages that turn the game into less of a survival game and more into a "play until sniper sees you" game.

DCing is no cheaper than sniping, they both render the player untouchable and immune to any form of consequence to their actions. The only difference is that one is considered an exploit and the other is supposedly the only way "real men" (I.E. Deathmatchers) play. So while DCing should be fixed, it's really a double standard to call it cheap in comparison to long range sniping. They both accomplish the same general goals (total security)

The main problem is the "pyramid" of power. Sort of like a caste system. On the bottom line is the survivors/Shorebies. They are the biggest group, but they also are what supports DayZ with sheer numbers to make the game seem larger than it really is. They tend to solo and rarely group up, yet without them everything would feel lifeless. Up that tier is the Veterans/Adventurers. These players do not shoot unless they have to (they use common sense) and are at the heart of the pyramid. They've survived the apocalypse and know how to continue surviving in the wasteland. They know to avoid big cities and know the places that are "hotspots" for camping. They are at the center to everything that is DayZ, hardcore survivalists that will either avoid or aid new players, but aren't afraid to shoot people when it gets down to it. They have more power than shorebies, but nothing that time and experience can't fix. At the top is the clans. These players are more apt to shoot for your food and are not afraid to raid cities when in need of supplies. They usually roam in large bandit groups, are stationed in a base, and will shoot anyone not with them on sight. The only way to get involved in the clan caste is to metagame into their out-of-game clan/teamspeak, which ruins immersion terribly. Naturally, they are smaller in number, but are the most seen. The PvPers are like birds. They usually sit on top and peck away at the pyramid while crapping all over it because they can. There's an entire world where they could be, even more comfortably in some places (other mass PvP games) but they prefer to just sit and squawk "your tears are delicious" while they deface what makes DayZ entertaining: Rising in the ranks.

The zombies are the least of your worries. As soon as you get past them, there's the PvP-holics looking to shoot you for lulz. The whole "is he friendly?" question is answered pretty quickly. Expect to be very lonely without a clan. Look at a map, stick to smaller cities or the very shoreline outskirts of bigger ones (less chance of getting sniped) and just poke your head into places. Move slowly, stay prone, and above all else do not play at night until you get NVGs.

An elegant suggestion, for a more civilized game. I've been gone 2 weeks and from what I read, it's only gotten worse. Big, sweeping suggestions like this are exactly what we need to make DayZ fun to the truly classic gamer, rather than the self-proclaimed "hardcore" we have now. By making it a true survival game, the deathmatching dies down and the game becomes an ACTUAL survival. I don't mind PvP in the least, but I do mind the lack of survival. If the game reaches such a hellacious, almost net hack level of gameplay, then you've separated the boys from the men. Sadly, until rocket comes out and lays out his dream for DayZ, we won't see anything like this happen. Right now, the vocal majority on the forums think the game is perfect, and curbing PvP by making PvE harder would ruin it (what the hell, by the way?). However, I think we need to piss a LOT of these "fans" off so that DayZ can continue to be something different. I used to care about how DayZ would turn out, but it's clear that it's not going to really change from what it is. Everyone talks about this being Alpha, but a prototype is still a model for the future. In other words, I like the suggestion, but don't hold your breath. DayZ isn't for those that want to survive, and the internet has proven that.

Now, the community is going to have to help me iron these ideas out, but I've worked on them for quite some time. 1: Tension/Shivers Being near zombies can make you tense, and by tense I mean shaking. This would be prolonged exposure, but can be easily brought down by getting away (away being over x amount of meters, 50ish?) from zombies and just taking time to chill. Need a faster outlet, or nowhere to run? Light up a cigarette...and while we're at it SOMEONE make an eyepatch! Likewise, laying prone/moving slowly at night would cause the cold air to make your character shiver. Temporarily removed with heatpacks (this is not the temperature system, but uses it to an extent) or a campfire to just warm the body up, a lot like stamina but for cold air. 2: Kick on Death/to Abort This is one of my more washy ideas. Kicking players from the server on death, or making it so they have to open the player slot before they can reconnect. This is a little fun idea because it would kind of suck for clans, but if your character died he would be OFFICIALLY gone from the world, not just being sent back to respawn. It adds a bit more permanence to death, and if there's a free slot? No problems. This is mainly for big servers, but if you kill someone you can expect they won't be able to have supplies airlifted to them and come back with a vengeance + buddies. Also, any form of leaving other than typing /kick and waiting 20 seconds will result in your character being left there for quite some time. (WIP, not sure if normal players can type a command) 3: Survival in General If this bug with food has taught me anything, it's that survival isn't survival if you're doing okay. While not finding food at all is bad, making it uncommon would be an awesome thing to do. I had an amazing story where I rescued 3 starving survivors by giving them cooked meat and showing them places to hunt. This would make hunting a big deal, instead of camping supermarkets for stuff. Also, headlamps. Takes the slot of NVGs, press L to use, works like a flashlight. It was done in STALKER and made for a very interesting dynamic at night where you knew where their head was, but they could still blind you constantly. (This also would make NVGs a risk/reward thing, as the headlamps would blind you and you couldn't see, versus the all reward they are now) Lastly, I don't mind spawning without a water canteen, but any chance we can make them generally common in apartments and supermarkets? It's part of the bug, yeah, but just figured that if we can't spawn with it, we need it to artificially fix the concept of not being able to drink straight from a source.

The fun factor with this game' date=' like other sandbox style games, is that you can do whatever you want. Survival, albeit a core part of the gameplay, shouldn't be your overlying goal. Look on these forums, there are a ton of groups that enjoy roleplaying. Try taking survivors hostage or robbing them. Find a car, repair it, and drive around the countryside playing Sweet Home Alabama. Be a crazy homeless guy throwing JD bottles at everyone you see. You are the one that sets the goals, not the game. [img']http://gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs5/2084577_o.gif Uh-huh, I call shenanigans. All I see are players too busy shooting each other to make any kind of role to play.

Let's also not forget that the majority of players that die are too busy respawn spamming. The other 94% is easily respawn spams. "Dean Hall: we need to support the people who want to be bandit raiders and get a bandit party and go around and kill people." No rocket, you don't. They are QUITE capable of screwing over this mod on their own. No support needed.

His point stands. The general "feel" of the forums is determined by the idiot masses instead of the creative testers. when the forums have the mindset, the game certainly has this mindset. When the game is practically run (as in, the majority of players) by this mindset, like the internet is, then what do you have? You have what the internet is known for, 4chan. Do you want DayZ to be the next 4chan? Then stop this shit and act like a decent human being. The only issue that he has is assuming that he has to use the same level of intelligence as the rest of the community in order to get his point across. Does he have to? He was bombarded with memes and trolling, I daresay his assumption was justified.