EggMcSexy

I haven't played Day Z hardly at all since all the sidearms were nerfed into worthlessness. Is there any interest in bringing them back to their previous stats whatsoever? Am I the only one who doesn't like these changes?

Everyone knows bandits are extremely common in Day Z, and the reasons are very simple. The reward is high. Killing players can give you rare loot quickly. There's not much else to do. Once you get some nice equipment to work with, most players want to hunt something a little more interesting than zombies, so many of them opt to hunt "the most dangerous game". There are other reasons, but those are 2 of the major ones. So, how do you fix it? Well, I had thought of something that could work. It's not a silver bullet, but it'd give white-hat players something to do, reward teamwork, and raise the risk of hunting friendlies. Add a trait called "infamy". It'd be a lot like the old "humanity" trait; anyone who kills players habitually would become "infamous", and killing an "infamous" player would not add infamy. But don't just stop there. We all know "humanity" didn't really stop bandits. So here's what you also do. Anyone who's played a lot of single player Arma 2 should know about the conversation options feature, wherein you can ask friendlies about the weather, the time of day, and information about enemy troop movement. So, what am I getting at? Add a conversation option to Day Z that informs players about the whereabouts of infamous players/bandits currently on the server. Because at least two people have to get together to start a conversation and get whereabouts of infamous players, gaining the information about bandit whereabouts requires at least some level of cooperation. It also potentially rewards that cooperation; since most bandits usually have valuable loot, players who kill them would likely be well rewarded. It also raises the risk of being a bandit, as any group of two or more players can easily find out your whereabouts and hunt you down. Not only that, it gives white-hat players something to do: hunt down bandits. So what do you think? Is this a feature worth implementing? Do you think it would actually reduce the bandit problem?

It wouldn't have to follow the old "humanity" system to a letter. It's possible the system could be tweaked and tinkered to be less punishing of players only "guilty" of defending themselves. I don't know how that would be done, though, I really don't think of this as "dead men discussing who they got shot by" though. If individuals made a habit of killing others, in reality their deeds would become known and their whereabouts would begin being tracked. Since players are only on servers for hours, rather than surviving for lifetimes, as is "realistic", certain things might need to be handled differently to make the flow of information more realistic. "Do gooders" would also have their whereabouts known, however, so I can see how it's a bit too one sided to be realistic. Also, I said before I wouldn't want the information to be extremely specific. I would want it to be general locations and only up to date by when they've last been within 100 meters of a player.

I've said several times in the thread, the problem is not that bandits exist, nor is it that banditry is profitable. The problem with banditry is, it's the only logical progression in the late game. Also, because most players choose to be bandits, players don't trust eachother and don't cooperate, so you see very few organized groups. Bandits shouldn't be removed, but I think more features should be implemented that encourage players to form groups.

What I was really wanting to get at in this suggestion was some system to simulate rumors of dangerous persons' whereabouts, which, realistically, would spread. But I see what you guys are getting at; the suggestion is too much of a "morality system", which wouldn't really fit neatly into the structure of Day Z. Not only that, players might be falsely flagged as dangerous. Vigilance's idea might be a better method of dealing with "shoot on sight" behaviors and encouraging teamwork. I still think using Arma 2's conversation system could add to some interesting game mechanics though, and I figured it was at least worth suggesting/discussing, since it's probably not an approach that's been mentioned before. Automatically added notes might not be a bad thing to take a look at and discuss, too, but I liked that conversations require two people to work together to get information.

Definitely agree about the "last known location" note.

I disagree. Personally I feel banditry is hunting down players who are unarmed, operating on a shoot-on-sight basis, firing upon players who declared themselves friendly, or declaring oneself friendly and then later stabbing a person in the back.

Again, I only suggested that whereabouts be given for people who are already bandits. Could some players that coordinate end up failing miserably and getting mowed down? Absolutely, but that's part of the game. Ultimately though, some players might do very well at hunting down bandits, and they would be rewarded by looting said bandits. All I'm suggesting is a feature that gives late-game players some alternative to banditry. I am at no point suggesting that banditry is a bad feature, or that it should be removed.

You also would have people who want these bandits removed, and information about there whereabouts would spread. I want this end of reality to be covered as well. I don't hate bandits, and I don't want to see them removed. I simply feel there should be some role that "white-hat" players can take when they finally get good enough gear that zombies aren't really a problem for them anymore.

...Where exactly did I suggest that? Nowhere.

The problem is not that bandits exist. Bandits are an important part of the game, and add a huge suspense element to the game that shouldn't be removed. The problem is that once you get good gear, there isn't really much to do other than become a bandit, and very rarely do people work together to remove bandits. I don't know if you've ever used the conversation options on ARMA 2, but it basically offers a list when it comes up of conversation options. You could use this list in day Z to give players names of bandits on the server and some idea of where they are, even if 2 players do not have this information. Nice ad hominem there.

I'm not sure. It's not like I try to play Day Z as a white-hat. I myself am guilty of being a bandit on many occasions. I personally think any "solution" for banditry should be fun for both the bandit and the bandit-hunter, which is what I liked about this idea I had. I personally think it would be fun to have more coordinated groups to go up against. Meanwhile if I were a whitehat, I think this would give me an objective to entertain myself with.

Firstly I was thinking you could make the information not 100% specific. Things like "Last seen in Chernogorsck", not "located at grid 094073". Secondly, if you read the suggestion, I was saying that only players who are bandits would have their whereabouts made known by conversation options.

I never said "anyone who has ever killed anyone". I said players who habitually killed other players. Actually read the post, please. Rocket has punished banditry in the past, with the "humanity" system, which was aimed at making bandits obvious to other players with a "bandit" skin.

I agree that bandits are essential to the immersion of the game, which is why I'm not suggesting trying to remove PvP. However, I fail to see how making a bandit's whereabouts known to any cooperating players encourages bandit behavior. Could you please elaborate?

Even in that case, friends who regularly log on together and play the game logically could get this information, and since they already know and trust eachother, the risk wouldn't be nearly as high.