Maks (DayZ)

Hello, I have been playing the DayZ mod for Arma2 for about a month and a half now, absolutely loving the mod and quite happy to hear that the Standalone game is announced so quickly. Being that all the focus in the DayZ project should be on the standalone game from now on I have looked at how the current game mod is and how people are playing this fantastic game. Simply put I have come up with an idea to add 'Perks' to the character creation menu, when you make the character it will ask you to select 'Male' or 'Female' and select one of the 'Perks' listed during the character creation. The 'Perks' are not ment to be overpowered, it would be a small change in the character statistics and would encourage people to team up more creating organized groups all having a role to play. Examples of some of the 'Perks' I came up with are as followed: Survivor: The Sight and Sound meters are slightly muffled than the other classes. Traveler: The Thurst and Hunger meter will have a longer time limit before flashing red. Pack Rat: Slight increase in the default inventory space and the ability to wear a Backpack and a Chest Pouch (Giving a purpose to the useless smaller bags). Gun Slinger: The time it takes for the aim to stabilize after sprinting or running is shorter. Medic: The time it takes to bandage or give a blood transfusion is slightly shorter than other classes. Mechanic: Can repair a broken vehicle faster and use less parts (such as jerry rigging). Some ideas were to add a Harcore class that would have no changes to the base stats and maybe a Sniper class giving a much more stable aim when using any scope weapon. All these 'Perks' would give people a bit more focus in the game and encourage teaming up to attack other groups or fixing cars and sending out raids instead of shooting the first person you see in the face (even though its freaking fun as hell). I know that PVP is a huge part of this game and therefore balanced role enforced groups would be more fun than a lone sniper sitting 1000m away who shoots and alt+f4. Please leave comments or any ideas and tweaks to the current post, all criticism is welcome. I really hope that Dean 'Rocket' Hall can spot this post and consider it. Thank you! P.S. So far there are only the Camo and Gillie suits in the game, if the standalone has many more outfits it would be amazing (people love outfits, example being Hats in TF2). That can be worked into maybe seasons in the game, therefore the need for a winter camo outfit during the snowy months of the game.

Bravo. *claps*

The game mechanics need to change to give people a reason to not kill mindlessly, instead of punishing players for their play style create something that enforces team play and a sense of constant improvement and exploration. Only a handful of people snipe others for the sake of their gear aka. Bandit, most of the other 1000s of snipers are just geared up players bored with nothing to do with good 400+ zombie kills under their belt.

The idea is good and the fact that you proposed it to this forum is a good thing. Personally I think that not being able to blood bag yourself or having a hero skin should not be a reason to punish or reward people for their playstyle. If someone went out lived for a week straight found an AS50 + ammo (I am not talking about hacked situations but only the legit gameplay) and lied down to scope up and take a shot to kill another 'hero' survivor it should be that players choice to play that way and it should be your duty to make sure to stay aware. As for sniping noobs at spawn that is something that should be fixed on the game side of things not punish players for it. I like the idea but I am sure there are better game mechanics than restricting full game capabilities to certain players who wish to play as bandits (which is part of this game and a survivability aspect of human nature). PS. This is a forum and try not to snap and swear at people here even if they criticise you, everything on the suggestion forum is open for debate and criticim. Someone will always Rustle your jimmies.

Brilliant post, amazing list of useful information both in game mechanics and real life. I am 100% all for adding all the improvements to the sniping and shooting mechanics altogether. This would give me a great learning curve to master and perfect the sniping from long range, it would also filter out those who clearly do not care for the fine art of shooting and stick to close combat. Thank you for the great post, I've learned something by reading it also.

The only things I can agree with you on is the zombie AI pathing fix, zombie realism and smoother inventory management. Other than that you are pulling too many examples and ideas from MMOs and RPGs, that will not go over too well in this community that is trying to avoid all that and just have a deep and difficult zombie survival simulation. Good post otherwise! PS. trading posts sound too much like something you'd find in an MMO based game which DayZ is not, the only trading that would happen is if two people meet up have something each person needs and exchange that way before shooting eachothers brains out later. This is a survival game and I do not think anyone here would like automated trading system (which wouldn't make sense) in a survival simulation game.

Cheers for a great explanation.

Well that is not true, Arma2 which is the game on which DayZ (the mod) is slapped on top of has multiple military style skins that could be potentially used. Yet the topic about the outfits was kinda directed towards the new Standalone DayZ game which makes sense would use the new Arma3 Real Vertuality 4 engine, and since the game would have to be made 'manually' anyways as you say I do not see an issue of adding multiple outfits to the default models as items to find. By the looks of the current suggestions on this forum people want to have larger maps in the new game and different seasons or biomes which as I saw suggested snow and swams. Unless your green gillie ass wishes to stick out like a sore thumb in the pretty white snow it would make sense for the game Devs to add some outfits different biomes and cosmetic changes to the survivor outfit. Oh and as for the "why dont you do it?", gladly my friend! I am an industry professional. Thank you for the comment!

I would never want it to become WarZ good god. Somewhere mid post a post made by xDIx Revenge was stating that instead of making such 'professions' at the start of the game turn all of this into additional items. This way people still start with nothing, have to work up to being someone and this way have a reason to constantly look for items to improve the character (the items would be rare and if you are to take the item you would have to sacrifice something to gain the benefit such as lose a line of the toolbelt slots for a line of ammo slots). Either way its up to Rocket to showcase the future of DayZ, best of luck to him and his Dev team! Thank you for the comment.

Thank you for the brilliant post and a fantastic input of your opinion. Glad to hear someone's yes/no and why. I believe that this game's simplicity is the key for the success of the current mod and the future of this game altogether. Yet the idea in my opinion and other people I spoke with makes sense and would be a great implimentation into the game at a VERY BALANCED and MINOR change state. I truly believe that Rocket and his Dev team would know quite well how to impliment a PURPOSE to this game without filling it with junk and useless copycat game breaking mechanics. This idea is good and people will team up because of that. The mod is in Alpha stage and the standalone game doesn't even have a pricepoint to date, I really hope that people do not think that a title in it's Alpha stage or even a Beta stage isn't subjected to change and constant fix. I would be VERY disapointed if the game stayed the way it is, because all it is at the moment is an empty shell of a game with some mindless/unorganized pvp and easy as hell zombie survival. Do not get me wrong, I love it and by far this is the best game I have played in a long time to quench my survival/zombie thirst. But to accept that this game should have no changes for the sake of 'simplicity' would be a shame since there would be nothing else to do. I currently have Cayote Backpack, Gillie, AS50, M4A1 CCO and a bunch of crap I dont know what to do with along with a hidden car up north, I simply have nothing else to do except maybe visit Cherno once in a while to perform heartless sniping or search for a working helicopter that once I fix I have NOTHING else to do. Thank you so much for the great comment!

Thank you for the comment! If you could elaborate on why you think this is a poor idea it would be great. I have played L4D and Fallout 3, yet the idea that has grown into what it is now in no way ecourages any RPG aspect. You are correct that this is a hardcore zombie survival simulator, therefore it would make sense to ecourage co-op play (to prolong survivability) and of course to add more items into the game (increase the time you play and search for said items). The current state in which this system is presented is that extra rare items will be presented into the game that will add something to your role as a survivor at the cost of something else that you have (getting a doctor's bag would take up the secondary weapon slot, kinda like you do with a current flashlight system). Such items would be useful to find, give people a reason to team up since everyone would have a 'profession', and would not affect the PVP aspect of the game in its current state. As of right now the game does not have any end game except for sniping Cherno with my AS50. There is also no point to group up really since whatever you can do in a group you can do alone, co-op play just saves time if you need to carry multiple items at once. Oh and as for dying the game is designed to kill you, if you have played a decent amount of time you will probably live longer than a week if you are not stupid. Thank you for the comment!

Thank you for the comment all ideas are welcome but the core player base like the fact that when you start you have nothing on you, and something like a GPS and Map are very rare and overpowered items that no player should start with. As for the class specific loot I would have to disagree with you once more simply that it would break game mechanics, basically making it easier for a certain class to find something over another player of a different class. Cheers!

Thank you for all the amazing feedback from everyone and of course a big thank you for some fantastic brainstorming in regards to the topic. Some comments were to make sure the PVP aspect of the game would not be touched by such 'careers' and I cannot agree more, PVP is a big part of the game and it would clearly be unbalanced if any of the careers would allow another player to shoot faster or better compared to another player. The idea was thrown around saying that some of these careers could possibly be turned into items such as a 'doctor's kit' or a 'mechanic's bag' some very very rough examples, or even an ammo belt that would otherwise take up a row of the 'toolbelt' the game currently has. This way the 'careers' could be determined DURING the players gameplay and not BEFORE. Again the items would be quite rare and the player would have to sacrifice something in order to change another thing, thats a big thank you going to xDIx Revenge for the idea. After some brainstorming here with my buds the thought of a switchable career role during the game via finding and equipping rare items and not a permenant choice in the begining would be a good initiative to find such items (prolonging the game's longevity) and nobody would be stuck with the choice they make at the start. Still all these things would ecourage the co-op play and not affect the PVP aspect of the game. As for the outfits the tiny idea was just to add more, I do not want hats I was strictly talking about outfits aka skins such as the gillie suit and the camo suit that are currently both in the default DayZ mod. They already implimented the buggy system of the 'bandit outfit' which automatically switches when the humanity falls low. The idea was that the game needs more 'serious and realistic' outfits, none of this bunny rabbit hats or pink boots! As one of the suggestions a snow suit that would blend in better in the snowy environment and many other cosmetic outfits that would just spice up the regular 'survivor outfit'. Again such addition of multiple suits to find and to wear would prolong the gameplay and encourage people to find more loot. PS. I read on another post a carry weight system, I think that is a good idea but not in a sense that you need to drop items to carry an engine block but that your character's movement speed would slow down the more 'heavy' items you are carrying. This would add a sense of realism without pissing too many people off forcing them to drop their M107 to carry a Wheel and create a challenge in the game since a 'Lone Wolf' character carrying an Engine Block, Metal, and an M107 + M4A1 CCO and other junk would move quite slow and would be much faster in a group. Thank you for the comments everyone!

This post is brilliant, that is the idea that was made initially. Basically some sort of system to ecourage people to take up different roles which in turn will enforce co-op play for a survival game such as DayZ. That is reason why the 'perk' system came to mind (or whatever your heart desires to call it). Since DayZ is no longer a run and gun shooter simulator and is now more about survival, scavange and team play the fact that people would have jobs before the "zombie appocalipse" it would not be a bad idea to impliment such a system into the game (tiny alterations to the way each person can play their character). Thank you for the great post and quite a few fantastic ideas.

Yeah, thats why I said they should add more outfits such as Gillie Suit (one that I am wearing) or the Camo. Not just two alternate outfits.

I am sorry my friend, I don't think you have paid any attention to anything that you have read. At no point did I mention anywhere in any of my posts to add hats to the game. I was talking about adding more miliraty clothing such as 'Camo Outfit' and the 'Gillie Suit' which you can kindly find in many Pubs, Barracks and Schools. Those outfits add a bit of change to the default Survivor Outfit and in case of the Gillie Suit it adds the ability to blend in.

You would still start with nothing, and still be thrown into 'a dying world with barely nothing'. Everyone would be equal, the Perks do not make you a better player or make it easier to find items and survive a zombie horde. The 'Perks' will not help you live a shot from an AS50 1100m away either, dealing 174,205 blood damage with an AS50 round. This is ment to encourage to do what they like to do in a group.

Thank you for the comments, the hats do suck I made it as an example saying that everyone would love to have a gillie over the base survivor outfit. If you believe that a gillie suit does not give you a slight advantage over the survivor suit in the the game when facing another player you are mistaken. This isn't an idea for an RPG aspect of the game, matter of fact I love the way the game is and would hate to have quests or any of that. The 'Perks' do not add power over one player or another, instead it just adds a slight edge and a good reason to be in a group with other people who can help. Cheers for the comments both positive and negative!