Making looting more fun

[Nasakenai 34]

One of the mid to later game flaws in DayZ is the predictability of the loot system. Once you are an established player, you have virtually NO need and NO desire to loot smaller towns or non military areas, and as a result most players end up clustered around Cherno/Elektro/Stary/NWAF. Only Large residential or Barns are ever really looted and everything else is ignored.

I would like to see the loot mechanics changed in a way that made small remote towns and smaller houses and buildings just as interesting (or almost just as interesting) to loot and explore as larger areas. Here is my idea:

Every kind of loot has a chance to drop very good items, however small. If you’re lootng a residential area, you may stumble across a “survivalist” home or a home where the owner had been stockpiling food and ammunition. It would be random of course and a very small chance. You you could also find very rare but useful items in residential areas (currently the best thing you can really find is a wookie outfit) such as perhaps a dog whistle (assuming they add dogs), salt (preserve meat which would otherwise go bad quickly), six-packs of soda or boxes of granola bars (similar to m249 box magazine, takes up only 2 spaces but gives you 6 drinks), etc. Items should have rarity similar to night vision and be useful so that even mid to late game players have a reason to explore areas besides military establishments. For barns the rarer items could be seeds to grow plants, specific tools, perhaps hiking boots that give you the ability to run faster up mountains, hunting clothes (non ghillie suit non military cammo), maybe an orange hunting vest (to show players you're not a bandit), warm clothes, etc.

Perhaps some of these items can ONLY be found in small residential areas or small barns, etc.

Currently once I spawn I run around for 15-20 minutes, and then go off searching for crashed helicopters or go only to the big areas of the map and ignore all the small towns unless I’m looking for vehicles/jerry cans/car parts. Adding some changes such as these would make smaller towns more fun to explore and loot because you would have a small chance of finding great gear, just like looking for night vision at heli crashes.

Just my thoughts – ideas?

[indominator 95]

to me the worst thing is that no matter where you go, there will be loot, unless it has been looted already, the loot spawn mechanic should be a more evil to the players

[[email protected] 26]

With the standalone the devs are completely redesigning the loot spawning system... It may tackle some of your points.

Otherwise yes your idea may work... especially if the rarity of military grade weapons increases anyway while more and more non-military weapons are added to the game.

[wolfstriked 143]

Its funny but I always play in the north parts of map steering clear of NWAF area and get bored out of my freaking head.Spreading loot all over the map is something that the standalone will supposedly do but I fear this will make the boredom I have become the norm for most players.The reason why players camp large cities and near spanw points happens for a reason. ;)

But what just happened now I feel would take the game over the edge immersion wise.I was playing as I usually do by relying on only animals and well/lake water to survive.Just searching for my next meal on this road that runs along a cavern when suddenly a heli comes down the cavern causing me to scramble for cover.These guys were searching hard as they came back again flying down this cavern I was in increasing my immersion by making me feel like they were hunting me down for reasons unknown.Then suddenly a jeep appears down the road,lights on as darkness was setting and it hit me.....bad people should spawn at NWAF and have access to vehicles and helis as means to spread their murderous intent.You can then spread loot everywhere and have these bad people have access to vehicles to hunt us down.Walking around knowing no one will waste their time running up to the NE area kills immersion but getting sniped is why I do it.But when you force bad people to have to search the map for survivors then you force in the real fact that vehicles are loud and warn in advance of impending doom.