This idea is to create an ultimate end game that is the overiding story of the game. Put simply, it tries to bring the big picture of DayZ into play - This isn't just your story. The Doomsday Clock This is a mechanic that could be used to keep track of how close any particular server/hive has come to utter extinction. It could work like this: - The 'clock' sits at ten minutes to midnight (Human extinction, end game, total server/hive reset) - Any death, be it PvP or environmental, moves the 'clock' forward a infintesimal amount. For example lets say 10sec. - Time can be added to the clock in many ways, my suggestion: --- every 48hrs the average life expectency (ALE) of the players on a given server is recalculated. --- Survive for 2x the ALE add 2mins to the clock --- Survive for 4x the ALE add an additional 3mins --- Survive for 4+ the ALE and add an additional 30sec for each iteration of the ALE. These number are of course arbitrary and would require proper ingame testing tweeking/ and thought. The end game to end games! So what happens when humanity fails to survive? heres what I think: - the only way to leave the game is by dying - The abort button is greyed, much like in the combat logging system. Maybe it is replaced with a suicide button instead? Or a extinction button :) . - players wishing to join the server are given a warning (maybe?) - Players have a limited amount of time to contemplate their demise, an hour or two maybe, then the server, players and clock are reset. With people "raging into the night", I imagine the server going to hell would be a chaotic experience!! Preemptive Q & A Why would anyone want this? They may not, so IMO a system like this should be a server setting. Doomsday Clock: Enabled! Wouldn't this be a griefer/hackers wet dream? Giving the players the power to do a full reset on a server, yeah I imagine so. IMO this type of system could absorb, to some amount, hacking/mass killings. If a server is repeatedly being hacked in order to bring about a reset, the hacking would have to be of a extreme nature. If this went on unchecked there is obviously a admin problem as well, so that server is probably not worth your time. Because this idea can effect everyone so dramatically, it may be another reason this idea is best suited for private hives/whitelist servers. Why would there be an imaginary clock counting down our demise? Well, there wouldn't. The 'clock' is mearly a metaphore to explaine how this idea works. There should be no (or very very minimal) visual indicators of the overall workings of this idea. Prehaps forums could take a role in how people guage any given server. I think more important than knowing the exact state of affairs is the knowledge that this system is in play and your every false step, and the false steps of others, matters (pretty awsome IMO). Why would dying cause the 'clock' to shift towards midnight? It signifies the loss of you and all your potential to drive humanity forward - if not through your actions, then at the least through your ability to procreate. This should also answer why more time is added for living longer than the ALE.