Feedback on status of infectious diseases in DayZ

[maxnmike 134]

To add these diseases and not have a few simple ways to prevent them such as common medical masks and household bleach is just silly so please don't tell us you are trying for "realism" when you omit very common items but include very specific much less common items. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Marvel.Jane 113]

I don't think this will eliminate much of either - there's no affect on hackers; I presume by COD Kiddies you mean the PVPers who just kill on site for the sake of scoring another kill. If anything this will increase KOS - why would I let anyone near me now, even if they have no gun or backpack? They might be sick

What I meant was that this brings in an entirley different style of gameplay, where there are greater threats than a Bandit just shooting you for the sake of it. At the moment I believe that Bandits flourish so well because there is no greater threat than them. After playing awhile its pretty easy to handle the Z's, almost childsplay, but it the inconsistancy and unpredictablity of other players where the majority of fear and anxiety come from in this game. Therefore if you are Bandit, you have nothing to fear but other bandits (and hackers of course), thus leaving the door wide open for lots of 'only PVP inclined' players to stroll on in. I think with the additions, including diseases, brings a new "player" into the food chain, meaning you can't sit on hill and snipe all day without the possibility of some threat (have to eat & drink). For example: The very large clan that likes to collect Bambi hides have something much more pressing to do that day. Though the idea of having someone near you with a possible infection, would breed a whole new style of defence and perhaps meeting other friendlies would be harder to do than it already is. I'm not saying it will elimate it completely, just that we should hopefully see a decline.

Do anybody else have any thoughts on how they think this will effect the already unlikely possibility to meet other Friendlies and perhaps even band together?

[xx_fr0st-w0lf_xx 53]

It seems as thought rocket is moving in a whole new direction, one that can only beneficial. NO longer will dayz be about loot and pvp.

What I want to see implemented thought is some simple prevention measures.

-purification water pill

-gas masks, gloves ect...

-blood tests (you take one at hospitals or labs to see what diseases you have)

-inspect items ( for example inspecting a pond it may say "this water looks dirty" means that it may just be dirty or it may have a disease)

make it so that not all vaccines spawn in hospitals anymore. Maybe make random ambulances (much like crash sites) with the CHANCE that it may spawn vaccines.

I can honestly say this raised my expectations of dayz.

[Creep- 569]

^ I agree the disease aspect with add a new dimension to the game. The mod in its current state - as much as I love it, doesn't really have a lot to offer in terms of longevity, hence why (I believe) people turn to PKing. With the addition of base building, fighting off disease and potentially investigating/researching said diseases, will give players something to do - a kind of side mission in-between looting/gearing up. I think this will curb some of the PKing at least.

[Archsamael 0]

I'm all for the diseases in the game. Though it has to be added that if your going to expand the need for that many antibiotics/vaccines guns.. and vehicle parts, and every other type of item you may wish to add. It may be necessary to expand the world map by an extremely large amount and increase the amount of players proportionally. Because unless the loot table is greatly modified chances are many problems are going to arise, in which obtaining the wrong antibiotic would be next to useless and obtaining the correct one before the disease actually brings you to death door would become next to impossible. Adding such difficulties may encourage/discourage player trading hubs though to trade antibiotics with each other, and i am actually a supporter of those, but larger more stable player bases would become a necessity. Though according to rocket such an increase of players may be possible.

In other words we need larger maps with bigger more complex hospitals if such a plan is going to work, because if antibiotics become even more wanted hospitals + bandits = very bad stuff. Though, i support in making a threat even the bandits fear. Is that body that i'm going to loot infected?.... yeah, give pk's something more to fear, and if the bodies are out for a longer amount of time a higher chance of infection..

[shockpads 0]

Current antibiotics include:

I love the idea of different broad and narrow spectrum antibiotics and how effective they are in treating an infection ;). I would like to see a 0,5% chance of anaphylactic shock in players who have ingested penicillin or ampicillin. Players would fall unconscious after 2 to 5 minutes and can only be revived when an epipen is used on them.

[LeYuno (DayZ) 51]

i love this idea. it will indeed very much affect the way people play, and making it elaborate enough will keep things interesting. I can only imagine you are looking for peniciline, and then you see a box of antibiotics only to find out it's a box of ciprofloxacin.. noooooooo

[liamcz@hotmail.com 98]

May I ask what type of symptoms would actually be added? What visual effects would these symptoms produce?

I love this idea.

[hoik 415]

Don't finish a round of antibiotics and you'll create super-bugs!

[DrunkPunk 159]

The transmission route depends on the disease, and vectors associated with it.

Cholera will spread in game mainly via infected food and water sources. Players can choose how long they boil or cook meat. The longer you boil/cook the more likely it is any disease causing pathogens are killed. Cholera is mainly spread through faeces infecting water and food, so if someone with cholera goes swimming in a water source (pond), or prepares you meal (cooking meat) - then there is a chance they will have infected that food/water. Maybe they pass the food onto you, and you eat it. Or maybe you collect water from the pond after they swam in it. Then you get cholera. Many people are asymptomatic (do not show symptoms) of cholera so this also increases transmission.

Of those who develop symptoms, and don't get treatment, cholera has a 50% mortality rate (mainly due dehydration).

Hep is a bit different, the system I have now has hep C would mainly be transferred during melee combat between players where both get hit. It is also a long term virus, that would only really cause issues for players who have been alive a long time. Whereas cholera has a very short incubation period (in real life, it can kill within 2 hours).

I get the feeling we're really losing sight of that fine line between realism and fun, with posts like this. Hopefully we'll still have the mod....

[glasscasket 33]

I think you're convoluting the 'core' of DayZ. I understand survival was more your jam anyways, but is this really the way to go about it? Well thought out, I will give you that... but I think you also need to consider what DayZ truly is at it's core(now). PVP.

[DrunkPunk 159]

I think you're convoluting the 'core' of DayZ. I understand survival was more your jam anyways, but is this really the way to go about it? Well thought out, I will give you that... but I think you also need to consider what DayZ truly is at it's core(now). PVP.

Agreed. To really keep true to the spirit of DayZ, I think it would be best to take a look at youtube, to see what exactly it is that made it famous, and think "How can we expand upon this? How can we make this better?" There are already a lot of survival aspects to DayZ, and sure there should be more that are more meaningful. But something as overly complicated as a disease system that is being discussed, that doesn't add much value to the game and doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense (hep C from combat? sure if it's melee combat and both people get hit it makes sense, but how much melee is really in the game anyway?) really takes a lot of focus away from what makes the game fun.

I'd like to see more focus on stuff like base building, first, then stuff like the survival aspects. The wasteland mod has some great base building, perhaps you could be taking a page from that? I knowt he standalone engine is quite different, but I'm sure you can find inspiration in what is already out there.

[CptMugwash 16]

Question: If diseases can contaminate gear, can they also contaminate vehicles?

And there does need to be some kind of gear to protect you from certain diseases maybe even a rare as hell fully encapsulating chemical protection suit, I've seen an OPCH-70 (Czech) suit which looks pretty sick.

Also, as another threat, if the zombies, bandits and diseases aren't bad enough extreme weather conditions would be cool, e.g. extreme winds, you'd struggle to walk, it would pull at your vehicle and depending on which kind, like a bus, maybe tip it, can blow over zombies and trees and if trees fell on zombies, players, vehicles, camps etc could be destroyed and block roads. Combine the winds with rain it'd make a flu/cold/hypothermia a bigger risk, greatly reducing visibilty, maybe add windscreen wipers to cars? And the game is set in Russia which can get pretty snowy. From this you'd get Chilblains, Frostbite, Frostnip, Trench foot, etc.

[maxnmike 134]

As you seem to be hell bent on making it harder to survive, have you given any thought to ways of making it a bit easier to survive?

We have all these farms that lie fallow, perhaps we could plants small amounts of crops or be able to harvest crops that have gone wild?

We could plant small garden plots for food or medicinal herbs or both.

It looks like some of these farms were dairy farms so we should be able to round up a dairy cow or goat and milk them.

And really, were are all the rats?

[sausagekingofchicago 4711]

The more I think about this the more I start to worry. I had food poisoning last year. The only thing I was capable of was puking and shitting and sleeping, and sometimes all three at the same time. I probably would have just rolled over and died if I had to find my own fresh water and meds while shooting at zombies.

How authentic will these diseases actually be in terms of crippling the character?

[Shadow Man 142]

I think you're convoluting the 'core' of DayZ. I understand survival was more your jam anyways, but is this really the way to go about it? Well thought out, I will give you that... but I think you also need to consider what DayZ truly is at it's core(now). PVP.

DayZ was never designed to be a pvp game. Its just ended up that was because of how the game is at the moment. It was never going to stay the same, and if you knew nothing about where Rocket was going with DayZ then thats your fault. Sounds like its not the game for you. Rocket doesn't care if you don't like it. He just hopes people are open minded enough to try something new and different. And fucking hardcore.

[terrvik 2409]

Will vampirism be in the game?

[poisonman 28]

Yea this is great news Rocket, I can't wait, this will be pretty amazing.

Its probably a bad idea that you posted this on the public forums though.

In about 2 weeks WarZ will now have all kinds of diseases LOL. I guess it will finally give the WarZ Devs something different to do with the 8 different kinds of medical suppies in the game, for apparently little to no reason?!?

Still don't understand why there is such variety when they all do the same damn thing.

But I guess that also makes a perfect excuse for them once they copy it. "We always planned on having all these diseases and an in depth medical system, that is why we have 8 different kinds of medical supplies." Yup I can see it all now.

Instead you should just put troll ideas public just to troll WarZ as they copy everything, like say the standalone will have magical flying zombies that shoot rainbows out their eyes or something ridiculous LOL.

Or five magical rings that together summon CAPTAIN PLANET to run around and kick people in the nuts like the Ted Turner / Captain Planet Robot Chicken episode.

So bad it is funny!

Edited November 23, 2012 by poisonman

[donalexander 1]

I think this will just give players another reason to just shoot everyone they see/meet on site

There needs to be something to make players want to cooperate or team up with each other

We are sick of been killed by everyone we see or dont see lol

[noblebrutus@live.co.uk 26]

In about 2 weeks that rip-off zombie game will now have all kinds of diseases LOL. I guess it will finally give the that rip-off zombie game Devs something different to do with the 8 different kinds of medical suppies in the game, for apparently little to no reason?!?

I don't think that rip-off zombie game will directly copy, this sounds a bit 'hardcore' for them. I imagine they'll add a dumbed down version though.

Brilliant Ideas Rocket, can't wait to catch Cholera...

[Rivy 32]

Just keep in mind that nothing is worse than getting killed by something random and invisible in a game. It's probably the #1 frustrating factor ever ! (closely followed by QTEs)

Like for example "There are now brain strokes in Dayz. Your character has 1/1000 chance to die instantly, which can happen at any time."

EDIT: What I mean is that things outside the player's control should not cause him/her to die. If the conditions for getting sick are so subtle that you have no idea you are in danger it'll probably make you feel as if it was a random thing that happened to you and you never had a choice. Like getting struck by lightning.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Rivy

[Shadow Man 142]

Just keep in mind that nothing is worse than getting killed by something random and invisible in a game. It's probably the #1 frustrating factor ever ! (closely followed by QTEs)

Like for example "There are now brain strokes in Dayz. Your character has 1/1000 chance to die instantly, which can happen at any time."

EDIT: What I mean is that things outside the player's control should not cause him/her to die. If the conditions for getting sick are so subtle that you have no idea you are in danger it'll probably make you feel as if it was a random thing that happened to you and you never had a choice. Like getting struck by lightning.

Its not always visible but you def know there's a good chance of becoming sick. And whats that about things outside your control? You are not in control in DayZ thats the point. You've got to look after yourself. I think the chance of you suddenly dropping dead for no apparent reason is unlikely.

[psylnz 34]

Just keep in mind that nothing is worse than getting killed by something random and invisible in a game. It's probably the #1 frustrating factor ever ! (closely followed by QTEs)

Like for example "There are now brain strokes in Dayz. Your character has 1/1000 chance to die instantly, which can happen at any time."

EDIT: What I mean is that things outside the player's control should not cause him/her to die. If the conditions for getting sick are so subtle that you have no idea you are in danger it'll probably make you feel as if it was a random thing that happened to you and you never had a choice. Like getting struck by lightning.

EXACTLY !!!!!!

Its not always visible but you def know there's a good chance of becoming sick. And whats that about things outside your control? You are not in control in DayZ thats the point. You've got to look after yourself. I think the chance of you suddenly dropping dead for no apparent reason is unlikely.

In a large part you are in control in DayZ. If you get killed by a zombie or sniper it's cause you were careless and alerted them. If you run off a rooftop and break a leg, it's cause you did it. If your run out of food, its because you didn't try to carry enough. If you get cold, its cause you spent too much time outside or in the water. But implement this disease stuff, and drinking from a pond that looks normal but isn't could make you sick. Hanging out with other players who weren't careful could make you sick. Hanging out with players who are asymptomatic could make you sick - perhaps repeatedly. Savenging, one of the key parts of the game, could make you sick. Perhaps you wont drop dead, but you could be running around with a weak character for days looking for rare medicines. You know how the screen shakes when you need painkillers?

Edited November 24, 2012 by Psylnz

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

drinking from a pond that looks normal but isn't could make you sick. Hanging out with other players who weren't careful could make you sick. Hanging out with players who are asymptomatic could make you sick - perhaps repeatedly. Savenging, one of the key parts of the game, could make you sick

@Psylnz - All the examples you gave are well within your control.

If you die from an infectious disease, it's no less your own fault than if you'd been eaten by zombies.

[psylnz 34]

In the real world disease isn't really about the individual, treatment and vaccination protocols are also never implemented with regard to the individual - they are about populations. Most of the diseases listed have at least the majority (sometimes the vast majority) of people asymptomatic (carriers, no symptoms). That is where trying to get some level of civilization going becomes really important if you want your population to survive longterm. It gives the most tangible reason of all for wanting to group up formally - the ability to make your world habitable for longterm habitation.

The majority of people will survive most of those diseases with a few problems, so I don't think suicide will be as much an issue as folks here make out - especially when you just found that rare parka and some nightvision...

Granted I don't have all the details, but from what I've read on here, I don't see how disesase is going encourage people to group up. You see someone in the forest, who doesn't have a gun or a backpack, but he might be carrying a disease, and he might infect some gear or a body of water that you'd be drinking from later on. Best to kill him now. Your in with a group of people and one starts to cough. Kill all of them - maybe the others are infected too; maybe one of them is asymptomatic. Get sick yourself, or afraid of getting sick? Best to kill everyone you see, before they kill you. After all they might have the medicines you need. But its the getting killed by something I had no chance of detecting that I really don't like. Maybe I didn't see the sniper on the next hill that got me, but if I was careful, I could have seen or avoided him, even if I'd just run off the beach from a fresh spawn. If I need to find special equipment in order to check if the canned food and water I scavenge buildings for, then that's going to be more frustration then challenge. What exactly do you have in mind with labs - what will they consist off?