Don't do what Minecraft did...

[mazeash@mail.com 73]

First off, I'd like to stress that i'm a strong advocate of progression in design through additions to core features, and I, like others do embrace the coming changes and additions that the dev team are working so hard on (and beans for you all).

I've been reading around on the .4 update thread and others, seen a lot of people grimace in the face of diseases, weapon degradation, weapon removal/additions etc. And whilst I have all confidence in the creative direction of the game, and the community awareness the dev team has, I am also aware that there are good points to be taken from those who aren't keen on these and further changes. The fact is, change is great, up until a point, at which point these changes will start to detract from the basic premise of the game as a whole. Minecraft is the example I use but this isn't exclusive. I love Minecraft, it like DayZ has a simple concept that works extremely well in it's respective genre. But during the course of development, and up until this day, more and more content has and is being added, until we get to the stage where there is so much content to process and commit to memory, that it can become overwhelming. I understand that with Minecraft at least it appears as though the wanted to open up the game to different play styles, ergo different consumer groups, and perhaps wanted to add more for those players to do within the game, but when it gets to a point where long-term players such as myself have to play content-catch-up every month or so I have found it saps my desire to actually switch on and play.

Now far from suggesting that this is the way DayZ is headed, i'm merely pointing out to the masses that although what could be considered as rather large game changes are on the horizon, this is still the DayZ we know and love, and until the time comes where updates leave us baffled about their relevance to the concept, it will remain so. But it is worth remembering that to much of a good thing... And then I can't quite remember the end of that saying but you get my thinking :D.

Oh just in case people decide that my opinion on what games like Minecraft (IMHO) and others have done to their core concept is without merit, Social Psychology is something I covered during my degree and fit's neatly into what I've said, these studies should help clarify my point:

http://oai.dtic.mil/...ifier=ADA115078

http://psycnet.apa.o...ls/rev/63/2/81/

http://www.osti.gov/...osti_id=5673179

http://ieeexplore.ie...rnumber=1254447

[colekern 1364]

I see where you're coming from, but you're forgetting something: this is alpha. Alpha is the time to test new features. We never know exactly what will work, what won't, and what will make the game better. That's why we need to experiment. If we don't, DayZ can never get better.

[Wazza 274]

What!!! This is Alpha !!! :o

[Vengeance1st 9]

What!!! This is Alpha !!! :o

I can't tell you how many times I read that on the War Z forums and we all know what has happened there.

[tsandrey 379]

I see where you're coming from, but you're forgetting something: this is alpha. Alpha is the time to test new features. We never know exactly what will work, what won't, and what will make the game better. That's why we need to experiment. If we don't, DayZ can never get better.

People still hold on to the Alpha stuff? Dude, this is a mod, not an Alpha. Alpha is just there for no real reason. The mod will not change much in the future! Only the standalone will

[Ander (DayZ) 530]

I promise I'll be the conservative thorn in the content creeping devs side ;)

It's very possible that a few new features and content will be removed if we realise it doesnt work well.

Remember, we're testing features to see if they work or not. If they dont work, they dont and it gets removed. Features that work gets to stay.

Sometimes other dayz forks like features we dont and they can continue on living elsewhere.

[Rivy 32]

The problem I see with this is that your negative experience with Minecraft constant additions is not objective at all. I myself still enjoy the game (since alpha) so the analogy isn't valid to me. I'd love to see DayZ taken to minecraft lengths.

I don't see how more content could detract from a game unless it's content that limits/gets in the way of existing gameplay somehow.

[BwobBwub 660]

As long as they dont add potions and ender-dragons, im cool with that :)

[fluxley 2228]

Or Endermen with AS50's :o

[The Burned Man 20]

This is PC gaming, if people can't deal with with huge amounts of content, there are always consoles.

Who cares what the masses want? That was pretty much the design philosophy of DayZ.

It's why I liked it, because as we can see now, the masses don't want a zombie apocalypse sim, they want 24/7 daylight 3rd person GTA with zombies and cheats enabled.

[fluxley 2228]

The impression ive always got from Rocket is that he is determined to make games that he himself wants to play and not have to appeal to a mass audience for the sake of profit.

Personally im hoping for much more depth, game changing features that give players more reason to want to stay alive rather than risk everything by jumping straight into a pvp situation all the time.

Dont get me wrong, i love the pvp in DayZ, Its intense because it can take a long time to gather gear or get a vehicle fixed up, and so the will to survive increases.

To me thats the core of DayZ, and im confident that thats where DayZ is heading.

[OrLoK 16186]

hello there

The beauty of Dayz/Arma is that it's so mod-able. If the mod takes a turn in a direction unsuited to many players you can bet your bottom dollar that someone will branch off in their own direction with an edited version.

For, me personally, content is key. The more the merrier.

Rgds

LoK

[Gordon Axeman 191]

The problem is that no game has to feature such loads of content as DayZ does. I just don't imagine how ArmA engine can stand that, though I believe in devs.

[bigdogsco 143]

The problem is that no game has to feature such loads of content as DayZ does. I just don't imagine how ArmA engine can stand that, though I believe in devs.

I believe that's why the standalone will have a custom engine. I for one am amazed at how playable DayZ is just now considering how much of a cut'n'shut it all is. Seeing what Rocket and co have done bolting this mod onto the arma 2 engine leaves me positively giddy (yes i said giddy!) with anticipation for the standalone and any new features they care to offer me.

[Oompa 25]

I find that vanilla minecraft hasn't added enough to the game, which is why I use up to 30 different mods and play on a server that uses those mods. Now, all 30 of those mods update regularly and add new things, they have their own recipes and completely new mechanics... THAT can be overwhelming, sometimes.

So I hope that the DayZ standalone will continue changing/adding/remvoing things and also open up to modding itself, so that more content can be tweaked by modders :3

I'd love to be able to tow cars away in standalone, strip them for materials, smelt the metal, make weapons, armour and reinforce vehicles (armoured truck with a plow, anyone?). I'd love to build bases that have power generation, agriculture and perhaps NPC guards to guard them whilst we are offline... Those things probably won't be added by the Devs, but modders might :3

Edited November 24, 2012 by Oompa

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

It's supposed to be overwhelming, in a "dropped on your ass during a zombie apocalypse" kind of way.

That's how I see it anyway.

It will never become needlessly convoluted, the world seems to be being designed to work as your real-life experiences would lead you to expect.

Complexity is good, provided it feels authentic.

[mazeash@mail.com 73]

I think a few of you might have took the wrong message from what I said. I personally do like the upcoming changes, and I know the game needs it, especially being a pre-alpha game/mod typed thingy.

My point Minecraft is that it isn't the same game it once was. It WAS an open-world building game with the bonus of zombies. But now it's focus has shifted to potions enchantments, bonus powers and leveling up... Now to some i'm sure that's awesome but personally, that isn't the game I paid for and enjoyed. But like someone was saying fan base made mods can alter things like this, when I ran a minecraft server I used many mods in order to change the experience.

I guess my primary point was that DayZ IS NOT on that path, at the present, and I like that the dev's will chop and change to suit the style originally intended. But it can't hurt to point out that there is another side to it, a different way this could go, and drawing from my own experience (which is important to remember here) too much of a good thing WILL make a difference to the overall impact the game has.

Peace & Love :D

[fluxley 2228]

Agreed minecraft has changed a lot through its development, and like yourself minecraft for me is just an open world building game,

But i wouldnt say minecraft has shifted its focus to potions and all that jazz, its just extra content that you can choose to ignore or not.

This difference of opinion might be why some people got the impression you thought DayZ was going in the wrong direction.

I'd say theres always going to be a danger of Dayz straying from the original idea, but to be fair the original idea was a simple experiment that was never expected to come this far.

And you've probably seen this already but reading through Rockets answers on this thread left me feeling very optimistic that DayZ is in the right hands. http://dayzmod.com/f...-rocket-thread/

Edited November 24, 2012 by Fluxley58

[colekern 1364]

People still hold on to the Alpha stuff? Dude, this is a mod, not an Alpha. Alpha is just there for no real reason. The mod will not change much in the future! Only the standalone will

He's talking about standalone....

[colekern 1364]

I think a few of you might have took the wrong message from what I said. I personally do like the upcoming changes, and I know the game needs it, especially being a pre-alpha game/mod typed thingy.

My point Minecraft is that it isn't the same game it once was. It WAS an open-world building game with the bonus of zombies. But now it's focus has shifted to potions enchantments, bonus powers and leveling up... Now to some i'm sure that's awesome but personally, that isn't the game I paid for and enjoyed. But like someone was saying fan base made mods can alter things like this, when I ran a minecraft server I used many mods in order to change the experience.

I guess my primary point was that DayZ IS NOT on that path, at the present, and I like that the dev's will chop and change to suit the style originally intended. But it can't hurt to point out that there is another side to it, a different way this could go, and drawing from my own experience (which is important to remember here) too much of a good thing WILL make a difference to the overall impact the game has.

Peace & Love :D

Apparently I didn't see where you were coming from. Don't worry, there won't be an endgame to DayZ.

When they say that they're following minecraft style development, they mean that is their business model. Nothing else. Cheaper price in alpha, normal price in beta and finished versions.

[ZomboWTF 527]

The problem I see with this is that your negative experience with Minecraft constant additions is not objective at all. I myself still enjoy the game (since alpha) so the analogy isn't valid to me. I'd love to see DayZ taken to minecraft lengths.

I don't see how more content could detract from a game unless it's content that limits/gets in the way of existing gameplay somehow.

Exactly, i myself played minecraft since the first weeks and never was disappointed with an update

Sure, they added stuff thats not as sandboxy, but no one forces you to get into these specific locations or use new features

I really can't see a big disadvantage in the minecraft payment method for a game thats as unfinished as DayZ

[mazeash@mail.com 73]

Oh the payment method is great, I love it, this is purely content related.