"Psychosis" bar for Bandits

[Rekli 995]

so you're saying that kills committed by bandits would affect how they think and drive them insane.....meh

[Jonsse 69]

I'll have to join in on the notion of not differentiating particular playstyles with rewards or penalties.

What I would mention is that anonymity is what drives the bandit phenomenon. When you're anonymous, there is no consequences and this is what makes bandit playstyle artificially easier than it should be in a sandbox. You're essentially pitting yourself as the enemy of everyone without any flag or distinction for others to see. Since your skin is exactly the same as everyone elses and no-one can see your name at any point, you're always considered the median of the playerbase, this is what the Bandit playstyle takes advantage of. Instead of having mainstay characters that are known to be hostile or known to be friendly on a server, you have anonymous neutrality. This makes playing the bandit quite a lot easier and playing the hero extremely risky and hard.

But how to remedy this in a tasteful and non-gamebreaking way is beyond any idea i've had about it. Nameplates are not a good solution, there always needs to be a veil of anonymity, otherwise there's not point.

[Dylanco1 10]

Just a note to everyone who says "We cant just cripple one play style" You also complain about the People who live in the forest and survive for years that you cant find so you want them forced back into the line of fire again thus crippling THEIR Playstyle

[Flawless1 16]

A game without balance might as well not be a game at all. Lets just call it BanditZ.

If deterrence is not the direction that the devs or the players want to go in, they at least need to make being a neutral player more rewarding somehow.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Flawless1

[BwobBwub 660]

Just an idea I had to help spark some interest and fresh ideas for realistic game features.

Cause you have experienced the zombie apocalypse.

[hoik 415]

Personally I think the approach is wrong - IMO you're mixing guilt with psychosis. In a crisis I think you can justify just about anything (to you're self anyway :) ). Rather than telling the player how it is they are feeling, I think the game should help players interpret the emotions/moraltiy of players by their actions - so it would be a judgement call on you're part, not the games. I know, easy said :) .

As for anonymity, even with custom clothing in SA, players will still be anonomus after death - so what about some type of liniage system? So dispite death there are some features that will be passed from one "life" to another (like father to son).

EDIT: hierlooms?

Edited January 13, 2013 by Hoik

[Pugnax 1]

I dont see banditry itself as the problem in Day Z, I see the spawn points being on mostly open areas on the coast as more of a problem for the bambis.

I like the fact that i need to way my options of heading to a remote city further north or head into elektro/cherno where i am bound to found what i am looking for, but im most likely to also meet people. Cities mean people, in a post apocalyptic world id expect it to be the same.

Id rather see that bambis dont spawn just on the coast. They can spawn a bit more inland aswell. Ive lost count on how many times a bandit has been in the treeline just waitin for someone to spawn.

But i do like the idea of a bandit going psychotic. But it shouldnt be like the bandit gets a problem playing the game, more like odd sounds, odd shades in the side of his screen moving etc. And perhaps a hard to find vaccine (much like they have described for SA diseases)

[Toybasher 27]

I've seen this sugguestion before a few times, my opinion is "Sanity" mechanics should be like Amnesia, like if you spend too long in darkness you slowly lose sanity, especially if zombies are around.

If it gets too low you start seeing zombies, hearing gunshots, blurry screen, etc. Sanity will be restored slowly overtime, faster if in sunlight.

Having it for killing players seems a little too much like a punishment for playstyles. Having it lower only for being in stressful situations such as zombies, darkness, gunshots nearby, shooting at stuff, being near dead bodies (Including zombies and players you and other bandits/survivors/heros killed.) and other things (maybe being in rain in a thunderstorm and thunder strikes near you. etc. Looking at bandits for a long time.)

It should come with a "Group" system so if you team up with a buddy, their gunshots or bandit status won't hurt your sanity.

Bandits take less sanity damage from gunshots, shooting, and dead bodies. (Zombie bodies might do full sanity damage though. Not sure) They might take slightly less sanity damage from other bandits. Unlike survivors/heros, staring at a hero causes sanity damage, and alot more then a normal survivor looking at a bandit.

Hero's take less sanity damage from zombies and (only) zombie bodies, as well as darkness and staring at bandits. Teaming up with another hero lessens sanity damage quite a bit. (A survivor teaming up with a hero also takes less sanity damage, but not as much as 2 heros) Being near a dead hero has a large effect on sanity.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Toybasher

[wooly-back-jack 294]

I've been killed more by my drunken crap flying/other peoples crap flying than by bandits.

Some of you guys need to stop spamming side chat with "somebody help me! I'm in Elektro firestation!" "anyone friendly in cherno supermarket?!"

[GoverningNick 12]

I am completely against this. A script for random noises might be easy (Not very familiar), but to have fake zombies? It would mean having to create aother line of zombies that do not damage and no one else can see. Until standalone, the devs are stuck with scripts. And making the bandits shoot themselves? Really? There have been mass murderers that were complete phycos (Jack the Ripper, Bin Laden) Bin Laden killed tons of people, did he shoot himself?

[Flawless1 16]

I've been killed more by my drunken crap flying/other peoples crap flying than by bandits.

Some of you guys need to stop spamming side chat with "somebody help me! I'm in Elektro firestation!" "anyone friendly in cherno supermarket?!"

I've had a character live for well over 50 hours and died by way of two on two confrontation near an open field..NOT by way of banditry. As a matter of fact, I don't even remember being shot at by a hostile player more than a couple of times. I haven't played since the early days of the mod, but I feel the way I do about the game now because of the numerous posts and videos I've seen regarding the topic.

Bandits just seem to have more fun in the game because the game mechanics cater to that style of play as it stands right now. I think most of us agree that making the game fun to play for multiple play styles is something that needs to be worked on. Maybe some people will find the "psychosis" idea as a way to alter the game experience for some people. If its not an answer to one of the several kinks that needs to be worked out for SA, then at least I'm hoping the devs find ways to make different styles of play more fun.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Flawless1