Loot Spawning

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

Just a bit of an introduction: clear up some ignorance's floating around the forums

Standalone Fact

Client server architecture has been changed; so you can't rely on loot spawning in the places you expect it to because players no longer trigger loot to spawns. Also as loot no longer spawns in piles you can't even predicted; whether loot will have even, have been spawned.

Standalone Fact

Suggestion-Opinion

Note I made to myself:

This is a little note I made on my phone: at the time of this ideas conception.

"Limit a number of specific loot items at each server restart; which do not respawn until the next restart or only if one is to leave the server with a player. Other items should be respawnable, after a time period based on rarity."

Essentially you'd have two classes of loot: rare drops (which respawn a set number of items at every server restart and are not replenished unless item's are removed from the server, used or destroyed) normal loot drops (based on a timer, rather than numbers being depleted and replenished ((So there could be many times more loot spawns on a server than normal; its just dependent on their respawn rates and their depletion rates)); once an item is consumed "depletion rate" it sets off a respawn count down "respawn rates" triggering the next respawn ((which by the way should have no bearing on where the loot spawns)) The consequences of this would be as follows: rare loot wouldn't become super rare but since they're in short supply; would become a valuable asset. Normal loot in high usage would become harder to find in larger quantities and loot in lower usage would become easier to find but limited in supply.

Wider implications of this are as follows:

• slows effectiveness of loot farming "Not a Solution"
  
• increase the sense of survival scavenging rather than searching for items
  
• creates a need to interact with others; whether it be to steal or to trade.
  

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Reasons for changing the loot spawn system as suggested above:

• decrease practicability of loot spawns further
  
• adding loot limits means that loot becomes more valuable
  
• by only respawning loot in the conditions laid out above; loot maintains its value, without the possibility of loot being hoarded or completely depleted on a server
  

Why do this:

For the same reason we don't all have money tree's (besides the fact they don't exist); if we all had money tree's they'd become worthless and we'd be worst off overall. And as this is a survival game there needs to be a difference between: knowing where to look and simply collect loot; to actually grinding and scavenging for loot.

Suggestion-Opinion

If you don't understand this then don't worry; you don't need to, providing it be set up right, it'd make for a more survival like experiences. "sheesh" Throw in a few variables and people get all upset and confused.

!Spoon Feed Mode Activated!

Edited February 6, 2013 by Rpatto92

[maxnmike 134]

Yes, because then people can hoard things and others can never find them. Good idea.

[Kaczor 15]

Server hopping, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

Yes, because then people can hoard things and others can never find them. Good idea.

Read more carefully; fresh loot would always be spawned on restart regardless and other items have to be consumed; allowing them to respawn. All this does is make loot more valuable and slows players ability to meta game the system. Plenty of loot would still be available; you'd just need to actually look for it; as opposed to go high value loot spawn, find DMR, go cherno kill fresh spawns. Increasing the difficulty just means; a heavier focus on survival (as that is what the games about) and gives a real reason to approach or kill other players.

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

Server hopping, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I didn't call it a solution; farming loot would just be more difficult, you either take what you find go somewhere else or hop server and if you don't like what you find first time round, change again. Plus hopping server to server takes significantly longer than being able to farm on one server and there's a limited amount on a hive; which means you eventually have to either do things the proper way or wait for all the sever to restart or hop on a server on the off chance it spawns loot where you log in.

And regardless of my opinion; the ability to farm is gone anyway, because the server controls loot spawn now; so if you clear loot in one spawn its hardly likely to respawn right where you farmed it. Also as the loot spawn as individual items now and isn't bound to a static position its just as likely to respawn else where.

[Ernst 9]

Watch the newest (and first btw) videoblog about the standalone.

He gives some hints on how loot spawning will work in the future.

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

Watch the newest (and first btw) videoblog about the standalone.

He gives some hints on how loot spawning will work in the future.

yes I've watched it: I picked up on them too, hence the reason why I'm making some of the suggestions that I have made.

[cgsprite 0]

Great post I believe. I was wondering about loot spawn chances, will the %'s have to be drastically decreased knowing that spawn areas have improved quite a lot with the new areas / new enterable buildings and chances to find items in cars as such.

Edited March 26, 2013 by cgSprite

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

Great post I believe. I was wondering about loot spawn chances, will the %'s have to be drastically decreased knowing that spawn areas have improved quite a lot with the new areas / new enterable buildings and chances to find items in cars as such.

My take on the situation; was that either you could have rare items be one off's or (insert any number of limited amount) and common items would be limited by probability or perhaps vice versa depending upon how fettle the item is.

But generally items in limited supply; would have a range of how many could exist in the world at any one time and the server would attempt to maintain a balance within that limitation, as said items join an leave the server.

Example: if someone joins the server with an item; topping of the range limit for that item, then additional duplicates will not spawn, until either one leaves with the player or is damage/destroyed.

This isn't to say you'd only ever have for sake of argument: 10 M1911's; the range could be changed to the tens, hundreds and thousands etc... Essentially this is almost like having constant items within the real world; except the server compensates for when the consistency in the item population is changed. This also allows for some clever trickery: in that you could dynamically effect the spawning of items; if the existing population of the server is hording a significant amount or the server is effectively being DDoS'd with new players and spawn fresh items. This way the scarcity would appear to remain the same and you could even allow for the scarcity to cascade towards the next server restart; simulating the depletion of resources the long the world is in existence.

[LilBikkie 1]

First paragraph is My idea so it does reiterate some points you ahve allready made.

This is basically the same idea I had, the problem is new players not being able to get any loot after it's been taken by the better guys. A solution to this would be to tier the Gear from top middle and bottom, make the top tier Gear a one time spawn, the middle extremely rare but also randomise the location they spawn so top tier players cant just camp the military zones and stop anyone getting them, and leave the lower tier Gear as they are. this way with some organisation low tier players could take out the top tier players, and this also introduces a new element... as it is now a group of players can eventually gear up to the same level, you can have 5 guys with as50's ( unlikely but still ) but with a finite number of top tier gear thier may only be one as50 on the map meaning thier will be sort of a forced group hierachy - the top dog gets the top gear. thoughts ?

I did post this reply in a similair thread so if your reading this again my apologies. This is so easy to implement with simple algorithims dictating a score for each loot item which gives it it's high middle low tier status all the server has to do is class each item then take an item from the class pool and spawn it. To stop loot hording all you have to do is respawn inactive gear, say someone doesnt play for x hours. then thier character is deleted and the loot is put back inot the pool which would only actually be required for the top tier loot anyway as the other tiers continue to spawn.

Edited March 27, 2013 by LilBikkie

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

You don't need to have "tiers" classes or ranks for any gear; to establish a linear progression system, this isn't a competitive shooter. DayZ's so big in scope that having clear gear boundaries is irreverent because the gear you have is only relative the situation(s) you find yourself in.

Ok so not all gear is equal but quality is irreverent to quantity. All of this information can be possessed behind the scenes; luckily for Dean the tools and data are already in place. All he needs to do, is to take the data they've collected from the mod; decide which items are most valued/used an thus diminished and change the quantity of those items, so that enough are available. Once you have a set quantity for each item; you can change it dynamically at the server level as the player count increases and decreases and also as items are consumed or leave with the player. Essentially the server's doing a complex balancing act; changing the spawning of items to account for players use of them in the game. So there would never be a shortage of items; unless it was intended because the server would maintain a set number.

The other system I suggested; is for items which are used regularly, like food and thus need to be repopulated continually to maintain a large enough supply.

[rpatto92@hotmail.com 26]

Just a summary:

• You have a predisposed number set for each individual item type.
  
• If an item becomes too scares; you can increase that number until it is no-longer scares and do the opposite if an item is too plentiful.
  
• The server only replaces items; when they are consumed/destroyed or leave the server in a players inventory.
  
• If player brings additional items on the server; the server replaces them at a decreased rate.
  
• If more players join the server; the server increases the set values to compensate for increased looting.
  

In conclusion: Items will never be any more scares than they are designed to be. Loot will never run out because there will always be more loot than the population of the server could possibly carry; how much more determines an items rarity. You can not feasibly farm specific items because items will only respawn when they are consumed or taken from the server and even then the respawning of which isn't tied to a players location.