NPCs, Instances & a Safe Zone

[DeanBandit2450 0]

The topics I would like to discuss here are sort of interconnected so I will just take one post. As they progress we may need to split into other threads but we'll see what happens.

NPCs & Random Instances

It would be cool if there was the possibility of seeing survivor NPCs. Though this would be a rare event, they may come up to you saying they know you (or whatever), they may stay quiet and seem like any other player, until they ask you for help, or offer help, or they may be a threat.

Perhaps this could then lead to being given a car or a weapon as a reward, or some sh*t/semi-decent loot if you choose to kill, or they try to kill you. As an even rarer reward perhaps you could get something like a car.

Just to bump another great post on NPCs; http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12415&highlight=NPC

Safe Zone

I was thinking, it could be cool to have an isolated safe zone controlled by a military force (or something) which could be used as a hub for trade, chat etc. EDIT: Though a safe zone, it would be good if even that was randomly over-run by zombies

This area could be protected by the military in that any person that fires a shot gets taken out. Same goes for the surrounding areas, via a sniper team, to prevent people trailing others as they leave simply to kill them for loot. This adds the risk of being chased though which I think could be really cool.

Having a safe zone raises the possibility of having a safe house for yourself. Say you have one house to yourself, no one else can access that house, unless they have the keys or whatever to get in. This still leaves the possibility of your stuff being stolen, though you can steal theirs too as long as you hold the keys.

Depending perhaps on frequency would determine whether houses are server-wide or server-specific.

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There are tons of great ways NPCs and Safe Zones could be implemented into the game and I would love to see your ideas and your constructive criticisms.

I'm aware of the limitations within designing a mod, I am just trying to spark conversation so we can raise some well thought out points for Rocket and the Dev Team to consider implementing into the official release of DayZ.

Happy hunting,

Willu

[robosheriff 13]

why does people wan't to turn this into an mmorpg it makes me sad

[Riis 22]

Please dont turn this into another WoW...pretty please!

[petesthomas@yahoo.com 0]

-1

No safe zones, no instances/quests. Completely misses the point of a persistent survival horror.

NPC's might be good as some have mentioned about army forces moving in to sanitize an area.

[leo235 2]

NO

at the very most have very occasional convoys move through with military shooting evreything around them.

[DeanBandit2450 0]

As I said, constructive criticism is appreciated. A blunt no won't get us anywhere. I will edit my post in that I would hate for any sort of quest log or Exp. system to be introduced. I will also edit out the word quest as instances (albeit random) are much more applicable

RoboSheriff, I could ask you; why do you want to turn this into another Nazi Zombies, it makes me sad (Not that I don't love Nazi Zombies, and just to preempt the haters, I didn't say I liked CoD, did I?).

Riis, turning this into something like WoW would be shit, and that is hardly what I was implying. I'm just trying to bring some realism to the game in a dynamic way. Would you be complaining if after a hard fight to help someone you were rewarded with a car? I bet you've never even driven one.

and Forsaken, did you even check the link I referred to? And can you please explain how safe zones/instances would miss the point of a persistent survival horror? Or, if it actually happened, would you just never talk to anyone and kill them for their beans..?

I don't think you get the point, so I will re-iterate;

1. Situational instances are not going to turn this into an mmo. It is entirely up to you how you handle the situation, and I feel NPCs should not have subtitles or anything, then you just say 'yes' or 'no' when required, or you could just shoot, or you could ignore them. Either way offers rewards dependent on your playing style, be it moral or just basic loot. This is entirely plausible and would add dynamics to the game both solo and in groups.

2. A single military controlled safe zone is completely realistic in this situation, and provides a hub for activity other than PvP zones.. Also, it provides a source for military forces to come from (storywise anyway) though they should still spawn randomly.

[Turtleownage 0]

That would be horrible, safe zones arnt realistic in this environment, if there was a safe zone, there would be no outbreak, they could eventually set up more and more and wipe out the infection. Maybe some kind of random woman begging you to find and save her lost child in exchange for food or whatnot would be a good idea to try, but the lack of trade (Especially NPCs), just bartering and scavenging is what make this game realistic, this isnt a MMO and it should never be made into one, it has a unique concept, the idea of instances could be good, but turning it into quests or XP or whatever would make this nothing more then a WoW wana be.

[Freek314 32]

Get the fuck out of our apocalypse. NOW.

[DeanBandit2450 0]

Ok, so I use the term "instances" and you assume I want to be playing WoW. I don't even play it, so perhaps I should have said "events" or "occurrences".

Turtleownage, how is a safe zone not realistic. This is obviously an area that was controlled by the military. 3 military airports and however many military posts small and large scattered across 225sq.km. It is inevitable someone is gonna get smart and take action. I did say "isolated" hence, small. If you have a problem with it, don't go there, but i'm there are people that could appreciate something like this, and I'm sure Rocket and the Dev Team would implement it in a smart way.

The force (or whoever controls it) at the safe zone would simply be there to prevent friendly fire, although if you take a shot, it still hits. You may even get a few[i/] off before you're taken out. Ideally there would be no NPCs to interact with there, aside from perhaps, bandits could quickly take out a guard with a silenced gun, loot his basic things (no more than say a rifle, minimal rounds).

Also, sandbags and wire fencing are part of the game, so re-establishing some sort of humanity is to be expected.

I did also that I would hate for Exp. to be implemented in any way

Also, how is 'bartering' different to trading? and if that was one of the things that make this game unique, shouldn't that be taken advantage of?

Thankyou for trying to provide a constructive response, but perhaps you should try and explain how this idea would impact the game negatively, or how you think you could do it better, rather than just jumping on the bland-wagon..

Also, the 'safe-zone' would be even more interesting if was randomly overrun by zombies.. Hmm, I'm going to add that to the OP!

[neiionyc 0]

NO

at the very most have very occasional convoys move through with military shooting evreything around them.

+1

mmorpg no thanks, quest sux, npcs that are a threat are good

[Strategos (DayZ) 190]

No it wouldn't be cool.

Sorry, if you want reasons do a search and find one of the many other threads where this stuff has been suggested and discussed.

[DeanBandit2450 0]

Neiionyc, howtf does NPCs that can talk to you at the most basic level, or anything I've said, imply even slightly that I want an mmorpg? I'm literally talking like, someone runs into the building you're in, pulling a couple zombies, if you save them, they might say thanks with some beans, if you kill them you loot them for a makarov, and a bandage. No quests, just random things that happen to make the game more immersive. I did also say that NPC threats would be good.

Freek.. Good luck IRL bro..

[Freek314 32]

Neiionyc' date=' howtf does NPCs that can talk to you at the most basic level, or anything I've said, imply even slightly that I want an mmorpg? I'm literally talking like, someone runs into the building you're in, pulling a couple zombies, if you save them, they might say thanks with some beans, if you kill them you loot them for a makarov, and a bandage. No quests, just random things that happen to make the game more immersive. I [i']did also say that NPC threats would be good.

Freek.. Good luck IRL bro..

Please refer to my thread in General.

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=14763

[DeanBandit2450 0]

Yeah, right, and I was supposed to gain what from it exactly?

[petesthomas@yahoo.com 0]

As I said' date=' constructive criticism is appreciated. A blunt no won't get us anywhere. I will edit my post in that I would hate for any sort of quest log or Exp. system to be introduced. I will also edit out the word quest as instances (albeit random) are much more applicable

RoboSheriff, I could ask you; why do you want to turn this into another Nazi Zombies, it makes me sad (Not that I don't [i']love Nazi Zombies, and just to preempt the haters, I didn't say I liked CoD, did I?).

Riis, turning this into something like WoW would be shit, and that is hardly what I was implying. I'm just trying to bring some realism to the game in a dynamic way. Would you be complaining if after a hard fight to help someone you were rewarded with a car? I bet you've never even driven one.

and Forsaken, did you even check the link I referred to? And can you please explain how safe zones/instances would miss the point of a persistent survival horror? Or, if it actually happened, would you just never talk to anyone and kill them for their beans..?

I don't think you get the point, so I will re-iterate;

1. Situational instances are not going to turn this into an mmo. It is entirely up to you how you handle the situation, and I feel NPCs should not have subtitles or anything, then you just say 'yes' or 'no' when required, or you could just shoot, or you could ignore them. Either way offers rewards dependent on your playing style, be it moral or just basic loot. This is entirely plausible and would add dynamics to the game both solo and in groups.

2. A single military controlled safe zone is completely realistic in this situation, and provides a hub for activity other than PvP zones.. Also, it provides a source for military forces to come from (storywise anyway) though they should still spawn randomly.

I appreciate this forum is not the friendliest place, but you sarcastic tone and arrogant style is just going to piss people off. No-one gave you a blunt no, so please don't start harping on like you're being ignored. This has been discussed many times. And please don't imply any of us play one way or the other, I have yet to take another survivors life after many weeks of gameplay.

I personally believe safe zones are the wrong direction to take because the beauty of this game is the emergent gameplay with minimal forced developer placed missions/restrictions. If you want a safe zone, join a decent clan and set one up, get your fortifications built somewhere high. Have guards etc etc etc. Simply setting a safezone changes the dynamics of the game in such a way that the tense atmosphere and fear that is a constant and ever present feeling throughout the DayZ experience would be lost. Hence the end of a survival horror experience.

What requirement is there for instances? Get you and 3 mates together and go and clear a town. Raid the NW Airfield. Build a vehicle. there's no need for contrived developer forced quests or instances. It completely misses out the beauty and genius of the way DayZ has been designed thus far. There's a reason why everyone's stories are so brilliant to read, because the game happens differently for everyone, everyone has a unique experience. As soon as calculated instances are put into the game we lose that.

After that, yeah like Strat says, do a search, this has been discussed by people far better qualified than I.