GPS-marked caches

[Giragast 2]

The purpose of this feature is to encourage tactical group combat around a fixed location, with rewards.

This is not an attempt to recreate the STALKER map cache markings.

Given that a new solo player has enough to do (find weapons, not die) this suggestion is to help give something for players already in a group to do. The rough outline for how a typical scenario would play out is as listed:

1) All players who carry a GPS will be able to see a marker indicating the position of a supply drop on the map.

2) The location is selected from a preset list of random coordiates, most importantly IN CLEAR VIEW of the surroundings. A drop is spawned once every few hours. Examples of typical locations are listed below.

3) The objective for the group is to approach and secure the area so that a member of the group can safely, without interruption, open the supply drop.

4) The player opening the drop will be particularly vulnerable during this time. Aborting the opening process will reset this opening timer.

5) Opening the supply drop should take several minutes and not be a quick process. This allows other groups to make their way to the drop position and mount an assault on any group currently at the location.

5) The defending group will need to quickly mount scouting and reaction forces on arrival, to deal with anyone else attempting to reach the drop.

6) Ideally, the approaching group will attempt to kill the player opening the drop first before clearing the area.

7) Once the drop is open, it can be looted by anyone. The drop will disappear after a certain period of time.

Example locations:

Devil's Castle : comes with existing defenses

Airfield - runway : open space, very difficult to defend

Airfield - hanger : all but one side covered, which is wide open to attack

Feel free to suggest more. The centres of towns or cities should perhaps be avoided. The drop should be a difficult thing to secure, and surrounding buildings may make this easier to do. IT may also provide cover for an assaulting group - it's something that would require testing.

The contents of the drop should be something valuable, perhaps a supply of one particular type of item for the group to share between them (blood, NVGs, ammo).

This feature, in essence, becomes a mobile version of the best-loot locations and hospitals, with the changing locations providing a way for players to try fresh approaches to assault and defense of a location.

The current setup should be flexible enough to suit a non-gamified requirement. The 'opening timer' however is the weak point here. This could be replaced with a 'needs X toolboxes to open' mechanic instead, or any similar thing to prevent immediate access to the loot.

A final suggestion, which I think may not suit the game in its current state, is a broadcast message to indicate that a drop has spawned and that players with a GPS can begin the process of finding it and organising their group for the assault.

King of the hill is probably the closest equivalent to this.