Dirty Death Messages

[Fonebook 126]

I did a search and did not find a discussion going on this so I apologize in advance if this is old news.

Death messages seem out of place to me. I mean they are handy for being sure you killed someone, but really how would you know without checking the body? We all know humans have survived some amazing things, and even people that look completely torn up may be alive. The game already has a dialogue for checking pulse, can we get more use out of this?

I have been feeling for a long time that it is strange that you can sometimes see who shoots you in some private servers, and a few public ones as well. Furthermore, I find the default setting of showing death messages at all to be strange. To me it is an element of the game that doesn't belong at all. A person should have to check a body themselves or watch it closely for awhile to make sure their target is neutralized. Now I understand that these messages can be turned off in an expert mode setting server side, but given the choice players seem to prefer taking the easy route. Look at the growth of private hive shenanigans, for instance.

I have learned not to trust them anyways, as I have been killed before for assuming I killed a guy, only to later realize it must have been a death message from somewhere else in the server as my supposed victim finished me off. As I play the game now, I wait until I hear flies to be sure the guy is dead, or check the body myself.

Granted, as it stands I could easily rent a server and run it on expert mode myself, I have seen people around here looking for some so I figure I am not alone on this. However I feel that showing death messages is another UI element standard in FPS multiplayer games that does not belong in a game like DayZ.

My opinion is that going forward into the standalone, death messages should be removed completely, forcing players to check bodies to be sure they are dead. I understand that in the real world looking through a scope/binoculars there are certain injuries you could possibly see on a person and make a reasonable assumption that your target was neutralized. Perhaps some 3D models for different injuries can be applied to character models? That is, if it isn't too sick and twisted, or the game could be pulled from shelves in certain markets.

What does everyone think?

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

given the choice players seem to prefer taking the easy route.

Hit the nail on the head.

To be fair, for hosts and admins I think it comes down to a mistaken belief that you have to appeal to as many people as possible.

+1 to make DayZSA a Death message free zone.

[colekern 1364]

I had other thoughts when you said dirty death messages.

But seriously, good suggestion.

[DemonGroover 8836]

I saw a mod of DayZ once (not sure which) which only gave a person a murder or kill once they inspected the body. I thought this was a good way of forcing players to check their kills.

Bad for camping snipers i suppose, but tough shit.

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

That's the spirit!

[doomtrain 14]

I saw a mod of DayZ once (not sure which) which only gave a person a murder or kill once they inspected the body. I thought this was a good way of forcing players to check their kills.

Bad for camping snipers i suppose, but tough shit.

http://zombies.nu/

Has this.

[m.w. vindicator 880]

Well hopefully the no HUD philosophy will carry over to death messages. I don't want to see any HUD on my screen. Even hunger, thirst , and health don't need to be on the HUD if there are proper audio visual ques.

[fluxley 2228]

I saw a mod of DayZ once (not sure which) which only gave a person a murder or kill once they inspected the body. I thought this was a good way of forcing players to check their kills.

Bad for camping snipers i suppose, but tough shit.

How did it handle humanity? as in did humanity only go down once you inspected the body, because if it didnt go down you'd have bandits murdering away and just not looking at the body, and if it did go down with the kill people would be able to just watch their humanity instead of the kill count.

Like the idea but it seems flawed.

[DemonGroover 8836]

I am sure the kill can be recorded just not displayed until inspected. Idk actually, it's a valid point i suppose.

[Fonebook 126]

Well hopefully the no HUD philosophy will carry over to death messages. I don't want to see any HUD on my screen. Even hunger, thirst , and health don't need to be on the HUD if there are proper audio visual ques.

Completely agree. I don't think a single item needs to be displayed on the screen, though I can see some of these cues ending up being rather annoying or silly. It will take some creativity to have the functionality desired by the standalone without any HUD whatsoever. In the end a few icons may be the best route unfortunately, but they definitely should do their best to limit it.

How did it handle humanity? as in did humanity only go down once you inspected the body, because if it didnt go down you'd have bandits murdering away and just not looking at the body, and if it did go down with the kill people would be able to just watch their humanity instead of the kill count.

Like the idea but it seems flawed.

Well humanity perhaps shouldn't really be displayed as a number value anyhow. I also think it should be completely up to the player to keep track of their kills, in the notebook perhaps. Then the game can easily make your humanity raise or lower in the background without you ever being sure exactly what you have done, unless you check for yourself. This will make it so you cannot use your stats as a braggart, and instead your stories, pictures, and videos will be how you share your DayZ experience. This way game won't keep your kill count accurate for you, and you will be the only one who really knows if you properly kept track or not as you could just add a line to your kills at any time. This opens the door to people keeping track of whatever statistics they want in the game with their notebook, such as Mountain Dew consumption.

I suppose this would be a rather tough sell to most gamers, as almost every online multiplayer game now tracks and displays a multitude of statistics for you to use as bragging rights.

[DemonGroover 8836]

^ Yep agree. Same way that you should have to keep track of how many bullets you think you have left.

[jk_scowling 44]

snip...

What does everyone think?

I'd agree, would add some tenseness to shooting someone at a distance and approaching the body thinking, did I get him?

[aoshi 32]

I did not login in for the forum a while (do not login only read the threads) but I think this deserves a comment.

Yes, I am in favor of taking sound of flies and the message, maybe having to check the pulse, injury models is probably too "complicated" for them to do now

but it would be a welcome change, I hope the developers Take a look at this topic

although when you shot in the head and blood comes out(where you hit), or hit 2 shots with 7.62 (taking into account 12000 blood ) you know you got a kill, so put at least blood on SA.

[Felixthefriendlycat 92]

I really like this idea a lot. The uncertainty if someone is dead or not adds a good bit of tension and is very realistic. Giving players a counter that counts kills promotes killing for no reason. Players should be able to do what they want and not be steered in a certain direction, such counters do exactly that. If you would have to shoot someone to stay allive the kill shouldnt matter. But if you are a bounty hunter or a bandit you could go up to the corps check if it is dead and you get a note in your diary. This could allow for bounty hunting since you would have proof of who you killed. I really think this idea deserves recognition and I hope so bad it will be in standalone.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Felixthefriendlycat

[m.w. vindicator 880]

^ Yep agree. Same way that you should have to keep track of how many bullets you think you have left.

Counting bullets should be easy considering I will only have three or four :D :thumbsup:

[Saethkept 134]

I agree with you OP. Anything that pulls you up out of the fog of immersion in a game should be tossed out.

I used to play on a first person only, no side chat, no waypoints Namalsk server. The experience was kind of like running blind but seeing more clearly what the game could be. I played a solo scout sniper type on that server, and the immersion value from stalking around the mountains, slipping stealthily in and out of towns and buildings was amazing. You could go for days and days without interacting with another player, although I often glassed many of them through my DMR scope and let them go on their way. Good times.

[Shadow Man 142]

I'm all for this. I did make a thread about death messages ages ago but no harm in bringing it up again. Death messages go against everything that DayZ is meant to be. Along with sidechat, humanity and third person. I never liked humanity because it just gives people another reason to kill for fun. There would and should be no good way to tell if a person you meet is trustworthy.

I would even go so far as to have server player lists hidden. Not knowing whats going on in the environment is the whole point. We shouldn't be able to know how many players there are and all their names. It should just be you, standing on a beach with no clue who else may be around.

[Shadow Man 142]

Bad for camping snipers i suppose, but tough shit.

You mean more realistic for snipers. Snipers have it way too easy.

[bloodtrozorx 145]

I thought this thread was going to be about death messages like "Your mother killed Bloodtrozorx" or "My Giant Black Rooster killed *Insert Name here*"

Not as funny but still a decent thread.

[Mos1ey 6301]

I saw a mod of DayZ once (not sure which) which only gave a person a murder or kill once they inspected the body. I thought this was a good way of forcing players to check their kills.

Bad for camping snipers i suppose, but tough shit.

I dunno, I mean, do they do it for the +1 murder? Or do they just do it to ruin someone's day?

On topic: Aren't death messages a server setting? I have a feeling that they might end up being disabled in the standalone.

[Statik (DayZ) 2695]

Last night for instance, I killed 4 people, without 3 of those deathtags, I wouldn't have known if the person lived.

It would completely change the game if you thought "that player could still be alive"

[xx_fr0st-w0lf_xx 53]

In origins there is more then just death messages, they say who killed you and with what.

Yes its not realistic and could be bad, but you get to know who the bandits are and allows you to judge a person depending on how many times their name showed up. For some people its good enough to not kos and I have noticed that I have met more friendlier people and when asked they said it was to maintain a good reputation on the server

Obviously its not flawless but I don't mind it.

[strongtent 74]

I think death messages should be proximity based, or turned off and more group play should rely on communication with radios to keep tabs.

[DemonGroover 8836]

Having no death messages (and no flies sound) also means players could play dead.

[Fonebook 126]

Having no death messages (and no flies sound) also means players could play dead.

You know, there should be a button for "play dead" as well as "walk like a zombie."

One of my favorite bandit kills was finding a bandit at Balota with a hatchet running around with a mob of zeds behind him. I started running with the mob of zeds hoping he hadn't noticed me. The zed and I ran behind him for about 70 yards as he wove through the town trying to lose them. One of them must have hit him cause as soon as he thought he had lost them, I ran up behind the guy and put an axe in his bandit back. He said over side chat "where the hell did you come from?" I told him I ran with the pack of chasing zombies. He said "crap, I thought you were one of them." Mission success.