Leaving behind messages

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

Hello,

i am new to this forum :)

I would like to suggest a couple of things regarding leaving some kind of messages to increase immersion:

What i thought of could be e.g.:

- carving a message into sand (a little piece of wood required to do so)

- graffiti (requires spray can, only on road surfaces and building walls or cleaned up billboards)

- letters (require pen, paper and an envelope, letters can be left inside buildings, e.g. place a letter next to a radio with the message "tune in to 105.5 Mhz for emergency broadcasts" or similar things)

- graffiti on billboards (requires glue, white paper and graffiti can)

- smoky fires (needs wood and lighter - to make it smoke you could e.g. throw trash into the fire to create black smoke (preferably items made from plastic, wet tree branches), throwing filled graffiti spray cans or fuel cans into the fire could make the containers explode and injure you, smoke might attract zombies)

- chalk ( only on road surfaces, rain will wash chalk messages away, does not work if its raining outside)

The carving letters into sand and the graffitis should be time consuming activities, so the servers dont get spammed with useless stuff. I would hope that graffiti and sand carving stay active for lets say 1-2 hours, then they get deleted. There should be a possibility to destroy messages left behind in the sand by e.g. running over the letters or via an ingame option.

Carving messages into sand should be time consuming as mentioned above, so my idea is that every single character has to be carved individually. How this could work is: you walk on sand and go into the knee down position, you receive an option to carve into sand. A input field pops up and you type in "S" and press Enter or OK and the character will start with the carving. When the carving is done, you repeat the steps but this time you type in "O" as a letter. And in the end you type in "S" again. In the end you will have "SOS" carved into sand and this should take a considerable amount of time, lets say at least 25 - 30 seconds for 1 character. This way, carving into sand poses a real danger for players and players have to take a risk to do the carving and i hope that would prevent spamming of this feature.

I could imagine that the applying of graffiti to a bill board or a house wall would be similar to the carving in sand considering time effort and the way of writing with spray cans.

Letters should not despawn as quickly as graffiti and sand carving. I hope they would stay at least one in-game day and night cycle. There should be an option to seal letters, if a letter is sealed, the letter is destroyed after someone ripped open the envelope. If you leave the envelope open, the reader of the letter can decide to drop it where he found the letter to leave it behind for others.

So i hope these are some new inspirations for you guys, i would love to hear what you guys think about this idea :)

Edited June 14, 2013 by derdoe

[Guest]

you know what people will draw??? the male anatomy that will get drawn 5/10 times.

[Tumoa 359]

nobody i going to use that feature seriously.

Edited June 14, 2013 by Tumoa

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

Well considering that in my suggestion there is no way to draw things, i dont understand your posts. They could limit the feature to characters only and block brackets, exclamation marks etc... An exception would have to be made with the letters as you will need exclamation marks and question marks etc..

Actually its a shame that you guys dont even consider what chances to the gameplay this brings. Thats really disappointing.

Edited June 14, 2013 by derdoe

[Tumoa 359]

Well considering that in my suggestion there is no way to draw things, i dont understand your posts. They could limit the feature to characters only and block brackets, exclamation marks etc... An exception would have to be made with the letters as you will need exclamation marks and question marks etc..

Actually its a shame that you guys dont even consider what chances to the gameplay this brings. Thats really disappointing.

it's not that idea is good it's just that there would be so much inappropriate contact people will write stupid things like boobs, penis and etc. the devs don't want that

Edited June 14, 2013 by Tumoa

[Schmeddy 9]

Well considering that in my suggestion there is no way to draw things, i dont understand your posts. They could limit the feature to characters only and block brackets, exclamation marks etc... An exception would have to be made with the letters as you will need exclamation marks and question marks etc..

Actually its a shame that you guys dont even consider what chances to the gameplay this brings. Thats really disappointing.

Well honestly most of your ideas have been suggested multiple times (especially the message system). And really, what would I write or graffiti for others to read? I'm not saying it won't make it in SA in some form, but I don't think it will be used all that much by people other than to troll. Also, why would I want to light a fire that puts out black smoke and only, by your description, draws attention to me?

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

Well honestly most of your ideas have been suggested multiple times (especially the message system). And really, what would I write or graffiti for others to read? I'm not saying it won't make it in SA in some form, but I don't think it will be used all that much by people other than to troll. Also, why would I want to light a fire that puts out black smoke and only, by your description, draws attention to me?

To attract someone for whatever reason. E.g. someone is camping a building that you want to enter. You start a fire nearby and make it to smoke a bit and hope the guy camping is leaving his spot to investigate. Or leaving behind traces. Someone else could follow your traces then. You could lay traces that lead someone into a trap, you could also do it to guide people into a safer area. I think the possibilites are not limited.

You asked what graffiti you could write, anything you want. Within certain limits.

it's not that idea is good it's just that there would be so much inappropriate contact people will write stupid things like boobs, penis and etc. we devs don't want that

Ok i seem to have misunderstood, sorry for that. Considering inappropriate content in the messages: you dont want inappropriate content, thats why i said to increase the effort you have to put into the making of those messages reasonably high so people will think twice if its worth the risk of doing it or not. And i think that will work in most cases. In the beginning it will get used a lot as people will try it out, in the long term i think people will most likely use it for what its intended.

Also: Radios are being introduced, how you make sure someone is not sending the sound of a porn over the radio, i guess you wouldnt want that either, right?

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

Considering inappropriate content in the messages: you dont want inappropriate content, thats why i said to increase the effort you have to put into the making of those messages reasonably high so people will think twice if its worth the risk of doing it or not. And i think that will work in most cases.

I actually think making it more difficult and complex would make it MORE likely to be obscene.

Folks are going to be impressed when they see a 50 foot cock and balls carved into a beach, if they know it took the guy ages.

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

I actually think making it more difficult and complex would make it MORE likely to be obscene.

Folks are going to be impressed when they see a 50 foot cock and balls carved into a beach, if they know it took the guy ages.

That comment just made me laugh hard, but to be honest, if they take the effort of carving a 50foot big cock into the sand, they shall have it in my eyes ^^

[Clumzy (DayZ) 377]

I don't think anyone would want to see this when they think about what people would write. Just look at the pooping feature being added into the SA, and the only things I've seen being said about it is 'My goal in standalone is to take a dump on as many players and player camps as possible'. What do you think would happen with people being able to write and draw whatever they want?

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

I don't think anyone would want to see this when they think about what people would write. Just look at the pooping feature being added into the SA, and the only things I've seen being said about it is 'My goal in standalone is to take a dump on as many players and player camps as possible'. What do you think would happen with people being able to write and draw whatever they want?

Well, the world aint perfect, especially when it comes to a post-apocalypse. I think we should see the chances for the gameplay these features would provide and not see what people could do wrong with it. If it gets out of hand, there are ways to handle them, e.g. making graffiti cans more rare, raising the time effort for making the messages, etc... And i think people will have more and better things to do than constantly draw penises around the whole map. Especially if it takes a considerable amount of time to do so.

[Korsbaek 1778]

To attract someone for whatever reason. E.g. someone is camping a building that you want to enter. You start a fire nearby and make it to smoke a bit and hope the guy camping is leaving his spot to investigate.

I'm sure i wouldn't leave my spot to "investigate" a fire... If i was that camper and i saw the fire, i would just think "oh nice, another kill".

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

I'm sure i wouldn't leave my spot to "investigate" a fire... If i was that camper and i saw the fire, i would just think "oh nice, another kill".

Well as i said, the possibilities arent limited and the ways people are reacting to certain stuff is also not limited. Other people will for sure investigate it, others might go away from the fire because of fear, others will get an observation position on the fire and see if they see someone. Its not limited.

You could do a kind of scavenger hunt, you could do marks for orientation, to know where you have been already or similar stuff.

[-Gews- 7443]

The idea of leaving behind messages is one I like in theory... probably not so much in practice.

Maybe under the following conditions:

1. No drawings

2. Everything comes out in Cyrillic

:lol:

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

Hmmmm. I think I had FuckOS on a laptop at some point.

[methr1k2dop3 323]

1:56 <3

Edited June 15, 2013 by methr1k2dop3

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

Another way to address the above mentioned problems is to have a kind of selection of players can write: E.g. you have a choosing dialog and there are some words that you can choose to write, e.g. SOS, STOP, FRIENDLY, HELP ME. This would be quite a limitation but a 100 percent approach against profanity.

[Ken Bean 174]

Yep, the idea is good. But predefined signs or words should be a way to go.

[methr1k2dop3 323]

Another way to address the above mentioned problems is to have a kind of selection of players can write: E.g. you have a choosing dialog and there are some words that you can choose to write, e.g. SOS, STOP, FRIENDLY, HELP ME. This would be quite a limitation but a 100 percent approach against profanity.

i like this.

the word "Penis" written everywhere totally brings down the feeling of a zombie apocalypse.

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

I just had another idea concerning the problems of profanity:

There could be items to be looted that contain messages: e.g. a Banner that was ripped into pieces and you could use a part of that banner and hang that up on some building or something like that. With the crafting system in place, you could collect graffiti patterns and then you could craft messages with that.

So the process would look like that: Loot graffit spray can and graffiti pattern, craft the patterns to contain your message in the right order, e.g. you collected Z-O-M-B-I-E in patterns/templates, you drag the O to the Z letter and craft it into Z-O, then you continue with each letter until you got a template saying Z-O-M-B-I-E. Then you apply the template to e.g. a road surface and spray over it with a graffiti can.

Something similar to this, just a bit bigger and for charactors:

http://www.natronund...blone_schab.jpg

Edited June 16, 2013 by derdoe

[mat9813004 8]

Graffiti walls would reflect human nature, the offensive messages would just be part of the environment, putting marks in sand could be useful for leaving tracks for teaem mates or warnings. Putting paper and pencils in a camp would be a way of communicating with people associated with the tent such as "Take what you need but please leave something behind" or even, "look behind you". Perhaps a compulsory "signing" of the characters message to indicate its origin.

Its no more insulting that someone trolling over the radio.

[Talibambi 119]

People want an "authentic" zombie apocalpyse experience. But they dont want the "authentic" part. People should have the right to behave however they want. You cant say that "oh we cant give these buffs and nerfs to encourage X and discourage Y" and then say "but we cant have spraycan writing because there would be cocks everywhere!". Because that would just be attempting to limit a playstyle.

YOU might not enjoy seeing cocks everywhere. But someone else might.

YOU might not enjoy KOS. But someone else might.

YOU might be a good person. But someone else might not.

I guess what Im saying is - if a writing mechanic is going to be implimented, it shouldnt be done half assed if its possible within the engine and not going to take significant amount of resources to impliment. It should be done the whole way and people should have to deal with it. Would I personally enjoy seeing cocks everywhere? Not really I guess. But I do think people should have that option - IF THEY CHOOSE TO.

Edited June 16, 2013 by Talibambi

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

People want an "authentic" zombie apocalpyse experience. But they dont want the "authentic" part. People should have the right to behave however they want. You cant say that "oh we cant give these buffs and nerfs to encourage X and discourage Y" and then say "but we cant have spraycan writing because there would be cocks everywhere!". Because that would just be attempting to limit a playstyle.

YOU might not enjoy seeing cocks everywhere. But someone else might.

YOU might not enjoy KOS. But someone else might.

YOU might be a good person. But someone else might not.

I guess what Im saying is - if a writing mechanic is going to be implimented, it shouldnt be done half assed if its possible within the engine and not going to take significant amount of resources to impliment. It should be done the whole way and people should have to deal with it. Would I personally enjoy seeing cocks everywhere? Not really I guess. But I do think people should have that option - IF THEY CHOOSE TO.

I really like your post, especially that you defend my idea against your own preference. So thanks for that!

As i said, the possibilities are unlimited. And you are right saying one player might like it and another will hate it. What needs to be kept in mind is that this system is supposed to add immersion and ambiance to the game. But: If 99% of all messages are abusive and profane and not adding anything to the game gameplay-wise, the features dont have any meaning to the game and that would be a shame. Especially considering that the dev team devotes ressources to the features while they have to abandon other topics because they simply cant do them all. People should bear in mind that if any of the ideas shared in this thread will get developed there are other ideas that didnt make it and might have been even better. If the level of stupid messages gets to a certain level were it is going from being a feature to just being annoying there would have been other ideas the devs could have looked into instead of adding something to the game that will potentially break it in the end.

Edited June 17, 2013 by derdoe

[derdoe (DayZ) 16]

So for now i see 3 trends concerning the ideas:

- limit signs and characters that can be drawn

- limit drawings, allowing to write everything

- no limitations, allowing to draw and write everything

What would you guys vote for?

[Guest]

this feature would not useful at all. This isn't Demon Souls where you leave a message (non-customizable). This isn't adobe acrobat. think about how stupid this feature would be..... really.