Suicide in DayZ and why it's important

[TheMachine 803]

Imagine, if you will, the nightmare of living in a post apocalyptic world, there'd be mass murder, rape, torture and cannibalism.

Now, think about this in the context of DayZ. More than anything it's the psychological aspect that makes the game thrilling to play. The fear of other players.

When you're playing DayZ, you don't want to die, but you expect it, you know it's coming and you know it's from another player. What if we could add a new dynamic to the gameplay that'd really force people to make difficult decisions?

Imagine you're at the airfield, your looting the barracks while your friend stands guard outside, suddenly shots start coming in, DMR's, m14's, AK's blasting, your friend dies and you manage to make it inside wounded and bleeding.

You manage to bandage yourself, but you know the other team is closing in, you KNOW you can't fight them off on your own. It's a matter of time until they sneak up and toss a grenade in or pop you in the head through the window. BAM, lights out.

So, what you do? If you're a pussy, you logout, but if you're a real man, you either fight your way out of there or die trying.

Wouldn't it be cool if death had consequence beyond losing your gear? Wouldn't it be cool if after you were killed you were locked out for say, 10 minutes?

BUT, if you take your own life, no lockout, you can just relog.

That'd force so many tough decisions from players, do you fight against hopeless odds, or do you take the easy way out?

Or, did that guy inside that building just shoot himself or did he just fire a shot into the ground?

Scroll, select 'suicide?', 'are you sure?' 'yes'. Your character turns and puts his pistol in his mouth, BOOM, game over.

That'd give me a new goal in game, corner people and make them suicide.

[-Gews- 7443]

Wouldn't it be cool if after you were killed you were locked out for say, 10 minutes twenty-four hours?

Fixed, that might be a more appropriate penalty.

Also just in case: No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. By calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) you’ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7.

[TheMachine 803]

24 hours would be a cool, but most people can't take that kind of hardcore.

[-Gews- 7443]

24 hours would be a cool, but most people can't take that kind of hardcore.

Just like most people can't take killing themselves :lol: 10 minutes is just a snack break.

[harley001 315]

I don't think putting a timer in is the proper way of adding punishment to dieing. That doesn't punish you. That just waste your time.

[thelonewarrior 886]

I can see how this would be good, perhaps not instant relog. But maybe say 10 mins for normal death (which remember would mean someone would have a better chance at finding your body) or 5 minutes for suicide. But in order to make sure people actually sit there and wait, you have to click on "continue" every 30 seconds to load into the game, just a thought. It might seem annoying, but then again...........value your life

Edited June 30, 2013 by Regulator Lone Warrior

[Jordan* 277]

A timer for dying? Nah. I think that is just stupid IMO.

Me and my guys do way to much stupid stuff to try and kill each other to have a 24 hour timer.

And I mean really, how many times did you die as a new player when you first started? Play for 15 minutes, get sniped, wait a DAY before doing it all again?

Nah.

EDIT: With some servers and people's PCs, trying to get back in is enough punishment

Edited June 30, 2013 by Jordan*

[Maca (DayZ) 769]

Something like this http://dayzmod.com/f...9-dayz-suicide/.

What they need to do is eliminate the ability to loot your own corpse after dying, be it by lock out not (24 hours) or another for of mechanic. Then the focus would be brought back onto your character and all your actions will have some form of consequence. They need to make people get attached to their character again and fear the possibility of losing a few hours work. Be it from your own foolish mistake or by the hands of others.

@Regulator Lone Warrior, I'm linking that vid it belongs in this discussion. brilliant.

[thelonewarrior 886]

Haha yeah, thanks for linking it here.............I think making it so you cant loot your own corpse could add to the game a lot, maybe not such a long time, but 1 hour would still be a long time as you have to bear in mind server restarts removing the corpses. But to be honest if I couldn't loot my own corpse I would value my life a lot more in game

[DotFreelance 15]

Nothing says "terrible development decision" like adding a timer to be able to play. I'm CERTAIN people will keep playing if they get locked out for 24 hours after they die to a vehicle exploding on random geometry, a vehicle flipping over at random, running into a friend and breaking their leg, passing out and bleeding out, teleporting through geometry to die inside a wall, or any of the numerous other pitfalls of the shitty implementation, right guys?

I can assure you as a developer that this is a bad idea.

[Dreygar (DayZ) 178]

If the game had a

Something like this http://dayzmod.com/f...9-dayz-suicide/.

What they need to do is eliminate the ability to loot your own corpse after dying, be it by lock out not (24 hours) or another for of mechanic. Then the focus would be brought back onto your character and all your actions will have some form of consequence. They need to make people get attached to their character again and fear the possibility of losing a few hours work. Be it from your own foolish mistake or by the hands of others.

@Regulator Lone Warrior, I'm linking that vid it belongs in this discussion. brilliant.

Preventing access to your previous dead character doesn't solve anything. As mentioned many times before your character needs to possess some kind of knowledge... Whether gained by books, practiced through a careful repetition (not exploitable), or just somehow learned throughout your time playing... is really the only way you can make someone value their character because that experience will be lost upon death.

This means in order to fly a helicopter your character needs to passively study the manual, it can be found throughout chernarus and can even have long training times depending on the difficulty of the task. Book would be valuable and can be traded, the knowledge gained remains saved to your character, or you could destroy/hide the book to ensure its rarity.

The same goes for all difficult tasks like repairing a car or some advanced medical training. Each with their own training times depending on the difficulty of the task.

This really is the only option I feel, and it would make things a little more authentic and really make you value your character. Does it suck that you found a helicopter, but now have to passively read a book for 48 hrs to fly it? Yeah, it does but it brings a realistic and practical difficulty.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Dreygar

[Mullraugh 1151]

So being a coward and killing yourself gives you no punishment, but going down fighting kicks you for ten minutes? I don't get it...

[TheMachine 803]

I never said 24 hours, brony guy did. I suggested 10 minutes to make the decision harder. Do you kill yourself, sensing the situation is useles, or do you risk the 10 minute login block by trying to fight back?

[Jordan* 277]

I never said 24 hours, brony guy did. I suggested 10 minutes to make the decision harder. Do you kill yourself, sensing the situation is useles, or do you risk the 10 minute login block by trying to fight back?

Sooooo you wish to punish players for ACTUALLY playing the game, but reward those who take away from the gameplay experience of others?

+1

[TheMachine 803]

So being a coward and killing yourself gives you no punishment, but going down fighting kicks you for ten minutes? I don't get it...

It'd FORCE people to decide if they were going to be cowards and go out with a bullet in the head by their own gun or risk a 10 minute block by fighting, it's called an incentive.

You can bet your bottom dollar, lots of people would suicide.

[TheMachine 803]

Sooooo you wish to punish players for ACTUALLY playing the game, but reward those who take away from the gameplay experience of others?

+1

How does killing ones self take away from anyone else playing experience? It's realistic and gritty.

[Jordan* 277]

OK, so, we you see a guy run in to the barracks. You shoot. You miss.

He shoots himself.

Well. That was a lot of fun.

And if you are going for realism, lol.

[Mullraugh 1151]

I like the idea of suicide for other reasons. No punishments for death or anything.

They should definitely add it, they probably will and I bet lots of people will take the cowards way out.

BUT punishing people for dying... ehh I dunno.

Also. Russian Roulette HAS to be added!

[OEM (DayZ) 8]

Suicide would severely hamper the game imo. Think about any hardship you're under, you can either spend a LONG time (and a lot of risk) trying to overcome said hardship, or you can sneak off to a bush somewhere, cap yourself and then run back to your body.

Broken bones? Suicide run

Infected? Suicide run

Under fire? Suicide run

Really low on blood and got no food? Suicide run

The whole point of DayZ is to get put into situations (via the operator that is the environment, players and zombies) that are tough to overcome, that the player then gains valuable knowledge about the game when they attempt to overcome that hardship. This is why you don't need a 'leveling system' because the REAL PERSON is gaining knowledge as they play. This is how the Monster Hunter series operates and why it is successful.

Imagine if you're a new player and you break your legs for the first time, you have no idea that morphine can heal you, but you DO see this suicide option... "gee should I prone around for the rest of the game, or should I just respawn? Tough choice..."

Edited June 30, 2013 by OEM

[Maca (DayZ) 769]

If the game had a

Preventing access to your previous dead character doesn't solve anything. As mentioned many times before your character needs to possess some kind of knowledge... Whether gained by books, practiced through a careful repetition (not exploitable), or just somehow learned throughout your time playing... is really the only way you can make someone value their character because that experience will be lost upon death.

This means in order to fly a helicopter your character needs to passively study the manual, it can be found throughout chernarus and can even have long training times depending on the difficulty of the task. Book would be valuable and can be traded, the knowledge gained remains saved to your character, or you could destroy/hide the book to ensure its rarity.

The same goes for all difficult tasks like repairing a car or some advanced medical training. Each with their own training times depending on the difficulty of the task.

This really is the only option I feel, and it would make things a little more authentic and really make you value your character. Does it suck that you found a helicopter, but now have to passively read a book for 48 hrs to fly it? Yeah, it does but it brings a realistic and practical difficulty.

I total agree, i'm all for every aspect of this game pushing you towards making certain decisions, to accomplish certain tasks/knowledge. Be it from finding books/tools even gun cleaning kit ect. Then letting the player to get immersed in their character and build on his/her survival.

But the fact is it will never be achieved, unless the ability to run back to your corpse like it's a Christmas present under the tree waiting to be unwrapped, needs a major overhaul. Because this cheapens the experience and eliminates any aspect to risk verse reward. But i one hundredth percent can see where you're coming from.

Suicide would severely hamper the game imo. Think about any hardship you're under, you can either spend a LONG time (and a lot of risk) trying to overcome said hardship, or you can sneak off to a bush somewhere, cap yourself and then run back to your body.

My point exactly it cheapens the hole experience.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Maca

[Skat3rat 1633]

Fixed, that might be a more appropriate penalty.

24 hours seems a bit too long for a lot of reasons. Why not make it 2-3 hours?

[mick17 93]

I like the sucide option but not the lockout..... I don't want to pay for a game and not be able to play it because I died. Not really in need of THAT much immersion.

[OEM (DayZ) 8]

I personally think the 'lock-out' versus 'suicide' choice is a horrible thing to put in the game. And if anything the player should be locked out FOR suiciding. I think about it this way: If you die legitimately, the game has taught you a lesson, and you are richer for the experience. You should be rewarded with the ability to immediately apply what you've learned to your next gaming experience (not being locked out, so you can only apply the lesson 24 hours later) and if you suicide you are circumventing the learning aspect of the game and should be punished for taking the easy way out.

Even though situations like running around dying to hunger are horribly drawn out and very taxing on the player (not being able to see properly etc) it still creates the desperation, the panic, that DayZ is famous for. Searching through towns ravenously for a single can of food, risking zombies and players alike so you don't die, is important. If the player can go "woops, got caught out in the wilderness with no food, and no knife. better suicide..." then that's cheap.

Once again, having any kind of lock out mechanism is terrible. But if there WAS one, I would hope it would work in the opposite way to what was originally suggested.

Edited June 30, 2013 by OEM

[Dreygar (DayZ) 178]

I total agree, i'm all for every aspect of this game pushing you towards making certain decisions, to accomplish certain tasks/knowledge. Be it from finding books/tools even gun cleaning kit ect. Then letting the player to get immersed in their character and build on his/her survival.

But the fact is it will never be achieved, unless the ability to run back to your corpse like it's a Christmas present under the tree waiting to be unwrapped, needs a major overhaul. Because this cheapens the experience and eliminates any aspect to risk verse reward. But i one hundredth percent can see where you're coming from.

I don't really see the problem with you trying to loot your previous corpse. It does cheat or ruin the experience at all, that's if you can even make it back to your body before someone else discards of it or you die along the way.

Trust me, gear will not be hard to come by in the standalone. 100,000+ items spawning on server start, and most servers will probably doing restarts several times a day? Loot will be more plentiful if anything. In the end, you can't gauge success or progress based on loot because loot is meaningless.

[Devon206 (DayZ) 77]

I can imagine an overwhelmed guy I see in the firestation overwhelmed by zombies and he just sticks a handgun in his mouth and . . . *BOOM* blood all over the window and zombies eating his remains. This is why I want DayZ to be graphic, to actually be that zombie apocolypse thats disgusting to survive.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Devon206