Recent Patch Negativity and SUGGESTIONS

[irbab00n 21]

It has become pretty clear to me there is two sides to this story. On one hand, you have a solid majority of the hardcore players who back and support the recent moves 1.7 and onward. On the other, you have a lot of newer, less experienced players who struggle to even find their first weapon and feel the lack of a starter weapon as detrimental to their overall experience with DayZ.

I say this for two reasons:

1) No starting weapon makes the gameplay slower, requiring stealth and careful scouting to find anything. For those players who are newer, they don't necessarily know the best places to get gear. It leaves them with an overwhelming sense that no matter what, they will just get devoured before they have a chance to arm themselves.

2) Zombie senses are more keen. They can spot players a lot easier, making stealth require a lot more planning and patience (which not many people have). Some players just don't have the will to stealth past Zeds and instead rush in like their ass is on fire and wonder why the entire town is chasing them.

When these changes were implemented, it made this game harder in pretty much every regard to start out from a fresh spawn. Players who have established characters with exceedingly good gear and skill were largely unaffected. This created a sort of imbalance in favor of the veterans that wasn't necessarily corrected by other means of support for the newer/less experienced players.

Having said that, it goes back to a difficult question asked of any developer of any game/mod that has a large community of diverse players such as this one. How do you help the new, while not leading the hardcore players to disappointment? The solution is complex and not easily answered.

While having a dedicated group of hardcore veterans who will continue to play this game out of love is a good thing to have, it is also important to maintain a fresh stream of new players who with time, can become veterans and grow the community.

Because let's face it, you don't make a mod this good and expect only a handful of people to play it. If I was Rocket, I sure as hell would love people to come in and experience this game that can reward exploration and risky tactics, inspires competition, and instills a sense of attachment that makes us fear the looming death of our hard work.

A possible suggestion:

Take advantage of the difficulties. Meaning, if you play on Recruit, you will have a starting weapon, and enough supplies to sustain you for a little while. As difficulty level increases, your starting supplies are decreased and eventually gone with the highest difficulty level. This would allow newer/casual players to come in, be able to shoot zombies, kill other players, and still enjoy themselves. Meanwhile, the hardcore have an even harder, more realistic approach towards the game. (I even found myself asking, "why do I have a backpack on with a flashlight, some pain meds, and a bandage in it?" I know I sure as hell don't carry any one of those around on me let alone wash up on shore with one.)

All said and done, this is fantastic. Rocket, you have a goldmine underneath you. If this was a stand-alone game, I would buy it in a heart beat. Because you have the drive and the dedication to continually improve the game and make the reward worth the challenge!

[Deuzerre 64]

There is a suggestion forum.

[irbab00n 21]

Well, this thread wasn't necessarily just a suggestion thread. I also gave my opinion on the game. Figured since having multiple aspects in it, it would classify as a "general" response yeah? lol. Perhaps a new post in the suggestion thread as well?

[mzltv 2281]

The only negetivity from myself is:

- I wish all these mongloids would take their constant, repetetive 'ZOMBIE AI R SHIT' moans to the Bugs, or Suggestions area.

The general forum has suddenly morphed into an arena for people to kick off about hotfix issues... tempted to go on a OMG NUB ITS IN ALFA rant.

[irbab00n 21]

There seems to be an increase in the amount of moaning and groaning across ALL forums on the internet.

By no means was this a moan and groan post though. My intentions were to share my opinion and a suggestion lol. I personally would like to see zeds not move so darn fast and have a semi-predictable approaching pattern. Not that zig-zag stuff. But again, that's my opinion on it. Some people like the way it is and as long as there's a generally happy consensus on it, the rest of us have to adapt.

[Aign0r 3]

I think biggest problem with Zombies now, besides zig-zaging which is just ridiculous, is those heightened senses. I watched a stream the other day and guys drove a bus. It had same sight/hearing properties as a human who runs in this patch. I love the new escape mechanism but it's still needs work.

[jokkl 0]

I am a new player... started friday last week... and I have no problem at all with spawning without a weapon. It took me half a day till I learned where to look. Only problem with the latest build I see is the bugged uberZeds. But even with them around its a blast. Playing with one friend and another will join us next weekend. I really dont see where the problem is... I guess those "new" players you are talking about dont get what sandbox stands for. Noone will hold your hand and show you what to do or where to get stuff. Figure it out. Some reading works wonders. Looking at all the maps the community made works wonders.

[Hze 3]

good idea with the experience level thing, but still can be exploited very easily. unless it depends on your game stats..

[tiff_lee 0]

Some people clearly don't like change and considering this is in Alpha it is going to be subject to alot of that.

Everyone just has to grin and bear it, provide feedback and constructive criticism rather than throw the toys out the pram saying this game is crap/I wasted $30 etc

[irbab00n 21]

"good idea with the experience level thing, but still can be exploited very easily. unless it depends on your game stats.."

I definitely see that being the case with the exploitation of the difficulty levels. There would have to be something along the lines of a freshly generated character for each difficulty level. Might be too cumbersome on the servers though. Who knows.

"Everyone just has to grin and bear it, provide feedback and constructive criticism rather than throw the toys out the pram saying this game is crap/I wasted $30 etc"

Constructive being the hardest part of that though. Many can give feedback, but few can give constructive feedback.

[Kain Phalanx 9]

"On one hand, you have a solid majority of the hardcore players who back and support the recent moves 1.7 and onward."

Not really. You just have a few loud people who would support any change that makes the game harder just so they can feel superior. Some of the recent changes have quite obviously broken the game and to say otherwise is silly.