My two cents

[FrostDMG 398]

I've been enjoying the mod for a good while (not quite since launch but almost) and all the while I've been thinking what could make DayZ even more awesome.

 

My primary concern regarding DayZ and the standalone is that the game has become much less about playing tactically to survive, instead it turned into zerging towns and villages for loot. Now, I understand that the game becomes more "figured out" the more people play it, new and more efficient tactics are born, but right now the game is abused far too much,

 

For example: when I started playing, I used to sneak around, go prone around zombies, trying to do everything possible not to be seen or aggro. The game was very tense as you never really knew when the zombies might decide to turn around and see you... But after a while, you figure out that instead of sneaking around and "wasting time" you could be much more efficient by simply running past zombies, getting in and out of buildings without a scratch, looting and leaving the town in a matter of seconds. 

 

I've been reading posts reacting to the recent patch which introduced high risk of infection from zombies and from what I gather this is a rather pointless update - allow me to explain. You can only get infected if you get hit... Problem is, any player worth his salt will be able to stay out of zombie's range at all times - running in and out of buildings, zig-zagging through trees, never getting surrounded etc.

 

Now I know you could make the game artificially difficult for yourself, but that's not the point. The game is currently far too easy. I would suggest increasing the speed of zombies to be a little bit faster than player's default running speed - however, player's sprinting should be faster than zombie's speed. If you simply can't get away and lose zombies - i.e around a corner - you would have to play much more tactical and this will do far more than simply increasing zombie's damage or increasing infection rate.

 

My other idea is the aquisition of "skill" over time from doing basic tasks such as cleaning a gun or applying bandages.

I haven't got the entire thing figured out, but I'll try to explain with an example as I feel it will be easier to understand:

Everyone would start with 0 base stats - and the stats would be hidden at all time.

When you try to clean your weapon for the first time, the risk of breaking it or being unsuccessful is quite high (but on the other hand, the weapon would break anyhow if it wasn't cleaned, so it's not something that can be avoided). After managing to clean a basic weapon i.e a Makarov a number of times you gain said "skill" in weapon cleaning, This will increase the efficiency with which you clean your gun and allow you to successfully clean a sub machine gun such as a PPsH. The said skill would eventually allow you to be a very efficient and be able to maintain high-end weapons such as a sniper rifle or a light machine gun. A side perk of "gunsmith" skill should for example be home-made gun modifications - i.e extended mag.

 

This could also apply to vehicles, starting with basic screen and wheel repairs allowing you to build up your skill until you can ultimately use scrap metal and other parts to improve your vehicle by plating windows (leaving tiny slits for the driver) to protect the car crew from medium machine gun fire. 

 

For a medic stat the "ultimate" level of skill would allow you to craft wooden support for a broken leg allowing limping in case of a broken leg and lack of morphine.

 

These are just rough ideas that would need to be looked into further by the dev team, but they are something that I myself would love to see in-game. I would also like to add that while "boosting" for skill is possible, the game would have to require a large amount of skill points for each tier to unlock each "tier".

 

My next suggestion is regarding loot spawns. MAKE THEM RARE! Especially guns. In mods such as "breaking point" guns are plentyful. This is not good. Having a Makarov should feel like it is your day, and finding and AKM perhaps means you're the chosen one. Rare spawns = good!

 

And onto my final point - make the coast an undesirable location to be in. Elektro and Cherno should have little loot spawns - medical supplies MAX! People should not be able to get armed to the teeth and pvp in those location. Also, big cities need to have A LOT of zombies. The combination of little loot and large zombie hores will lead to a huge decrease in coast pvp and motivate players to get the hell off the coast and explore.

 

Anyway that's my two cents.

[Korsbaek 1778]

Well... I don't like the idea of having skills. I'm also pretty sure that Rocket has said that this will not be implemented.

[Wolfensteinsaurus 2252]

Go away...

COD-MONGLER!

[FrostDMG 398]

Go away...

COD-MONGLER!

What?

[Inception. 9443]

I dislike the idea of skills, however I do like the rarity of loot suggestion.

[Dancing.Russian.Man 1631]

What?

Ignore the ignorant. I can't say that I agree with the whole skill thing (unless it was implemented to a VERY deep degree like in, say, Entropia Universe), but that wrongfully self-proclaimed Grammar Nazi should be ignored regardless.

 

Edit; That said, I DO agree with the rarity of weapons and other loot. I was happy back when 1.7.7.1 was first implemented and everybody was crying about not being able to find anything for the first 20 minutes.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Dancing.Russian.Man

[FrostDMG 398]

The skills idea is a controversial one, I know. However it would encourage people to have a greater attachment to their character than just loot. But I see why such system is disliked.

[[email protected] 271]

How come no loot in big cities? 

[FrostDMG 398]

How come no loot in big cities?

I think there should be loot - little medical from hospital and mostly canned food/clothes.

Surely big cities would've been raided first in the outbreak? Also would decrease number of players on the coast

[SalamanderAnder (DayZ) 1747]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/143972-some-thoughts-on-gameplay-in-the-standalone/

 

I have similar thoughts on skill. I would like to see success and failure in certain tasks become relevant to gameplay. I think this game needs to encourage cooperation and neutral player interaction. These ideas are meant to give players tangible value to other players. It also gives us more to do in the game. Having goals and higher end-game objectives will motivate people to cooperate, trade, and generally fight the environment more as a form of gameplay. Constructions would allow players to build bases, and they would have to be quite persistent.

 

Inversely, it will still be possible to play as a loner, in fact- it may even become easier in some ways, since player-to-player trade menus will allow them to interact with people briefly and be on their way. And of course all of this actually benefits bandits, because it gives them higher end game goals. Now a group of or single bandit would be motivated to attack bases for supplies or just for fun.

 

And seriously, progression is one of the most fundamental tactics in getting a player to become more attached to their character. People become attached to their characters, they start to consider the consequence of say, suicide. They'll also start to actually try to avoid death from zombies, starvation, hydration, infection, and exposure, because it will actually affect their progress.

 

 

And the loot idea just makes sense.

Edited August 5, 2013 by SalamanderAnder

[Skat3rat 1633]

Like others have said, I don't like the idea of a skill thing unless they did it just right.  One thing that would be cool for the zombies is to have different types.  Not like L4D2 but zombies that are stronger, weaker, slower, faster, larger, smaller, etc. than other zombies.  Their traits may or may not be noticeable by looking at them.  

 

I think that going somewhere and not knowing what type of zombies you encounter could make it a little scarier.  For example you run into electro to grab food and a zombie that is faster than the player starts chasing you.  You have no choice but to shoot and end up attracting more zombies because of that.  Out of nowhere one of the stronger zombies knock you off your feet and now your scrambling to get away.

[FrostDMG 398]

I like that idea Skat3rat, but it would have to be balanced so that the game doesn't become too cheesy

[RedTailedLizerd 12]

Nien, nien, nien! Get away!

COD-MONGLER!

Eyyuuuuusghhsg!