Bringing a sense of value to players which lose their loot.

[SalamanderAnder (DayZ) 1747]

I think we're all forgetting that killing other players is no longer an efficient way to gather loot and gear. You can't just shoot another person for their bandages anymore, which I think is one major motivation. Everyone thinks they "know" human nature, but the practical reality of DayZ is that killing another player is almost always in your benefit, in every way. You remove the threat, and you gain every single piece of their equipment. Unless you personally trust a person, there's no reason to keep them alive. Even I've had to adapt an aggressive modus operandi to survive. The sad truth is that I genuinely don't like to have to kill other players, but I do it because it is often the only solution I have.

 

So if killing another person has no material gain, and players could develop useful skills, and non-lethals were implemented, would kill on sight stop?

 

OF COURSE NOT.

 

Nobody is postulating that. Bandits will still be bandits. However, would it enable me to alter my way of playing the game? Of course it would. If I can sneak up on a player and knock him out with the butt of my gun, maybe tie him up, then I wouldn't have to blow his poor head off while he chows down on some beans just because I'm afraid of him.