Reward for staying alive for a long time (instinct)

[IrishHugo 75]

I saw a thread about how staying alive gave you resistance to damage, the longer you lived, more you collected, the more resistant you are. While it's a decent idea, as others said, it's too arcades for dayz, but it got me thinking. What if there was an incentive too keep your character alive for as long as possible?

I know some are probably thinking about the obvious, loot, but that can be easily collected if guarded by a friend. Say your up north, infected and out of antibiotics. Instead of the long walk to the coast and back, friends kills you and minds your body till you get back, your fully fixed and maybe grabbed a few medical supplies on the way there.

If instinct, or something similar, was added, it would be yet another reason to stay alive.

My theory is that if your alive for a long time you start picking up things, so what about if you've been alive for, I dunno, ten days or so, you can see footprints and trails in a muddy area. This can be negated by special shoes or maybe covering your tracks somehow, so it's not overpowered.

And if your alive for thirty days, your hearing is improved because you are away from all the noises of modern day living, and you know what threats to listen out for. If someone is within, say, ten meters, you can hear a twig breaking from them stepping on it, and therefore know what direction they're coming from.

I know it's a bit of a rough idea, but I think there should be some sort of small reward for staying alive for quite a while. Thoughts, suggestions, feedback is appreciated.

Edited October 10, 2013 by IrishHugo

[enforcer1975 1111]

You get what you find in your life...no special abilities please. The only ones who would have the advantage are the KoSers who would obviously have the longer life span.

[Korsbaek 1778]

This is too arcadeish too.

 

Hearing and vision won't be better because you live in the wild.

 

As KoS said some dayz ago: Before you ask a question, be sure it's realistic.

[IrishHugo 75]

I don't think it's too Arcady because if someone who never lived in the forest had to survive out there, he'd pick up a few things, his instincts would sharpen, he wouldn't necessarily have better hearing but he'd know what to listen for and what it was. He's also recognize trails better, I dunno though, just a suggestion.

[SaveMeJebus 164]

Oh come on about the realism ... nothing can be 100% real it would be no fun.  And funny thing is most all the people who bitch about things being too "arcadey" would be the first to scream bloody murder if you took away their third person view (so realistic to be able to look over your own shoulder eh?)  I do like the "instinct" idea tho, you should gain SOMETHING for living longer (like the peripheral dots that used to be in game, little stuff like that) and I'm not sure why you would say KoS people would benefit the most/have longer lifespans they are the ones that get into the most firefights ....

[Day Unit 18]

If there's an incentive for prolonging your life span even after being robbed, we can explore another element that wouldn't otherwise be possible in DayZ, which is, living in captivity and waiting for an opportunity to escape.

 

The entire cycle from captivity to escape or wait long enough for your teammate to rescue you shouldn't be longer than an hour, I think. No one would be willing to stay in captivity for long.

 

Captivity is possible if there's a strong enough incenstive to stay alive. While in captivity, you can be forced to help build their base or scout dangerous territory while handcuffed. When reached the one hour mark and you're still in captivity, you should be able to end the cycle and move on.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Day Unit

[SaveMeJebus 164]

Personally I think something like this could easily get out of hand as a perk system but I love the idea of small "vet" perks for those that manage to stay alive. Younger characters wouldn't have these perks yet and would have much less to lose in a confrontation, and the vet perks that the older character had would prompt less reason to risk death fighting as well as a slight advantage over the young yolo player running at them.  Obviously all these "vet" perks would have to be of a defensive nature for best results as to not really reward the KoS player with more tools for murder.  While I love as much realism as possible in game, I hope people keep an open mind about ideas like this, they need to at very least be explored as they could create a huge immersion factor if done correctly.

Edited October 10, 2013 by SaveMeJebus

[OfficerRaymond 2064]

This is too arcadeish too.

 

Hearing and vision won't be better because you live in the wild.

Spend a lifetime in the city, and then go out into the forest and spend a few weeks there. Your senses will become tuned to your surroundings. How do I know? I've been camping and hunting for my entire life. When you're in the woods, you learn what to look for, even without knowing it. The longer you spend there, the more your instincts kick in, especially if your life is in danger.

 

In the standalone, we need realistic reasons for character value. This is one of the best I've seen in awhile that doesn't really hurt the game. It all depends upon how it's implemented. If there isn't value to an avatar, then it'll be the mod all over again.

[Twixx (DayZ) 39]

This is actually a very decent idea. Reminds me of The Last of Us, main character Joel has got special hearing ability to hear further away since he's been living in post-apocalyse for 20 years and got used to surviving aspects.

[Dragonsire 18]

huh

i like it

this seems pretty cool

[IrishHugo 75]

 It all depends upon how it's implemented. If there isn't value to an avatar, then it'll be the mod all over again.

 

Exactly. My car in GTA online is purple, has zebra seats and "Los Santos" on the back window(it's called the Shaggin Waggin ofc), and if someone comes between me and her, shit goes down.

 

Imagine a scenario where you have a Lee Enfield and a single, sacred mag. You see three survivors, two with revolvers and one a hatchet, walk up the road towards you. In the mod, you might just KoS, or hold them up without a second thought. But no, you've been alive for 29 days, you notice trails in the woods and muddy fields, you have run so far that you now sprint a tiny bit quicker, as well as hold your breath for longer. Your ears are becoming more sensitive to sounds around you, one more day and you'll be able to differentiate twigs breaking in close proximity from other sounds. Do you risk all this simply to rob a few bandages and a can of beans? How desperately do you need said can of beans? That is what I want from Standalone, because of these little lifetime bonuses. 

[LancerG2 369]

I am an inspiring person!

[Cormyr 39]

Spend a lifetime in the city, and then go out into the forest and spend a few weeks there. Your senses will become tuned to your surroundings. How do I know? I've been camping and hunting for my entire life. When you're in the woods, you learn what to look for, even without knowing it. The longer you spend there, the more your instincts kick in, especially if your life is in danger.

 

This should occur in your own mind, not as a game mechanic. Tis better that way no?

Edited October 10, 2013 by Cormyr

[SaveMeJebus 164]

It probably wouldn't have been suggested if he thought it was better that way ...

[OfficerRaymond 2064]

This should occur in your own mind, not as a game mechanic. Tis better that way no?

No, I don't think it is.

 

You aren't actually your character in the mod. You're just controlling them. A person that first picks up a gun isn't going to have the steadiest of aim. Who's to say how steady it'd be, but one thing is for certain. Your aim would improve over time. THAT is what we're getting at here. Small, barely noticeable improvements that add up.

 

Example:

You constantly run everywhere. All the time, running running running. Instead of giving a huge speed boost... implement a tiring system. In the mod you can run 100 fucking Km without getting tired. I say put a cap on your running distance, and then require people to rest or risk becoming fatigued and slowing down. Reward the people that run for a certain period/distance a small time increase on this tiring system so that they can run longer and longer distances the more experience they gain running. Not visible experience, but something the game calculates.

 

This could easily be applied to everything. The longer you spend cooking food, the faster you can do it and the more it'll fill you up. The more time your spend aiming, the steadier your gun is, even after running short distances. The longer you spend alive, maybe you start hearing things with more clarity and farther away, and your view distance increases by a few meters. I'm not talking massive changes here, only slight (barely noticeable at a time) ones with a cap once it reaches a certain point.

 

With this system we totally avoid any form of visible experience/attribute/skill system, and TONS of people would want to stay alive longer so that they could acquire these benefits. It doesn't even make the game unfair (although many would claim it, the mods would just have to balance it correctly), it would just give an ever so slight advantage over people that are fresh spawns and people that choose to CoD style KoS. With smart decisions, anyone could get better at anything. All while deterring aggressive play AND giving value to a persons character.

 

BOOM

Edited October 10, 2013 by OfficerRaymond

[DemonGroover 8836]

It would be nice if experience could be implemented without the need for perks/points etc.

 

I have always thought that you should get better at something if you did it long enough (like IRL).  Give me a gun and something to shoot at i can guarantee my first shots would miss entirely, but i would expect improvement if i did it over and over.  It would be the same with anything.

 

However the one pitfall is the classic MMO grinding.  Players would do something over and over just to get that little boost. Time played could be the one thing that cannot be truly grinded (apart from actually playing the game).

 

It is a tough one tbh - i dont think anyone wants DayZ to go down the RPG path or turn into an arcade game.  I would much rather DayZ stay as it is than add perks/points/bonuses or penalties.

[SaveMeJebus 164]

No offense intended, honest question to DemonGroover.  Are you happy with the current state of the KoS mindset?  Not that I have anything against banditry at all, its fun ... but there are just far to many people with the CoD mentality of "Oh I'll just respawn" and just set out to troll people.   I personally hope something (not this namely but something, altho I like this idea alot) is done to reward those that have survived longer.  I do agree with you tho, time survived would be only way to go I dont think there should be any kind of xp grind and am definitely totally against anything that would carry thru a death.

Edited October 11, 2013 by SaveMeJebus

[OfficerRaymond 2064]

It would be nice if experience could be implemented without the need for perks/points etc.

 

I have always thought that you should get better at something if you did it long enough (like IRL).  Give me a gun and something to shoot at i can guarantee my first shots would miss entirely, but i would expect improvement if i did it over and over.  It would be the same with anything.

 

However the one pitfall is the classic MMO grinding.  Players would do something over and over just to get that little boost. Time played could be the one thing that cannot be truly grinded (apart from actually playing the game).

 

It is a tough one tbh - i dont think anyone wants DayZ to go down the RPG path or turn into an arcade game.  I would much rather DayZ stay as it is than add perks/points/bonuses or penalties.

That's why it'd have to be so subtle and invisible that it would be near impossible for a player without access to the dev teams scripting to calculate it. At the same time, it'd have to be significant enough to give value to a character. I agree with you though. DayZ does not need to turn into any form of WoW grinding system. But we're talking about realism here... not wild things. I'm 100% against seeing any form of exp, perks, attributes, or anything of the sorts. Give the SA a gear menu, specific side chat messages, and a Menu.

 

Fact of the matter is that DayZ NEEDS character value. We cannot, and IMO, will not see any difference between the mod other than revamped textures, better optimization, and cool new gear menus, UNLESS players have a reason to keep their character alive. When you die in the mod, you're sad because you lost your gear, and that's it. Standalone needs to take that concept, and add on remorse for your player. I really don't know what else could be added other than invisible experience gain. I hate using the word experience because it implies MMORPG elements, when what I'm really talking about is getting better at things like you would IRL

[Korsbaek 1778]

BOOM

 

 

Okay! Okay! I'm hooked now by the way you described it!

[Hetstaine 10852]

Interesting, how long before such a thing would hacked though and we would have to be aware of players with a full 'skill level'. 

 

It would also have to be implemented in a way that you couldn't rig the system. For instance the cooking food thing mentioned. Only once every twenty four hours could cooking food apply to the char as a 'levelling up ' as such, so no spam levelling. Only a certain amount of hours of running per twenty four hours so someone doesnt go out for an hour or so and leave their char at home running endlessly in one direction and such.

Edited October 11, 2013 by Hetstaine

[IrishHugo 75]

While I pretty much agree with everything Raymond said, if you don't want to have it abused, then just stick with the original idea of the longer you stay alive, the more perks you get. I think that the more you cook and other things, the quicker you get is a great idea, I do get that it's turning too RPGey for some. 

 

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives. Nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change."

[enforcer1975 1111]

Oh come on about the realism ... nothing can be 100% real it would be no fun.  And funny thing is most all the people who bitch about things being too "arcadey" would be the first to scream bloody murder if you took away their third person view (so realistic to be able to look over your own shoulder eh?)  I do like the "instinct" idea tho, you should gain SOMETHING for living longer (like the peripheral dots that used to be in game, little stuff like that) and I'm not sure why you would say KoS people would benefit the most/have longer lifespans they are the ones that get into the most firefights ....

 

The game is about survival, not about 24/7 gunfights. You won't get skills just by shooting all day, you would be deaf btw.

 

You already have tons of reasons to want to stay alive: the time you spend on your character and the loot you gather isn't enough already? I don't have to think twice if i have stabilized my life with the gear i collected. KoSers on the other hand have no reason to live no matter the reasons to survive, they all just live for the moment they meet the next player. And that will never change unless you reduce corpse despawn to 1 min. f.e.

[AP_Norris 1017]

If its realistic.

I'm not sure but wouldn't being shot a lot possibly reduce the shock affect of it.

Nothing like health or blood increasing that's unrealistic arcadey shooter bonuses.

I however would like the game to stick to intelligence, I'm talking tactics and not cod quickscoping skills or perks for sitting ontop a building.

Most of the development should come from what you pick up.

Like this one time me and my friends were ambushing a Ural.

I ran up onto a hill, high ground while they hid down behind a stone wall.

They both nearly died while the enemies didn't even see me.

After our impact on the server admins friends and stealing their 100 spawned sandbags in their Ural we were all perma banned from the server.

Was good server at first look :( 400 vehicles, it was really cool. Like wastleland cross with dayZ very much fun :) lots of even sided PVP to be had.

[LancerG2 369]

you would be deaf btw.

 

You sir, are a mother fucking genius.

 

*Fistbump*

[TIC 1050]

I think this thread shouldn't really be referred to as "rewards" but as field experience. We don't get rewarded for living, we just live to see another day.

 

Being knowledgeable is half the battle to staying alive.