Keep it Hard....... a thoughtful request.

[Noctiluxx 48]

Before I begin, please note, I'm very aware that this is an Alpha build, and there will be a multitude of changes along the way.  This is mostly just an opinion piece, with logical reasoning (as far as I'm concerned)

 

DAYZ is currently shaping up to be my Dream Game.  It has all the elements I'm looking for.  Vast open world, risk/reward, exploration, immersion, deep player interaction and almost unlimited variables.  I've never played the mod, and probably never will.  I have however been following this games development for a year solid, and I can honestly say, I'm so far impressed, and very content with it's direction.  I do however have one very large fear.  I fear the development of this game will face a very vocal 'majority'  (Majority in quotes simply because it likely isn't the true majority, just the loudest and most vocal part of the population) that could steer the game in to something I'll eventually grow tired of, or worse, dislike.

 

The good news is, I'm not talking about player interaction, or the Kill on Sight mentality (directly at least).  I believe that if the game is developed to maintain the struggle of survival as a top priority, that player interaction will become the best it could ever be.  Unpredictable, risky, rewarding, and better yet, different every single time.

 

Struggling to survive, to me, is the most important thing to get right in this game.  There's already a boat-load of talk about 'I can't find this, or I can't find that', 'Theres too much of this, or not enough of that' and 'Where do I find an M4?'.  To me, I'm glad people are having a hard time.  I'm glad your character is starving, thirsty, lost in the dark, without a weapon, bullets, proper clothing and feeling steps away from death.  Because so is my character.  So when we run into each other in a town or in the woods, we've both have a lot to think about.  Are we going to be nice, or ruthless? Are we going to pretend we don't see each other, only then to have me tail you to see what you're up to?  Do I have a gun on me? do you?  Can we work together, or 'work together' aka, you'll kill me as soon as you get the chance?  Either way, if we're forced to struggle, and nothing is a lock (theres always a gun in the military base, or plenty of food in Cherno), then our decisions become that much more important.  Loot becomes that much more rewarding when found, and therefore, death becomes that much more painful to accept, and risk requires that much more calculation.  As far as preventing a KoS mentality, I think the direction is correct, and further development (if required or possible) would be great in regards to the damage of equipment (perhaps blood on clothing could attract more Zombies for example? as well as the general noise of killing someone)

 

Am I suggesting that this should become a 'running simulator' grind with little reward, no, far from it. (again I know balance and tweeks are coming, and a lot of items will be made available for testing purposes).  I'm suggesting that the balance of loot reflects a more natural scenario.  One where smaller, more resilient items like clothing, footwear, backpacks, kitchen utensils, tools etc. are vastly more available (with a good balance of 'terrible' items and fewer 'great' ones) then civilian weapons (small handguns, hunting rifles/shotguns... perhaps some BB guns and machetes etc.).  Good quality fresh food should be very difficult to find (obviously) and canned or slightly spoiled, should maintain its current spawn rate.  Military grad anything should be very difficult to find (assuming they would likely want to use it in a survival situation, and would have probably taken it with them)  And should be spread 100% randomly across the map.

 

I still think there should be a few 'Jackpot' moments when looting, which is always a great and rewarding feeling.  However, limiting these again would likely improve the PvP interaction, as trading and working together will greatly help put the pieces together for your missing pistol parts.

 

Last but not least, I want to talk about the 4th evil in this game (in no particular order: 1. zombies 2. food/water/health 3. other players)  The environment.  Almost everyone that works a 9-5 is loosing their minds right now with real-time day/night cycles.  I'm personally on the fence, I love the fact that there's forced nightime play, however, I'd also really like to see the daylight.  And i think there is a benefit to making both something every player gets to experience (although I'm not 100% sure how to pull it off).  Going with my main theme (surviving should be difficult), having to learn how to play and act in both day and night will allow players a great deal of freedom in choice.  I find it easier to loot during the day, as you can clearly see much better, however, its much harder to avoid player interaction (if that's your plan), where as the night allows me to travel great distances and easily avoid other players (especially those that run around with flashlights on).  Again, in terms of survival, we should all have to suffer through the negatives of both day and night, not one or the other.

 

 

TL:DR ??

I really just never want this game to be easy, I never want their to be a very simple formula for 'go here, get food, go there get guns, all set' .  I grew up playing nintendo and atari originally.  90% of those games were 'throw your controller at the wall' hard, but man did it feel good when you got it right, and I miss that.  Too many games are far too forgiving, far to friendly, and might as well hand out participation ribbons 15 minutes in.  I've never been in a similar situation in real life, but I can only imagine that survival, when you and everyone else have literally nothing, would be a cold-hearted, nail biting B*tch.  And every advance, should feel like an achievement, and not some bullshit 'pop-up in the corner of the screen and heres a trophy for finding 10 different items' kind of achievement.  And I hope that the Development team can see through the 'majority' that are looking to quickly get their guns, scopes and buckets of bullets.

 

Thanks for your time.

[Siberian (DayZ) 527]

deep player interaction ?

 

u mean KoS is deep interaction ?

 

well ur easy to please.

[Noctiluxx 48]

Where exactly did I say KoS is deep interaction?  If you're instead trying to state that that is all that currently happens in game, I highly suggest you're wrong, at least based on my experience. (and several youtube videos of robberies/ other interactions)  Does it happen, yes, but not every time.  I've yet to have the same player interaction twice, and I've run into a lot of other players.

 

 

deep player interaction ?

 

u mean KoS is deep interaction ?

 

well ur easy to please.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Noctiluxx

[creature 1189]

It's suppose to be hard and hopefully when it reaches full release, it will be.

 

Expect it to very difficult at times and then way too easy at other times throughout the process though.

 

As someone who's played the mod for a long time now, I'm pretty damn happy with what they've done thus far!

[Noctiluxx 48]

...

Expect it to very difficult at times and then way too easy at other times throughout the process though.

 

As someone who's played the mod for a long time now, I'm pretty damn happy with what they've done thus far!

 

I really am excited to see how it shapes up...just hope it stays down the path its headed.

[need matches 84]

Agree, especially with server time issue.

 

People, especially newbies, who have paid good money and taken a leap of faith to buy the SA alpha should AT LEAST get the same type of server time choice as in the mod.

 

The way the alpha is now with loot and such, I feel that newcomers should have the choice of getting the BEST first experience.

 

I like the SA. But I feel the daytime looks WAY more impressive for a first impression. And obviously it's the best way to learn the game. Night is simply too frustrating right now.

Edited December 19, 2013 by need matches

[Noctiluxx 48]

Agree, especially with server time issue.

 

People, especially newbies, who have paid good money and taken a leap of faith to buy the SA alpha should AT LEAST get the same type of server time choice as in the mod.

 

The way the alpha is now with loot and such, I feel that newcomers should have the choice of getting the BEST first experience.

 

I like the SA. But I feel the daytime looks WAY more impressive for a first impression. And obviously it's the best way to learn the game. Night is simply too frustrating right now.

 

See, I'm a total noob to this game.. and I love how frustrating the dark is.. Yes, there needs to be a better balance of daylight too, just not sure how to properly implement this without abandoning people (like the 9-5ers are now) or giving people the choice ( i dont think you should have the choice)

[Noctiluxx 48]

I'm getting tired of the 'lets make this easier' threads... and I honestly fear it will eventually sway the devs...

Unfortunately, if we want things to stay the same, or move down the same path, we'll likely have to be as vocal as the complainers.

[Horatio 22]

Immersion is the key. I've got 12 DayZ hours so far on steam, and I've had alot more player on player encounters that had a happy ending then ones with a bad ending :) So personally I can feel a big difference in how to current difficulty affect people in the game :)

+1 To this thread.

We don't want easy, if we wan easy we can go play on the boring DayZ mod Private hives xD

[Noctiluxx 48]

Yet again today, all I'm seeing is 'it's too dark' and where can I find guns, or I pass out too often.

What are people looking for in this game? This isn't a modern fps. It's a survival game. If all the problems are easily solved, then what's the point?

[failhorse 2]

I'm all for it being hard. But if I had to eat a can of spaghettios every 1.5km in a marathon, to stay satisfied/healthy, I'd probably go unconscious from that.  Realism < Realistic

[Dgenerate 7]

This game is not hard. It's pretty much a loot racing game, with the only hard factor being that other players want to kill you because there isn't anything else to currently do.

[Freek314 32]

I think the game is too easy atm. SRS, it's not even a challenge for me to keep from starving/drying up. There need to be less environmental water sources or a much higher infection rate from using pond/well water. Perhaps random bodies of water and wells could spawn as polluted, requiring testing to identify and causing a lethal infection if consumed?

[Katana67 2907]

It's about finding that balance between "difficult and rewarding" and "tedious and irritating", because it can be a fine line. The devs have always been pretty good about this, with a few exceptions (the availability of loot in the mod). That and the discourse on making the game difficult but not tedious is an active one, being discussed with the food/drink frequency. I think the rarity of food/drink is good, but the eating/drinking system is a bit tedious and annoying.

[SJKSJK 225]

Your 'tldr' is in fact too long to read lol.

I'm with you though. Once everyone figures out what spawns where an element will be lost. If they could randomize spawn locations every month or so that might help.

[Noctiluxx 48]

It's about finding that balance between "difficult and rewarding" and "tedious and irritating", because it can be a fine line. The devs have always been pretty good about this, with a few exceptions (the availability of loot in the mod). That and the discourse on making the game difficult but not tedious is an active one, being discussed with the food/drink frequency. I think the rarity of food/drink is good, but the eating/drinking system is a bit tedious and annoying.

 

I agree, however, I feel that the current food system is just a bit too vague.. it took a while for people to figure out that their new spawns do infact start out quite hungy and thristy.  making it so that you end up consuming almost everything you eat right off the bat.

 

 

I haven't played enough (and I don;t have a mic) to tell if its too easy right now, but I know I won't mind even more of a challange..within reason.

[ZlobaRUS54 441]

Agree, especially with server time issue.

 

People, especially newbies, who have paid good money and taken a leap of faith to buy the SA alpha should AT LEAST get the same type of server time choice as in the mod.

 

The way the alpha is now with loot and such, I feel that newcomers should have the choice of getting the BEST first experience.

 

I like the SA. But I feel the daytime looks WAY more impressive for a first impression. And obviously it's the best way to learn the game. Night is simply too frustrating right now.

 

Their fist impression should not be how "wow this game looks amazing!", but rather "one wrong step and you die". Those who are smart will learn from their fist few pathetic failed experiences. When I first played the mod I died after a few hours running around the old Kamenka. The game does not have XP, perks, skill trees and such, it's all about getting better through trying new things and learning from experience.

[ProGamerGov 74]

I'm getting tired of the 'lets make this easier' threads... and I honestly fear it will eventually sway the devs...

Unfortunately, if we want things to stay the same, or move down the same path, we'll likely have to be as vocal as the complainers.

That's what happened with Arma 3... How can Dayz stop this from happening to it as well?

[Noctiluxx 48]

Their fist impression should not be how "wow this game looks amazing!", but rather "one wrong step and you die". Those who are smart will learn from their fist few pathetic failed experiences. When I first played the mod I died after a few hours running around the old Kamenka. The game does not have XP, perks, skill trees and such, it's all about getting better through trying new things and learning from experience.

God damn.. I couldnt have said it better myself.  Beans for you!

[Noctiluxx 48]

That's what happened with Arma 3... How can Dayz stop this from happening to it as well?

 

In reality, we have to trust Rocket and his team can sift through the BS.

 

However, if the BS becomes so massvie and frequent, my fear is that our point of view will be lost.

[Dodimir 15]

[crimsonsoul 5]

*looks at thread title* That's what she said... 

 

I'll just go now

 

*leaves*

[BlksnshN 127]

  I would like to see food and water be rarer but would also like to extend the time that eating/drinking satisfies your character.  Stopping every 1 - 2 minutes to eat and drink is annoying at best.   

 

  I would also like to see a "consume all" option so that if you're really hungry/thirsty you can consume the whole container instead of standing there eating over and over again.  Stopping to do the eat/drink animation six times only to have your character begin whining about being hungry again in 30 seconds makes me want to kick a puppy.  

 

  Also not a huge fan of having 3 barracks at the Balota airfield. Too easy to gear up. 

[jamieledgeway@hotmail.co.uk 216]

Just imagine how much more difficult it would be to loot if the number of zeds were doubled, and on respawn.

You don't need to increase loot. Loot is plentiful, but due to the current safe-mode approach with no respawns, it is pretty much risk free.

When the Zeds increase and loot is rebalanced people will be busy keeping Zeds away and therefore the loot wont be gobbled up as quick. So just give it time.

[Noctiluxx 48]

 ...

 

  Also not a huge fan of having 3 barracks at the Balota airfield. Too easy to gear up. 

 

I agree, I don't think there should ever be a 'go hear and you'll be all set' spot.

 

and thehet, 

 

I've never asked for an increase in loot, otherwise i agree, zeds will make looting much harder, which is nice.