How can we make a players life more important than his gear?

[monolith1985 109]

i also find that the time spent walking and going places is more important than my gear

would rather spend half my night to get robbed, then spend half my night to be back where i started

i think passive skills like being able to walk longer without getting tired, cooked food filling you more if you cook alot, repairing cars slightly faster, would be ok, as long as you cant get combat skills that make you more accurate and so on

[James MacDonald 14]

I think it would be great if there was something implemented into the game that made us care about the life of our character even more than the top tiered items.

 

What has got me thinking about this is a situation I was in on the second day of playing. I had some good gear including an M4. I was excited about my gear and feeling good. Then I was caught looting a building by a group of three people.

 

I didn't want to lose my gear and knew I didn't stand a chance agains all 3. I also hate combat loggers so I faced the inevitiable. They hand cuffed me and began taking my loot, demanding I put everything on the ground.

 

This is when it hit me. After losing my gear, I couldn't care less if they shot me dead. I was going to have to start over anyway.

 

As it sits now, your worth is tied to your gear, and has nothing to do with how long you have survived. What can be done to make players not only find worth in their gear, but also their lives?

 

Suggestions:

*New survival traits learned over time. Example: Players who have ran around for a long time begin to see an increase in stamina. (The idea of traits/abilites being aquired has not set well with most of the community)

*Facial hair. Something as simple as a beautiful beard acting as an indicator or trophy of how long you have survived in the harsh world. This alone could be enough for some people to live.

*Humanity system where dying brings consequenses.

 

 

Would love to hear anyone elses thoughts on this matter!

I don't like the traits part of it, it should never be implemented, and I sincerely hope it never will be.

The beards and braids if possible, would be an awesome thing tho (or something similar, which gives no real advantage over others).

The one about dying hurting your humanity I don't really think is a good idea, its just gonna make it even harder to be a hero once they add the bandit/hero skins or whatever back in. It's just gonna make even more people take the easier path, which is being a bandit.

Edited December 20, 2013 by James MacDonald

[Zeppa 562]

No regular mmorpg shit!
Kill 3 zombies, drink from canteen, find pair of boots
-> Gain 5 points to add skill/stat of your choosing!

or anything similar.

...

This has been discussed alot and Dean himself has said his toughts about this. They will do something at some point, but its like 3 days in alpha and there is alot more important things to fix.

You shoudnt be able to choose baseskill or what ever, but your skill would increase by doing. ie. run alot, gain stamina.
Also it should be tied to various aspects to prevent statpadding and suchs.
Every character has aspects A,B,C,D and so on, they have max value and min value. Value increases with the amount that person is doing something, rate that something increases varies between aspects. Also if something is not done for a long time, it would start loosing its value. So there would be no fixed numbers.
Something like %-rolls could be done too.. ie someone that has done alot of poking with needles has lower change of hurting the other. Opening alot cans with an axe increases the % food from it over time. Woudnt be OP or "unrealistic" if tweaked right.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Zeppa

[Skyelur 57]

If you die you can't play for 24 hours... BOOM done... I expect some beans for this gem of an idea!

 

 

No, the game would die FAST

[Monkey magic 1]

Adding stats ranging from time alive, number of zombies killed etc would be a way too add value to somebody's character without having to change any game mechanics.

Tougher challenge is making some random you run into life more valuable to me than the gear he is carrying!

Answer to this is make it so its safety in numbers, ATM the zombies are pretty pointless both in number & skill where they should be a bigger danger than being KOS. Assuming the number issue will be addressed in the coming weeks if nothing can be done regarding their mechanics I think they need to even go as extreme as it being 1 bite & you are pretty much done for.

[Hetstaine 10852]

I think taking the idea that they've put into the SA of physical illness and applying it to mental state. Flashbacks, slendermen are all BS. Simple physical changes are known depression symptoms that are already in the game as physical sickness. 

 

By doing good you can heal your mental side. Offering blood, feeding beans, giving supplies etc. 

 

To me it is the only method whereby there is movement away from loot/equip focus. Already the SA has moved from all about the firepower to all about the beans/health (top top marks) so a similar move from being all about the killing to all about the mental health of a post apocalyptic world where the survival of humanity needs to be balanced with survival of self. Humanity got to its current advancement due to co-operation. It is a core human trait and this discussion on how to involve it in the game is both excellent and core.

 

 It is good isn't it.

[mtuckner 46]

I vote for an epic beard! Uhm, chicks can lose the pear shape over time maybe?

[thedogfoodyayho 295]

Heres my idea.

 

You start as a lasey, out-of shape civilian. 

 

Diet. Very important. Fruits are MUCH better for you than canned goods. Eating tons of cereal will have a long-term negative impact on your speed and duration. Eating your greens does the opposite.

 

Strength. Lets fac it, most people can't chop your face open with a baseball bat. Practice increass damage.

 

Exercise. Want to snipe? Better not do it ALL day, unless you want zeds eating your ass

 

Weapons. Now, your probably going to rage "Omz fkin noobz" as son as you see "Weapons," but listin to this.

I'm not saying accuracy or anything like that, but Reload/operatin times. Do you think everyone has loaded, fired, & safetied an M4? No. Reloading at first should suck, especially with complicated military weapons, and even more so whenoading larger magazines. Weapons like revolvers and Shoguns are easier to use and should have no penalty.

Maybe your strength should also (slightly) effect recoil and weapon sway. It does irl.

[erocean 21]

I have read through almost all these posts I think and there are tons of ideas "I think" that they could use, build onto or implement into the game. However there is one thing that will never change in these types of games.

 

Call them tryhards, KOS players whatever it may be... but I play with currently, have played with in Dayz mod/wasteland/Warz players that have 1 simple goal in mind: Go kill as many players as they can. They don't care if its a axe, pistol or full equiped player they have or what they have in their inventory, when they see an enemy its go time. Sorry but there is nothing you will ever be able to implement into these games that will pull these types of players away from this activity (I have been one in the mod/Warz). It is simply the "mentality" of the player that they will not be able to wean them away.

 

The "turbin" in the mod was a great feature... bugged at it was. It was a clear notification that this player was not to be trusted. The fact that it "went away" after they died was some what good and bad at the same time. It gave them a chance to play this character different... maybe be nice this time around instead of being labeled as a bad guy for the rest of the time. However it also gave them camouflage to hide amongst the others.  I would like to see something like this returning, either give them a few masks or some kind of head gear to choose from but they "MUST" have one of the bandit identified ones on at all times. (Problems this may cause) - It glorifies killing players to get the mask or so called trophy, but in all honestly killers are gonna kill with or without it. Give them their "trophy" and this will atleast give the players a clear heads up (this dude is bad news).

 

Things that would have to be in the game though....

-Good guy killing a bandit player: There should be no consequence for any other player killing a bandit player on site. He chose his path and therefore made himself a target. Players should be able to KOS to make sure they stay alive without it counting against their humanity level.

- Fresh Spawns: People are going to keep killing them no matter what is implented, so these kills should not count toward their "banditry or humanity level" and made even should count as a negative for their goal of becoming a bandit causing it to take them longer to get their trophy. That may discourage them from killing fresh spawns... I doubt it though.

- Good guys: Players that help other randoms should also have some kind of trophy. Facial Hair growing longer (everyone seems to like the beard idea for other things), or getting some kind of a identification on their mask/helmet or gear letting players know that this guy has not just been killing people on site, he can actually be trusted.

 

Will some of these things help cut out banditry? Maybe... maybe not because as I stated it does not matter WHAT they attempt to do... the guys I know and play with will continue killing everything they can for fun. However it may cut down the percentage of it happening if you can do it right. Penalizing players because the KOS though is not a fix it is their choice to play that way, but you have to be careful not to glorify it at the same time. Lots of good ideas are coming from the community so hopefully they can figure out something to go with... but in anything like this is however brings the "Realism feeling" that everyone wants so you have to kind of find a happy medium.

 

For me, I am happy with whatever as long as it doesn't penalize anyone for playing how they want. It's fine the way it is now as well just throwing ideas out. I kill when I want, I handcuff and steal if I choose or I let them live if I am feeling happy... sometimes they don't even know I am watching them.

Edited December 20, 2013 by erocean

[TangoAlpha 39]

The only thing I'm comfortable with is "*Facial hair. Something as simple as a beautiful beard acting as an indicator or trophy of how long you have survived in the harsh world."

[Jorgenheim 11]

 

...and people wonder why feminism is still needed.

 

 

Christ go back to ruining OWS you Feminazi. Feminism wasn't needed, and as a result words like "fisherman" are banned in Washington (not kidding) cause of you. Glad it's a failed, dying, laughing stock of a movement.

 

Anyways no MMORPG stat stuff. +1 for beards though.

[Gigs (DayZ) 0]

 

Suggestions:

*New survival traits learned over time. Example: Players who have ran around for a long time begin to see an increase in stamina. (The idea of traits/abilites being aquired has not set well with most of the community)

 

 

I really like that idea. Maybe adding in a way to deal with not eating or drinking for a while, the stamina thing seems awesome, and just a bunch of other little things that could make the survival aspect a little less complicated and more simple. But also agree that there should be nothing to assist with the pvp aspect of the game, only survival/zombies (maybe something to make it harder for zombies to spot you?)

[xX_fr0st-w0lf_Xx (DayZ) 343]

Dayz now:

 

Character = loot

 

If someone strips you of your gear or attempts to hold you up, why accept? Losing your gear makes you no different then a new spawn.

 

With skills people will value their character much more. 

[lowsider 0]

I think we're going about this all wrong.

 

Just to re-state the problem:  Player gear is higher valued than the player's life.

 

Leveling up is a good mechanism to give a character more value to the user.  (That's the carrot.)  

 

Here's the stick:  The user only gets 1 life per day.  If you die today, you don't get to play again till tomorrow.

 

That's a little extreme, but I think it makes the point.  If death came with a greater penalty, you would fear it more than losing your loot, and thus value life more.  Obviously 1 life per day would cause people to quit .. but i bet there's a balance you could strike with that.  Even if it was nothing more than the user having to wait in timeout for 20 minutes before being allowed to play again.

[m4ndark 2]

i like the skill tree and the beard idea. Lets say DayZ should have something that makes you not want to die even if you lost everything, something you can carry and no one can take it. Again, skill tree and the beard thing is actually pretty cool :D

[Weedz 1105]

OP has now posted almost exactly this same thread at least 3 Times now that I have seen since the game came out ...3 days ago and keeps getting shot down by the entire community because this isn't an RPG. Now he is stealing other people's ideas and adding them to his stupid skill system.

@guy saying there should be a lockout timer if you die ... go back to WarZ.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Weedz

[mercules 1290]

Maybe have it that if you die, you are forced to play a character of the opposite gender for 2 hours. Then you'll have to kill that character to play as the gender you want. Massive inconvenience.

 

How is that a detriment? I make characters of both genders regularly in this and other games. 

 

Christ go back to ruining OWS you Feminazi. Feminism wasn't needed, and as a result words like "fisherman" are banned in Washington (not kidding) cause of you. Glad it's a failed, dying, laughing stock of a movement.

 

Anyways no MMORPG stat stuff. +1 for beards though.

 

I won't get into too much of a political discussion on this forum but I am not a feminazi. I am a guy who has this weird idea that both genders are slammed with sexism. While men have some annoying sexist ideas forced upon them, women get the worst of it in general. The genders are not the same, but they are equal as are all people and everyone deserves the same opportunities. 

[no2_punk 2]

If the BEARD idea gets the greenlight, then they should also implement razors.

 

Imagine finding some gandalf looking survivor, taking him prisoner, stealing all his gear and then shaving his beard before letting him go. He'd lose the will to live due to his loss of manhood/bragging rights :D

Edited December 20, 2013 by NO2 Punk

[ZlobaRUS54 441]

I like the idea of trophies (tied to your current life) indicating the length of your presence in the world. Zombie ears or player scalps. Higher resistance to disease if one survived a bacterial sickness. 

[JESUSARIUS REX (DayZ) 163]

I facepalm evertime i see the word stats. You don't have stats in real life. Why not just be realistic about this. as you run, you can increase stamina. as you carry weight, you become stronger. simple things that give the CHARACTER meaning, without adding a bunch of runescape "omfg im like level 400 strength." fyi I'm not trying to be offensive, just pointing out how you can be realistic, add a little value to your character, and not bosh the idea of "This is your Story."

[Weedz 1105]

If the BEARD idea gets the greenlight, then they should also implement razors.

 

Imagine finding some gandalf looking survivor, taking him prisoner, stealing all his gear and then shaving his beard before letting him go. He'd lose the will to live due to his loss of manhood/bragging rights :D

Hands down the best idea I've seen for the game yet.

[Betweenaduck 10]

There are a lot of good ideas I've seen on this forum, really. Especially the one about beards. I instantly thought about battle scars.

In my opinion its the game word, the environment that should be more harsh on players. This could make KOS a hard decision for the one who wants to shoot just for lulz. No artificial penalties such as humanity points loss etc. only real consequences of your character actions. Let me explain what I mean.

 

If I'm not mistaken there was information from Rocket about diseases and people making areas more contagious by their actions. That should be great thing if implemented to the game.

The more dead bodies in the area the more contagious become water, food, any stuff you pick up from the ground. Being wounded should be more dangerous for character if he's not using sterile bandages, not cleaning his wounds as fast as possible after being shot or stabbed, the worse if he was scratched or hit by a zombie. More danger should come from the environment as it now. Survival should not be a trivial task. If you survived a disease you should become a little bit more resilient to it for a while. Let's think of it as a representation of your immune system. (skills?)

 

I've seen someone has been saying about more complicated feeding system. This is also an interesting idea. If you eat shit like cereals or chips all the time and give no time to rest for your character it must be reflected in how he performs. If you treat your character right he will run for a longer distances without being out of breath. Which perhaps make his aim better, his hands wouldn't be shaking that much etc. Not making the game SIMS but something more complex sould be a great thing.

 

If you do something you should do it a bit better in time, like reloading your weapon or applying medical equipment. 

 

All I want to say that developing your character must be a hard but satisfying task as you see him become harder, better, faster and of course stronger. :D

 

No need in complicated skill tree or values of your stamina or something like that. The game have to make you take good care of you character, be mindfull of how he performs in the game world for him to become "high level survivalist".

 

Considering aforesaid would you want to try an KOS a player knowing that it is 90% possibility of ending up pretty ugly for you because you have only few dirty rags in your pockets, half of who-knows-when opened can of beans, an old mosin rifle. And if you shoot other player chances are you ruin all the good stuff he has, If you miss the first shot he might start to shoot back and wound you. I hope you catch what I meant to say.

 

Survival must be hard even without any gunfights, and you need to be either well prepaired or completely desperate to start it.

 

I really want to know your opinion, guys.

[twingunz 308]

lol beards idea is a must! 

I just really think it's as smiple as lots of vanity gear if there is a lot of different clothes people will spend time looking how they want to look you find a tee that never spawns or a pair of shoes that you love that in itself makes me personally care atm the clothing otions are shit so i just wear military and i don't care (as starting clothes are the best clothes atm anyways looking wise) but if there was so much gear that it was hard to look how you want and knowing it took days to put together your outfit then that to me makes me not want to die more than the guns.

i'm vain so vanity items make me care!

Edit: as for a leveling system i'd hate that i don't want this game to become a grinding game i LOVE this game because there is no levels theres just me and the world, you put in levels all of a sudden instead of me just trying to survive i'll be trying to max out all my levels asap and then when i do it i'll be like well im done, quit. Leveling has ruined so many games for me.

Edited December 24, 2013 by twingunz

[brampower 19]

The ironic thing is that most of the 'solutions' that were proposed here will make the problem way bigger.

If you add things that make people value their character, it means they will not want to die. That means that people will be paranoid and that is the number one reason to shoot on sight. If you do NOT want to lose your character under any circumstance, you will NOT take the chance to find out if somebody is friendly or not. You will just shoot them right away; it's a win-win. You get to keep your character, your gear, AND you get new free gear!

While I agree there is a problem, these things will not fix it. It will do the opposite.

I do really like the mental illnesses, though. Because that really gives you a reason not to shoot; sure, you will get some free gear. But if you keep hearing voices in your head, it will be extremely annoying. That will definitely stop me from shooting others.

It does need to be curable, though. Perhaps with time, or with helping others (donating blood, sharing food etcetera).

[RespawnCake 6]

Love that skill idea,definitely something that would make me care for my character to stay alive IF I LOSE ALL MY GEAR at some point