SA needs more story.

[kevsta545 451]

I'm not saying I want this game to turn into the last of us, but what would

rock is like recorders or cell phones were you could listen to voice memos, or even follow trails of lost survivors and find their remanents or something. Ex. I'm about to head to green mountain.. I heard a strange noise there. I'm heading to (coordinates) and then at those coordinates you'd find like a strange tunnel base, and more story and stuff. Share ideas below on how you'd like story implemented into dayZ. Thanks!

[Noctiluxx 48]

In dayz, you are the story.

 

Not to sound lame, but seriously, thats the plan.. your life, and its adventures are the story.. it will only be better as more of the planned features are added.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Noctiluxx

[Swordfish (DayZ) 23]

Players are the story. You'll be able to leave notes and things later on among other things. It's much better than following a linear story.

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

In dayz, you are the story.

 

Not to sound lame, but seriously, thats the plan...

 

In fairness, I think the plan was to have more backstory. Players should create the story moving forward, yes, but it would be cool if we could discover bits and pieces that reveal more about what's going on. How did we get here? What's going on? How long has it been since the outbreak? What was the military doing here and why was it unsuccessful? What's the deal with Green Mountain? Is the same thing happening everywhere else in the world? How are they faring compared to Chernarus?

 

There's a lot of unanswered questions. More to it than just "Your story" kind of stuff. 

Edited December 22, 2013 by ZedsDeadBaby

[Verex11 95]

I saw a suggestion someone made saying how when we spawn in we could be in a random area of the map, start off with some random items, and have a random skin. This would sort of play out like "You were a business man travelling when the zombies apocalypse hit. You have a suitcase, some pens and paper and are wearing a suit."

 

Not sure if I would ACTUALLY like it, but I think it's a cool idea to add a little more RP and story to the game.

[Hockeyguy 107]

I dont think having a story line or anything would be good considering its a multiplayerand there is no need for a story line. I do on ther other hand think it would be cool if you could get a voice recorder or something and make voice memos so you could leave recorded tapes lying around for other people to listen to

[Horatio 22]

Interesting idea, I would like to see this implemented into the game ^^ At least just to see how it fits the theme and genre :)

[glowfow@hotmail.com 55]

I don't think there should be an artificial story in place, I would like it however if you could leave recorded messages onn taperecorders... but since it will only server a niche rp role and not much functionality I don't expect it somewhere high up the to-do list, if it's even there at all.

[SalamanderAnder (DayZ) 1747]

I think what you mean is context. I would agree, it would be nice to see a more apocalyptic looking world with areas that have a sort of purpose behind them which you can infer. Also zombies. I can't wait to see hoards of scary zombies. It will change the game quite a bit.

 

 

Also, a camera object would add a lot of story. Maybe you could find a little digital camera and combine a battery with it, and take photos. When someone kills you or finds you dead, they could inspect it and see all the photos you took along your journey, and maybe start adding their own. That would be very cool, but I can foresee issues with storing all those screenshots... Then again, when the camera gets destroyed or lost, all those shots would disappear so, perhaps it's possible.

Edited December 22, 2013 by SalamanderAnder

[Etherimp 1323]

I agree. It's totally possible to keep the game an open ended, free roam, sandbox experience AND add a story element. Heli crashes, survivor camps, notes left inside of homes, or items found in spawned vehicles could give the player "hints" to unlock some kind of treasure or experience in the game which would pay off in some way.. The story could get deeper and deeper the more you play the game. The problem is removing the meta-gaming element, where players take knowledge learned in a previous life and apply it to their new character.

 

IE - I found X at Y and now I'll do Z because I have that knowledge, even though I died.

 

(I found an Airfield up north, so now I'll just go there and get military gear, even though I died at the airfield and my new character should have no real knowledge of that place.)

[kevsta545 451]

In dayz, you are the story.

 

Not to sound lame, but seriously, thats the plan.. your life, and its adventures are the story.. it will only be better as more of the planned features are added.

I understand that players make the adventure. But there's always why did all this happen. Like you could find bits and pieces and they'd come together like a puzzle, but of course player interaction is the main point of the game, but I want back story. Or like in origins they had the secret science lab or he Elysium type island.

[Noctiluxx 48]

In fairness, I think the plan was to have more backstory. Players should create the story moving forward, yes, but it would be cool if we could discover bits and pieces that reveal more about what's going on. How did we get here? What's going on? How long has it been since the outbreak? What was the military doing here and why was it unsuccessful? What's the deal with Green Mountain? Is the same thing happening everywhere else in the world? How are they faring compared to Chernarus?

 

There's a lot of unanswered questions. More to it than just "Your story" kind of stuff. 

 

 

Would we then have to re-experience the learning process of the story each time we die?  Without sounding like a complete jackass, you're idea is fine and mighty for a dayz 'lore' comic book.. but with death as prominent as it is, I have no interest in walking my character through his discovery of how it came to be every time.

 

backstory, sure, no prob.

[Noctiluxx 48]

I think what you mean is context. I would agree, it would be nice to see a more apocalyptic looking world with areas that have a sort of purpose behind them which you can infer. Also zombies. I can't wait to see hoards of scary zombies. It will change the game quite a bit.

 

 

Also, a camera object would add a lot of story. Maybe you could find a little digital camera and combine a battery with it, and take photos. When someone kills you or finds you dead, they could inspect it and see all the photos you took along your journey, and maybe start adding their own. That would be very cool, but I can foresee issues with storing all those screenshots... Then again, when the camera gets destroyed or lost, all those shots would disappear so, perhaps it's possible.

 

I made a post about an instant camera (it got 0 replies, oh well)

 

either camera would be an absolute blast!  I'm a camera nut, so im a bit biased.  

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Another really amazing thing would be to see pictures of Chernarus before the outbreak. How much incredible drama would it add if you could see what Chernogorsk looked like prior to the disaster? Regular citizens in the streets, shopping at the grocery store, fishing on the shore, being happy... it would definitely enhance the atmosphere for me to have tangible bits and pieces left over from the real, breathing humans who used to make their lives where we now struggle to survive. 

 

Even just seeing a family photo on the night stand while I'm looting a house would make me stop and think about the people who used to live there. "Gee, they look really happy in that picture. Now they're dead."

 

This kind of reflection on the reality of an apocalypse is so perfect for DayZ, because it's not Resident Evil. It's not arcade zombies. These are real people who had real lives and now we have to shoot them in their heads and that's really fucked up. People should be constantly reminded of how fucked up it is that we're basically slaughtering sick humans every day and pretending it's not big deal.

Edited December 22, 2013 by ZedsDeadBaby

[SalamanderAnder (DayZ) 1747]

I agree. It's totally possible to keep the game an open ended, free roam, sandbox experience AND add a story element. Heli crashes, survivor camps, notes left inside of homes, or items found in spawned vehicles could give the player "hints" to unlock some kind of treasure or experience in the game which would pay off in some way.. The story could get deeper and deeper the more you play the game. The problem is removing the meta-gaming element, where players take knowledge learned in a previous life and apply it to their new character.

 

IE - I found X at Y and now I'll do Z because I have that knowledge, even though I died.

 

(I found an Airfield up north, so now I'll just go there and get military gear, even though I died at the airfield and my new character should have no real knowledge of that place.)

 

Verrry true... More randomized events could really add to this game. The community seems to have a natural bias against it but I've found that within the context of full PvP like we have in DayZ, those randomized events can add a great deal of context. The reason is that adding certain environment challenges does not remove other players from the game. Heli crashes are a perfect example. It was one of those things which you came upon with zero prior knowledge, but even still there is a huge element of paranoia because you're thinking "who could be watching me from that treeline? Who else sees the smoke?" ect. So yes, it needs to be skillfully done, but more randomness and events on the map would add a lot to the game.

 

 

I made a post about an instant camera (it got 0 replies, oh well)

 

either camera would be an absolute blast!  I'm a camera nut, so im a bit biased.  

 

Oh, I saw another camera topic. It wasn't yours? I suppose it's a popular idea. Maybe we all had it at once. :P

Edited December 22, 2013 by SalamanderAnder

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Would we then have to re-experience the learning process of the story each time we die? 

 

No, I'm talking about artifacts. News clippings, photographs, journals with partial entries, radios with recordings we could listen to, things like that. Not a "quest line" you have to play through but just bits and pieces you come across in your travels that remind you of the reality of the situation. This place you're now skulking around for tuna cans used to be someone's home. Kids used to play in this yard. A wife hung laundry from this line. That HMMV you found wrecked had soldiers in it, and they had families.

 

The end of the world shouldn't be so anonymous and cold is my point. It should feel like it used to be a real place, and real places have stories.

[Noctiluxx 48]

Alright, you're turning me a bit..

 

I like more immersive stuff, mini stories, much better then books, although still cool.

 

It would be great if each different source had variations on the story.. would make for some interesting conversations 'I heard it started in the water, yet you're saying it was airborne?'

[Deathlove 2286]

Having you and other ppl tell your story isnt always the greatest way to play i feel some kind of solid backing to the game would help even in an open ended game like this. It would drive ppl with more of a purpose to play rather than banditry or endless walking and zombie slaying. Random story events with objectives that could give you some rewards at the end would be a nice thing to get ppl to "work together" rather than beat ppl up at the shore side area all day.

 

This game has allot of potential for various flavor of story but again if theres nothing to follow ppl will get board and regardless of a survival sim or not there would be no point in playing without a possible end game. We are talking about an MMO based sandbox game after all.

[Etherimp 1323]

Alright, you're turning me a bit..

 

I like more immersive stuff, mini stories, much better then books, although still cool.

 

It would be great if each different source had variations on the story.. would make for some interesting conversations 'I heard it started in the water, yet you're saying it was airborne?'

 

 

 

Let me throw some other ideas out there and see what you think of this..

 

 

-You kill a zombie at a Helicopter crash, and you search his body and find a wallet.. The wallet gives his home address which is in Kabaino (Or any random town)..

 

-You travel to Kabanino (or whereever) and you find a broken down vehicle (which you can repair), and there is a "broken radio transmitter" in the gear of the vehicle..

 

-You find a survivor camp, and in one of the tents is a scrap piece of paper with coordinates on it..

 

-You travel to the coordinates on the piece of paper and you find a stash, and the stash has some decent supplies, as well as an important part of the radio transmitter stashed in it. But you don't have any crafting options with the radio transmitter yet...

 

-You find a (random) house with a book in it "Electronics repair", and this book unlocks the ability to craft the radio transmitter

 

-Other hints and suggestions are found around the map and on the bodies of zombies that direct you to take the radio transmitter to Green Mountain, and upon activating the Radio Transmitter it signals a chopper to come pick you up, effectively "ending" the life of your character and saving your journal, which would look maybe like...

 

"Etherimp Survived 13 days in Chernarus, with XXX gear, saved XXX many lives, killed XXX many players, and was finally rescued on XX/XX/XXXX"

 

 

 

Or... You could have a similar set of random pickups which eventually lead you to a hospital, and allow you to summon a medical chopper which turns a dead person back into a live person..

 

IE - one of your friends dies to zombies, or dies in combat.. no medical help you can provide them will allow them to survive.. But, you summon this medical chopper, and it can bring them back to life, allowing them to continue with the same character (X many days alive), and keep their gear, etc.

[kevsta545 451]

Let me throw some other ideas out there and see what you think of this..

 

 

-You kill a zombie at a Helicopter crash, and you search his body and find a wallet.. The wallet gives his home address which is in Kabaino (Or any random town)..

 

-You travel to Kabanino (or whereever) and you find a broken down vehicle (which you can repair), and there is a "broken radio transmitter" in the gear of the vehicle..

 

-You find a survivor camp, and in one of the tents is a scrap piece of paper with coordinates on it..

-You travel to the coordinates on the piece of paper and you find a stash, and the stash has some decent supplies, as well as an important part of the radio transmitter stashed in it. But you don't have any crafting options with the radio transmitter yet...

 

-You find a (random) house with a book in it "Electronics repair", and this book unlocks the ability to craft the radio transmitter

 

-Other hints and suggestions are found around the map and on the bodies of zombies that direct you to take the radio transmitter to Green Mountain, and upon activating the Radio Transmitter it signals a chopper to come pick you up, effectively "ending" the life of your character and saving your journal, which would look maybe like...

 

"Etherimp Survived 13 days in Chernarus, with XXX gear, saved XXX many lives, killed XXX many players, and was finally rescued on XX/XX/XXXX"

 

 

 

Or... You could have a similar set of random pickups which eventually lead you to a hospital, and allow you to summon a medical chopper which turns a dead person back into a live person..

 

IE - one of your friends dies to zombies, or dies in combat.. no medical help you can provide them will allow them to survive.. But, you summon this medical chopper, and it can bring them back to life, allowing them to continue with the same character (X many days alive), and keep their gear, etc.

This is near exactly what I want, but I don't really want any sort of endgame...

[thedogfoodyayho 295]

I like the thing about the Wallet to vehicke to camp to evac thing. Maybe a bit harder, though. And maybe the heli could randomly drop you off in another map one/if those are added.

 

You: "Stupid AI pilots. I wunder when i get to respawn..."

AI: "NEVER!!!" And pushes you into the water, where you wash up onto another island.

[kevsta545 451]

I like the thing about the Wallet to vehicke to camp to evac thing. Maybe a bit harder, though. And maybe the heli could randomly drop you off in another map one/if those are added.

 

You: "Stupid AI pilots. I wunder when i get to respawn..."

AI: "NEVER!!!" And pushes you into the water, where you wash up onto another island.

:O that. Would. Be. So. Badass. I love it!

[King of kong 1117]

In fairness, I think the plan was to have more backstory. Players should create the story moving forward, yes, but it would be cool if we could discover bits and pieces that reveal more about what's going on. How did we get here? What's going on? How long has it been since the outbreak? What was the military doing here and why was it unsuccessful? What's the deal with Green Mountain? Is the same thing happening everywhere else in the world? How are they faring compared to Chernarus?

 

There's a lot of unanswered questions. More to it than just "Your story" kind of stuff. 

By "military" I hope you mean CDF. They obviously fell apart