I was thinking about loot

[Strategos (DayZ) 190]

So I was mulling over some of the issues as I see them, yeah I should be working but hey.

 

There are a couple of problems as things stand. Server hopping, availability of military gear and camping.

 

I think the issues boil down to one thing, predictability.

 

Disclaimer - I know it's alpha and the loot will be rebalanced. This is NOT what I'm discussing.

 

 

So predictability. Everyone KNOWS where the loot is going to be. This encourages the above behaviour. Go to good loot spot, profit. No loot? Change servers. Want to grief some newbs? Camp the doorway to the barracks. Loot is what drives player movement. So the place to go to solve these issues is the loot distribution system.

 

My solution? NO predictable loot spawning. 

 

 

You can justify the system no problem in terms of "Lore" as well. Let's imagine that the shit storm has happened , we don't know how long ago mind you but the super markets are empty and there are no people left alive except for a few survivors (us). There are rusted out cars so we could safely assume it's been a while since the infection struck.

 

So basically everything has been looted already, prior to the time Dayz is set. (Like the Road for example)

 

This means that anything useful has been removed from its location and moved somewhere else probably somewhere safe already.

 

How would this manifest?

 

1: Better hidden loot. You still get loot in houses but it requires a bit more searching to find. Inside cupboards etc.

2: Random loot. So you might find the body of a survivor who still has some loot on him. Or the remnants of a campfire in the woods with what's left of some supplies.

3: Stashes. Really random, better loot. Well hidden stashes that could be anywhere, from a locked room in a house, a hidden trapdoor , buried in the garden who knows, but you'd have to search pretty hard for them. May need a shovel or crowbar to gain access to it. Inside you would find whatever some early survivor had squirrelled away to keep safe.

 

Obviously you would still find things in the current system, just not high end stuff, more like junk, tools, clothes, crafting parts. Not things like medical kits, guns, etc.

 

This would also mean that places like military bases and airfields actually had very little in them, which I think is a good thing. Obviously the places that would get picked clean first, a nice addition to the scenery and the feel of the the game, but currently just camping server hopping  hot spots.

 

 

One of the interesting side effects of the current system where loot does not respawn (assuming your playing properly) is that people have to spread out and search less obvious places to find loot that hasn't already been taken. 

 

 

[rjcollins 5]

Not a fan of the idea of removing stuff from the military bases in the manner you suggest. Since the game is designed to be a post-apocalyptic zombie survival experience, it wouldn't behoove the designer to take away items that would likely be where they fit in. If I'm in need of ammunition for my gun, it makes sense that I'd search out a military base. If I'm looking for some food, the bodega in town is a good bet to find some.

 

Making thing a little more plentiful outside of these locations I don't have too much heartburn with as that would be a reward for exploration. Too much loot RNG that sacrifices the current paradigm of "What I need is likely at (insert location here)." would break some of that immersion that I feel is being aimed for in this game of survival.

[Korsbaek 1778]

I'm thinking that this will scare away a lot of the more casual players. I know DayZ isn't a game for casual gamers, but with the current system they still have a place here.

 

The loot system you're proposing (Is that the right word?) will make them flee because they can't find anything.

 

I want to keep the loot system we already have because I don't want to see empty server after empty server.

[Strategos (DayZ) 190]

 

 

If I'm in need of ammunition for my gun, it makes sense that I'd search out a military base.

 

Which is exactly what everyone would have thought when the infection hit, which is why it would have been picked clean.

 

It breaks my immersion knowing exactly where to go to find a given type of loot, I don't think thats a "realistic" post apocalypse scenario at all. 

 

And it causes a whole bunch of problems.

 

 

 

I want to keep the loot system we already have because I don't want to see empty server after empty server.

 

I keep seeing this "argument" and I find it totally invalid. People seem to want everything to stay the way it has been because people are suddenly going to leave in droves. The only reason you saw empty servers in the Mod was people were given the option. If they can take the easy route they can, which is why the game needs to be standardised . 

 

A big part of the excitement of Dayz is finding good loot. Which is removed by knowing where it is. "Oh man the barracks are empty, no problem I have a 0.5% chance of getting a sniper rifle, Ill just have to keep trying different servers". 

 

If you have food, there is no point in looking through houses because you know exactly what type of loot will be in them. It would be much more immersive and interesting to take away that predictability.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Strategos

[Aussie Bogan 350]

It breaks my immersion knowing exactly where to go to find a given type of loot, I don't think thats a "realistic" post apocalypse scenario at all. 

 

So are you suggesting that we start looking in places that aren't practical for loot??? 

You may know that to much realism can break a game...

 

It makes complete sense 

I'm hungry go to super market

I need medical supplies go to hospital

i need ammo go to barracks

 

It's simply logic

 

If these places have already been looted by other players, well that the risk you take.

[rjcollins 5]

So are you suggesting that we start looking in places that aren't practical for loot??? 

You may know that to much realism can break a game...

 

It makes complete sense 

I'm hungry go to super market

I need medical supplies go to hospital

i need ammo go to barracks

 

It's simply logic

 

If these places have already been looted by other players, well that the risk you take.

 

+1

 

Some of the loot RNG suggested in the OP as additive for the map I'm down with. Stripping away what makes sense for us scavengers, as it is now, would be detrimental. It's not as if the shelves are stocked with boxes of ammo or can of tuna anyway.