Not knowing the # of players on a server

[ir 0]

I would guess that there are a good amount of people who will look for a low pop server just so they can be safe from others. now i understand that this may not be possible to do atm but i think it will add a level suspense (especially for those whom try and take the easy way out in a low pop) for the future. going into a game without ever knowing if its a full server with a high chance of encounters, or if its a low pop and you would worry over nothing.

this probably cant happen anytime soon because of the messages of people joining/DCing and the lobby

[johnbello 1]

While this is an excellent idea, i would go a little bit further and even add some kind of timezone restriction, if possible.

Like right now, people are playing on servers that have daylight only - restricting someone to the region he plays from (kinda) makes it more realistic and dangerous in several ways.

while playtime might suffer i really thing gameplay could benefit from it.

both this points, the OP´s number on players idea aswell as the timezone restriction could probably merged into some kind of "non-serverbrowser-based" joining.

like, press button "Join the DayZ" (whatever) out of the menu, and it will conenct you to a mid populated server out of your region and timezone.

If you want to play with friends, you would have to form a group before joining the game, but there could be a "friendlist/clan" like feature so people actually could join your game, if there is a slot available.

if this is possible to create, it would be awesome!

[Zeromentor 169]

And if my friends are in the UK and I'm in the US?

[Zoop 343]

No.

I run a server for South Africa, but people from all over play on mine, and I won't take that away from them.

[ir 0]

i personally dont like the idea of timezone restrictions. some people can only play at certain hours during the day and if they only get free time at night, then they're screwed. theres nothing wrong with people having to play at night once in a while but i think for that, there should be an options.

but i like your idea of friends grouping before joining a server, maybe if they also add an invite feature for friends whom get on at different times.