[Suggestion] Multiple character and Separate "hardcore" and "casual" characters and servers

[Taesh 0]

Here are some suggestions of things I would really like to see character creation to be like.

 

Multiple characters

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The possibility of creating and keeping more than one character. This feature would allow for characters with different roles and play-styles.

 

Update

People have voiced their concerns that this would allow people to instantly log in and kill you with their reserve character after you kill them and cross-character loot sharing exploits.

A solution to the first problem could be simply adding a time-out when you get killed, stopping you for logging on another character immediately after a death. This could be global and wouldn't let you log in on any existing (alive) characters on any server, but let you create a fresh character and play immediately or it could be server specific, allowing you to continue playing on a different server with one of your other characters.

 

The problem regarding cross-character loot sharing is a bit tougher to deal with as there are so many ways to go about this, as this is almost how it is intended to be (you can give your loot to other players, drop it on the ground, other players can loot your dead body and so on). Often to exploit the game where you have one or multiple low value characters that defer the loot to a high value character, and thus avoiding the risk of death with the high value one, demands a lot of time and effort for it to be worthwhile. In the case where you had separate server groups (read below), players who is found to be doing this kind of exploit (on hardcore servers) could be banned from hardcore, either permanently or temporarily.

 

Separate "hardcore" and "casual" characters and servers

This is inspired by character creation option in games like Diablo (II and III) and Path of Exile. This might be a good way to satisfy different kind of players and their goals.

 

When you create a character you would be able to select if the character is "hardcore" or not. Hardcore servers would have to follow strict rules for the gameplay (no instant logout, default day/night cycle, random spawn, all the classic DayZ rules etc.) whereas the casual servers can change the game-rules as they like. Hardcore and non-hardcore characters would be restricted to their respective servers.

 

 

 

I think these suggestions would make the game more fun.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Taesh

[preacherlr 614]

Multiple characters : You'll end up with WarZ style combat. 1 person has all their character logged out at the same place, you kill one, then have to fight however many more they're allowed.

" Hardcore " and " Casual " Characters/servers : You more or less just described public hive VS Private hive...

[Taesh 0]

Multiple characters : You'll end up with WarZ style combat. 1 person has all their character logged out at the same place, you kill one, then have to fight however many more they're allowed.

 

This is easy to prevent and there are many ways to do that.

 

 

" Hardcore " and " Casual " Characters/servers : You more or less just described public hive VS Private hive...

 

Is this a planned feature? I have been trying to get a hold of more information on what kind of content is planned, but I must confess it is not easy to come by.

[DEOVONTAY MCSLANGA 149]

Multiple characters would only make it easier for people to cheat or abuse game mechanics. Do you really want to play with a bunch of assholes who use one useless character to farm loot, only to transfer it to one "main" who was never at risk and suddenly has every piece of gear they want? It completely breaks the spirit of the game and I very much doubt the devs are stupid enough to ever remotely consider the idea. This also falls into the category of "make the game easier because hard games are haaaaard" ideas, which you should probably be irl kosed for having.

 

For multiple difficulties, every server should be the same difficulty and that difficulty should be difficult. 24/7 day servers are stupid and really ought to go away. I would advocate all servers being on the same day/night cycle to prevent kiddies from just leaving a night server, but there simply isn't any viable way to do so without screwing people in certain timezones outside of shortening the day/night cycle so that at a given time the day/night status would alternate.

 

tl;dr

Your ideas are stupid.

[rossums 2190]

One of the good things about DayZ is that it ISN'T a totally casual game, it's meant to be hard - that's what makes it fun and challenging.

[Taesh 0]

Multiple characters would only make it easier for people to cheat or abuse game mechanics. Do you really want to play with a bunch of assholes who use one useless character to farm loot, only to transfer it to one "main" who was never at risk and suddenly has every piece of gear they want? It completely breaks the spirit of the game and I very much doubt the devs are stupid enough to ever remotely consider the idea. This also falls into the category of "make the game easier because hard games are haaaaard" ideas, which you should probably be irl kosed for having.

 

Yes, yes, more functionality and complex gameplay opens for more potential abuse. But this isn't a problem which we are helpless to do anything against. I'm sure we can find a prefectly suitable way to deal with that kind of exploits. Abuse like this is even possible to do now, you just need to jump through a couple more hoops to do it.

 

As I said, more characters would allow for more roleplaying, which can be hugely satisfying in an immersive game like this. Please, let us not limit the potential of this game because of all the ways it can potentially be exploited.

 

 

For multiple difficulties, every server should be the same difficulty and that difficulty should be difficult. 24/7 day servers are stupid and really ought to go away. I would advocate all servers being on the same day/night cycle to prevent kiddies from just leaving a night server, but there simply isn't any viable way to do so without screwing people in certain timezones outside of shortening the day/night cycle so that at a given time the day/night status would alternate.

 

Separating hardcore and casual characters would probably be beneficial for both groups. There would be more serious and like minded players on the hardcore servers and the custom servers would attract their target demographics as-well. I don't get this mentality that we have to limit how everyone else plays when it doesn't impact your own game.

 

 

One of the good things about DayZ is that it ISN'T a totally casual game, it's meant to be hard - that's what makes it fun and challenging.

 

I whole-heartedly agree. Games that don't challenge you are boring.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Taesh

[Atomizer 53]

Separating hardcore and casual characters would probably be beneficial for both groups. There would be more serious and like minded players on the hardcore servers and the custom servers would attract their target demographics as-well. I don't get this mentality that we have to limit how everyone else plays when it doesn't impact your own game.

Thing is, "more hardcore" players will join casual servers to troll them, separating them into easily defined categories invites more of this, because now they have a clearly visible target.

[DEOVONTAY MCSLANGA 149]

Yes, yes, more functionality and complex gameplay opens for more potential abuse. But this isn't a problem which we are helpless to do anything against. I'm sure we can find a prefectly suitable way to deal with that kind of exploits. Abuse like this is even possible to do now, you just need to jump through a couple more hoops to do it.

 

As I said, more characters would allow for more roleplaying, which can be hugely satisfying in an immersive game like this. Please, let us not limit the potential of this game because of all the ways it can potentially be exploited.

 

 

 

Separating hardcore and casual characters would probably be beneficial for both groups. There would be more serious and like minded players on the hardcore servers and the custom servers would attract their target demographics as-well. I don't get this mentality that we have to limit how everyone else plays when it doesn't impact your own game.

 

 

 

I whole-heartedly agree. Games that don't challenge you are boring.

 

No, there really isn't any way to prevent people from abusing a multiple character mechanic. It's literally impossible. What are you going to do, spawn each login at a random spot every time? Force a 12 hour delay between switching characters (which still wouldn't solve anything because tents)? It's completely not feasible, and even if it were the devs have much more important things to work on than a "feature" that just invites cheating.

 

That also begs the question, exactly how much difference does your character make when you're roleplaying? You literally have 6 choices. You are a black, white, or chinese man or woman. That's it. Therefore, most of your roleplay is gear reliant right? So why not just make a tent stash with a few different clothing sets and when you want to roleplay you can walk your ass over there and change. This is a perfect solution for roleplayers without completely breaking the game for the rest of us. Avoiding such a mechanic would not be "limiting the game's potential" as the feature has nothing to offer above and beyond what is currently (or rather will be when tents come back) available to players and only invites cheating.

 

 

Also, there really is no good reason to split up difficulty. Servers should all be on exactly equal settings to prevent people from exploiting the fact that they're playing a game on a server. Even the fact that servers are on different daylight cycles and 24/7 day servers exist invites a small amount of abuse, as people who are too incompetent/scared to play at night can just server hop. This leads to the situation that happened in the mod, everyone plays on daytime servers until they get NVGs, then they just camp nighttime servers because they think they have an advantage. Except that now that same night server is just 10 guys with NVGs hiding in bushes staring at each other instead of interesting gameplay brought about by the risk/reward of having to use a flashlight or flares. As it stands, night servers only see loot hoppers right now because people are not being forced to play it like they ought to.

[Atomizer 53]

Its easy to have multiple characters, you just have a second steam account with a second copy of DayZ, people did that in the mod, and people are doing that in SA already.

I wish I could just have a second character I use for solo play when my friends aren't around, and one for when my friends are around, however I agree with others in that it just introduces problems.

If people want to do it, legit or otherwise, they need to do that ^

[gibonez 3633]

One character one account.

[DefoneESP 17]

One of the good things about DayZ is that it ISN'T a totally casual game, it's meant to be hard - that's what makes it fun and challenging.

this.. i cant give you enough beans

 

the forums are littered with people complaining about KoS, Bandits, too much PvP, etc. this game is supposed to be hard, its a post apocalyptic zombie survival sandbox.. key word SURVIVAL, by either staying well fed and hydrated, healthy, avoiding zombies at all cost and kill or be killed

 

if you want a casual game where your character respawns and you dont lose your gear then this is not for you

 

i say no to multiple characters, it devalues the time and effort you put into your character, soon you will be more concentrated on gearing up your alts than surviving

 

i do however wish they bound characters to servers, this would develop a sense of community in each server making it unique to the players there

[Taesh 0]

i do however wish they bound characters to servers, this would develop a sense of community in each server making it unique to the players there

 

I too thought about this option. The problems then arise whenever you want to play with someone bound to another server, you would have to kill your character and start over. Or even worse: if the server your character is bound to is full.

 

Thats why I think either or both my suggestions would be a good idea. Restricted hardcore servers would essentially be the same kind of system. Similar to MMOs where your character is bound to a region network with many channels. But that is possibly what the Hive is all about. I just hope it is going to work something like this, so you can enjoy a good game of DayZ without server-hoppers.

 

 

No, there really isn't any way to prevent people from abusing a multiple character mechanic. It's literally impossible. What are you going to do, spawn each login at a random spot every time? Force a 12 hour delay between switching characters (which still wouldn't solve anything because tents)? It's completely not feasible, and even if it were the devs have much more important things to work on than a "feature" that just invites cheating.

 

I'm fully aware of that. People will always try to abuse the system, the only way to stop that is if there was no system to abuse. But there are ways of limiting abuse that I think are totally feasible and not game-breaking.

 

 

That also begs the question, exactly how much difference does your character make when you're roleplaying? You literally have 6 choices. You are a black, white, or chinese man or woman. That's it. Therefore, most of your roleplay is gear reliant right? So why not just make a tent stash with a few different clothing sets and when you want to roleplay you can walk your ass over there and change. This is a perfect solution for roleplayers without completely breaking the game for the rest of us. Avoiding such a mechanic would not be "limiting the game's potential" as the feature has nothing to offer above and beyond what is currently (or rather will be when tents come back) available to players and only invites cheating.

 

I imagine there will be more ways to customize your character beyond the 6 different presets we have today. It's in its early alpha stages after all. But even then, as you say, much of what mattes is the gear load-out, which is going to be even more diverse in the future. If you wanted to play two characters you would have to multi-manage all the gear, make sure it doesn't get stolen or wiped by a server reset and trek all the way to the hidden stash whenever you want to play a different role. This can't in any way be called a perfect solution. And I don't see how one person being stacked up on gear breaks the game for everybody else. People manage that just fine right now with one character, and I would go as far as to say that this is mostly what this game is about.

 

In the end most people will play the game how they like to. Some people like to hoard and micro-manage gear, some like to exploit the game design, some like to role-play and others like to explore. Everyone have their way of playing games and people will find a way to do what they like one way or another. You can't stop that. I understand that you disapprove of play-styles other than your preferred one. But rather than forcing people to play the game a certain way, I think separating the players into demographics that go well together will be the best option for all.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Taesh

[SalamanderAnder (DayZ) 1747]

Stopped reading at "casual."

 

No thanks.

[roadtripper 4]

Multiple characters would work for me.. it would make it easier to switch between gameplay. With one character I want to become that great single warrior. But sometimes it is just fun to look for people and approach. Now there is no option.. which takes away a great aspect of the game, and I am doomed to avoid and hide from other players. because they might kill you just for fun.. just because some a-hole found a weapon..

 

now the only solution is to buy another copy.. so people with extra money can play whatever they want.. 

Edited February 7, 2014 by roadtripper

[irl-calibre 744]

Multiple characters would work for me.. it would make it easier to switch between gameplay. With one character I want to become that great single warrior. But sometimes it is just fun to look for people and approach. Now there is no option.. which takes away a great aspect of the game, and I am doomed to avoid and hide from other players. because they might kill you just for fun.. just because some a-hole found a weapon

 

if that's the height of "your" story so be it m8..

[roadtripper 4]

if that's the height of "your" story so be it m8..

 

The point of my post is that I want to switch between "my" stories.. instead of buying another copy to be able to do so... m8

[Karmaterror 982]

Hang on....we have seperate hives for hardcore and regular already, Multiple toons will come in with private hives (your guy will be locked to that server(or group of servers)). Now for multiple guys on pub hive i just have to say no. Its the gear sharing that gets me most with that, i could gear one, leave him at the coast then just dump his loot and log in as my other guy and collect it all pretty instantly. 

 

But also there is no need for multiple on the pub hive....the only need would be for exploit, we can only play one at a time :)
 

[irl-calibre 744]

The point of my post is that I want to switch between "my" stories.. instead of buying another copy to be able to do so... m8

 

not on the public hive you won't, best get your credit card out..

[roadtripper 4]

Its the gear sharing that gets me most with that, i could gear one, leave him at the coast then just dump his loot and log in as my other guy and collect it all pretty instantly. 

 

You can exploit by getting another copy.. so the argument about playing fair and exploits is simply BS.

 

Perhaps it would be different if you would choose a different map. Shame you only want to exploit, bcuz - again - it's more about switching experience, rather than gaining superior objects..

Edited February 8, 2014 by roadtripper