Mental Constitution - Social/Survival Mechanic for Immersion

[dubghall 36]

For me there is relatively simple solution. Dayz needs to implement some sort of consequence for our collective actions. If we are given a reason to care about each others actions and how we as a group are effecting the game world, but are not forced to care, then I think all the stuff like narrative, morality and the intrinsic value of players, will become emergent game play.

 

Ask yourself what do all players value and how can you directly relate it to their character? The simple answer is loot. Now ask yourself how you can relate loot to each player intrinsically. My solution, have the average life expectancy (over x amount of time) of players in a server influence both the quality and quantity of loot spawns on any given server (or all the servers).

 

Now I've come up with many iterations of this idea and I am quite convinced of its merit. I think it could work, but I can't say for sure how it would play out or if people would buy into it. For me the question of whether people would buy into the over arching story is actually what makes the idea so good - there is nothing forcing you to 'join in' with the overall narrative, but there will be people who do 'join in' and they in turn will want to influence how others act because of how it effects themselves (and their groups). This is where a type of 'morality' can emerge. There will be social consequences to our actions. There will be a narrative and the world itself will be a major character reacting to the shifting 'mood' of the players.

 

So yeah, I get where the OP is coming from, the current iteration of Dayz is missing something - it still has massive potential to be a truly groundbreaking game but for me it is not there yet.

 

Hoik, genius concept - one Im into quite alot myself.  These adaptive or evolving systems would be ones most players dont even realize are there but would greatly enhance the play of the game.  Course, they would be even more effective if players really understood them - but getting them to understand it is not a limitation but an opportunity is the problem.  Ill back up your idea 100%.

I think it fits really well with the Mind system I describe here.  In fact Mental Constitution could be the "short game" and the "lifespan loot calculator" could be the long game.  Neither discourages solo play, neither discourages KOS, but both would make these concepts more dangerous in certain environments (depending on your status and the server's status).   Lets talk more if your interested!

[dubghall 36]

Updated suggestions from other threads with edits in OP:

 

-  Rest and Sleep defined with effect in this system. (also there are great interactions between this system and the logout timer/safe logout, and anti-serverhop solutions offered elsewhere)

 

-  Player interaction options on use button dropdowns "threaten" and "encourage" as means of temporarily effecting sanity/stress.

[dan00087 4]

I think some sort of system like this would be a fun addition to the survival nature of the game, maybe your new spawn already has mental health issues or maybe you just develop them over time, it would add more realism (people are born with or develop mental health) and another need to look for different loot e.g. medicine, tablets. Imagine you spawned with tourettes that would be challenging to try and hide then lol (only joking so no stupid comments back.)

Maybe on full release in private hives we can have this as an option to add into the gameplay

[skyline-gtr 130]

Whilst surviving a Zombie apocalypse would have its own mental implications.

I cannot agree with any of these topics, simply because....

 

Well here is a cut and paste answer I used to reply to one topic initially but they kept coming up so I repeat it

 

 

"The fact is, no system is perfect. Especially with computers.

It is far to easy for them to interrpret one action or a series of actions as "definition A", when it could in fact be "definition B".

 

No compuer can in fact read a persons "intent", it relys on actions only and when the actions of different intents can easily be very similar or even the same, then you can maybe see the issue here."

 

So you can see that no matter how good you think your idea is, if it is based on the human mental aspect, then it is inherently flawed as a computer cannot comprehend the mental state of a human.

A computer reacts to input alone and I would suggest that any input that gives a certain "buff" or "debuff", can easily be manipulated.

[chekovp 89]

I honestly only read the first few lines of the original post, but i think the crazy people are already out there and don't need any help from the game...

 

- rabits/doors/etc that sound like zombies - hehe-

 

Rabits making zombie noises is already in the game and creepy as fuck because they make the long drown out noises, Plus invisible zombies that can actually hurt you. (Yes, I know these are bugs.)

[ChickenMan (DayZ) 23]

Love the Idea! Would leave a lot of options open for making the DayZ world even creepier. I can imagine it now...

 

You start out, you have nothing on you but a flashlight, you don't know where you are. You find some stuff, but zeds start attacking! You run into the woods, its dark, and your're all alone. You hear movement around you. is someone really there? is it a zed? or are you just hearing things?

Quite sometime goes by, you now have more gear; a gun, water, food, etc. Only one thing... you're still alone and rarely make camp, always staying on the move and getting very little sleep. once in a while you'll hear things off in the distance. Children's laughter, but there are no kids. a woman crying, yet no one is there. and then that day will come when you accidentally kill someone who surprises you, or maybe you knew damn well what you were doing when you decided to murder them. 

More time  goes by, you still lead a life of solitude. still on the move, still rarely sleeping and making camp. Seeing flashes of a face, or maybe a shadowy figure off in the distance is now a common occurrence. Even creepier noises echo through your head. you haven't slept in so long that things start to change color and look almost psychedelic, warping and moving. you are insane!

More time passes, you now find yourself with a group of people you have met while out on your struggles to survive. You travel with your group, eat with your group, and make camp with your group (maybe rob people and/or murder them. i.e. Bandits). the strange noises, feelings of paranoia, and visions have ceased. You are now more keen  on what is going on around you, and how to handle situations. you can keep your focus on what needs to be done.