We NEED some way to identify heros and bandits.

[1S1K-Airborne 148]

1.  No intelligent hero arms the person they're helping.  Feed, hydrate, administer medical help.  Do not give them a weapon, that's asking for trouble (and pretty retarded).

 

So you can't be a hero if they have anything more than bare fists.  Yep, pretty much figured that out.

 

2.  I've helped plenty of people who didn't turn around and try to kill me.  Primarily because of #1 above, and the fact that I keep the ball in my court at all times.

 

So you're not being "really" heroic, just give them a can of beans, pat on the butt, and say "good luck until you get killed by the first bandit that finds you".  Wow, glad you're on "our" side.

 

3.  Yeah, there is plenty of stealth in this game.  If you're just running around like a madman, yeah you're going to be seen.  I've managed to sneak around many unaware players.  Most of the ones I've helped I've approached via stealth.  So practice makes perfect I guess.

 

So I should just spend a half hour outflanking and stalking a guy, to make sure I come up behind him, to offer that can of beans.  Yawn.

 

4.  No I don't want to discourage players playing the way they want to in DayZ.  I'm not even a bandit, I play a medic.  So I'm not concerned with killing people.  I certainly don't want some lame ass arbitrary system floating over players heads so I can walk around in easy mode and have nothing to fear in a game about fear and survival.

 

No I don't want to discourage players playing the way they want to in DayZ.   <---------------------Wow, the irony is really thick here.  We are stating HOW WE WANT TO PLAY, and you are actively discouraging it.

 

5.  This comment shows how much you (don't) pay attention.  I'm not a bandit, nor do I want to be.  But I don't want to strip every ounce of challenge out of this game, as you and others seem to want to.  Sounds like you're the one who should revert to COD or BF since you clearly want and need some shit simple system to clearly draw a line between friend and foe.  

 

We're talking about something SMALL, not like the huge indicators on COD or BF.  A small armband, a different face wrap, a mask, whatever.  Something that if you take a few seconds (and are close enough) you can tell bad from good.

 

Sounds like this just isn't the game for you.

 

If you mean Vanilla, kill everyone for no reason, stupidity, yes, don't want that.  It's super boring respawning on the coast, looking for 1 hour to find a stupid can opener, and then having the first idiot you see with an axe kill you.  Then do it all over again.  Then you finally get geared up, and you have to kill that stupid fresh spawn that you were 1 hour ago.

 

EDIT:  Hero/Bandit skins are a fucking horrible idea.  Absolutely terrible.  I shoot a guy for whatever reason, and *poof* my entire wardrobe and look changes....regardless of the reason.  Stupid....

 

Armband, face wrap, mask.  Something subtle.  I don't care about skins.

[DaveAzoicer (DayZ) 135]

Stereotyping should be the only method of bandit identification.  Just like in real life.

 

 

See a guy in full camo with a gas mask and a ballistic helmet holding an assault rifle?   Might be wise to avoid that person.

 

 

Why the hell would you approach those people anyway is beyond me.  They clearly don't need your help.

 

Because 1 of the most interesting and fun experiences in this game is the player interaction?

 

But yes, most of the time it is a good option to stay the hell away.

And no, this isn't a real life scenario.

[Just4yoke 2]

What?!

Did you understand what I said before?

 

You clearly have NO CLUE what you're talking about.

 

It has been discussed about ideas on how to implement a better system than the old bandit and hero skin system, ideas for player identifications, and many others. Which is GOOD. If the system behind them can be made to be less abuse friendly.

 

For example: To make sure that if you get shoot at first by Player X, you will NOT get a Kill Count if you kill them in self defense, but you will get a Kill Count IF you murder someone. (This is the ABSOLUTE BASIC, and there should of course be a lot of calculations behind it)

Or ways of somehow identify if someone is a bandit except if that person shoots you in the face.

Or to somehow figure out that he's a Hero/Survivor when he's friendly for a long time and DON'T shoots you in the face.

 

Because that is a flawed system. Just like the old bandit and hero skin.

 

 

All i read is

 

bla,bla,blablablabla

bla

blabla

...

 

Anything that identifies person without seeing his actions with your own eye is crap sistem, and will always be. Have your own kill counts and write them down on paper and play like that if you want it.

[1S1K-Airborne 148]

Baker, 

 

Just for your information, I kill tons of people.  I don't CARE about dying.

 

I would like to see some people that I don't HAVE to kill.

 

If this game is all kill everyone everywhere everytime, this game isn't going to last.

 

And I don't care if it is implemented in the PUBLIC servers, I would be fine if it is in the PRIVATE servers.

 

You go play your Vanilla KOS on the publics, and just stay out of our private servers and you'll be OK.

[zeroy 240]

 

 

Armband, face wrap, mask.  Something subtle.  I don't care about skins.

 

 

You are missing the point. What would tell whether you are a bandit/hero? Hero would also be required to kill in order to protect the fresh spawn or whatever. There are so many factors that come in for someone to decide to kill another player it would be unfair and plain stupid. The karma system is possibly the only way to regulate how often someone kills someone else - you have to count on players wanting to better themselves for that to work however, not an easy task!

[dgeesio 1034]

no we don't need anything to identify anyone.

 

only retards would identify themselves if they were a bandit.

[Bakercompany86 347]

 

1.  No intelligent hero arms the person they're helping.  Feed, hydrate, administer medical help.  Do not give them a weapon, that's asking for trouble (and pretty retarded).

 

So you can't be a hero if they have anything more than bare fists.  Yep, pretty much figured that out.

 

2.  I've helped plenty of people who didn't turn around and try to kill me.  Primarily because of #1 above, and the fact that I keep the ball in my court at all times.

 

So you're not being "really" heroic, just give them a can of beans, pat on the butt, and say "good luck until you get killed by the first bandit that finds you".  Wow, glad you're on "our" side.

 

3.  Yeah, there is plenty of stealth in this game.  If you're just running around like a madman, yeah you're going to be seen.  I've managed to sneak around many unaware players.  Most of the ones I've helped I've approached via stealth.  So practice makes perfect I guess.

 

So I should just spend a half hour outflanking and stalking a guy, to make sure I come up behind him, to offer that can of beans.  Yawn.

 

4.  No I don't want to discourage players playing the way they want to in DayZ.  I'm not even a bandit, I play a medic.  So I'm not concerned with killing people.  I certainly don't want some lame ass arbitrary system floating over players heads so I can walk around in easy mode and have nothing to fear in a game about fear and survival.

 

No I don't want to discourage players playing the way they want to in DayZ.   <---------------------Wow, the irony is really thick here.  We are stating HOW WE WANT TO PLAY, and you are actively discouraging it.

 

5.  This comment shows how much you (don't) pay attention.  I'm not a bandit, nor do I want to be.  But I don't want to strip every ounce of challenge out of this game, as you and others seem to want to.  Sounds like you're the one who should revert to COD or BF since you clearly want and need some shit simple system to clearly draw a line between friend and foe.  

 

We're talking about something SMALL, not like the huge indicators on COD or BF.  A small armband, a different face wrap, a mask, whatever.  Something that if you take a few seconds (and are close enough) you can tell bad from good.

 

Sounds like this just isn't the game for you.

 

If you mean Vanilla, kill everyone for no reason, stupidity, yes, don't want that.  It's super boring respawning on the coast, looking for 1 hour to find a stupid can opener, and then having the first idiot you see with an axe kill you.  Then do it all over again.  Then you finally get geared up, and you have to kill that stupid fresh spawn that you were 1 hour ago.

 

EDIT:  Hero/Bandit skins are a fucking horrible idea.  Absolutely terrible.  I shoot a guy for whatever reason, and *poof* my entire wardrobe and look changes....regardless of the reason.  Stupid....

 

Armband, face wrap, mask.  Something subtle.  I don't care about skins.

 

LMAO....okay here we go.

 

 

1.  You choose who you help, I choose who I help.  It's that simple.  Go ahead and ask the assault rifle wielding guy if he needs a band aid.

 

2. The first things a player needs is hydration and sustenance.  Most towns yield some sort of weapon.  It's on them to find it, that's my choice.

 

3.  I'm sorry you find my choice of play style boring.  Good thing I'm not forcing it on you.

 

4.  Actually, you're trying to force players to play your way.  The opposite of what you're actually saying.

 

5.  "Hey buddy, you just shot that guy in the face.  Do you mind slipping this armband on so other players know you might want to shoot them in the face?"   FUCKING LAME

 

6.  This is not the game for you.  Besides there will be more implemented.  Cooking, hunting, gathering, even cannibalism.  Regardless, your complaint is about how some people choose to play the game.

<----------Dead Island is that way.

 

7.  *See #5*

 

 

EDIT:  If you want your own special "identify the bandit carebear bullshit" on your own private server, be my guest.

 

Just don't touch the real game.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Bakercompany86

[DaveAzoicer (DayZ) 135]

Got to love the KOS-guys that have nothing to add.

And yes. There is those kind of survivors and heros as well.

[Death_Dealer 3155]

no

 

Nearly pissed meself

[1S1K-Airborne 148]

Got to love the KOS-guys that have nothing to add.

And yes. There is those kind of survivors and heros as well.

 

Yep, they get to play the way they want.

 

When they hear something the Hero players want.......all you get is.........

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

STUPIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

 

LAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Rather than an intelligent discussion on how to satisfy both sides.

 

Glad the kiddies are ruling the forums.

[SageZ 13]

Yeah cause if i see that you a "hero" is going to stop me from shooting you in the face...and oh yeah what about the best "anti kos" argument? ITS NOT REALISTIC!!!!

Edited January 16, 2014 by SageZ

[DaveAzoicer (DayZ) 135]

On the phone but hope I gave you some beans. Airborne.

Edited January 16, 2014 by DaveAzoicer

[Zollicoffer 200]

No skins. If you know how someone behaves the moment you see them, there will be far fewer interactions with people. Less tension, less relief, less emotion. That takes away the entire point of the game.

[1S1K-Airborne 148]

Yeah cause if i see that you a "hero" is going to stop me from shooting you in the face.

 

Yep, exactly.

 

Regardless of how they do the identification system.  You can STILL shoot everyone in the face if you want!

 

You can shoot everyone!

 

I can see that someone is a hero and NOT shoot them!

 

Everyone wins......

Edited January 16, 2014 by 1S1K-Airborne

[Just4yoke 2]

Yep, they get to play the way they want.

 

When they hear something the Hero players want.......all you get is.........

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

STUPIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

 

LAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Rather than an intelligent discussion on how to satisfy both sides.

 

Glad the kiddies are ruling the forums.

 

Like i said, you can always ask a guy for his steam name and then write it down and then if you see him kill someone add a red dot next to him and next time you see him you will know he killed someone.

 

Here you go, make your own sistem like that, you should be satisfied... 

Edited January 16, 2014 by Just4yoke

[Bakercompany86 347]

Yep, they get to play the way they want.

 

When they hear something the Hero players want.......all you get is.........

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

STUPIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

 

LAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Rather than an intelligent discussion on how to satisfy both sides.

 

Glad the kiddies are ruling the forums.

 

 

Satisfy both sides?

 

You're asking for some sort of stupid ass "godsight" to identify potential threats at range....

 

 

And that makes you a better hero?  This makes me a child?  Fucking seriously?  You're looking at stripping off one of the coolest aspects of this game.  

 

 

And then what?  So you can see a guy is a bandit from far away.  So now you go sit in the woods hiding, eating your beans?  Alone?  Or do you shoot him from afar?  And then you're no better than the bandit.

 

 

It's a stupid ass idea.  Thank god it will never make it into this game.

[weedmasta 784]

We NEED some way to identify heros and bandits.  

 

At a bare minimum this should be an easily implemented mod for future private servers.  We're paying for it, it should be our choice.

You don't like it, don't play on my server.....lol

 

1.  Some of you like to be a KOS bandit.  Got it.

 

2.  Some of us would like to be Heros.  But we can't do it with the way the game currently is, unless you like being a bullet / axe sponge.

 

Something to identify heros and bandits "at distance" is needed to enable 2 to happen.  Something visible if you can actually SEE the person.  It could be an armband, face wrap, mask, whatever.  Don't care what it is.

 

Distances:

Just your eyes = maybe see it at 50-100 meters

Short range scope = see it at 100-200 meters

Long range scope = see it at 200-400 meters

 

I really LOVE that Rocket's videos all have a bunch of friendly players that he meets in a private locked server.....lol  I would love it even more if he went into a full public server and ran around Electro or Cherno for a couple of hours.  It would be a shit video and not a good advertisement for the game, because he'd get KOS'd over and over and over.  I would love to see Rocket getting chased for 20-30 minutes by some 12 year old with an axe.

 

Having something visual that would tell the difference between Hero and Bandit would NOT ruin your gameplay.  You can STILL KOS.  It will NOT prevent KOS style gameplay or ruin the game.  However it would ENABLE people to be Heros if they wanted to.  YOU get to play as a KOS bandit, but we can't play as a Hero unless we want to eat bullets or an axe in 90% of player interactions.

 

Honestly I think all the hate (and I'm sure troll posts below) from the KOS guys is because they are scared to death of groups of Heros leaving other Heros alone, and hunting them down.

 

If you're not scared, why hate on the idea?  Can't up your game to deal with a few Heros?

 

-------------------------

 

Followup Post:

 

Yep, arguing realism doesn't work.  If this was real, you wouldn't have to eat every 3 minutes to survive, or die from not eating for 1 hour.  Loot wouldn't respawn magically at a certain time.  The cities like Cherno and Electro would be hellholes full of millions of zombies you wouldn't even go near.  Not everyone is trained on weapons, and those that weren't "should" have bad accuracy.

 

This game is not real, while they want to strive for realistic gameplay, some things need to happen to facilitate gameplay (respawning loot, everyone having equal accuracy while shooting, etc).

 

You can make the humanity system relatively unexploitable by issuing different points for kills:

Kill a hero = -1000 humanity

Kill a civ = -500 humanity

Kill a bandit = +250 humanity

* No humanity gain or loss from any other actions.  No healing points, zombie killing points, etc, etc.  Just strictly based on player kills.  You'd have to kill 4 bandits for every hero killed if you wanted to stay positive.

* Maybe add a double penalty for killing 2 heros or civs in a row.  That would definitely fix people farming humanity, just so they could KOS later.

 

Right now approaching another player is the easiest way to force the KOS issue.  Of every player I've ever approached, 90% of them have tried to kill me if they at least had a melee weapon.  So if you want to be a bullet / axe sponge, keep doing that.  I'd rather have a way to IDENTIFY that someone is a hero, so I don't necessarily have to shoot them.

 

I want to play as a Hero without playing a Hero Bullet / Axe sponge.

 

If we had some way to identify Heros, Civs, and Bandits, you could stop raging at the crap tons of KOS topics because 75% of them would stop overnight.

 

Otherwise you can keep saying NO NO NO NO NO to every possible solution and put up with a million more KOS topics in the forums.  Your choice.......lol

 

I don't see a solution anywhere in your wall of text. Just lots of ranting. Bandit skin was tried in the mod and removed afterwards because it did not work. And it isn't going to work for SA either. There is no reason to make being a hero easier as that wouldn't reflect reality. Plus, it won't stop KOS nor will it reduce it, just like it didn't in the mod. People will still KOS no matter what and that is fine by me.

[SageZ 13]

Like i said, you can always ask a guy for his steam name and then write it down and then if you see him kill someone add a red dot next to him and next time you see him you will know he killed someone.

 

Here you go, make your own sistem like that, you should be satisfied... 

"Uhmm excuse me sir, could you give me your steam name so i can put a red dot next to your name in case you kill me"

[wild_man 4442]

humans fear more than anything THE UNKNOWN :o

 

any feature that remove element of suspense or remove need for player to face fear take risk and discover for himself IS DESTROY DAYZ!!! >:(

 

*scare baby voice* 'but we need to know if it safe to come out from bush' :o  :huh:

 

*angry passion voice* 'GROW TESTICLE AND SHUT UP' >:(

[weedmasta 784]

Like i said, you can always ask a guy for his steam name and then write it down and then if you see him kill someone add a red dot next to him and next time you see him you will know he killed someone.

 

Here you go, make your own sistem like that, you should be satisfied... 

What? 8l

[Alll420 14]

if you want this go and play warz it has name plates and symbols a rank system and bandits/heros, enjoy that piece of garbage then come back try dayz again and rethink your post

 

 

 

why cant you just learn to conceal yourself then you dont need to worry, learn to play better

Edited January 16, 2014 by Alll420

[Bakercompany86 347]

humans fear more than anything THE UNKNOWN :o

 

any feature that remove element of suspense or remove need for player to face fear take risk and discover for himself IS DESTROY DAYZ!!! > :(

 

*scare baby voice* 'but we need to know if it safe to come out from bush' :o  :huh:

 

*angry passion voice* 'GROW TESTICLE AND SHUT UP' > :(

 

*high five*

 

Take my  :beans:

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

 

Were not going to hide from you, the point is to kill you. We need some action, that is the point,

 

What is stopping you from finding "action" in the game right now? What you want is free information so you don't have to think about your actions or their consequences. You're not sure if someone is friendly or not? You have a choice to make. Approach them and take your chances, observe them from a distance and try to gather more information, or kill them outright and spare yourself the trouble. Slapping a giant neon sign over peoples' heads that says "BAD GUY HERE" completely removes the choice. Now you know what to do. Kill the bad guys, play grab-ass with the good guys, no need to employ any powers of observation or judgment. It's a ridiculously simplistic system and belongs nowhere near DayZ.

 

it boring playing realistically and avoiding combat.

 

I hate when someone makes me say this because I feel like it's overused, but if "playing realistically" is boring to you, then you're playing the wrong game. Avoiding combat is absolutely the single most effective survival tactic available in the game.

 

 

Your missing the point its easy to be a bandit which is as you say not what this game is supposed to be about

 

I promise you I'm not missing the point. I haven't been missing this point since people attempted to make it 8 hours after the game launched. This debate has taken place on these forums a dozen times a month for the last year and a half and the point has always been the same "Make it easier for me to know who's naughty and who's nice, because I don't want to have to do it myself."

 

What's "easy" about being a bandit? They die far more often than any other type of player. Dean confirmed this countless times during the mod days when people made this same ridiculous claim. The life of a bandit is dangerous, brutal, and usually short. Is it easy because you "get stuff?" That doesn't make the game easy. There's stuff everywhere. It's a Hell of a lot easier to get a can of beans by opening a door than it is by trying to kill another player.

 

 

Except that DayZ have had bandit/hero skins for ages, which worked out quite well. Except for the rare few who abused it.

 

"Worked quite well" for whom? The skins were the worst thing to ever happen to the mod, and they didn't change player behavior at all. The number of bandits stayed relatively stable and the murder rate rose steadily. Nothing changed, except for the idiotic magical clothing faerie forcing people to dress up if they were naughty.

 

 

It's putting a new dynamic in the game.  Something to do besides shoot EVERYONE you see.

 

That dynamic already exists. There's absolutely no reason you need to shoot everyone you see. How can you sit there and say you want to play a Hero and then act like this is your only option? Some fucking Hero.

 

Play minecraft hardcore no respawn.  Oh wait, there are different versions of minecraft that you can choose.  Can't do that here!

 

Right. Because this isn't Minecraft?

 

That's the problem, there IS NO DECISION right now, if you see someone, and you do NOT kill them, there is a 90% possibility that they will come back and kill you while you're looting.

 

If you believe that then when you see a player, maybe you should move on to a new town instead of "looting."

 

Stop sucking at staying alive.

 

 

To make sure that if you get shoot at first by Player X, you will NOT get a Kill Count if you kill them in self defense, but you will get a Kill Count IF you murder someone. (This is the ABSOLUTE BASIC, 

 

So someone threatens to shoot my friend but doesn't fire and I shoot them in the back because they didn't see me. Obvious defensive kill. How can the software tell the difference between that and murder? Voice recognition? No.

 

What if someone shoots at me and misses, and then I see them 45 minutes later and I sneak up and kill them. Self defense, but how does the software know? It doesn't. According to your brilliant system, it's murder.

 

There is absolutely no reliable way for the software to "calculate" whether killing is justified. Which is why no such system should be automated. Leave it up to the players to decide what is and is not justified.

Edited January 16, 2014 by ZedsDeadBaby

[iruncities 3]

I have killed two people, both after they have killed my friend and me before i respawned wouldn't that then turn me into a bandit?

Edited January 16, 2014 by iruncities

[MR DELICIOUS 297]

We NEED some way to identify heros and bandits.  

 

At a bare minimum this should be an easily implemented mod for future private servers.  We're paying for it, it should be our choice.

You don't like it, don't play on my server.....lol

 

1.  Some of you like to be a KOS bandit.  Got it.

 

2.  Some of us would like to be Heros.  But we can't do it with the way the game currently is, unless you like being a bullet / axe sponge.

 

Something to identify heros and bandits "at distance" is needed to enable 2 to happen.  Something visible if you can actually SEE the person.  It could be an armband, face wrap, mask, whatever.  Don't care what it is.

 

Distances:

Just your eyes = maybe see it at 50-100 meters

Short range scope = see it at 100-200 meters

Long range scope = see it at 200-400 meters

 

I really LOVE that Rocket's videos all have a bunch of friendly players that he meets in a private locked server.....lol  I would love it even more if he went into a full public server and ran around Electro or Cherno for a couple of hours.  It would be a shit video and not a good advertisement for the game, because he'd get KOS'd over and over and over.  I would love to see Rocket getting chased for 20-30 minutes by some 12 year old with an axe.

 

Having something visual that would tell the difference between Hero and Bandit would NOT ruin your gameplay.  You can STILL KOS.  It will NOT prevent KOS style gameplay or ruin the game.  However it would ENABLE people to be Heros if they wanted to.  YOU get to play as a KOS bandit, but we can't play as a Hero unless we want to eat bullets or an axe in 90% of player interactions.

 

Honestly I think all the hate (and I'm sure troll posts below) from the KOS guys is because they are scared to death of groups of Heros leaving other Heros alone, and hunting them down.

 

If you're not scared, why hate on the idea?  Can't up your game to deal with a few Heros?

 

-------------------------

 

Followup Post:

 

Yep, arguing realism doesn't work.  If this was real, you wouldn't have to eat every 3 minutes to survive, or die from not eating for 1 hour.  Loot wouldn't respawn magically at a certain time.  The cities like Cherno and Electro would be hellholes full of millions of zombies you wouldn't even go near.  Not everyone is trained on weapons, and those that weren't "should" have bad accuracy.

 

This game is not real, while they want to strive for realistic gameplay, some things need to happen to facilitate gameplay (respawning loot, everyone having equal accuracy while shooting, etc).

 

You can make the humanity system relatively unexploitable by issuing different points for kills:

Kill a hero = -1000 humanity

Kill a civ = -500 humanity

Kill a bandit = +250 humanity

* No humanity gain or loss from any other actions.  No healing points, zombie killing points, etc, etc.  Just strictly based on player kills.  You'd have to kill 4 bandits for every hero killed if you wanted to stay positive.

* Maybe add a double penalty for killing 2 heros or civs in a row.  That would definitely fix people farming humanity, just so they could KOS later.

 

Right now approaching another player is the easiest way to force the KOS issue.  Of every player I've ever approached, 90% of them have tried to kill me if they at least had a melee weapon.  So if you want to be a bullet / axe sponge, keep doing that.  I'd rather have a way to IDENTIFY that someone is a hero, so I don't necessarily have to shoot them.

 

I want to play as a Hero without playing a Hero Bullet / Axe sponge.

 

If we had some way to identify Heros, Civs, and Bandits, you could stop raging at the crap tons of KOS topics because 75% of them would stop overnight.

 

Otherwise you can keep saying NO NO NO NO NO to every possible solution and put up with a million more KOS topics in the forums.  Your choice.......lol

 

 

Holy shit, this has been a recurring topic for 2 years. Chern and Elektro are not friendly places. The expectation that you can go there and not die shows that you are either really green, or don't understand the game. 

Similarly, in playing the SA for over 120 hours, I've never once been KOS'ed. Every single time I've encountered somebody, I've controlled the situation to peaceful conclusion. If the people I'd encountered had a bandit skin, I would have instantly killed them. Instantly. By introducing these lazy design concepts, you gut the game of it's emergent core. I don't need to do any socialising, handling or diplomacy in the game because they're wearing x thing, so I'll just instantly kill them.

 

The easiest way to fix a problem like this, is model it on real life and see if it stands the test. Do psychopaths all look the same in real life? No. They are phenomenal chameleons. Do all heros look like Brad Pitt in WWZ? No. So obviously a set skin doesn't work. It doesn't hold up in a game modelled on real life. So how do you fix it?

 

Well, think of the real world reasons why someone will or won't kill people in a survival situation.

These reasons are often a mixture of different factors, but with some quick brainstorming you can probably peg the most obvious:

 

1. Collaborative survival.

- the need to complete larger objectives as a group (vehicles, building, clearing zombies etc.)

 

2. Strength in numbers.

- the ability to create a network/private army to allow yourself greater strength and easier survival

 

3. Companionship.

- to play with friends and to have someone watch your back

 

Now for reasons why people KOS:

 

1. "Survival"

- by robbing you of your life and gear, this eliminates a potential threat.

 

2. Ability to kill people at range easily. 

- it's easy and fun to grab a LRS and sit on an apartment block shooting at people on the other end of a scope. Or even to shoot at people across a field. 

 

3. The love of killing.

- some people just like to cause grief. These players will continue to kill no matter what, as this is their primary motive in an FPS (as it always has been in every other FPS they've ever played).

 

Now, I'm guessing a lot of you guys crying about the KOSing are new. The SA is the first DayZ title you've played. The next couple of months will largely lower KOSing by virtue of features being implemented. 

 

1. Collaborative survival.

- more zombies will be added

- vehicles that need numerous parts and fuel will be added

- base building will be added

 

2. Strength in numbers.

- people will come to realise that a well made team is a very powerful thing in Day Z. A proper squad can move efficiently, loot quickly and communicate effectively to clear and kill threats.

 

3. Companionship.

- killing people over and over as a lone wolf actually becomes boring quite quickly when you get hunted down by groups of people in vehicles (where quick retaliation is very viable).

 

1. "Survival"

- some people will always kill for "survival", however, you'll find that as the playerbase matures, people begin to move away from split-second terrified "I must kill them because they'll kill me" type situations. Players work out how to encounter other players in safe ways, and where they should be careful and where they can take time to talk (ie. Chern and Elektro are never safe).

 

2. Ability to kill people at range easily. 

- if balanced properly, the average weapon an average player should be carrying will be a pistol, bolt action or short range shotgun. This is an actual game design decision. At the moment, everyone is carrying military grade assault rifles, or bolt actions with sniper rifle scopes. It is really easy to engage someone effectively. In the future, if everyone is carrying short rage weapons, there will be an increased focus on diplomacy. This is an actual game design suggestion.

 

3. The love of killing.

- a lot of these people will continue to kill indiscriminately. However, as we saw in the mod, people who have friends and are instantly killed speak, and they give information about killers to their friends. It isn't at all rare for someone who has been KOS'ed to report the bandits location, description and then have their friends rock up in a car a short time later.

 

In all, there are many factors that go into why people KOS, and how to stop it. With expanded wardrobe choices, bandits will find it easier to distinguish themselves for better or worse.

However, if you think introducing false mechanics that remove the realism (mental health, forced costumes and all that garbage), then you don't understand the fundamental ideas that made Day Z come into creation.