Liberation! (Mechanic of reclaiming towns for Survivors)

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

This thread is for the discussion, critique, and development of the concept of taking back farms/towns/cities/castles for use as Survivor Enclaves and other such purposes.

Disclaimer: If there has already been a thread about this idea, I apologise, but I haven't had time to read through all of the suggestions written so far, and the search came up with nothing.

Now, this is very much an end-game suggestion, and can go hand-in-hand with a few other suggestions such as Vehicle & Tent Storage, Large Tents, and the concept of Specialisation (Being REALLY good at a specific aspect of DayZ through in-game training, or decent at many things).

Rather than writing a long, drawn-out wall of text, I've summarised the major points of the idea so we can jump right into discussion:

• - Liberation could take place when a certain amount of players (15? 20?) enter an area and start firing on zombies while holding their ground. If you disagree with this point, let's discuss how this could work!
  - Liberation causes zombies to appear in a Horde (spawning in larger numbers than normal and spawning at a more frequent rate) due to the large number of players/gunfire in the area.
  - Liberation lasts until a pre-defined number (varying depending on the size/population density of the area being liberated) of zombies are spawned and killed, thereby wiping out the zombies from the immediate area.
  - Loot will no longer spawn in a liberated area, but for perhaps the very rare entrenching tool/wire fence. Even then, I personally am not entirely fond of the idea of anything spawning.
  - In a liberated area, the spawning AI would be altered (IE, they won't spawn throughout the town at a frequent rate), so that Zeds would instead spawn outside of the area in singular numbers, or occasionally as a Horde (as described earlier) which would then attempt to overwhelm the area, restoring it to a 'normal' spawnrate if they kill/scare off all survivors in the area. After all, where's the fun in liberating a place and never having the risk of losing it?
  - A liberated area can be raided by Bandits, and razed should they succeed, which then either allows the Bandits to set up camp in the area, or if they leave, reverts the town to its original Zombie-infested state.
  - Liberation is very much an END-GAME aspect to the game, and is used for starting up Survivor Enclaves and the like, and would benefit large Survivor/Bandit groups and ideas such as the Freeside Trading Camp alike.
  - Certain areas such as Chernogorsk, Electrozavodsk, Berezino, Balota Airstrip, and the NW and NE Airstrips will not be able to be liberated at all.

Pros of this idea:

• - Promotes teamwork with other players.
  - Realistic, as Survivors flock together for a place they can feel slightly more safe in any hostile environment.
  - It might help solve some of the Kill On Sight issues and promote trust between players.
  - A very attractive element for the playerbase and Devs alike.
  - A target and reason for Bandits to try and work together, even if its only temporary.
  - Helps PVP with an opportunity for factions to arise, warfare to erupt, and grudges between groups to be held.
  - Interesting! So many scenarios could spawn off of it, and so many more stories, too.

Cons of this idea:

• - Might take a long time to implement, although using existing ARMA code I suspect it mightn't be too hard.
  - It could be too hard to successfully liberate an area if not properly balanced.
  - It could be too easy to hold a liberated area once captured if not properly balanced.

I'm all ears to any constructive critique about the idea.

[legendary_strawberry 0]

Sweet idea actually i wanted some kind of safe haven people could go to bandits and survivors and this would actually be something like that, it could be used as said base/trade post and just so much more!!!! sweet idea man!!!!! very well thought out as well! cuddos

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

Thank you, strawberry.

I just had a little image in my mind just now of how it might pan out.

A few players are seated around a campfire in the centre of a liberated town, sharing their stories of thrilling DayZ moments as they just take a few minutes to relax and get to know some other players they might be teaming up with when they leave. Another player micspams a guitar song from S.T.A.L.K.E.R (Couldn't resist :D) before getting told to "stfu" by the others. Or, alternatively, the players listen to the music as it adds to the atmosphere.

Another player barters with a trader player, who has a decent supply of ammunition and weapons, along with a pair of armed guards to stop any robberies.

The group of players in the liberated town are still always wary, as any of the other players might pull a gun, but for the most part it's peaceful as no-one really wants to start a shoot-out and lose all their gear.

[Unholyknight 0]

Sounds like an awesome idea!

[Serrath 0]

It'd be a hell of an undertaking, but if you can make narrow passages throughout cities using tank trap kits/sandbags/barbed wire, you can essentially already do this. The odds of zeds spawning in your narrow passages is relatively low if you keep them small enough.

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

The problem with doing it currently, Serrath, is that the Zeds will continue to spawn at a normal rate throughout the city, thus never offering the players much of a moment of peace.

[Serrath 0]

Right. I'm saying, fence out little "tunnels" through the city. If you keep them narrow, the odds of the zeds spawning in these tunnels is low. So while there will be zeds all over the city, they won't be able to get to the players.

If you network all the lootable buildings and build a long tunnel out of town, zeds will be restricted to uninteresting parts of town; they might as well not be there.

[Bipedalius 0]

Serrath, that still wouldn't be the same at all. It would be extremely frustrating when you start thinking. You would need a lot of wires (or any of the blockade sort) and clean out zombies in the way and at the same time look out for players wanting to kill you (almost a certainty), and also encourage players to help AND explain how you want it built. In theory it would work, but the idea Dreganius has would simply be so much better and also more fun.

[nelson_mccusker@hotmail.com 0]

Yeah I reckon this would be a great idea. Taking in everything Dreg has stated, and along with some testing, tweaking and fine tuning, this could turn out fantastic. Let's hope this get's added in!!

[RaviN (DayZ) 9]

+1 id give this a try :)

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

I'm quite happy to see that a lot of the feedback has been positive. If this suggestion is as good as the 4.55 star rating indicates it is, then let's spread the idea. Tell your friends!

Edit: Typo >.<

[Reita 0]

Sounds damn awesome.

[Delibub 0]

Would be quite sweet.

[Serrath 0]

Serrath' date=' that still wouldn't be the same at all. It would be extremely frustrating when you start thinking. You would need a lot of wires (or any of the blockade sort) and clean out zombies in the way and at the same time look out for players wanting to kill you (almost a certainty), and also encourage players to help AND explain how you want it built. In theory it would work, but the idea Dreganius has would simply be so much better and also more fun.

[/quote']

This game's all about emergent gameplay from flexible supplies, not scripted scenarios. I feel like this goes against the philosophy the devs have been working with.

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

The idea of this scripted scenario is to give players even more flexible supplies.

[Bipedalius 0]

This game's all about emergent gameplay from flexible supplies

From my point of view, there aren't even enough of the flexible sort of supplies in DayZ.

[zereo2017@gmail.com 0]

I like it only if there can only be a limited number of these camps per server I was thinking only 1 would be the best. +1 and a bump

[CrimsonBlade 2]

Support.... epic horde fight to liberate a town, epic bandit raids,epic zombie horde attacks,epic everything

[SgtIzaya 0]

XD A system could form within the town... If items stopped spawning an option for farming would be nice even though its unlikely.

[7-75 callaghan 43]

I like it a lot, was thinking of something similar, but more specifically to create safe-havens free of bandits. Of course since then they have changed the bandit mechanic so this would not work in the same way. If you can think of how this 'Liberated town' area would work so that trading/bartering and so on could occur with a way of detecting and even punishing bandits, then i'd like to hear it. Maybe on entering a liberated area bandits would be force-switched to the now removed bandit skin.

I think a cool mechanic to add to this idea would be building-based. Once the town switches state, perhaps a certain building in the particular town (Church or Hospital etc.) would become the suggested 'safe-zone'. Upon entering weapons would become disabled or similar. If this seems to gamified, then perhaps someone could suggest a way of encouraging fairness without disabling anything.

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

The fairness should be based on the player's own moral integrity. I'm a huge fan of the idea of the Player's actions reflecting their characters. If someone wants to charge into a Survivor camp with their guns blazing, it's very likely that the rest of the survivors who teamed up to liberate the area in the first place (and any visitors) won't be tolerating that kind of behaviour and will shoot back.

[zereo2017@gmail.com 0]

I disagree Callaghan the whole point of this game is that you are never safe and you don't know who to trust. If you disable guns in a place it eliminates the whole point of having a sandbox game where the community runs it and creates its own safezones. It would be easy for guilds or clans whatever you want to call them to set up a security team that patrols the grounds and is also present for trades so if something does go bad they can handle it.

[cyanyde 165]

Sounds cool to me.. It add more of a "Walking Dead" feel, which is a good thing in my mind. DOOO IT! :)

(But no to disabling weapons and stuff.. it should never lose the danger factor, but it should feel safer than an un-controlled area.)

[Xelacalle 0]

Anything that promotes survivor cooperation is ok in my book!

If something like this were added, hopefully the "kill on sight" incidents would decrease.

+1

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

I took a while to think out the idea so it would not only help assist with working together, but would also help PvP players, as let's face it, most Bandits out there would find raiding a town full of players a LOT more fun than picking off weaklings all day.

I'm very glad that the idea is being so well recieved. Let's just hope one of the Developers notices it :3