An RP suggestion into combating bandits

[CoolNitro 0]

I know this has been discussed many a time but I think the current system rewards bandits more then the genuine player purely due to the fact that anything goes, this is not a rant about how bandits are bad in fact I love the aspect that players can do as they please but there needs to be a balancing system that offsets the easy acquiring of basic needs items with what I am suggesting is the need to get them more often.

Trying to come up with a way to not exactly punish the actions of a bandit but make bandit life harder without adding artificial feeling constraints or rules is a hard task and no one wants to lose the freedom the mod gives us, but as it stands bandits generally have an easier time surviving when everything they need is carried by easy to kill players.

So to that I was thinking of a system that could actually work off the humanity rating but with it being more like a mental stability meter, the lower your rating the more mentality unstable your character and the more side effects that could be applied to make the life of a bandit that bit harder than your average Joe.

Some possible side effects could include:

Almost constant hunger, which means faster food / water usage -

Bouts of the shakes, gaining screen shaking at random times which go away over time or use of painkillers to remove which starts a drug addiction of sorts –

The effects of the above could get worse as the person progresses lower on humanity effectively making it so that bandits have to work harder to survive and possibly target other bandits since the majority would be carrying the same items they need, the system is a double edged sword however as it effectively encourage bandits to kill more often to fix their needs and the more they kill the more unstable they become.

As a kind of reset switch to this I was thinking something along the lines of, if you murder while Red or flashing red on either food or water and eat / drink shortly after the kill you regain some of the lost humanity for that kill ( only humanity lost in the short time after the kill you shouldn’t gain anything if you didn’t kill just before eating ) , this way a player who is not a bandit and needs to kill to live isn’t punished too harshly if they actually gained food from it and an active bandit who is trying to get back on the straight and narrow can still feed his heavy habits without losing all their regained humanity in a desperate attempt to gain food.

So basically Bandits who actively kill for fun gain what could be seen as a killer’s addiction in that they almost need to keep hunting constantly to stave off the side effects which inherently will make bandits untrustworthy loners who will likely kill their best friend for the spare tin of beans and those two factors will insure that many players will choose not to go down the bandit path or at least border on a less shoot everyone in sight mentality.

As for self defense though I don't have an answer for that one as it would require a detection system for if person A shoots at or near person B and B kills A the system would have to know who shot first among other highly complex things to factor into it.

Again I don't want or expect bandits to be punished out right for being bandits as it's a valid tactic that suits the environment, but the balance is off at the moment and I feel a bandit who can gain all the starting goods he needs from freshly spawned players should have some kind of burden on his shoulders to offset it.

[griffinz 2816]

That's a very Amnesia approach.

But when I think about it...bandits would be hardened killers who "have seen it all" in an apocalypse. Id say theyd be under less stress than the survivors.

[The Killing Joke 43]

Again I don't want or expect bandits to be punished out right for being bandits as it's a valid tactic that suits the environment' date=' but the balance is off at the moment and I feel a bandit who can gain all the starting goods he needs from freshly spawned players should have some kind of burden on his shoulders to offset it.

[/quote']

The balance isn't off, because anyone can do what bandits do. They just choose not to. If anything, the bandit is already at a disadvantage, because they are easily recognizable due to the skin that they are forced to wear.

TKJ

[Alex LWG 2]

Bandits are nearly always Shoot on Site, that's enough of a disadvantage. If people want to become awesome bandits and kill people then others will have to work together to kill them or just avoid them. The mental stability things wouldn't really work.

[CoolNitro 0]

That's a very Amnesia approach.

But when I think about it...bandits would be hardened killers who "have seen it all" in an apocalypse. Id say theyd be under less stress than the survivors.

Yea true I was mainly looking into a possible bad effects for being a bandit I suppose the same system could add some benefits into being a high humanity survivor.

The balance isn't off' date=' because anyone can do what bandits do. They just choose not to. If anything, the bandit is already at a disadvantage, because they are easily recognizable due to the skin that they are forced to wear.

TKJ

[/quote']

That's also true but eventually most everyone will either be a bandit or on the verge of being one as tbh life is simply easier as one, no more scrounging for food, no more questioning if that player is going to shoot me in the back as soon as I turn around, or dodgy encounters, as a bandit you know everyone will shoot at you so you shoot first simple as.

When or if it gets to that stage then the normal survivors life will be much harder then it is now.

[Leechman 8]

I disagree OP.

First I don't think bandits need any punishment or balance. But I'm not arguing that. I'm arguing that you don't need to add new things to solve your 'problem'. It's the game that needs to be tweaked.

Your solutions will not be as effective as you think because they happen AFTER someone has made the decision to be a bandit. Your punishing them for what they've done, which isn't the best option.

Instead, alter gameplay aspects to make the choices that come with making the decision to actually BE a bandit more risky. Discouraging the widespread prevalence of banditry.

Read my post here: http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?pid=15944 for an idea of what I mean.

[b00ce 5]

Bandits shouldn't be punished for doing what works best for them. The player's adrenaline is probably pumping in real life anyway, no need to amplify it further.