Too North East / Coastal Focused?

[pacific_coast 632]

throw the alpha testers a curveball and switch to inland spawns for a while...

[herrjon 478]

Admittedly it isn't nearly as balanced as the mod, but the mod worked due to exclusive loot as well as vehicles and camps.  You could only get blood bags and epi-pens on the coast and you could only get the 1337 uber awesome guns/NVG's/Rangefinders in the 2 barracks and heli crashes, and then plenty of isolated areas on the outskirts.  The number of supermarkets along the western belt also helped, since tents were always sought after.

 

Now admittedly it is focused on the coast atm, but a few basic things my fix that.  First of all simply getting military tents to spawn loot would shift the focus back to the NWAF and Starry.  Then of course as they get new places added, and then hunting and camps and such.  It'll even out, we're just waiting.

[WrecklessMEDIC 129]

I appreciate that the over-Coastal focus of SA has been discussed many times before but I wanted to raise the issue of how the NE looks like it is receiving too much attention from the devs, instead of inland areas, especially atm with current patches.

The issue of the coastal focus of the game has been raised a lot and we've been told that once vehicles come in then the map will be opened up much more. However, it still doesn't look like the devs take this seriously. Especially when we see that in the latest and upcoming updates we've had Chernaya-Polana and Karmanovka added to the NE, literally a stone's throw away from the airfield. Added with Svetlojarsk, this is really just shifting the focus of the game away from Cherno and Elektro (which is a good thing) but to just another coastal area.

What is the point of the northern border of the map or central towns like the Sobors? There are either no people or no loot. In the mod the Sobors used to be serious hotspots but now there's literally no point when you've got so much stuff centralised around Berezino or Elektro.

What do you guys think? Devs should be making some sweet military bases / kitted out towns in the central areas and maybe central-North?

Shhh.... I like being out there in the middle of the map with all the lootz to myself. Don't give them any ideas.;)

[Grimey Rick 3417]

 

 

 

That's a fair enough point that I agree with, it's just that it would be nice (and 100% possible) if they could do this focusing on areas of the map that actually need attention such as the middle, rather than consolidating an already loot-plentiful area such as the NE. We shouldn't have to wait till the end of alpha for a good reason to visit the middle of the map. Players will get bored as I have seen happen to many people I used to play with. They just go back to the mod because there's actually stuff to do - which is a shame.

 

 

And you're point backs me up - Chernarus is a very undeveloped, rural place with very little between the minor settlements along the coast (plenty of "wild" for animals to be wandering around). You should probably take a stroll along the coast before claiming that you doubt animals will hang around there... My ultimate point being that on the coast there is everything you can find inland + MORE.

 

 

Of course there's more stuff to do in the Mod, it's finished. Putting a hotspot in the middle of the map isn't going to keep people playing; we already have hotspots and people are still leaving. That's going to happen off and on until the game is released, or at the very least in beta.

 

Do I agree that we should have more of a reason to run inland? Yes. Does it really matter and will it affect anything during the alpha? No.

[krebsy 11]

The sobors and zelenogorsk are my go to places for loot and generally the best places to get stocked up with decent loot without too much risk. Yes, if people want to hang around on the coast then so be it, but anyone with a view to survive should run west to the hills as fast as they can :)

[tatchell (DayZ) 73]

Putting a hotspot in the middle of the map isn't going to keep people playing; we already have hotspots and people are still leaving. That's going to happen off and on until the game is released, or at the very least in beta.

 

I totally disagree with this. Of course we already have hotspots. The point is they are basically all in the same area - people have been to all of them and in total there's not much diversity to the game when there very easily could be. I've seen many people get tired of having the only player interaction at the coastal areas.

 

Instead of perfecting a very well made region, I think it's the task of alpha to be focusing on broadening the focus on the entire map (this is a bigger priority). More than anything, the perfection of areas such as the NE should be for beta.

Edited April 8, 2014 by tatchell

[herrjon 478]

It's not really that there aren't enough hotspots in other areas, it's just those areas aren't "hot enough" to make the trip worth it.  You can find anything you would ever need relatively quickly within 1-2 clicks off the coastline, so you don't have to go very far and if you die you know you can get back in time.  You're basically putting in the extra time to travel all the way across Chenarus to get maybe a slightly better loot haul.  The loot is great, but for most, it's not great enough to put in the time when they can just walk along the coast.

 

You can also use to the coastal road/train track as a navigational crutch so you always know where you are.  I bet a lot of your run of the mill bandits wouldn't even know how to make their way to NWAF without a compass and DayZ DB, and even then I bet they'd get lost.

 

Now apart from things I mentioned before (like those damn military tent spawns) one thing that could help as well is random spawns inland as well.  Just all over the map so you wouldn't know where you'd end up.

 

I didn't make sense in the mod because NWAF was the end all destination due to exclusive military loot (and high concentration compared to other locations) and you didn't want some people spawning close and getting the phat lewts first, but now that most areas are generally comparable loot wise, save for maybe central north atm, I personally don't see a problem with people spawning all over the map.

[hombrecz 832]

I have to admit, I miss the old days when NWA or even Stary Sobor ment something.

Trip to these places always ment you were on your toes, affraid for your life and thrilled for some nice loot.

 

In SA all you need to do is go to barracks at Balota, North of Kamenka or Zelenogorsk and that is just not the same.

Also camo/jail buildings give nice loot, we now also have police stations all over the place?

 

Now I understand not much is balanced at this moment and we most likely will see police station specific loot (I hope), which will remedy the situation somehow. Still so many barracks so quickly reachable, that just does not seem right.

 

Would it not be logical to put best loot spots futher away from spawn places?

I really feel mod was better in this regards.

[Irish. 4886]

No one has noticed yet what they are doing? o.O

 

..ill be right back

 

Edit:

 

 

The area in red is currently being developed. Some things are already in place that never existed before on the Dayz map like roads and infrastructure, that are needed prior to new towns being implemented, as well as some fully fleshed out new towns.

 

What this all shows is an overall design to make the map a full circle if you will. Im not sure if that means eventually all of the spawns will be random along the edge of the map, or if it will remain the same. Either way Id say in the end you will finally be able to actually drive a vehicle around the entire Chernarus map without going off-road once.

 

It would make sense to have that be the map defining "edge" and for people to spawn along it. The middle would be the only presumable place without players at any given time. And Stary and Novy are right there smack in the middle.. as is they offer enough reason to go there, but maybe they will augment that area later to attract players throughout the map more efficiently?

Edited April 9, 2014 by lrish

[louist 163]

Personally, I don't see an issue with having consolidated military spawns, nor with leaving the interior fairly empty. Doubly so when loot starts to respawn. An asymmetrical map leads to a lot of interesting gameplay in itself. Those of you who played the mod, especially in the early days, probably remember your first treks up to NWAF, a location that had a nearly mythological reputation early on. It was a major milestone for many of us. Hell, go back and watch the older videos, or read older posts about it if you weren't around then, or didn't play the mod. I fear we'll lose some of that sense of adventure if the map becomes too "balanced" or "developed." In fact, with a lot of military or near-military equipment spawning in many non-military buildings, I think we're already seeing that happen.

[Irish. 4886]

Personally, I don't see an issue with having consolidated military spawns, nor with leaving the interior fairly empty. Doubly so when loot starts to respawn. An asymmetrical map leads to a lot of interesting gameplay in itself. Those of you who played the mod, especially in the early days, probably remember your first treks up to NWAF, a location that had a nearly mythological reputation early on. It was a major milestone for many of us. Hell, go back and watch the older videos, or read older posts about it if you weren't around then, or didn't play the mod. I fear we'll lose some of that sense of adventure if the map becomes too "balanced" or "developed." In fact, with a lot of military or near-military equipment spawning in many non-military buildings, I think we're already seeing that happen.

This game will be a far different beast than the mods Im afraid. I relished those days, and am glad they are still there to go back to from time to time. But I am optimistic about where this game will be come final release day. If we see things like a fully developed map, 150 player servers, variable weather, zombies that are actually smart and dangerous. Along with most of the essence of what we used to have I only see things getting better. The downside for players like us is this is not all new and shiny. We have been here before, so its hard to see the forest for the trees.