How do you think DayZ Standalone is going?

[Zedertone 378]

It's true they could have picked up the pace a little. If it keeps going at this rate the game won't even be in a beta state before the end of 2014 and as lots already know many other titles will come up by then and totally leave DayZ in the water. Fact is without some proper tenacity the game will be hanging on and then fade into the dirt.

I think the game is going at fine speeds, and it will be a very long time before this game goes into the dirt, even if it were to stop updating now.

[MUliano 2]

I just got the stand alone about a month ago right before the update. Played it and was like ehh this is pretty bad. After the update I played again and was like ok its not so bad. Played again last week and grouped up with 2 solo guys and lost track of time playing for about 5 hours. It's definately more exciting playing with other people. Me and one guy were running together and while we were searching a car for loot a guy comes running out of the woods and scares the crap out of me. So I pull my FD axe and give him a, " Back the **** away before I take your *** out!" over my mic. Haven't had a video game experience like that in a long time. Now I'm just gearing up and when i check the server players and see people on I get scared and run off into the woods to keep my precious gear. I hope the game keeps moving forward. Sorry for the rant that was all over the place. But I'm excited for the future.

[xX_fr0st-w0lf_Xx (DayZ) 343]

But they are slow. And the only sensible reason I can figure, is that they are understaffed.

Consider that they have over a million sales on an alpha game.

This makes the slow pace of the game quite the mystery. They money is there the pace is not. 

Their unwillingness to expand their staff (so they can more efficiently work with the "old and hard" engine) is a bit befuddling.

 

My highly personal, and totally speculative, theory is that they have concluded that investing alpha sales money into faster/better/bigger development just is not profitable and have opted to stay with a small team for bigger profits.

 

I could be horrible wrong though!

 

From a business point of view it would be horrible to expand the team. Most people that want to buy dayz already bought it, therefore wasting funds on a bigger team to speed a game that will no longer reel in major profits is illogical. The money has already been made for dayz before it even came out, allowing the devs to take their time without major consequences.

 

Add to that the market segment for A3 and dayz are really different, if work would come to a standstill a very small percentage of those loyal to bis (from the arma series) would care, meaning their reputation to those who count are not affected.

 

I'm not saying the game will never be released or the devs are not working their hardest. but basically smaller team + minimal progress = more profit then big team + major progress. 

 

In the end, BIS is nothing but a company, and a companies goal is to make money. 

[mrlasax 4]

How about that Indian love spam?

[nautic 40]

The state is very kontroverse. At the one hand many things are really good. On the other hand one might assume that it could be way better by the time. I love the game, and i enjoy playing it. Sometimes i feel like getting trolled by the devs :-). Like when the zombies infinite loop starts. You just gotta wait.

[Thadius (DayZ) 40]

From a business point of view it would be horrible to expand the team. Most people that want to buy dayz already bought it, therefore wasting funds on a bigger team to speed a game that will no longer reel in major profits is illogical. The money has already been made for dayz before it even came out, allowing the devs to take their time without major consequences.

 

Add to that the market segment for A3 and dayz are really different, if work would come to a standstill a very small percentage of those loyal to bis (from the arma series) would care, meaning their reputation to those who count are not affected.

 

I'm not saying the game will never be released or the devs are not working their hardest. but basically smaller team + minimal progress = more profit then big team + major progress. 

 

In the end, BIS is nothing but a company, and a companies goal is to make money. 

Exactly this. And I think this may be one of the inherent faults and dangers with early access games. People seem to labour under the impression that the more sales and the more popular an early access game becomes, the more more money will be spent on the game, like a kickstarter. I was one when I bought this game; "Wow, with all these sales, they will be able to really rock the development rate!"

This is just not so it seems. 

 

Always thought it was a bit odd that in this forum and on this game "alpha" is equated to "slow development" as a given. The most games in alpha I have seen are the opposite. Change is usually rapid in a medium to large production alpha game.

 

People keep saying things like "alpha is alpha" when others complain about slow progress, when they really should be saying "small team is more profits". 

 

But what do I know. Maybe they do have a large team and have a huge mountain of piled up content in storage, just waiting on their programmers to catch up. This is a common bottleneck and the solution is usually to hire more programmers.

Although I doubt the above situation. The information about the AKM they released gave the distinct impression it went from creation to implementation in a continuous order.

 

I am not disparaging the team that is working on DayZ SA mind you. There is a huge difference in complaining about the financial profit reasoning keeping the team small and complaining about the work of the team itself. Which I am not. 

 

Except perhaps for their patchy community communication skills. 

Edited April 12, 2014 by Thadius

[c00lface 66]

Exactly this. And I think this may be one of the inherent faults and dangers with early access games. People seem to labour under the impression that the more sales and the more popular an early access game becomes, the more more money will be spent on the game, like a kickstarter. I was one when I bought this game; "Wow, with all these sales, they will be able to really rock the development rate!"

This is just not so it seems. 

 

Always thought it was a bit odd that in this forum and on this game "alpha" is equated to "slow development" as a given. The most games in alpha I have seen are the opposite. Change is usually rapid in a medium to large production alpha game.

 

People keep saying things like "alpha is alpha" when others complain about slow progress, when they really should be saying "small team is more profits". 

 

But what do I know. Maybe they do have a large team and have a huge mountain of piled up content in storage, just waiting on their programmers to catch up. This is a common bottleneck and the solution is usually to hire more programmers.

Although I doubt the above situation. The information about the AKM they released gave the distinct impression it went from creation to implementation in a continuous order.

 

I am not disparaging the team that is working on DayZ SA mind you. There is a huge difference in complaining about the financial profit reasoning keeping the team small and complaining about the work of the team itself. Which I am not. 

 

Except perhaps for their patchy community communication skills. 

I agree with you, but would also like to make a correction, Early access alpha is a bad thing (for us players) when highly expected (aka hyped) games follow that model and Dayz is the perfect example. They practically made all the profit during the past months and anyone believing that "even more people will buy this when its done" are being delusional.

I fully support indie devs and I understand why they need to make profit on the go to keep developing but thats not the case. Dayz is not project zomboid, and most people understand this thats why there is an atmosphere of dissappointment around this game and its current development state

[Thadius (DayZ) 40]

I agree with you, but would also like to make a correction

 

Err... It seems we are saying the same thing, although you seem to expand on one of my points much better.

What do I need to edit that is giving the wrong impression?

Edited April 12, 2014 by Thadius

[xX_fr0st-w0lf_Xx (DayZ) 343]

Exactly, 

 

Early access is a godsend for companies, what other product allows it to be purchased before it is out. Think of the signs already portrayed, slow development progress despite having reeled in millions of dollars, shady communication skills, and rocket himself is leaving. 

 

The best part it there was no promised release date so this alpha could go into 2019 and no one would be able to do shit. 

 

How wise would it be to spend millions on a project that may only reel in another couple hundred  thousand. 

[TheWanderingMan 170]

If we all we're getting is useless clothing items then hand bags and flip flops next update please!!

 

inb4 fanboys

 

ALPHURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111

[joe_mcentire 2074]

i think they are not that slow when it comes to content. from what i've learned they already have much set in place however there is something that keeps all of that holding back: performance issues. they simply can't implement all their goods because they are still stuck in the server-client architecture thing. and this is something that needs work time testing and work and time. it's a bit bitter for us and of course unnerving but that's what they need to do, cause no-one before tried to tackle such an undertaking. maybe they should have waited again 6 months to go open-alpha and let just a smaller group test a closed alpha build to stress the evolving architecture.

Edited April 12, 2014 by joe_mcentire

[Zedertone 378]

i think they are not that slow when it comes to content. from what i've learned they already have much set in place however there is something that keeps all of that holding back: performance issues. they simply can't implement all their goods because they are still stuck in the server-client architecture thing. and this is something that needs work time testing and work and time. it's a bit bitter for us and of course unnerving but that's what they need to do, cause no-one before tried to tackle such an undertaking. maybe they should have waited again 6 months to go open-alpha and let just a smaller group test a closed alpha build to stress the evolving architecture.

Yes it's the engine, and wanting more people to play without straining and things like you said. Although the sad thing is, many people are not aware of this and they just think that the devs are slow pokes lol. 

[Zedertone 378]

I just got the stand alone about a month ago right before the update. Played it and was like ehh this is pretty bad. After the update I played again and was like ok its not so bad. Played again last week and grouped up with 2 solo guys and lost track of time playing for about 5 hours. It's definately more exciting playing with other people. Me and one guy were running together and while we were searching a car for loot a guy comes running out of the woods and scares the crap out of me. So I pull my FD axe and give him a, " Back the **** away before I take your *** out!" over my mic. Haven't had a video game experience like that in a long time. Now I'm just gearing up and when i check the server players and see people on I get scared and run off into the woods to keep my precious gear. I hope the game keeps moving forward. Sorry for the rant that was all over the place. But I'm excited for the future.

There are very few games where you can have experiences like that, this game/series is a one and only type of series. Appreciate the story! Always cool to read stories because there's no telling what will happen in this game haha.

[agentneo 337]

Some good competition coming out in May. i think that may give them the 'kick up the arse' that i hope for!

 

The Forest and H1Z1 are looking great and I am sure like Project Zomboid and others they will give day z some inspiration

 

As a massive fan of the genre i have been waiting patiently for new games such as Dying Light & Division. But these two for may look great. Will take a break of standalone and play those 2 once them come out.

[BiGoDeViN (DayZ) 423]

Some good competition coming out in May. i think that may give them the 'kick up the arse' that i hope for!

 

The Forest and H1Z1 are looking great and I am sure like Project Zomboid and others they will give day z some inspiration

 

As a massive fan of the genre i have been waiting patiently for new games such as Dying Light & Division. But these two for may look great. Will take a break of standalone and play those 2 once them come out.

 

H1Z1 is going to bomb so fucking hard. Mark my words, dude. WarZ was supposed to be the be-all-end-all too. And it was ass. H1Z1 is the same turd stew. F2P DayZ knockoff. Imagine a shitty DayZ but you have to pay for an SKS. Not to mention the originality of it all. These games didn't come about until the success of DayZ. Sure, that's how a lot of great games start. Being good knockoffs, I'll admit that. But look at it's fuckin' name alone. It's literally "H1N1" but with a "Z". Why not just call it "When Zeds Attack" at this point.

 

As for The Forest, that is something I am looking forward to. They took inspiration from survival games and created an original product. I am very excited judging by the trailers.

 

Haven't checked out the other two. Might have to now.

[gorvi 189]

From a business point of view it would be horrible to expand the team. Most people that want to buy dayz already bought it, therefore wasting funds on a bigger team to speed a game that will no longer reel in major profits is illogical. The money has already been made for dayz before it even came out, allowing the devs to take their time without major consequences.

 

Add to that the market segment for A3 and dayz are really different, if work would come to a standstill a very small percentage of those loyal to bis (from the arma series) would care, meaning their reputation to those who count are not affected.

 

I'm not saying the game will never be released or the devs are not working their hardest. but basically smaller team + minimal progress = more profit then big team + major progress. 

 

In the end, BIS is nothing but a company, and a companies goal is to make money. 

 

you must be a stock broker, or marketing kami guru

[Thadius (DayZ) 40]

Yes it's the engine, and wanting more people to play without straining and things like you said. Although the sad thing is, many people are not aware of this and they just think that the devs are slow pokes lol. 

There is a difference in believing the development team is just sitting in the office, crushing beer cans against their foreheads while eating fistfull of Ho Hos all day, and them being hard working but understaffed.

 

Im a proponent of the latter.

[xX_fr0st-w0lf_Xx (DayZ) 343]

you must be a stock broker, or marketing kami guru

Not far off. 

[Zedertone 378]

H1Z1 is going to bomb so fucking hard. Mark my words, dude. WarZ was supposed to be the be-all-end-all too. And it was ass. H1Z1 is the same turd stew. F2P DayZ knockoff. Imagine a shitty DayZ but you have to pay for an SKS. Not to mention the originality of it all. These games didn't come about until the success of DayZ. Sure, that's how a lot of great games start. Being good knockoffs, I'll admit that. But look at it's fuckin' name alone. It's literally "H1N1" but with a "Z". Why not just call it "When Zeds Attack" at this point.

 

As for The Forest, that is something I am looking forward to. They took inspiration from survival games and created an original product. I am very excited judging by the trailers.

 

Haven't checked out the other two. Might have to now.

This was perfect lol. I literally lol'd 

[Pazzmon 64]

I've only had the game a couple of weeks, but I'm probably one of the games biggest fans, it's thoroughly enjoyable, I spend 99.9% of my game time on my own, exploring different parts of the map, killing a few zombies in the process, infact, I've only shot any gun once, I'm happy wandering round at my own pace, yeah, some parts of the game are broken, the obvious things atleast, but they will get fixed in time, I'm excited for the survival/hunting aspects of the game to be added and it will make the game more enjoyable for myself and others, I'll probably end up finding a nice remote spot, already found a few places! Where I'll hideout in my tents or whatever gets brought out, hopefully a hammock!  :)

 

Best parts of the game:

 

- Map size

- Loot wear

- Customisation (clothes, spray paints, attachments)

 

Worst parts:

 

- Not enough zombies/infected

- Not enough variety of zombies/infected! (Some slow, some fast, some crawling, some strong, some weak)

- Low max limit of players on servers (Increase to sixty maybe)

- Need more sounds

- Lacks personal character customisation

 

Enjoyable: 9/10

Immersion: 7/10

Addictiveness: 8/10

 

That'll do for now.

[amroth 27]

Lots of good points made in this thread. For me, I'll keep it (fairly) short and sweet: 

 

I've been a huge BIS fan since Operation Flashpoint demo downloaded on my 56k modem in the year 2001. Sunk hundreds, no, thousands of hours into BIS's games and of course DayZ mod.

 

In the end of the day large amounts of money destroys even the most honest and community- driven studios. Money and ego destroy countless games (and movies etc). It happened to Blizzard when they got stupidly rich after WoW, and Diablo III suffered as a result. Now it has happened to DayZ and I've already accepted that I had my best dayz already in the mod, and the standalone will never reach it's potential. At least not at this very, very slow rate.

 

When you have millions/billions of dollars in profit, the wishes of the fans who supported the game from day zero become irrelevant and the wishes of men in suits become king. Or it can go as far as the lead designer insulting the core fans of the game because of their huge ego (Jay Wilson with Diablo III)

 

I'm sad about DayZ standalone, but at least ARMA III is still good and is well-supported and staffed...

 

Amro

Edited April 14, 2014 by Amroth

[Zedertone 378]

When you have millions/billions of dollars in profit, the wishes of the fans who supported the game from day zero become irrelevant and the wishes of men in suits become king. Or it can go as far as the lead designer insulting the core fans of the game because of their huge ego

 

I don't think it will be this way, Dean goes to different places for Q&A's and other misc. things like that, so far he has not given up on the game, and I don't think we've become irrelevant in the very least.

[agentneo 337]

H1Z1 is going to bomb so fucking hard. Mark my words, dude. WarZ was supposed to be the be-all-end-all too. And it was ass. H1Z1 is the same turd stew. F2P DayZ knockoff. Imagine a shitty DayZ but you have to pay for an SKS. Not to mention the originality of it all. These games didn't come about until the success of DayZ. Sure, that's how a lot of great games start. Being good knockoffs, I'll admit that. But look at it's fuckin' name alone. It's literally "H1N1" but with a "Z". Why not just call it "When Zeds Attack" at this point.

 

As for The Forest, that is something I am looking forward to. They took inspiration from survival games and created an original product. I am very excited judging by the trailers.

 

Haven't checked out the other two. Might have to now.

We'll see whos Lol'ing when it comes out. Made by Sony Online means it has a massive budget and if you actually did some research rather than flaming you would see their CEO has quite clearly stated nothing that can give an advantage , ie, guns, will be able to purchase.

Only cosmetics probably

 

do you think Day Z is the only zombie game ever? Most of its ideas were inspired by previous games and movies.Zombie games have been around longer than Day Z you know.

h1Z1 We dont have enough info yet , but from Planetside 2 developers we know it can handle literally thousands of people at once. The engine is smooth and doesnt lag. That alone gives it a f++king massive head start against the clunky-as-hell Arma 2 engine. So hopefully it will turn out to be good? Who knows. I will be happy playing with hundreds of people with that nice snappy combat instead of de-syncing around getting shot by a guy I shot 2 minutes earlier. Arma engine combat is just random. It might work, and it might lag.

 

I am very hyped for it having only seen a short video. Day Z standalone is going to take about a year to become truely playable. I for one am a massive zombie fan, and I will be seeking new experiences to play until Day Z is ready!!!

Edited April 16, 2014 by AgentNe0

[C0bbler 17]

Going well so far, just hope the stable updates increase in frequency. Can't see one happening this month if they're only just putting mouse and physics on experimental now.

Almost think stable and experimental should be merged.