Realistic player identification

[scriptfactory 620]

One thing that will help is when persistence becomes a thing.  A sense of community doesn't really develop when there's no incentive to stay on a particular server.  There's no sense of reputation if you never see the same people twice.

 

When bases and even tents and loot spawn get added, players will have a motivation to stick to the same servers.  There will always be those who hop but it will go a long way of building a sense of community in the loosest sense.  Then you will begin to recognize players not only by their names but their behavior etc.  This was true especially of private hives in the mod, and I believe it will happen in the SA.

 

We're a ways off from that though, but I agree it is important.  I'd personally rather not see anything as artificial as name tags etc.

 

I don't think it is reasonable or realistic to try to guess who a friend is through his in-game behavior.

 

In real life we can recognize friends simply by analyzing their gait at distances of over 100m. We have the benefit of smell. Nuances in their voice (which isn't transferred over a mic... if they even have a mic.) Physical features like haircuts, teeth and lips, earlobes and noses. Height and weight. Recognition of other people in real life vastly exceeds the capabilities of a game with an engine like DayZ.

 

Yet, somehow, it is artificial to have a name tag that appears at a certain distance to recognize a friend (or enemy)? I'm not picking on you directly but I have heard this argument in the past and it is pretty ridiculous. As if lack of name tags somehow leads to better immersion through confusion.

[Bororm 1156]

I don't think it is reasonable or realistic to try to guess who a friend is through his in-game behavior.

 

In real life we can recognize friends simply by analyzing their gait at distances of over 100m. We have the benefit of smell. Nuances in their voice (which isn't transferred over a mic... if they even have a mic.) Physical features like haircuts, teeth and lips, earlobes and noses. Height and weight. Recognition of other people in real life vastly exceeds the capabilities of a game with an engine like DayZ.

 

Yet, somehow, it is artificial to have a name tag that appears at a certain distance to recognize a friend (or enemy)? I'm not picking on you directly but I have heard this argument in the past and it is pretty ridiculous. As if lack of name tags somehow leads to better immersion through confusion.

 

I get what you're saying but I don't think it's really a comparable compromise.  To be fair I can't think of a good alternative either though, just additions to help.  Height/weight would be an interesting addition, but I don't see that happening as all the items are modeled specifically for the existing player models.  They even removed one of the vests because it didn't fit just right.

 

My friends all easily recognize me in game because of the outfits I wear, generally I can tell them apart too but for the most part everyone ends up looking super similar in the SA currently so it can be difficult.  I personally like to wear stuff for style rather than function.  =P  Maybe more incentive to wear different clothes would be good, the "problem" currently is that the clothes are given "realistic" slots as to how many pockets they have, so military/hunting gear is almost always superior, both in slots and camo.  In any case, while I still often confuse people by their similar clothing it's at least a step up from the mod.  There have been talks from the start of things like armbands or some other in game representation to help distinguish friends.  Perhaps being able to dye your clothes would be a good addition too, then you could customize the "better" gear as well, to be more distinguishable.

 

In terms of recognizing people by their behavior, I meant in a bit of a broader sense of gaining a reputation.  For instance, when people gain incentive to stay on specific servers, if some dude really loves to just snipe/camp some specific part of the map, you may eventually come to recognize that hey, it's probably that dude.  This happened to an extent in the mod on private hives.  I spent a period of time primarily using the double barrel, and when I'd kill guys they'd often times ask in side chat if it had been me.  Side chat's gone of course, so that limits things a bit, but if players can make an effort to actually talk to each other more in engagements (something I actually see more of in the SA, as fights are generally a lot closer range) then that will also be helpful.

 

Back to nameplates though, I just think the less hud the better.  There's the matter of what distances and when they are displayed as well.  If they display from a fair distance, they can give away positions.  You can say that ok, objects blocking line of sight will block the tags too, but that seems hard to perfectly implement, what about catching glimpses between bushes/trees etc.  If it's that you have to be very close, then you're likely close enough to speak to them any ways and I'd rather that be done.  There's pretty much nothing in the game right now in terms of an external HUD besides the crosshair, and there's talks of removing that, so it would just feel very out of place imo.  In that sense I feel they are bad for immersion, because we don't see floating text above people in real life.

 

The other thing is, the confusion from not knowing who a person is, adds to the gameplay a bit in some situations.  The other day I killed a guy and put on his clothes and sorta fooled another guy.  If I'd had a nameplate that wouldn't be possible.  Perhaps that's unrealistic in the sense that he would be able to recognize me in real life, but what if I'm wearing a mask or facing away from him or whatever.  There's so many little nitpicky scenarios where it wouldn't be realistic to instantly recognize a player either.  You could try to account for them all, but again that seems extremely difficult to do.

 

Just my thoughts on it.  I don't disagree that there should be more ways to identify players I just don't feel nameplates are the right fit, even if it's a fairly easy solution.  I'd rather see more ways/incentive to customize your character instead.  

 

I suppose I wouldn't be completely opposed to it as a server option, I believe it existed in the mod.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Bororm

[scriptfactory 620]

I do love the fact that there is virtually no UI in DayZ. Have you played A3: Breaking Point? They use the A3 minimal party system and it really does change the game in many ways. I find it extremely enjoyable to know where my friends are at all time but it is definitely unrealistic that I can see their positions across an entire map. It really wouldn't fit the atmosphere of DayZ. I also agree that nameplates would look out of place in DayZ. It is also pretty cool that you can infiltrate a group of players in DayZ.

 

So here are some thoughts I have had after a bit of Google research:

• Humans with normal vision can recognize other humans facial features up to a distance of 150m maximum.
• In the only MMO that lacks nameplates (i.e. ESO) it seems the majority of players have problems with not only player recognition, but also differentiating between players and non-player characters. ESO even has party member markers but they actually don't seem to help that much with player recognition.
• It seems the tradeoff for immersion is lack of combat situational awareness as well as problems coordinating attacks. I have experienced this in DayZ and Arma 2/3 (e.g. "Dude. Is this you standing next to me? Oh, nope. That is an enemy..."
• Mortal Online also wanted an extremely immersive experience. They solved this by only showing player names when a player is targeted. Players seem to feel the minimal name plates don't harm immersion that much.
• Generally, it seems players feel like a game experience is the most immersive when they are able to lose themselves in the gameplay. Without a good way of recognizing friendlies and enemies the game experience is regarded as less immersive, regardless of how heavy their HUD is.

Here are my suggestions/ideas based on my lazy research:

• Friendly fire should always be on.
• Server option to activate a minimal party HUD, ala Arma 3: Breaking Point (only the 3D hexagonal marker). The marker should only show when toggled "on" (e.g. using Right Ctrl.) It might be more immersive if the marker was just a slight glowing effect around friendly characters.
• Server option to enable friendly player nameplates that appear when players are targeted.
• Party member markers/nameplates only appear up to a reasonable range (< 100-150m).
• Friends could be made by shaking hands (allows you to see friendly nameplates.)
• Parties could be formed by raising your right hand and "swearing an oath" (allows 3D markers to be seen.)
• Enemies could be identified via some in-game mechanic.
  • Example: Players could find the item "Polaroid Camera". Use the camera to take a Polaroid of a living or dead enemy/clan and they will be added to your virtual "enemy list". The pictures would be a persistent item that you always have on your character. You could "Use" the pictures to see if a person you are close to is an enemy or belongs to an enemy clan. All pictures would be shared with your affiliated faction(s).
• Anything covering your a player's face (e.g. masks) would block all players from seeing your nameplate (friendly or otherwise).
• Players could join "factions" by creating an armband (sewing kit, rags/shirts) and distributing to members. All faction members would see the toggleable 3D marker within a certain range. You could, of course, steal an armband and people would think you were a part of their faction.  :D

Just some ideas.

Edited May 20, 2014 by scriptfactory

[Magaz97 41]

My thoughts-

Rather than a HUD which displays names over the character 'toon' you get a message. Like the current server messages.

Something like-

 

'You see someone that you have seen before' (For those not on your friend list, but you have had some interaction with.)

'You see your friend "Magaz" - (For those on your friend list)

'You see soemeone that you do not recognise- (For new interactions)

 

These messages do not show you where the character is -They only display when you are 'focused' on the other character, in close enough range to recognise them.

 

Again, just some ideas. :)