The ONLY Realistic Way to Prevent Deathmatching: Make DayZ a Living Hell

[ZomboWTF 527]

And what of this would exactly stop bandits from just shooting you for the lulz?

[Benito 0]

Well that was an interesting read, but it would require a lot of work to get any of this usable but DayZ is only in Alpha, so I hope Rocket takes into consideration some of this at least ;)

[methodology 4]

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And what of this would exactly stop bandits from just shooting you for the lulz?

Nothing but that wasn't the point. And honestly the people that are in this game to just grief will get bored eventually and move on to the next game. People that actually enjoy this game for what it is realize it needs more meaning in order for it to to grow and have a healthy, stable population. As a predator I want more prey and to get that we need a game that can appeal to people that want to cooperate more.

edit: Also I said nothing would be done but that's not necessarily true. I mean if you had finally collected all the tools/weapons/food you need to finally be at a point where you could go out and start hunting people for griefing purposes, you have to think of all the relationships you built with people and cooperation you extended to others to even get to that point. I think griefing would be cut down dramatically actually because of that. Plus you'll start building reputations around others and even in a game that means something generally, atleast enough that you won't suddenly one day become a griefer out of the blue just to see what it was like. These suggestions will let cooperative people play the way they want, and give bandits like me more people to target for the lulz or otherwise.

[Bearwidme 0]

Would it be possible to put in some sort of 'flagging' mechanic where-by if you see someone, you can send out a friendly flag to a targetted person. This person can accept the flag and friendly fire would turn off for the two, until one of them decides otherwise (5-10 second countdown before friendly fire comes back on?). Obviously you can reject the flag and you would continue on as normal.

I know you can do something like saluting, but that puts yourself at extreme danger (can't do anything for ~5 seconds in full view) and it doesn't guarantee anything once you've both done this. The flagging system woud allow someone trying to be friendly relatively safe if they're doing the flagging from long distances away and give them plenty of notice if the bandit decides to change his mind.

Making the game a living hell isn't going to make anyone want to co-op more. Imagine if you had to play amnesia DD everytime before you could get to the sweet and juicy guns. It might be scary the first few times and having a friend there to help you out is going to be great, but once you've done it 3 or 4 times it just becomes this chore you have to do before you can get back into the game again. And you aren't going to let some chump with a makorov get anywhere near you in the final hour of your chore because he might be able to help you kill 20 zombies.

It feels like cherno is this great starting area with slightly shitty PvP (honestly not that bad) and that once you get these great guns you can go do amazing things. However what the majority of people do is get the good guns and then go back to the easy place to hunt the smartest prey around for entertainment.

- There needs to be something else to build towards (we currently build towards going to the NW airfield), Whats the next step? Another higher grade area where high powered weapons are a must? I haven't really thought this idea through that well, but a better late-game scenario for those who wan't it should be available.

[matt.gilmurray@gmail.com 46]

If everything is rarer wouldn't that be an incentive to kill people in itself?

[logan23 118]

The idea is to make ammo for military guns very rare. But the military guns themselves are less rare then the military ammo.

Over time players will build up to these guns but ammo will be short.

So you fire a few shots with your military gun= now your empty and good luck finding ammo... Since its very rare.

The focus of this idea is to remove the heavy military weapon/ammo stock piling.

You want that military weapon- fine but your going to have to manage your lack of ammo--

While other players have lower level guns but more ammo for them.

You see a player with a military gun and think I can shoot them and get it--but during the gun fight that player used up all the ammo in it. Great job you just killed a player for a paper weight.

[Powell (DayZ) 734]

Well that was an interesting read' date=' but it would require a lot of work to get any of this usable but DayZ is only in Alpha, so I hope Rocket takes into consideration some of this at least ;)

[/quote']

Yeah it is a long list, all of which would need tedious testing...

but I can dream

[Virfortis 111]

An elegant suggestion, for a more civilized game.

I've been gone 2 weeks and from what I read, it's only gotten worse. Big, sweeping suggestions like this are exactly what we need to make DayZ fun to the truly classic gamer, rather than the self-proclaimed "hardcore" we have now. By making it a true survival game, the deathmatching dies down and the game becomes an ACTUAL survival. I don't mind PvP in the least, but I do mind the lack of survival. If the game reaches such a hellacious, almost net hack level of gameplay, then you've separated the boys from the men.

Sadly, until rocket comes out and lays out his dream for DayZ, we won't see anything like this happen. Right now, the vocal majority on the forums think the game is perfect, and curbing PvP by making PvE harder would ruin it (what the hell, by the way?). However, I think we need to piss a LOT of these "fans" off so that DayZ can continue to be something different.

I used to care about how DayZ would turn out, but it's clear that it's not going to really change from what it is. Everyone talks about this being Alpha, but a prototype is still a model for the future. In other words, I like the suggestion, but don't hold your breath. DayZ isn't for those that want to survive, and the internet has proven that.

[unzubaru 3]

Some extremely bad idea's that will make most of the less hardcore of the playerbase quit, and some that are quite good, love the packs and the sterilising equipment and the effects of hits to limbs etc.

What I don't like is the starvation features. We already starve way too fast, after running for an hour food and water is critical, humans can live for far longer without both? It'll also stop people from joining the game, you're really just trying to make this game impossible for new players, or people who have come from more tame gaming environments. I don't see how this list increases the popularity of the game, you're just trying to add features that are all negatives.

If you added all of these I can assure you the amount of whiney posts on these forums would quadruple OVERNIGHT. These features can be added, but there has to be some POSITIVE changes as well, not just you starve and get addicted to morphine and zombie packs that can patrol your safe havens !

[Quaby 93]

Excessively hard does not mean realistic. I cannot think of any country where you can go from being in danger of freezing to death to being in danger of heatstroke by walking 6 kilometers. And honestly, in a post-soviet satellite state, there would be no shortage of AK-47s or Makarovs. I'm assuming the people in DayZ have bone densty problems because they break a fuckin' leg when they are hit by a walking emaciated corpse.

[logan23 118]

DayZ is a brutal game but with every new challenge you place in front of the player- there needs to be ways to problem solve it. Like the use if cans and bottles to distract a Zed.

[terrvik 2409]

Yes please! This is the game I want to play! I want a game where all I feel is despair, fear and lack of hope. I want those glimpses of light to feel a hundred times more rewarding and the darkness feel a thousand times more dangerous, where the best players are the smart ones who thinks ahead and choose when to take a risk and when to run.

Just the idea that gunshots should attract Zed from a greater distance would solve so many problems! You take one shot, and you know you must move your position or you will be swarmed. If you move others can spot your movement but if you stay put other players will see which direction the infected are being attracted. So much dynamic in one game mechanic!

I have some minor suggestions on how to improve some of the ideas but overall, I love it.

[Confus 3]

Currently, part of the problem is that stealth is by far the best way to dodge zombies, but grouping up offers no benefit to staying safe from zombies unless you want to shoot everything. For the smart/efficient player, grouping up has no benefits while the player is trying to gather resources, only downsides. Therefore, there is no point in grouping to loot unless you feel like blasting your way through a city. Making zombies more deadly and making weapons rarer would make it even worse.

Reducing loot spawns for consumables like food has negative consequences as well: most of the map will be neglected because it would be too difficult to find supplies. Small towns like Pavlovo wouldn't be worth visiting because it would essentially be a waste of time. Only big cities like Cherno and towns with abnormally large numbers of enterable buildings like Mogilevka would be worth looting, which would condense players into certain coastal cities. Add this to the fact that sneaking past zombies is a solo job, and you will find that everybody will be in the same few cities but no one will want to approach each other because they don't want to be screwed over by the others.

I do like mechanics that encourage teamwork, though, such as sharing food. But making zombies harder without revamping their detection system wouldn't solve anything.

[Redrick (DayZ) 72]

PLEASE MAKE THIS SO

[vision1776 42]

Add zombie groups that have increased senses and roam from city to city hungry as hell. Starting fires, bleeding, shooting, driving can attract such groups.

Add AI armed caravans or patrols that your team can ambush or avoid. Add the ability to retake cities like in domination (that will incentivize coop). Making bullets rare will provoke more PK. It is my opinion that when you have 5 rounds of sniper ammo it is better used sniping someone for their stuff rather than killing 5 out of 1 million zombies.

Crawling around prone the whole time could get boring and frustrating too so lets not exaggerate the difficulties for survivors by taking away all their 2nd amendment rights or restricting them any further.

[chaz gelf 15]

I support the general idea of giving players more power than items. I definitely like the idea of requiring more than one player for various actions. Maybe things like pitching a tent could be done faster with four players than one, for instance.

I hesitate to say "Skill sets" or "Class system", but I think something like that might work if pulled off right. Being asked what you were doing in Chernarus before the infection hit would be cool. Say, if you were a doctor/nurse, you'd start out with some medical supplies and be faster/more effective at treating medical conditions, if you were a cop, you'd have a pistol and a small amount of ammo, if you were a farmer (or chef) you'd have some food and drink to begin with, and food you cook would be more effective at restoring hunger/blood than if another person cooked it. (And if you're a tourist you start with a hawaiian shirt, a camera and a credit card which is useless. :D)

All that said, a class system probably wouldn't be a good idea, and it's probably been suggested a bunch already, but I just thought I'd throw my thoughts out there. As I said, the basic idea of making players more important than the stuff they're carrying is probably the best way to discourage PVP, even if it doesn't outright eliminate it.

[vesmo 21]

Awesome post OP, I want ALL of these things in-game! (except maybe for the polluted cities part). Zeds should be numerous and slower, but every 1/10 or so should still be a runner that can catch up to you.... just think about it, alerting a horde while scavenging, trying to make it out of there before you are overwhelmed, somebody helping a friend with a limp to move faster as others shoot the runners that are catching up to you.... SO FUCKING EPIC!

As for will this actually reduce/solve the PvP problem? Yes. I have no problem with organized bandits, it is part of the game. I have a problem with shooting on sight because you are afraid the other guy will take your gear and vice versa. Now you actually NEED that other guy, not just his gear.

[poisonman 28]

I love pretty much all of this good show!

Thanks for the read, check out my post if you will as well! :-P

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=18229

[vesmo 21]

The idea is to make ammo for military guns very rare. But the military guns themselves are less rare then the military ammo.

Over time players will build up to these guns but ammo will be short.

So you fire a few shots with your military gun= now your empty and good luck finding ammo... Since its very rare.

The focus of this idea is to remove the heavy military weapon/ammo stock piling.

You want that military weapon- fine but your going to have to manage your lack of ammo--

While other players have lower level guns but more ammo for them.

You see a player with a military gun and think I can shoot them and get it--but during the gun fight that player used up all the ammo in it. Great job you just killed a player for a paper weight.

Exactly what is needed' date=' ammo needs to be EXTREMELY RARE. At the same time you should be able to use weapons though (majority of zombies are slow so you only need to shoot the fast ones to get away, if a gunshot attracts >10 zombies you need to kill then shooting will just be completely useless). This needs to come after a complete wipeout of inventories and tents though, coupled with patches that prevent server hopping. But I like the ideas in this thread. Like them very much.

Also, spreading those military spawns would be nice coupled to this, with random military crates/crashed trucks etc. Just imagine the joy of discovering something like this after an arduous journey in the wilderness and getting that M16A2 and ONE magazine for it. You feel like the king of the world ^^

[hr']

Not sure if this has been suggested yet as I'm just reading through the whole thread, but adding a chance for items to be destroyed when taking a bullet hit would be interesting. This would make bandits think twice before gunning people down for their loot as much of it might be destroyed. Also, just taking one hit and surviving, only to find out you have lost something precious....all I can say is, I would like it. I would hate it at that moment, but damn I like the idea.

[StealthyBrayden 6]

PLEASE MAKE THIS SO

Agreed. :)

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

+1 for everything here.

Everything.

Of course, things need to be tweaked, but every core idea the OP has posted is just brilliant. Take all my +1s, and let's hope for other things such as my liberation idea and new weapons, more co-operative goals, etc.

[leo235 2]

money money money must seem funny in a rich mans world

Im really all for your ideas, but: It wouldnt change banditry. If the game was harder there was more to be gained from killing a well outfitted player.

Also the only realistic way is to make the game really unatractive to alot of FUCKING COD KIDDIES.

[maizel 1]

I don't mind PVP much, I do think there is little else to do in the game than killing players.

I would totally support a more difficult surviving experience.

Though PVP must always be an option.

[BossFi 90]

DE3 is the most friendly server where players still group up.

WHY? Because its the only server that still has side chat enabled.

You dont need any more proof than that! So all these other ideas are not needed!

Bring back side chat and suddenly more players are friendly.

[vesmo 21]

DE3 is the most friendly server where players still group up.

WHY? Because its the only server that still has side chat enabled.

You dont need any more proof than that! So all these other ideas are not needed!

Bring back side chat and suddenly more players are friendly.

It's not just about players being friendly though. Right now the game is boring when you get some supplies, since survival is a bit of a joke. Zed behaviour is another thing, but I'm sure we will be seeing changes in that either way in the upcoming patches. If you can stealth, there really is nothing else stopping you than other players in 1.7.1.5.