Temporary rebalance

[brazorf 46]

I've been playing other games for couple of months. I took a pause because i was getting bored and i decided to play again when ive read about campfires, fishing, hunting, etc. I still love the game but unfortunately, if you are not here for pvp only, once you get satisfied with your gear you'll just end wandering without a goal. 

 

While waiting all these sexy features that BI is going to develop and release, i was thinking few changes that could improve a little the game experience, and they're, in my understanding, just a matter of configuration and balance. I came to this conclusion when i started to realize that i feel the most exciting stage of my game the very first, when my character really needs stuff to survive. After this stage (usually max 2h) i have enough gear to stay alive forever, in terms of food, water and weapons.

 

I was thinking about

 

- make food really rare, so that chance you starve are actually a threat, and so that food become the most valuable resource

- remove any soda and drink can spawns as they restore water+food, and theres way too much of them

- drastically reduce ammo spawns

 

Effects i can think of

 

- actually care for food and water you find along (nowdays, i often discard soda or food because i'm perpetually full hydrated and energized)

- your main goal is always work to survive, searching for and storing supplies

- for these who play as bandits, it provides a solid reason to rob people

- for these who play as hero, it provides an actual help for new spawns (nowdays new spawns don't need your help)

 

Im not even considering water (as i should) to minimize the amount of changes.

 

About ammo, i think that's another kind of resource you have to struggle for. I always end carrying tons of bullets i'll never use.

 

Thanks for reading ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[doctorbadsign 645]

It needs to be a balance between food being rare enough for hunger and starvation to factor into your decisions, but not so rare that it becomes a hindrance to everything else. 

 

At the moment I rarely worry about food unless I have just spawned in. Even less so when it comes to water... I don't even bother carrying drinks on me cause there is a well in pretty much every town.

 

Perhaps in addition to your suggestions there should be a risk of getting an infection from the wells. Right now I just run up to them and spam F until I'm fully hydrated... Seems to take the point out of there being thirst in the game to begin with.

 

I also think there should be more foraging/bushcraft type stuff in the game. Maybe an option for forage for plants that could be used for (not-very-substantial) nutrition or medicine. Edible mushrooms would be great and maybe roots that you can dig up etc. 

 

My ideal DayZ would be a game where I could just live off the land :)

[randomspawn 215]

My ideal DayZ would be a game where I could just live off the land :)

my ideal game is killing those who live off the land so I can have their fresh shrooms.

[brazorf 46]

Perhaps in addition to your suggestions there should be a risk of getting an infection from the wells. 

 

There will be.

I am only talking about about this particular stage of alpha development, until we'll be given new stuff to do in game. It's just a patch to give the game a new temporary goal.

[pillock 850]

There will be.

I am only talking about about this particular stage of alpha development, until we'll be given new stuff to do in game. It's just a patch to give the game a new temporary goal.

 

It's a good idea, but it's not the priority at the moment, I don't think. With new features coming all the time now, we want to be using them and testing them out, rather than worrying about starving to death. I can only imagine that the devs have deliberately made the game easy in terms of basic survival, for the time being, for this reason.

 

Currently, starvation happens much too quickly, in terms of your progression through the stages of hunger; yet, there are no debilitating effects until you go unconscious. I don't really care to see the food sources made more scarce until the hunger/starvation mechanics have been reworked to make them more believable and engaging.

 

I agree they could reduce the abundance of ammo, though, especially since it currently seems to be more common than more everyday stuff like rope, knives and matches.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Pillock

[brazorf 46]

It's a good idea, but it's not the priority at the moment, I don't think. With new features coming all the time now, we want to be using them and testing them out, rather than worrying about starving to death. I can only imagine that the devs have deliberately made the game easy in terms of basic survival, for the time being, for this reason.

 

 

Well you got a point here. Anyway, with less canned food, we would be forced go hunting, fishing or getting fruits, therefore testing new stuff that most of people will probably ignore or try as a secondary aspect of the game. 

 

I think that a priority may also be balance between fun and testing: agreed that alpha means dev-testing, we should also worry that bored people could possibly quit the game (the testing), as i did in the past 2 months.

Edited July 25, 2014 by brazorf

[Jumbaliah 113]

I think there should be zombies. I think zombies would make a huge improvement to this game. Think about if you were looting the air field and a bunch of zombies started attacking you and you almost die from that. They could call it DayZ Zombie edition

[brazorf 46]

I think there should be zombies. I think zombies would make a huge improvement to this game. Think about if you were looting the air field and a bunch of zombies started attacking you and you almost die from that. They could call it DayZ Zombie edition

 

Eh? Zs are there already, even if they're only stupid placeholders atm. What i am suggesting is something that does not require more development

[Evil Minion 943]

- remove any soda and drink can spawns as they restore water+food, and theres way too much of them

Can anyone explain this "we got too much so we have to remove everything" logic to me? From my understanding its not only flawed (as in completely wrong) but also very unhealthy for anything its applied to.

I agree that any supply spawns should be reduced eventually but I would like to see some things before:

• respawning loot (no its not realistic - realism would lead to a stone age culture with zombies as modern supplies disappear from the world)
• server restarts instead of resets (keep loot state)
• a fix to server hopping
• a finalized "player organism model" (meaning all thats left is finding the best parameters)
• believable animal Ai

So loot rarity is probably an issue but probably an issue for beta, Right now gauging the right amount might be a waste of time depending on how drastically the world model will change.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Evil Minion

[way455 40]

I think the addition of sickness and effects from weather will change our need and consumption of food.

I like it the way it is as far as food spawn amounts. If you play on empty servers, yeah there is food everywhere but if you play on a busy server and you are only near a small town, supplies can be scarce if you need to replenish blood. Food should be something you can maintain and constantly look for when your geared, not something you desperately need all the time.

Is it just me or are can openers more rare? I don't mind that, it makes finding one that much more rewarding knowing you can duke you machete.

[brazorf 46]

Can anyone explain this "we got too much so we have to remove everything" logic to me? From my understanding its not only flawed (as in completely wrong) but also very unhealthy for anything its applied to.

 

 

Well i can give you my point of view.

Generally speaking, it should apply to certain in game items to make survival actually a game and a challenge. Would you enjoy a survival game with endless food and water supplies, or infinite ammo? I dont think so. However you would not enjoy having zero food and zero water neither. What's between these? Balance.

 

Then, as stated in this topic title, i am talking about a temporary change that in my understanding does not require additional develop time and that should not necessarily stay in the long term. It can be changed and rebalanced again when new features are in.

 

I agree that any supply spawns should be reduced eventually but I would like to see some things before:

• respawning loot (no its not realistic - realism would lead to a stone age culture with zombies as modern supplies disappear from the world)
• server restarts instead of resets (keep loot state)
• a fix to server hopping
• a finalized "player organism model" (meaning all thats left is finding the best parameters)
• believable animal Ai

So loot rarity is probably an issue but probably an issue for beta, Right now gauging the right amount might be a waste of time depending on how drastically the world model will change.

 

Again, you're suggesting long-term features here that will require time to get them released

[brazorf 46]

I think the addition of sickness and effects from weather will change our need and consumption of food.

 

 

Agreed, and i consider this as one of my most-wanted features right now

[newberryes 40]

i agree that food sould be rarer, the only time i worry about food is in Exp as a fresh spawn.

also i would really like to see improved medical system, no so that you just use splint and stuff yourself food until you become healthy.

i really liked sacriels ( can't spell him) idea of bullets sometimes not going through your body so there is no exit hole and you need pliers to get the bullet out or you start to lose blood and pervent you becoming healthy.