Chernarus is starting to look empty

[MikeReverb 49]

We stopped at towns inbetween and went sight seeing. I never mentioned looking for people to kill. This isn't down to our play style, it's down to people sticking to the east because that's where all the other people are.

You obviously only read what you wanted to read.

Anyhow, I am glad some people realise that DayZ currently has a problem. Adding more players to the server is not going to fix it, it is about spreading the spawnpoints out and creating incentive to go elsewhere.

The mod handled it way better for some reason. I'm guessing it was down to the coast being used in its entire as a spawnpoint.

 

Wonder if Bohemia realises this. Any developer input?

 

Thank you, King Raptor. I couldn't agree more with spreading out the spawnpoints.

 

I remember stepping into Belota, Zele, and other Western/Southern cities with fear because you never knew if anyone was waiting there. Now it's a bit of a wasteland though you do find the occasional sniper there.

 

This has been a problem since day one--the east saw little action, and everyone camped the Western cities. I'm hoping they take your suggestion to heart and creating incentives to travel to other parts of the maps.

 

Any ideas as to what those incentives would be though? I guess the military bases themselves would normally serve as incentives, but obviously something else is needed.

[ld-airgrafix 403]

We stopped at towns inbetween and went sight seeing. I never mentioned looking for people to kill. This isn't down to our play style, it's down to people sticking to the east because that's where all the other people are.

You obviously only read what you wanted to read.

Anyhow, I am glad some people realise that DayZ currently has a problem. Adding more players to the server is not going to fix it, it is about spreading the spawnpoints out and creating incentive to go elsewhere.

The mod handled it way better for some reason. I'm guessing it was down to the coast being used in its entire as a spawnpoint.

 

Wonder if Bohemia realises this. Any developer input?

I'm happy with spawn points as they are, at least it's not the coast only anymore.

At the moment, it's weapon spawning places that draw players. That's what most dayz players are after, guns, guns and more ammo for those guns. It's all about pvp, same goes for all games I have played, ISS, dayz, 7d2d, stomping land etc. pvp simply takes over, even in games like 7d2d where there is so much to do, even where zombies are a threat, pve servers aren't 100% guaranteed either

[LeeVanSpliff 156]

It's all about pvp, same goes for all games I have played, ISS, dayz, 7d2d, stomping land etc. pvp simply takes over, even in games like 7d2d where there is so much to do, even where zombies are a threat, pve servers aren't 100% guaranteed either

Shows up every couple of days on this forum, the opinion that the game is "all about pvp". It's not how I play. It's not how I played the mod.

It might be great for you people who just want to gear and shoot that only a quarter of the map is in use. The reason for this is that the game you want is an arena shooter with loot, so you don't really need the huge landscape. I need the huge landscape, and it'd be a hell of a lot more interesting if 75% of the players were not concentrated on 25% of the map.

It's different on HC btw. I run into people in the south on HC.

[King Raptor 191]

Any ideas as to what those incentives would be though? I guess the military bases themselves would normally serve as incentives, but obviously something else is needed.

 

 

Car and helicopter parts used to be a massive incentive to look all over the place from my experience. Finding a good place to set up your tent was also one of the reasons why people would go out their way to find quiet places, increasing the likelihood of people meeting one another in forests.

We'd also go on tent-hunting quests which took us to the far edges of the map and outskirts of obscene little towns. Not to mention that driving a car around garnered a lot of attention, causing people to trek inlands.

 

Obviously, these still need to be implemented and that will take time.

 

Tbh, I think you should just be able to spawn about any where until Bohemia implements a better system as it would most likely patch the problem (but not fix it).

Or at least make 'm spawn all over the coast once more.

[Cpanther 221]

Everyone is hiding...I personally learned to stay in big towns only for few minutes and then run away like mad. Believe it or not most people don't have that PvP mentality that some of you have.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Cpanther

[Etherimp 1323]

I dunno what you are all on about, because I run into people everywhere I go.

 

From highest to lowest:

Berezino > Svet > Novo > NWAF > Balota > Veresnik > Stary/Novy > Elektro > Vybor > Zeleno/Green Mnt > Kamenka Mil Base

 

Conclusion: Low risk Medium to high reward loot at Kamenka Mil Base.

 

Some of the middle ones may be mixed up depending on server.. Like, Elektro may be more popular on certain days/servers than others, but generally this has been my experience.

[pillock 850]

I hope the limited number of spawn points are a bug/test phase because this is disheartening to say the least. And damn boring.

The man Accolyte posted the other day that they were deliberately concentrating spawns in the north at the moment because that's where the new towns they're adding are and that's where they want the higher player concentrations.

 

It's not a permanent feature, and gameplay balance is not a priority yet.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Pillock

[Katana67 2907]

The man Accolyte posted the other day that they were deliberately concentrating spawns in the north at the moment because that's where the new towns they're adding are and that's where they want the higher player concentrations.

 

It's not a permanent feature, and gameplay balance is not a priority yet.

 

The only way to get massive amounts of players on servers is to drastically cut down how many public servers are available forcing ppl to play on heavier populated ones.

 

Agreed. But this (the issue of encouraging players to use more of the map and be mobile) is a very apparent problem with a very subtle series of solutions.

 

1. Loot Placement

 

- Currently, there is too much decent loot near to where folks are spawning. Which kills any incentive to move inland in the first place.

 

- They need to tier the loot bias, eventually, to favor inland locations. Especially with food loot, I cannot stress this enough. If I can find cans of pristine sardines and bottles of water, readily, on the coast... no amount of fun-as-hell hunting mechanics or survival mechanics will add any consequence to just lingering in the cities to PvP. Let me be clear, I love PvP, but only inasmuch as it results in a consequence to those involved which is more than just "You died and I lived."

 

- Also, dynamic loot allotment would work wonders as well. Giving lease to smaller towns in having useful loot.

 

- Moreover, there is too little of a gap between common loot and "high-end" loot. There is no distinct "high-end" yet, and most people can do well with a Mosin or SKS, which are to be found readily along the coast. So there's little incentive, even for those who only PvP, to get truly advantageous gear because there really isn't any to be found outside of the coast.

 

2. Fixed Map Resources

 

- At least in the mod, the fact that gasoline was in infinite supply discouraged mobility. If there's a gas station by the coast, or in a fixed location, one never needs to adapt once that resource is expended.

 

- If resources were dynamically allotted, then people would be encouraged/forced to search for things like clean water and gasoline to supply themselves and their vehicles respectively

 

3. Broadening Spawns

 

- I can appreciate that we're spawning in the northeast to test the east-west axis of newly-added cities. But eventually, this will have to change.

 

- With the string of high-value locations along the western border of the map, players will need to be correspondingly spawning along the entirety of the eastern shore (i.e. from Svetlo to Skalisty).

 

4. Vehicles, Persistent Storage, Horticulture, and Construction

 

- Vehicles are a no-brainer in terms of mobility. They allow you to get to more places, quicker. But, they also tie into the "Fixed Map Resources" bit above in that they create a demand for a resource (i.e. gasoline). Likewise, they also create a demand for other resources (i.e. repair parts and perhaps modification elements).

 

- Persistent storage/horticulture/construction, somewhat counter-intuitively, encourages mobility as well. It gives value to otherwise un-used locations, in being attractive for setting up camp. There's a false assumption that things like persistent storage creates a "settling down" effect wherein players get nice and cozy in their camps and never venture out.

 

- Persistent storage/horticulture/construction also, like vehicles, create a demand for resources (i.e. construction materials, tents, loot to put in those tents, clean water, farming supplies, etc.) Likewise they allow the players an element of freedom in being able to populate Chernarus as they see fit, or as they deem advantageous. Which can make places like the un-used forests all the more useful.

 

5. Threatening Zombies

 

- Making zombies more powerful, numerous, and threatening is not a one-stop-shop solution to encouraging mobility. However, it does (in keeping with the edict in my first bit) give consequence (not punishment, for fuck's sake) to things like firing a weapon. To this end, it would help in discouraging (not stopping) wanton PvP in areas which would be high-population areas for zombies, like in cities.

[Tatanko 5591]

If you want to find players in the west at the military bases, join low pop servers. If you want to loot them uncontested, do so on high pop servers. Not a perfect rule without exceptions, but definitely the trend. Full servers are concentrated near the spawn points. Allows squads to respawn and regroup quickly to get back into the fight.

Excellent observation; I've noted the same. For me, in general, it seems like I run into other players more frequently when the population number is low.

 

It's not a permanent feature, and gameplay balance is not a priority yet.

Thanks for the much-needed reminder!

[pillock 850]

Agreed. But this (the issue of encouraging players to use more of the map and be mobile) is a very apparent problem with a very subtle series of solutions.

 

It isn't a problem, though.

 

Players not using all the map is not a problem at the moment, because it doesn't matter at all at this stage of development.

 

There is no reason to expect the way players behave now with the current set of features, mechanics and spawn locations will be the same as the way they behave once more features and different balances are added.

 

To me, there doesn't seem to be any point in suggesting ways to balance the game in terms of playability when many of those aspects that are important to this side of DayZ are not present in the game yet. With the way that updates have increased in frequency recently, player behaviour will probably be changing with it, and just as often.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Pillock

[Katana67 2907]

It isn't a problem, though.

 

Players not using all the map is not a problem at the moment, because it doesn't matter at all at this stage of development.

 

There is no reason to expect the way players behave now with the current set of features, mechanics and spawn locations will be the same as the way they behave once more features and different balances are added.

 

To me, there doesn't seem to be any point in suggesting ways to balance the game in terms of playability when many of those aspects that are important to this side of DayZ are not present in the game yet. With the way that updates have increased in frequency recently, player behaviour will probably be changing with it, and just as often.

 

Thinking toward the future is always a harmless, productive, and good thing in my mind.

 

I don't see any reason why we can't discuss ways in which, as you say, this could no longer be the case in the future. Simply because it's an alpha, doesn't mean we cannot discuss how the game could/should/would be shaped if X happens.

 

Hence why shaping the spawns (which was in direct reference to what you said) was only one portion of a larger puzzle (i.e. player mobility).

Edited August 9, 2014 by Katana67

[Dagwood 680]

In the later days of the mod, elektro and Cherno still hosted the majority of a server's population. The other two common hotspots were the NWAF and stary military camp (two highest yield military areas of the map). With the addition of several new military bases, I think increasing the server population will be necessary to prevent the map from being too sparsely populated.

[wartzilla 182]

It's the Berezino cancer, along with the duping cancer.

 

Most people in Berezino are newbies, or hackers and dupers trying to kill them. The rest are people who have given up on the rest of the map and go to Berezino to see other players.

[SniperwolfMR 153]

This game has become painfully boring. I'm sick and fucking tired of having to go near Berenzino to see anyone.

 

I refuse to. I know I'm going to get killed from somewhere in those 2 apartment buildings. I can't believe people still camp there like its original. 

[Katana67 2907]

I'm sick and fucking tired of having to go near BereNzino to see anyone.

 

/chortle

 

Last time I checked, originality wasn't a criterion of "camping."

Edited August 9, 2014 by Katana67

[Etherimp 1323]

This game has become painfully boring. I'm sick and fucking tired of having to go near Berenzino to see anyone.

 

I refuse to. I know I'm going to get killed from somewhere in those 2 apartment buildings. I can't believe people still camp there like its original. 

 

 

Hey, Ruthless Bandit of DayZ, go to NWAF or Veresnik.. We'll happily accept your camping ways 'round those parts. 

[Zombie Milkman 167]

I play experimental, hardcore now without exception.

 

I must be going crazy then because NWAF, Vybor, etc., I run into hostile KOSers all the time and they are usually looted out.  I ran a loop several times on different servers from the sw corner, north to nwaf, then east to Novo, then along the NE towns. I found barely enough food and soda to live on, very few clothing upgrades... but man did I have to dodge some unhappy kiddies. Did I miss a memo? :D

[Caboose187 (DayZ) 3036]

So in a desolate apocalyptic world there are suppose to be people hanging out ready to sing kumbaya in a big circle?  Someone please explain this thread more clearly?

[Whyherro123 2283]

So in a desolate apocalyptic world there are suppose to be people hanging out ready to sing kumbaya in a big circle?  Someone please explain this thread more clearly?

How is Chernarus in any way "desolate"? The land is clean and green, with little to no damage evident in the urban landscape to point to any "apocalyptic world". If anything, it looks like everyone up and died in their sleep.

 

At this point in the game, there is readily available drinking water, plenty of food in the form of packaged stuff, crops and animals, and plenty of shelter. Realistically, with the number of people that "exist" in Chernarus at any time (40), there would be little to no competition over resources.

 

The only reason people fight in this game is because they have little else to do. It certainly isn't (and wouldn't be, IRL) over supplies/territory.

[SniperwolfMR 153]

Hey, Ruthless Bandit of DayZ, go to NWAF or Veresnik.. We'll happily accept your camping ways 'round those parts. 

Stop acting tough.

 

I'll murder your whole duped out crew. 

[fluxley 2228]

I seriously pray and hope, that Ivan Buchta is hidden in a secret underground lab, creating a new map for when DayZ is fully developed in a year's time. By that time, we've been playing DayZ/ArmA 2 in Chernarus for six years and the standalone for a year and a half. If DayZ aspires to stay alive after it's completion, they really need to breath life into it's playerbase by offering a new and unexplored environment.

 

That exact thought has crossed my mind, Ivan has been very quiet recently.

[Etherimp 1323]

Stop acting tough.

 

I'll murder your whole duped out crew. 

 

LOLLL.. You're a funny little feller.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Etherimp