Character Independence and Gear

[Mullraugh 1151]

Here's my suggestion. If you don't like it, feel free to put in some constructive critisism.

 

I believe that when you die, your next character should have zero connection to the last one you played as. Meaning, you shouldn't be able to just run back to your body and get your gear. Now, the devs already have a thing in place in the form of despawning bodies, but let's face it. Nobody wants that if we choose to make the game as realistic as possible. So, one suggestion could be to enable bodies for as long as the server stays up until restart, making them visible to everyone EXCEPT you. This means that, yes, your body will be lootable by other people. Of course there's some problems with guys walking up to an empty area on the ground and suddenly having a bunch of gear, but this is better than there not being a body at all. Also, the hide body function should not exist - unless your character legitimately drags the body to some random bush or something.

 

Another suggestion that ties in quite well with this is having the knowledge to use specific items in Chernarus. For example - Yes, anyone could pick up an AKM and load a magazine into it and fire it. But if it ever gets jammed, what do you do? How would you know how to fix it without learning how prior to owning it? There could be manuals in game. Instead of finding Hamlet or The Bible in those military jails and police stations, we could find AKM Manual or Helicopter Operators Guide, in which we can read, and our characters will be able to learn from them, allowing the option to "field strip AKM" and fix the problem. There's a billion different ways to apply this suggestion, be it through survival and hunting manuals, to industrial and machinery, military and vehicle maintenance. No more "need" for Skill Tree's or a leveling up system. Also, if you can't get a manual but your friend knows how to fix your AKM, he should be able to take his own AKM and teach you step by step how to field strip it. A bit of practice, and then your character will know how himself.

 

Something like this will add an extreme emphasis on character health and life, as it will no longer be a walk in the park to survive. Lack of knowledge could be your greatest enemy.

 

Added on to all of that is the suggestion of Gear. You know how your stuff goes from Pristine to Ruined? Let's be honest - your clothes look ugly when they're damaged, but you don't look like a survivor at all with pristine clothing either. I say there should be a separate set of durabilities on clothing that slowly degrade the items the longer you wear them. They will not become damaged or render them useless or anything, they'll just look more worn out and used over time. So say you kept the pair of jeans that you spawned with for 3 days. There should be mud caked on the bottom of the pant legs, some holes in them and, say a bandage wrapped around one of the knees. This way you may become a little more attached to your gear, thus making you want to preserve your character's life and discourage you from deathmatching in Berezino.

 

And of course, beards fit into all of this as well.

[d.walker43 196]

Great ideas. Liked all of them, except for the manual idea, which is good but needs some tweaking. I think the manuals should not automatically enable you to do whatever action. I think they should be like an actual manual, where it says step by step what to do. You could read it just like a real manual, and follow said instructions. If you mess up and cant put your gun back together correctly, too bad. looks like you'll have to leave it behind. I like these tweaks to your idea for 2 reasons. 

 

1: Even without a manual, you should still be able to attempt taking a gun or something apart. Obviously if you have no idea what your doing it would be hard, but it should still be do-able. Basic tools like a screwdriver and such should be necessary to do this, this would make value of tools like this go up.

 

2: that being said, I think that field stripping a gun should be made as realistic as possible. Being an outdoorsman myself, I actually know how to take apart some guns In real life. I know I would be very frustrated if I had to drop a gun because I couldn't do something in-game when I already know how to do it in real life. I shouldn't need an in-game manual to magically give me the ability to do something I know how to do anyway. Same goes for getting a vehicle running. I know small engines very well, so if I found a non-running ATV in game and I could identify what is wrong with it, I should be able to attempt (and hopefully succeed) at getting it running without needing a magical book. The book would be useful because You could look to it for reference, but it shouldn't be required.

 

I understand that people will complain "the casuals wouldn't know what to do" and such, but that shouldn't matter. Make it as realistic as possible, so having prior knowledge on things such as maintaining a gun and how an engine works and basic survival skills gives you a slight advantage in-game. I apologize for my post being so long, thank you for taking the time to read it. Again, great ideas you had. Have a good day.

[IronCross 78]

"Weapon cleaning simulator" 

 

Steam hasn't filled that niche yet. Wonder why?

 

Shit, they do have an auto mechanic simulator. Gahhh.

[Mullraugh 1151]

Quote

 

I had actually thought of being able to take apart weapons without manual experience before making this post, but realized that people could just look up online how to do it in DayZ and bypass any and all game progression and adventures possible by trying to find a manual.

Edited August 28, 2014 by mullraugh

[d.walker43 196]

I had actually thought of being able to take apart weapons without manual experience before making this post, but realized that people could just look up online how to do it in DayZ and bypass any and all game progression and adventures possible by trying to find a manual.

Hmm...your right. But there really isn't a way to fix the problem. There is and always will be people who look it up on the internet, no matter what game your playing. I simply think that a required manual is not the solution. I think I said this before, but I know that fellow outdoorsmen like me would be pretty frustrated if I couldn't do something in game because my character "doesn't know how" when in real life I could do said task easily. I just think the game should be as realistic as possible, and I believe that in a post-apocalyptic scenario having some knowledge of firearms or cars or survival tactics would give you an advantage.

 

Honestly, I think that most of the people who would not have some sort of knowledge of anything (probably mostly casuals) would either be too lazy to look it up on internet, or even if they did it may still be hard to retain the information. Learning how to get a car working isn't a 1 video and your good deal. Some of these guys could probably use the extra knowledge.

 

This whole idea would also improve clans too. Clans would want to have people with specific skill-sets, allow me to explain.

 

Lets say that a clan has found a car, but it is not running. The clan would want to recruit somebody with some real-life knowledge of cars to attempt to get their vehicle running. Or they are camping in the woods, and need food. Somebody with hunting experience would be useful, as they would know how to hide from animals successfully and hit it in the right spot and also skin/cook the meat correctly.

 

Idk, I just think that a required book in order to do a task that might be easy to some is a bit unfair,and overall would not be a good solution. No personal offense to you. Have a good day.

[Airfield 50]

I was always curious about how they are going to deal with new life realism, but I never quite thought of the body being invisible to the dead survivor being a thought. Its a good idea, I'm going to think about how I like it or not. Its... interesting.

[chodeofwar 145]

Would not work. 

 

Your saying a player should not be able to loot their own corpse because each life should have zero connection with the last life. Ok so what If ran past a mosin in a barn on the way to NWA before I died, so now I'm running back to NWA as a freshy and I think, "I might see if that mosin is still there". 

 

Do you think I should not be able to see/pick up the mosin just because I died in between first seeing it and picking it up?

 

What about if I had a car or a tent that I wanted to visit on the way?

 

Remembering where stuff is on a server will become even more a part of the gameplay when persistence is implemented across all servers.

 

You can see where I'm going with this right? 

 

You need to extrapolate your ideas a bit more before you suggest them.

 

As the sayings goes "live and learn" and "knowledge is power"

 

******************

 

As for the manual idea that's just an item you need to acquire in order to 'do' something. We already have that stuff they are just not under the guise of 'manuals'. If the manual actually contained some kind text which had to be followed in game people would just screen shot it once and refer back to that or just remember it.

[SomeCallMeNomad (DayZ) 89]

That's true. Only being able to do specific things if you've gained that skill from reading a book would be cool

Edited August 29, 2014 by SomeCallMeNomad

[BeefBacon 1185]

What's to stop a friend from looting your corpse and dropping the gear for you? Looting your own body is a problem, I agree, but this is a pretty lackluster solution.

 

Reading manuals should improve your ability to perform a certain action, not grant the ability to do so. For example, if I clean a weapon I should only be able to improve it up to, say, damaged or worn. By reading a manual I can increase the weapon's condition to pristine. If I read a book on hunting and skinning animals I should get more meat from the animals I kill, and so on.

 

Perhaps manuals should be single-use. That way groups can have players that have specialities. One player could read a weapons maintenance guide and be better at cleaning weapons. Another could have read a hunting guide and so they are better at cooking and skinning animals. This would mean that different players have different skills, rather than having every player know everything - devaluing individuals in a group.

 

Alternatively manuals could be valuable trade items. You read the book and then sell it to someone else. I personally would rather see manuals as single-use items. It'd be difficult to explain-in game but hey.

Edited August 29, 2014 by BeefBacon

[yogi92 50]

"Weapon cleaning simulator"

Steam hasn't filled that niche yet. Wonder why?

Shit, they do have an auto mechanic simulator. Gahhh.

There is a game about assembling and disassembling weapons on Steam. It's called "World of Guns: Gun Disassembly"

 

Nobody wants that if we choose to make the game as realistic as possible.

Trust me, if we wanted a game as realistic as possible, it wouldn't be a game anymore. DayZ is still and will always be just a video game and doing everything to make it uber realistic will be a massive shot in your feet with a rocket launcher. What some people here need to understand is that there is a line between realism and fun. Once you cross the line into the realm of realism, it will become shit.

And also, if you want to be so realistic, you game should be uninstalled and removed from steam once you die, so that you stay dead.

Edited August 29, 2014 by yogi92

[a_ruttle 199]

I like where you've gone with this, the positive responses also give me a little bit of hope, on forums where a lot of people want flyable helicopters and planes, to be flown by survivors with weapon animations done purposefully to make them look like they're untrained.

[pillock 850]

Would not work. 

 

Your saying a player should not be able to loot their own corpse because each life should have zero connection with the last life. Ok so what If ran past a mosin in a barn on the way to NWA before I died, so now I'm running back to NWA as a freshy and I think, "I might see if that mosin is still there". 

 

Do you think I should not be able to see/pick up the mosin just because I died in between first seeing it and picking it up?

 

What about if I had a car or a tent that I wanted to visit on the way?

 

Remembering where stuff is on a server will become even more a part of the gameplay when persistence is implemented across all servers.

 

You can see where I'm going with this right? 

 

You need to extrapolate your ideas a bit more before you suggest them.

 

As the sayings goes "live and learn" and "knowledge is power"

 

******************

 

As for the manual idea that's just an item you need to acquire in order to 'do' something. We already have that stuff they are just not under the guise of 'manuals'. If the manual actually contained some kind text which had to be followed in game people would just screen shot it once and refer back to that or just remember it.

 

In my opinion, when you die you should be kicked off the server and locked out for 24 hours. That way, you'd have to start again in a new environment in which you don't know the whereabouts of specific loot or players. If you're playing with friends, they could switch to your new server and find you again.

 

There would be ways around it, such as your mates looting your body and storing all the kit in a hidden persistent container so you could collect it the next day. But it would be an improvement on what we have now, where you can sprint back to your own corpse, regear with the exact same loot, and carry on the same gunfight which you just died in - that doesn't seem very fair on the guy that killed you, to me.

[Skyelur 57]

Hmm...your right. But there really isn't a way to fix the problem. There is and always will be people who look it up on the internet, no matter what game your playing. I simply think that a required manual is not the solution. I think I said this before, but I know that fellow outdoorsmen like me would be pretty frustrated if I couldn't do something in game because my character "doesn't know how" when in real life I could do said task easily. I just think the game should be as realistic as possible, and I believe that in a post-apocalyptic scenario having some knowledge of firearms or cars or survival tactics would give you an advantage.

 

Honestly, I think that most of the people who would not have some sort of knowledge of anything (probably mostly casuals) would either be too lazy to look it up on internet, or even if they did it may still be hard to retain the information. Learning how to get a car working isn't a 1 video and your good deal. Some of these guys could probably use the extra knowledge.

 

This whole idea would also improve clans too. Clans would want to have people with specific skill-sets, allow me to explain.

 

Lets say that a clan has found a car, but it is not running. The clan would want to recruit somebody with some real-life knowledge of cars to attempt to get their vehicle running. Or they are camping in the woods, and need food. Somebody with hunting experience would be useful, as they would know how to hide from animals successfully and hit it in the right spot and also skin/cook the meat correctly.

 

Idk, I just think that a required book in order to do a task that might be easy to some is a bit unfair,and overall would not be a good solution. No personal offense to you. Have a good day.

What he is trying to say is, you get a manual and you select the read option, your character learns the ability to do it, but if he dies he forgets it. So people preserve their life rather than their gear.

[rybec 339]

I simply think that a required manual is not the solution.

I like the idea though for the sole purpose of having an interest in keeping your character alive.

Something I just thought about that would be adding another reason to not instantly kill another person, as they might know one of these processes on their character and you could approach them and get them to teach you. That or just kill them and hope they have the manual on them.

 

There's just not much else you can do than some goofy system like that to make the player care about the character instead of the gear. That's what we want right?

[d.walker43 196]

What he is trying to say is, you get a manual and you select the read option, your character learns the ability to do it, but if he dies he forgets it. So people preserve their life rather than their gear.

I understand. What I am saying is that some of the things being talked about myself and many others already know how to do in real life, so I shouldn't need a magic book to tell me how to do something I already know how to do anyway.

[Skyelur 57]

I understand. What I am saying is that some of the things being talked about myself and many others already know how to do in real life, so I shouldn't need a magic book to tell me how to do something I already know how to do anyway.

 

With that logic, in a video game, you know how to do a lot of the things, but you still do it. Why do it on a game if you can do it in real life?

 

 

Anyways, IRL doesn't pertain to game knowledge.

[General Zod 1118]

Here we go, 'muricans with their Imma outdoor man, lets make other spend hours learning to to take guns apart, clean them and put them together. 

If there are manuals, they have to be common, and everyone has to read them, so that people from countries with gun control are not at disadvantage, or should we make majority of players from 'murica obese to compensate for your gun realism obsession ? We either make everyone learn things or no one. 

Edited September 2, 2014 by General Zod

[dashender7 78]

I had actually thought of being able to take apart weapons without manual experience before making this post, but realized that people could just look up online how to do it in DayZ and bypass any and all game progression and adventures possible by trying to find a manual.

 

I like all of your ideas as long as they're well refined and implemented.  On this point I also agree and this is why I think simply having said "manual" in player's possession should be all that is required.  I think it's an item that shouldn't take up an inventory "slot", however as, let's face it, maintenance and taking apart most weapons like an AR or AK is extremely simple once learned and in reality the manual shouldn't have to be carried around and referred to every time this action needs to be performed thereafter.