Time to ditch the Torch/Flashlight

[Jex 1104]

I don't even know why I spawn with this useless item to begin with but I think it's time for it to go and be replaced with something random out of a pool of low tier loot.

 

Items to randomly start with could be

 

- Map

- Screwdriver

- can of food

- dildo

- gloves

- torch/flashlight

- Nothing (yeah, that's right)

 

 

 

Also, why does nobody have a mobile phone?

Edited October 22, 2014 by Jexter

[matthew.hayes.somerville@gmail.com 9]

I totally agree with this. Of course, flash lights are useful at night, but when it comes to night servers;

 

• No one likes them.
• There's no benefit to using a night server, other than 'Looting In Safety'
• People don't use torches because they just give you away
• Brightness and gamma just get turned up

I reckon it'd be fantastic to have us spawn with some random low tier items, although, spawning with a walkie-talkie would also be great. Could be quite fun to actually see them brought into play, especially for new spawns trying to find out where they are - could make for some interesting PVP moments if Bandits over hear meet up conversations!

[Accolyte 1727]

I quite liked the point someone on here made some time ago.

 

You only have a flashlight on you so new players wouldn't be completely lost upon logging onto a night server. If it wasn't for that, you would start out with nothing.

 

 

Also, why does nobody have a mobile phone?

 

What's the point of a mobile phone? There is no carrier coverage without electricity.

[Jex 1104]

I quite liked the point someone on here made some time ago.

 

You only have a flashlight on you so new players wouldn't be completely lost upon logging onto a night server. If it wasn't for that, you would start out with nothing.

 

 

 

What's the point of a mobile phone? There is no carrier coverage without electricity.

 

 

TETRIS!

 

 

Also, they have inbuilt flashlights ;)

 

Plus the ability to know the time, date, make notes, play music (something that has been essential to human existence for millennia), take pictures, GPS, etc....

[Accolyte 1727]

Alright. How do you charge your phone without electricity? Also keep in mind that the point where you start in the game is quite some time into the apocalypse so it's not like you charged it to full just the day before.

[General Zod 1118]

I quite liked the point someone on here made some time ago.

 

You only have a flashlight on you so new players wouldn't be completely lost upon logging onto a night server. If it wasn't for that, you would start out with nothing.

You know what people do when they fresh spawn on the night server ? There are two options

Leave

Turn up gamma and brightness

 

Using flash light is becoming a beacon for bullets. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by General Zod

[Mos1ey 6301]

You only have a flashlight on you so new players wouldn't be completely lost upon logging onto a night server. If it wasn't for that, you would start out with nothing.

 

I believe that was me.  B)

[Jex 1104]

Alright. How do you charge your phone without electricity? Also keep in mind that the point where you start in the game is quite some time into the apocalypse so it's not like you charged it to full just the day before.

 

Car.

 

You couldn't think of that yourself? Dude, you're gonna die if a real ZA breaks out. I suggest you play DayZ more to learn how to be a survivor when it happens.....

 

:P

Edited October 22, 2014 by Jexter

[Accolyte 1727]

You know what people do when they fresh spawn on the night server ? There are two options

Leave

Turn up gamma and brightness

 

Using flash light is becoming a beacon for bullets. 

 

so new players wouldn't be completely lost

 

I obviously know how people exploit on night servers. And the flashlight being a beacon for bullets is kind of the whole point of it at night, it's supposed to make you think whether or not it's safe to use it and it's supposed to keep you stressed thinking about that. I do hope that gamma exploiting gets fixed somehow and it would be nice to have servers set to real time as it used to be in the mod to limit people's ability to just play in daylight 24/7.

[Accolyte 1727]

Car.

 

You couldn't think of that yourself? Dude, you're gonna die if a real ZA breaks out. I suggest you play DayZ more to learn how to be a survivor when it happens.....

 

:P

 

I think I've played more DayZ than you and a couple of people put together. The reason I didn't think of that is that if a real (heh) zombie apocalypse break out, I would be more than capable of surviving without a phone.. or a car for that matter.

 

Still I don't see much benefit in having phones personally. The only valid reason (imo) would be the GPS, which I imagine will make it into the game as a separate item at some point. As for music - without the ability to update playlists I would probably go nuts myself listening to the same stuff over and over again. I don't think you need to really keep track of time or date in an apocalypse (you can guess what the time is roughly by looking at the position of sun). Taking pictures in a game is kind of pointless wihen you have the printscreen button. And notes you can write down.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Accolyte

[Jex 1104]

I obviously know how people exploit on night servers. And the flashlight being a beacon for bullets is kind of the whole point of it at night, it's supposed to make you think whether or not it's safe to use it and it's supposed to keep you stressed thinking about that. I do hope that gamma exploiting gets fixed somehow and it would be nice to have servers set to real time as it used to be in the mod to limit people's ability to just play in daylight 24/7.

 

The problem with real time servers means that when you get home and play, it's always the exact same time. Because most of us will stick to one server when the game starts, this means you'll miss out on the day cycle.

 

One way around this, which I've mentioned a few times before, is to set the cycle to a 7 hour period. It needs to be an odd number to offset it from real time. If it was 8 hours say, you would still be stuck playing the same time each day. 7 hours should ensure a full range of times throughout a weeks worth of playing and I  would break it down like this.

 

5 hours daylight, 15 minutes of twilight either side of night and 1.5 hours of night. This to me seems to fill all requirements. You can play at night (and even plan your night event with friends as you'll be able to work out when it will come around. You could all move to the NWAF say just before sunset, take up positions and then move in after dark). You will experience sunrises and sets and 5 hours of daylight is plenty.

[huf757 82]

 I do hope that gamma exploiting gets fixed somehow and it would be nice to have servers set to real time as it used to be in the mod to limit people's ability to just play in daylight 24/7.

I do not hope they set it back to real time.  This would be simply silly cause as it was seen before that some players always ended up playing in the dark and some always ended up playing in the daylight.  A better solution is one that was done in the mod buy server owners.  They allowed it to have a 24 hour cycle which was nice and I liked it but they could adjust the 24 hour cycle so that if it was 5 pm on the east coast (where i live) it was actually 2 pm in game so that when people on that particular server arrived home from work say 5 pm they had a couple of hours of daytime play before it turned to night.  Allowing their player base to experience both day and night.  Which is what I would enjoy most a good mixture of the both.  Not simply always night or always day when I play.

[Accolyte 1727]

The problem with real time servers means that when you get home and play, it's always the exact same time.

 

Um.. yeah that's kind of what I was suggesting and I'm completely fine with it. You'd still be able to play during daytime say on weekends and such. It would also "simulate" the "reality" of such an event better (I feel kinda silly using those words) as in reality you would probably end up being more active at night or evenings and not really risk running around during the day. And like I said, it would somehow force people to actually play the game the way it should be played and not just skipping/exploiting 1/2 of it.

 

 

A better solution is one that was done in the mod buy server owners.  

 

And that's kinda what I was saying as well..

 

I believe that was me.   B)

 

Ah! Beans to you then!  :blush:

Edited October 22, 2014 by Accolyte

[Jex 1104]

Um.. yeah that's kind of what I was suggesting and I'm completely fine with it. You'd still be able to play during daytime say on weekends and such. It would also "simulate" the "reality" of such an event better (I feel kinda silly using those words) as in reality you would probably end up being more active at night or evenings and not really risk running around during the day. And like I said, it would somehow force people to actually play the game the way it should be played and not just skipping/exploiting 1/2 of it.

 

No, in reality I would be active during the day when I can see things from far away. I don't know who all these people are that want to sneak around in pitch black in a zombie infested world but they're the ones that will get eaten. Far better to use daylight so you can observe, plan and move. If I have to run, I want to see where I'm stepping too. Plenty of people have gone over cliffs or broken an ankle over uneven terrain.

[dgeesio 1034]

I quite liked the point someone on here made some time ago.

 

You only have a flashlight on you so new players wouldn't be completely lost upon logging onto a night server. If it wasn't for that, you would start out with nothing.

 

 

 

What's the point of a mobile phone? There is no carrier coverage without electricity.

whats the point of a torch in 24/7 light ? there is no dark in 24/7 lightworld.

[General Zod 1118]

I obviously know how people exploit on night servers. And the flashlight being a beacon for bullets is kind of the whole point of it at night, it's supposed to make you think whether or not it's safe to use it and it's supposed to keep you stressed thinking about that. I do hope that gamma exploiting gets fixed somehow and it would be nice to have servers set to real time as it used to be in the mod to limit people's ability to just play in daylight 24/7.

First of

Normally you sleep during night time, if it's night and there are clouds to cover the stars and the moon, without any artificial sources of light it's so dark you can't see your hand held right in front of your eyes. Which simply means it's impossible to be active without night vision goggles. Because you'd have to be stupid or desperate to walk around with flash light and attract every zed and killer from miles away. 

 

Second, real time on the servers is just unfair. Because this equal to one thing, people who have jobs or school will not be able to play daytime during winter / late autumn, because by the time they are back and had their dinner, attended to some important things / did shopping it will be long after the sun is gone. 

 

 

Car.

 

You couldn't think of that yourself? Dude, you're gonna die if a real ZA breaks out. I suggest you play DayZ more to learn how to be a survivor when it happens.....

 

:P

Sure if there is a compatible charger in the glove compartment. And if you find a working car, if it has spare Watts to charge the phone, and that's one big IF. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by General Zod

[DMentMan 707]

 

- dildo

 

[Accolyte 1727]

 

First of

Normally you sleep during night time, if it's night and there are clouds to cover the stars and the moon, without any artificial sources of light it's so dark you can't see your hand held right in front of your eyes. Which simply means it's impossible to be active without night vision goggles. Because you'd have to be stupid or desperate to walk around with flash light and attract every zed and killer from miles away. 

 

Second, real time on the servers is just unfair. Because this equal to one thing, people who have jobs or school will not be able to play daytime during winter / late autumn, because by the time they are back and had their dinner, attended to some important things / did shopping it will be long after the sun is gone. 

 

 

I've never, ever experienced such a night and I've camped in the middle of nowhere (~20km to nearest town in any direction) for extended periods of time a few times. I mean it can get close to being pitch black, but you can still see some stuff. Definitely enough to navigate through a town to scavenge stuff.

 

I'm currently a fairly busy person and I would still prefer real time. I don't think DayZ was ever supposed to be fair.

[umm_me 77]

2 things... 

 

the flash light teaches you inventory management and attachment.

if we all played right... it would be night some time

[Evil Minion 943]

I don't like the mindset people have regarding the flashlight. Instead of being happy to be given a flashlight and even a battery that might help not being completely lost at night they go "flashlight is useless - I want something else".

 

You are actually supposed to start out with nothing - with your "starting gear" being the stuff you will find at the nearest loot spawns. If anything they should just remove the flashlight (to stop people from wanting more/better gear) and randomize clothes (only the lowest tier civilian shirts, pants and shoes).

[General Zod 1118]

I've never, ever experienced such a night and I've camped in the middle of nowhere (~20km to nearest town in any direction) for extended periods of time a few times. I mean it can get close to being pitch black, but you can still see some stuff. Definitely enough to navigate through a town to scavenge stuff.

 

I'm currently a fairly busy person and I would still prefer real time. I don't think DayZ was ever supposed to be fair.

20 km is not middle of nowhere. And yes In open space you might see something real close or big, in forest it is pitch black. Still the risk heavily outweigh the gains and that's on top of that in a scenario of fighting for survival you'd need a lot of sleep, at the end of the day from all the adrenaline and walking you'd fall asleep like a log. 

Forcing people do play night only because they have life for months has nothing to do with fair. It's simply giving the advantage to those who have nothing else to do. We had that once in DayZ and it was removed. It will kill the player base if you force people to play night time only. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by General Zod

[Accolyte 1727]

Forcing people do play night only because they have life

 

I don't really like this comment or reasoning.

 

Literally every game out there gives an advantage of some sort to people who have the most time or have nothing to do.

 

Either way, to not go completely off topic, there should not be any starting gear and I don't think there ever will be. The flashlight is not starting gear per se as explained in this thread already. Either way, no one is forcing anyone to keep it. I myself usually throw it away right after spawning in.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Accolyte

[General Zod 1118]

I don't really like this comment or reasoning.

 

Literally every game out there gives an advantage of some sort to people who have the most time or have nothing to do.

 

Yes it does in form of exp, level etc. Which is not a case in DayZ.

All this will do is force people into game mode that is more dangerous and for most less fun. 

[boneboys 7988]

If it was up to me (good thing it's not) server time would be fixed to location as it was when the mod was first released.

If it was full moon when I looked out of my window, so it was on the server I played, the only way to work around that was to play on some far flung US server.

Not really a problem in the summer time (Paris/Frankfart*/Prague) but the winter nights were/are long and hard.

 

Long live the torch and the long life battery within her.

Vive le lampe du poche !

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

The only valid reason (imo) would be the GPS, which I imagine will make it into the game as a separate item at some point. 

 

If it is a global apocalypse, there really shouldn't be any functioning GPS in the game, because the ground control part of the system would be long gone.