What can be done about ghosting on public servers?

[Finchtastic 50]

Hicks had mentioned that they were thinking about a system that means you cannot log out if there has been a gun fired with a radius of you (unknown radius, prob 200 to 300m) for X period of time (20-30 mins?).

 

It would mean that you have to fire a gun (perhaps a suppressed pistol to stop unwanted attention) but your prey would not be able to ghost or combat log.

Did he really say that?  That's probably the worst idea I've ever heard, unless it's like 20 meters or something, but even still... Ehhh

[BeaverProductions 441]

Did he really say that?  That's probably the worst idea I've ever heard, unless it's like 20 meters or something, but even still... Ehhh

It was during a stream and just one of several possibilites they were thinking about.

 

Why would it be a terrible idea?  Interested to hear your reasoning. 

[Finchtastic 50]

It was during a stream and just one of several possibilites they were thinking about.

 

Why would it be a terrible idea?  Interested to hear your reasoning. 

Because it has potential to adversely affect players that have nothing to do with the situation.  If some jackoff 200m away decides he wants to shoot somebody, or even a zombie or animal, now I can't logout for 20-30 minutes?  Even at closer ranges, there could be some guy not wanting any part of it, hiding and waiting for a chance to run.  Not too uncommon when a group comes out of nowhere on a lone player. Now he can't log out for 30 minutes, even if he runs away?  What if you have to leave suddenly IRL?  Now because somebody shot a gun near you in game you're screwed.  There are plenty of reasons that of all the suggestions for this problem I've seen, that one's the absolute silliest. 

Edited March 12, 2015 by Finchtastic

[boneboys 7988]

Beav said :

"Hicks had mentioned that they were thinking about a system that means you cannot log out if there has been a gun fired with a radius of you (unknown radius, prob 200 to 300m) for X period of time (20-30 mins?)."

 

Anti Combat Log Out worked quite well in the Mod, I would not be surprised if some variant made it into the SA.

 

[BeaverProductions 441]

Because it has potential to adversely affect players that have nothing to do with the situation.  If some jackoff 200m away decides he wants to shoot somebody, or even a zombie or animal, now I can't logout for 20-30 minutes?  Even at closer ranges, there could be some guy not wanting any part of it, hiding and waiting for a chance to run.  Not too uncommon when a group comes out of nowhere on a lone player. Now he can't log out for 30 minutes, even if he runs away?  What if you have to leave suddenly IRL?  Now because somebody shot a gun near you in game you're screwed.  There are plenty of reasons that of all the suggestions for this problem I've seen, that one's the absolute silliest. 

Don't use my basic understanding of how it may work in practice as gospel.  It was just a throwaway comment I heard him make and just something they were considering.  For all I know, it might be a 20min log out ban if you are within 200m of there the bullet was shot or where the bullet landed.  If you are just a bystander, and if you were to run away for a few hundred meters, you may be able to log out without issue.

[hellcat420 212]

A lot of things my group wants to do are ruined by ghosting. It makes it pretty much impossible to trap someone in a building or hold someone hostage when they can just ghost to a different location.

 

What can be done to stop ghosting? I know you can buy a private server but I'd hope the only solution planned is to force users to buy private shards

the only way to stop ghosting is to stop allowing characters to transfer from server to server, so it will never be completely eliminated.

Edited March 12, 2015 by hellcat420

[Finchtastic 50]

Don't use my basic understanding of how it may work in practice as gospel.  It was just a throwaway comment I heard him make and just something they were considering.  For all I know, it might be a 20min log out ban if you are within 200m of there the bullet was shot or where the bullet landed.  If you are just a bystander, and if you were to run away for a few hundred meters, you may be able to log out without issue.

Even if the values were to be changed, it's still a bad idea.  If it was just some random throwaway idea that he blurted out, I can see why it's such a bad idea.  I really hope they don't go that route.  It'd be better if you can't log back into the same server for 10 minutes or maybe a logout noise once the character has disappeared off the server, so you know if you're about to get rolled up on... Or hell, maybe even both.  Anything but the previously mentioned idea, my god that is a horrible idea.

[BeaverProductions 441]

Even if the values were to be changed, it's still a bad idea.  If it was just some random throwaway idea that he blurted out, I can see why it's such a bad idea.  I really hope they don't go that route.  It'd be better if you can't log back into the same server for 10 minutes or maybe a logout noise once the character has disappeared off the server, so you know if you're about to get rolled up on... Or hell, maybe even both.  Anything but the previously mentioned idea, my god that is a horrible idea.

Still struggling to work out your reasoning why its a bad idea.  I provided you with a solution to the concern you raised about an innocent bystander being prevented from logging out.  To run away a few hundred meters would take seconds  Perhaps you are  a combat logger or ghoster when you play :P

 

I personally think an extended log in period when switching servers is a good idea, but that unfairly punished people who crashed or their server went down.  Sounds of someone logging in or out will harm immersion but perhaps a decent solution, but we already had that and they removed it.

[Finchtastic 50]

Still struggling to work out your reasoning why its a bad idea.  I provided you with a solution to the concern you raised about an innocent bystander being prevented from logging out.  To run away a few hundred meters would take seconds  Perhaps you are  a combat logger or ghoster when you play :P

 

I personally think an extended log in period when switching servers is a good idea, but that unfairly punished people who crashed or their server went down.  Sounds of someone logging in or out will harm immersion but perhaps a decent solution, but we already had that and they removed it.

Well, a server crash doesn't involve the exit button, so I think when joining THE SAME server it should be delayed by 5-10 minutes.  Any other server, you should be able to join right in.  So unless you are the person logging out and trying to log back in, this doesn't affect you.  You shouldn't have to be disadvantaged by having to take time to run hundreds of meters away just because someone else fired a gun.  That's just nonsense, especially with the amount of gunfire in this game.  How would that stop bows?  How would that stop the guy who just got punched and ran into a building to log?  Or the guy who's losing a fight trying to do the same?  How does that stop someone getting rolled up on by a group from logging?  How does that stop the guy who just watched you roll up in a truck and hold up in a building?  Simply a yawn sound, for about 20m would let you know someone was there and might come back soon.  But I think restricting joining the same server after using the exit button for a specific time might be easiest.

[gibonez 3633]

Single server single character,

 

ghosting solved as are like a dozen other problems.

[roguetrooper 201]

The game should be able to tell if a player has left the game/server by pressing the "exit button" or by other means (PC crash, being kicked). If so, just disallow to reconnect to the server he has left for 10 (or whatever) minutes.

Edit: Hmmm. An admin could kick his friend and allow him to ghost without penalty. Then being kicked should also have a big timer.

Edited March 12, 2015 by RogueTrooper

[blacklabel79 949]

Single server single character,

 

ghosting solved as are like a dozen other problems.

 

and death to the "global loot" ...

[xalienax 621]

Seriously the 'hive' is freaking pointless. it honestly serves no function beyond an easily exploitable gimmick. unless they do something like multiple different maps that are linked together where reaching the edge of the map changes 'instance' or server to the next map there is no reason for a global hive/db. every server is the same as the next so why move/persists across them?

[gibonez 3633]

and death to the "global loot" ...

 

No.

 

global loot would remain unaffected.

 

You would in effect have a central control over all loot just not be able to trade and transfer loot across servers.

 

The devs could still have set number of certain items, control the spawn rate and dynamicly change the drop rate of things. All better balanced imo since it would eliminate all server hopping.

[blacklabel79 949]

 

You would in effect have a central control over all loot just not be able to trade and transfer loot across servers.

 

Wich is also part of global loot thinngy no ? Say you only find part 5x times across 100 servers for example. This idea whould die and i whouldent cry abot it either...

 

I

[xalienax 621]

No.

 

global loot would remain unaffected.

 

You would in effect have a central control over all loot just not be able to trade and transfer loot across servers.

 

The devs could still have set number of certain items, control the spawn rate and dynamicly change the drop rate of things. All better balanced imo since it would eliminate all server hopping.

'global' loot is pointless if items don't move across servers. if there are 50 M4s in circulation on server A the spawning of M4s on server B should be 100% unaffected. each server should exist in isolation as its own self-contained 'game world' unaffected by the happenings on other servers.

[gibonez 3633]

'global' loot is pointless if items don't move across servers. if there are 50 M4s in circulation on server A the spawning of M4s on server B should be 100% unaffected. each server should exist in isolation as its own self-contained 'game world' unaffected by the happenings on other servers.

 

It is not pointless.

 

the entire point of the global loot system is to give the devs a means to monitor the in game loot and how it affects gameplay and then as a result be able to adjust it in real time from their end and monitor the changes.

 

This would remain the same with one server one character. They can still micro manage loot and thus gameplay even accross single server ecosystems.

[trev186 389]

It is not pointless.

 

the entire point of the global loot system is to give the devs a means to monitor the in game loot and how it affects gameplay and then as a result be able to adjust it in real time from their end and monitor the changes.

 

This would remain the same with one server one character. They can still micro manage loot and thus gameplay even accross single server ecosystems.

 

Never going to happen Gibonez....Public hive servers are as much of a confirmed thing as trucks & 3pp mode

[mercules 1290]

I think while this is a definite advantage it's also highly situational. Sure you skip the search for your first set of friends which is nice but you also have to start a new character and a new search for the other set of friends. And depending on your playstyle you could also set "rally points" to meet up faster. Now it's probably your opinion whether its better to have many characters that are played less or only one character that is played more. I like the latter but in the end its down to personal preference.

 

The advantages outweigh the negatives. For one thing my friends and I can actually tactically clear an area and know that it is fairly secure. I mean someone could have logged out in the back corner of a building and choose that moment to log back in, but that is a lot less likely than someone hopping from Server A to Server B to Server C and then to the server we are on. We also don't have people getting into a hard to reach but effective location on an empty server then hopping to a full one to snipe from that position.

[Evil Minion 943]

Thats why server hopping needs to be nerfed hard. You should not get those advantages for free. If the cost for hopping is high enough it's actually more effective and fun to search for loot by moving around on a single server than switching between multiple servers. If the cost for ghosting is high enough you still get that positional advantage but it takes you quite some time to do so - many people would probably prefer trying their luck on the popular server instead of moving there on an empty one, waiting a significant time (or paying another significant cost) and being ready thereafter. In the end you can do the same on private servers: logging in when its (close to) empty, moving into position, logging out (maybe playing on another character in the meantime) and logging back in when the server is populated.

 

If frequent hopping becomes unviable in gameplay terms you will have much less people switching servers and the chance someone is hopping to a place gets pretty close to the chance of someone simply logging in there. In this case the main differences between public and private servers would be the greater loot economy vs. having multiple characters.

[albinoclock 45]

I've been hosting trading posts since August. Ghosting is a reality of the game. Yes, the solution is to deal with it. Set up patrols and keep your people frosty.

At least carpet bombing hackers aren't showing up to every single public event anymore. Organizing events in Day Z isn't easy. Figure out the logistics with your own people if you want to be the guy doing it.

That said, if you want to talk to someone with experience hosting and defending events, feel free to hit me up some time.

Edited March 14, 2015 by albinoclock

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

Its not only SAYING..it is dealing with it. And tbh..only knobs that Need to serverhop for loots and Retards/hackers are left on public space...v ( oh and a occasional cannibal wich is me.. )

 

 

This is not accurate.

 

I play vanilla, vanilla, 1st Person, vanilla, ONLY.

 

I'm a zombie hunter (we're back baby!) and survivalist RP player who doesn't seek PvP and enjoys a low pop but PUBLIC server with vanilla settings.

 

I'm sure there are lots of people who play the way I do as well, in public.

 

I also usually have no more than 2 servers I frequent for my 1st person character and usually just stick to 1 unless it goes down.

 

Server hoppers and ghosts are the absolute lowest form of life. Lower than KoS assholes.

[bain 23]

Play on private shards. You don't have to buy one. Playing is free.

I concur with this. Seems a simple solution.

Personally I'd like the public hive to go away entirely. But I doubt that'll happen.

[Finchtastic 50]

This is not accurate.

 

I play vanilla, vanilla, 1st Person, vanilla, ONLY.

 

I'm a zombie hunter (we're back baby!) and survivalist RP player who doesn't seek PvP and enjoys a low pop but PUBLIC server with vanilla settings.

 

I'm sure there are lots of people who play the way I do as well, in public.

 

I also usually have no more than 2 servers I frequent for my 1st person character and usually just stick to 1 unless it goes down.

 

Server hoppers and ghosts are the absolute lowest form of life. Lower than KoS assholes.

That's funny, because in the future you're going to have to server hop for non-common items because there will only be X amount spread across Y servers...  Be sure to tell the devs what you think of them.

[gibonez 3633]

That's funny, because in the future you're going to have to server hop for non-common items because there will only be X amount spread across Y servers...  Be sure to tell the devs what you think of them.

 

I fail to see how having restricted set number of certain items will mean you absolutely have to server hop?

 

If anything it means the opposite since server hopping for specific items will be pointless if said item is no longer in the rotation due to reaching its limit.