Is PvP & Atmosphere Dying in DayZ SA?

[break 88]

Eurgh...I've spent the best part of an hour now trying to construct this post in a way that doesn't come across like a "I hate DayZ" post. I actually don't, I love it. But the wonderful game I used to know and love feels like its changing forever recently. 

 

I don't know if its just the phase its going through right now with the patches, but DayZ feels more of an RP/Elektro fight sim than a "hardcore" zombie apocalypse sim. Every man and his dog are fighting in Elektro, swapping the only AK in miles over and over again as each fresh spawn chase each other with brooms & fire extinguishers hoping to land the one desyncing blow that gets them all the lewt. They do this repetitively, only to stay in Elektro and lose it all and rinse & repeat the process. 

 

I've streamed the entirety of the Standalone, and right now map exploration seems to be at its lowest point. To put it into perspective, I stream on average 7 or 8 hours a day, I play in the west (mostly NW) and go to all the military zones. NWA, Veresnik, Myshkino Tents, Green Mountain, Zelenogorsk & Pavlovo. Over a week I encountered 8 players on 50/50 servers. I didn't hear a single shot in all that time...not 1. No one fighting for gear, no one shooting an animal because they need food...not one single gun shot...in around 28 hours gameplay.

 

Due to this, DayZ for me seems to be losing its acclaimed atmosphere. The fear of someone watching me, the fear of losing everything I've worked for. In the Mod it could happen anywhere, Stary, Novy, Altar, Grishino, Rogovo, Old Fields...I could go on. There was no safe zone, no where I felt completely alone & it was GREAT! For me, bandits CREATED the atmosphere, be it KOS, be it a hold up...there was always consequence for my actions. I loved it and the atmosphere of the Mod was so great it was palpable. Explaining to to friends was difficult because I didn't know where to start, all I could say was YOU HAVE TO GET THIS GAME...YOU'LL SEE!

 

Now fast forward 1.4 years, no I see guys wearing no pants, a pink raincoat and a stetson hitting a totally naked guy with a broomstick....that atmosphere comes crashing back down. There is no consequence for my actions. I can get my gear back in 10 minutes if I get a Cherno spawn. Balota & the Prison will see to that. 

 

I know there are several causes for these issues. Some are by design, others are down to bugs that will inevitably be fixed at some point. Like I said, this isn't a I hate DayZ post, I’m just really passionate about it that's all, & from someone who played the Mod from May 2012 I think I have some right to be a little pissed. (Not at the bugs...with the game direction). 

 

So with that rant, is the hardcore PVP element of DayZ dying? 

 

Lets face it, 1pp is pretty much dead. No one wants to play it...everyone would prefer the advantage of looking around pine trees and over walls, though they’ll say its because they want to see their character. (Its not). Its being developed as a Hardcore Simulator...the Antigame, so why not promote 1pp? PvP is 10 times better in 1pp AND the atmosphere is 1000 times better in 1pp than 3pp. I can't take any PvP'ers who play in 3pp seriously anymore...

 

Running speed has been increased to entertain the masses who simply cant be arsed taking time to travel around, so people are insanely hard to hit on the run. The crazy weapon sway that hasn't been touched in nearly a year encourages camping, because if you move...you can’t aim. (Again no wonder why people aren't moving). 

 

The inclusion of lots of melee weapons and lots of none lethal guns. There are so many melee weapons they've finally reached a broomstick, so hopefully they’ll stop soon. Then there's the sporter and now the Trumpet, killing someone under 10ft away with these guns is impossible. Shotguns don’t kill they just about ruin clothes, and there's still no scope (or mag) for the CR527. 

 

There are bugs hindering PvP too as we all know, this isn't a hate DayZ thread. I understand its in Alpha, I understand most of the bugs will be fixed in time, but the above issues just don't seem to be getting addressed. 

 

It looks like my dreams of the Standalone becoming "hardcore" aint coming true. From the Mod to what we have now, it just seems so different

 

Theres a younger player base who want all the gear, but don't want to work hard for it and when someone like me kills them for it....they complain. The devs seem to listen to these guys more than the guys who played & supported the mod for so long & the game seems be be tailored around them, not people who supported it back in 2012. 

[Fat Larry 3]

That about sums up how I feel about it.

[dkmintz 28]

I feel there are a few points I would like to address that you have raised.

 

You are right, DayZ right now is NOT the harsh post apocalyptic survival 'sim' we all wan't to see; and there are good reasons for that.  But it WILL happen, the status reports, the tweets, the info from the Dev's know this too, but they share with us their vision of what DayZ is/should be...and they want the same as you and me.  You just have got to be patient man, seriously.  Wait for the game to finish, then form a public opinion.

 

With regards to 1pp; with respect, I believe you have to accept some responsibility for what it is that you promote.  You play constantly in 3pp.  You have your reasons for that, and anyone with half a brain will acknowledge and accept those reasons.  But you promote playing in 3pp, you are a public figure in terms of DayZ and what you say or do in your stream or your Youtube videos will absolutely influence others to do/feel the same about DayZ.  You playing more in 1pp will encourage more people to play in 1pp.  Stating that you are worried about stream snipers because there are very few 1pp servers is completely understandable, but while your reasons for that are legit, not playing in 1pp will not encourage anyone to try it out.

 

You, me and every other player who wishes DayZ to be the hardcore game they know it can be, will happen.  Why?  Because the devs want it that way.  Period.  It also has to be accessible to other possibly not hardcore players, but I believe they will make that happen to an extent.

 

Again, I respect what you have achieved in the world of DayZ.  You are in a very prominent position, and having many hours under my belt of watching your stream, I believe you are too negative about DayZ and unfairly so, to the point I do not watch it now.  I understand your frustrations, but given the position that you have in terms of DayZ and your following, I would have to suggest that perhaps you should be more understanding of the development cycle and, from a professional point of view as a person who makes money from this, you should perhaps be more thankful too.  Again, this is said with respect for what you have achieved, I do not wish to 'bash' you, I just feel being so negative about something that allowed you to leave full time work is not particularly gracious.

 

As for the younger player base, nothing anyone can do about that.  Let them get on with it.  Hardcore players are out there, you just need to play on 1pp hardcore servers.

 

I hope DayZ turns out to be what most of us wish it to be, I have faith that it will.  I hope I did not come across as patronizing; these are my thoughts.

[WilliamTheConqueror 81]

Just wait for mods. The community will iron things out. Until epoch sa is made, then we're screwed again.

[elite_vsg 6]

I completely agree with you bro.

 

I too have played the mod for years and supported the Standalone from the day it was released. The game in its current state is swaying away from the fundamentals of the DayZ experience which gave it the popularity originally. 

 

There are things that drive DayZ to be what it should be

 

The pulse racing as you hear a shot in the distance... The shake in your hands as you desperately try to stay alive while in combat... That fear of losing all the gear that it has taken you days to find.

 

The days need to return where instead of sitting on the coast, players would be heading towards Stary, wondering if you could even make it to the NW airfield to find a good gun. The basic reason to travel has been taken away. The inclusion of things like the prison is a fantastic idea... it has sadly been located in the wrong area of the map. The North West has always been and should still be considered the area to head in DayZ. At the very least add these things to the central points to pull players inland. 

 

The servers need to be increased in number also. To maybe a level more like 80, due to the increase in additional towns and areas that have been added. Finding players is almost impossible... until that inevitable point happens where you are shot while looting a camo building.. only to find that they were in the wall

 

More emphasis needs to be turned to Hardcore servers and gameplay. As a DayZ player, playing hardcore is where the game comes to life. I watch you stream and can feel the frustration that have when you are unable to play on Hardcore servers due to them having such a low pop level. Its hard enough finding players on a full 60 man full 3rd person server, so finding someone on a Hardcore server with only 11 players is almost impossible.

 

Everyone knows that the game is in Alpha. We all accept that there will be issues. These problems are less caused by buggy mechanics and server issues... but more down to poor thinking and application. 

 

Again as you have said i too love DayZ and only wish it to stay true to what made it so popular.

 

Dev's please listen.... and players please... Play hardcore 

[iConnorN 21]

Well break you sort of don't have a leg to stand on in regards to 1pp considering you steam third person. There are 6 full 1pp servers right now as I'm posting this, and the probability of a stream sniper is rather low if your up north and they don't know which of the six servers you are playing in. It would be rather difficult for someone to have a character well geared all the way up there on all the servers.

But it is true the game is tailored to the younger crowd. I've yet to die of either dehydration or starvation in standalone since day 1. Water is in every well and food is in every house, survival is currently a joke.

And dayz can't appeal to the majority, or it won't be dayz anymore. 99% of the mod sure as hell isn't dayz with indestructabke sky bases and millions of vehicles and guns. The most popular games are ones like call of duty, so if dayz appeals to the masses, we won't have dayz anymore. Just like it happened in the mod.

[HarryPotter (DayZ) 172]

More random spawn points is all that's needed to sort it out.

[MRDC 2]

100% Agree totally feels like they've forgot what drew everyone into the mod in the first place and kept them there up until the standalone came out and for some even beyond that.

 

Also feels like what we were lead to believe the standalone was meant to be from the start has changed direction along the way in a completely different way.

If it is going the way as it seems to be going and i knew that when i bought the standalone i wouldn't have bought it feel like I've bought into what they told us we were buying into and it's going to be something completely different.

 

I'm not a standalone hater i haven't once raged at the devs on twitter but it seems like as much as they say they don't like the kids raging about an alpha the vocal minority of kids get what they want.

 

An example of that being there was no talk of vehicles coming into the game kids raged about it for such a long time they put them in to please them and they came into the game completely broken not the worst thing they could do to put them in the game to please some people but to put them in at a point where the people inside the vehicle could not be killed was insane.

 

But it seems like they worry about pleasing stuff like that more than staying on course to the orignal goal and have got so far lost on the way. Just the thoughts of a hardcore mod player who played the mod from pretty much the start though who's hope of the standalone being the game that was promised are dying just like a lot of my friends who played the mod.

[iConnorN 21]

finding someone on a Hardcore server with only 11 players is almost impossible.

What servers are you joining? There is always at least one full hardcore server at any time of the day.

[LeeWorezGaming 0]

 

Eurgh...I've spent the best part of an hour now trying to construct this post in a way that doesn't come across like a "I hate DayZ" post. I actually don't, I love it. But the wonderful game I used to know and love feels like its changing forever recently. 

 

I don't know if its just the phase its going through right now with the patches, but DayZ feels more of an RP/Elektro fight sim than a "hardcore" zombie apocalypse sim. Every man and his dog are fighting in Elektro, swapping the only AK in miles over and over again as each fresh spawn chase each other with brooms & fire extinguishers hoping to land the one desyncing blow that gets them all the lewt. They do this repetitively, only to stay in Elektro and lose it all and rinse & repeat the process. 

 

I've streamed the entirety of the Standalone, and right now map exploration seems to be at its lowest point. To put it into perspective, I stream on average 7 or 8 hours a day, I play in the west (mostly NW) and go to all the military zones. NWA, Veresnik, Myshkino Tents, Green Mountain, Zelenogorsk & Pavlovo. Over a week I encountered 8 players on 50/50 servers. I didn't hear a single shot in all that time...not 1. No one fighting for gear, no one shooting an animal because they need food...not one single gun shot...in around 28 hours gameplay.

 

Due to this, DayZ for me seems to be losing its acclaimed atmosphere. The fear of someone watching me, the fear of losing everything I've worked for. In the Mod it could happen anywhere, Stary, Novy, Altar, Grishino, Rogovo, Old Fields...I could go on. There was no safe zone, no where I felt completely alone & it was GREAT! For me, bandits CREATED the atmosphere, be it KOS, be it a hold up...there was always consequence for my actions. I loved it and the atmosphere of the Mod was so great it was palpable. Explaining to to friends was difficult because I didn't know where to start, all I could say was YOU HAVE TO GET THIS GAME...YOU'LL SEE!

 

Now fast forward 1.4 years, no I see guys wearing no pants, a pink raincoat and a stetson hitting a totally naked guy with a broomstick....that atmosphere comes crashing back down. There is no consequence for my actions. I can get my gear back in 10 minutes if I get a Cherno spawn. Balota & the Prison will see to that. 

 

I know there are several causes for these issues. Some are by design, others are down to bugs that will inevitably be fixed at some point. Like I said, this isn't a I hate DayZ post, I’m just really passionate about it that's all, & from someone who played the Mod from May 2012 I think I have some right to be a little pissed. (Not at the bugs...with the game direction). 

 

So with that rant, is the hardcore PVP element of DayZ dying? 

 

Lets face it, 1pp is pretty much dead. No one wants to play it...everyone would prefer the advantage of looking around pine trees and over walls, though they’ll say its because they want to see their character. (Its not). Its being developed as a Hardcore Simulator...the Antigame, so why not promote 1pp? PvP is 10 times better in 1pp AND the atmosphere is 1000 times better in 1pp than 3pp. I can't take any PvP'ers who play in 3pp seriously anymore...

 

Running speed has been increased to entertain the masses who simply cant be arsed taking time to travel around, so people are insanely hard to hit on the run. The crazy weapon sway that hasn't been touched in nearly a year encourages camping, because if you move...you can’t aim. (Again no wonder why people aren't moving). 

 

The inclusion of lots of melee weapons and lots of none lethal guns. There are so many melee weapons they've finally reached a broomstick, so hopefully they’ll stop soon. Then there's the sporter and now the Trumpet, killing someone under 10ft away with these guns is impossible. Shotguns don’t kill they just about ruin clothes, and there's still no scope (or mag) for the CR527. 

 

There are bugs hindering PvP too as we all know, this isn't a hate DayZ thread. I understand its in Alpha, I understand most of the bugs will be fixed in time, but the above issues just don't seem to be getting addressed. 

 

It looks like my dreams of the Standalone becoming "hardcore" aint coming true. From the Mod to what we have now, it just seems so different

 

Theres a younger player base who want all the gear, but don't want to work hard for it and when someone like me kills them for it....they complain. The devs seem to listen to these guys more than the guys who played & supported the mod for so long & the game seems be be tailored around them, not people who supported it back in 2012. 

 

I'm one of the people who actually started off playing DayZ from the mod and I've got to agree with you that the atmosphere on that was much more intense than in Standalone just because people are fighting along the coast and not exploring around the map mainly in Elektrodavask and wearing pink rain coats, etcetera and whenever I adventure to one of the military bases as you mentioned I don't feel that same atmosphere like I first did so I'm basically forced to go onto 1PP servers to get that same feeling because it feels most intense and when I started playing so I hope when this "DayZ2012" re-boot server comes out it will give me that feeling back but Gaz you pretty much described how I feel about DayZ also and most likely described it for others. 

Edited March 29, 2015 by LeeWorezGaming

[Old_Crow_Whiskey 119]

game's not finished, play more private shards, ad infinitum, ad nauseum

[RedNome 443]

Got to agree with the post above from DKmintz, he's pretty much echo'd my thoughts on this issue.

 

Your frustrations are nothing more than growing pains during the development cycle, you have to be patient and I know that's hard when it is your job to play the game but that was your choice and you're very lucky to be in that position now.

 

I've watched your streams from the early days Break, when you were pulling 20 viewers only and think you're a cool guy, but I have to agree again with DK, your stream quality is suffering with your lack of patience and as he also said you are not helping the lack of 1pp server pop by not supporting it on stream. When you and Jon were playing the shit out of 1pp there was a noticeable spike in traffic so I'd suggest going back to what you like and help the situation improve, and yes I understand your issues with that but maybe you have to take the hit in the short term to see long term gain.

 

I know you love the game as much as I do, that much is obvious, but your lack of patience will be your own downfall if you're not careful and as a fan of your stream I don't want to see it suffer.

 

Sorry if I come across as harsh, it's not meant that way but I struggle to watch you at the moment when you are so negative, I watch you to chill and have fun and I can't do that when you are not in that space yourself.

 

Edit: you also need to remember that you are comparing Standalone to your experiences and love of Day Zero, a PVP oriented mod of the mod. I'd suggest the game you are truly looking for won't be available until the modding scene starts up again in SA.

Edited March 29, 2015 by RedNome

[MRDC 2]

Well break you sort of don't have a leg to stand on in regards to 1pp considering you steam third person. There are 6 full 1pp servers right now as I'm posting this, and the probability of a stream sniper is rather low if your up north and they don't know which of the six servers you are playing in. It would be rather difficult for someone to have a character well geared all the way up there on all the servers.

 

Break plays earlier than this usually also by the looks of it you're from the U.S And he's in the U.K different servers i get that he could play on U.S Server instead but the games desync is bad enough at the best of times i've watched him stream many times and show that there aren't any 1pp servers anywhere near full until around 3pm gmt

[LeeWorezGaming 0]

What servers are you joining? There is always at least one full hardcore server at any time of the day.

Well I'm joining a whitelisted server with a number of clans and streamers on it and I don't feel obliged to give it out because I could potentially ruin their streaming experience.

[The Aquatic Land Walrus 565]

I play 3PP because 1PP is just kinda weird. The controls fit a third person game more, especially with the clunky movement system.

[break 88]

I feel there are a few points I would like to address that you have raised.

 

With regards to 1pp; with respect, I believe you have to accept some responsibility for what it is that you promote.  You play constantly in 3pp.  You have your reasons for that, and anyone with half a brain will acknowledge and accept those reasons.  But you promote playing in 3pp, you are a public figure in terms of DayZ and what you say or do in your stream or your Youtube videos will absolutely influence others to do/feel the same about DayZ.  You playing more in 1pp will encourage more people to play in 1pp.  Stating that you are worried about stream snipers because there are very few 1pp servers is completely understandable, but while your reasons for that are legit, not playing in 1pp will not encourage anyone to try it out.

 

Again, I respect what you have achieved in the world of DayZ.  You are in a very prominent position, and having many hours under my belt of watching your stream, I believe you are too negative about DayZ and unfairly so, to the point I do not watch it now.  I understand your frustrations, but given the position that you have in terms of DayZ and your following, I would have to suggest that perhaps you should be more understanding of the development cycle and, from a professional point of view as a person who makes money from this, you should perhaps be more thankful too.  Again, this is said with respect for what you have achieved, I do not wish to 'bash' you, I just feel being so negative about something that allowed you to leave full time work is not particularly gracious.

 

Hey DK! Yeah, I guess you're right with what I promote. I play 3pp....but I'm almost forced to right now. Stream sniping is always an issue for anyone streaming DayZ, I'm going to load DayZ up right now and tell you how many 1pp servers there are with a 40+ pop...1 sec. OK so there are 3...ones 41/50 the other 2 are 40/50 the rest are way below. This is on a weekend, where people might be gaming a little more, so you can imagine what its like at 1pm on a Monday. I don't want to run around on empty 1pp servers not seeing anyone for hours on end so...yeah this is what I'm stuck with at the moment unfortunately. I don't think I'm a big enough streamer to convince DayZ's player base to switch either. Even the server most of the guys know we play on isn't full most of the time. 

 

Onto your second point, I agree. I used to be quite negative about the game, this was born out of frustration mostly...putting hard work into a 1pp character to eventually die to a bug or hacker or ss was demoralsing. Which is also why I switched to 3pp, because its more casual and to be totally honest, hurts less when you do lose everything....

 

However, If you've tuned into one of my streams since probably around last September, I rarely am negative about the game. I never rant, & only speak highly of the dev team. I became aware it was putting people like yourself off from watching the stream, and I totally changed my attitude. At a cost of this, my DayZ play style switched from Hardcore, to more casual. OR from 1pp to 3pp. It just helps more I guess?! I don't take the position I'm in for granted either. I'm aware I owe a lot to DayZ! If It wasn't for the game, I wouldn't be in this fantastic position as a streamer I find myself in now. It really has been a dream come true for me personally. But I also have an opinion, and I don't want to not speak my mind on something I care so passionately about. 

 

My above post wasn't meant with any venom towards the Dev team, or the game. I know they're working as hard as they can, putting in more hours than most of us do In our jobs.

 

Just an observation from a very passionate fan I guess. 

[The Dayz Dawg 8]

 

Eurgh...I've spent the best part of an hour now trying to construct this post in a way that doesn't come across like a "I hate DayZ" post. I actually don't, I love it. But the wonderful game I used to know and love feels like its changing forever recently. 

 

I don't know if its just the phase its going through right now with the patches, but DayZ feels more of an RP/Elektro fight sim than a "hardcore" zombie apocalypse sim. Every man and his dog are fighting in Elektro, swapping the only AK in miles over and over again as each fresh spawn chase each other with brooms & fire extinguishers hoping to land the one desyncing blow that gets them all the lewt. They do this repetitively, only to stay in Elektro and lose it all and rinse & repeat the process. 

 

I've streamed the entirety of the Standalone, and right now map exploration seems to be at its lowest point. To put it into perspective, I stream on average 7 or 8 hours a day, I play in the west (mostly NW) and go to all the military zones. NWA, Veresnik, Myshkino Tents, Green Mountain, Zelenogorsk & Pavlovo. Over a week I encountered 8 players on 50/50 servers. I didn't hear a single shot in all that time...not 1. No one fighting for gear, no one shooting an animal because they need food...not one single gun shot...in around 28 hours gameplay.

 

Due to this, DayZ for me seems to be losing its acclaimed atmosphere. The fear of someone watching me, the fear of losing everything I've worked for. In the Mod it could happen anywhere, Stary, Novy, Altar, Grishino, Rogovo, Old Fields...I could go on. There was no safe zone, no where I felt completely alone & it was GREAT! For me, bandits CREATED the atmosphere, be it KOS, be it a hold up...there was always consequence for my actions. I loved it and the atmosphere of the Mod was so great it was palpable. Explaining to to friends was difficult because I didn't know where to start, all I could say was YOU HAVE TO GET THIS GAME...YOU'LL SEE!

 

Now fast forward 1.4 years, no I see guys wearing no pants, a pink raincoat and a stetson hitting a totally naked guy with a broomstick....that atmosphere comes crashing back down. There is no consequence for my actions. I can get my gear back in 10 minutes if I get a Cherno spawn. Balota & the Prison will see to that. 

 

I know there are several causes for these issues. Some are by design, others are down to bugs that will inevitably be fixed at some point. Like I said, this isn't a I hate DayZ post, I’m just really passionate about it that's all, & from someone who played the Mod from May 2012 I think I have some right to be a little pissed. (Not at the bugs...with the game direction). 

 

So with that rant, is the hardcore PVP element of DayZ dying? 

 

Lets face it, 1pp is pretty much dead. No one wants to play it...everyone would prefer the advantage of looking around pine trees and over walls, though they’ll say its because they want to see their character. (Its not). Its being developed as a Hardcore Simulator...the Antigame, so why not promote 1pp? PvP is 10 times better in 1pp AND the atmosphere is 1000 times better in 1pp than 3pp. I can't take any PvP'ers who play in 3pp seriously anymore...

 

Running speed has been increased to entertain the masses who simply cant be arsed taking time to travel around, so people are insanely hard to hit on the run. The crazy weapon sway that hasn't been touched in nearly a year encourages camping, because if you move...you can’t aim. (Again no wonder why people aren't moving). 

 

The inclusion of lots of melee weapons and lots of none lethal guns. There are so many melee weapons they've finally reached a broomstick, so hopefully they’ll stop soon. Then there's the sporter and now the Trumpet, killing someone under 10ft away with these guns is impossible. Shotguns don’t kill they just about ruin clothes, and there's still no scope (or mag) for the CR527. 

 

There are bugs hindering PvP too as we all know, this isn't a hate DayZ thread. I understand its in Alpha, I understand most of the bugs will be fixed in time, but the above issues just don't seem to be getting addressed. 

 

It looks like my dreams of the Standalone becoming "hardcore" aint coming true. From the Mod to what we have now, it just seems so different

 

Theres a younger player base who want all the gear, but don't want to work hard for it and when someone like me kills them for it....they complain. The devs seem to listen to these guys more than the guys who played & supported the mod for so long & the game seems be be tailored around them, not people who supported it back in 2012. 

 

Very well said mate.

[break 88]

What servers are you joining? There is always at least one full hardcore server at any time of the day.

 

There isn't right now. On a Sunday. ;) Try it at 1pm on a Monday too. 

[RedNome 443]

There isn't right now. On a Sunday. ;) Try it at 1pm on a Monday too. 

 

Maybe you could change your schedule and play of an evening when the pops are higher, you're in the very fortunate position of being able to make your own hours.

 

And yes, you are big enough to make a difference, you and Jon did that a while back when you were streaming 1pp exclusively, the pops were noticeably higher, I say this as a 1pp player myself.

[Loubido 4]

New 3rd person camera should curtail the looking-over-walls abuse (hopefully). Too many people don't realize that Dayz is supposed to be hardcore, gritty and unforgiving and are looking for the easy way out by sticking to the coast because they cba to run for 20 minutes, so they pretty much miss the entire point of the game. I bet this gets on the developers nerves as well as they spent all that time creating beautiful scenery around Svetlo and Novo only for 99% of player traffic to be in Electro which is one of the old cities that was in the mod... The only solution I can think of is to just implement spawn points ALL ACROSS THE MAP.This combined with the planned increase in population per server would work really well and should make military zones the main traffic areas, which is how it should be, no exceptions.

 

For those that just want an easy game: 

-Don't know where you spawned ? Tough, go to the closest town and look at a signpost.

-Can't get military grade gear within 30 mins ? Tough, military grade gear is supposed to be rare, just like it was in the mod where it would take most people half a day to even get an automatic weapon. In the mod gear meant something and you really didn't want to lose it, currently it has next to no value.

-Don't get any player interaction for an hour ? Tough, seeing another player isn't supposed to be a common thing, it's supposed to be rare enough to get the heart pumping when you finally spot someone.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Loubido

[hekp 223]

Altho i mostly agree with the lack of "hardcore" in a game that's suppose to be "anti" and i understand your fear of the "young and impatient" getting it their way for the sake of money, I disagree with some of your statements. Most of what i read sounds more like a temp. annoyances you're getting from an alpha.

 

 

Every man and his dog are fighting in Elektro, swapping the only AK in miles over and over again as each fresh spawn chase each other with brooms & fire extinguishers hoping to land the one desyncing blow that gets them all the lewt. They do this repetitively, only to stay in Elektro and lose it all and rinse & repeat the process.

No offense but it seems theres only two kinds of people fighting in Electro; 

- streamers, trying to satisfy a never happy audience lusting for more more! and MORE blood and peeveepee.

- people who wanna peeveepee just like >insert streamers name< did.

The rest are casualties who got unfortunate enough to encounter these people.

I can assure you as someone who's not being rushed by people watching his stream, i will never look for a beach pvp.

 

 

I've streamed the entirety of the Standalone, and right now map exploration seems to be at its lowest point.

Purely situational and it goes both ways. How many times did you meet the only player or two on your server ? I did, plenty of times. In most unusual places.

The only location I've yet to meet someone is right at the edge of the map. So far i had encounters (either friendly or not) from Stary Jar to Berezhki.Full pop or low pop.

 

 

I can get my gear back in 10 minutes if I get a Cherno spawn. Balota & the Prison will see to that

And if you got berezino spawn a year ago youd run NEAF to get your m4. In a matter of 10 minutes.

Only thing different now is that they moved the loot on the island in order we would migrate there (makes sense).

They always make lootgasms in new areas (novi tower) and somewhat "normalise" it afterwards. I do agree gearing is easy a f** tho

 

 

Theres a younger player base who want all the gear, but don't want to work hard for it and when someone like me kills them for it....they complain.

Well said.

Edited March 29, 2015 by halp

[B4GEL 175]

Unfortunately for us because of the way the devs are building the game it's entirely possible that the current state of affairs on public servers (casual Electro DM) could last until beta.

But I do find it curious that you feel that it's getting worse. In my experience there's more people out west now than there was before private hives, helicrashes and vehicles. There's plenty of stuff coming that will add to these features pushing people off the coast, just look at the road map.

 

What it comes down to is whether or not you trust them to do what has to be done. I haven't seen anything to suggest that the devs have changed direction to appease the casual majority, in fact in recent communications they've been reinforcing their vision for the game in spite of potential outcry from a large (or perhaps just loud) proportion of the playerbase. 

Here's some quotes from recent status reports:

 

It is important to understand that the infected in DayZ are not the undead, and to be honest I don't want to see DayZ to become a frenzied 'run and grab all you can' simulator. I would like to remind you that DayZ isn't supposed to be easy and straightforward, it's meant to be hard and unforgiving.  While they are pretty fast right now it is just the perception in comparison with current character movement speed, which is planned to be lowered in general as it was increased intentionally when we had decided to do a complete overhaul on how the engine handles vehicles, and thus they would be absent for some time. As well I'm looking forward to the implementation of a proper stamina system for characters which alone will cut off the constant sprinting across the map and thorough the structures which is just ridiculous.

 

After the intended cooking mechanics are in place and the central economy is working as it should, we can finally say good bye to the generous amount of spawned non-perishable food.

 

3PP camera allowing you to see things that are outside your line of sight is a huge pain in the ass for us.

 

All this gives me confidence that the game will, eventually, be what I imagine it could be. There's no point complaining about trivial things like there being no scope for the CR527, the devs have a plan, they are following it. All we can do is wait.

[break 88]

Maybe you could change your schedule and play of an evening when the pops are higher, you're in the very fortunate position of being able to make your own hours.

 

And yes, you are big enough to make a difference, you and Jon did that a while back when you were streaming 1pp exclusively, the pops were noticeably higher, I say this as a 1pp player myself.

 

I could do, and I did for the majority of last year. Thing is, streaming till 3am every day impacts on my daily life. I'd stream till 3am, not fall asleep till 4 or 5, not get up till 2 or 3pm the next day...it was a bad cycle & I wasn't productive. Now I live with my girlfriend it makes it even harder. (Being loud at night when others are sleeping) & spending time with each other. I don't live on my own, or with parents so can't live "that" lifestyle anymore. (Although I miss it). I think 12-8 or sometimes 12-12 is a decent amount of time to expect to see people in the north. 

 

I don't think we're big enough to change the majority of the player base's style of play at all. I mean, yeah we play on a popular 1pp server & maybe we'll populate that server. But then we get things like, "did you just die at Rogovo?" Yeah I killed you.... OR "Another streamers just killed you." Maybe me and Jon could populate a 1pp server, but change the mentality of 1000's of people....nope. Thats up to the devs. 

[Fat Larry 3]

I can't speak for Break, but the devs quite clearly don't share my vision of a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested world. If they did, they wouldn't be adding silly broomstick combat, fluffy teddy bears and pink dresses, and toy guns.

 

 

DKmintz said: "...the status reports, the tweets, the info from the Dev's know this too, but they share with us their vision of what DayZ is/should be...and they want the same as you and me."

 

 

Edited March 29, 2015 by Fat Larry

[RedNome 443]

I could do, and I did for the majority of last year. Thing is, streaming till 3am every day impacts on my daily life. I'd stream till 3am, not fall asleep till 4 or 5, not get up till 2 or 3pm the next day...it was a bad cycle & I wasn't productive. Now I live with my girlfriend it makes it even harder. (Being loud at night when others are sleeping) & spending time with each other. I don't live on my own, or with parents so can't live "that" lifestyle anymore. (Although I miss it). I think 12-8 or sometimes 12-12 is a decent amount of time to expect to see people in the north. 

 

I don't think we're big enough to change the majority of the player base's style of play at all. I mean, yeah we play on a popular 1pp server & maybe we'll populate that server. But then we get things like, "did you just die at Rogovo?" Yeah I killed you.... OR "Another streamers just killed you." Maybe me and Jon could populate a 1pp server, but change the mentality of 1000's of people....nope. Thats up to the devs. 

 

 

On streamsniping, that's what I was getting at earlier, maybe you need to take the hits in the short term for the long term gains. If no one is going to advertise (stream) 1pp play then the noobs aren't going to see the benefits and therefore won't help populate the servers in the future, things will never improve.

 

No one else is streaming 1pp, at least no one as popular as you and now that you are playing 3pp your stream is starting to become just like all the others, you've lost your identity dude.