Temporarily expose Server-Hoppers to prevent hopping in general

[Grunf911 1]

I believe Server-hopping happens for several reasons, some of them could be considered legit:

Legit reasons:

- accidental login to wrong server

- realizing it's night time

- if you log out indoors realizing that some douchebag has fenced it, so you cannot get out

- bugged spawn/server

- server restart / high ping disconnect

Cheating reasons:

- loot farming

- flank a player in main server and kill him/her

But if you analyse it more closely, there is a very simple difference between the two. For most of the legit reasons there will be 1 server hop tops, and I believe in order to make things as simple as possible, the ideal way to solve this would be:

- When player is logging in do:

1. Check number of logins within last 10 mins

2. If >= 2 paint a big red honking bullseye icon over him for the next 10 mins. And I am talking huge, i.e. size of a Huey or something.

I know it does not sound realistic, but frankly, neither does Server-Hopping. And if you just consider it for a sec.

PROs:

1. Players that accidentally spawned on wrong server, or chose another, still get 1 respawn, with no consequence.

2. Players that loot farm, risk exposing their location in a very public way for quite a long time (and especially more so in high value loot areas). That would give bandits an incentive knowing there is a server-hopper nearby with possibly good loot, making bandits useful and very effective cleanup mechanism.

3. Players that try to flank and kill player by server hopping become an even bigger target, not just for player that they are trying to flank, but for everyone.

CONs:

1. Players that respawn more than 2 times in non-loot area, will be exposed, however if the are is not that attractive, they do not risk much, as the map is quite huge.

I am not sure if this would be the best fix, but it would be a temporary one that would allow some existing game mechanics to solve the problem:

1. Server-Hoppers risking much when hopping

2. Bandits giving normal survivors a slight break (due to hunting server hoppers, since they know there is better loot to be found)

3. No survivors would want to be near server-hopper

This is just my 2 cents. I am very interested to hear comments on this approach....

[[email protected] 13]

If characters are bound per server and if you join a new server you get a new character with different 'progress' then server hopping is over. Simple as that. The persistent world effect in form of your character being able to join another server with same gear and same position just simply invites the abuse.

Another partial solution. You could also initiate a cooldown on going back to same servers. Meaning if you switch from US1 to US2 then to US3 i.e. the next hour or so you can't switch back to US1 or 2. This prevents server hopping for a better kill position but not for better loot, hense the partial solution.

[Izziee 128]

No thank you. I do not server hop for loot or anything like that but the last couple of days I've been jumping servers to try and see if they work! (Haven't actually managed to get on but I get passed the lobby and stuck on loading or char create).

Most of the time it's fine, but last night they were DDoS'd and today it was fine until an hour or so ago and I found a chopper spawn, got the little yellow icon, couldn't loot, logged off and now can't get back on, nor can my mate, so looks like they've been attacked again.

I don't want to get punished for this crap, I already rarely die from players or zombies, but bugs, I don't want any other bullshit adding to that.

Anyway, I've noticed when I spawn in a place, there's never any loot around, yet if I go back to the same place 10 mins later there is, so isn't there already something in place to prevent that.

[Grunf911 1]

Binding character to the server is problematic due to several reasons:

i.e.

1. Servers are often full

2. Servers are sometimes not stable / bugged

3. Playing a nighttime - should not be forced (i.e. I choose not to play during night time yet (so i do change servers, but more like 2 per day not per 10 mins, or an hour))

4. Persistant aspect is one thing that makes this game great.

Cooldown on going back to same servers is a potentially good idea. And simple enough.

Another alternative is to "Soft Spawn a player" meaning, spawn his character up to 30 seconds before an actual player can take control. That way he/she is visible to others, and can be killed / attacked, and cannot do anything about it. this would also not impact players hopping servers due to legit reasons, hopefully

Izzie, what happened to you should generally be an exception, and in that case, all of the players would have a bullseye over their heads, not just you ;-). But i agree with you, you should not be penalized for that

[Dreganius (DayZ) 55]

If characters are bound per server and if you join a new server you get a new character with different 'progress' then server hopping is over. Simple as that.

That would remove the point of the Developers having the master file. Ergo, it would be easier for players to cheat.

@OP

+1 for the first half of your idea. However, I feel that the second half of your idea is a bit overkill. Perhaps instead of painting a bullseye on the guy, it's globally announced that they're a hopper, and the server marks him for suppression (similar to how it does now if you hop too much in a short time, by knocking you unconscious), and when they get marked multiple times (5 times in a set time period), it reports the master server, temporarily banning them or somesuch.

[psylnz 34]

Simple solution - I saw it done in an MMO, Fallen Earth. When you try to log out, a 30 second timer starts counting down. If you move or do any action, the timer is cancelled, and you must restart the process again. So with this, in DayZ when you wanted to log out, you'd go find a quiet safe spot, log out and wait 30 seconds. No more logging out under attack cause you'll die. Simple and fair.

Mind you this would only work for those trying to avoid death, it would do nothing for loot jumpers.

[Grunf911 1]

@Dreganius - announcements might not be a bad idea, but I believe a visual cue on the hopper would be beneficial. Maybe not as big as I suggested originally, but a cue that would say to ALL other players that can see him, that he is a hopper. And if it resets after 10 mins or so, there is not a such a big risk for the accidental player being marked.

On the funny side, i think a big honking red icon over server-hoppers would be just hillarious. It would mark an open season on them :-)

My idea came from a medieval movie, where ie. a thief (guy breaking the rules) was placed in stockade, and visually exposed to other people for ridicule (and or punishment). It is my opinion that all players breaking the rules (only cheating, NOT thieving, PKing or banditing) should be exposed.

[LastShenanigan 8]

I think every time you login regardless of where you are you should let out a big *YAWN*. This would give nearby players who are looting the building an audible indication that someone is now standing where there previously was no one. Players appearing behind you especially in small building can be a confusing disaster. Server hopping and logging out on top of hot loot areas needs to be discourage. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think its unrealistic that a survivor may decide to hold up in a secure building. However, when you login inside a building you have a huge advantage. You can typically hear the other player walking around because they've already checked the place head to toe. Secondly, you've logged in perfectly still giving you the opportunity to stalk an kill someone who in reality made no mistakes. If they aren't staring at your exact login spot they're screwed. You wouldn't lay down and fall asleep for the night in an area with unsecured doors and hostile people around. My biggest gripe when I'm in good area is I'm more worried about someone logging in right next to me then the idea that someone may have stalked and followed me in.