Congratulations on reaching 1.0, but I won't be playing it until...

[rickyriot 1009]

** This thread may seem negative, but I'm not complaining about the current stage the game is at, more just highlighting why I will not be playing it **

As the thread title says, congrats on hitting 1.0 - I've been a player of both the mod and SA for what seems like a decade now and it's provided me far more enjoyment than the £15 (or whatever) I paid for the SA version on release. Not sure of the exact number of hours but it's quite a lot to say the least. Having this longevity with the title doesn't make me an expert, my opinion is as valid as any others' and some may entirely disagree with me. That's fine, and highlights the flexibility of DayZ's gaming style.

However... I believe the 1.0 version is effectively the "DayZ PvP Release". For a game to be based around zombies and have those zombies so utterly poorly implemented (and that's an observation not some hysterical flaming) seems strange. When they shifted to the new engine and started reworking everything you would have thought that the zombies would be quite a high priority. Sadly they seemed to have been ignored. They are actually in a worse state than the original SA release and even the mod! It's incredible that 5 years later the game's zombie handling has gotten worse. For example, can you imagine FIFA making the footballing AI worse with each release? It would get rightly panned. Now, EA is not Bohemia and FIFA is not DayZ but I'm sure you see the point I'm making.

Aside from the zombies, the lack of a (craftable) bow and arrows, very limited farming implementation, no fishing and mish mash of all sorts of missing "non PvP" features means this build is the equivalent of any run of the mill FPS - and a feature lacking one at that (for example the ability to vault and climb are now mainstays in these types of games and are still to be implemented in 1.0). If you want to fight PvP then there are many other better titles out there. We've always tolerated the gunplay in DayZ SA, it's never felt as precise as Arma and I believe the current implementation is lacking in terms of bullet drop and several other key physics affects (don't quote me on that last one, although from testing that seems to be the case), because overall the game's environment made up for this.

As a counter balance to my comments, the world does look good, the aural environment and it's cues are lovely. The graphics really compliment the map and, in a stunning change of direction from previous SA builds, it actually runs smoothly - I remember the days of crawling through Cherno struggling to get double figure FPS! The environmental effects, such as cold and wet, are infrequent bedfellows of DayZ but it's nice to see them rolled in more fully than before. Just navigating the world as it is provides a unique experience and it's that experience that I think has saved DayZ in the minds of the gaming populace.

I wrote a while back that ultimately my game style is far more survival than it is PvP. I like to look like a crazy mountain man, wearing clothes made from the animals I've killed, using weapons I've crafted myself, wandering into a city to get supplies; maybe taking out the odd zombie and/or player then disappear into the forest. That comment got a few likes, so I can only presume that I am not the only person who enjoys a PvE, and a stealthy strategic PvE at that, compared to a sh*t show of campers and overpowered snipers circling the military loot spawns of an airbase.

So, ultimately improvements have been made, and I'm optimistic that DayZ can come round to the sort of game that I like and more importantly the sort of game promised by Dean at the very start. If not? C'est la vie, as I said I've got my money's worth. However while people may slag the game for it's current faults, I'm stepping back from that and saying, "well done, but you're still nowhere near the sort of level that the game needs to get to before I return to it".

[[TL;DR?]]

I'll not be playing DayZ until it expands to include "proper survival" elements rather than being a fairly clunky PvP as it is now.

Edited December 15, 2018 by rickyriot
punctuation + minor amends

[Skruffy 167]

I actually checked out the 1.0 version during the steam free weekend, and as I own this on Xbox and not Steam, i figured I would take a look at what I would be getting in the future. Unfortunately, what was in the 1.0 Experimental and Stable branches simply justified my opinions and as such does not give me much hope.

Yes the steam version is far more fluid, and I accredit that to the M&K control layout. It simply is a nightmare sometimes. We still dont have the auto loading mosin let alone shotgun. you can only chamber 1 round/shell at a time. I truly do hope that DayZ continues its support well past 1.0, but the decline in players and lack of anything to do other than walk around really drives me mad sometimes.

DayZ will always hold a special place for me. Whether it be Mod, A3 Exile, or standalone, I had some very good memories, but I can only push myself so far as a solo player now. Im the first to say "make your own story" but I am just so bored. I hope that the xbox port gets the love that it needs right now to get it to 1.0, because everything about it is clunky and messy.

I really hope Bohemia didnt pull a Bluehole like they did with PUBG and slap a 1.0 label on it, knowing it is broken but semi stable, only to push the ps4 port at yet another attempt to cash grab. The sheer amount of negative reviews since 1.0 launch on steam are proof enough that people are convinced that is exactly what they did