Day Z endgame suggestion (Warning: long post)

[oebus 0]

Day Z is (basically) a sandbox mod. In a sandbox, you normally have a whole set of tools at your disposal--a shovel, a bucket, a plastic sand rake thing, your hands, feet, water... and anything else you can remember from when you were two years old. This variety allows you to create an almost infinite number of activities. You can build a castle, you can wreck someone else's castle, you can eat sand, throw it in someone else's eyes, etc.

In Day Z, we really only have one tool: guns. When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. That's why the current endgame basically boils down to finding things to shoot, and finding fun and creative ways to shoot them (from a helicopter, from a bus, from a bicycle, while doing the hokey-pokey, and so on). Don't get me wrong: it's fun, but it's a sandbox with such a narrow scope that the list of possible activities is fairly well-defined. Once these have been experienced, the replay value takes a hit.

Now, that's not a new or novel concept. Once end-game content has been experienced, player involvement declines. The fun is mostly in the journey, so there should be two goals:

1. Lengthen the journey while making it a more varied experience so as to avoid tedium.

2. Expand the scope of end-game content.

To that end, there are a number of things that I would suggest. I understand that there are barriers to implementation with some of these things currently, which is why I'm not suggesting that these enhancements go live tomorrow.

1. Tougher Zombies, But Not Everywhere.

New players who spawn with no means of self-defense (for god's sake give us hatchets at least) can't take on hordes of damn-near-omniscient, super fast zombies. Established players with automatic weapons, loads of ammo and medical supplies, and attack helicopters can still basically ignore uncle zed.

Solution: scale zombie difficulty to a greater degree with loot value, and have areas of the map that are more tailored to phases of the game. This is not a new concept for an online game, and it's one that has proven its worth time and time again. You wouldn't even have to tweak the zombie AI any if you simply adjusted for numbers. Example, Billy Bojangle's farm near the coast only has 2 zombies that spawn, while the NW airfield has anywhere from 200-300 zombies crawling around it (I understand that current server limitations might be a hurdle that has to be overcome in order to do this). If groups of players had to seriously evaluate their tactics and ammo supply before engaging a horde, it would add a layer of difficulty to the end-game. Alternatively, you could tweak the AI difficulty in different areas or create new types of zombies that are more difficult and only appear in certain regions.

2. Safe Zones, Firefall Style

I know that this topic has already been hotly contested, so I want to be clear about how I approach this. Think Firefall. If anyone else has played in the Firefall Beta, they will know what I'm talking about. This is a big, game-changing concept.

In Firefall, entire regions of the game world are restricted by an evil fog-like mist thing that envelops most of the world and is deadly to players. Through the combined efforts of players, entire sections of the map can be freed of the mist and become playable. Change mist to zombies, and you understand the gist of what I'm getting at. This would provide a timeline to the game, where each server's timeline is separate from the others and it has a definite beginning, middle, and end.

The Beginning

At the start, the map would basically be as it is now, but hopefully with graded areas of difficulty. Players get basic supplies, find squad-mates to roll with, and make a green zone somewhere in the low-difficulty area of the map. Establishing a green zone would be a difficult process, the end result of which would be a zone where zombie spawning is inhibited. Feel free to speculate on exactly how this is done. Maybe there's a craftable item that you place in an area which spawns a giant horde that you have to fight off while it activates. Maybe a certain concentration of sandbag emplacements, tank traps, player tents, and other defenses triggers a condition that stops zombie spawns in a given area. Loot spawns would also be significantly reduced in green zones.

However it's done, there has to be a way to undo it, either through player sabotage or through periodic zombie raids that are allowed to happen at random intervals despite the regular spawning restrictions.

The Middle

Players form raiding parties and make regular trips out of the green zones in order to scavenge and get resources. These resources are used to fight off bandits and expand the green zone into the more hostile portions of the map. Groups of players will either band together to expand the green zones or eliminate opposing player groups and tear down their green zones (possibly despawning all vehicles/tents within them) during this phase.

The End

Eventually, with enough player cooperation, the green zone is expanded to cover the map and civilization has reclaimed Postapocalyptia. Victory is declared and players are ranked, with the stats recorded and displayed on the server in a "Hall of Fame"-styled system. Upon next server restart, the map is reverted and players start over from the beginning.

3. Crafting System

I really don't think I should have to explain why a decent crafting system would add depth and value to the game, so I won't. I'm sure there are plenty of other posts that have already addressed that. A player-driven economy with trade hubs would be the natural consequence of having a rich crafting system, player cooperation, and green zones.

"But player cooperation would ruin the game!"

Player cooperation is really the only way to reach end-game content anyways, and ultimately it's the most realistic model. The Walking Dead scenario is a lot more common than I Am Legend. Lone wolves don't fare too well against the innumerable undead horde. Groups survive. Reestablishing civilization and society is going to be the ultimate goal among the majority of survivors. Will there be bandits, dissidents, even groups of bandits? Absolutely, but ultimately we all want to be able to wake up in our zombie-free home and enjoy our FranksN'Beans without fear of being eaten alive and consigned to a soulless roaming existence with an insatiable hunger for grey matter.

The return of organised society is the eventual conclusion to any scenario that does not result in the complete eradication of human life.

"But PvP will die!"

Maybe. On some servers groups of cooperative players may unite and expand the green zone very quickly. On others, you may see a more fractured player base that engages very heavily in PvP to try and tear down opposing green zones. You might also see groups of hardcore bandits who establish themselves in more difficult areas with nothing more than a makeshift tent camp and actively try to prevent all green zones from being established.

"But then it's not a sandbox!"

This is the truest of all criticisms; however, I would argue that the game as it is now is not really a true sandbox. The scope of end-game activities is currently so narrow that you can write a list and check off those things as you've done them (yes, I understand that it is in alpha, but you cannot use that as a blanket argument against all criticism--especially when this phase exists specifically to encourage creative input and criticism). These changes would prolong the gameplay and provide more things to do without truly removing any of the content that is currently present.

tl;dr: this is a zombie game, so let's focus more on the zombies as we move into end-game content. If the end-game is all PvP, you've basically made a CoD game where a third-party (zombies) helps to keep the established players on top by holding down the little guys.

[FlashHawk4 44]

I'd recommend you change the title of this. What you're pitching isn't an "endgame", per se. That word implies "let the credits roll, let the match end, let everyone spawn into a new game."

What you're suggesting is more complex gameplay. If anyone has ever heard of Project Zomboid, that's kind of what I'd like to see. A game where you can construct your own fortress, where you can recruit followers, and where, perhaps eventually, you could set up a little community complete with farming, family life, and organized security.

The game specifically states you will not live forever. It starts off with "This is how you died," since the gameplay is thematically a flashback. Just like here. You can run to the International Airfield, you can grab a ghillie suit, an M107, a pair of night vision goggles, a Huey, a tent city, and a legion of followers, but you still die somehow, some way.

What I say is that we should have more options, turning this from a zombie apocalypse shooter into a more true sandbox. Because you're right, all we have is guns and army gear, so we're naturally going to play at war because that's the toys our parents (developers) have bought us.

If we were given more options in terms of gameplay, maybe not like farming or whatever, but even just radio system.

I feel like this is what we need.

- A unified currency.

NOT SAYING the devs need to hand us little gold coins, or bottle caps, or a universally accepted currency of 5.45x39mm bullets. I'm just saying players should work on that. After all, in my opinion, all advancement is based on personal profit, and what kind of profit can we get from teamwork at the moment other than what we find on the ground in the process of doing so?

-Clearing out zombies.

It seems like you can't permanently kill zombies in a specific area. They always spawn no matter what. I don't know how to implement it so it balances, ie one hand we don't have to leave our homes with M1014s and Makarovs because zombies walk the streets every day, but on the other hand, zombies need to exist in sufficient quantities to menace us and challenge us.

-Skill system.

Oh God, don't kill me. Just sayin'.

ideas like that are what could well turn our existences as scraggly bands of survivors and volatile groupings of desperadoes into thriving settlements and neo-barbarians like modern day Mongols and Huns. And personally, that would be interesting to me.

[LeOverlord 150]

I really only like the part about reclaiming some civilization. Currently I am trying to get a hold of a vehicle so I can gather up as many tents, tank traps, and barbed wire as possible. So I can build an artificial town. Then I want to recruit new players, and old, to guard and populate my town. And continue on from there, finding more vehicles, spitting the town into hunting parties and looting parties. Yes, and have a small group of people with high tier equipment that could protect and react to problems that arise, be it bandits or zombie rescue.

Is my dream ambitious? Yes, but will it happen? Your damn right it will

[MasterFancyPants 0]

I like the Firefall style reclaiming idea, in conjunction with a bigger map of course.

+1

[zorisx 7]

"In Day Z, we really only have one tool: guns. "

Totally false. I've read the rest of the post and I must say that even suggesting there is an end-game destiny in this game is completely false.

You can be killed by one bullet from pretty much any gun. Having the gear doesn't mean you " win " or have reached the pinnacle point of the game...as you have to try to rescue what survivors you can and gain their trust.

This whole post about Crafting hubs...Safezones...is exactly what DayZ is trying NOT to be.

I could go on..

[PlutoniumPlague 0]

OP,

+1 for a well thought-out post; it's in stark contrast to the majority of posts on this forum and I like how you brought up some potential counterpoints and addressed them before someone tried to shoot it down with a canned argument we've already seen.

+1 for the concept...I whole-heartedly support the idea of refocusing on the zombies...right now once I get to what I consider mid-game I pretty much only care about other players...currently zombies are a nuisance at best. We all know how to dodge them and when we're too hasty or just plain don't care we all know how to dodge them and lose them in terrain or buildings. One infected chasing me used to be a problem but now losing groups of 20 or more is relatively easy and I'm sure most of us are at this level.

I like the idea of either more numerous or more dangerous infected roaming the board. If making them too numerous would slow down FPS or is unreasonable on servers then I like the idea of stronger infected in areas that are highly-trafficked.

Personally, I think zombies should have even BETTER detection...watch any zombie movie and you'll see that the protagonists never crouch through the streets or crawl within 25 meters of the walking dead/infected (depending on franchise). I would prefer if we start off with a means of self-defense (hatchet or even a crowbar) and if the infected in DayZ were as capable as the infected in 28 Days Later or other more recent zombie movies.

This would force players to have to group up because sneaking into big towns would be impossible at this point without a team to back you up. A prerequisite to this is fixing the clipping issues with doors and walls. This way you could at least barricade yourself in a firehouse or something.

More and more I find myself with nothing to do once I'm at mid-game since I don't really care about high-end loot. You hit the hammer on the head with your analogy...once I'm self-sufficient and decently armed it turns into a survivor hunt for me. More complex gameplay would definitely increase the replay value several fold.

[FlashHawk4 44]

"In Day Z' date=' we really only have one tool: guns. "

Totally false. I've read the rest of the post and I must say that even suggesting there is an end-game destiny in this game is completely false.

You can be killed by one bullet from pretty much any gun. Having the gear doesn't mean you " win " or have reached the pinnacle point of the game...as you have to try to rescue what survivors you can and gain their trust.

This whole post about Crafting hubs...Safezones...is exactly what DayZ is trying NOT to be.

I could go on..

[/quote']

But what do you DO with the survivors you gather? You don't sit down and form little microgovernments and peaceful homesteads, probably. You probably arm them up and send them out scavenging for MORE guns.

That's what most people do, anyway. It's entirely possible that you don't, since only MOST people are missing the point that what I suggested semi-sarcastically just now is actually possible in the current game with practically zero tailoring on the part of the devs.

[MasterFancyPants 0]

"In Day Z' date=' we really only have one tool: guns. "

Totally false. I've read the rest of the post and I must say that even suggesting there is an end-game destiny in this game is completely false.

You can be killed by one bullet from pretty much any gun. Having the gear doesn't mean you " win " or have reached the pinnacle point of the game...as you have to try to rescue what survivors you can and gain their trust.

This whole post about Crafting hubs...Safezones...is exactly what DayZ is trying NOT to be.

I could go on..

[/quote']

Rocket says DayZ is supposed to be about player interaction. Killing every person you meet unless they are in your "clan" is about as interactive as BF 3.

While this suggestion may not be the answer, there should be something more.

[PlutoniumPlague 0]

You can be killed by one bullet from pretty much any gun. Having the gear doesn't mean you " win " or have reached the pinnacle point of the game...as you have to try to rescue what survivors you can and gain their trust.

This whole post about Crafting hubs...Safezones...is exactly what DayZ is trying NOT to be.

1 - This is only your point of view, other players may have little to no intent on rescuing other survivors...in fact, I'd venture to guess that most players have the exact opposite intentions. And if that's the case then it really can get repetitive other than finding new ways to kill those survivors or duping them into trusting you...but eventually it's just killing. The point I'm trying to make is everyone plays with their own "end-game" conditions in mind. I don't think the OP claims at any point that there is an "end-game" in the current Alpha. I believe this is a highly subjective term...what amounts to early, mid, and end-game varies from player to player but I think it's safe to say that each stage has some attributes and goals in common - namely the pursuit of security and self-sustainment (or in a group). The OP is saying that in its current iteration the end-game can get repetitive because once someone is in their respective end-game then we run out of things to do.

2 - Again, this is a matter of opinion. DayZ is supposed to be a realistic apocalypse simulator, right? There are numerous threads on here that talk about anarchy vs. reestablishing some sort of society and civilization so let's not get into that. The fact is, many players would probably realize that long-term security and group cooperation go hand-in-hand. It's a basic tenet of social and cultural evolution. So if this is supposed to be a realistic apocalypse simulator then eventually people would start to congregate in a town, kill off the infected in the area, and start fortifying and supply-gathering. Right now it is impossible to lock down a town in this matter because of the current spawning system - which is in itself not realistic. In a real apocalypse if a sufficiently organized and armed group came across a small town with a few buildings and a dozen or so zombies they would kill the zombies and set up shop in the town. And if you want to lone-wolf or join a bandit group then this added functionality won't affect you....in fact you now have the opportunity to test your mettle against organized survivors instead of picking off hapless unarmed survivors on the beach...

[wolfstriked 143]

Game is about survival and devs should make it a little harder but only for high tier characters so that endgame is not achievable.What I mean is remove the high gear supremacy and the HG players will suffer/die more and voila...start over to survive while having fun at it.Examples of making it less easy for HG players are...

Make matches a 10 use loot so that players can't just live in the woods indefinitely.

Make water have a small chance to give infection so that players need to look for antibiotics and not just camp at lakes.

Make high gear spawn only at heli drops...and same with high end ammo.This forces HG players to run around alot of the time with Enfields and Winchesters leveling the playing fields and making their lives harder.

Make it so that batteries are needed for NVG's

The big one for me is the HG ammo at heli spawns only.This really makes the game hard since banditos can't camp 1000meters away and just take potshots.

[PlutoniumPlague 0]

Make matches a 10 use loot so that players can't just live in the woods indefinitely.

Make high gear spawn only at heli drops...and same with high end ammo.This forces HG players to run around alot of the time with Enfields and Winchesters leveling the playing fields and making their lives harder.

Make it so that batteries are needed for NVG's

+1

The idea of infinite matches seems unusually unrealistic in a survival sim...I like the idea of making them like glowsticks...after 10 they're expended and you need to continuously be on the hunt for them.

Every now and then I come across exotic ammunition for high-end weapons though I have never even SEEN anything better than an MP5 or M4. It seems like exotic ammo is way too numerous...I agree with the idea of limiting their spawns or at least consolidating them to certain locations (crash sites or military installations) that way you can't just find an ammo can of 100rds linked 7.62 in some random deer stand. This would level the playing field AND be more realistic (though I have a feeling a lot of bandits who are comfortable with where they are now will not support this).

[FlashHawk4 44]

Game is about survival and devs should make it a little harder but only for high tier characters so that endgame is not achievable.What I mean is remove the high gear supremacy and the HG players will suffer/die more and voila...start over to survive while having fun at it.Examples of making it less easy for HG players are...

Make matches a 10 use loot so that players can't just live in the woods indefinitely.

Make water have a small chance to give infection so that players need to look for antibiotics and not just camp at lakes.

Make high gear spawn only at heli drops...and same with high end ammo.This forces HG players to run around alot of the time with Enfields and Winchesters leveling the playing fields and making their lives harder.

Make it so that batteries are needed for NVG's

The big one for me is the HG ammo at heli spawns only.This really makes the game hard since banditos can't camp 1000meters away and just take potshots.

In all honesty, I think you're both right and wrong.

I think these wouldn't so much DESTROY the concept of high-level player as it would encourage cooperation with society as a whole.

Have you ever read the book Metro 2033, for example?

There are elite soldiers in that world, and they have the best of everything. However, they do not have the ability to manufacture the batteries, bullets, etc. etc. in the Metro itself.

However, unlike what you suggest, they don't go up to the deadly-as-the-ninth-circle-of-Hell surface world themselves, one by one or in small groups, to get it. There are men called stalkers who make their living by doing this. They go up, get things that are needed in the Metro that only exist aboveground (firewood, medical supplies, bullets, etc), and bring it down to sell. And that's why an economy formed: scavenging was a difficult skillset in and of itself, and not everyone with cool stuff could sustain it by themselves. So instead of throwing it away and renouncing technology forever (some actually did, mind you), they hired other people to do it.

So instead of removing "endgame" in my opinion, what you suggest might actually be an incentive for civilization, other than the skillset idea.

And one thing you seem to ignore, guys:

Individual bullets exist by the box, by the case, by the pallet, by the warehouse, in virtually every caliber imaginable. Everything but the most truly exotic weapon has bullets to spare...M249s, MP5s, all those bullets are in your neighborhood gun shop. What makes it hard to get IRL is magazines, but they're linked in this game. If they weren't...

[wolfstriked 143]

Ahhh bandit tears.That makes me smile just thinking of it.Would LOVE to see bandits on here whining and crying delicious tears themselves for once.;)

As for Stalker....imagine the possibilities in future if this game concept takes hold.Stalker world in this engine would be amazing!!

[PlutoniumPlague 0]

Individual bullets exist by the box' date=' by the case, by the pallet, by the warehouse, in virtually every caliber imaginable. Everything but the most truly exotic weapon has bullets to spare...M249s, MP5s, all those bullets are in your neighborhood gun shop. What makes it hard to get IRL is magazines, but they're linked in this game. If they weren't...

[/quote']

Trust me, I realize this...but by the looks of the map there aren't any ammo depots anywhere. Sure, shotgun, basic rifle, and 9mm ammo has a reason for being randomly distributed on the map but the ammunition for the high-end weapons in question would only have been brought by either the military or those British forces that came in the helicopters. Last I checked I couldn't go to the nearest local gun shop and expect them to have a lot of .50 cal and linked 7.62 in their inventories. That's what I meant to address in my last post.

I agree with everything else you said...specialization and making it harder to be self-sufficient is both a step forward in the direction of realism and gives players the OPTION to band together and form societies/civilization.

[FlashHawk4 44]

Individual bullets exist by the box' date=' by the case, by the pallet, by the warehouse, in virtually every caliber imaginable. Everything but the most truly exotic weapon has bullets to spare...M249s, MP5s, all those bullets are in your neighborhood gun shop. What makes it hard to get IRL is magazines, but they're linked in this game. If they weren't...

[/quote']

Trust me, I realize this...but by the looks of the map there aren't any ammo depots anywhere. Sure, shotgun, basic rifle, and 9mm ammo has a reason for being randomly distributed on the map but the ammunition for the high-end weapons in question would only have been brought by either the military or those British forces that came in the helicopters. Last I checked I couldn't go to the nearest local gun shop and expect them to have a lot of .50 cal and linked 7.62 in their inventories. That's what I meant to address in my last post.

I agree with everything else you said...specialization and making it harder to be self-sufficient is both a step forward in the direction of realism and gives players the OPTION to band together and form societies/civilization.

I think it would be interesting to include larger-scale things, like the ammo depots you mentioned. Of course, the scaled-up risk would make players join together, and that would perhaps engender the increased cooperation we want.

For example:

Maybe an armory. The only way to access it is by breaking in, which sounds a really loud alarm, which draws ALL the zombies around to your location, and what's the best way to fight ALL the zombies?

Have more than one gunman waiting for them.

[oebus 0]

The game specifically states you will not live forever. It starts off with "This is how you died' date='" since the gameplay is thematically a flashback. Just like here. You can run to the International Airfield, you can grab a ghillie suit, an M107, a pair of night vision goggles, a Huey, a tent city, and a legion of followers, but you still die somehow, some way.

[/quote']

In principle, you're right. In practice, continuity through death is both possible and common. Groups of players that band together ensure that good loot is salvaged off the corpses of their fallen comrades, and stashes are kept in tents and vehicles. Death is a minor setback that involves jogging back to the base of operations or simply giving the heli crew your coords after respawn and waiting for pickup.

Players who have banded together cooperatively have already defeated death in this game. After that, the only thing left to do is run around and kill everyone else--most of whom, by the way, won't be able to put up anything resembling a fair fight.

The goal of these suggestions is to give those players something worthwhile to pursue.

[FlashHawk4 44]

Exactly. When people get to the top of the pack, there's no incentive to shoot zombies. They have all they need, and it gets them nothing. It's a waste of ammo.

So they went all The Most Dangerous Game on us, hunting other players because they put up the best fight, and fighting is all one can do.

[Turnipski 3]

Great post Oebus. Totally agree that Day Z lacks a solid end-game. Once you have good equipment there is nothing left to do except kill other players. My team found a boat and decided to visit the island in the very south-east of the map. There we found plenty of animals and a water pump so we could have lived there forever if it wasn't so mind numbingly boring. So what do we do now? We murder...

1. Lengthen the journey while making it a more varied experience so as to avoid tedium.

I think for new players the game already has a pretty crazy amount of stuff to learn so I think it's varied enough. There are a lot of skills players must learn such as map reading that can take quite a while to master. Throw in bandits and it's a good few deaths before you really figure out the game enough to be ready for end-game content (of the difficulty I would like to see)

2. Expand the scope of end-game content.

Yes. We need a goal to achieve. Fixing up Vehicles is a decent step in the right direction but once you have them' date=' what do you do with them? This chain of thinking could continue forever so you need one 'end-game' goal/challenge to which all other goals in the game help towards.

1. Tougher Zombies, But Not Everywhere.

Yes please, incredibly tough zombies would make a great end-game challenge! Making the zombies more of a threat the further north you go would give people the option to choose what difficulty they like to play at. In my opinion the northern barracks should be absolutely swarming with zombies that take 6 body hits and sometimes 2 headshots to kill. Mowing them down with an M240 would be so much fun, but you would need a team with you to defend against those that make it into close range. This kind of planned operation or 'raid' is what we need to keep us challenged.

Personally I can't wait until ArmA3 underground buildings - I hope they make a huge underground labyrinth that rocket can fill to the brim with nasties and loot!

2. Safe Zones' date=' Firefall Style

[/quote']

I like the sound of this but I'm not sure it should be possible to end the game for the entire server. Just because one groups story has come to and end doesn't mean that everybody's should.

The idea of working methodically to clear zones sounds awesome, especially if you would still have to defend against periodic zombie attacks. What if shooting loud weapons spawns zombies at a distance who then roam towards you . This way, clearing a town with loud weapons would mean that in 5 minutes zombies would spawn just outside the fog and make their way towards the gun fire. This would also make players think twice about killing other players up north because they would just end up being surrounded and overwhelmed.

3. Crafting System

It seems to me that guns are a good motivator for people to go and loot. I would love to see a stalker style weapon modification system where the only weapons that spawn are the most basic i.e. no silencer / scope. Survivors would need to find the parts to create the more advanced weaponry. Being able to load magazines with ammo would also be great and would be nicer than the fiddly right-click conversion between ammo types.

Also, everything in the game could be 'consumable' to force the hunt for loot to never end. Matches should definitely be consumable, that's just crazy that they aren't - guess it's an engine thing. Weapons / tools could degrade and break forcing you to find replacements.

[PlutoniumPlague 0]

What do you guys think of introducing classes and specialization? I know this diverges from the original thread topic slightly but this sounds like a receptive audience and this could help with some of the ideas you guys have put forward. In the beginning before or after you choose Male or Female you could choose a class: this could be soldier, electrician, engineer, pilot, etc. Before all the negative comments saying that this is not the intended direction of DayZ start popping up I think it's worthwhile to mention that in real life we all tend to specialize past high school and college. Not everyone is a gearhead capable of disassembling and reassembling an engine. Not everyone has the technical skills to put together a radio in order to set up a distress beacon. Not everyone can maintain a weapon (I'm not talking about picking up a weapon and shooting it, I mean long-term maintenance or repairing broken weapons). So depending on what classes and what attributes they had would this still be a realistic concept? Absolutely, yes. And it would really drive home the idea of working together. You want to get a group together to fly around the beaches in a helicopter shooting down new-spawns? Cool, go for it...but you better have a pilot to fly that helicopter and you're going to need a mechanic to fix and maintain it. Include a computer-savvy class who can operate generators to provide occupied towns with perimeter lights - or even electrified fences that keep out zombies!! Perhaps if they add those armories or special ammo depots you will need someone who is an explosives expert who can break into those secure facilities?

If this was implemented and all the basic movement and running and gunning features were left untouched then people who lone-wolf would still be able to do everything they do now - up until they wanted to really progress into some end-game level activities. This would be a must otherwise you'll get a whole lot of backlash. But if implemented carefully and realistically I think people would go for it. Because right now it's really unrealistic for someone to be a jack-of-all-trades and be able to operate everything and repair everything and conduct medical procedures.

Thoughts?

[Turnipski 3]

I think this diverges too much from the OP tbh. This thread should be for discussing the 'end-game' of DayZ. I'm sure there are plenty of other threads discussing classes, so you should take your idea over to one of them just to keep this thread clean and discuss one aspect of the game.

That said, I do agree with your idea so don't take this the wrong way :)

[jesquik 75]

"In Day Z' date=' we really only have one tool: guns. "

Totally false. I've read the rest of the post and I must say that even suggesting there is an end-game destiny in this game is completely false.

You can be killed by one bullet from pretty much any gun. Having the gear doesn't mean you " win " or have reached the pinnacle point of the game...as you have to try to rescue what survivors you can and gain their trust.

This whole post about Crafting hubs...Safezones...is exactly what DayZ is trying NOT to be.

I could go on..

[/quote']

Pretty sure you missed the original post and the 'imagination train' rolling through. He never said you couldn't be killed by any gun, not sure how that is relevant.

What he DID say is that there should be other options out there besides hunting people down and shooting them for fat lootz. This is where I hope the game is going, and certainly where another game will go if Rocket fails to make this more than just a hardcore FPS.

I have discussed similar ideas here: http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=13084

[1337stealth 0]

I've been thinking about how to make the endgame more interesting too. Currently I just reached the endgame of DayZ for the second time (ghillie suit, vehicle and high end rifles), you can achieve this easily by raiding the correct locations and staying outside of cherno, the NW airfield and elektro. So like others have said, they can survive easily but now choose to murder.

I think the idea of clearing the map is great and also of more difficult enemies. Maybe these enemies could be an outside military force sent in to clear Chernarus from infection and indirectly survivors. They would have basic soldiers patrolling military spawns (including deerstands) and occasionally spec ops helicopters that come from off the map and land in cities to cleanse the area. As well if you got in the vision of a helicopter while it flew to cities it would try to gun you down. These helicopter raids would be around 4 times a day and difficult to counter. With soldiers patrolling military spawns it would make it harder to get good guns, my current character skipped civilian guns altogether and went straight to a AK74 kobra and G17. These soldiers have guns but you can't pick them up on their death to prevent a large amount of military firearms getting into player hands.

Just an idea, I want to avoid the introduction of specialized zombies like Left 4 Dead and maintain the straight realism like 28 days later and the walking dead.

[Kophka 109]

This is a really really good idea. Added content is an GOOD thing, and I'm glad suggestions like this are coming along while this game is still in Alpha (the phase where new shit gets added, vs Beta, where bugs get fixed, but content is finalized).

There is not any way to get ideas like this to the devs, short of them seeing it, and going "that sounds neat". In that vein, I'd suggest making a catchier title for the thread, as "Want End-Game Now" has been beat to death, and devs more than likely skip over those threads.

[Ordoo 3]

I really like the idea, especially refocusing on zombies. Zombies, although annoying, are only a threat to people that are new. We really need to refocus on what this game is about, it's about zombies, people are just an added threat.

I've only died once to zombies, and that was my first ever spawn, every other time I've died, it's been to a player.