Sleeping: A Solution to Ending D/Cing

[TheGreatBrowie 3]

Hello, fellow survivors... and bandits, I suppose. I believe the most jarring predicament with DayZ, presently, is the issue of those that avoid death via disconnecting. It takes away from the ambiance and, moreover, is just plain frustrating. It's such an easy exploit that it's hard not to do it when your cornered with your ghillie suit and AKM. Just Alt F4. Bam. Done. I just saved all my precious loot. The ability to disconnect pulls away from any sort of entertainment in the game. It goes against the whole "risk/reward" factor DayZ creates. Why tactically attempt to murder this bandit if I can just flank him then D/C? Why try to rob someone if they're just going to disconnect on sight? It needs to be fixed. So, an easy way to fix this, while adhering to the atmosphere of the game, is sleeping.

When one decides to leave a game, they press ESC, per usual, and instead of the standard "abort" button, there would be a "sleep" button, or something of the sort. The player then enters a fifteen second animation of them laying down to sleep, before being disconnected from the game. If they take any damage in the animation, they get back up. This would eliminate any issues associated with disconnecting.

[militantsausage 0]

No it wouldn't, the animation needs to trigger while Alt-F4ing not while hitting "sleep" on the menu, lol

[Scerun 227]

This would for sure solve most of the alt-f4 issues. Ofcourse, it won't help for those at long distances in some cases, but it's sure is a lot better than no prevention, at this point.

[DeadManDan 23]

I thought the problem from the modder standpoint was that you can't get a player to continue to exist after the connection is terminated.

But other than the sleep animation how's this different from a time delay that is so the current seemingly most popular suggestion?

[Haplo (DayZ) 44]

Great post Browie, I've considered this myself.

What do you think of these additions?:

+along with the animation, there is audio of the player rolling out a sleeping bag, getting in, and doing up the zip are played, so others in close proximity can hear you getting into bed. being able to cancel the animation is necessary, as an added bonus for honestly disconnecting

pros:

-the actions of rolling out the sleeping bag and getting in to bed should be pretty quiet, then zip up the sleeping bag a little louder. as such, the trained ear will know what is happening, and then the zip noise is much more distinguishable, so even though you have less time to act, you still know.

-encourages people to find a safe spot to hit the hay, as others may hear you going to bed and rush you. this is simple, and much more realistic for a survival situation. although you basically log off as normal, you just don't want to be in earshot.

cons:

-this audio could be used as bait by groups, although, i think that could encourage some sneaky gameplay.

-those who honestly had their net drop would still suffer any consequences, as they are forced to play the animation

+when someone drops using alt+f4, they are forced to play the animation, and are unable to retaliate

pros;

-further punishes those who wish to DC during combat

-further encourages people to log off safely

cons:

-those who had their net drop suffer further

+when logging in to the server, you must 'wake up'; you unzip the sleeping bag, get out, then roll it up. sounds are played as well

pros:

-further encourages sleeping in a safe/isolated location to avoid being killed upon spawn

-can help to prevent people server hopping for an advantage in position, though this may not be effective over longer range

cons

others close by can hear you spawn. to counter help counter this, you can lie in your sleeping bag before getting up, to avoid alerting others to your position. as such, this is just the same as if someone actually came across you sleeping

the sleeping bag would be in your toolbelt upon spawn. same as harvesting wood and everything, you engage the animation via your inventory. once you are 'asleep' inside the sleeping bag, you can safely esc>abort with no further penalty. those who simply press esc>abort or alt+f4 suffer the consequences of not being there to cancel the animation, and engage the enemy if they are sprung.

unfortunately this still punishes those who simply have their net drop (i think, i'm not too sure how all that shit works)

still, they can still log back in asap and try save their character, though here there must be restrictions on 'waking up' in the same server

whether you disconnect through the inventory/menu or alt+f4, the animation takes the same length. those who disconnect honestly can retaliate, the timer must be started again however.

EDIT:

@Scerun: do you have any suggestions for how this could be improved for long distance? i realize my idea has flaws here. what kind of range should the audio be heard over?

@ DeadManDan: if you are right, this may not be possible.

i feel the animation adds the element of sleep in a practical, non intrusive way

[pupkin (DayZ) 0]

This must be implemented mainly because it is realistic approach. After all, if you D/C for some good reason, like network fails etc., this animation won't kill you by itself or steal some loot. DCed near a horde of zeds? Make animation only visible/audible to players, not the zeds.

Also, sleepbags must not be included in starting loot, this means you must find one and wait till the animation ends to properly save your game or gear. It will force players to not server hop, at least till they've found a sleepbag.

[Haplo (DayZ) 44]

pupkin i was unsure whether to make this audible to zombies, though visual cues should remain the same as say, someone crouched, and then prone. again, this rewards players who DC honestly, as they can cancel the animation

how long should the animation last?

[void.false@gmail.com 300]

Sleeping? Army never sleeps. If you want to sleep you should have joined the marines.

(sorry for ot, had to say that :D)

+1 for the idea thou

[TheGreatBrowie 3]

I thought the problem from the modder standpoint was that you can't get a player to continue to exist after the connection is terminated.

But other than the sleep animation how's this different from a time delay that is so the current seemingly most popular suggestion?

Well, the connection isn't terminated until the animation is completed. Sorry. Didn't make that clear before. In regards to your latter concern, it just fits the realistic atmosphere of DayZ better.

[Smegskull 3]

I thought the problem from the modder standpoint was that you can't get a player to continue to exist after the connection is terminated.

True a player is no longer connected to the server but that server is still connected to the database server (like you tents which can be robbed) so it is probably possible with a bit of clever scripting to keep your character ID active, for a time after you disconnect, between the game server and the database server.

I like the you make noise on spawn in idea but I feel it would be fair that you have some way of knowing how many players are within that hearing distance (maybe have coloured circles like the white ones that some servers show on zombies that show up for 10 seconds) otherwise people would just wait around common spawn points to here the noise then run in and gun (in reality they would most likely have woken you up buy the noise they were making).