DayZ Creator Ponders a Free-to-Play Standalone Version

[pr0cess 3]

Info from Kotaku:

"DayZ, the Arma II mod that places players in a tense, realistic survival against a zombie outbreak, is easily one of the most compelling PC games of the year. It's amassed more than 400,000 users since its release in April and, if its current rate holds, will surpass half a million sometime in the next week, the mod's creator said yesterday.

"We've got 420,000 now. We'll have 430,000 tomorrow," Dean "Rocket" Hall, the mod's creator, told Eurogamer. Hall was appearing at Rezzed, a PC and Indie game show going on this week in Brighton, England.

In the panel, Hall said he wanted to see DayZ become a standalone game, possibly free-to-play. Hall is a multiplayer designer for Bohemia Interactive, the maker of Arma II.

DayZ's meteoric growth has torched five servers, Hall said. Really, they lost five servers to overheating. "We have trouble telling the difference between a DDoS and whether some YouTube channel has posted a video of the game," Hall said.

As for new features, Eurogamer reported that dogs will be coming to DayZ. Hall specifically said a German Shepard will be added, though more pressing matters have delayed its introduction."

[peliluola@gmail.com 28]

Dooooooooooooogssss! Zombie doooooooogs! Gonna need those beartraps to lose the chasing dogs fromafter you.

[Patient Zero 2]

Whenever I hear "free to play" I start to sweat.

[Superior 9]

Oh my Lord. Are we talking pets here or zombie dogs?! :D

[LumberBack 43]

free to play? why?

[jneary@sbcglobal.net 0]

They should add bears so sprinting across the wooded areas has some risk.

[KWilt 157]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

[Superior 9]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Because most of these people are brain-dead and somehow imply that ARMA 2=/=Day-Z, which is wrong.

[Patient Zero 2]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Worried because the free to play format gives you the game for free. And yes you can play it for free.

But you want an alice pack £2, want a silenced rifle £8 want some morphine x10 for £3.

See why I am worried by the phrase "free to play" ?

[Superior 9]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Worried because the free to play format gives you the game for free. And yes you can play it for free.

But you want an alice pack £2' date=' want a silenced rifle £8 want some morphine x10 for £3.

See why I am worried by the phrase "free to play" ?

[/quote']

Made no sense...

[Patient Zero 2]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Worried because the free to play format gives you the game for free. And yes you can play it for free.

But you want an alice pack £2' date=' want a silenced rifle £8 want some morphine x10 for £3.

See why I am worried by the phrase "free to play" ?

[/quote']

Made no sense...

Then you have never played a free to play MMo have you. Someone has to pay for a standalone game. Or do you think a developer will just publish it for free. I would prefer a one of payment.

[psychopigeon 32]

Arma 3!!!!

[Cormac McCarthy 15]

Whenever I hear "free to play" I start to sweat.

this x1000000000 its over, its all over man, GAME OVER MAN! oh well, it was fun whal it lasted.

[KWilt 157]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Worried because the free to play format gives you the game for free. And yes you can play it for free.

But you want an alice pack £2' date=' want a silenced rifle £8 want some morphine x10 for £3.

See why I am worried by the phrase "free to play" ?

[/quote']

I'm quite sure rocket wouldn't make it so blatantly 'pay-to-win' or else he'd get called out by so many damn gamers, it wouldn't even be funny.

Hell, I don't even see how he could implement a cash shop in this game. So that, in itself, is a really stupid thought. That'd be a complete break from how the game plays at all.

"Oh! You payed x amount of real currency! Here's a magical free item from the heavens!" Yeah, I'm pretty sure rocket don't play that game.

[daze23 549]

well if it goes f2p they'll have to find something to 'sell'. and then balance that to keep it from becoming 'pay to win'. usually this is done by making cosmetic items available for cash, and/or being able to unlock items 'early' for cash. obviously Day Z would need to be a much more in-depth game in order for this to happen

[Patient Zero 2]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Worried because the free to play format gives you the game for free. And yes you can play it for free.

But you want an alice pack £2' date=' want a silenced rifle £8 want some morphine x10 for £3.

See why I am worried by the phrase "free to play" ?

[/quote']

I'm quite sure rocket wouldn't make it so blatantly 'pay-to-win' or else he'd get called out by so many damn gamers, it wouldn't even be funny.

Hell, I don't even see how he could implement a cash shop in this game. So that, in itself, is a really stupid thought. That'd be a complete break from how the game plays at all.

"Oh! You payed x amount of real currency! Here's a magical free item from the heavens!" Yeah, I'm pretty sure rocket don't play that game.

Did I ever say I thought Rocket would do such a thing ?

I said, I start to sweat when I hear "free to play" It was you and others that made me explain what that was. So don't start having a conversion with me using things I never said. Jesus.

[envy9o9 3]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Mod isn't REALLY free-to-play. You need to make a $40 purchase beforehand, at least for most people. I know I did. If it's standalone and free-to-play how do you think it's going to make it's profit? Through micro-transactions like EVERY OTHER F2P. I don't want any fucking microtransactions in my DayZ. Fuck that. I will protest this to the end.

[Gran_Duma 0]

If it's F2P like Guild Wars style than I'm K.

[Patient Zero 2]

@ KWilt I appologise for my tone in earlier post. But hearing the phrase free to play makes my blood boil. I took it out on you. Many fine games have been ruined by F2p .

I don't think Rocket would do this but things have a habbit of overtaking peoples good intentions. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't even found the origional source yet for that interview quote so let's postpone the panic.

But if Dayz did become F2p, with in game cash transactions for items. It would be very very sad. Especially as we all put such hopes in this game, not just for the experience of Dayz but for what it could mean for gaming industry as a whole.

[Cavan 0]

I think you did originally overreacted based on what F2P and microtransactions don't actually mean in the current market, Patient Zero. Your examples were kinda bad :/, it would be more like "hey do you want a new set of faces?" or "hey do you want to play on a dedicated server with hired admin?" or "hey do you want a different starting skin?" rather than "hey do you want to buy an alice pack as your starter pack?" or something.

Not that my examples are really much better, but in general F2P as a thing is nothing to worry about. Not that I think this would even go down that route either.

[GandalfTheFriendly 0]

They should add bears so sprinting across the wooded areas has some risk.

Agreed

[Patient Zero 2]

I think you did originally overreacted based on what F2P and microtransactions don't actually mean in the current market' date=' Patient Zero. Your examples were kinda bad :/, it would be more like "hey do you want a new set of faces?" or "hey do you want to play on a dedicated server with hired admin?" or "hey do you want a different starting skin?" rather than "hey do you want to buy an alice pack as your starter pack?" or something.

Not that my examples are really much better, but in general F2P as a thing is nothing to worry about. Not that I think this would even go down that route either.

[/quote']

Agreed, my examples were not realistic. But I was trying to explain what the usual concept of free to play was to people who thought it meant what we have now. ie: a free mod we don't pay for and play.

Yes the transactions would more likely be things like paying for a ghille suit, or a type of face or your name in a logo on your back pack and other ridiculous things like that. But also, many F2p games are not above giving the option to buy normal items like rare guns rather than finding them yourself. There are many games out there that shamelessly fleese their customers. And the format of F2P is becoming more common, because over time they get more cash out of people this way. You would think no one would pay for pixels, but they do.

I find any kind of microtransaction even for cosmetic things changes a game forever and kills the soul of the game.

Far better to pay outright once for a title imo.

As for your comment about f2p is nothing to worry about, on that I couldn't disagree more. I have seen it kill games stone dead for players that don't want to be a cash cow.

I got a bit annoyed too because all I said was F2p makes me sweat when I hear it because it can mean so many different things. But I got pulled into explaining (badly) what F2p can mean.

As I said though let's not panic as this is a quote from an interview and not a statement from Rocket.

Interviews are often inaccurate and miss quote.

[pr0cess 3]

Its is a bit interesting how it is F2P Stand alone? Not sure if that means he would like it to stand on its own with out the need of ARMA? I guess maybe he can explain it a bit more

[KWilt 157]

@ KWilt I appologise for my tone in earlier post. But hearing the phrase free to play makes my blood boil. I took it out on you. Many fine games have been ruined by F2p .

I don't think Rocket would do this but things have a habbit of overtaking peoples good intentions. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't even found the origional source yet for that interview quote so let's postpone the panic.

But if Dayz did become F2p' date=' with in game cash transactions for items. It would be very very sad. Especially as we all put such hopes in this game, not just for the experience of Dayz but for what it could mean for gaming industry as a whole.

[/quote']

Like I said, it doesn't fit the mood of the mod, and it sure as hell wouldn't fit the mood of the final game. I can understand where you're getting at, but until rocket goes all Blizzard on us, I doubt we have anything to worry about, F2P or not.

And I've said it numerous times. If he does start going down the route of Blizzard, I'll kill him.

And don't worry about overreacting. We all get a little heated when something gets a little edgy in our eyes.

[orb917@hotmail.com 117]

>> Mod is already free-to-play

>> People in topic are worried

I really don't understand.

Worried because the free to play format gives you the game for free. And yes you can play it for free.

But you want an alice pack £2' date=' want a silenced rifle £8 want some morphine x10 for £3.

See why I am worried by the phrase "free to play" ?

[/quote']

on payment, funding, etc:

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1110&pid=10436#pid10436

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1011&pid=9568#pid9568

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1011&pid=9556#pid9556

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6750&pid=68235#pid68235

on pricing models:

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1011&pid=9378#pid9378

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6750&pid=67364#pid67364

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6750&pid=63302#pid63302

mod is his, will stay his, retarded payment structures will not happen:

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1045&pid=9844#pid9844

---

oh, also:

his response to his commercial release query feedback:

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1011&pid=11282#pid11282