are zombies really the main threat?

[lowerplains 0]

let's face it, the number of bandits in this game has skyrocketed. and while i myself have tread in those muddy waters, has this game turned into a deathmatch with 'zombie obstacles'? are there enough things to do that can lure players away from ever increasing murder counts?

after gearing up in cherno i made my way inland towards novy sobor, luckily i found an AK, 3 mags of ammo, 3 cans of food and plenty of drink and bandages. instead of running roughshod into towns and villages i decided to simply scout around novy/stary sobor for equipment when i ran low. i barely ran into other players, deciding how and when to dip into town for a fast search here and there.

going to the NEAF is tantamount to a death sentence at this point as my goal in the game is to survive and live for as long as possible. i find a knife, wood and matches and begin to hunt food to sustain myself. i hear the odd gunshot once in a blue moon and NEVER investigate because we ALL KNOW what will happen. some consider this playstyle boring, i consider it careful. ive found my sweetspot on the map and im sticking to it....but what now? sure it can be fun and intense to lonewolf it for hours upon hours scrounging for gear....but can there be more to this?

i have learned how to kite and kill, sneak and prone, scout and hunt etc. but i wonder if there shouldnt be other 'events' or 'goals' people can work towards. i get the 'point' of this game and love it to death...maybe i just want more, am i wrong for that? are other players feeling the same way and instead of just scavenging they just go at it with PvP and big gunfights? is this what rocket envisioned? are MORE zombies needed? MORE weapons? the questions can be quite endless really. i wonder sometimes if rocket bit off more than he can chew lol

the game is centered around the zombie apocalypse, but its getting to be that once youre able to adapt to their numbers/pathing/kiting all thats left is murder. i dont think its only mechanics with the zombies which need worked on...but their threat level. im understanding more and more why those 'rushes' in L4D were so much fun.

[iomegadrive1 9]

If they wern't before, they are now.

[matt.gilmurray@gmail.com 46]

Zombies, players, illness, hunger, thirst are all threats some are just more threatening than others; like being in the woods with low supply suddenly food is a main threat or being cold then illness is a threat. So there really is no main threat if you think about it.

[Electrolyte 4]

Infected are not the main threat once you have a hatchet, some bandages, and morphine - morphine being the hardest to obtain and most likely to get you killed. I'm more worried about starving than getting killed by infected as of 1.7.2.

Otherwise there is nothing to do but kill other players or make up your own objectives, and it takes a lot less effort to hunt players than brainstorm a mission that has no tangible reward. There is the possibility of dying and then having to run however long to get back to your camp, but the excitement usually stops there. The "don't get dead" objective loses its meaning since it is incredibly easy to survive once you get basic tools, that is until a bug kills you. So it goes.

[Sephka (DayZ) 51]

I'm fairly certain Rocket has said that players are to be the main threat in DayZ, not zombies.

The game is not a deathmatch, there are statistics on the site itself to prove this. Last I remember it was somewhere around 15% of survivor attempts ending in murder. That's a rather small amount of people dying to murder. Doesn't sound very deathmatch-y to me. Are there players who play it as such? Of course. That's what keeps the game interesting. If those people didn't exist then I wouldn't be so worried every moment I played this game, wondering if some bandit has me in his crosshairs.

It's a sandbox game, you need to set your own goals and objectives. So you can survive now, you have all the gear you need to keep yourself alive, and you don't want to go killing people, so what do you do? There are plenty of things you can do. Find and repair a car. Build a camp amd fill it with loot. Attempt to make some friends so you can go raid high value targets, either in-game or through an outside source like the forums. Search for bandit camps, crashed heli's, etc. etc. etc. Make your own goals, find something for you to do to keep it interesting, don't wait for the game to tell you what to do, because that's not going to happen.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Sephka

[DemonGroover 8836]

No

[Goldstein (DayZ) 46]

No.. I think they're meant to be 'background noise'.

I'd like to see them play a bigger role, I think there's a lot of spiced up zombie behaviour that could keep the game interesting and players on their toes.

[Wargunner 55]

Players are by far the main threat, once you've figured zombies out they're nothing. If I could go through Cherno, NWAF or Stary without worrying about other players it would be too easy. Bandits make the game far more intense. When I say bandits I mean actual bandits.

[EnermaX 59]

Answer to OT: No

They should be as dangerous as Players. I mean if you aggro a zed, it is no big deal to loose him by running through a forest or st.

You should not be able to run that long. If running is nerfed, then you have finally a threat called zombies.

[OriginalVocalMix 9]

Zombies, players, illness, hunger, thirst are all threats some are just more threatening than others; like being in the woods with low supply suddenly food is a main threat or being cold then illness is a threat. So there really is no main threat if you think about it.

Environmental factors, hunger and thirst will always be there and are constant. You can prepare for them by always keeping food and water on you. Zombies are normally visible to the player before they see him, and they only spawn in towns or at Deer Stands or crashed helis. So you can prepare for them too. Players however are extremely unpredictable, and could be anywhere on the map at any given time. That's what makes them the main threat in my eyes.

Edited July 12, 2012 by OriginalVocalMix

[Beltway 4]

The main threat? No, Not entirely. Don't get me wrong just a few of them can overwhelm you in certain situations, but the real threat are the unpredictable people in the game.

[Dynama 9]

The main threat is by far going to be players, maybe once zombies can run efficiently in buildings the balance might shift a bit on the Zed's side. But until then, It's players by one hell of a large margin.