Chernarus should have a story

[Kommissar Pinky 11]

I feel like the feeling of the zombie apocalypse would be greatly enhanced if there was a lose background story. Now I'm not talking about a full scale story that overtakes the sandboxness of the game. But perhaps clues scattered around Chernarus that paint a picture of what happened or may have happened in the days before the apocalypse. Maybe graffiti on the inside of houses or barns or perhaps you could find a diary left behind as well.

Small things like this would make the game deeper and more immersive.

What does everyone else think about this?

[Bash Arkin 266]

Eh i kinda feel without a story people can build there own. After awhile no one would know how something like that started anyway.

[Miss_Nuts 9]

Mmmm I'm divided on this one. I kinda like the fact I have my own backstory in mind to account for the predicament of Chernarus. My made up backstory is that human kind either created the infection deliberately as a WMD that was utilmately uncontrollable by those who created it, or that it was a natural disease caused by our 'sterile' society being unable to cope with a simple, mutated version of the common cold.

Remember, it's not a zombie apocalyspe, but an infected one.

However, I love the idea of diaries, graffiti etc. I think this would be amazing if implemented correctly. If these little tidbits of information are more confusing than they are exposition, allowing the player to create their own backstory, I think we could be on for a winner.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Miss_Nuts

[TeaLeaf 5]

I think there should be a story, but it shouldn't really be obvious.

It should stay in rocket's head and he should just hint at what's really going.

[james222 49]

There is a story.. its called the armaverse. Dident you guys play campaign?

Edited July 12, 2012 by Chernarus

[alan.dougherty@ntlworld.com 24]

There is a story, it's called the single player Arma2 campaign... fill in the blanks after its end by your own...

This is Day Z. This is your story.

[james222 49]

Spoiler: Chernarus got nuked to shit.

[Miss_Nuts 9]

Spoiler: Chernarus got nuked to shit.

It's good to know that all the dayz farmvilling will end up meaning nothing once the nuke hits :P

[Zeromentor 169]

In the end, hell openned up and started farting out horrible mists. As the survivor was locked in a meat locker, stuck between his girlfiend and the wall in the darkness, the mist infected and mutated everything it touched.

One day, after devouring your girlfriend in more ways than one, you escaped the meatlocker. You find a flashlight, your trusty cache of painkillers and some bandages in a busted firstaid kit, you try to take a swim in the ocean and wind up on the Chernarus shore.

Then a zombie eats you, Press Disconnect to continue.

Repeat Ad Nauseum.

[BadCarti 5]

I hope a new Map will be released in September w/ Story, or why don't you write your own, Imagine? :)

[Kommissar Pinky 11]

Well Thats the beauty of the game you are constantly writing your own story, My argument is a loose, ambiguous story of the island may help enhance your own story.

Edit: Grammar and spelling : )

Edited July 12, 2012 by FangLeBonbon

[Miss_Nuts 9]

Loose guys, not lose.

Sorry, my hitler is showing

Peace to all

[Kommissar Pinky 11]

Fixed haha

[Rich (DayZ) 18]

Once upon a time, a man woke up on a beach with nothing but a torch, a bandage and some painkillers...

The beauty of DayZ is that the rest of the story is up to you. It's a world full of potential for stories (just see how big the thread on stories is) and creating a back-story smacks a bit too much of 'Single Player Game' for me. More colour would certainly be welcome, but not necessarily story.

But if you want a story, write one. DayZ is the kind of game that was made for fan fiction. You'd certainly have no shortage of potential readers.

[Miss_Nuts 9]

DayZ is the kind of game that was made for fan fiction.

This, this and this. You sir, summed it up in less words than this mortal soul could.

[Aeoneth 163]

Rocket has some sort of story cooked up afaik, but he's keeping it under wraps for right now

[wolfstriked 143]

In my mind this outbreak started because of Suzanne Sommers and ironically she was the first to turn.She kept pushing her idea of hormones hormones etc as the way to be "forever young".The government went further and found a way to prolong life by blocking the gradual decline of hormones over the years.It was thought of as completely safe and many took the injections since it was just blocking of our own hormone decline and not anything like injections of artificial hormones (steroids).Problem was unforseen by many and lurked in the water supplies.Modern day water supplies are loaded with hormones due to the purification plants not being able to pull this stuff out of the water.The only liquids deemed safe is now distilled water that is used in sodas like Pepsi and Mountain Dew and ponds and lake water as they are just collections of rain water which is naturally distilled.

[L0G!N (DayZ) 149]

There are a couple of ways to go about a backstory for DayZ, and one of the ones that shouldn't be told is the How or Why of the apocalypse, the not knowing this gives an extra dimension to the game of uncertainty and speculation ... That being said though..

There are a lot of other clues that can be put into the game that do give more depth to the whole world, see currently Zed's are just things to kill, but add say: picture of wife & kids to the drop list, and all of a sudden you get a glimpse of the world before the event. This was a guy that had a wife and kids, and now he is this Infected Zed. Similar things like, shopping lists, or even letters to boyfriends, girlfriends, postcards to family "Greetings from Electro". All these things can give a backstory in the form of drawing a picture of the world before the infection, without giving a clue as to what happened, but still giving the world more supstance and depth.

Another angle on the story is finding bits and pieces of people that survived the innitial event, and may well have seen their family or loved ones turn into Zed's, they may have written about it, without knowing wth was happening to the world. Innitial survivors may have wandered around like we did, and finding a note like: infected everywhere, to anyone sane enough to read this, i am trying my luck in Electro ... or ... To anyone it may concern, a zombie broke my leg and i'm hiding out here, i shot it but that only drew in more, if you happen to find Maria Trasnapolski tell her, the door, they are comming in here, tell her i lo----------- ...

now again these things tell nothing of what happened and they do not interupt your story at all, they basically add to your story as 'your story' is influenced by what you come across. But they do tell a grim story of how this world fell apart, and offer a context in which your story takes place. They also add to the horror in a very subtle way, pealing at the emotional wall you erected to stay sane in this game world... ;)

Edited July 12, 2012 by L0GIN