Player Journals

[csulpw 18]

I thought this might be pretty neat and easy to implement. DayZ can be a frantic and frustrating experience, but there are some great stories that come out of it and my play style is conducive to keeping a journal while I play. Considering how much of the game is punctuated by slow sections, I always feel an urge to write about some of my experiences when I'm playing. The game is just perfect for this after all.

For example, my buddy and I were on our way to the NW airfield in the middle of nowhere, and we were beginning to cross a road into a large field having just trekked out of a forest. Out of nowhere (and in the middle of it), a large group, no smaller than 20 people appeared directly in front of us (they had been partially hidden from one of the field embankments), and proceeded to cross the road in a slightly different direction, but no doubt, we were about 50ft from them. 20 people! In the middle of nowhere. My buddy screamed at me to get down and we silently watched as they passed by. One of my most intense gaming moments ever.

So here is how a journal system could work. We get journals tied to our characters in the game. I could argue for whether it takes up an inventory slot or not, but it could be there for us to write in when we feel the urge. When we die, our journal entries don't carry over to our new character, but someone who finds our body has the ability to read it. This gives players the ability to get some narrative on other players and see their stats. And yes, maybe some of our stats and achievements would be automatically written to our journals as well (zombies killed, days alive, etc).

Having your entries not carry over after death provides some incentive to hold on to your character and make smart decisions, and it makes sense to start fresh if you die, but I think it would be cool for others to have access to it during or after death somehow. I also think it gives us more humanity to other players (knowing we have our own precious experiences and will to live), so confrontation is possibly that much more intense. Considering this mod is built around driving your own narrative, I thought this might be a neat idea that not everyone needs to take part in if it we're implemented.

[Bat (DayZ) 230]

I had the same idea. If it is implemented someday, I would definitely write disturbing poems about the ugly world of DayZ !

[csulpw 18]

Poems? Hell yeah, I mean, considering the number of people that have more creative things to write than I do, I couldn't be more excited to read that stuff.

[goldengears 1]

This is actually a VERY good idea, it would make it a lot more interesting to find a body to read the players story. I know I personally would make stops around my adventures to write in them.

In regards to inventory it should be kept the same way a compass and hunting knife is stored. And not in your main inventory.

Would bring a whole new humanity aspect to the game if you kill people, makes them that much more human.

[Bat (DayZ) 230]

This is actually a VERY good idea' date=' it would make it a lot more interesting to find a body to read the players story. I know I personally would make stops around my adventures to write in them.

In regards to inventory it should be kept the same way a compass and hunting knife is stored. And not in your main inventory.

Would bring a whole new humanity aspect to the game if you kill people, makes them that much more human.

[/quote']

Couldn't agree more. Empathy is the word.

[Sarissofoi 40]

Amazing idea. Simple yet powerfull.

[Lex (DayZ) 1]

Great idea, there will be the occasional great find and then the obvious 'If you're reading this you're gay' etc when looting bodies in cherno.

Upvote 4 u

[mrsmiley 1]

I can imagine most diary entries being: "If you find this, you're probably the guy that killed me, fuck you!"

But yeah, it'd be something interesting to do in some down-time.

[Virfortis 111]

I can imagine most diary entries being: "If you find this' date=' you're probably the guy that killed me, fuck you!"

But yeah, it'd be something interesting to do in some down-time.

[/quote']

More like it would be an ASCII/Unicode drawing of a predictable nature.

I would totally rick-roll anyone that got my journal.

[waphlez 2]

Very cool, since this game is really about personal stories, it would only make the game more interesting. Also I would say for it to not use a normal inventory slot (maybe a gadget slot, you would only carry another person's journal to read it, then drop it), otherwise people would just drop it and not use it (why keep it when I can carry more ammo/food?).

I can imagine most diary entries being: "If you find this' date=' you're probably the guy that killed me, fuck you!"

But yeah, it'd be something interesting to do in some down-time.

[/quote']

More like it would be an ASCII/Unicode drawing of a predictable nature.

I would totally rick-roll anyone that got my journal.

Please allow this.

[Jester (DayZ) 0]

I very much like this idea.

It could also be used as a bandit/friendly list; so that if another player were to find your corpse, they can refer to your journal to copy down potential threats/allies.

[Sarissofoi 40]

Yeah make it use additional slot.

Also it will let me kill some time when I waiting for something or somebody.

[jezex90 12]

This is a gem of an idea.

The ability to document my experience in game would add an entire new layer of realism to the game. I'd document every kill, murder and village passed; as a survival bandit I'd write the name of anyone I killed, where I killed them, what they dropped, who I've grouped up with, where, did they betray me, did I abandon them?

When I picture this in my head, entries are written and read similarly to books found in the Elder Scrolls games, with the ability to save a player's work and keep it in my rucksack, tent or...

Or a bookshelf implemented into town halls in the game where people can deposit experiences for other people to read without first having to die..

I would be quite sad if no aspect of the OP's suggestion gets implemented to the game as it is a great one to have given its simplicity.

My first entry:

[Enjoy your beans, you monster]

[ADawg 0]

This is an excellent idea, and i think it would definitely bring a level of humanity to every character. Also being able to keep track of players who are friendly or not, towns where you found the most loot, and a log of your personal days would add just one more level of realism to the game. The game even tells you what day it is of your characters life, it is begging for a journal system. LISTEN UP ROCKET, its simple, its elegant, and its fits into your formula.

[metalmunki 1]

Rather than a direct diary, what if your character's movements are being tracked by the game the whole time so when/if you die, you can save it some format that can be viewed online? Like an Indiana-Jones style travel map line and what loot you found at stopping points or people you met etc...

I imagine the tracking and viewing in game would be straightforward enough, but not sure what format you can download the data in that would be best. Perhaps just leave that part out and people can just FRAPS it themselves if they want to show others.

[bas_tera@hotmail.com 3]

+1 for this idea, it will add so much to this already amazing game!

Imagine sitting near a campfire in the wilderness after barely escaping death in a village.

You would be able to write down what you went through, how you lost those precious last rounds, or how that one can of beans you had left, tasted so good after the battle.

Or getting desperate, not believing you will live much longer.

Low blood level, the shakes and no painkillers or food to go around.

Lost, no more sense of direction due to the lack of vision, you die.

Probably no one will ever find you diary, but if they will..

They might even feel bad for you.

This is a great idea!

[TeaLeaf 5]

Awesome Idea! It'd be cool if the journals got uploaded to the website on player death too, so you can view them all and link people to them.

Imagine finding a Journal on a body outside a small town. It reads:

"Going to check the town for supplies, I saw some guys down there earlier. If you are reading this I'm probably dead and the town is hostile. Stay the fuck out!"

As a possible extension... audio logs?

[matheusvltt 15]

Rather than a direct diary' date=' what if your character's movements are being tracked by the game the whole time so when/if you die, you can save it some format that can be viewed online? Like an Indiana-Jones style travel map line and what loot you found at stopping points or people you met etc...

I imagine the tracking and viewing in game would be straightforward enough, but not sure what format you can download the data in that would be best. Perhaps just leave that part out and people can just FRAPS it themselves if they want to show others.

[/quote']

I think the game tracking your movements would be rather... Mechanical?

The whole Diary thing is in the fact that the player is writing it, not a machine. You can read what he did, what he was going to do...

It's more "personal".

[metalmunki 1]

I think the game tracking your movements would be rather... Mechanical?

The whole Diary thing is in the fact that the player is writing it' date=' not a machine. You can read what he did, what he was going to do...

It's more "personal".

[/quote']

more personal yes, but I don't see that as a good thing. I'd rather infer myself filling in the gaps with my imagination about what someone did by just seeing the basics of where they went, who they met and what they picked up (and who they were killed by), than read someone's possibly ill-informed idea of prose.

The best stories can form around usually what is not said. For example: the Star Wars prequels were never going to live up to all those years of fans with schoolyard conversations about what could have happened.

Something that encourages speculation is a lot more powerful a tool than an emo-diary, surely?

[jezex90 12]

I'm not a fan of the mechanical log as it completely drains all the fun out of the ideas posed in the last two pages. I think you're in the minority here for calling it an 'emo-diary'.

[Arnoldio 2]

Yes, there was another thread and... yes. Would be so much win. Some people would draw ASCII stuff, but hey, i would draw something irl aswell, or just write nonsense...

[GIGABIT 1]

This is actually pretty damn awesome.

It would certainly make characters more personal, even if you'd occasionally (or frequently) find diaries that just read something along the lines of "ur a faget".

Imagine, you could feel bad for bandits.

[rossmum 7]

Being able to actually write something when I feel like killing time, which players will then see if they find my body, would be pretty sweet.

Might add a whole new dimension to being a bandit, too. I get to read all sorts of stories!

[nightmareus 0]

I sooo want journals! Or maybe a journal page on tyhe forums???

[O'Malley 3]

I would also like a log of previous character journals, even if they are stored in a .txt file within the the game's folders. While I think seperating each journal from each character is a good thing, I wouldn't want what I've written to disappear for ever. I would like the ability to re-read adventures of my pass lives if I so wish.

But other than that, I think this is a superb idea. It could be incredibly interesting. I can see someone trying to collect a library, as well as others using the books as 'tropheys' to mark who they have killed.