Player Journals

[madmaxx@madmaxx.info 0]

Apart from the ability to write stuff in it, add another menu point that is basically a logbook like

$DATE entered Rog castle found xyz

$DATE found an M14 in elektro firestation

etc. This way, even when people dont feel like writing stuff down (I dont, because its just another thing i will lose a lot), you can still get an idea what this character has been through.

[Dicky B 0]

I thought it would be kind of cool to be able to leave notes around on the ground or attached to things. Unsure of the interface to write the note, but a pen/pencil could sit in non-space inventory like compass, and pages for notes could be held in like an ammo magazine. Use pen, write note, leave note, uses 1 ammo. So maybe you could sticky note your camping tent with something like "Please leave something useful if you find something useful, no empty cans." Just a thought.

(sort of like a journal, but more like sticky notes)

[Domo209 0]

with this, people will realize they are killing people, not just really smart AI like so many people act like

[hoik 415]

This is a great idea! No matter what form the Journal may take it should be in the final release (IMHO).

Im highly in favour of any type of user-driven story telling, to me this could be a major part in insuring longevity of this game. Something id like to see is a marker that'll allow you to mark locations on maps with small notes - you get killed someone finds it - "shazam" a user created treasure map!

Edited July 28, 2012 by Hoik

[montauk 2]

This is actually a really good idea. I'd love to see something like this implemented ingame.

[imagelesskjc 35]

I would love to have this implemented.

Sitting next to a campfire outside my tent, writing down all the screwed up things that happened to me over the course of the day...

If I could have any feature, this would be it.

[montauk 2]

It'd certainly give me an even bigger sense of realism.

[herring (DayZ) 0]

I like this idea.

[imagelesskjc 35]

I've been thinking about this more and more and I wanted to throw another idea connected to this. What if the journal also listed the date/location/name of people that the player murdered? Maybe even the humanity level at the time of death?

It might add an emotional reaction if the player killed a survivor that had (+/-)100,000 humanity.

[bbob 1]

I really hope this gets implemented.

But personally I would prefer to not have anything automated in the Journals, because then it would just become a way for people to gather metrics on where people usually go etc. Not that that would be a bad thing as such, but it would pre-empt a format rather than being a true sandbox feature.

If it is just a clean slate where people can write anything they feel like, then it has the potential to really be something special, rather than a chronology with an optional comment.

@Redz: The humanity would be the words on the pages, whereas the humanity-meter is just a number. It might turn out to be a useful statistic for some feature in the future, but I don't think it would be very relevant in a journal. I would much rather like to know why people got those murders.

Was he just farming items, or was he just too scared to take any chances? Does the murders even matter to him, or is there something more pressing he would like to leave for posterity?

[Strategos (DayZ) 190]

The journal should never auto write stuff.

Why would a murderer write down a list of kills for anyone to find?

(Well said bbob)

[TheJackal_112 3]

Good idea - Iam for the lack of an automated system for it - you write what you want in it

I know personally I would use a journal as a rough logbook of what are little band of mates of been up to

[dantoramandova 19]

"I found a car and stashed it at Orlovets"

[Existential 1]

I love this idea.

I would also like journals taken from corpses to be added to a player's own journal without inventory penalty, passed on endlessly as long as the player doesn't deliberately choose to discard them.

It could be very amusing to kill someone and find your own journal on the body. Were they the killer? Did they get revenge on my killer? Maybe they told their own story about it. Maybe they didn't, and I'll have to use my imagination.

I spend a lot of time hunkered down waiting for friends and whatnot. This would be a great pastime.

Definitely no to any sort of auto-entries, though.

[Skeffington 1]

Not realistic since people from Chernarus are illiterate, thus have never owned journals nor would they be able to read/write in one.

Just kidding, this is a pretty good idea. However, standing over a corpse for an extended period of time while reading it would make you pretty vulnerable. Perhaps being able to save someone's journal entries into your own, and then later on you can view them in a safer location.

[RobbaN (DayZ) 0]

Supported! Picture this, you're walking in the forest, alone and scared. Suddenly, you find a body! When you're searching in his backpack you discover that he has a logbook (player journal) and when you opening the book, you see that he have been alive for 181 days in the wilderness, every single day he have written what he have been throught, A story that dosen't have to be lost.

A big support to this one!

[worldwar2freak 0]

I for one likes this idea. Would add realism, and something to do during downtime.

[lkincheloe 0]

This has been done in missions such as MSO, so it's very possible and not that difficult to implement.

Perhaps as an extension to the OP, have it automatically log certain instances, like say "I found a M4A1 today" or "Got bit, luckily had a bandage and patched myself up quickly."

[Strategos (DayZ) 190]

Thought Id give this a quick bump as Ive seen a few people suggesting this again ;) It's still a great idea :)

[red62 9]

Maybe if you could write in somebody else's journal (but not edit it) and be able to see the name of the person that wrote the journal like "Dave's journal"

[EQandcivfanatic 0]

Just felt like saying, awesome idea, hope it's implemented some day.

[blinklaurent@hotmail.com 28]

totally agreee ! very nice idea

[leo235 2]

would people really write in journals though?

Add notes that I can place first. If people use those then maybe add journals. Although I guarantee you that 90% of notes and journals will contain the word penis.

[bladerunner 11]

+1 for this!

I already wrote my thoughts on THIS thread, which I came across first but is basically the same.

[drseptapus 49]

GET OUT OF MY HEAD. I was daydreaming about a pen/paper system all day yesterday.

Edited July 20, 2012 by drseptapus