DayZ... and what it can become.

[Gamewiz 12]

Since you took the time to actually make a well spoken post, I'll try to do the same with my reply :)

I agree with you on a lot of things.

Great post! I look forward to dissecting it. :P

As far as infrastructure goes, I'm not in the know-how of how hive servers and whatnot work, but I will say that something feels off. I've thought about it for a while now and posted in a different thread that I don't feel like the world is as "persistent" as it should be. I had suggested making your character save on a server to server basis but people shot that idea down pretty fast. While I agreed with them that in DayZ's current state that would not work, I do think something needs to be done to COMPLETELY stop alt+f4 and server hoping. I don't know what the solution is to that problem but it needs to be addressed for standalone, dlc, whatever this mod turns into.

If/When it goes standalone, you can be fairly certain they'll do away with the current Hive server structure they have going now. Due to limitations of being a mod for ArmA II, DayZ is limited in what it can achieve "behind the scenes". Implementing a system similar to what I described in my OP would completely resolve the Alt-F4/server hop exploit, because it's a single server cluster. And you wouldn't be able to hop through different phases ingame while in combat and the cooldown to change phases/instances would be rather large to help stem any sort of abuse.

I like the environment so far, and it's definitely headed in the right direction. I would love to see larger urban areas with higher risks and higher rewards. I think DayZ did it backwards. I think players should spawn in the wilderness THEN move to the larger, coastal cities. Not the other way around. I'd love to see all buildings being open with bigger more complex shapes designs. Like you said, I'd love to get lost in a city. I understand ArmA II engine is a limitation here, but that's where I'd like it to head. I do like the variation in environments too like woodlands, meadows, farms/field, cities, creeks, rivers, etc. so it's definitely doing that part right.

Agreed on this point. :)

I have never played EVE, but I would love for this game to stay strictly sandbox style. I used to love shadowbane with their user generated cities and GvG mindset. I would really like to see player made settlements where you'd either have to fend off bandits or raid depending on what side you're on - or perhaps even rivalries between surviving settlements. For any of this to happen though, we need to go back to infrastructure as I don't think we're anywhere near being able to do this.

I usually don't play sandbox style games, but in order to remain a true zombie survival apocalypse MMO, it would have to be sandbox. That's just the best way to handle it.

As you guessed, I'm not sure how I feel on character progression. While I understand your points were made simply to get the conversation started, I do not think increasing weapon or item skills is the answer. I'm thinking maybe either vanity items that stay with you even after death or unlocking items with which you could choose to spawn with for your next respawn. Example: say you are the master of survival and have been out in the wilderness surviving for weeks. There should be an achievement in there for something like that. Let's say you could change the color of your outfit or dog companion (I heard dogs were in the works). Or maybe you could sacrifice your starter bandage or flashlight for matches or hunting knife so you could get back into the woods quicker. I don't really know, I'm just throwing ideas out there but I agree with whoever posted that damage and/or accuracy shouldn't ever be increased. I also agree with you though in that something needs to carry over from death to death or else after so many deaths I'll probably be too unmotivated to start over. But maybe that's just me.

Trust me, I'm not completely sold on the idea of character progression as well. The point was just to keep players playing, and give some unique traits beneficial to the player to reward them for their particular playstyle. Whatever form that may be, I believe it should absolutely make it into the final product.

I think combat and survival are good where they are. They just need some minor tweaks here and there to maybe limit the abundance of military grade weapons, but other than that I like where we're at for these. I bet server hoping has a lot to do with their abundance too though, so again, refer to fixing infrastructure.

Agreed again.

OMG, the user interface is absolutely terrible. I don't know if this is ArmA's fault or what, but I've never played a game where 90% of the learning curve involved looking at the controls menu. NOTHING is intuitive and almost nothing follows general control standards we've grown to learn from other games. Switching weapons/items in your bag and inventory is a nightmare. The bag and inventory aren't easy to navigate through at all, and it's all too easy to delete items (I know, it's alpha, chill out). But if these things aren't addressed, they will be absolutely game breaking.

Let's hope if/when DayZ goes standalone that rocket creates a more traditional UI.

I would also like to see the "traditional" zombies instead of the 28 days later rage infected. Not sure if any of this is true, but I heard Rocket went with the rage type due to limitations of ArmA engine though. The number of slow/traditional zombies needed to actually be a threat is too much for ArmA to handle. If we stick with the rage infected guys, I would like it if they weren't 100x times faster than I am only to catch up, do nothing, catch up, do nothing, and repeat their stupid dance until I find a house or tree to break their line of sight. I would want them to run just as fast as I can, only I would have an endurance meter and not be able to run balls to the wall hours on end. They however never quit or slow.

That is why a standalone version needs to be properly researched in terms of what game engine is used to make sure it can support more traditional zombies in greater numbers. It is absolutely possible to achieve with today's technology, rocket and his team just need to make sure they choose the right engine should they decide to go that route. :)

I've also commented on my opinion on realism vs fun in another thread somewhere, but to summarize I agree with you in that it's a very fine line to walk. I would only sacrifice a little bit of realism if it meant a lot more fun (and never the other way around). Like someone else mentioned, the morphine thing is kind of stupid. I don't think you need to be a doctor to know that morphine doesn't heal broken bones. Introduce a split please and make it easier to acquire but longer to heal. You can make a splint out of almost anything... including your hatchet or rifle. I would not like it to be so realistic though that a grenade going off near me made me permanently lose my hearing. It's a fine line to walk, and I really hope Rocket includes the community on any of those decisions.

Like I said before, I have high hopes for DayZ, and I really look forward to seeing how it develops. I wonder if we'll be able to compare it to counter-strike and DOTA someday.

The splint idea I'm a little hesitant about because it starts down the slope where it can get very complicated, very quickly. As long as broken bones aren't something that take an long amount of time to heal, and the requirements to fix it are easily achieved (like getting morphine is fairly easy as long as you raid a hospital), then that's fine. I just don't want to be out for even 30 minutes due to a broken bone. I want to get back to playing, not staring at a screen waiting for my broken bone timer to expire. ;)

[Gamewiz 12]

Seems like you are talking more about class types and less about progression. No classes needed IMO.

I don't think there needs to be classes either, but character progression does yield unique roles. Classes are just a set way to define your playstyle from the start while character progression defines your playstyle while you are playing.

[Jaydixxy 0]

I don't think there needs to be classes either, but character progression does yield unique roles. Classes are just a set way to define your playstyle from the start while character progression defines your playstyle while you are playing.

Agreed and I do think that there should be class progression in some form.