Does the community want DayZ to become harder?

[L0G!N (DayZ) 149]

Pre-note, I am not looking for suggestions but i am looking for your VOTE and/or Opinions, if this turns into a suggestion thread it will just be moved and i nor the dev team will get any good data out of it... So please no suggestions, there is a whole forum for that and threads about difficulty are more than plentyfull there, use search plz!!

Hello DayZ community,

Most of you likely haven't seen me much because most of my posts are in the suggestion forum. There is something i noticed in the suggestion forum that i just can't get my head around. Hence i thought i would throw out a poll to get a clearer picture of how the community views this issue...

See, every so often (like every week or so :P ) there is a suggestion to make this game HARDER, which usually involves making the infected OP and only have lootpiles spawn toothpicks (or a variation of this). These threads generally lead to two camps, the newbs that find everything is hard enough, and the regular/veteran that thinks indeed spawns should be reduced to 0.00001 for food and drinks and guns shouldn't spawn at all (anymore) and as said replaced with toothpicks ... where i get the idea that these veterans take into account that they have 5 tents stuffed with stuff and about a dozen of friends with likewise as many stuff, so nerfing the heck out of spawns will not effect them!

Now I have tried to come up with suggestions that make this game harder in other places, reduce inventory, spawn us with nothing, introduce weight to items, etc... All things that concern 'other' places where this game could be made more difficult, besides OP infected and 0.00% lootspawns. But by my amazement these suggestions are met largely with silence, mostly resistance to be quite honest. It is as though the 'Make DayZ harder' threads are made by people that do not play the game and want to troll the community by hoping to influence Rocket to make this game so hard that they don't even have to hack the game to troll us, the game will troll us for them...

So, what is it? Does this game need to be harder (and especially in regards to mid-game gameplay (restricting food & drinks to newbs is just masochistic)), or are you all secretly glad this game is easy once you learned how to avoid everything, since once you get an alice pack you can drag around the equivilent of a warehouse, and with the size of the toolbelt you can drag around a whole workshop!

Me personally, if this game is indeed staying so 'light' that only the first week is hard, after which it's just some easyride walking simulater, i will not buy this game. But for that to happen we do need to send the Dev team a clear signal to stop messing with those infected and adding or substracting 0.01% to loot chances, and start experimenting again with all the area's this game can be made harder, and add some true gameplay value !

Tnx for reading and your vote!

Edited July 19, 2012 by L0GIN

[Caviano 287]

Not "harder", that's subjective, it should CHALLENGE our wits and our problem solving mechanics. It should make us think, shake, quiver, and yell.

It shouldn't be "hard". Just mentally challenging and physically exhausting.

[Scawtygs 20]

I am pretty much a noob at this game, and i've died many times from simple things, like dehydration and spawned hordes on my ass. I don't think we need to be worrying about making the game any harder...because my concerns are mainly just to streamline the game as is. Mainly the animations (like zeds running 5 feet after a headshot, or inable to run indoors, or clipping/teleporting through walls and doors) So until we have a smooth 99% glitch-free game...we shouldn't worry about increasing difficulty. because the glitches and odd animations and inventory make it hard enough. Once those few things are simplified/cleaned up, then we can start adding more difficulty (which i am ultimately for, it is a survival game afterall)

For example: maybe food/weapon degredation (especially pistols, get one piece of dirt in the slide and they jam so easily)

water purification (maybe the infection was waterborne)

infected animals

a new rest meter for sleep (like in Fallout NV-hardcore) Sleep deprevation can cause many problems, like hallucinations and paranoia etc...google it, it's pretty interesting what lack of sleep does to you

a number of realistic things can be added. but these things will just be more annoyances until the game is streamlined (mainly the inventory system, it's so weird)

Edited July 19, 2012 by Godscribe

[GeordieMarv 293]

I still feel the zombies could be alot harder!

They are a lot better than previous versions, but in a zombie apocalypse...surely the main concern should be zombies?

They have went from no threat at all, to a slight inconvenience, to a hindrance.

I think tweaking the food & weapons spawns will make it better too. It's hard to find the right balance though. Esp. one that is going to appeal to the masses.

I'm sure Rocket & Co. will get there though.

Edited July 19, 2012 by GeordieMarv

[kentk94 194]

Honestly, I'd rather see things worked out to make this game better before we worry about difficulty. That can be tweaked pretty easy. Right now the bugs need to be fixed before we start worrying about difficulty.

[L0G!N (DayZ) 149]

@Caviano, Well that would be 'Everything just needs to be harder' ;) ...

and i personally think that making zombies OP and reduce spawn of loot is just a minor part of the sollution to get to a point where indeed all those things are challenged. But then, when i suggest things that do this, the reaction i get is mostly 'meh', now that may be because the suggestion forum carries a different crowd than the 'general' forum, or it could be because people secretly don't want this game to be harder, they want to be able to carry 40item and 1000kg with them and run like the wind, they want to carry a whole workshop so they are prepaired for every situation, they don't want the loot drop system to change (besides a %) because they want to find a gun, and they see themselves as being lucky enough to find a .50 anyways, because they already know all the places it may drop, and if the only thing that changes is a % it just means they will have to hop a few more servers to get one. And, well i can go on i guess, but most will get the idea....

On the 'other things need to be fixed' situation, i think this is alpha and you can expect bugs to be there, currently there are no bugs that prevent you from testing and for 80% or so play this mod. So what is the added value of fixing tents f/e, that you won't loose any stuff so it becomes even easier to survive. This game needs go back into what it was ALPHA, where you test if you can pull off certain gamemechanics in the game, and how it effects the game. BUGS are for BETA, it's why they both start with a B. The game is stable, playable to a large extend, but after about a week or so it becomes to easy because all the stuff is easy to find and we can just pick up everything and take it with us, there is no choice, there is just picking stuff up ... There is one other thing, and that is hackers & aimbotters, but here the presure is not realy on the mod-Dev team, it's mainly Battle Eye that needs to step up it's pace...

So the only aim i think of this ALPHA should be to have a largely stable mod, and then test the 'F' out of stuff, the minor bugs are there to be fixed in Beta, and various bugs can only be fixed by BI by fixing Arma anyways... Lastly, it be nice if Rocket would stop talking about Underground bases, which is only possible in a stand alone apparently, and get cracking on experimenting with things that make this game harder in all the right places, because 'now' is the time to do so, Infected can be tweaked till the apocolypse comes, testing new gamemechanics is much more important, so choices can be made for when this stand alone comes. Because this game needs more than it has now, and that more isn't just adding a pick and have us dig...

ps. I am sorry if any of this came across as harsh, but i hope you can read through the lines and see 'pasionate' instead. I do not want to insult anybody or strike anyone against their hairgrowth direction. I will shut up now and go back to the suggestion forum and check this poll every once in a while to see what the community realy wants...

Edited July 19, 2012 by L0GIN

[Rising (DayZ) 99]

How about making spawn rates for bandits higher? This game should've been PvPvE anyways. Firefights are already awesome but with the added threat of zombie attacks on the wicked, it would add a whole new dimension.

[[email protected] 2]

Make zombies stronger, and make it so they can only be killed with a headshot or massive trauma to the torso. However make 85-90% of them walk, and then have a few runners. Zombies are still a huge threat and strong, but they're not retarded where they run 100 MPH.

[Kozmas 30]

I think the loot rates are fine IMO, but I definitely think the zombies should be much harder. They also need their pathing fixed before they become harder. I don't think body shots should do shit to them. You could blow out their kneecaps and make them crawl, but you've gotta shoot them in the head to actually stop them.

[Delta Smoke 01 765]

Id like to see infected being slower than their current "Roadrunner" like speeds, yet more numerous and in packs. Loot i think is spot on so no changes there. Was no option for this so i didnt vote.

[khknight 3]

The temperature gauge needs to actually work, this alone will drastically change the way the game is played. Also, there needs to be more zombies in the city, the streets feel way too empty.

[SLN445 3]

I support the Notion of making the Zombies slower but more hordelike and harder to kill.

The game doesnt realy seem to handle them right now, the moment they detect you its like someones shoved a firecracker up thier rear, watching them go mad and superrun around... yet they go down easily if you can actualy hit them.

Would be a lot more fun if you found yourself getting chased by a horde blocking off your escape then spinning around in circles trying to hit a insane zombie on speed.

Edited July 19, 2012 by SLN445

[teih 36]

Zombies and survival in general needs to be harder.

There should also be more to do in terms of pve, or pvp will be the only thing to turn to.

[L0G!N (DayZ) 149]

Over 300views and only 50 votes, come on people I'dd like to see atleast 100 votes so i can start to think in actual percentages of the playerbase ;)

[[email protected] 32]

Find the way it is except maybe it needed more but slower zeds. I don't like their unintentionally funny Road Runner speed at the moment.

[ChinWooMan 34]

This needs to become way way way harder. I hate seeing people running around in towns and easily running from zombies. The main threat must be the infected not people.

[BananaMartyr 1]

I know from watching videos for over a week or two, hours at a time, that looting is wayyyy too easy. Everybody has 20+ slot bags, full food/water/ammo and mid-high tier guns in like 30 minutes or less. There's so much pvping because the pve aspect is too easy. RL zombie survival wouldn't have so much dang ammunition laying around for people to spray newbies with.

[SLN445 3]

This needs to become way way way harder. I hate seeing people running around in towns and easily running from zombies. The main threat must be the infected not people.

A good zombie Media will always have people being the Main threat with zombies just there as a catalyst.

Though of course that doesnt mean zombies should be worthless enemies only there to annoying you with there random sprinting.

[deltron3o3o 29]

atm zeds don't even attack the spawn n stand there

i miss playing the zombie apocalypse

[lonewolf12 25]

Noway should it be made harder, It already feels unfair to me when a zom is glitches at me and my gun seems to magically miss at point blank range.

Day z is about creating your own story for yourself, as long as there are objectives for when you get hurt/hungry, it will be hard. Moving from place to place is difficult on a full server. An annoying thing is having a zombie chase you for miles. They are superfast but don't do damage unless you stop, mabye they should just be player fast but damage you in a less glitchy way.

I mean if you make it any harder it will just be battle royale.....

[z-layrex 175]

They need to make sniper rifles incredibly rare, so that the PVP gets a bit more personal than it is now, in my opinion anyway. Perhaps make projectile weapons of all kind rarer, but food and drink more common.

As for the Zeds, i'm really not sure! For those of us who play alone, the more difficult the Zeds are the harder our life becomes, however I fully understand how frustrating easier zeds will be to a group of players who still want the feeling of danger.

Edited July 19, 2012 by z-layrex

[[email protected] 32]

I mean if you make it any harder it will just be battle royale.....

Damn! Makes me wish there's a Battle Royale game or mod. I wouldn't mind some hardcore PvP there. Someone make it happen! :D

[Azrail (DayZ) 211]

dayz is too easy as it is right now.

right now i tend to hold me a pet zed while running across the map, because they are so cute :D

i also demand scary shit to happen, like a bear spawning infront of me, so i have to fight for my life in the supposedly save woods.

[fearz0r 128]

Not "harder", that's subjective, it should CHALLENGE our wits and our problem solving mechanics. It should make us think, shake, quiver, and yell.

It shouldn't be "hard". Just mentally challenging and physically exhausting.

This nailed it.

[L0G!N (DayZ) 149]

Almost a 100votes, while hardly representative of the whole community, there is atleast some conclusion to be drawn from this, but i do hope more people would vote ... anyways:

25% doesn't want anything to change, in relation to how it is now.

25% just wants harder zeds and more server hopping due to lower spawn chances

50% (Somewhat) agrees with me that there are all sorts of other ways to make this game harder, and that it should...

(75% wants a harder game)

Again, 100votes is hardly representative (though perhaps some statistician (if that is a word) can calculate how representative this actually is) it still shows that 3 in 4 would like this game to be harder. Which makes it very unlikely that the request for harder features are merely made by trolls. The 50% that want this game to be harder in other/every area of the game, is enough for me to feel content with the direction of my suggestions. The only thing that worries me a bit is the 15% that doesn't want any experimentation done in this alpha and trusts entirely on the standalone, an Alpha sets the basic features of the game, and while it is possible the standalone will also start with an alpha, experimenting then just postpones the opportunity to try out other/new things untill some later date in developement, with absolutely no certainty that features will work ...

Hope to see more people voting, to get a more accurate result !

Edited July 19, 2012 by L0GIN