Lack of Decisions

[Electrolyte 4]

I have started taking several days at a time away from DayZ in hopes of finding new interest with each patch, but it has reached a point where I get the same feeling every time I come back. The adrenaline and emotions I experienced when first playing DayZ are gone entirely. The limited sandbox options and lack of difficult decisions I encounter in a typical lifespan create a very low ceiling when it comes to variety and so adrenaline stays perma-low. Once you know where everything is on the map, how infected and players will behave, and how to generally stay alive as long as you want to, the experience falls to pieces and it takes a great deal of effort to juggle them back together due to the nature of the Alpha.

The main reason I came to DayZ and have continued to play it is because it is a mod. Mods have the freedom to make sweeping changes on a whim and no one has to answer for it, such as taking away starting weapons. Either the changes are good and people stay, or they are bad and people leave. Over the past several weeks due to various circumstances no substantial changes have been made which truly affected the mechanics of the mod, the coastal bean wars were migrated to the airfields some time ago, and that's about it.

Most of the dev posts now seem to focus purely on bug fixing, mostly surrounding disconnects and hacking. While those bugs are hurting the mechanics of the game, are there any plans for adding to the mod any time soon?

Edited July 19, 2012 by Electrolyte

[Benlandia 73]

I used to feel the same way you did, but found a new element in my gameplay.

Yesterday I was a protector for a bunch of bagpipe-playing scotsmen, was taken hostage, used a bus to pick up noobs on the coast, and have recently been going up and down the coast making new players answer trivia questions in exchange for prizes.

It's all in how you play the game.

[Caviano 287]

Once you know where everything is on the map, how infected and players will behave, and how to generally stay alive as long as you want to, the experience falls to pieces and it takes a great deal of effort to juggle them back together due to the nature of the Alpha.

You will NEVER know how all players will react. Stop trying to sound so godlike and go try to help people.

This post is just a "I don't like sandbox games, and I will now state why I don't like a sandbox game for all the reasons that it is a sandbox game" lol

[Rising (DayZ) 99]

The world itself needs to be more dangerous than other players.

[GenTroy (DayZ) 22]

You need to spice things up a little. You know, Get creative........... Kill cows, cook the meat, and sell it on the side of the road. Find and repair cars and start a used car lot and sell cars to survivors. Stalk ppl and do random things to them, like throw cans and empty wiskey bottles at them from a hidden position. Find a bus, set up a route and become a bus driver, or find that bus, pick up suviros and take them on a guided tour of the island "if you look to the left you will see snipers knoll, snipers knoll was discovered blah blah blah".... and of course you can come up with your own ideas.

Troy

[Electrolyte 4]

I used to feel the same way you did, but found a new element in my gameplay.

Yesterday I was a protector for a bunch of bagpipe-playing scotsmen, was taken hostage, used a bus to pick up noobs on the coast, and have recently been going up and down the coast making new players answer trivia questions in exchange for prizes.

It's all in how you play the game.

I feel ya, but I seriously doubt I would have taken the time to install DayZ if it was advertised as what you described. Not saying you shouldn't have that, just doesn't seem to represent the theme of the mod entirely and gives me no satisfaction.

[Electrolyte 4]

You need to spice things up a little. You know, Get creative........... Kill cows, cook the meat, and sell it on the side of the road. Find and repair cars and start a used car lot and sell cars to survivors. Stalk ppl and do random things to them, like throw cans and empty wiskey bottles at them from a hidden position. Find a bus, set up a route and become a bus driver, or find that bus, pick up suviros and take them on a guided tour of the island "if you look to the left you will see snipers knoll, snipers knoll was discovered blah blah blah".... and of course you can come up with your own ideas.

Troy

I've tried a few things that seemed like they would be fun to me, since it's sandbox in nature and all. I spent several days roleplaying as a civilian of Cherno, never using military weapons and interacting with people as much as possible. It didn't change much after the first couple of hours though, which is usually the case with anything new I try these days.

[w_epley 37]

You have to create your own story. I found out that creating a group gives me constant satisfaction even when I die, lose vehicles, or lose shit to bugs. You have figure out what you want to do. Create your own story. I will say if you play yourself you will get bored. This doesn't apply to everyone. Think about it if you were wondering a post apocolpytic land myself murdering zombies you're likely to go crazy. In dayz, you'll probably just get bored. Or maybe go crazy. You have to use your imagination.

For example, my team is preparing to give humanitarian aid to fort friendly, despite its high risk. Just for immersion really. If you make your goal to just finding equipment, you won't enjoy the game, because you will enevitably die and lose it. Gear should always be a short term deal on when deciding how you want to play the game.

Pave your own road, carefully.

[Survivor-Kyle 148]

I used to feel the same way you did, but found a new element in my gameplay.

Yesterday I was a protector for a bunch of bagpipe-playing scotsmen, was taken hostage, used a bus to pick up noobs on the coast, and have recently been going up and down the coast making new players answer trivia questions in exchange for prizes.

It's all in how you play the game.

I am adding your CashCab to my list of 'What you can do in a SandBox' ideas that I spam EndGame threads with. I salute and bean you sir.

[Survivor-Kyle 148]

I've tried a few things that seemed like they would be fun to me, since it's sandbox in nature and all. I spent several days roleplaying as a civilian of Cherno, never using military weapons and interacting with people as much as possible. It didn't change much after the first couple of hours though, which is usually the case with anything new I try these days.

Do like those crazy Brits did and fortify a block in Cherno. Make a North American Fort Friendly, and keep the riff-raff out. That thread is fun to read, and I bet a BLAST to play.