An open letter to the silent majority

[Satire (DayZ) 23]

Mainly those of you who are browsing and have not registered, of which there are many, I am calling on you to show your support for Rocket & the Dayz team.

The reason for writing this is due to the many vocal users with plenty of negativity to go around: whining, complaining, demanding and generally crying.

I am %99 certain that they are the minority, yet due to their assumed self-worth and belief that they should be heard they have the appearance of many. It is an illusion. I do not doubt that the majority of you are more than content with Dayz and with the vision and implementation of the modification.

I generally lurk (my first post!), yet due to the amount of times I have seen Rocket bothering to cater to these people and even justify himself I took it upon myself to register and call out like-minded people to weigh in on the situation. This is an Alpha, it was created by the blood, sweat and tears of a singular individual (now helped by many) with limited time and money.

If you do not have the mental faculty to understand such a concept, I suggest that you do not bother to voice your unsubstantiated, ill-thought out and generally poor perspective. Furthermore, nobody is forcing you to play, if anything, your leaving the game would greatly assist the numerous people clicking refresh on the server list trying to find an empty server...

The less people expecting miracles and the more based in reality the better. So please, those of you who agree with what I have said, let it be known.

And if you happen to read this Rocket, know that the people bickering, whining and being a general annoyance are the few. It is a fact. The proof is all around you, just look at those overloaded servers... The time people spend trying to reconnect despite not having played for an hour... Because they just want a few minutes of sweet, unadultarated gaming bliss.

And sorry if I am being forward, I just get rather irked when I see another post by Rocket explaining a simple concept. He should be fucking well working on the next update ; D~

[willia_ho@hotmail.com 1]

+1 .. agree

[zippy32 1]

I've made this point on several occasions - normally when a new game is released you get a vocal minority going on about THIS problems or THAT bug and saying X game is broken, and they point to the amount of people posting up in the Technical Support or Main forum for that particular game with problems as evidence to support their ramblings that said game is broken, the developers are money-grabbing devils, and the world will end if this isn't fixed NAOOOWW.

I then point out that of course if you read a a technical support forum for a game you are going to see people with problems/bugs etc.. That's what that forum is for. I often say there should be another sub-forum called "My game works" in which people can post up that everything is fine with their game, to try to balance up the gripes, because as you point out, the vocal minority tend to be heard more than the silent majority. I call it the "Daily Mail" effect (if you aren't a Brit you might not get that)

Everytime I see another post on here about how a feature doesn't work properly, or something is bugged and people getting all shouty and upset about it, I feel a little bit of my soul die.

It's Alpha.

It's a free mod.

They're working on it in their free time.

By all means offer constructive feedback, but bear the above 3 points in mind.

[GedenWhitey 0]

All hail Rocket! You are doing a wonderful work here mate :) - Keep it up and don't let the whiners get to you ;)

- Whitey

[Spillar 0]

Well said! Its great to have passionate fans who want this mod to become the best it can possibly be. But above all else people need to be greatful for the time and deadication gone into this. So once again thanks to everyone who's contributed in any way, its massively appreciated.

[Amra (DayZ) 0]

Well, I've registered on this forum just to tell big thank you to Rocket! Good job! Don't listen to whiners, keep the mod gameplay hard as it is. I would like it to be even harder.

[TripA 0]

Rocket is doing great. Keep it up man.

And from what I have read, I think rocket looks at this project like an experiment. So I don't think some complaints will stop him from doing his thing.

I'm just glad to be an part of it. It's very exciting to see how this is going to develop and I try to not have any expectations what this simulation should have or not. I'm just trying to deal with the situation Rocket puts us in as best as I can and so far I'm having the most exciting "gaming" experience ever :)

Thanks to Rocket for exploring new dimensions of gaming!

[Falesh 0]

It's a great mod and I look forward to being able to donate to rocket for his work.

[bayers 28]

Mainly those of you who are browsing and have not registered' date=' of which there are many, I am calling on you to show your support for Rocket & the Dayz team.

The reason for writing this is due to the many vocal users with plenty of negativity to go around: whining, complaining, demanding and generally crying.

I am %99 certain that they are the minority, yet due to their assumed self-worth and belief that they should be heard they have the appearance of many. It is an illusion. I do not doubt that the majority of you are more than content with Dayz and with the vision and implementation of the modification.

I generally lurk (my first post!), yet due to the amount of times I have seen Rocket bothering to cater to these people and even justify himself I took it upon myself to register and call out like-minded people to weigh in on the situation. This is an Alpha, it was created by the blood, sweat and tears of a singular individual (now helped by many) with limited time and money.

If you do not have the mental faculty to understand such a concept, I suggest that you do not bother to voice your unsubstantiated, ill-thought out and generally poor perspective. Furthermore, nobody is forcing you to play, if anything, your leaving the game would greatly assist the numerous people clicking refresh on the server list trying to find an empty server...

The less people expecting miracles and the more based in reality the better. So please, those of you who agree with what I have said, let it be known.

And if you happen to read this Rocket, know that the people bickering, whining and being a general annoyance are the few. It is a fact. The proof is all around you, just look at those overloaded servers... The time people spend trying to reconnect despite not having played for an hour... Because they just want a few minutes of sweet, unadultarated gaming bliss.

And sorry if I am being forward, I just get rather irked when I see another post by Rocket explaining a simple concept. He should be fucking well working on the next update ; D~

[/quote']

Yeah man, definitley, +1 for you. But im sure that the modding team know that. They seem to know what they are doing and I doubt they will be swayed by a couple of gimp-nubs who write nice fancy posts with absolutely no substance. Ive seen many posts so far were the OP is worded like something being handed up for peer review. They use big fancy words and the post might look real nice and all, but its just bullshit that they suggest. Its like in real life. Im an engineer, but every so often we have to sit through business presentations by some asshole in a suit who knows nothing about the technical side of things. He is well presented, nice suit and the presentation is very nice on the eye, but its absolute shite. Just because something is well presented and laid out nice doesnt mean its legit.

[Alex (DayZ) 8]

I usually whine and complain and create negative posts towards suggestions that are totally out of tune with the mod's nature. Unfortunately such "harrasment" leads me to get punished by moderators so I kinda culled down on it. If Rocket ends up and may even have to end up listening to the casuals who wish to dilute the game down into another boring, spoonfed piece of content like the majority of game developers out there then I guess thats just the direction the mod will have to take in time.

[Mutonizer 78]

+1 though I do see a value in commenting my experiences, especially since it's Alpha.

I've already put more hours into dayz than in most "hour eaters" such as skyrim, fallout and the like and for some reason, I just keep going, putting more hours every day.

So, kudos Rocket, don't get burned :)

[pozo15 2]

You're right OP, we should all make more of an effort to post what we're happy about. People who enjoy the mod are less likely to make a positive thread either because they are too busy playing the mod or they don't feel that their happiness needs to be expressed.

It's annoying that human nature gravitates so much towards negativity while barely voicing positivity. There is obviously a good human/societal preservation reason for those immensely uneven proportions, but in the context of a relatively consequence-free community, such as forums, it just stifles any chance of productive communications. All we're left with is a small amount of people essentially spamming their discontent, and with no real world limitations that would otherwise make their numbers insignificant, they get their way by whining and being insufferable 5-year-olds.

Luckily Rocket seems to be extremely clear and determined on his vision of the mod, so he most likely won't buckle to anyone telling him what to do unless it fits into his vision.

Anyways, love the mod, been waiting for years for something like this and I'm constantly amazed at how much Rocket "gets it" in terms of what is interesting about zombie apocalypse scenarios.

Also, what better game to have this mod on than Arma! Fuck yeah!

[Casey Jones 3]

Finally a thread I feel absolutely compelled to respond.

I have to thank rocket for creating something that for years I have been searching for. It's hard to describe exactly what type of game I've been dreaming about, but I feel a connection to this game like no other. I always had the belief that if I wanted to make my perfect game I'd have to do it myself...I just never had the know how. A true virtual reality, there are no rules. I have killed thousands and thousands of players and have died thousands of times since I've started video games yet this is the only game that makes me truly value each life and death experience. This game connects deeper than any other game, I truly feel feelings here where in other games it's been detached. And that is what draws me to this game, I could care less about bugs or imperfections...it's not what I'm here for. It doesn't distract me from the experience. And for someone to put so much energy into this project...I don't know how to thank you enough.

[edwarddeane@gmail.com 1]

I usually whine and complain and create negative posts towards suggestions that are totally out of tune with the mod's nature. Unfortunately such "harrasment" leads me to get punished by moderators so I kinda culled down on it. If Rocket ends up and may even have to end up listening to the casuals who wish to dilute the game down into another boring' date=' spoonfed piece of content like the majority of game developers out there then I guess thats just the direction the mod will have to take in time.

[/quote']

I registered to respond to this thread as well as Alex here.

Alex- You get moderated because you never offer constructive feedback, but instead whine about everything. Tirelessly and repeatedly. That doesn't help anyone.

Rocket- This mod is awesome. The only things that I have seen as issues are stability problems related to framerate in servers with high zed populations, bandits being able to DC when you get the drop on them to save their gear, and stuck zombies. Picking up new packs is a bit cumbersome and nights are insufferably dark. Being able to see the tree line silhouette wouldn't kill the darkness, but would at least make things... somewhat navigable. I don't like bandit skins. It pulls a bit from the difficulty to automatically know who is dangerous. The map scroll speed is painful.

What is awesome?

Zombie numbers

Sneaking mechanics

Weapon damage

The cesspools of slaughter known as Cherno and Elektro

The clumped spawn (I like the mad dash for gear and safety early on).

Eating/ drinking mechanics

One gun limit

Server persistent character

[Vendayn 7]

I think the mod is really awesome, and its only in alpha

And, as you can see. This is my first post...and I'm mostly posting just to agree with the original post. :)

[WhipDiddyWhip 0]

+1

constructive negative feedback can be good but whinning like a bitch just shows some ppl for the spoilt self rightous twats they are

feedback can be good or bad, it all helps but whinning doesn't

[Luieburger 15]

I can't speak to any specific features that Rocket created to cater to the whiners, but I can say that I love the game (patch 1.5.7) and I'm looking forward to 1.5.8 later today (hopefully).

I have nothing to complain about except buggy deaths, but those will be fixed in time. I do like bandit skins, but I think I would like custom skins more even though I won't be able to tell the bad guys from the good guys as easily. The good guys shoot me more than the bandits anyway.

What's to complain about?

[Zax01 0]

Registered to say I agree entirely with Op's post and (buggy deaths aside) I'm very impressed by Day Z so far. My only real concern would be the future implementation of the humanity mechanic, but based on current evidence I'm confident Rocket will come up with something appropriately awesome.

[Captain Speirs 9]

OP sounds like a typical fanboy to me that feels the need to look down on anyone who ever comes with NEGATIVE critisism.

[The Killing Joke 43]

Rocket is amazing. DayZ is amazing. Removal of arbitrarily assigned skins is amazing. The death of the humanity system is amazing. My post count is amazing. The fact that I can come on here and post how things are amazing is amazing. The amount of freakishly scary deaths I have encountered in-game is amazing. The level of intensity online is amazing.

Overall, this game is ... pretty darn good.

TKJ

[joev (DayZ) 3]

I haven't registered specifically to respond to this thread. I registered a few days ago to report a problem.

However, if I hadn't, I still would have registered to respond to this.

I agree wholeheartedly. It's very easy to criticise but much too rarely do we speak up about what's great with something.

I'm an old codger. I've grown up with computer gaming. My first ever computer/game was the original home computer game "Pong" at something like age 6.

I've played games all my life since then. I've been an early adopter for almost every genre. I've played them all and seen computer games grow from crude lines and balls on screen to the glorious pseudo-cinematic experiences which modern games are capable of delivering (but alas so seldom do).

I've also been heavily involved in game development... specifically in the mod scene (I was the dev director for the Half-Life mod Natural Selection back in the day) so although I'm no expert (far from it) I have some understanding of the elements which go into a game (or mod).

In the same week that the 11-year wait for next installment in the Diablo canon came to it's lacklustre (ihmo) conclusion I spent my Diablo III refund (I cancelled my pre-order after playing the beta and seeing how little had evolved in 11 years) on ARMA2:CO and other bits specifically to play DayZ based on the talk on gaming blogs...

That purchase wasn't without it's trepidation. After all it's spending money on a 2 year old game to play an "alpha" quality mod which is getting a lot of hype (nearly as much as Diablo III :>).

However, after playing (most of) the weekend I can say, unequivocally, that DayZ, in it's current, raw, alpha, buggy, sometimes frustrating, overcrowded form is probably one of the (if not *the*) best gaming experiences of my life, bar none (ok, maybe slightly behind my first game of Pong... but only slightly). It's a diamond in the rough alright but still a diamond and a mega-whopper-ginormous one at that.

Am I glad I spent £24.99 for ARMA 2:CO on steam to play this mod? Hell, I'd spend 10 times that, I kid you not. For goodness sakes, set up a kickstarter project to make this thing a reality right now! :)

I'm off to write a lengthy (largely boring) blog post on Agency in games and why DayZ is a work of genius. I will use many exclamation marks!!!

joev

[The Killing Joke 43]

I like JoeV, because I am also old. I would like to subscribe to his newsletter.

TKJ

[Nemon 0]

I registered a few days ago, but will gladly chip in and show appreciation for this mod. My Arma playtime skyrocketed after reading about this on rockpapershotgun.com, as well as seeing The Days Ahead on youtube.

[keefehb 17]

Just registered to say that I agree with the OP and to say that I am really enjoying the challenge this mod brings.

Now, back to lurking :P

[Captain Kirk (DayZ) 0]

There is a reason why the world is all fucked up. And thats because for some fucking reason someone decided it was a good idea to let the most ignorant and stupid group people decide... the majority...

50% of all people in the world is below average IQ