Some suggestions for enhancing gameplay

[robax (DayZ) 4]

For these suggestions, I'm assuming this is meant to be a zombie armageddon experience... ala Romero etc.

Note also that none of this specifically hinders PVP.. I'm just making suggestions on how to move the balance in favour of working together.

• On balance, surviving the zombies should be the primary day to day problem. Surviving other players should be the secondary, but still present, problem.
  
• Above all, one should not be able to simply ignore the zombies.. certainly not for very long
  
• The zombie thing is all about being pursued by slower moving but relentless hordes of disgusting unshowered freaks
  
• Players should be under threat by zombies nearly all the time, in some form or other.
  
• I don't think zombies should necessarily run as fast as humans. They could instead be on the prowl everywhere, all the time, in larger numbers.. they need to be a constant and uncontrollable risk... always looking for humans to munch.
  
• They could be attracted by gunfire, light and sight from much further away (smell/wind direction?), but not then simply trigger an instant Benny Hill chase through the hills. Some zombies would go after you, others might not. The ones that go after you should cause trouble for you by making you adjust your plans in order to deal with them.
  
• The whole point of not killing people in real life is really lost in this game as it stands now. There's simply no benefit in not killing people, whereas in real life there is a clear benefit in grouping together - i.e. to get bigger and better things done... didn't anyone watch Sesame street?!
  
• Players should benefit from banding together in order to survive the zombie onslaught.
  
• There could be a benefit in fortifying buildings to hold back the hordes - Creating a base for a larger community would be beneficial.
  
• It should then be necessary to maintain the fortifed structures to continue to survive each day.
  
• People would need to work together to go out and get resources, food, water, wood, metal etc
  
• Perhaps bigger onslaughts would happen at night.. how about if there weren't a billion road flares in the game.. imagine the fun and mayhem in the darkness!
  
• The game needs to have mechanisms whereby carrying out bigger tasks requires people to work together to achieve certain results.
  
• You might for example need 3 people to carry logs, 2 people to deploy barbed wire fencing.. and more than one person to head out and hunt for food - One might need to carry the hunting gear, and the other would need to protect during the slaughter.
  
• Maybe it would be possible to move gather up one's heavy fortifications in a truck and move them to another place.
  
• Perhaps it should not be possible to bandage oneself so easily all alone.. if certain tasks required additional players to help, just like in real life, then there'd be a shift towards group work.
  
• Also, regarding the issue of leaving a game in order to avoid death or get around a sticky situation, it might work if there was a compulsory 5 minute period after aborting where the player in fact continues to exist on the server. Aborting would be like requesting leave. Once requested, one could either go ahead and leave, or one could continue to play out the 5 minutes. Obviously one would need to find a safe place before leaving, or carry on playing through the sticky situation until the game completes the abort.
  
• If you get infected and can't get yourself fixed in time, you should obviously become a zombie... assuming you decide to stay dead for a while and don't restart. As a human-player zombie, you'd be able to mix with the bot zombies and wander around with them. Players sneaking through town wouldn't realise when a particular zombie is really a human. If the human zombie manages to attack and kill a human, then maybe he gets that player's kit and gets to live again. It should require some skill and stealth to successfully attack a human. Perhaps one would be slower than a human, but be able to move quietly and have a very powerful bite. One might for example hide around corners in popular locations waiting for an unwary survivor to stroll in.
  

I'll leave it there for now and see if anything appeals to the devs.

Regards

Rob

[thatcommiekid 57]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1522-please-read-before-posting/

[RedFiction12 6]

Why everyone keep saying that they are zombies? i believe they are infected and so rocket does!

[thatcommiekid 57]

Why everyone keep saying that they are zombies? i believe they are infected and so rocket does!

Honestly people are gonna call them zombies... its day "Z" mind you not Day I.

[Jehangir 52]

On balance, surviving the zombies should be the primary day to day problem. Surviving other players should be the secondary, but still present, problem.

I do not agree. The PvP is what really builds the tension in the game. The Zombie Apocalypse is the context. The PvP is the game.

Above all, one should not be able to simply ignore the zombies.. certainly not for very long

I don't think you have played the alpha for too long. Zombies are a very real, very persistent threat. Shoot with a loud weapon, they come at you. Run within a 100 meters of them, they come after you. Then there are the "superman zombies", the ones that break your bones and knock you out in one hit with no hope of recovery. I agree that zombies are not as major a threat as they could be, but you cannot ignore zombies.

The zombie thing is all about being pursued by slower moving but relentless hordes of disgusting unshowered freaks

According to which Zombie god? Zombies have been slow, dumb, fast, smart, speed-enhanced, genetically modified, even gaining special abilities. There is no single agreed-upon definition of how a zombie is supposed to act. So why are we you imposing your idea of how a zombie should act on everyone else? "The zombie thing" is not all about that.

Players should be under threat by zombies nearly all the time, in some form or other.

A good game gives you respite. If I was tense and under threat 24/7 by charging zombies, I wouldn't play the game.

I don't think zombies should necessarily run as fast as humans. They could instead be on the prowl everywhere, all the time, in larger numbers.. they need to be a constant and uncontrollable risk... always looking for humans to munch.

Your suggestion would be disproportionate to the population in Chenarus. I do want to see "herds" of zombies, but they are on the prowl pretty much everywhere you go. The landscape is dotted with buildings and deer stands and copter sites. You may not come across a zed for a little while, but eventually you will run into (and fight) them.

They could be attracted by gunfire, light and sight from much further away (smell/wind direction?), but not then simply trigger an instant Benny Hill chase through the hills. Some zombies would go after you, others might not. The ones that go after you should cause trouble for you by making you adjust your plans in order to deal with them.

Much farther away? Now I think you haven't played this at all. Zeds in the current build aggro you from a preposterous radios.

[Jehangir 52]

The whole point of not killing people in real life is really lost in this game as it stands now. There's simply no benefit in not killing people, whereas in real life there is a clear benefit in grouping together - i.e. to get bigger and better things done... didn't anyone watch Sesame street?!

I don't get this. You say "no benefit in not killing" vs. "grouping together in real life". Are we talking about not killing? Or grouping? You can't really compare apples and oranges. That being said, I agree that there is little incentive for not killing someone, and a lot of incentive for killing someone. If you kill someone, they may have goods on them. If you don't need anything, and you come across someone, it is a good idea so shoot them because you don't want to risk losing everything.

And that being said, grouping has huge advantages. Again, I don't think you have played enough. My team can effectively lock down an entire city if they need to.

Players should benefit from banding together in order to survive the zombie onslaught.

We do. Sheesh, please group play and then complain about this.

There could be a benefit in fortifying buildings to hold back the hordes - Creating a base for a larger community would be beneficial.

Apparently bunkers are being worked on.

It should then be necessary to maintain the fortifed structures to continue to survive each day.

Agreed.

People would need to work together to go out and get resources, food, water, wood, metal etc

Agreed.

Perhaps bigger onslaughts would happen at night.. how about if there weren't a billion road flares in the game.. imagine the fun and mayhem in the darkness!

Again, have you played the game? Flares attract both players and zombies, so a smart player will almost never use them. And if you don't, the game at night is pitch black.

[Jehangir 52]

The game needs to have mechanisms whereby carrying out bigger tasks requires people to work together to achieve certain results.

It does. Such as maintaining a vehicle. A farming op in NW airfield. A team engagement in Starry. Play. The. Alpha.

You might for example need 3 people to carry logs, 2 people to deploy barbed wire fencing.. and more than one person to head out and hunt for food - One might need to carry the hunting gear, and the other would need to protect during the slaughter.

Arbitrary.

Maybe it would be possible to move gather up one's heavy fortifications in a truck and move them to another place.

That would completely defeat the purpose of a "fortification". A better suggestion would be to allow teams to fortify their vehicles.

Perhaps it should not be possible to bandage oneself so easily all alone.. if certain tasks required additional players to help, just like in real life, then there'd be a shift towards group work.

You cannot epi-pen yourself. You cannot transfuse yourself. That is enough of a group-play requirement for me. You bleed very often in this game. If bandages required other people, most people won't survive past the first zombie that they encountered.

Also, regarding the issue of leaving a game in order to avoid death or get around a sticky situation, it might work if there was a compulsory 5 minute period after aborting where the player in fact continues to exist on the server. Aborting would be like requesting leave. Once requested, one could either go ahead and leave, or one could continue to play out the 5 minutes. Obviously one would need to find a safe place before leaving, or carry on playing through the sticky situation until the game completes the abort.

5 minutes is retarded. This means if you logged out, your in-game character is vulnerable for five minutes during which anyone passing by can stumble upon you. 20-30 seconds is more than enough. There is no "safe place" if you are in-game for five minutes and not in control of your character.

If you get infected and can't get yourself fixed in time, you should obviously become a zombie... assuming you decide to stay dead for a while and don't restart. As a human-player zombie, you'd be able to mix with the bot zombies and wander around with them. Players sneaking through town wouldn't realise when a particular zombie is really a human. If the human zombie manages to attack and kill a human, then maybe he gets that player's kit and gets to live again. It should require some skill and stealth to successfully attack a human. Perhaps one would be slower than a human, but be able to move quietly and have a very powerful bite. One might for example hide around corners in popular locations waiting for an unwary survivor to stroll in.

Go back to Left 4 Dead.