Thought's on Player Killing and encouraging less KOS

[ziekke 1]

Just as a small suggestion, something I've been thinking about while reflecting upon my own deaths and player encounters.

The PvP/PK aspect of this game is great. No holds barred, no rules confrontation with other players is exactly how a game like this should be. Removing the players choice to kill another player under any circumstance removes a lot of what makes this game feel authentic.

A solution that I was thinking of would be to incentivize co-operative play (whether it's co-op survivor or co-op banditry doesn't matter). The idea is to give a reason not to shoot the unknown person in the face when you meet them - not remove that choice.

This can be characterized by something along the lines of a morale boost, or "comfort in company" and can give bonuses such as increased recovery rates, you become "calmer" and therefore less jittery under pressure or while under attack. The bonus can take effect when within a certain proximity of another player for a period of time - 20-30s? - There can be more/others bonuses that I haven't thought of, ones that take effect as the time frame is extended (group levels, if you will) where the players are close together but haven't murdered each other. These are things that could push me to want to make the friend, rather than kill him. I still have the choice to kill him if I please, though!

One way is to let players form formal groups (e.g. /join, /invite, etc.), another is to just let it organically happen through the engine. Player A and Player B are within 30 m of each other, and aren't killing each other, therefore they get X bonus. They have stuck together for 10 minutes = Y bonux. 60 minutes = Z bonus. When players have been together long enough it can be semi-permanently registered on the database server so these players always enjoy the benefits of grouping together even through play sessions.

It is really key that the no-rules aspect of this open game remain. If it is removed then it won't be worth playing anymore. This can be likened to the situation in Ultima Online years ago when the split the world into PVP and PVE. It ruined the "hardcore" "intense" feeling of the game, and those feelings are what makes Day-Z as good as it is in my opinion.

In this vein, it makes some sense for "bandits" to be identified somehow but I don't think skins or other in-game visuals are the way to do it. Why? This removes the social-engineering aspect to the game where you could con people. Perhaps a "leaderboard" where each player has a single name, and they are placed on it based upon how many murders they've committed across their lifetime along with a server they were last seen on. This way we treat the whole of the Day-Z community as one rather than so obviously splintered by servers, and the possibility to hunt down notorious murderers. Similar to the UO murderer bulletin board, except the prize for hunting them down is satisfaction. I have no idea how this would be implemented, and I'm sure others will poke holes into this idea and that's fine, but it seems like a cool solution to me.

Edited July 24, 2012 by ziekke

[Vices 15]

MY EYES!

[Garbled 0]

I like your ideas ziekke The "cooperation bonus" idea sounds great.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Garbled

[ziekke 1]

What happened to your eyes Vices? :(

Thanks Garbled. With that idea I was aiming to encourage co-operation without outright requiring/mandating it. Giving nice little bonuses to groups which make some realistic sense seemed to be a good solution than taking things away from the solo players (e.g. inability to do things for themselves without a partner, etc.). The idea probably won't see much traction but I figured I'd throw it out there.

[DayZPvP.com 143]

Rocket has said there will be benefits to grouping, as long as he can do this naturally and unobtrusively then it should work well.

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Morale is a decent idea.

However, it will not accomplish what you say. I will still play with my trusted friends to gain morale, and shoot anyone else I don't know or trust because morale will not be more valuable than the uncertainty and lack of security that comes from welcoming a stranger into our group.

There is simply too much at stake for me to be comfortable bringing any old random jackass I meet in the game along on my adventures. I drive around with 5 friends in a vehicle packed tight with gear and equipment. Why would I put all of that at risk just for a little morale boost? Not going to happen.

This keeps coming up in different threads and I keep saying rocket cannot make game mechanics that will make people be friends. There's a reason I'm not friends with everyone I meet in real life and the same is true in games. I befriend certain people because I know and trust them to play the game in the way that I do and work together and not stab me in the back or act like a complete jackass and get me and my friends killed. If I meet someone in game who seems kind of cool, I might exchange contact details and try to make friends with them, but that's a long term thing that's not going to take place exclusively in the game. No amount of game mechanics are going to make me trust random strangers. That trust can only be built the traditional way - over time through proven behavior, human contact, communication and interaction. All things I can do right now without rocket's help.