My DayZ Improvement Suggestions

[Black Dow 21]

First off, let me say that I'm enjoying DayZ quite a bit. I started playing recently at the suggestion of a couple of my friends, and after watching some helpful YouTube vids and getting past the ridiculously steep learning curve, I'm loving the tension that comes with having a bagful of great loot and very much wanting to avoid dying at any cost.

That said, this game does have issues, and not just ones related to it being an alpha. There are plenty of bugs, obviously, but I see no point in addressing them here as they will be ironed out over time. PvP is more rampant than it should be, random people have zero incentive to work together to survive, zombies are a complete non-threat after you've watched two or three YouTube videos, and the list goes on.

Anyway, here are some of my suggestions...

1. Randomized starting loot. I'm fine with not starting with a weapon, but starting with basically nothing kind of sucks. I think that, in addition to the current starting loot (which, I believe, is a bandage, painkillers, and a flashlight), players should receive a couple of randomized lower-tier items and one randomized tool aside from the flashlight. Not only does this give new players a bit to work with, but it also makes attacking unarmed players slightly reasonable given that they may be carrying a somewhat valuable tool like a compass or map.

2. Fix night time gameplay. As it stands, night time play is literally only fun if you have night vision goggles or a rifle with a night vision scope. For everyone else, the gameplay at night hovers somewhere between totally unplayable and completely unfun. When I spawn at night in this game, it's like I'm in a fucking cavern. Has anyone here ever been out at night? Even in the middle of a field miles from the nearest city and with no light sources nearby, you can still see reasonably well because of the light from the moon. Even on cloudy nights you can still see at least enough to tell where you're going. In DayZ you can't see shit at night, and turning on your flashlight just makes you a free sniper kill. Let me put it this way: if you need a very rare item to enjoy playing during an eight hour period every day on every server, something is wrong. Night should be more challenging and more dangerous, but it shouldn't be the complete bullshit that it is right now.

3. More zombies! I'm not sure how feasible this is in the current game engine, but I'd like to see significantly more zombies. As it stands, zombies are basically just a minor inconvenience. They make you grab your gear in five seconds when normally you might take ten. They force you to acknowledge that they exist, but not much else. Doubling (or tripling) the zombie count in any given city might change that a bit.

4. More difficult zombies! Nothing but a head shot (or frag, or at least three melee shots) should take a zombie down. Given that aiming in ARMA is, at the best of times, uncertain (I'm sure most people here have had their sights right on a zombie's face and watched the bullet hit the wall behind him at least a couple of times), this will make zombies more dangerous and tougher to deal with, particularly when paired up with some of my later ideas.

5. Different types of zombies. Adding in "elite" zombie types like SWAT zombies who are wearing helmets and, therefore, much more difficult (if not impossible) to kill. These zombies would naturally spawn only in cities near the more valuable buildings, thus making supply runs much more dangerous. There could be similar types of military zombies that require multiple shots and maybe a few that are even invulnerable, thus making easy runs at the NW Airfield a thing of the past. I'd also like to see some larger zombies (in real life, there are tall people and morbidly fat people, right?) that maybe require two headshots to kill. Just anything that can turn zombies into more of a threat, really.

6. Less ammo spawns. Gun spawns should stay about the same, at least for non-military weapons, but ammo should be much more scarce. As it stands, ammo for most of the normal guns is pretty abundant, so there is really no penalty for using it with reckless abandon. Every time I pull the trigger, I should weigh the cost of the bullet over the value of the target. This should be a world like Metro 2033 where bullets are a primary currency, almost as valuable as food and water. Lowering ammo spawn rates by fifty percent or so should also put an end to veteran players getting bored and hunting unarmed players.

7. Slightly lower medical spawn rates. I'm fine with bandages being prevalent, as that is realistic. But right now it is entirely too easy to stock up on morphine and blood packs. These should be rarer items that carry a ton of value, which will also lead to hospitals becoming highly disputed zones. If this is done, I do think that another hospital or two should be added to the northern cities on the map for balance, though.

8. Lower spawn rates for high-powered military weaponry. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Finding an advanced sniper rifle should be an amazing discovery, not simply a quick trip to the NW Airbase. These weapons should be prized possessions worth taking big risks to venture onto military bases (with the aforementioned elite zombies) in the hopes of finding another clip or two of priceless ammunition.

9. No more drinking pond water. This isn't realistic. The only reliable water source should be freshwater spouts found behind farm houses and near cities. I suppose you could also add the option to boil the water (thus giving water "dirty" or "clean" designations), but I think it would be more fun to remove the option to drink anything but tap water altogether. Mostly because suddenly those random shitty houses in the middle of nowhere with a water tap out back suddenly have actual value, as they may be the only source of water in a long stretch of harsh and unforgiving terrain.

10. Better zombie reactions to gunfire. If you fire a gun, any zombie within hearing distance of the gunshot should immediately being to converge on where the shot was fired. They don't have to necessarily sprint there (unless they actually see the person who fires the gun), but making zombies more reactive to gunfire does a few things. It makes firing your gun more of a risk. If there are two dozen zombies in the area, and you fire your gun to kill another player, all of a sudden you may find yourself in trouble. Similarly, you and a friend may be able to work together to loot buildings by luring zombies out of a valuable area with gunfire somewhere nearby.

11. Smarter zombies during chase mode. I know, that sounds redundant, but right now it is so goddamn easy to lose an entire horde of zombies that they are little more than a minor inconvenience. In a game that's about the zombie apocalypse, that's a bit of a joke. It should be much harder to lose zombies, particularly once you've got a hoard on you. I think it should remain easy to sneak around without being noticed, because stealth makes sense. The sprint-and-smash-and-grab method that most players currently use should not be viable.

I could probably come up with more, but those will have to do for now. I think all of those would lend to DayZ being a better, more challenging, more cooperative game, with less focus on griefing and more focus on finding people who can actually help you survive. Looting cities and army bases would suddenly require a team of smart, dedicated people, and not just because there might be some asshole in the radio tower with a sniper rifle and a 360-degree view.

It would also add a purpose to banditry. Right now, bandits basically exist to just run around and kill people. I doubt most of them do it for the loot. They do it because it's easy, and ammo is abundant. With the ideas I suggested above, suddenly loot is much more valuable, and thus killing to obtain it becomes a viable objective. Similarly, working together with your group or clan to lock down valuable areas would become a huge part of the game, just as it would in a real-life zombie apocalypse.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Black Dow

[webmaster@taskymedia.com 0]

...PvP is more rampant than it should be, random people have zero incentive to work together to survive...

1. Randomized starting loot...Not only does this give new players a bit to work with, but it also makes attacking unarmed players slightly reasonable given that they may be carrying a somewhat valuable tool like a compass or map.

Stopped reading.

In all seriousness, there are some decent ideas in there, but some of those would make Lone Wolf-ing it a thing of the past. Why should everyone play in a group just because you like to?

Edited July 24, 2012 by tasky

[Black Dow 21]

Stopped reading.

In all seriousness, there are some decent ideas in there, but some of those would make Lone Wolf-ing it a thing of the past. Why should everyone play in a group just because you like to?

This is a game where we're role-playing the zombie apocalypse. No one is going to get far working alone. And I don't think anything I suggested would make lone-wolfing it impossible. It would certainly be more difficult, but in a harsh, hostile environment filled with zombies, isn't it realistic that going it alone would be more difficult than working with other people?

Everyone seems to love the "realism" of DayZ so long as it supports their beliefs about the game, but the second it contradicts them they are quick to ignore it as a factor.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Black Dow

[Black Dow 21]

One more I wanted to add:

Minor wounds and major wounds. Minor wounds heal on their own after a set amount of blood loss (say 1000 or 2000?). Major wounds require bandages to heal or you will bleed out. A minor would could be the first hit from a zombie, or hits from a crowbar. Maybe even the first hit from a hatchet. Bullet wounds are always major wounds. And if you're hit while you're still bleeding from a minor wound it turns into a major wound.

I don't mind the bleeding mechanism in the game, but I do think it's stupid that being hit once from a zombie will cause my character to bleed out if untreated. In real life certain injuries are more severe than others. I don't see why it should be any different in the game.

[dobrowney 55]

The night part i agree with night time in this game is total bullshit. Can not get more fake then total darkness. In real life you have moon light to let you see where you are going ..

[Gentleman_shark 1]

1) I could see that kinda work, but no, we don't need more incentives of spawn killing

2) While i agree playing at night is a bit unfun, it's realistic, have you camped out in the woods?Away from the cities, villages and human civilization?It get's pitch black easy

3)Yes

4)Yes

5)Isn't this the same has 4?

6) Yes, with less ammo spawn people would actually think "Is this shot worth it?"

7) I believe the spawn are fine :o

8) Well, high rated wep are spawn only in those places, and there heavy PvP zones, what ruins is server hoping until you find a low pop one and get your stuff

9) Why?

10) Yes

11) OMG yes please

Edited July 24, 2012 by Gentleman_shark

[Black Dow 21]

The night part i agree with night time in this game is total bullshit. Can not get more fake then total darkness. In real life you have moon light to let you see where you are going ..

The problem with night time is that it's just not fun. This is a video game. I play it to enjoy myself. If I'm not enjoying myself, I quit. When a huge chunk of time in your game in not enjoyable, you need to reevaluate that part of your game to make it more fun. As it stands, when I join a night server, I instantly leave because I know I'm not going to enjoy it. I will keep searching until I find a daylight server.

[Black Dow 21]

2) While i agree playing at night is a bit unfun, it's realistic, have you camped out in the woods?Away from the cities, villages, and human civilization?It get's pitch black easy

9) Why?

2) Yes, I have camped out. Numerous times. I grew up in a small town, and was no stranger to taking trips to the woods. Even at night, miles from the nearest town, you can still see reasonably well in the dark. Well enough to move around without a light. Your eyes adjust fast.

And, ultimately, this is a video game. It should be fun. Playing at night isn't fun. That's a problem that needs to be dealt with.

9) Because, in real life, you can't simply drink pond water without running the risk of getting sick which, in an environment like DayZ, could be fatal. The game already removed the ability to drink water from the ocean, so why not further the realism and make drinking pond water a thing of the past?

The main point to doing so would be to make those water spouts in the game actually valuable. Every player needs water to survive, so if suddenly those spouts are the only source, their value skyrockets. They become smart places to set up camps, or to set traps for unsuspecting groups of survivors.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Black Dow

[Chedder 6]

There Retarted zombies... not rocket scientist.. there supposed to be stupid

[Gentleman_shark 1]

Also think that the moon plays a big part on it. But i would really like to play in the night without saying "HEY GUYS IM HERE JUST FOLLOW THE FLARES OR FLASHLIGHT" or getting Night vision, perhaps a adjustment would suffice.

I still think the pond ideia is to extreme. Then again needing to either follow up a river or try your luck at a nearby village/town/city for a water pump would create some nice stories, adrenaline time and stealth missions. But would also make bandits or happy trigger snipers happy, but i guess with the ammo change it could work out in the end.

[Worrun (DayZ) 108]

When Rocket was in the Army (or whatever) they should have thrown him in the jungle in hostile territory without a SINGLE way of defending himself.

Then let's see us start with no weapons or fists.

[Gentleman_shark 1]

When Rocket was in the Army (or whatever) they should have thrown him in the jungle in hostile territory without a SINGLE way of defending himself.

Then let's see us start with no weapons or fists.

hahahahahha +1

[Black Dow 21]

There Retarted zombies... not rocket scientist.. there supposed to be stupid

I'm not saying the zombies should be able to solve complex mathematical equations when I say they should be smarter. What I am implying is that it should be harder to ditch them. Right now it's retardedly easy. The zombies add very little challenge to the game to veteran players. Hell, I've only been playing DayZ for a week and I've already figured out how to ditch them. In a game about a zombie apocalypse, don't you think that the zombies should, you know, be a threat?

In your typical zombie story, the zombies are always the biggest threat. That threat is a constant. Other people generally pose a threat as well, but that threat is more subdued and tends to pop up every now and then rather than being ongoing. In DayZ, zombies pose next to no threat to anyone who knows what they are doing. The only ongoing threat is other people. This game has it backward.

Also think that the moon plays a big part on it. But i would really like to play in the night without saying "HEY GUYS IM HERE JUST FOLLOW THE FLARES OR FLASHLIGHT" or getting Night vision, perhaps a adjustment would suffice.

I still think the pond ideia is to extreme. Then again needing to either follow up a river or try your luck at a nearby village/town/city for a water pump would create some nice stories, adrenaline time and stealth missions. But would also make bandits or happy trigger snipers happy, but i guess with the ammo change it could work out in the end.

That was my point about the night. Realism, ultimately, is overrated. We're quick to squash people's realistic ideas (see: the thread about going to the bathroom in the game) when we don't think they'll be fun. Why should this be any different? If night isn't fun for over 50% of your players (and the percentage is likely much higher than that), tweak it until it is. It's as simple as that.

Yes, the pond idea was going hand-in-hand with decreased ammo spawns and less high-powered weapons. In a scenario like that, it's doubtful you'll be randomly sniped if you don't look like you have much valuable gear. I look at it this way...if I have a bandit group that sets up a perimeter around a water spout in the wilderness and some random guy came through without any weapons, we're probably just going to let him fill up his canteen and go on his way without ever letting him know we're there. If a well-armed group comes through to fill up, we're going to be much more inclined to attempt to rob them. That's really the way the game should be. Right now players are being killed for nothing and to no gain.

[naizarak 41]

here's a quick summary of this thread and every other "suggestion" thread made since this mod's release:

1. fix pvp

2. fix zombies

3. fix technical glitches

[Black Dow 21]

here's a quick summary of this thread and every other "suggestion" thread made since this mod's release:

1. fix pvp

2. fix zombies

3. fix technical glitches

This thread actually offers suggestions for how to accomplish the first two, and I don't think I complained about technical glitches. This is an alpha. Those are going to happen.

[stripes 92]

I think the ammo rate is just about right as it is though there should be less slugs & pellets & more rare ammo.

[whatbadguy 21]

Playing at night is everything but boring.. have you ever been to a city while it's pitch black? Guarantee you'll run into at least 5 relatively well armed individuals. Most baddies that use the skill-less sniper rifles (M107 AS50 1 shotters) can't use NV, greatly reducing the chances of getting downed within the 800m no-go zone in the outskirts. So long as you play smart and pay attention you could easily leave town with a nice big bag of goodies..

I think the ammo rate is just about right as it is though there should be less slugs & pellets & more rare ammo.

And I'm prone to disagree with that, ammunition should be much more difficult to come across be it shells or SD.

Edited July 24, 2012 by whatbadguy

[vukster@gmail.com 75]

Playing at night works really well if you know how to use flares and chem lights/flashlight.

Much safer at night then day time, zombies see less, you are monochromatic to NV and if you throw a flare invincible.

It's 10x harder to spot and snipe players at night unless you have heat scope, in which case flares work really well as a counter.

Night is fine, just learn to play it.

[Quaby 93]

Dude, follow my signature, and try not to do this again. Short and sweet, I can't possibly give you good feedback on each one without writing a goddamn essay, and I don't want to write a goddamn essay.

Why do I constantly tell people to clean up forum formats instead of giving feedback? Because eventually, if we all try hard enough, people will stop doing stupid shit and we will reach forum utopia. Original, well-formatted suggestions.

[stripes 92]

Night play is awesome. It always scares the crap outa me :)

[Klu 20]

I like the idea of possibly starting with another item or 2 of random low-tier things. Maybe start with a can of pasta but no water. That isn't going to actually do much, since you're still having to search for everything anyway, but it will add a little bit to the start.

Night-time issues are solved with Video options. Simple enough for me.

Less ammo spawns I like. Making ammo very scarce would add a nice element.

Zombies... obvious problems are obvious. I like the idea of other "types" of zombies. Whether they are "elite", or whatever, we'll see. Maybe, at random spawn points, have a kind of "mothership" where zombies are constantly spawned and are being dispersed from those points. These "motherships" themselves can move and be hunted down and attacked but would easily be too much to handle for just a couple survivors.

I haven't played long enough to comment on spawn rates of high-end weapons.

Good post!

Edited July 24, 2012 by Klu

[Black Dow 21]

Dude, follow my signature, and try not to do this again. Short and sweet, I can't possibly give you good feedback on each one without writing a goddamn essay, and I don't want to write a goddamn essay.

Why do I constantly tell people to clean up forum formats instead of giving feedback? Because eventually, if we all try hard enough, people will stop doing stupid shit and we will reach forum utopia. Original, well-formatted suggestions.

Are you a mod? Because it certainly doesn't say so next to your name.