Playing solo is problematic

[Huntra 35]

Imo playing alone can suck though no matter how skilled you are. Imagine you're on the far western edge of the map with enough supplies to get up north west for some high power weapons. You lie down on some uneven terrain while you go for a toilet and when you come back the game has bugged and you have a broken leg. As a solo player without morphine you might as well kill yourself at this point. You should be able to send out an SOS that anyone can hear for few km radius. You might attract a bandit, then again you might attract a decent guy who will give you morphine in exchange for your weapons. You might even meet a guy so friendly you shoot him in the back of the head after hes healed you.

This is what the game needs:-

Low tier - Common frequency walkie talkies with a few KM radius that you can find around the coast, the further away you are the less clear the transmission.

High tier - GPS comms system, communicate with anyone from anywhere on the map provided they also have GPS comms.

Every tier should also be able do perform the function of the lower tier comms device. So if I have a GPS I can send out an SoS on a common frequency if I have to.

Can you imagine how much fun could be have with this. You're out in the middle of nowhere and you hear a faint static voice on the line. "Please help, broken legs, low on blood...please come Green mountain". At first you ignore it but then it comes again and again. You decide to risk a response. "How do I know you're not a bandit?" you say. The guy responds "Pleeease, I'll put all my guns outside the gate I just need medical supplies". You decide to have a cautious look from a distance. You see a Lee Enfield, a revolver and a hatchet lying outside the gate. The anonymous voice is saying "See now I'm not a threat please just come use a blood bag on me." You start feeling sorry for the guy and go inside the complex, hes lying prone near the entrance to the antennae unarmed. You approach the guy and now in direct chat he says "Thank God your here". You say "Don't worry man, I know how much it sucks when you're solo and you get injured". He just says "I'm sorry....". You almost say "you're sorry for what?" but then you spin around and catch a glimpse of the 3 guys with M16s that have been hiding with the guy all along. You only catch a glimpse though, because a split second after you turn around you're dead.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Huntra

[ChinWooMan 34]

Always have a Morhpine and Cooked Meat on you. If your playing solo and do not have that, my friend..

[Huntra 35]

Always have a Morhpine and Cooked Meat on you. If your playing solo and do not have that, my friend..

No shit but its unrealistic to say you must always have all supplies at all time. Maybe you used your morphine earlier. It's totally besides the point. And cooked meat is great, but if you are on 6k blood and going unconcious its not really worth shit.

The point is that if your solo you can't even risk trying to trade with someone because the games doesn't faciliate anything but shoot on sight due to short range of direct comms. Yes I want to play solo not join a team of bandits making the game completely different, but I also want to be able to have some form of communication of someone before they are close enough to easily shoot me.

The game could literally be x10 more fun if everyone didn't go around treating everyone else like npcs (unless your on a teamspeak server with some people). Even killing other players would be more fun as currently they might as well be npcs the amount you hear from them.

I got this game because I saw cool videos on youtube with people taking hostages and spooking out players by talking to them before they had located you and stuff. Fact is now I've had this game a while I've realised this shit virtually never happens because nobody interacts with each other outside of bandit clans on TS. Everyone just shoots each other as soon as they see each other and not a word is spoken. I'm starting to think most the cool videos I saw were just staged situations trying to make the game out to be something it isn't.

Without this stuff Dayz is just pvp loot n shoot with some dodgy mechanics. It should be so much more.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Huntra

[s.taylor.75@gmail.com 23]

The difficulty seems about right in solo play. I've done grouping but there's literally zero challenge in the game if you're in a group with even 1 other person. Solo is what keeps me playing tbh.

[tokyofist 2]

I really enjoy solo play. Been alive for around 3 weeks now.

I raid deer stands and supermarkets regularly. I've raided North West Airfield twice (more stupid than brave) finding a gps which has been invaluable.

I live off the land where possible, Killing animals and refilling my water bottle.

I found 2 tents today so have made 2 separate camps to store and stockpile spare loot, food and any medical supplies I stumble across.

I am forever alone :) but really enjoy the suspense and tension that trying to survive in this game brings.

Solo FTW

[Morpane1492 0]

the canned foods could give alot more hp back, I agree. That and how fast you die from thirst needs tweaked.

[Morpane1492 0]

I really enjoy solo play. Been alive for around 3 weeks now.

I raid deer stands and supermarkets regularly. I've raided North West Airfield twice (more stupid than brave) finding a gps which has been invaluable.

I live off the land where possible, Killing animals and refilling my water bottle.

I found 2 tents today so have made 2 separate camps to store and stockpile spare loot, food and any medical supplies I stumble across.

I am forever alone :) but really enjoy the suspense and tension that trying to survive in this game brings.

Solo FTW

Alot of people dont understand this type of immersion, theres no trophy for showing up.

[hauerek 2]

Nothing beats the thrill of a nighttime raid on the NW Airfield all alone without NVG's, always wondering if its safe to turn your flashlight even for a second and constantly checking for other peoples sources of light, listening for the sounds of zombies because you can't see them untill they get too close.

Solo is the way to go!

[mrducky (DayZ) 33]

Yes, playing solo is obviously a bit more difficult than cooping with someone you know...

But the bloodbags aren't really the reason. Its easy to get the blood up, even when playing solo, you just need to hunt the animals, and always keep a few pieces of cooked meat in your backback. In that sense, the game just offers different mechanics of keeping up the blood for the solo players and the coop players.

The only real significant disadvantage when playing solo is that you have no safety net for your loot in case you die. Which basically means that if you die (getting shot by another player), you really do most likely lose all of your gear. Death really means that you may have to restart from the scratch. For a tight group of people, a single person dying is not really a problem. They just regroup and the dead guy can re-acquire his stuff from his body / friends. That is the only, and quite significant, difference in solo vs group play. Surviving solo isn't really that much more difficult than in a group. Zeds are never the real problem once familiar with the game. And a shot to the head kills both of the players equally, whether in group or not. The difference is only what results after death.

Also, playing solo has a few small advantanges, such as being able to move faster, being able to fully concentrate on the environment rather than where your friend is.

I really don't think that survival time wise, there isn't much difference whether you play solo or in a group. You just have to play differently. As a solo player, you just need to be cautious and avoid people, specifically groups of people. In combat, being outnumbered isn't a good thing.

The PvP issue is a totally different thing... It's a general "flaw" in the current game. Obviously, solo players in particular, have even less chance for any other interaction than shoot on sight. So the issue is probably most apparent for those players.

[Sula 1205]

Playing alone IS hard work and I'm finding it lonely. Right now I'm lying in a forest with broken bones from a fall and not even water let alone pills. Pals can come find you and it's exciting because they've got a mission! :)