What is my purpose?

[sidewinder_102 12]

So, it seems the Dayz community has, for the most part, found an answer to the age old question "Why am I here?" for their in-game avatars. Be it to find loot, make friends, or most popularly, buff your kill countz.

However, the community is currently struggling with the question "What is my purpose?"

This is probably due to modern gaming being dominated by games that set overt and explicit challenges in front of the player. Even in the most open ended of today's AAA titles such as The Elder Scrolls series, Grand Theft Auto and all of it's clones, and Mass Effect the objectives within the sandbox world to either get better stuff or advance one's story is set plainly before the player. Today's gamer's are accustomed to having their character strengthened, loots improved, story advanced, and ego stroked by accomplishing tasks that may not necessarily be easy, but are easily discerned.

In Dayz, you answer "What is my purpose?". It can be as simple as looting or hunting players or as complex as building a faction to control and enforce peaceful trade within a safe zone on a specific server. Personally, I like to get together with my buddies and make a mission out of marking clans or players for death. This is an effort in and out of the game. Search the forums for a reason to kill them and then search for information on how to find them and best execute. Find server numbers, play times, locations, make contacts, and follow leads. It's exciting and provides me with purpose beyond inflating my kill count.

Don't just stop at my suggestions. Ask yourself "What is my purpose?". Consider your resources such as skill, gear, and allies. A lone wolf may want to play batman for Berezino or play a lone hunter who patrols a large section of forest to avoid humanity and hunt anything that moves within his borders.

Your purpose can change. It can change often. It can be a secret which you hide from other players through deceit or it can be a badge of honor which you marshal with pride.

I will admit, I want to play a killer and I have very near to zero trust for anyone who I don't know personally. I love the game in it's current state and if no one ever rises up to make a large faction of righteous citizens the it will be no skin off my back. Though, if you find yourself saying "there's no end game to Dayz" or "what is left to do but camp nubz?" then I attest that you simply lack imagination and do not realize the potential of the tools already at our disposal.

Finally. If you are having problems surviving the bandits and the coast campers and the zombies and the (insert threat here) then maybe the problem isn't the game or the community. Maybe the problem is you. Maybe your purpose is to die? Sheep.

Discuss! List your purpose or maybe a bright idea for someone else!

[Irenicus (DayZ) 289]

"what is your purpose?"

"I just WANNA ROCK!"

:D

[Element47 2481]

this morning, i broke my leg.

this wouldnt be much of a news in chernarus, but for me, it was an epiphany (thats a smartass way of saying: i got it).

a day earlier, my life was saved by a combined operation of two brave and committed medics, who teamed up across continents and time zones to make a loong and dangerous travel to save me from certain death. despite all their efforts, my life now came to an end. and as i sat here, i realized, that as thrilling as surviving the first minutes on the beach may be, as gratifing as getting your hands on that particular gear item may be, what matters in the end is what we do with this (mostly short) life in chernarus.

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR GEAR.

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF TERRAIN.

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE.

(sorry, i felt that this is one of the few times when capslock is appropriate)

medical supplies are rare, and demand is high. the highest demand for meds have - you guessed it - the medics. and they need them for all the right reasons. so my endgame, my goal, my meaning of life in this forsaken place now is to gather medical supplies, and to bring them to medics in the need. a high goal, and my first successful gather&deliver mission is yet to come. but i have hope - and a goal to strive for.

what is your endgame?

this is my post from a week ago. you can probably substitute "endgame" with "purpose" for the sake of this topic. i have made two successful supply runs since, and made friends in the medic community (best friends you can have in this game, i tell you)

Edited July 29, 2012 by e47

[Groner1661 38]

This is exactly why I love DayZ!

The possibilities are endless! I for one, have an idea about running a secure storage depot of sorts. That is, a tent city with fortifications and 24-hour guard where people can store their loot; for a price of course. This is just one idea and I'm sure I will come up with others, some more adventurous and some small scale.

Thanks to the whole Dev team and of course Rocket! I have been strictly a console gamer up until DayZ. Nothing before then has turned me from my Xbox.

Bravo.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Groner1661

[sheepdawg 278]

Finally. If you are having problems surviving the bandits and the coast campers and the zombies and the (insert threat here) then maybe the problem isn't the game or the community. Maybe the problem is you. Maybe your purpose is to die? Sheep.

How dare you sir. That is not my purpose.

In seriousness though, I dont understand why peopel put TL;DR on things because of gems like these. Good read and I'll take it into consideration. It would be really badass if there was huge factions fighting each other. That i could see, but the senseless PvP on randoms doesn't seem like what life would really be like. However until personally i find a reason to unite with strangers, i'll stick to my RL friends and protect myself from all threats.

I also like to troll people with flares as i recently came across NVGs. Really fun to light someone up especially in the bigger cities.

[Jourmand1r 19]

Sometimes I think this mod was designed for 2 things.

1. So that Rocket can lol at all the griefing.

2. So that people can use "I play Day Z" as a way to pretend they play super hard games.

[Dingus (DayZ) 429]

Death is endgame.

[SystemiK 366]

Personally, I like to get together with my buddies and make a mission out of marking clans or players for death. This is an effort in and out of the game. Search the forums for a reason to kill them and then search for information on how to find them and best execute. Find server numbers, play times, locations, make contacts, and follow leads. It's exciting and provides me with purpose beyond inflating my kill count.

Thats very interesting. It's a meta game in and of itself.

The game as is offers numerous possibilities outside of simply surviving (and will only get better as content is added). The problem which faces many players (as you have already suggested) is that when not given clear objectives and stepping points along the way that they quickly become bored. Modern gaming, in it's constant quest to reach the lowest common denominator has done much to stifle creativity in it players. Yet there are some who will always find ways to keep themselves entertained while most others may not find enjoyment beyond what is carefully packaged and placed in front of them, ready for consumption.

I suspect that it's not so much a problem with people, as it is a problem with the gaming industry itself. In a way, mainstream games have trained people NOT to think for themselves (at least in the context of the game) and to accept the experience of the game only as it was intended by it's makers ( in fact most games really don't even leave the player any choice).

It's been refreshing to see sandbox games getting more attention recently, perhaps these games will ultimately be responsible for pushing the mainstream into a new direction. I know that's a lot to ask, but it is certainly possible...

Edited July 29, 2012 by SystemiK

[sidewinder_102 12]

this is my post from a week ago. you can probably substitute "endgame" with "purpose" for the sake of this topic. i have made two successful supply runs since, and made friends in the medic community (best friends you can have in this game, i tell you)

The medics are a great example! Along with these guys:

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/46418-citizens-of-post-apocalyptic-chernarus-if-you-are-seeking-peace-in-these-dark-times-come-to-the-last-church-of-electro-this-sunday/page__hl__sunday

^ That's awesome. Barring hacker attacks early on, I plan to nearby when this happens. With my own agenda, of course.

[Irenicus (DayZ) 289]

Awww I was hoping there'd be a few Satch fans who'd pick up on my reference, guess only one guy did :)

[arx 61]

Good post OP.

Just because there arent MONSTER KILLS, unlocks, marked objectives and so on the sheep are lost. i dont understand these so called AAA games; isnt playing them kind of like working? why would anyone want to do that? there are millions of people who spend their own day just grinding and grinding away on metro in bf3.. getting all the same unlocks for weapons that are precisely similar anyway.. you dont see these ppl asking what the endgame is or what to do now.. they are happy to just keep hammering away at it like lemmings, because they know that is their task