Adding "skills" to limit senseless PvP killing Player learned and teachable skills

[firefox (DayZ) 14]

This is my first post. This game is going to be EPIC in the long run.

Anyways here are my suggestions.

So i was watching this interview with rocket

He was disscusing late game and somthing hit me as he was talking about adding skills like splints and sutturing ect, then he was talking about adding more of a "penatly" to death to discourage the random PvP killing

When it comes to skills, like suturing ect, it will SEVERELY limit the "Incentive" of random senseless killing IF getting the skills is hard to do or requires "friendly" Co-opt play.

So for example, In Diablo 2 it is EXTREMELY difficult to lvl to 99, and even more so on hardcore. Lets say you're lv 98 or something on hardcore, you wouldn't actively seek out other players to kill because you may die and lose months of work without reaching the pinaicle that is lv 99.

Now consider If we could learn a realistic range of skills in DayZ that could take months to learn... you would be INSANE to seek out PvP considering it takes 1 shot to the head and you lose months of work

Now im not saying I would make the game so it takes months to get "all" the skills per say (like crafting in wow)... but more like it might take days or "months" to learn all the skills by YOURSELF. To better facilitate CO opt play without limiting ANYTHING. you could find someone that knows every skill and they can teach you in a few hours, or maybe a day or 2 of play.

If you want to play more lone wolf style, you could set up an option like this;

Set up the SELF learning curve like WOW, where you need to do like 50 splints for lv1, 250 for lv2 ect. Each level of a skill would help the heal time of a broken bone. So if you break your own leg that counts as 1 point, you heal sombody else you get 3 points, and maybe you could even "practice" on dead players or zombies(at the risk of infection) which would raise your splint level aswell.

For sombody that regularly plays with freinds or plays freindly, you could have someone that knows level 4 splints teach you lv 4 in 5 mins or maybe instantly. It would open up a whole new co-opt play style and limit senseless killing because it would be very diffcult to learn every skill. It would draw out a very lenghthy endgame that only the most cautious lone wolf or highly organized team could pull off.

When it comes to the "greifers". If your team is highly organized then a single griefer shouldn't be able to loot your whole "body stash" and your team would be encourged to camp your body until your new, no skilled, charater comes back for the stuff. Then your team should be able to teach you the "skills" you lost by dieing.

For a lone wolf type geting griefed, Add some decent defensive measures, like bullet proof helmets/ body armor and the ability to build semi permanent defense structures. Like in real life, playing a lone wolf will have its disadvantages so inherently you would be discouraged from playing loner style becuase the "oppertunistic" people/groups will see you as a lone target. but the option would still be there.

As for the realistic skills.

i was thinking stuff like this.

medical stuff like splints, sutureing/caurterizing, brain trama(relive pressure), etc

herbal stuff to ease pain, like poppy plant for opiates, cocca plants for pain powder, etc

constuction skills like electrical wiring, wood contruction, metal working.

vehicle/maintenance skills like fixing engines, fixing flat tires, flying helicopters etc.

The list could go on.

Let me know what you think about my suggestions.

[Senrain 148]

No thanks, in a game where you can die so easily skills will be a pretty pointless feature.

[firefox (DayZ) 14]

this game is going to need some kind of endgame being that is like an mmo. adding skills just adds more options without taking anything away. you could still kill anyone you want, but with somthing like skills... it would make surviving alot easier and dieing would be more painful.

[Disgraced 1123]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but exactly this, with these types of skills (I guess people tend to think of the same skill sets), has been suggested a number of times.

I doubt it will get in.... Although that's up to the dev team... It seems, though, to go against the spirit of what's being built here.

I think The War Z will have these kinds of options.

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

I wish people could just post a suggestion without coming up with some flimsy pretext to attach it to some kind of statement against PvP.

Senseless PvP is senseless, is it not? People who engage in it don't consider the consequences. They're not going to give a flying fuck if they lose their "suture" skill because they don't use it anyway. They're going to shoot you. All day, every day.

Skills are a cool idea, but they won't change the PvP landscape in the least. "Griefers" will continue to kill indiscriminantly, and most other players will utilize their skills on trusted friends and existing companions, not on random strangers in the game - they will still kill those on sight.

You want a solution to senseless PvP? Keep your eyes open and avoid it.

[Sol (DayZ) 132]

No thanks, in a game where you can die so easily skills will be a pretty pointless feature.

You can die easily in real life too. Are you saying you're going to be a useless couch-potato, and go on welfare benefits for the rest of your life because it's all just pointless?

I've always liked the thought of a skill set that "levels up" in a hidden fashion, as you do certain things repeatedly.

I'm no expert marksman, but after I shot the same gun 100 times I bet I'd be pretty okay with it.

Catch what Im sayin' here?

~Sol

[firefox (DayZ) 14]

I will still kill aswell... but I would be thinking twice if I had like 30 hours on a guy before I try and run after some dude in a gillie suit with a DRM or blindly runing across an open field by myself.

same goes for the griefers, it would make it quite difficult to aim a sniper rifle if you don't have your marksmanship skill up to par.

and on that note... the game could randomly set some of the skills when you spawn... so like an ex military vet would have a higher starting marksmanship level, a construction worker would have higher contructions skills.

you wouldn't pick the starting type. it would be random.... but ill add more to this suggestion later.

Edited July 30, 2012 by firefox