what's the best solution to stop server hopping?

[tarquinbb 28]

something that's really bothering me at the moment is the nagging feeling that whenever i'm shot in the back shortly after encountering other survivors, they could have hopped to a different server and taken their new position via 'astral projection'.

however this problem is very difficult to fix, the only obvious solutions have glaring problems which could be detrimental to realism and legitimate play. but it's essential to fix, because the community will never be able to unify and obide by etiquette such as 'DO NOT ALT-F4 OR SERVER HOP!'...

the age old rule in gaming is that if something gives you an ADVANTAGE, then you take the advantage. you don't follow imaginary rules (naughty naughty alt-f4ers). the name given to people who create imaginary rules is SCRUB.

obviously the use of hacks and certain exploits are well beyond the majority of decent people, with their respect to other gamers etc, but there will ALWAYS be a crowd of players who are not ashamed to alt-f4 or server hop/ghost. these lame tactics are a blatantly unfair advantage but you're not doing anything wrong in the light of the mod/game design, you're only doing wrong to yourself and the band of players who have created this 'honor among survivors' rule book.

frankly, i think it's ruining the game. it totally sucks when you stalk someone for ages, then you shoot him down and he just disappears into thin air - along with his gear, and while you're still cursing the game he's waking up and bandaging himself on another server.

how can it be fixed? the most benign solution i can foresee to combat server hopping would be to get servers to global announce players connecting/disconnecting (somehow bypassing the act of switching to a different profile). then you could cross-reference your disconnector with the broadcasted disconnect message, then be wary of him rejoining the game. this has obvious problems, and banks on the assumption that a server can identify a player account, because simply switching to a different profile name would render the entire thing pointless.

are there any better solutions out there?

Edited July 30, 2012 by tarquinbb

[houcksf 13]

Until a fix come in from dayz staff, just aim for headshots or put enough bullets into them before they get a chance to do it. Also find server who activity ban players for this.

[jay.pis 32]

Only way to really "stop" server hopping is to implement a 1 character per server rule. Other solutions are just to slow them down such as adding in a timer where players can't log in to another server for lets say 10 minutes.

[Never 237]

Only way to really "stop" server hopping is to implement a 1 character per server rule.

This.The multi server thing is just smoke and mirrors. "Oh its cool!" But it causes more exploits and problems than useful points. Problem is the player base would riot if it was taken away. Because they are mostly cheating cunts.

[ReploidGodX 0]

Only way to really "stop" server hopping is to implement a 1 character per server rule. Other solutions are just to slow them down such as adding in a timer where players can't log in to another server for lets say 10 minutes.

I thought I read somewhere in an interview someone did with rocket that he's planning on going that route anyway, the character you play with be saved to that server and that server only.

Although this is heresay as I cannot remember where I heard this, seems to be the only true fix if you ask me, everything else just seems to be a waste of time.

[Swineflew 480]

I think that there are other ways to stop server hopping.

One off the top of my head is making certain zones un-logoffable.

For example of you log off in a zone that's been protected when you log in you'll spawn somewhere randomly, like anywhere on the map, or just the coast. This would require you to log off in the woods or somewhere remote.

I don't like the mindset of "this is the only solution to this problem"

[Never 237]

I think that there are other ways to stop server hopping.

One off the top of my head is making certain zones un-logoffable.

For example of you log off in a zone that's been protected when you log in you'll spawn somewhere randomly, like anywhere on the map, or just the coast. This would require you to log off in the woods or somewhere remote.

That would be awful and full of bugs.

[ripbabyg@hotmail.co.uk 125]

We could try just not doing it.

[jordan2412 60]

I think that there are other ways to stop server hopping.

One off the top of my head is making certain zones un-logoffable.

For example of you log off in a zone that's been protected when you log in you'll spawn somewhere randomly, like anywhere on the map, or just the coast. This would require you to log off in the woods or somewhere remote.

I don't like the mindset of "this is the only solution to this problem"

Yeah, or maybe you cant DC if you fired a shot within X amount of time. Or maybe you cant DC within a certain radius of another player. IDK, anything they change will hurt the Legit gamer as much as the cheater.

[Longs 42]

I'd love this idea of one character too a server tbh I only play on my own atm anyway, you could build up a community of like minded people on the one server. You might even be able to tempt people to contribute towards it's upkeep as they will have invested time and effort there.

[Sinoby 39]

Characters should be server-boynd, that's all. It will Resolve lots of problems

[ReploidGodX 0]

I think that there are other ways to stop server hopping.

One off the top of my head is making certain zones un-logoffable.

For example of you log off in a zone that's been protected when you log in you'll spawn somewhere randomly, like anywhere on the map, or just the coast. This would require you to log off in the woods or somewhere remote.

I don't like the mindset of "this is the only solution to this problem"

I don't like it either but the game is supposed to be a persistant world, IE logout and login the same spot. What we need to stop is server hopping and the best way to do that is to nulify or get rid of the advantages that would bring... somehow. Currently, in my opinion the only 'real' fix thats been suggested is no more master character server, character data is stored on whatever server you're playing on. everything else i've heard or seen only partially fixes the problem, brings new ones to the table that aren't that much better or aren't really fixes at all and really just amount to people complaining about said problem and damning those at fault. (not all of which are present in this thread I mind you)

Edited July 30, 2012 by ReploidGodX

[kostuek 47]

I was thinking of this:

10 minutes after login the server will ask you, if you want to stay. If you accept this, you will be not able to login on any other server for the next, let's say, 6 hours. If you are not happy with the server, you can just leave and go for another (not the same one for the next whatever time).

[sausagekingofchicago 4711]

barbwire, tank traps at all the common hop spots.

[Mortus 17]

Simple solution. When you log off, your character remains in game for an additional...say 15-30 seconds. You cannot join another server until your avatar fully disconnects from the one it is in. So you better find a safe place to log out at.

[PK Richie 507]

I server hopped last night :) Must of done about 20 servers in about an hour because most servers are incorrectly tagged :rolleyes:

[Swineflew 480]

Didn't rocket say that he wants to always keep the public hive? So a character per server would create more stress on the hive right?

If characters are stored on a server wouldn't that allow the host to edit the character files?

I would be fine with a character per server, but I don't like the train of thought that it's the only solution.

[ReploidGodX 0]

Didn't rocket say that he wants to always keep the public hive? So a character per server would create more stress on the hive right?

If characters are stored on a server wouldn't that allow the host to edit the character files?

I would be fine with a character per server, but I don't like the train of thought that it's the only solution.

Again, I don't even remember where I heard that so don't take it too seriously cause it might just be rumor, just trying to contribute to the discussion.

[zombies (DayZ) 5]

the best solution to stop server hopping is to make the game stable enough that people dont have to switch servers all the damn time.

I have to relog or switch servers dozens of times because of bugs, server auto-restarts, or bad updates.

[Leonidous 1]

A good solution would be: Every time you join a server, your legs break.

It would be as if you are parachuting into a new land, but your parachute fails a good distance from the ground, enough to break your legs.

So you have to either have a ton of morphine to server hop, or you can crawl everywhere.

[Kurukururin 11]

The game has been more stable last few days. Even disconnects/server restarts without losing gear and rollbacks. But most servers are still not stable enough to risk binding your char to just one. What if that server stops existing? Server owner: "Nah, i dont feel like having this server anymore". Sorry your char is gone, forever. Or if just the server is offline for a few days? Sorry, cant play lol ;P It works in games like world of warcraft ofc, but they have a multi million backbone server system of offical servers. Not user driven ones.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Kurukururin

[Never 237]

The game has been more stable last few days. Even disconnects/server restarts without losing gear and rollbacks. But most servers are still not stable enough to risk binding your char to just one. What if that server stops existing? Server owner: "Nah, i dont feel like having this server anymore". Sorry your char is gone, forever. Or if just the server is offline for a few days? Sorry, cant play lol ;P It works in games like world of warcraft ofc, but they have a multi million backbone server system of offical servers. Not user driven ones.

See, this is way DayZ standalone is a LONG way off. A pipedream if you will.

[xSLIMxJIMx 1]

A good solution would be: Every time you join a server, your legs break.

It would be as if you are parachuting into a new land, but your parachute fails a good distance from the ground, enough to break your legs.

So you have to either have a ton of morphine to server hop, or you can crawl everywhere.

that is literally the stupidest

thing i have ever heard of

[Sinoby 39]

Idea of characters being bound to servers will only work if server-side soft is stable enough, cleanup scripts working etc. But we are discussing possibilities her, possibilities for future.

There are private hive servers, and they do work ok-ish. What I like about the idea of persistent server, is the fact that community will be pretty much the same people from day to day. Players will be able to remember names of bandits/survivors, form a decent group with other etc. And possibilities to role-play are much higher in such world.

[Swineflew 480]

See, this is way DayZ standalone is a LONG way off. A pipedream if you will.

Why would that be a delay at all? You'd have to play on a new server. It happens all the time on a bunch of games with player run servers.

I'll use minecraft and gmod as quick examples.