A Final Solution to the Bandit Problem

[nuclearaddict 15]

Want to know what the real solution to the "bandit problem" is? Stop being bad at the game.

[J.R 1]

I don't think banditry should be punished or even frowned upon... People have to adapt to this game, learn from your mistakes. Don't hesitate if you see a guy lining you up, run, hide, survive and realize that dying is apart of this game. So stop crying and man up.

[EggMcSexy 2]

I don't know what bandit "problem" you're talking about? If you play smart and use terrain well, then you don't get shot. Quit trying to make us look like the bad guys if you run straight through an open field in broad daylight heading towards cherno etc. with your gear on.

The problem is not that bandits exist. Bandits are an important part of the game, and add a huge suspense element to the game that shouldn't be removed. The problem is that once you get good gear, there isn't really much to do other than become a bandit, and very rarely do people work together to remove bandits.

What's stopping you from doing this over direct communication? :|

Are people really this lazy now that they can't even be bothered to type/speak over a chat in-game that they need a feature that does it for them?

I don't know if you've ever used the conversation options on ARMA 2, but it basically offers a list when it comes up of conversation options. You could use this list in day Z to give players names of bandits on the server and some idea of where they are, even if 2 players do not have this information.

Want to know what the real solution to the "bandit problem" is? Stop being bad at the game.

Nice ad hominem there.

[nuclearaddict 15]

The problem is not that bandits exist. Bandits are an important part of the game, and add a huge suspense element to the game that shouldn't be removed. The problem is that once you get good gear, there isn't really much to do other than become a bandit, and very rarely do people work together to remove bandits.

So your solution is to make it even easier to become a bandit?

[kayakinack 57]

Having a solution requires a problem to be solved, I think most would agree there is no "Bandit Problem" It's part of the game, if you think for one second it isn't realistic then you are horribly mistaken. Live in a post-natural disaster area for a bit and you'll see what I mean. The obvious Hurricane Katrina area has become cliche but an effective illustration of what real humanity does in a situation like that. Imagine if the world had virtually ended as we know it. You know like with a Zombie Apocalypse..

You wouldn't have snipers sitting in bushes, I don't think, but bandits you would definitely have, and shoot on sight isn't unimaginable. There are places in the world that certain groups have an actual shoot on site order and they follow it. That is every day life not post-apocalyptic.

Anyone thinking otherwise needs to pull their head from the clouds, you need to see the real world because a bandit just may have you in his sights right now.

Edited August 1, 2012 by kayakinack

[EggMcSexy 2]

So your solution is to make it even easier to become a bandit?

...Where exactly did I suggest that?

Nowhere.

[Sol (DayZ) 132]

I didn't know I would hurt you this much. My bad.

You severely wounded my inner child.

NOW LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!

~Sol

[evolution (DayZ) 51]

There's a Bandit problem?

Silly noob...

-1 x 1000

[nuclearaddict 15]

...Where exactly did I suggest that?

Nowhere.

By adding the ability to find out the whereabouts of a player you increase the ease of becoming a bandit. What's stopping the hunted bandits from just camping and mowing down all the angry griefed players who use this feature?

[EggMcSexy 2]

Having a solution requires a problem to be solved, I think most would agree there is no "Bandit Problem" It's part of the game, if you think for one second it isn't realistic then you are horribly mistaken. Live in a post-natural disaster area for a bit and you'll see what I mean. The obvious Hurricane Katrina area has become cliche but an effective illustration of what real humanity does in a situation like that. Imagine if the world had virtually ended as we know it. You know like with a Zombie Apocalypse..

You wouldn't have snipers sitting in bushes, I don't think, but bandits you would definitely have, and shoot on sight isn't unimaginable. There are places in the world that certain groups have an actual shoot on site order and they follow it. That is every day life not post-apocalyptic.

Anyone thinking otherwise needs to pull their head from the clouds, you need to see the real world because a bandit just may have you in his sights right now.

You also would have people who want these bandits removed, and information about there whereabouts would spread. I want this end of reality to be covered as well. I don't hate bandits, and I don't want to see them removed. I simply feel there should be some role that "white-hat" players can take when they finally get good enough gear that zombies aren't really a problem for them anymore.

[EggMcSexy 2]

By adding the ability to find out the whereabouts of a player you increase the ease of becoming a bandit. What's stopping the hunted bandits from just camping and mowing down all the angry griefed players who use this feature?

Again, I only suggested that whereabouts be given for people who are already bandits. Could some players that coordinate end up failing miserably and getting mowed down? Absolutely, but that's part of the game. Ultimately though, some players might do very well at hunting down bandits, and they would be rewarded by looting said bandits. All I'm suggesting is a feature that gives late-game players some alternative to banditry. I am at no point suggesting that banditry is a bad feature, or that it should be removed.

Edited August 1, 2012 by EggMcSexy

[nuclearaddict 15]

You also would have people who want these bandits removed, and information about there whereabouts would spread. I want this end of reality to be covered as well. I don't hate bandits, and I don't want to see them removed. I simply feel there should be some role that "white-hat" players can take when they finally get good enough gear that zombies aren't really a problem for them anymore.

Hunting bandits = banditry. This is why your suggestion is flawed. Any sort of player-killing outside of immediate danger (aka self-defense) is banditry in one way or another. I'm pretty sure I've already typed this before in the thread, heh.

[EggMcSexy 2]

Hunting bandits = banditry. This is why your suggestion is flawed. Any sort of player-killing outside of immediate danger (aka self-defense) is banditry in one way or another. I'm pretty sure I've already typed this before in the thread, heh.

I disagree. Personally I feel banditry is hunting down players who are unarmed, operating on a shoot-on-sight basis, firing upon players who declared themselves friendly, or declaring oneself friendly and then later stabbing a person in the back.

[nuclearaddict 15]

I disagree. Personally I feel banditry is hunting down players who are unarmed, operating on a shoot-on-sight basis, firing upon players who declared themselves friendly, or declaring oneself friendly and then later stabbing a person in the back.

I just feel like stuff like this would only detract from the experience. Instead of stuff like this we need more group functions. Stuff that actually encourages cooperation through achieving something better than just hunting players who have killed other players. That's going to be the solution to any sort of widespread bandit problem.

[ScaryNachos 9]

The chat option should ONLY be available after that person you are speaking to has been within an identifiable range on the bandit (close enough to see it is him 100 meters-ish) and once he loses sight of the bandit he can only know his last KNOWN location. Even if you are butt hurt about banditry you have to keep balance in the game, unless every single bandit is a confirmed hacker this is an unfair advantage for friendlies, also won't work, I'm in a large group of bandits and with the amount of blood bags and morphine etc I've used on my group-mates I'll never get infamous.

[EggMcSexy 2]

The chat option should ONLY be available after that person you are speaking to has been within an identifiable range on the bandit (close enough to see it is him 100 meters-ish) and once he loses sight of the bandit he can only know his last KNOWN location. Even if you are butt hurt about banditry you have to keep balance in the game, unless every single bandit is a confirmed hacker this is an unfair advantage for friendlies, also won't work, I'm in a large group of bandits and with the amount of blood bags and morphine etc I've used on my group-mates I'll never get infamous.

Definitely agree about the "last known location" note.

[Vigilance 9]

"The wild west" is a myth. There were vastly more murders in large cities (east coast) per capita. Most of the violence of the North American frontier was provoked by government directly, or at the behest of corporate interests (read land grabs and displacing native populations, thus provoking native retaliations, not that there wasn't native on native violence prior to expansion of European immigration.). There was plenty of peaceful interaction between most settlers and natives on account of the economics of violence discouraging destructive actions in favor of lasting economic prosperity.

I agree, bandits are a problem to the existing gameplay mechanic, however this suggestion is yet another morality system. See my Familiarity Player identification thread for a possible solution based on username display tethered to time*proximity/visibility to other players. http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/47325-familiarity-player-identification-bandittrade-solution/

Edited August 1, 2012 by Vigilance

[xximrtwoixx 104]

Rather than broadcasting a players location I think it would be better to broadcast or let players know where murders are occurring. I'm not really for this either though but it's an example of how your suggestion could be better.

[nikiller 122]

hi,

You want a conversation system to help survivors to hunt bandits and kill them. What will be different between the guy who hunts survivors and the guy who hunts bandits? IMHO, they are exactly the same but with your suggestion one play style have an unfair advantage on the other. Conclusion, it needs more coding for exactly the same result. I say no.

cya.

Nikiller.

[EggMcSexy 2]

What I was really wanting to get at in this suggestion was some system to simulate rumors of dangerous persons' whereabouts, which, realistically, would spread.

But I see what you guys are getting at; the suggestion is too much of a "morality system", which wouldn't really fit neatly into the structure of Day Z. Not only that, players might be falsely flagged as dangerous. Vigilance's idea might be a better method of dealing with "shoot on sight" behaviors and encouraging teamwork.

I still think using Arma 2's conversation system could add to some interesting game mechanics though, and I figured it was at least worth suggesting/discussing, since it's probably not an approach that's been mentioned before. Automatically added notes might not be a bad thing to take a look at and discuss, too, but I liked that conversations require two people to work together to get information.

Edited August 1, 2012 by EggMcSexy

[captainwaffles 41]

What problem?

[EggMcSexy 2]

What problem?

I've said several times in the thread, the problem is not that bandits exist, nor is it that banditry is profitable. The problem with banditry is, it's the only logical progression in the late game. Also, because most players choose to be bandits, players don't trust eachother and don't cooperate, so you see very few organized groups. Bandits shouldn't be removed, but I think more features should be implemented that encourage players to form groups.

[TheDesigner 1197]

I'm technically, by the humanity system, a bandit. I've had to kill survivors shooting/being aggressive towards fellow members while I was over watching. This means it would force me into being infamous, since some guy could track me without actually ever seeing me. That's what the bandit skin did, it's why they took it out. Yours is the same. A giant no from me.

[zipper 69]

Dead people cannot get together to discuss where they got shot from and who they got shot by.

The idea you present is no different from hackers knowing the location of players. We should not be encouraging cheating. -1,000 x 16

[EggMcSexy 2]

I'm technically, by the humanity system, a bandit. I've had to kill survivors shooting/being aggressive towards fellow members while I was over watching. This means it would force me into being infamous, since some guy could track me without actually ever seeing me. That's what the bandit skin did, it's why they took it out. Yours is the same. A giant no from me.

It wouldn't have to follow the old "humanity" system to a letter. It's possible the system could be tweaked and tinkered to be less punishing of players only "guilty" of defending themselves.

I don't know how that would be done, though,

Dead people cannot get together to discuss where they got shot from and who they got shot by.

The idea you present is no different from hackers knowing the location of players. We should not be encouraging cheating. -1,000 x 16

I really don't think of this as "dead men discussing who they got shot by" though. If individuals made a habit of killing others, in reality their deeds would become known and their whereabouts would begin being tracked. Since players are only on servers for hours, rather than surviving for lifetimes, as is "realistic", certain things might need to be handled differently to make the flow of information more realistic.

"Do gooders" would also have their whereabouts known, however, so I can see how it's a bit too one sided to be realistic.

Also, I said before I wouldn't want the information to be extremely specific. I would want it to be general locations and only up to date by when they've last been within 100 meters of a player.