Lets Brainstorm... on Morale.

[lugaru 103]

Short version: Add happiness and ways to stay happy, with a tiny statistical reward or penalty.

So I was thinking, it would be great to have a "catch all" Morale stat, and it would allow a lot of cool experiments with player behavior and immersion.

Not sure what the benefits of high morale would be or the disadvantages of low morale, but for now lets imagine a small adjustment to the ingame probabilities (slightly less knockout, bleed, disease, etc.). Either way for now lets imagine a Happy character is better suited than a Miserable character.

Since being on an island full of zombies is not a good exactly a vacation, your Morale would slowly drain and it would replentish a little when you consume food and drink and perform certain activities. Spending time by a campfire or in a vehicle would halt morale loss. Low blood, hunger, thirst and cold would speed up Morale loss.

Now here is where it gets fun... hypothetical morale boosters!

Magazines, crosswords and books: they take a few seconds to consume, but boost you up.

Drugs and Alcohol: varying degrees of morale boost followed by penalties (accelerated loss, etc).

"sugary" food and drink: not as good at replentishing hunger or thirst, but great for Morale.

Behaviour: applying blood or bandages to players. Here is the fun one: lose Morale for murdering a player... but once you are considered a bandit you get a small boost per murder. In other words Morale can be used to experiment in player behaviour.

Other random boosts: Anything you can find a character model for...

Lets imagine you start at 5000, because you are not happy to be in the apocalypse.

7500 - 10000 :lol: (survival odds boosted)

5001 - 7499 :)

2501 - 5000 :|

0000 - 2500 :( (survival odds reduced)

It is Gamey, but immersive and intuitive just like most other needs.

It kind of works as a score... "not only do I survive... I THRIVE!"

Is this the sims? Yes, it puts the "siims" into military sim.

What do you think?

[bbilbo1 149]

inB4 Hookers and Blackjack...

[Uuni 74]

Buttsecks to raise morale. All board the fishing boat of love and join the navy

[lugaru 103]

Buttsecks to raise morale. All board the fishing boat of love and join the navy

"Friendly! Will trade beans for hook up, gender does not matter, I just want the 1% survival bonus". :P

[drseptapus 49]

"Friendly! Will trade beans for hook up, gender does not matter, I just want the 1% survival bonus". :P

You're getting me all hot and bothered

[samirocks321 10]

I for some reason like this idea, very interesting and doesnt make the game to easy! and i think killing people would make you sad (depending on situation), may have an impact on banditry i think.

[indominator 95]

well, i think morale discussion should have included ethics, but if you just want to add moods and depression its not morale, its more like ego and stuff, dunno. but i think you could change the name of this new feature.

[lugaru 103]

well, i think morale discussion should have included ethics, but if you just want to add moods and depression its not morale, its more like ego and stuff, dunno. but i think you could change the name of this new feature.

I'm refering to Morale, by which I mean the characters belief in himself and his chances of survival, rather than Morality, by which I mean a series of ethical codes. I did a quick search and hit this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morale

In other words I'm talking about the advantages one gets from being well supplied, supported and entertained, rather than exhausted, starving, bored and overwhealmed.

That said Moral choices would affect Morale, but it is hard to pin down Morality in DayZ... you cant straight up punish bandits for being "evil", it kind of goes against 50% of the game. Personally I'm a total carebear, but I need the bandits to exist for the game to be fun.

[CLewis 31]

Encouraging "good guys" to be good, and "bad guys" to be bad?

This might not be a bad idea...

[twix (DayZ) 24]

this is similar to the other humanity thread i have seen. Let me summarize what both of those threads have suggested, it's just basically a bunch of whinging survivor's who couldn't stand losing their gear just donating their beans to OP nothing else really with the other thread trying to create an elaborate version of events to lure all survivors alike. Face it you lose some you get some.

[Chanto327 2]

Buttsecks to raise morale. All board the fishing boat of love and join the navy

I...kinda laughed unreasonably hard at this post.

Anyway, that said, neat idea, OP! I like it.

[lugaru 103]

this is similar to the other humanity thread i have seen. Let me summarize what both of those threads have suggested, it's just basically a bunch of whinging survivor's who couldn't stand losing their gear just donating their beans to OP nothing else really with the other thread trying to create an elaborate version of events to lure all survivors alike. Face it you lose some you get some.

Not at all what the thread is about... but uhm... thanks for posting. I even state that we really need the bandits and I discourage anything that would penalize bandits.

This is about adding an extra layer of risk/reward to all playstyles.

[rubtherob 1]

survive ur morale drop before u become a bandit and they enjoy you infinite morale boost in cherno, right? XD

Edited August 3, 2012 by RubTheRob

[lugaru 103]

survive ur morale drop before u become a bandit and they enjoy you infinite morale boost in cherno, right? XD

Yeah, given how excited some players get about shooting strangers, I think it is fair to reflect that ingame.

[Strategos (DayZ) 190]

I dislike mechanics that tell me how I'm feeling.

One of the great things about DayZ is the emotions it evokes. Stress, fear, uncertainty , guilt, rage.

I get happy if I do well I don't need the game to stick a number on it.

Hunger, thirst , fatigue, health these are things the game can tell me, this is feedback about the physical state of my character that I require, and things that are universal. You can't predict someone's mental state, everyone reacts differently to harsh conditions, trying to do so breaks immersion.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Strategos

[Mister Motivational 24]

I dislike mechanics that tell me how I'm feeling.

One of the great things about DayZ is the emotions it evokes. Stress, fear, uncertainty , guilt, rage.

I get happy if I do well I don't need the game to stick a number on it.

Hunger, thirst , fatigue, health these are things the game can tell me, this is feedback about the physical state of my character that I require, and things that are universal. You can't predict someone's mental state, everyone reacts differently to harsh conditions, trying to do so breaks immersion.

While I have suggested implementation of humanity elements (not centered around player killing), I have to admit I agree with this idea.

Statuses should be focused on the physical aspects of your character, the player's own mind is responsible for the mental state.