Immersion vs Competitive Gameplay

[Seiseki 16]

So, let me start by stating that Day Z is a really hardcore game.

It is about surviving and some people might go to extreme lengths to do so. (not talking about hackers)

At the same time, it is also about immersion, the authentic feeling and to a certain extent, roleplaying.

Due to certain mechanics within the game, the immersion and competitive play are pitted against one another.

Yes, the game is in alpha, but it's important to study these aspects of the game and find a balance.

So what do I mean by competitive gameplay, how does one play more competitively and why/how does that make the game less immersive and realistic?

Obviously, by competitive gameplay refers to mainly to player vs player and how there are several ways to get an edge, an advantage.

And by immersion I mean the ability to be immersed in the experience, like you're in an actual and believable world.

I will list a few specific things, but I'm not saying any of these should be changed, some might even be impossible to do anything about.

You might find many of these silly and some are even bugs that are bound to be changed.

I'm not passing any judgment here, just saying that these things exist and I think all players use them to a certain extent, I know I do.

Some of the things listed are "borderline exploits", using the way the game works to get an advantage, but not in a way the game designer has intended.

1. Server hopping for loot, jumping from server to server to loot places. (also, any other kind of server hopping to get an advantage, like using a private server with a helicopter to travel)

2. Alt - F4, exiting the game to get away from zombies or players.

3. Using an out of game map, checking loots spots and vehicle spawns as well as using it to navigate.

4. Killing oneself to re-spawn at a more favorable location, or in a more favorable state.

5. Running indoors to get away from zombies, because of their walk speed, either to get away or to kill them more easily.

6. Using pine trees to lose zombie aggro.

7. Looking for zombies from far away to tell if another player is near a town or other location.

8. Using the in-game voice to play zombie or gunfire sounds.

Most of those are meta issues that comes from a greater understanding of how the game and it's mechanics work and then using them to gain an advantage.

But there are also some that directly depend on the game settings.

9. The 3rd person camera, it offers superior vision, even when going prone. You can hide behind rocks and still look behind them.

Yes, I know it's a server setting and I would not say that this destroys immersion for everyone. But personally I find it being more terrifying, more like I am actually there in person when I do not see what is behind me, this is my preference though, but sadly this means that when playing on 3rd person servers I am at a huge disadvantage and almost forced to use 3rd person to say competitive. (and there aren't a lot of 3rd person disabled servers)

10. The gamma slider, setting the gamma to max allows you to play at night and still see very clearly, although it looks very ugly and unrealistic.

11. Grass, currently the grass does not stretch very far, this allows you to spot players who are far away, crawling in high grass.

Any setting that reduces the amount of grass is also a huge advantage.

12. Music off, this obviously makes you able to more easily hear noises. But takes away some of the atmosphere.

The game is very hardcore and this leads to a more competitive mindset.

Every players will have their own balance between immersion and in-game advantages, depending on preference, game style and what they want from the game.

But the game also needs to strike a balance and it is currently leaning heavily towards staying competitive.

I am not offering any solid suggestions on how to improve certain aspects as most of this comes down to personal preference.

But I am curious on peoples opinions and thoughts on the matter.

[sm00tje 88]

1. No, never!

2. I wouldn't even think about it.

3. Not sure what an out of game map is, but thinking of what it could be, no.

4. Sometimes, when I want to team up with some friends.

5. Yes.

6. Yes.

7. Sometimes, if I have the gear to be far enough away to not spawn them myself. No matter what, I'm always curious about zombies, enterable buildings, cars, or whatever could attract others.

8. Nope.

9. Yes, I use it a lot to hide myself better in trees and having a better overview as mentioned.

10. No, playing at night is so much fun for me, wouldn't ruin that.

11. No, but yes, high grass is maybe just not high enough, just hide in trees and bushes.

12. The music has in its current state no use for a survivor and who would run around in a zombie apocalypse with an ipod playing randomly scary shit. So Yes.

[DemonGroover 8836]

You missed the one where players can loot their own bodies and get their stuff back, by themselves or by having friends do it. That one really irks me. But again, what is the solution?

[Seiseki 16]

You missed the one where players can loot their own bodies and get their stuff back, by themselves or by having friends do it. That one really irks me. But again, what is the solution?

If we're talking solutions.

Then turning the player into a special player zombie with the same gear, backpack and skin, would make it harder to loot..

If you're killed by another player then they've probably already looted you.

Also, to make server hopping harder, there could be a cooldown for switching servers.

Once you log into a server, you can't switch server for 15-30 min.

And also, players logging in don't spawn loot for 5 minutes. So logging into the airfield means no loot spawns unless a player is already there.

Along with a 30 sec logout timer (which fixes the alt-F4) and the time it takes to load the game and connect, it would be pretty tedious to server hop.

The problem is when you server hop for a legitimate reason, to play with a mate, because the current server went down, etc.

There are a ton of more reasons to server hop which makes this solution a bit limiting.

As for my personal done/not done list.

1. Never, this destroys the difficulty and fun of exploring and scavenging.

2. I'm ashamed to admit I did this once. Got shot by someone I couldn't see, got pissed off and alt-f4. I was dead when I came back though which eased my conscience a bit.

3. I use it all the time on my second monitor.

4. Once or twice I think.

5. Yeah, kinda hard not to when it's so easy.

6. No

7. Yes

8. No, but I wish it was directional 3D sound, so you could locate the source.

9. Only a few times, I try to play in 1st person.

10. Tried it, broke the immersion and looked ugly.

11. No

12. I actually turned it on again to make the game more scary.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Seiseki

[TheBeanAholic 16]

1. Never

2. ultimate faggotry

3.only to navigate

4.yes and no, no one likes to spawn in Kemenka, but you should deal with it, but with that said if you have a broken leg in the middle of the wilderness you should be able to respawn.

5.yes only way to evade zombies effectively with out shooting, helps out new players and fresh spawning players

6.yes same as #5

7.yes

8. never

9.yes omg yes the game is unplayible in 1st person for many it should definitely be there

10.no

11.nothing you can do about it

12.yes music sucks i dont want to listen to a hamer strike for 5 minutes

13.

[bad_mojo (DayZ) 1204]

I actually think that turning the music off adds to the atmosphere. I would certainly not be playing music if there were zombies and humans out there trying to kill me.

[Seiseki 16]

I actually think that turning the music off adds to the atmosphere. I would certainly not be playing music if there were zombies and humans out there trying to kill me.

Well, it might not be realistic, but it provides a mood.

Movies and games all have music playing that sets the atmosphere, but you usually don't think about.

It can be more or less immersive depending on your perspective.