Remove nametags. Add mechanic to easily recognise friends.

[Principal Kohoutek 3]

I reckon many (most?) players would agree that having other players' nametags pop up on your screen is a pretty lame feature for a game like DayZ. I definitely think it's cheesy and immmersion-breaking. It also renders one of the most sought after pieces of equipment in the game redundant.

Yes, there are many servers that allow you to play without nametags and from what I've read about the standalone the developers are keen to ramp up the game's authenticity, so nametags will likely be removed. However, I also think that the complete removal of nametags can present a problem from a realism perspective. In RL we can recognise friends and identify strangers at a glance. This is not always possible in DayZ. Although there are different avatars that can be used, everyone looks pretty much the same. I actually fell foul of this the other day which is what prompted me to join the forums and offer this suggestion.

So my housemate and I are playing on a non-nametag server and are investigating the office block in the Berezino lumber mill complex. We split up to search the building. I'm looting away when I look up and see another survivor in the room with me.

Me to my housmate: Is that you, dude?

Housemate: What? No!

Me: Faaaaaaaaaark!

YOU ARE DEAD

I'm sure this is a pretty common occurrence, and also on the flipside, friendly fire incidents where the other player is actually a friend but is mistaken for a stranger and killed.

Am very accustomed to dying in DayZ, but this one annoyed me a little. As I said before, in RL I would have instantly realised the dude in the room with me was a stranger and would have (hopefully) lit his arse up. Or at least gone down fighting, rather than just standing there like a spud.

Had an idea for a pretty simple mechanic to fix this problem. When there is another survivor close by, you have an option to tag him / her as friendly. The other player must do the same to you. Thereafter, when you are within a certain distance of this player (30 - 40m? Maybe only if you can see their face?) their nametag will be displayed. Can be cancelled by either player at any time.

Edited August 28, 2012 by Positive Guy Party Vibe

[Mos1ey 6301]

When I read the thread title I was like 'lol no...', but with this 'tag friend' mechanic it could work nicely.

[timoph 6]

Talk to eatch other (using team speak, steam's voice call, etc.) so you know where everyone is ("I'm at ... and just going to ..."). That's how me and my friends do it. When you know where everyone in your team is, you don't hesitate to take out another player when one suddenly appear in front of you.

IMO adding visual clues like friendly tags would just take away from the game.

[johnnyglitter 13]

This idea is accually pretty good! Communication and recognition will always be a problem, and will always force the developers to leave the realism to make it authentic, and i think that we will have to live with that for a while.

This feature is acceptable in that way.

[Mos1ey 6301]

Talk to eatch other (using team speak, steam's voice call, etc.) so you know where everyone is ("I'm at ... and just going to ..."). That's how me and my friends do it. When you know where everyone in your team is, you don't hesitate to take out another player when one suddenly appear in front of you.

IMO adding visual clues like friendly tags would just take away from the game.

I can see your point but in real life you would recognise your friend's face and clothes instantly. In-depth character customisation would be my ideal 'fix' for this, but this would be nice in the mean time...

[Blakbewwy 8]

Haha I had a very similar thing happen to me. When me and my friend were looting around the barracks, he went to the bottom one and I went to the one further up the airfield. It was quite funny actually, because we both found a person in them. I imagine those two split up as well, since me and my friend were frantically chattering to eachother about what we should do. Of course, he just shot the guy in his place and then this confirmed they were together since the guy near me started shooting at me. Thankfully, he only had a PDW equipped at the time and I found the majority of the bullets hitting everything but me. So I shot him with my M1014. Heheheheh good times.

But to your idea, I actually like the sound of it. Maybe not in the standalone, as this seems like quite a temporary solution. In the standalone all the way in December, I'm still crossing my fingers for the team to add some light character customisation; even if that is just putting on a dirty white vest and a sieve on my head.

[johnnyglitter 13]

I also believe that a more detailed character customization is what this game should aim to in the end, and that this could be a temporary solution.

Still... if everyone uses gillies, character customization won't matter, you still can't see the difference. On the other hand, that may have to be the prize for good camoflauge.