20 words or less: Spawning without a weapon

[rocket 16567]

Closed. Let's try it.

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Reopened... seems more discussion wanted.

[jonesyx@gmail.com 19]

We're discussing this idea' date=' if you can contribute and explain why the idea is so dumb - maybe we can come up with a better idea.

[/quote']

I have to ask, do you actually play your own mod coming in blind? Because that's about what 25% of your current players are doing. They aren't the ones coming onto the forums and learning all about everything; pouring over maps and weapon spawn tables trying to get the best loot. They go, hey, I just want to play a fun game. Putting them in the position of having no firearm with additionally having no mechanism to figure out which way they're going or where they are raises the requirement for playing the game to "Looked at 5 different maps on the Day Z wiki so I can get to the closest grocery store or deer stand."

Going back to the avoiding death problem, I had a similar situation from another game that uniquely mirrors Day Z. San Andreas had a multiplayer mod developed over several years that got insanely popular. One of the most popular modules for that mod was a roleplaying one, where you create guns, buy cars and houses, etc. See, San Andreas was originally designed as a single player game, so it had weird protections. If you were in the menu, you were invulnerable. But furthermore, if you disconnected, you spawned with full health again. Since getting weapons was such an arduous process in the mod, you had people disconnecting while under fire in an effort to save the gun that they had. Additionally, reconnecting reset your character's location to one of the many spawn points; so if you crashed your car in the middle of nowhere you didn't have to trek all the way back. It got to the point where for every roleplaying server that was in operation, they had to have a mechanism for banning/punishing people based on disconnection screenshots. And this is a game that can best be described as "highly unrealistic driveby shooting car theft simulator", not a zombie mod built on top of a milsim. People will go to tremendous lengths to protect the shit they have.

Tl;dr, my point is this. If you're lowering the point at where somebody will disconnect under fire, or disconnect while being chased by zombies at the point in which they find their first handgun, then your system is going to be so deluged with ban requests from people lucky enough to get a screenshot (and reconnection requests from the people who switched servers) that it is going to be hell on your forum moderators and your ban list. Having at least a pistol gives the possibility of making mistakes or fighting other people, rather than an exercise in "Oh shit, I'm going to die, I don't want to lose this revolver *disconnect*". I've fought the bean wars, I can count the number of murders that I've done without much effort, but for every murder that I got there was an additional 5 that ended up with the person on the other side disconnecting. Switching to no pistol will increase the new player disconnections drastically.

[xqnp7 0]

I'd say the decision to "Try it out." is the right one, rocket. It's the only way to know for absolutely sure the impact that no starting weapon will have on early murders.

[Flatline 32]

I still think this would be a neat balancing solution: Give the gun and 5 mags to new players. For every respawn, reduce the amount of mags by 1, and finally remove the gun altogether.

[Ciznit (DayZ) 3]

Yes, but maybe give a few random survival items instead (map, compass, heatpack, etc.)? Things people realistically might have.

[xqnp7 0]

@SodaJones

This will hopefully be partly fixed by the new feature coming with 1.7.1: People will stay in-game for 5 seconds after they disconnect. This is long enough to either get a screenshot or kill them.

[Yak 2]

All of your ideas are gearing people further and further towards going through outrageous measures to ensure that they don't die.

Yes. That's correct.

Here's a list of your issues that people are avoiding by going to 24/7 daylight servers running 1.6.0.1.

- I'm asking why you think spawning without a weapon is the "dumbest fucking idea in the litany of horrendous ideas".

- You've quoted a list of issues with the servers you want fixed mixed with some veiled insults.

We're discussing this idea' date=' if you can contribute and explain why the idea is so dumb - maybe we can come up with a better idea.

[/quote']

Rocket. Why not just at melee weapons, the knife and ax are already in the game? Why not make it so you start with the knife and can actually use it to kill zombies and other players?

[rocket 16567]

Please no more "wall's of text". 20 words or less, it means I can actually read all the thoughts easier.

[rocket 16567]

Why not just at melee weapons' date=' the knife and ax are already in the game? Why not make it so you start with the knife and can actually use it to kill zombies and other players?

[/quote']

Because there's no "add melee weapons" button. I need animations, some configuration. It's not impossible, but its work and particularly animation time. Will be something to look into, but its not a simple addition.

[MASKOAA 0]

I think the game needs a tutorial for new players b/c currently alot of things are very difficult to grasp...for instance like the way inventory works....I accidently deleted my main gun by trying to put it in my backpack that didn't have enough slots...

[poisonman 28]

Edit: YES

Now Rocket this idea has a lot of potential for the future... but right now it would be more frustrating and painful then its worth.

As people have already stated, this would be too much of a CON for new players starting out and people respawning after death and a PRO for bandits who already camp the coast spawn points to kill players for their starting gear.

You would now have no way to defend yourself from the already mentioned spawn camping bandits or zombies alike, weapons really aren't that hard to find, every times I die and spawn on the beach I have a Winchester within 5-10 minutes, barns / log cabins are not that hard to find.

I feel starting with no weapon would work in the future though, once we possibly have melee combat options, and also once we possibly have roaming hordes of zombies wandering the whole map, also after you implement the 1.7.1 patch where you can actually hide from zombies and escape with LOS.

But without any threats out there for the spawn / coast camping bandits (ie roaming hordes, etc) making this change will just turn the coast / spawn points into a bandits dream, like a "shooting fish in a barrel" loot Smörgåsbord.

I like how people in this thread are saying players spawning with no weapon / loot with make them less likely to be killed by other players, are you kidding me? There are so many people in the game that will kill you and not even loot you never mind even look at your gear. So not spawning with a weapon, or any supplies at all will not really solve anything. It will just make it suck a lot more when your first starting out / respawn.

I really like the idea, but yea, I like how it will make the game more difficult, I love how difficult this game is and really wouldn't mind it getting even harder, but it needs to be within a certain amount of reason, the coast is deadly enough as it is sometimes.

Once zombies are "better" in the game and once we have roaming hordes and just lots of zombies out in the world looking for food this would be more feasible, because bandits / players wouldn't be able to sit in one place hidden forever, because every sound they make (especially with firearms, like when killing zombies / other players) would draw zombies closer and closer to them, causing them to have to move / relocate, or possibly just causing them to get eaten by zombies if not careful.

And I'm sure as you have probably figured out by my last paragraph, what I meant about zombies being better is, them being more difficult and deadly, being more of them just everywhere in the world (not just towns, it is the zombie apocalypse nowhere should be safe) searching for food, roaming hordes, sounds like 1.7.1 will fix some of the issues with zombies, like not being able to hide or get away from them and with them seeing / aggroing / attacking through walls & other things blocking their LOS.

But I feel like their sense of hearing should be much higher which should govern their movements around the world like it does it shows / movies. Not "aggro" the zombies so to speak, but if they hear loud noises / shooting then all zombies in a certain radius should start walking / investigating the general area / location of the noise.

Much like in the show "The Walking Dead" that I'm sure most of the people that play this game / read these forums know about and probably watch, like at the end of the second season when Carl shot and Killed Zombie Shane, the roaming horde in the woods heard it and started ascending upon Hershel's Farm.

You get my point, sorry for making this longer than 20 words or less, couldn't help it. But I believe this is all constructive / helpful input so it shouldn't be too big an issue.

[xqnp7 0]

Tutorials are exactly what we don't need in DayZ.

EDIT: If you write a wall of text in a 20 words or less thread, you're gonna have a bad time.

[epoch91 5]

No.

Maybe spawn you with less ammo. I would like some way to defend myself in the case i come across other players trying to loot the same town as me, etc. I understand it may be more realistic. But there is a line you need to stay behind to keep the game fun. If I am getting killed near the shore or in the first town i come upon i will most likely just stop playing. The makarov is not the best weapon ever, but at least it provides you with a way to defend yourself. I suggest you keep it for now.

[Encrypted (DayZ) 2]

NO.

Overall I say no, however...

I have always hated in MMO's or really any video game for that matter when a developer takes something away from the player instead of making it a choice, be it an item in game or even a graphic setting etc.

If it is possible to make it an option on a server like 3rd person or hardcore etc, that is how you should do it. The player base will naturally move to whatever is the most fun to play. You will have your answer in about a week... Everyone will be playing whichever servers are the most fun.

I suspect the most popular servers (by far) would be the ones where players start with a gun etc, but of course I cannot be certain.

[sexacutioner 1]

YES

Only if whiskey bottles and road flares actually distract zombies _effectively_. <-- word emphasized

What about a KO non lethal weapon

I use road flares all the time to distract zombies. They move toward them slowly but it works really well. Throw a couple outside of a town and then walk around and loot.

[Canaan (DayZ) 0]

It can't hurt to try, but I don't think it'll change much.

[Epsilon (DayZ) 10]

YES

You are waking up on a beach, explain how you got the gun in the first place? Would make more sense.

[Quasar (DayZ) 1]

Hesitant YES, but only if melee/some other kind of self defence is also possible.

Could also work if the spawn rate on basic pistols was increased, so you're almost guaranteed to find a Makarov fairly quickly.

Basically, added challenge, without added frustration.

[gray1107 (DayZ) 0]

Re: Melee O/T (sorry)

I believe this chap offered his services on one of the threads.

[BEEF (DayZ) 0]

YES

But add melee weapons/unarmed combat. Also, semi random spawn items, so you dont get instakilled.

[underscore 12]

Closed. Let's try it.

Sweet! Let the bloodbath begin! :D

Reopened... seems more discussion wanted.

Awww... c'mon, you know, I know, we all know that you're gonna do it.

[Darth Brony 1]

NO

In real life, I can defend myself without a gun. In Day Z, I cannot.

[Deatlev 0]

YES

Let the bloodbath begin, indeed..

[Pallidum 33]

YES

But this also needs addition of other means of survival to be effective. Some sort of melee weapon, or simply a means of knocking down/away zombies and/or bandits would make this work a lot better.

[SoulShaper2 243]

YES

I think it should at least be tried, if it fails remove the idea but i would like to see if it tries to help people do teamwork, just a little