A radical approach to encourage co-op/deter PvP

[jaginun 87]

Most suggestions I see that want to encourage cooperative play are completely game breaking and unrealistic. What I am suggesting is a collection of minute changes , that don't directly affect PvP , but do slightly affect the players playstyle.

1. When you inspect a body , you get the name of survivor (checking drivers licence , ect), how long ago (s)he died (Through basic knowledge of biology, ie flies , rigor mortis , composure , temperature) as well as what killed him (bullets lodged in the victim) as well as the possible weapons that could have killed him

How this would effect PvP : If a player had just killed another player , he would have to take into consideration what weapons he used. It would seem suspicious for you to find a body killed by a CZ 550 , and then come across a player wanting to team up , with a CZ 550. The killer would either have to use a different weapon to kill the player , or dump that weapon after the kill , or he could be distrusted by the player , making it harder to get a suprise attack on the player

2. When carrying a gun , the default stance is having the pistol/rifle held down. When aiming , it would be held up , but it would immediatly go down after you have stopped aiming. While prone , it could be held horizontally infront of you.

How this would effect PvP : Because players with pistols always have it held up , this makes it hard to tell when the player is going to shoot. With this suggestion , you can tell when a player will shoot , as the only reason they would hold their gun up is to shoot.

3. If you are near a player , you will have a mousewheel option to investigate him. When investigated , it will tell you if he had fired a weapon within the last 15 minutes (thanks to The Power Nap for that one) and if he had killed any zombies or players close range (blood splatter marks , would be removed with cloth change as well , wouldn't tell you if it was zombie or human). As well as this , you can remove blood stains with a 1 minute animation at a water source.

How this would effect PvP : Good and investigative survivors will be able to check out other players , and see if they are lying about their story , or have a history of violence. For example , A is walking along when he finds B , who says he has just spawned , and went into a town. He denies killing any zombies or players , but when investigated it reveals he had several kills , and at least 1 firefight. A walks away , as he distrusts B , who's intent was to trick and kill him.

--------------------------

Please provide constructive critisism on any of my ideas. Feel free to suggest more that could be put up here. Also , I understand that this doesn't really encourage Co-op play , but it does discourage rampant PvP , making players more cautious of going into PvP , as it is more of a challenge to be a bandit , and therefor as a side effect , making Co-op the preferable option.

Yes , I know that these don't fix the PvP problem forever , and I also know that it is a big request , with not much effect in the end.

[Sabata (DayZ) 1]

Fixed:

Most suggestions I see that want to encourage cooperative play are completely game breaking and unrealistic. So here are my own ones, that do nothing to avoid PvP but they are slightly realistic at least.

You don't come across a player using cz550, his bullets come across you.

[A Man Named GOB 1]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5564

"- LOWER/RAISE PRIMARY (does not work with pistols): DT LCTRL or RCTRL + R"

It is the players responsibility to point or not point a gun at someone. Right now that only works with the primary weapon. I would be all for adding a similar function for pistols. But regardless, it is your responsibility to seem less threatening.

[dogsbd 12]

Number 2 is fine but I don't think it is very realistic for a player to be able to precisely identify what weapon killed someone, other than some obvious differences between a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun wound. Nor is it realistic for a player to be able to detect another "biomes" or whatever.

See link below for my ideas.

[jaginun 87]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5564

"- LOWER/RAISE PRIMARY (does not work with pistols): DT LCTRL or RCTRL + R"

It is the players responsibility to point or not point a gun at someone. Right now that only works with the primary weapon. I would be all for adding a similar function for pistols. But regardless' date=' it is your responsibility to seem less threatening.

[/quote']

I understand where you are coming from , and yes I do know the existance of that command , but with the current situation , someone pointing his weapon at you doesn't mean that they are interested in killing you , it just means that they do not use that command.

My suggestion is that the ONLY reason for your weapon up would be to aim or to fire.

Also

Number 2 is fine but I don't think it is very realistic for a player to be able to precisely identify what weapon killed someone, other than some obvious differences between a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun wound. Nor is it realistic for a player to be able to detect another "biomes" or whatever.

What I would be counting as 'biomes' would be grass/fields , woodland or forest and the city. When walking though each of those different areas , you would assume your person would collect some residue. For example , walking through a forest would possibly leave a rotting leaf stuck on the persons shoe , or a twig snagged on his clothing. A field would leave mud on his shoes , or perhaps even some leftover cowpat , from walking through a town or a road you would have scuffs on your shoes , or perhaps some dust from the uncleaned streets.

And to your former suggestion , I do agree on that one. As a comprimise , we could have light pistol (Makarov , M9 , G17) heavy pistol (M1911 , Revolver) Light rifles (lee enfield, perhaps some of the automatic weapons) heavy rifles (CZ 550 , M107 , M24 , the snipers ect) , shotguns (All types) as well as explosives (grenades , grenade launcher , M136) zombie attack and unknown causes (hunger or thirst , falling a distance ,ect)

[ElemenoP 60]

You know what, I came in here ready to rage, but these are all really good ideas.

Inspecting a corpse should give you his relative time of death, killed by (zombies, starvation/thirst, small caliber weapon/medium.../large.../shotgun)

Inspecting a person should tell you "This person is tired, covered in twigs, clothing appears to have bullet holes, stained with dried blood" or things to that effect.

As for weapon holstering, there is a way to do it already, but it's wonky and often doesnt work at all.

[dogsbd 12]

But what is gained from this "biome" knowledge even if it were realistic? Any survivor can be dirty, bloody, tired, sweaty etc. Afterall, they’re all living outside trying to survive a zombie apocalypse! I would really be suspicious of someone who was clean and smelling of cologne!

[Dinnj 4]

I really like these ideas. They are infinitely better than "make bandits starve faster" or "make everyone red vs blue groups herp derp"

Or the dreaded "Make everyone red vs blue vs xyz groups herp derp"

GJ. These would be very interesting.

[jaginun 87]

But what is gained from this "biome" knowledge even if it were realistic? Any survivor can be dirty' date=' bloody, tired, sweaty etc. Afterall, they’re all living outside trying to survive a zombie apocalypse! I would really be suspicious of someone who was clean and smelling of cologne!

[/quote']

The biome suggestion does rely on the background and canon of the game. It would make sense if it was based a day or two after Chenarus fell to the infection because most survivors would be wearing clean day to day clothes , but if it was based a week or more after, then like you said , all survivors would be ragged and dirty. Until a definite answer is given out , I can't give a certain solution for this.

[The Power Nap 21]

Overall I think these are good suggestions. De-escalation by holstering/lowering your weapons needs to happen. Right now to not point a weapon at someone is to not look at them, which is problematic.

As for your inspection method, biome travel is accumulatory so someone who has been alive long would show signs of all biomes. Maybe an adjustment would be if you could smell a freshly fired weapon. Anyone who has any experience with guns would know if someone has been firing a gun recently.

[A Man Named GOB 1]

Wouldnt this kind of increase the time you spend crouched over a body? Wouldnt this be an awesome trap for bandits to use?

[jaginun 87]

Wouldnt this kind of increase the time you spend crouched over a body? Wouldnt this be an awesome trap for bandits to use?

Another tactic for bandits to use ' date=' and if he can manage to pull that off , he deserves that kill with the loot.

As for your inspection method, biome travel is accumulatory so someone who has been alive long would show signs of all biomes. Maybe an adjustment would be if you could smell a freshly fired weapon. Anyone who has any experience with guns would know if someone has been firing a gun recently.

Thanks for the suggestion , I'v added it in

[A Man Named GOB 1]

My point with this is that it would make people so paranoid of getting sniped while investigating that they very well may not bother to do it once it happens. If you get sniped while pulling weapons, ammo and food off a corpse, you will still do the same thing next time because of the loot. If all you learn about is someones time of death and how they died, it might not be checked very often. Also, I dont think this is something that a bandit would struggle to use efficiently.

Wouldnt this kind of increase the time you spend crouched over a body? Wouldnt this be an awesome trap for bandits to use?

Another tactic for bandits to use ' date=' and if he can manage to pull that off , he deserves that kill with the loot.

As for your inspection method, biome travel is accumulatory so someone who has been alive long would show signs of all biomes. Maybe an adjustment would be if you could smell a freshly fired weapon. Anyone who has any experience with guns would know if someone has been firing a gun recently.

Thanks for the suggestion , I'v added it in

[Friend-or-Pho 0]

I don't see how these suggestions would encourage coop play or deter PvP.

Seeing a dead player already tells you everything you need to know, there is someone here and they probably have a bigger gun than I do.

The ability to lower your gun is already available, at least for primary weapons. I do think there should be such an option for pistols, such as holstering. Again though, simply lowering you gun isn't going to stop someone from killing you if they really want to. It may be useful for those occasions when you meet a potentially "friendly" survivor.

Detecting biomes on a player wouldn't really do much in the way of coop/PvP, but I still find it an interesting idea. However I'm still not sure about the practical application of this mechanic. Practically every player spends time traipsing through the woods. Though Rocket does have a 20 words or less thread about a similar idea, where you can potentially have a "gut feeling" the longer you are around a player with low humanity.

[jaginun 87]

My point with this is that it would make people so paranoid of getting sniped while investigating that they very well may not bother to do it once it happens. If you get sniped while pulling weapons' date=' ammo and food off a corpse, you will still do the same thing next time because of the loot. If all you learn about is someones time of death and how they died, it might not be checked very often. Also, I dont think this is something that a bandit would struggle to use efficiently.

[/quote']

Time of death and how are very important , take this situation.

You find a corpse.

In the first situation you see that the corpse was killed 2 hours ago. He was killed with a PDW.

If he was killed 2 hours ago , it suggests that any killer would have logged off or moved on. With the addition of a PDW , it shows that the killing was likely not result of the killer camping , as a longer range weapon would be more efficient for that.

If he was killed 5 minutes ago with a CZ 550 , it suggest the killer was still online , and likely in the area , and the weapon shows that the killing was done from a range , likely by a camper

Also

I don't see how these suggestions would encourage coop play or deter PvP.

Seeing a dead player already tells you everything you need to know, there is someone here and they probably have a bigger gun than I do.

The ability to lower your gun is already available, at least for primary weapons. I do think there should be such an option for pistols, such as holstering. Again though, simply lowering you gun isn't going to stop someone from killing you if they really want to. It may be useful for those occasions when you meet a potentially "friendly" survivor.

Detecting biomes on a player wouldn't really do much in the way of coop/PvP, but I still find it an interesting idea. However I'm still not sure about the practical application of this mechanic. Practically every player spends time traipsing through the woods. Though Rocket does have a 20 words or less thread about a similar idea, where you can potentially have a "gut feeling" the longer you are around a player with low humanity.

The suggestions do those things in the most subtle , non intrusive , and non gamebreaking ways possible. It's easy to force limitations on the player , but it's the worst option , what I'm suggesting is that we make the players change their own limitations , out of their own free will.

Little changes like these make players change their behaviour , if these changes were implemented I would hope that they affect the players like say , the coastal spawn makes players cautious of the beach and seaside towns , or how players avoid open areas as they are at risk of being silouhetted against the sky.

[The Power Nap 21]

Snipers will snipe, not much we can do about that. These suggestions will assist people making contact with one another. As this is a simulation we can't accurately model non verbal communication, might as well introduce some replacements that hint at what a player is doing.

Letting other players know that someone has been firing a weapon recently allows them to make some judgment calls without specifically telling them this person has been PKing. Could make something like a crossbow more attractive to bandits as it doesn't use gunpowder.

[Strongarm Steve 1]

I don't think you should be able to differentiate between a recent zombie kill and a survivor kill. They're both blood splatters either way.

Also, the blood splattering should only come from looting a dead body. Not from a firefight, since you're not going to get blood on you if you shoot someone from a distance.

I really like the body inspection idea.

[haviv[3rdid] 57]

CSI: Chernarus :)

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

Guys, this is not cluedo, most ppl who complain about getting killed complain according to their own experience, not the experience of others.

You realy believe someone will bother to investigate the body of some random player and put upon themselve to "right" this ?

[ImaffoI 22]

No, but i it can save his own ass, or if it do was his friend and want to knwo what he is dealign with. Of course its not csi, but things like this can make people understand the situation better, and react accordingly. I really like this suggestion. I t would add and substract danger to people.