A reason for trust

[Leo (DayZ) 1]

I don't trust anyone because there is nothing to be gained by teaming up with another person. No reason to trust means there isn't trust.

Lets add a reason for people to trust each other: something you gain by teaming up. Information can be a key feature. Sadly the internet will teach players everything about the game outside of the game itself so even tho there currently there is a lot to learn in dayz, you don't have to trust other players to learn this. What is needed is always changing information: crashed helicopter locations, variances in the amount of good loot in specific towns, wells that have dried out, towns that currently hardly have any zombies in them. All useful information for the player, but this info is constantly changing. the only way to learn about it is by meeting other people on the server you play on and talk with them.

If you want to have some automated feature (like your screen turning gray coz of depression) then have this information be shared automatically(over time) between players once they are close. A player can keep a notebook with him or something where the information is automatically stored. But automation is just something optional to make the process easier, its not necessary. Just like turning your screen gray coz of depression is. If the game is done right a player will get depressed by himself (lol).

Actually there is one type of information that can be automatically shared between players: Who can be trusted and who can't? yes, a global database of everyone's humanity level accessible to the players. Every time a player gets a good look of another player (like he notices the upcoming heartbeat feature, or spends some time together teamed up with a random guy) that player gets added to his personal list. Every time he sees that same player again now, he instantly recognizes him and knows if he can be trusted. You can expand your personal list by teaming up with other players who also have their own lists, and over time the two lists will merge into one.

[Karko (DayZ) 2]

I don't like the idea of a database. It goes against the gameplay in a large way.

The lack of trust says more about the Day Z players than anything else. If we want a stronger co-operative play then we'll need a reason to team up. Stronger and far more lethal zeds coupled with roaming hordes and far more overall should do it. If players become more afraid of the zombies than each other, working together should come naturally.

[Leo (DayZ) 1]

if the zeds were stronger you could still just kill anyone on sight in the wilderniss to get their loot, in fact its going to be a better idea to kill people for loot rather than go into towns because of the increased thread of zombies.

also if you team up with someone to go into a town and get some loot & kill zombies what stops you from killing the guy once you're done killing the zombies and gathered the loot?

[Karko (DayZ) 2]

Nothing, but thats where the random hordes come in. If you have Zeds moving inbetween towns from the lone individual to entire hordes then the wilderness won't be safe anymore. Hell, holding up in town might even become safer than the wilderness, if only for the availability of supplies.

[Sabata (DayZ) 1]

Am I here the weird one that sees no solution, at all? Pretty good ideas are posted every day, yet all of them ignore the fact that this is a game. People gonna kill you as long they get a gun and some ammo. You, the human player, are the most wanted target in this game. The harder is to kill you, the higher symbolic value you will be and others will want to try harder.

Maybe you can delay this fact somehow, or make it harder, maybe you can make the murder more intense or interesting, but strangers won't trust each other.

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

I don't trust anyone because there is nothing to be gained by teaming up with another person.

False when it was said a week ago. False yesterday. False today.

There are plenty of Incentives to Cooperative Play.