Effects of Humanity and Super-Low Humanity, with Sociopaths!

[xqnp7 0]

NOTE to Rocket: This could tie in really well with the heart beat detection method because murderers would randomly start to panic without explanation. Maybe the panicked sound could be changed from the normal one so that people don't get confused.

NOTE to Readers: Please try to only post if you have constructive criticism. If you disagree with the idea, don't just post "Bad idea." etc. Instead, post why you think it's a bad idea and what you would do to improve it. If you have nothing constructive to say, don't say anything at all.

Please keep in mind that this idea isn't perfect. Most of the numbers (like % chances) are completely arbitrary and need editing. If you have suggestions for these numbers, please post your changes.

The Idea:

Lowering Humanity will have tapering effects which will be common and uncontrollable at first, tapering off the lower the player goes. This effect will be very strong at positive Humanities and taper off the lower their Humanity gets (to simulate desensitizing). This is to emulate the doubt and panic one would feel in real life after they murdered someone.

What is the effect? Shaking and panicked breath with a % chance to occur at decreasing levels as Humanity lowers. The higher your Humanity, the longer the effect will last; it will taper off the lower your Humanity goes.

Sociopaths:

3% of fresh spawned characters will have a Sociopath flag (just a chanced Boolean on player initialization) which prevents all effects. (For realism!)

Players with Humanity that is -2500 or higher will also experience "Significant Panic" immediately after they kill a player; the duration of this panic is only 5 minutes.

Painkillers could be used to cure the shakiness (soothing the nerves), just like with extreme pain, but the panicked breathing has to go away on its own.

Different Levels of Panic:

Uncontrollable - The screen shakes an impossible amount (think pain multiplied by 5), breathing is very loud and will attract zombies in a 30m radius.

Extreme - The screen shakes a ridiculous amount (think pain multiplied by 3), breathing is moderately loud and will attract zombies in a 25m radius.

Intense - The screen shakes a huge amount (think pain multiplied by 2), breathing is loud and will attract zombies in a 20m radius.

Significant - The screen shakes a large amount (think pain), breathing is somewhat loud and will attract zombies in a 15m radius.

Normal - The screen shakes a moderate amount (think pain cut in half), breathing is barely loud and will attract zombies in a 10m radius.

Desensitized - Screen never shakes (unless in pain) and breathing is never panicked (unless actually panicked by zombies.)

Here are some very arbitrary and very subject to change numbers (for simplicity, anyone with 0+ Humanity is considered a perfect neighbor):

NOTE: The "Panic Check" can only occur every 20 minutes for gameplay's sake. Players with 0+ Humanity are the only ones who get a Murder Count check as well.

0+ Humanity (with at least 1 murder) = Uncontrollable Panic lasting 15 minutes with a 50% chance to occur.

-2500 to -1 Humanity = Extreme Panic lasting 10 minutes with a 45% chance to occur.

-5000 to -2501 Humanity = Intense Panic lasting 8 minutes with a 40% chance to occur.

-7500 to -5001 Humanity = Intense Panic lasting 8 minutes with a 35% chance to occur.

-10000 to -7501 Humanity = Significant Panic lasting 6 minutes with a 30% chance to occur.

-12500 to -10001 Humanity = Significant Panic lasting 6 minutes with a 25% chance to occur.

-15000 to -12501 Humanity = Normal Panic lasting 4 minutes with a 20% chance to occur.

-17500 to -15001 Humanity = Normal Panic lasting 4 minutes with a 15% chance to occur.

Lower than -17500 Humanity = Desensitized

I know this sounds like you actually get rewarded by having a significantly low Humanity (diminishing effects of panic), but I reckon it goes in the way of realism.

[Techercizer 82]

So every time you survive a firefight, if you don't make your character a serial bandit, you randomly become completely defenseless and a giant zombie magnet.

This doesn't add consequences for murdering every player on sight with no exception, it leaves the game unchanged for those people and adds consequences for defending yourself WITHOUT frequently murdering others.

If you're trying to turn this game into an even bigger deathmatch, this suggestion is amazing. Why would we want that, though?

[xqnp7 0]

The idea was that murdering while at a decent humanity (like a freshly spawned player) has immediate dramatic consequences, but players with such a low humanity that they can't recover aren't completely screwed. It's also more realistic than having it reversed because in the real world, you will eventually become desensitized to murdering after you hit the double digits in victims.

You're only completely defenseless for...well pretty much your first few murders, as using Painkillers with "Uncontrollable Panic" won't soothe the shaking. After that, Painkillers will stop the shaking and you will be able to either fight or hide.

Please keep in mind, this is an inkling of an idea. I need help with numbers so that, for example, the zombie attraction radius isn't so arbitrary. This is also a proposed mechanic for added simulation of realism, not a false limitation to stop people from being bandits.

[Techercizer 82]

The idea was that murdering while at a decent humanity (like a freshly spawned player) has immediate dramatic consequences' date=' but players with such a low humanity that they can't recover aren't completely screwed. It's also more realistic than having it reversed because in the real world, you will eventually become desensitized to murdering after you hit the double digits in victims.[/quote']

What this idea intends is much less relevant than what this accomplishes, and what it accomplishes is providing massive penalties to people who try not to kill other players often (by causing helplessness, noise, obviousness, zombie attraction, annoying debuffs, and more) while in no way inconveniencing players who frequently murder other people.

Your humanity becomes a liability, and doing anything less than taking every chance you get to kill someone an isolated character will leave you more vulnerable to this arbitrary disability.

You're only completely defenseless for...well pretty much your first few murders' date=' as using Painkillers with "Uncontrollable Panic" won't soothe the shaking. After that, Painkillers will stop the shaking and you will be able to either fight or hide.

[/quote']

You're defenseless as long as you have a high humanity, or basically any time you're not frequently murdering people who tend to just mind their own business.

And don't talk about realism in this thread. There are legitimate negative psychological effects that accompany the taking of a human life, but uncontrollably screaming and having a seizure every time you're forced to defend yourself against an assailant is ridiculous. We already have methods to attract zombies/players and debuff people who have survived firefights, they're called gunshot noises, fatigue, and injuries.

[xqnp7 0]

From my perspective, it gives players that much more doubt to whether or not they really want to murder that guy minding his own business. It's also not impossible to have it coded in such a way that it excludes self-defense.

Also, I talk about realism because, whether you realize it or not, the mod is severely limited because of the engine it's in. Shaking and panicked breathing is the simplest way to implement doubt and regret for murdering another player because the game will never be able to facilitate human emotion.

You came into this thread acting like a jackass and you have a very rude undertone to your posts. Please try to be more respectful and offer constructive criticism in such a way that doesn't make you look like a dingbat. On that note, your opinion is noted.

[mikyjax 3]

My hand is already shaking when I have to kill someone...

You just have to remove the entire humanity system to keep on the good way.