Perma-identity. Nickname is permanent. Nickname as face. Cover face - conceal nickname.

[Arcticia 1]

1) Hmmm... I agree, because I stated just exactly the same idea at Game Mechanics Rules, #8

This feature is about giving you ability to "see the face" of a person at close distance, the person who is willing to show it, or accidentally was close enough to show it. As far as we don't have any faces and unique features, I tried using nickname as a replacement for face. I agree It's not realistic, but it's authentic. Authenticity is about thinking. Before you commit something, you think about your "face" being exposed and everyone can recognize you later and accuse you or praise you for your deed.

2) I explained it. You see, you're not bothered by the fact that you see a persons face at this distance? But we have no faces, an we never will. But we have nicknames. How can I possibly not notice\recognize\remember\don't see a persons face until I talked to him. Here he is. His face turned to me. I need barely a minute or less to remember it and recognize later. With nickname functioning as a substitute to impossible face in DayZ you have all in place.

You misunderstood what I intended. I mean that you will not just suddenly know a persons nickname unless they reply to you in VoIP or Direct Text chat, since running into a random person you wouldn't instantly know their name. I'm saying have their nickname with a default "Survivor" unless they reply back to you. From then on you will be able to identify their name from a short distance away unless they do not have their face covered.

Also I'm stating that the face(nickname) should only be recognizable at a very short distance, the only thing that would change the distance would be looking through the scope of a rifle or a pair of binoculars. I'd rather not have people identify me from 50m away even if it is faded. What I'm saying is that I would rather have the distance much shorter, if you don't know the person at the distance it will call them survivor if you do know them at the short distance it will call them by their nickname, a masked person hides their nickname, and you can only discover a persons nickname as long as you see their face else they will remain indicated as a survivor.

Also has Rocket said anything about keeping all characters appearances the same inside the standalone with no customization? I'm not sure about you but I haven't read anything stating that.

[Hetstaine 10852]

The whole distance thing/nameplate , i only play on vet or reg , nameplate servers are not worth my time..and this whole idea does not apply to that. I think some people are getting that confused ?

There will only be a name shown if you drop your veil.

To me it would be something that you would not see under a distance from say 10 metres once veil was dropped. A lot ower if in bushes,shadows,running etc. And something not shown at all from behind regardless of veil on/off.

I think even under a scope the name can be shown if veil is off , but of course only at the full zoom level..say where a face is nearly taking up your whole scope. If they are like above, shadowed,running, concealed somehow by grass/bushes then the nick is not shown.

There (if have read the whole idea correctly) will be no option for any nameplate on vet and upwards unless you drop the veil.

[DemonGroover 8836]

In an ideal world no one would know your name unless you told them. Face recognition would be the only way you could identify someone. I do think that recognition would only be at close range though.

It is definitely an intriguing idea and one that could definitely be used in some shape or form.

Lets hope though that we can have a few characters in Standalone as i like to play a friendly survivor or bandits when the mood takes me. There is nothing better than to be a heartless bandit when you've had a bad day at the office.

[Serious Stan 202]

I agree, we really need some way to identify eachother on standalone.

You have my beans sir!

[dstiles 10]

I'm all for realism and to make it REAL, players should be held accountable for their actions.

Having perma-identity will aid this notion.

I like it.

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

So far a most discussed and pretty fair drawback: People are not ready to accept and abstract metaphorical transition of face function to nickname.

Many people just can't sacrifice the ability to always have their nickname private and be shown on demand, lie about their names, and have all the anonymity advantages of being able to trick, scam and pretend. When I tell them "COVER YOUR FACE" and do all you want, they say that with a mask everyone will loose their trust and kill on sight.

And this fact is a crucial point where I say "It is awesome and authentic", but they say "It is unfair and restricting freedom"

I feel their pain, but paying this price will equal all players possibilites and finally introduce social life to DayZ. Fair price, useful sacrifice. Huge future possibilities and immense underlying effect on DayZ Universe. Continuing DayZ with such complete anonymousity and changing names at will only increase the overall PvP and social disorder and ruin ingame communication and atmosphere. It is of course not a main feature for the alpha release, but this must be definitely dealt with with this feature or a better idea of DayZ developers.

This statement was added to the first post.

Edited October 24, 2012 by -=PA=-Mikhail

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

players should be held accountable for their actions.

And I say more! They will be accountable not by heartless SYSTEM or the mechanics. They will be accounted by the same players as they are, by living people, live players! And there is a probability that they can find such server, social group or people who will not be too penalizing about some bad unfriendly actions. I see a huge underlying depth in it. This has a potential of developing in a unique subtle social structure, reflecting our overall society.

EVE online has it, but they have modelled it in the Economical and Political aspect. Their world is a unprecedented simulation of a political and economical uniiverse!

In DayZ we have a chance to make the same simulation to the Social life, and in survival context this will be even more dramatic and diverse than in real life.

Edited October 24, 2012 by -=PA=-Mikhail

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

I've made a video, showing one of the variants the nickname display may work.

This video shows that no scanning is possible with 1s fade in delay. You must stop your looks at a player to see his name. This 1 second "safe-zone" can be tweaked even to 0.5s and it will still be effectively preventing cursor scanning.

You see that prone players have the full nickname visible only at 5 metres.

P.s. Sorry for the crappy quality :( Had some encoding issues

Edited October 27, 2012 by -=PA=-Mikhail

[fuenke 10]

One of the best ideas I have seen so far! I can't understand all the people whining about their anonymity. If they really are that obsessed about being able to change their name they should spend the 30$ and buy a new cd key. The pros outweigh the cons heavily. The only thing which has to be thought through very well is the "revealing by scanning" problem, which can't be solved by hiding your face, since then everbody will just hide his face anytime. The delay solution shown in the video and the other solutions explained in the post seem to be pretty good. But they have to be absolutely safe!

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

1) One of the best ideas I have seen so far!

2) I can't understand all the people whining about their anonymity. If they really are that obsessed about being able to change their name they should spend the 30$ and buy a new cd key. The pros outweigh the cons heavily. The only thing which has to be thought through very well is the "revealing by scanning" problem, which can't be solved by hiding your face, since then everbody will just hide his face anytime. The delay solution shown in the video and the other solutions explained in the post seem to be pretty good. But they have to be absolutely safe!

1) Thank you!

2) I fully, totally agree with each of your sentences. Exactly my thoughts.

I can't really persuade everyone it is going to be safe, because I cannot test it in DayZ or take part in the development. I just explain all this consistently, show to the dev team (hoping they will come here one day) and it is up to Rocket's team how they can make it safer, implement it or part of it or never implement this. They may even find a better solution or a safer idea... We just may hope we're heard and the issue is considered.

For me, this infinite anonymity is a most crucial issue. This thing may eventually kill the game, because distorting social instincts is not a pleasant psychological feeling... It may destroy everything. Yes, I may be too dramatic about it... but you can't be too cautious when such phenomenal and unique projects as DayZ are at stake!

Edited October 27, 2012 by -=PA=-Mikhail

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

God, how I hate this IPB forum engine right now :facepalm: ... I just added a YouTube link in my OP and the whole POLL results got erased. The voted members number saved and their votes are saved, but votes are not displayed. I already had this many times in other posts. So frustrating. I restored the result as I remembered them... may be I memorized some old ones :(

I like this forum engine, but polls kill me everytime I create them...

[Laatikkoinen 5]

wonderfull idea, have my beans op

[P2J2 8]

I like these nameplate ideas that're coming up. The way they are now is garbage and needs fixing. Not having them at all isn't a very great option either, especially when playing with big teams. What I'm wondering is if they could make it so that when you come within talking or shouting distance of someone, scroll wheel options would come up with "Introduce Yourself" and "Ask Survivor's Name". Like how "Give Blood Transfusion" works.

The "Introduce Yourself" option would be the friendlier approach and would expose your nameplate to them first. The other player doesn't have to answer if they don't want to but if they do, you could then see each other's nameplate out to a distance that you could realistically recognize a person that you've met. Unless of course they're using a mask or whatever method to hide their identity.

The more cautious option would be the "Ask Survivor's Name". It wouldn't expose your identity first and throws the ball into their court. Either way, nobody's forced to reveal themselves if they don't want to be. I think it would really help with groups and accidental friendly fire and add a dynamic that could help mic-less players better interact with everyone.

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

What I'm wondering is if they could make it so that when you come within talking or shouting distance of someone, scroll wheel options would come up with "Introduce Yourself" and "Ask Survivor's Name". Like how "Give Blood Transfusion" works.

The "Introduce Yourself" option would be the friendlier approach and would expose your nameplate to them first. The other player doesn't have to answer if they don't want to but if they do, you could then see each other's nameplate out to a distance that you could realistically recognize a person that you've met. Unless of course they're using a mask or whatever method to hide their identity.

The more cautious option would be the "Ask Survivor's Name". It wouldn't expose your identity first and throws the ball into their court. Either way, nobody's forced to reveal themselves if they don't want to be. I think it would really help with groups and accidental friendly fire and add a dynamic that could help mic-less players better interact with everyone.

While it is a most commonly suggested mechanics, this is solving neither Problem1 nor Problem2 described in the original post. And not being able to identify a person when you see his face is not very atuthentic\realistic either. It is the group\buddy feature which will be introduced as Rocket stated (may in some other way than wheelscroll "Ask name"), while I'm talking exactly about the strangers, the random encounters, and your personality suffering\enjoying the fame\infamy of your deeds.

Edited October 29, 2012 by -=PA=-Mikhail

[kakarotto 7]

This is a good and well thought out idea, and I especially like that you made a video for it. I like it, but I'm not sure I agree 100% with every point. I guess someone basically brought this up above, but I'll post it anyway:

I think that this feature could work for DayZ only if it's combined with a feature that hides your name until it intentionally is given to a player. You should not be able to scan nearby bushes with your cursor looking for name-tags of players you have not "met". You should need to meet, be introduced, or be told about that player first.

The most basic form of this would be looking at another player from a short distance and "telling them your name" via a command. This will then enable name-tags with that specific player. And there should also be a method to identify a player via a third party, working similarly to telling a player your name, but only with a name of another player you have met. But I really think the name should remain invisible until then, regardless of what they are wearing.

That's how I would like to see it modified if Rocket considered implimenting it. If you don't know his name, you will have to identify him the old-fashion way. Since you can only see names within close range under your system anyways, if he doesn't give you his name under this proposed modification, then he is most likely not-friendly. You will still be able to distinguish between him and your nearby allies, because they will have already given you their names. A player's infamy can still spread if third parties spread his name, starting with someone who has met him. If he is some mass-murderer who covers his face, then automatically seeing his name-tag is irrelevent anyways under your system because his name would be hidden anyways.

I also don't think that the bandit skin mechanic should be removed, at least unless it's replaced with something. There needs to be something in place to make players prefer not to immediately kill everyone they see, as it would be in real life. In fact the mechanics in place right now aren't even enough, as 95% of players mindlessly shoot even unarmed players as soon as they see them, just for fun. Player interaction and other acts of banditry (robbery, carjacking, etc) needs to be promoted, all that happens now is instant murder. If players aren't given a reason to consider not shooting someone, they will continue to play like it's deathmatch.

That's just my take on all this.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Kak

[hoik 415]

Nametag = face. Your name is there to describe your physical self beacuse the game lacks the ability of giving everyone a unique face, so we could use a unique name tag to distingusih ourselves from others instead. This is a compromise!

But like the OP says, this distinction just seems to be getting lost in translation somehow. Maybe if you replace their word "nametag" with something else, something like "pyhsical profile" or "physical ID" there will be less confusion.

While I like the idea, im not 100% on the implementation, but hell thats semantics. If they were to at least try something like this in dayZ I think it would be very interesting.

[DZR_Mikhail 2424]

If you like this feature vote it up here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFJaeW5lNzJ4SUxTMUhKbDFQSGlKM0E6MQ#gid=0

It is in the end of the list and says "Unique usernames or at least a unique ID system so we can have a usable friends list"

[suvorov203 4]

Seems like a great idea to me, really adds to the immersive nature of the game.

[joe_mcentire 2073]

holy f*... s*... i already gave my 5 votes in that poll (you know which one) and know i'm reading your suggestions and i love it! everything!

Just a little input by me. Although it makes sense to cloak/disguise onself to stay concealed, it would be possible to "actively recognize" someone by pressing a button in addition. So therefore it would be 100% proof not to accidentally see a person that doesn't want to be seen.

Edited January 24, 2013 by joe_mcentire

[Shadyman (DayZ) 6]

This is something Rocket should definetly look into

[-Gews- 7443]

No unique names! No, no, no!

I'm glad I don't have to play as "RainbowDash097x", I like clean nicknames.

[CreepySalad 108]

Totally brilliant.

Would add a new aspect to the game to simulate the hesitation that a person would feel before murdering someone.

This is 10/10

[BSB Jimmy 360]

i support this if there was a clan tag feature, i usually have a tag on my name for identification although if i leave the clan or join a new one i cant change the name.

[-Gews- 7443]

Maybe there should be a "DayZ ID" which would let you add friends and recognize players on a list, but you could change your displayed nickname in game. I'm not comfortable with permanent names.

[PunishR92 0]

I think it's actually a pretty good idea to compare the nickname to a face and to implement a permanent nickname. It's also great that you made a video and that you really have thought it through.

But there is one main problem you need to consider: It's a game. In games and especially in roleplaying games like DayZ, you always can choose between a variety of paths you wanna follow and if you have died, you can be someone else - that's basically the difference between a game and real life (being someone else without personal consequences).

As soon as there are permanent nicknames, you won't be able to restart and play another character - you have just one path left (exaggerated) and so a lot of the game is lost.

In a game, I want to try out things - how is it to be a bandit, a survivor, a merchant, a mercenary, a medic, a bounty hunter, ...

A possible solution for this would be, being able to create 3-5 different characters, each having a different permanent nickname (maybe for 3-6 month). This way you can have a bad character and a good one...

But just having one single nickname is a bit too restricting in my opinion.