RawkMode

Well, in respect to the permanence of the infection, I want to note that it only applies to the current avatar that gets infected. Your next spawn is a fresh life and is completely unaffected by your previous infected state. With that in mind, I'd like to sort of point out that many people don't live all that very long in the game anyway, and really...this game isn't about creating attachment to your current avatar, it's about letting go of that attachment and seeking a different path on the way to eventual death. In terms of the item use, I don't think its all that much. I find all of those things on an almost daily basis, and in my proposal I cite the need for slight increases in the relevant spawn rates. The craft system I detailed is meant to be simple to implement and simple to use, therefore, it's all a 1+1=2 operation with nothing left over. I recognize the fact that a single syringe is far smaller than the contents of a blood bag, but if you want back story justification, we could always simply say that a syringe worth was all that was useful after you field prepped this ad-hoc medication. There have been a significant number of additional responses to my OP on Steam since I first posted this here, and many of the comments have been highly constructive and useful in developing the idea further. One of those ideas that you might find relevant is the concept that...either by accident, or through the malicious action of your "donor"...you could end up with a blood bag containing already infected blood, and never know it. We discussed the consequences of this, and determined that using infected blood would always yield "Contaminated Serum." Further, Contaminated Serum obtained from infected blood would have one of three possible effects: No effect (30% chance)Kills recipient (60% chance)Permanently cures infection, avatar becomes immune (10%)

The looping effect of the infection is intended to be in-game time, otherwise I can't see how it would be workable. Theoretically, a player could actually have several days of play time before succumbing to the infection. Also, the 12 hour time period that I stated in the thread was just arbitrary, there is no reason it couldn't be shorter or longer. For purposes of "canonical" accuracy, it might be better for it to be 24 hours, but since that would be 24 hours of game play, I thought that it would be too long a time period to create the requisite sense of urgency.

I appreciate the input on the portion of my post that you read :|

Response to comments on Steam: I just want to reiterate that the only way to catch the infection itself would be to sustain a bleeding wound from a zombie. Currently, even with a poorly geared character I tend to have that happen quite a bit less than it used to, so long as I am healthy. This proposal would not require that every, or even most, zombie encounters would result in infection, only some of them. Many of the objections that are being made focus in some way on the idea that every player is somehow forced to deal with infection as a routine part of their play experience, and that every player must deal with it in the same way...neither of which is true. In order to be faced with the consequences of the infection, a player would have to either be careless, or unlucky... ...and that is exactly as it should be. In a real zombie survival situation, anyone who let their guard down around zombies, got cocky, become overconfident, or was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time would end up getting bitten...and that bite would have consequences. Would everyone get in that situation? No. Would many people survive until old age by simply being careful, and maintaining a healthy respect for the zombie population? Yes. Would some people decide that suicide is the better option after they realize they've been bitten and probably infected? Yes, of course they would. Would some people fight for life after being infected and do whatever was neccessary to stave off death for another day? Well....wouldn't you? This idea is meant to introduce these concepts to the game, while providing a new set of play options, new types of tools for players to use as they will, and a real sense of danger when in close proximity to the walking dead. Simultaneously it would provide motivation for people to interact more with other players, while not preventing people from shooting on sight if that's how they like to play it. So, again...what's the objection?

Response to comments on Steam: I just want to clarify that [forum poster responding to my thread] has brought up some points that are both significant and relevant. I sincerely appreciate what he, and other posters, have contributed to this discussion, because those viewpoints are insightful and, each in their own way, quite valid. However, I think that there is an idea underpinning those comments that may be based on the idea of people being "forced" into taking certain actions, or of game play being forcibly altered in order to achieve some kind of social-engineering result...whether players want that or not. Yet, that is not the case. This is about the addition of a new set of options which players may take advantage of and use as a part of self-determined play styles. This is about broadening the scope of what players can do, not about forcing them into some kind of predetermined pattern handed down from above. Personally, I couldn't care less if some players were to suicide, run back from the coast, stay on the coast and go into "when new spawns attack" mode, or have their friends hold their junk or not. This is about the introduction of a new set of tools that provide other options...the ways in which players make use of them is up to each and every individual player. I don't care what those other players decide to do with these new tools...and neither should any of you.

Response to comments on Steam: Actually, its not meant to deal with another play style...its meant to provide another play style. Secondly, I do not think that people won't take the path of least resistance...in fact, I believe that many people absolutely will. That doesn't bother me in any way however, because this is not about enforcing a specific method of play on people, its just introducing a new set of options. As for gear issues, most people who are signifcantly geared up and playing with friends are already faced, in most cases, with a self-limiting factor. Their friends are geared up and have a ton of junk in their inventory too. So, because I don't want to deal with crafting the Serum...despite the fact that it would give me and my friends something fun to do (and God knows none of us play games for fun)...I would rather just kill myself and have my buddies hold on to my junk until I make it back to them. So, not only is my laziness going to cost a bunch of time that my friends may not want to deal with, but I'm now asking them to go through their stuff and drop some of it, so as to make room for my cr*p. Man, I must have awesome friends. And if you are geared up...why the f*ck are you getting yourself bit by a damn zombie anyway? I was fighting them with an ax and one of them got a lucky hit in on me... So...why not shoot them with some of that extra ammo you always carry around on you...just saving it for player-victims and can't bear to part with it? But...shooting at zombies attracts more...especially with the changes to spawning that are being tested...if I start shooting at zombies so I'm not close enough to get infected, I'll end up having to fight a whole ton of zombies! Yes, I know.

Response to comments on Steam: Totally valid point. And that is why Serum cures nothing. It simply postpones death from infection for another day. And is it really so ridiculous to assume that at some point, somebody somewhere would think: "Well, hell...if I'm giving you a transfusion anyway, would it really hurt all that much to add some antibiotics? What's the worst that can happen? Screw it, this is the frakking Apocalypse...here goes...you might feel just a little pinch here...." Plus, lets be realistic here. When I was in the Army, I was sent to a week long Combat Lifesaver course. We weren't medics or anything, it was just some extra training to bridge the gap between the First Aid training we all had, and the specialized expertise that the actual medics had. During that course I learned all about drawing blood, giving transfusions, starting IVs, stopping bleeding from serious trauma, etc. I wouldn't know any of that stuff had I not gone to that course...and I'm willing to bet that most people, including most DayZ players, don't have that level of knowledge. Yet, there you are in game, starting IVs and using defibs, and expertly bandaging gunshot wounds. Are we really suggesting that you can't homebrew some kind of fortified blood transfusion in this game because it may somehow conflict with reality? Is it really possible that treating someone with spiked blood can actually conflict with realistic expectations...when the treatment is for sickness related to zombie attacks?

Response to comments on Steam: Exactly. Of course some people would simply suicide...but that already happens. Some people might be willing to stash their gear...but I don't know of any, do you? I sure as hell wouldn't. Some people might tell their friends to just shoot them and meet up later with any of their stuff they can carry...but most people wouldn't. As I already said earlier in the thread, can you really imagine some CoD kid telling his buddies to kill him, trusting them to actually return his gear at some later point? Would that be the preferred option when simply going into Bandit mode for a bit to obtain blood could resolve it? If people are bored, and have no good reason to let other players live simply because there currently is no end game other than KOS PVP deathmatching, wouldn't this allow people a whole new set of tasks, obstacles and play styles without interfering in any way with each player's decision to play however they want?

Response to comments on Steam: Thank you. The concept here is that it is something that could easily be implemented without taking resources away from the existing development effort. Everything that I described simply requires that someone makes a couple of new item skins, writes a couple of descriptions for additional tool tips and so on. The only parts that are actually complex (I think) are the addition of an INFECTED status in your inventory (in addition to the existing HUNGRY - HYDRATED - SICK, etc. status bars,) the association of chemical poisoning to wounds inflicted by zombies, and the 12 hour loop effect of the infection. I think those are mostly just number shuffling though.

Response to comments on Steam: I thought of that, and it would happen certainly. Generally speaking though, there is no way in hell that CoD Geared Up Commando Guy is gonna let his other high school buddies pop him one and take his gear. They'd probably all rather go harass other players and actually steal the requisite items. Some guys might even decide to camp the material supply routes to hijack "trader" types. Some guys might be willing to ride shotgun on those routes. There might be all sorts of fun to be had.

Response to comments on Steam: Despite how long it took to describe, this is really sort of an ad-hoc, simplistic system that is designed to take advantage of existing dynamics and items in the game...thus, allowing rapid implementation and inclusion without requiring the devs to do much work. I'm sure that they could think up something more elegant, but they already have enough on their plate at the moment. I may be wrong on the level of complexity here, but my intention was that this was a system that could be implemented by an intern and a spare artist, just by shuffling around some numbers and creating a couple of new item skins.

Response to comments on Steam: You wouldn't be putting someone else's blood into you. You just need healthy donor blood to make the Serum. Plus, giving people a strong motivation for player interaction while still allowing everyone to choose their own play style is the point of this in the first place. Other than donor blood, there is nothing you can't get somewhere else.

Hello Everyone, This is my first post to the official DayZ Forums, but I am a regular poster over on the Steam DayZ community. I posted a proposal earlier today that I was then encouraged to re-post here for further discussion. I am simply copying my post over from there for everyone to look at. I have also responded in that thread to many of the comments that I have received, and those responses have served to further clarify this idea and address the objections that have been raised. I will likely re-post those responses here in this thread as a way of addressing questions right up front. I'd also like to clarify that this post is not about turning players into zombies or the idea of disease itself; this suggestion is meant to create a mechanism by which new play styles would become possible for the player base. For those that would like to view the original thread on Steam, you can see it here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this post in its entirety. I think I have a good idea here, and I worked hard to create this post to describe it. Again, thank your for your time, and I look forward to reading your comments. I think there would be a great benefit to game play if players could actually become infected by whatever it is that caused the zombie apocalypse in the first place (and no, not turning into zombies, sorry.) Adding this would be much simpler than it seems. Here is what would be needed (then I'll explain why this would be helpful): Increase in the spawn rate of Blood Test Kits.A change to Blood Bags that allows them to display blood type when a donor test has been performed. Ideally I would like you to be able to write on them with a pen, but simply having the type displayed in the item tool tip would probably be the easiest thing to do.A new message in your inventory UI that displays your blood type if a test has been performed.Increase in the spawn rate of Antibiotic Vials.Slight increase in the spawn rate of Hypodermic Needles.Minor change to damage types, associating the "Chemical Poisoning" effect with bleeding damage caused by zombies.A code loop that causes the zombie-related "Chemical Poisoning" effect to reoccur every 12 hours or so, as long as that character exists.The addition of a new medical crafting result associated with the medical items listed here. So, here is what would happen: If you take damage from a zombie that results in an actual bleeding wound, you will become "infected." Just as there is a slight delay with food and chemical poisoning, there will also be a delay in manifestation of the infection. It would need to be somewhat longer than the reaction to standard food/chemical poisoning, perhaps an hour or so. Once the infection takes hold, you become sick (using the existing chemical poisoning symptoms) and eventually die. In order to prevent death by zombie bite, players would need to be treated with a serum that could be crafted from immediately available world items. Here is how treatment would work: A Blood Bag containing blood from a healthy donor with a blood type matching the victim is combined with an Antibiotic Vial.Both items are destroyed, resulting in a new medical item: a type specific Serum Vial (i.e., A+ Serum Vial, O- Serum Vial or whatever.)The Serum Vial is now combined with a Hypodermic Needle.Both items are destroyed, resulting in a new medical item: a type specific Serum Injection (i.e., A+ Serum Injection, O- Serum Injection or whatever.) The Serum Injection item can then be used on the infected player to relieve infection symptoms and restore them to an "Infected" health status. This status would indicate that the player has normal health (other than carrying the infection), and all symptoms would disappear for the next 12 hours. Additionally, the player is now temporarily "vaccinated" against further zombie related infection during that time. After the effect of the Serum fades (12 hours after the injection,) the infection returns, manifesting symptoms an hour after the Serum stops working. So long as this character stays alive, they will need to administer new injections every time the infection "loops" and starts to make them sick again...roughly once per day. This system would not only add new obstacles, and immersion, but would also create a positive motivation for players to prefer keeping each other alive (holding people up for blood "donations,") and also create a need to trade. Since not all of the Serum you would (or could) craft would be compatible with your blood type, you could craft and trade it to players suffering from infection and unable to make their own. The possiblilty of trading for Serum with other players would be another positive motivation to not shoot on sight. Additionally, some players might enjoy specializing in making supply/scavenging runs into dangerous areas where the required supplies are more likely to appear, allowing them to trade the base materials for other things they want or need. Eventually, the system could become slightly more elaborate and immersive. For example, removing your gloves and using Alcohol Tincture on your hands prior to crafting Serum would guarantee that the process would work, but not doing so could create a different medical item: Contaminated Serum Vial. You could use contaminated Serum just like normal, but there would be a chance it would simply kill the recipient. Actually, it could be a stepped result system. Here is what I mean: Crafting a Serum Vial after using Alcohol Tincture on hands, and while wearing a Respirator or Gas Mask: 100% chance of Pristine result.Crafting a Serum Vial with either clean hands (from Alcohol Tincture) or while wearing a Respirator or Gas Mask: 75% chance of Pristine result, 25% chance of Contaminated result.Crafting a Serum Vial with neither clean hands, Respirator or Gas Mask: 50% chance of Pristine result, 50% chance of Contaminated result. Perhaps we could also add in the ability to combine a Bandana or Rags with Alcohol Tincture to create a disposable Improvised Protective Mask that would confer the same benefit of a Respirator or Gas Mask, but is destroyed by using it. I just realized how long this post has gotten, so I'll end here. If you have read this far, then thank you, and I welcome your comments.