DayZ $29.99

this thread isn't even about dayz, it's about buying an alpha... sigh

the price is $30... for the alpha, they've said the price will go up... obviously it will eventually be on sale as is everything in the world.

personally, I love the game, KoS and all and super glad it's standalone now and being developed further. Entertaining to play and watch, even in its bare-bones alpha state.
 
Same set up as ARMA3, starts out cheap in Alpha and then begins to go up in price, until "official" release. ARMA3, we knew about DLC and some of it was included with some of the pricing models offered in the Alpha stages, but currently for this game only the one pricing model exists. I can see them adding DLC in terms of new locals (to help fund and expand the game), but I doubt (very self destructive) that they would ever offer in game purchases like food, water, weapons or vehicles. One thing to note about the original mod, in order to play it, you had to own ARMA2 and one of its expansions and if you wanted higher quality character models you needed to own a second expansion, I can see something like this for DayZ SA (and help support the game).

I can't wait until we can start hunting wildlife, its going to add a whole new level to the game, beyond the mod. Right now, besides the overhaul of base systems, its still a big step back (until we get vehicle and all the loot spots are seeded).
 
killer_dk said:
What is the pricing model?

The game will get more expensive as it moves through its development, starting out fairly cheap and rising in price as its matures and more features get added. When you buy it once, you will have access to the whole DayZ Game. No decision or information exists about DLC or anything like that, but we can confirm that DayZ will not feature in-game purchases.

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/153994-early-access-important-information-known-issues/
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Ouch...so I guess it will cost more later. That's unfortunate.
 
MavericK96 said:
Ouch...so I guess it will cost more later. That's unfortunate.
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Yeah count me out until final released build is at $30. If it means waiting 6 months after release, so be it. I'm definitely excited to see the final build though
 
If you can wait, wait. ARMA3 Alpha was $32, full price now is $60 and during the winter sale it was $35, there is no denying the logic there. A word of warning, the Steam sale crazy has been a boon to the PC, but at what cost? Sure it doesn't hurt indi title that sell for around $10-30 anyways, the serious pirates still rip those off, but its only showing that small low budget projects can be a success on PC. Until a larger project like Star Citizen shows it can't just be a success, but also a moderately financial success PC is going to feel a vice like twist of being a secondary market (just like Apple was in the 90s).
 
Here's the priority list from the official Blog.

  • Server performance, stability and security
  • Animals & hunting
  • Cooking & gathering resources
  • Playable user customizable vehicles
  • Player created constructions in the environment
  • More complex interactions with the environment and crafting options
  • Streamlined user actions and interface
  • Control and animations expanded and improved for fluidity
  • Upgraded graphics and physics engine (including ragdoll, etc.)
  • Support of user mods and more flexibility for user hosted servers and game types
 
@RangerXML

I think that games on the PC get "cheap" faster than consoles is because the game companies realize that they need to get their product out there to as many people that can afford it at the price they are willing to pay. If a guy is willing to fork over $60 to play it on day one, then it's what he's willing to pay and you should sell it to them at that price. If another person is willing to wait 2 months to get it at 33% off then it's completely fine to sell it to him at that price. If another is willing to wait a year for 75% off then it's their prerogative. You still sell him a copy at the price he is willing to pay. It costs you money in the long run to make fans wait for their price point to be reached as they may spend that money on another title.

If you planned your development budget out correctly then you should have broke even at the beginning, got an influx of cash to develop your sequel after the 33% off sale, and bought your house in the Hamptons plus a Ferrari with the 75% off money. At least that's what a lot of studios seem to be doing. I see them crying about initial sales and laying off teams, then later on continuing development when they have made their money back. As much as Square cried about Hitman Absolution to the point of taking the title away from one of their studios to make a mobile game, it turns out that IO Interactive is making a new one. Obviously they ended up making money in the end otherwise they would have canceled the project altogether.
 
In a post in GenMay I posted saying I would not be purchasing an alpha @ $30. Coworker ended up buying me a copy. It runs decent for an Alpha, but I still wouldnt have paid $30 for it. Will I continue to play it? For sure. Coworker keeps talking about all of the things implemented, but I have reservations. How many times did we hear 'Standalone should be released soon!'? Christmas before last was the big push, a year later we got it. Just kind of gun shy for how long we will wait for additional features. However they have been pushing (Small) updates regularly though which is nice.

The new medical/food system needs some work. Kind of in the dark when you just play and don't google anything. Clothing system is the same way.
 
If anyone needs help tweaking dayz standalone..there are some really stupid settings in the config ini that need to be tweaked (prerendered frames is 1000 or 10000 by default... it should be 1) and that helped dramatically for me.

The clothing system I find was self explanatory. The health/blood system was not however, though after reading how it works it makes MUCH more sense. The only thing I have issue with is the concept of salines being more beneficial than blood transfusions for blood; but I think that is a relic of some past implementation.

I do think this version of the game currently is more fun than vanilla dayz, though I think there needs to be more zombies.

The first hour or so I was like what the fuck why did I buy this. I have played probably 100 hours on the dayzmod, for reference. Then a lot of what they were doing for design approach became clear.

A lot of work went on the engine first and building certain assets and animations, essentially working on immersion first (hunting/animals then vehicles etc). I think they're waiting until later to build out end goal /alternative play etc. Which in a way I kind of agree with.

Those complaining about bugs.. it's a fucking alpha, and server persistence is one of the huge things they are working on and changing. Problems with synching between servers who are trying to fuck with the hive is likely the issue.

So far I have about 11 hours in game.. on my first life.. But mind you I've played before so I know where to be cautious etc. I have yet to run into anyone hacking.. a few bugs here and there.. particularly with unloading magazines (unload them with free slots in your inventory.. unloading them on the ground is spotty at best).

A lot of the fun of dayz is interactions with other people.. best played in small groups, and dont get attached to your shit. One stray shot can end it all. Hoarding gear is great if you have people to support it or extra accounts or other nonsense because you're attached to your shit. I understand not wanting to start all over.. that "set back" once you've progressed.. Look at it like this.. until bases get built in and things of that sort..

You learn from your mistakes. If you get killed (unless it is a hacker).. imagine how that would be in real life.


It's not an enjoyable experience losing all your shit and starting over.. being separated from friends/allies. But that's what makes encounters exciting, the more you fight that the less fun you'll likely have.
 
I find myself really enjoying DayZ despite it's best efforts. Decided to not worry about anything but exploring for awhile, so I've just been wandering around avoiding all but the smaller towns and avoiding player interaction as much as possible. Kept the same guy alive for about three hours, found a highway that ends, as does all texturing and objects. Just empty rolling land after, was pretty neat. Then got careless, hit a small town stopped out in the open to check my compass, which is a mistake. Didn't even hear the shots, kinda depressed me a bit. I had gotten attached to explorer mcSprints.

I just keep coming back for more, can't wait to see what this game becomes after alpha.....also found my first rabbits out in the middle of nowhere. Damn thing moving around nearly gave me a heart attack.
 
So whats the state of DayZ right now? im on the edge of buying it.
 
The current state is "you shouldn't buy this unless you're a hardcore DayZ enthusiast". When they've successfully overhauled the zombie AI (and stabilized it) is when you should think about buying it.
 
Didn't they say originally the full game would only be $20 since they were essentially asking people to buy a "retail" mod? Now they're talking about it being $60 at release?

Maybe they should have hired some real devs to produce this thing so it didn't take 8 years and 3X the cost...
 
agree with wonderfield. The only gameplay currently consists of 'find water and food immediatly then find guns to kill survivors' Zeds are very few and not a danger, merely running away works great. There's no vehicles or chopper crashes and little weapon variety. Don't buy now unless you know for sure you will play it later, which comes down to you've played the earlier mod and had fun.

I think I saw the alpha was liable to be a year effort.

(just last night I spoke with some guy who just didn't understand DayZ. I can see his point. There's a lot of almost nothing going on most of the time, then suddenly your staring down a shotgun barrel or fall off a roof and starting over :D )
 
If you're not familiar with the Arma engine, or really aren't OK with knowing a lot of gameplay elements are not implemented yet (probably won't be for the next 7-12 months or so), or can't get into games that are of the survival/time sink nature.. don't buy it.

Right now it's a solid alpha, they are consistently adding things to it (recently dropped some new weapons in) but ultimately it is very much so a work in progress.

If you like to see things as they develop/Are OK with just checking things out and waiting for things to get added and can manage your expectations (ie realistic about development for this project)/ know you'll later want the game but want to put the money down for a discount, then by all means.

Is there fun to be had right now? Sure, is it the fun you'll have later? It won't be the same, right now it's very much so a survival simulator. It's not a lot of low adrenaline action.

It's like Arma2/3 or kind of like DCS in a way. Imagine real combat or really flying an aircraft, 98% of the time you're preparing, taking in all the information, planning things out, keeping situational awareness as a top priority, and then snap that last 1-2% is balls to the wall with your heart pounding.

But with dayz sometimes that 2% is you making a mistake and not being careful or trusting someone and getting shot in the back of the head by someone you trusted when you run across a bad ass back pack. Or getting sniped at while you're running into a town.

It would be VERY easy to rage-quit and never play the game again if you have little patience to understand that the game is not meant to be fair, it's not meant to be bunnies and unicorns and ham sandwhiches.

A lot of real ugly visceral real humanity comes out when you play it. I know when I played the mod I ran into someone and befriended them, played with them for like an hour and they turned around and shot me and stole my gear. But the opposite can also happen and you can meet some really nice people.
 
Well i had fun with the original mod. But stopped after i was hacked and stripped of all my guns and equipement. I put like 10hours in the same guy before i lost all my shit. I was frustrated because i was hacked, not because i lost my stuff.

Thats why im looking at the full game atm. I liked dayz as a mod.
 
How does DayZ compare to Rust? Out of curiosity, I bought Rust, it was cheaper of the two. At first, I hated the game style but now, I kind of like it. Though you learn fast, don't get attached to anything, you will lose it.
 
Lol the fuck? First the dude goes on vacation during Dev and now he leaves altogether?
 
Dean Hall: "I feel like DayZ is a fundamentally flawed concept" (eurogamer interview)

Suckers...

Many fools were parted with their money. The signs were repeatedly on display throughout the whole ordeal, but as usual, everyone lined up for paid tickets on the hype train.

I will post this again:
6bx6Qtw.jpg
 
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I have loved dayz since the mod come out. Supported them with the standalone. I dont think this is good news as it really does make it feel like a cash grab now. Maybe they can do better without him, time will tell.
 
I don't quite understand the hysteria here. He only ever said that they'd (collectively) be committed to development for about a year after the alpha release. The time of his departure would seem to coincide with that.

So...what's the problem?
 
wonderfield said:
I don't quite understand the hysteria here. He only ever said that they'd (collectively) be committed to development for about a year after the alpha release. The time of his departure would seem to coincide with that.

So...what's the problem?
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I think the issue is that Dean knew he was leaving before the alpha even released. I think if that knowledge was public before the alpha went on sale a lot of the 1.3 million people who purchased ti might have had seconds thoughts and waited.
 
Is it true the DayZ community was "overrun by trolls and kiddies?" I dont play it but thats the popular claim.
 
DPI said:
Is it true the DayZ community was "overrun by trolls and kiddies?" I dont play it but thats the popular claim.
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I know a ton of people who can't tell the difference between a troll and a bandit.

umm....not sure about the kiddy claim though? :confused:
 
relapse808 said:
I think the issue is that Dean knew he was leaving before the alpha even released.

I think if that knowledge was public before the alpha went on sale a lot of the 1.3 million people who purchased ti might have had seconds thoughts and waited.
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^ I doubt it, the hype train blew out of the gates full steam ahead. I can't believe so many people hopped on and bought into it...the Operation Flashpoint CWC/Arma engine has always been an unpolished quagmire never refined enough for the requirements of mainstream gaming and never will be.
 
relapse808 said:
I think the issue is that Dean knew he was leaving before the alpha even released. I think if that knowledge was public before the alpha went on sale a lot of the 1.3 million people who purchased ti might have had seconds thoughts and waited.
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I suppose, but there's nothing magical about anything he does. He's admittedly a poor team leader (which I think we all know) and doesn't offer much value to the team beyond the design phase. The mod certainly got better, and at a faster rate, after he took his hands off it.

Bohemia completely dumping it after Rocket leaves would be a big problem, but I don't see where that's happening.

DPI said:
Is it true the DayZ community was "overrun by trolls and kiddies?" I dont play it but thats the popular claim.
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That hasn't been my experience.
 
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^ yeah, wouldnt make sense for Bohemia to dump it, its their golden goose now. And hitting on something that becomes popular to that degree is extremely rare in videogame industry. Gotta be the most copies of a game they ever sold, no?

I'm just hoping that they reinvest some of those profits into engine optimization among other things and it has a trickle down effect on Arma3.
 
DPI said:
I'm just hoping that they reinvest some of those profits into engine optimization among other things and it has a trickle down effect on Arma3.
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Probably not much, considering DayZ is still using the ArmA 2 engine. Of course, the engines aren't THAT different, but still, I doubt there will be much crossover, except maybe some netcode optimizations or something.

My issue with ArmA 3 right now is that they are spending a lot of time putting in new, unexpected content (stuff like Zeus) rather than fixing major bugs and filling in missing expected content.
 
Well I get the sense that if some optimization breakthrough was made in the "Arma 2.5" engine of DayZ that it would probably be able translate somehow to the Arma3 engine. I can't imagine theyre that far apart since they both suffer the same irregularities and optimization problems.
 
I think its irrelevant if he leaves the team now or a year from now.

Having played it for a hundred hours already, I have gotten my $30 worth. Its still an alpha, but its more than playable; I'm having more fun at this point than I did in the mod.

When he finishes his "year" I can see it easily being worth the $30 price tag even to non die-hard dayz fans. All they had to do was take the mod and make it less janky, have your frame rate not be dependent on a server that has to restart every 30 minutes to keep things playable, and and throw in some features like the new gear system... that alone would worth $30, its going to be a lot more than that by far.

To say someone was suckered out of their money for owning the best large scale FPS zombie multiplayer frag fest is off their rocker. I look forward to the game 6 months from now and I look forward to whatever this guy might make in the future, hopefully his plans to start his own studio go well but until then Day-Z it is.
 
VulcaN said:
All they had to do was take the mod and make it less janky, have your frame rate not be dependent on a server that has to restart every 30 minutes to keep things playable, and and throw in some features like the new gear system... that alone would worth $30, its going to be a lot more than that by far..
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Has that actually been done? Without a full engine re-write I do not like the ArmA engine is capable of that...
 
Yes, it's been done. I'm sure server performance still degrades over time, but it doesn't affect client rendering.

I've gotten around 40 hours out of the game. I'll probably get at least another 40 more once all the dust has settled. Worst case: $0.75/hour, which is hardly anything worth complaining over these days.
 
GearChoices said:
Dean Hall: "I feel like DayZ is a fundamentally flawed concept" (eurogamer interview)

Suckers...[/IMG]
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You're taking that way out of context.

"A lot of them have similar DNA [to DayZ]," he said, because he's "fascinated" by multiplayer games and because he's "very interested" in survival games.

"I feel like DayZ is a fundamentally flawed concept," he went on, "and I've always recognised that. It's not the perfect game; it's not the multiplayer experience, and it never can be, [with] the absolute spark that I want in it."
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