H1Z1 - may be better than DayZ! from SOE - FTP

[ThinClient]

Well, what a cluster..

So what DayZ server are you guys playing on?

Haha.

I'll say, though, that even the first day of alpha, this game is still less buggy and less broken than DayZ Standalone.

 

[ThinClient]

Here's an update on airdrops:

http://www.reddit.com/r/h1z1/comments/2sopo9/update_about_airdrops_and_my_personal_apology/

Hey guys, first I want to say thank you to all of you, even the ones that are very upset with us. We have received an overwhelming amount of support and feedback from everyone and the dev team is all working hard on all of the current issues and I appreciate your patience as we try to get H1Z1 up and running smoothly. We are a little over 24 hours in and it has been and absolute roller coaster.

2nd I wanted to address what I said in an earlier stream with NGTZombies prior to our release. I said you cannot buy a gun or ammo and it had to be found in the world. When you are on a stream, and you are talking about your game, you tend to talk a million miles an hour both to keep the information flowing and to keep it entertaining. But sometimes things get said without completely thinking about what you are saying 100% through. H1Z1 is a massive game with a lot of systems, some of which we were tuning every day and finishing last minute. When I said you can't buy any guns or ammo, I completely disregarded the possibility of airdrops and meant that you can't buy a gun or ammo and have it go into your starting loadout, or your loadout immediately like you were buying a gun from the gun store.

All that being said, I totally understand how what I said was at the time lying to you guys and I apologize. But please understand that's not what I was trying to do. For those of you that don't know me or understand me, know that I'm not trying to be this monster that is conniving and lying in hopes that you get tricked into buying the game. I am very passionate about making video games and I want more than anything in the world for people to love the games that I am a part of making.

The dev team loves airdrops, and in testing, every time we used one, they were highly contested where the person who actually called in the airdrop had to earn it through a gladiator style brawl. They usually weren't the one that ended up with the airdrop but no matter what, the person who called it in was satisfied with the event that they got to make happen. That event is the magic we are trying to capture with everyone. The last thing we want is it to be a boring item that someone can sneak around and quietly get to find gear without it being contested. In our opinion that is basically cheating and nobody should be able to do that.
Whether you agree with us or not, that is how we want airdrops to work. We are going to be tuning them throughout early access until we can get them to work that way, here are the first pass initial changes.

1) Make the plane move slowly (53% of current) This increases the ability for other players to react to the plane coming in.

2) Make the drop fall more slowly (80% of current) This increases the ability for other players to react to the plane coming in.

3) Less accurate maximum drop radius (was 250m now 700m, so with these settings it would drop up to 700m from the calling player)

4) New minimum distance of 250m for airdrops to appear from a player. This is a little less than ½ the player density of 700m distance with 120 players on a server. Therefore more players are likely to be near the airdrop when deployed.

5) Increase the minimum number of required players to 120 (a little higher after more discussion about player density being important to keeping airdrops contested)

H1Z1 Airdrop Events and drop percentages

65% chance to call in one of these airdrops

The Caveman
Bow 1x
Bundle of Arrows 2x
Torch 1x
Waist pack 1x
7 Zombies

The Welder
Wrench 1x
Hammer 1x
Metal Sheets 4x
Metal Pipes 2x
Weapon Repair Kit 1x
7 Zombies

The Medic
First Aid Kits 2x
Bandages 5x
Cloth 6x
Purified Water 2x
Saline 2x
7 Zombies

The Demolition Man
IED 2x
Lighter 1x
Landmine 1x
Flares 2x
Smoke Flare 2x
Ethonol 1x
7 Zombies

The Builder
Nails 20x
Furnace 1x
Logs 4x
Metal Bits 10x
Scrap Metal 10x
Wood Axe 1x
7 Zombies

The Farmer
Tamper 10x
Corn Seeds 10x
Wheat Seeds 10x
Fertilizer 10x
Purified Water 5x
7 Zombies

The Hiker
Motorcycle Helmet 1x
Military Backpack 1x
Goggles 1x
Binoculars 1x
Compass 1x
7 Zombies

12.5 % chance to call in one of these airdrops

Life of the Party
IED 5x
Swizzle 20x
Moonshine 15x
Flare 30x
7 Zombies

10.0% Chance to call in this airdrop

The Hobo
Shotgun 1x
Shells 12x
Moonshine 2x
Torch 1x
Twine 1x
Bear Sandwich 1x
7 Zombies

The Lone Wolf
Pistol 1x
Ammo.45 14x
Logs 2x
Wolf Sandwich 1x
Animal Trap 1x
Deer Bladder 2x
7 Zombies

Thank you guys for being patient with us!
-Arclegger

 

[mnewsham]

This isn't Planetside 2. This is H1Z1. It doesn't matter what's happened in PS2. That's that game, this is this game and none of that has started in this game.

unless, its Chris Roberts...right?



Please refrain from thread crapping.

Thank you.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[mnewsham]

unless, its Chris Roberts...right?



Please refrain from thread crapping.

Thank you.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

To be fair, i'm really just pointing out that bringing up a company's past games is certainly something worth discussing, you can't just ignore it. I just found his defence of H1Z1 to be a touch ironic, all things considered.

 

[pontifex]

just watched Robbaz play this. wow, that looks terrible. graphics look like they are from 2002 or so.

 

[ThinClient]

just watched Robbaz play this. wow, that looks terrible. graphics look like they are from 2002 or so.

The lighting needs a lot of work. Also, remember. It's an alpha, lol.

 

[JumBie]

Here's an update on airdrops:

http://www.reddit.com/r/h1z1/comments/2sopo9/update_about_airdrops_and_my_personal_apology/

The PR blanket is starting to cover things up.

 

[clok1966]

Alpha.s and Beta's change all the time, if the game is better for it who cares. And no matter what its to make money. They said its not pay to win, and you feel the changes make it that way (it appears to be that way in "ALPHA", but we all know that's not the FINAL game). many game devs have made statements and had to change them, most of us cant see the future, so we don't know how its going to work. I do agree, let UM know you don't like it, it needs to be changed.

Me, after DayZ and the few clones I have played, no interest in it whatsoever (success or fail), caters to the lowest denominator, get a few people together and gang kill/steal/take from anybody else who isn't bigger (gang of people) then you. Same reason no PvP games work unless each side is 100% mirrored (COD/PS2 type stuff) but that is for a whole other thread.

 

[ThinClient]

The PR blanket is starting to cover things up.

 

[Childs]

Alpha.s and Beta's change all the time, if the game is better for it who cares. And no matter what its to make money. They said its not pay to win, and you feel the changes make it that way (it appears to be that way in "ALPHA", but we all know that's not the FINAL game). many game devs have made statements and had to change them, most of us cant see the future, so we don't know how its going to work. I do agree, let UM know you don't like it, it needs to be changed.

Me, after DayZ and the few clones I have played, no interest in it whatsoever (success or fail), caters to the lowest denominator, get a few people together and gang kill/steal/take from anybody else who isn't bigger (gang of people) then you. Same reason no PvP games work unless each side is 100% mirrored (COD/PS2 type stuff) but that is for a whole other thread.

If you like the survival aspect of these kinds of games you might want to look into The Long Dark. No zombies or other players, just wolves and the elements.

 

[psychosiz]

I read his comments and was very surprised at his attempted spin job. John Smedley has a history of lying before to gamers. He's not exactly winning any points with his attitude either. No matter how he tries to spin this he lied. His attitude is also pretty brash and IMO he is really giving what is equivalent of the finger to gamers.

 

[5150Joker]

So I played the game for several hours today and it's definitely better than Day Z standalone. The discovery and crafting system is light years ahead of Day Z standalone. Graphics performance is much better as well but unfortunately with it using the PS2 engine, SLI performance is hit or miss so I was forced to run it on a single 980 most of the time. I'm hoping they address SLI support as the alpha progresses.

As for the airdrops, while I played, a few were called in and everyone went rushing in to grab the loot so it wasn't THAT bad but then again, if someone really wants their air drop, all they have to do is run to the middle of nowhere on the map and then by the time players get there, they will have already picked up the goods.

BUT you can also find just as good loot in the game if you look in places that aren't near the road. Tonight I found an automatic rifle, 2 handguns, 2 combat knives, 1000 capacity backpack, couple other backpacks, tons of food, antibiotics, metal etc. So as long as they don't give rare items in the airdrops, I don't really care if they are there. Sony is a business, they have to pay upkeep for development, server costs and turn a profit so if this is how they plan to do it, then so be it. If they end up making rare and OP items available in air drops, that's when I'll quit this game.

 

[ThinClient]

I read his comments and was very surprised at his attempted spin job. John Smedley has a history of lying before to gamers. He's not exactly winning any points with his attitude either. No matter how he tries to spin this he lied. His attitude is also pretty brash and IMO he is really giving what is equivalent of the finger to gamers.

Smeds wasn't the one on the stream saying that guns couldn't be bought. That was someone else, which is why that big long post explaining drops says "I said" and was signed by someone else.

I would like to see where Smeds has lied over the years, though. I've played several games over the years where he's been part of the PR campaign and I don't recall this history of lying, but I'm open to reading about it.

 

[ThinClient]

If they end up making rare and OP items available in air drops, that's when I'll quit this game.

I posted an exactly list of everything you will get in an airdrop in a post above, along with the % chance of getting that airdrop. Check it out.

 

[ThinClient]

Here's how to set full screen borderless windowed mode

http://www.reddit.com/r/h1z1/comments/2skjkx/psa_you_can_update_your_settings_via_the/

 

[KMFJD]

So I played the game for several hours today and it's definitely better than Day Z standalone. The discovery and crafting system is light years ahead of Day Z standalone. Graphics performance is much better as well but unfortunately with it using the PS2 engine, SLI performance is hit or miss so I was forced to run it on a single 980 most of the time. I'm hoping they address SLI support as the alpha progresses.

As for the airdrops, while I played, a few were called in and everyone went rushing in to grab the loot so it wasn't THAT bad but then again, if someone really wants their air drop, all they have to do is run to the middle of nowhere on the map and then by the time players get there, they will have already picked up the goods.

BUT you can also find just as good loot in the game if you look in places that aren't near the road. Tonight I found an automatic rifle, 2 handguns, 2 combat knives, 1000 capacity backpack, couple other backpacks, tons of food, antibiotics, metal etc. So as long as they don't give rare items in the airdrops, I don't really care if they are there. Sony is a business, they have to pay upkeep for development, server costs and turn a profit so if this is how they plan to do it, then so be it. If they end up making rare and OP items available in air drops, that's when I'll quit this game.

Only watched a couple of reviews, the crafting/discovery system reminds me of Rust

 

[ThinClient]

Here's how to set full screen borderless windowed mode

http://www.reddit.com/r/h1z1/comments/2skjkx/psa_you_can_update_your_settings_via_the/

In this same file, you'll find the render distance. There is a very significant boost in performance if you change this distance from 1500 to 3000 for some reason.

 

[ThinClient]

Only watched a couple of reviews, the crafting/discovery system reminds me of Rust

Kind of, but not really. If you have the raw materials on you, the discovery system will tell you what all you can make. In Rust, you used to have to find the finished product and a research kit in order to learn how to make it. The new version of Rust doesn't have that function at all anymore.

 

[psychosiz]

Smeds wasn't the one on the stream saying that guns couldn't be bought. That was someone else, which is why that big long post explaining drops says "I said" and was signed by someone else.

I would like to see where Smeds has lied over the years, though. I've played several games over the years where he's been part of the PR campaign and I don't recall this history of lying, but I'm open to reading about it.

This is from John Smedley himself on P2W. Comments are not mine, they are from another poster.

I'm going to weigh in here on this subject. We've been showing it clearly in all of the streams we have been doing. I made a point of personally doing it during last Friday's streams. We want them to be server events... so we make sure the whole server knows they're coming and I've personally been killed many times after I paid for them myself. So I fundamentally disagree with the argument. In terms of us not being honest about it - untrue to an extreme. [1] Quoting an 8 month old reddit post after numerous streams and interviews where we've been quite public AND [2] putting it front and center in our "What to expect document" which was right on the purchase page just makes this blatantly unfair IMO. (here's the link - https://www.h1z1.com/dev-updates/h1z1-what-you-can-expect-in-early-access ) or you can just go back to the steam page. [3] So if you think it's P2W don't buy it. Don't play it. But I have to say wait until you've personally tried them before making the call. We included airdrops in both the $20 and the $40 versions just so you could see for yourselves. But to clear up the misconceptions - 1) You cannot call in airdrops until the servers are 1/4 full. 2) You can't call in airdrops without generating a ton of zombie heat. 3) the airdrops are random in what they deliver. 4) you are not guaranteed to get a single thing out of the airdrop you called in. You could die trying and you're out the money. 5) We fly the plane in very slowly and loudly.. we also stream green smoke from it you can see from very far away. This is all I'm going to say on the subject. We've been straight about it. We've called attention to it publicly and it's something we've decided we want in the game. It makes it more fun. It can shake things up. Please don't judge based on knee jerk reactions. Try it. Or watch more streams with people doing it.Now with all that being said - we're going to be making some big changes to them in the next day or so.
1) Dramatically widening the radius they come in - it's too small from what we're observing. 2) Making sure the chance for guns is a much lower chance so they are much more rare. 3) Upping the minimum number of people on a server to even allow air drops. It's set at 50 right now and we're going to at least double it. We are serious about these being server events and contested. 4) Making the plane fly even slower.
Smed"
________________________________________________________________________________
Let's take a look at this a little closer, shall we.
[1] Quoting an 8 month old reddit post after numerous streams and interviews
The actual stream is from January, 12th 2015: "There is no way to get ammo any other way. You can't buy ammo, you can't buy guns, you can't get them out of a crate. There is ZERO way. You have to find them in the world."

[2] putting it front and center in our "What to expect document" which was right on the purchase page just makes this blatantly unfair IMO.
This was put on the purchase page on release day 01.16.2015. The information was not there before release.

[3] So if you think it's P2W don't buy it. Don't play it.
This is the CEO of a billion dollar company essentially telling you to fuck off if you don't like it. He must be pretty sure this will make millions even with all the lies and "Pay2Win". Buying this in EarlyAccess to help make it better seems pretty stupid when the CEO tells you he does not care what people think.
He then moves on trying to make it sound like an airdrop is different than opening a crate and tell you to go buy it to see for yourself. But you have to pay first of cause, since this is not Free to Play yet.


All of this is why I've completely lost hope in SOE. Particularly, in Dave Georgeson and Smed. They've simply gotten to a point in making their games so incredibly Cash Shop focused, with full focus on catering to the people with the fattest wallets.

The design of the airdrops is the exact same concept as a RNG lockbox that so many F2P games (the cheesier ones) have. Real life money buys you a chance at items you want in your purchase. The only thing they did here was add an additional layer of RNG, in that you might be killed before getting the item you paid real life cash for, as well as someone potentially killing you shortly after you make this purchase.

That the contents of the crates contain blatant in-game advantages is an interesting move on their part. It is absolutely a P2W purchase, and Smed's attitude towards people who don't like it is simply inexcusable, but predictable. There is a long history of how he perceives and treats his customers, one which has landed him in hot water on several occasions.

Have to say, if this is the sort of evolution of their Cash Shop and monetization model, any hopes that I had of EQNext being appealing to me wither up faster and faster.





As for him lying to gamers before, remember SWG, I sure do along with many, many, many others.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/21/soes-john-smedley-expresses-regrets-over-swg-mishaps/

 

[ThinClient]

This is from John Smedley himself on P2W.

Right, I think I linked to that already. I don't see the point of what you've pasted, though. He's entirely right and he's being reasonable.

As for him lying to gamers before, remember SWG, I sure do along with many, many, many others.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/21/soes-john-smedley-expresses-regrets-over-swg-mishaps/

There's nothing in that article about him lying about anything. I was a diehard SWG player from day one to day last. Do you have another example of him lying somewhere?

 

[pontifex]

can anyone explain why the early access costs money but the game will be free to play when it releases?

 

[psychosiz]

Right, I think I linked to that already. I don't see the point of what you've pasted, though. He's entirely right and he's being reasonable.



There's nothing in that article about him lying about anything. I was a diehard SWG player from day one to day last. Do you have another example of him lying somewhere?

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about the being reasonable part. As for the lying, you were a diehard SWG fan, don't you remember the mess in the beginning about all the things that were supposed to be addressed and never were? He said he never listened to the players. he certainly acknowledged them, and yet his follow through was never there. Broken promises. Now granted SWG was a great game eventually, but it took some time, then they changed it and went to hell, but I digress and that is a different conversation.

You have said, and rightly so this is only alpha. I am just not confident in the follow through. This is one of those times where I would be happy to come back when the game is released and say I was wrong.

 

[manimal]

can anyone explain why the early access costs money but the game will be free to play when it releases?

because they can

 

[aigomorla]

can anyone explain why the early access costs money but the game will be free to play when it releases?

lol... i was wondering that myself.. i guess its so you can "help fund the project"
and make the game what it can be..

because they can

LOL... its a poor model.... pay to play alpha.. but free to play later on...

 

[chimaxi83]

can anyone explain why the early access costs money but the game will be free to play when it releases?

Because retards like to pay to test games.