Thoughts on the new patch?

[SpecOpsScott]

Just curious what you all think about the new patch so far. Is it too hard core, not hard core enough or just right?

So far i like the little changes like makarov, 1911 and enfield mags actually looking like mags. Noticed its a little buggy though with 2rd slugs looking like an M9 mag.

Zeds seem manageable. Packs seem scarce. With the previous patch, i would have passed up 2 or 3 smaller packs and found a couple of alice packs in the amount of time and area i covered last night. Found 2 mountain dews and 2 antibiotics though!

Zed spawning seems funky too. I ran to a bunch of deer stands and no zeds spawned, and when i went into town, it seemed there were no, or next to no zeds there. But after spending some time, it would seem like their population tripled. Seems like they are not spawning all at the same time but rather spaced out. The longer you linger, the more zeds appear?

Oh, and weapon agro seems to have been greaty increased. Even the Makarov pulls them in from distance. But that's ok, i like the stealth aspect. This is going to force some serious teamwork for looting missions methinks (if theres any kind of population on the server when you need to loot).

[Allane]

To me, guns have quickly been downgraded to the status of "PvP only". As I've said in the Teampseak, firing a weapon that makes any noise inside a town/city is basically signing your own death warrant if you don't have a way out.

For me, the way I gear up has changed a bit: Priority 1 is to find a Hatchet. Priority 2 is to find 2 soda's, and 2 canned foods. Priority 3 is to head North to the nearest town with a supermarket, and attempt to gain a Hunting Knife and Box of Matches either there, or on the way. Priority 4 is finding a 7.62x51 or larger firing gun (The Enfield works), and carry only a bit of ammo for it. Priority 5 is to find a Crossbow and 5 bolts; yes, it's a lot of space, but you shouldn't be aggro'ing many zombies while looting.

Other notes on the new patch:
My approach to towns is slightly different now. Zombie hearing is a bit reduced, and crouch running isn't as blatantly obvious to them anymore. Crouch running by and between buildings is now my preferred method of movement. Moving across road surfaces still requires walking unless there are no zombies nearby. With a good head on your shoulders, you should only aggro 1 or 2 zombies at a time, in which case you duck into the nearest building and destroy them with your hatchet/crossbow (The Hatchet CAN hit them outside their attack range, for the record).

However, the zombie AI when it comes to buildings has become pretty wonky. They'll sprint up to your doorway, run in a circle in the doorway, then turn around and decide you're not in there any more. This would be handy if they didn't like to hang around near the door for a few seconds, but at least you don't have to get your hands dirty, you just need to wait.

The infection system seems less threatening now than it was before. Un-boiled water seems to have a very low chance of infection (but I boil mine anyway), and most people cook their meat anyway. And if you visit deer stands/military areas, even small ones, Antibiotics are everywhere. I only carry one AB with me at any time though.

PvP hasn't changed at all. The only thing you need to do now is unload only HALF of your mag, instead of the full mag, into someone, then run around into and out of buildings to lose your zombies, then peacefully loot your hard earned kill.

Too bad there's no indication whatsoever when downed choppers spawn. Oh well, that'll just mean the 50 cal snipers are exceedingly rare.

[SgtRazor]

I'm unsure on the new patch. I do think the release of it was a bit premature, considering the buggy nature of some of updates. In addition to a changelog, I wish the dev team would explain some of the key changes in a patch, especially on the changes to something as important as backpacks. Anyone figured it out yet? They did this for GUI Icon updates. But those are criticisms of the system, and not the patch itself.

Zombie spawning seems whacked. The night after the patch release I was looting Zelenogorsk, Pustoshka, and Vybor and counted 1 zombie in each town. The same night I counted around 15 zombies around the North Barracks alone. No dead player around which I suspected since that was such a large group. I've had some spawn within 10 meters of me on more than one occasion since patch release as well.

I think the aggro range for pistols now is a bit extreme. I could be exaggerating but what is the point of carrying a pistol now if it makes no difference to the ears of the incoming hoard if I fired a makarov or an m16? I get there are stealth options and ways to negate gun use in a town, but I just think the change was a bit too extreme. If the change is permanent, then I think there needs to be a dedicated button for a melee ax attack without having to go through the steps to equip an ax (which I don't think is possible, right?), which wastes precious time. If there is such a button already, please tell me!

I like the icon changes. It's much easier to keep up with, especially the temp icon. I like the infection changes. Getting sick before seemed to take effort to accomplish, now it comes off as a matter of chance or even fate. I like the meat updates, and the water updates to a degree. I think a tin can should be a tool belt item. I don't like that an empty soda can goes into my inventory after I drink a soda. I really don't think waste conservation is high on my list during a zombie outbreak. It'll be crushed and tossed. The tin can doesn't bother me as much because it actually has a use.

I do not like the chopper crash spawn system. Is there a timer in place to spawn a crash, or is it totally random? Can servers that restart multiple times a day (like ours) theoretically never see a chopper spawn? I don't think it should be random if it is. A 45 minute timer seems adequate enough.

Lastly, the Zombie chatter. It is another neat idea, but how exactly does it work? Do zombies that aggro trigger all other zombies in an 80 meter radius to aggro and it ends there or (as others have suggested) do those zombies trigger even more zombies and so on and so forth ad infinitum. From my experience it appears the be the latter, which is true enough to a Max Brooks-esque zombie but nothing DayZ is accustomed to.

The patch definitely brings a whole new thought process to the table. But the implementation and how well some changes were thought out is questionable to me.

[SmokenScion]

Do you still need to reload the Ax?

[SpecOpsScott]

Do you still need to reload the Ax?

Yes, i believe so. Didnt have to reload the crowbar, that was already loaded when i picked it up.

[SmokenScion]

Yes, i believe so. Didnt have to reload the crowbar, that was already loaded when i picked it up.

I've never been able to pick up the crowbar.

[Cojiro]

I've never been able to pick up the crowbar.

dont worry youre not missing out.

[SpecOpsScott]

dont worry youre not missing out.

I cant agree with this ENOUGH! The only reason it should be in the game is as a tool belt item needed to change tires 'cause its next to useless as weapon.

[Cojiro]

ever since i first used a crowbar ive decided that id rather go weaponless then to have one. i have never seen any use for it and if one exists then ill just happily carry on without accomplishing it.

[Ace22]

Has anyone been finding the crowbar takes 3-4 hits to take down a zombie? Or am I just missing?

There certainly has been alot of action on the coast with many of us getting taken down by zombies or just getting going. That's been refreshing for me as pvp for basic loot acquisition seems quite real and necessary.

The biggest change for me has been the lack of ammo available, forcing you to stockpile in case you do find a weapon that uses what you've got.

Agree it seems the frequency at which there will be large calibre sniper rifles will drop which also makes sense. So yes, weapon noise is leaning towards pvp usage but the encounters for me so far have been with mostly "crappy" guns.

Maybe this will change over time as we search out these bigger guns.

I think the fresh restart is the best thing that could have happened to the server as it's forced everyone to load up on the coast and reduced many of us to newb status while we doing it.