PR Class Change: Survivor & Zombie

This page is for the storage of Suggestions that have passed Peer Review and have been considered Good and Worthy Suggestions. To qualify for this page, the Suggestion must fit the following criteria:

1. The suggestion must have 2/3 majority Keep to Kill votes (1 Spam = 1 Kill).
2. The suggestion must have been able to be voted on for 2 weeks.

This is not the place to put new Suggestions.
The Suggestions Page is the queue for new Suggestions to be voted on and suggested.

Any Suggestions that have not been voted on will be removed from this page.

DO NOT PUT NEW SUGGESTIONS HERE

Notes for Editors

Those who are placing Suggestions on this page should do so under the following procedure:

1. Take the entire template and paste it into this section.
2. Remove the entire suggest_votes field.
3. Add the field suggest_notes=Todo..
4. Add the field suggest_moved=~~~~~.
5. replace "suggestion" with "psuggestions".

The new template will look like:

===Suggestion Name===
 {{psuggestion|
suggest_time=Old Timestamp|
suggest_type=Original type|
suggest_scope=Original scope|
suggest_description=Original description|
suggest_notes=#/# Keep/Total. [Optional additional - see below]|
suggest_moved=~~~~~
}}

• suggest_notes is to be used by responsible moderators only. Go through the votes and discussion for the particular suggestion and summarize any intelligent comments that could be used to potentially enhance the suggestion. No new comments are to be added, but original comments may be edited/paraphrased for content. New comments regarding a reviewed suggestion should go on this page's discussion page.

Class Change: Survivor & Zombie

General

Crowds Slow Movement

Timestamp:	07:55, 21 Dec 2005 (GMT)
Type:	Game Mechanics
Scope:	Universal Gameplay
Description:	This is a suggested re-write of "the Many" suggestion posted above. For every zombie beyond ten in a square, there is an additional 2% chance that it will take 2 AP to pass through the square. So, if I'm in a square with 25 zombies, and I try to leave, there's a 30% chance that it'll cost me 2 AP. In most cases this is a minor nuisance, but if a survivor doesn't plan well, this extra AP could mean the difference between getting to shelter or falling asleep outside. Clarification - This rule applies only to survivors. A survivor moving through a sea of zombies must tread carefully and try not to get too close, lest they get pulled down and eaten. A zombie moving through a sea of survivors doesn't care how close he gets to them. In fact, zombies want to get close so they can eat your brains. --Jstoller 19:41, 24 Dec 2005 (GMT) Clarification - This rule only goes into effect when you pass through a square. You can always enter a square without any penalty, but if you try to leave it, there's a chance it might cost you some extra AP. Likewise, you can go in and out of a building without any penalty. The assumption being that when you step outside, you're staying close to the door, and it's not until you try to walk to the next block that you have to pass through the hoard. If Kevan thinks it's appropriate, I could see this penalty also applying to someone trying to leave a building with a hoard of zombies inside it, but again, it's only when you leave the affected area that you need to worry. --Jstoller 21:26, 26 Dec 2005 (GMT) Optional - Some people seem to want this to have an even bigger impact. As written, once there are 60 zombies in a square it will automatically take 2 AP to leave that square. If Kevan wishes to extend this rule, then I recommend the following: Fore every zombie beyond 60 in a square, there is a cumulative 1% chance that it will take 3 AP to pass through that square. Thus, at 160 zombies it will automatically take 3 AP. This could potentially go on forever, but I personally would cap it at 3 AP (and really capping it at 2 AP would be fine). Any more and it could unbalance the game. --Jstoller 21:26, 26 Dec 2005 (GMT)
Notes:	17/21 Keep/Total. Generaly well accepted by all. Point of clarification, this would only affect Survivors movement costs and not Zombies when moving away from the square. Was "Difficult Passage".
Left Queue:	05:38, 7 May 2006 (BST)

---

Double All HP et al

Timestamp:	19:28, 12 May 2006 (BST)
Type:	Minor Change
Scope:	Everyone
Description:	I suggest that all the statisitc numbers for health and damge be doubled. All this means is that base HP would be 100. HP with body building would be 120. Pistol damage would be 10. Infection damage would be 2. FAK healing would be 10 without first aid and 20 without. You get the idea. By itself, this suggestion would not affect gameplay or balance whatsoever, since everything would equal out to the same fractions.This may seem pointless, but it's not. The point of this is to make furture suggestions more flexable. Perhaps, for example, someone wanted to suggest and infection that is more powerful, but doubling it's power is to much. Well, with this change in place, the infection could be made to deal 3 damage (formerly 1.5, which would be impossible). I think, maybe a plausable knife upgrade might be made possible with this suggestion too. It could be made to deal five damage, which would currently be 2.5. There are any number of ways this suggestions might be useful in the future, if it's carried out, even though it effectively does nothing right now. Note: for clairification, things like AP and EXP would not be affected.
Notes:	22/32 Keep/Total. Well accepted as is. Some voters didn't see the point of this suggestion. It was suggested by some voters to double the cost of skills and the current amount of XP players have. However the suggestor purposed that you get half XP from combat leaving the XP gain at the normal rate. Was "Double Stats".
Left Queue:	02:22, 29 June 2006 (BST)

---

Impossible Actions Use 0 AP

Timestamp:	09:24, 18 July 2006 (BST)
Type:	Mechanic upgrade
Scope:	Zombies & Survivors
Description:	Thanks to Pyre for this idea. Basically, this suggestion would make it a general game rule that when you perform an impossible action you spend 0 AP and an in-game message reminds you (perhaps in a light-hearted or humorous manner) that the action is not possible. This would cover actions such as attempting to barricade when the building is ransacked, attempting to use a FAK on a barricade or generator, attempting to leave when the building is overbarricaded (already included, I believe), using a bite attack on a barricade, etc. Here are example messages for the above-mentioned actions: You can't find anything to barricade with, as the building is currently a total mess. In fact, this place could use some cleaning up... You take the generator's blood pressure and are about to apply gauze to it when you suddenly realize how silly you look. Try healing a fellow survivor instead! There are so many barricades you can't see a way out. You valiantly attempt to punch through a wall, to no effect. Try exiting in an area with fewer barricades! Your zombie attempts to take a bite out of the barricade. Mmmm, splinters! The barricades don't look any weaker, though. Perhaps you should try clawing them down! Note that this would not cover actions that are possible but have no effect such as attempting to revive a Brain Rot zombie, or heal a full-health player. You would still spend AP in these situations (you should receive a similar warning message).
Notes:	21/23 Keep/Total. Well accepted as is. Was "Impossible Actions Use 0 AP & Prompt Humorous, Helping Messages".
Left Queue:	11:10, 6 August 2006 (BST)

---

Innate Class Abilities

Timestamp:	12:21, 2 Dec 2005 (GMT)
Type:	Improvement
Scope:	All Players
Description:	In the current game, as characters grow in level they tend to become more and more similar as they snap up all the available skills. The goal of this suggestion is to differentiate the classes by providing some relatively small bonuses that would nonetheless leave them more well suited for the particular tasks that their class is focused on. This would make class selection a weightier task, as your class ability will have some impact in the late game as well as early on. I specifically do NOT want to start giving damage bonuses or, even worse, bonus XP. This would almost certainly lead to serious unbalance in the game's structure. Instead, I have elected to give each class a very small chance of getting "bonus" AP for performing tasks that are suited to their class role. I have tried to balance these abilities with each other, rather than attempt to correct imbalances in the game's current class system. This would allow the abilities to be stuck in as-is, with the assumption that rebalancing will take place within the already-existing game structure. I believe that all of these abilities would be exceedingly easy to implement, probably no more than a line of code or two per class (just a quick random number check when certain tasks are performed). Military Private: Valor. A trained soldier knows how to press the advantage when he has it, and make use of every opportunity. Years of combat experience impart a fierceness that awes enemies. Privates have an 8% chance to keep their AP each time they hit an enemy with a ranged weapon. (With maxed-out weapon skills, this would average to 2.6 extra AP per day if all fifty AP were spent firing a weapon. This would be very difficult to do. Realistically, if you spent 34 AP in combat, firing five pistol clips and reloading between each one, this would amount to 1.56 extra AP.) Scout: Speed. Reconnaissance is one of the most dangerous, and most important, wartime activities. The ability to move quickly, quietly, and efficiently is essential. Scouts have an 8% chance to avoid spending an AP each time they move to another location. (If you spend all fifty AP running, this gets you an average of 4 extra AP per day.) Medic: Triage. A combat medic must quickly learn how to prioritize patients. The realities of the battlefield require a focus on healing as many soldiers as possible, sometimes at the expense of the seriously wounded. Medics have a 5% chance of not losing an AP each time they heal an ally who has 35 or more HP. Scientist Lab Assistant: Methodology. Science is a difficult process, requiring tremendous focus and the ability to meet exacting standards. A true scientist views unexpected results not as failures, but as opportunities for learning. Lab Assistants have an 8% chance to avoid losing an AP when they fail to revive or extract DNA from a zombie. Doctor: Dedication. Becoming a physician is no easy task - it requires nearly a decade of schooling, and only those with the most profound focus reach their goal. A deep sense of compassion is present in virtually all of those who have made healing their life's work. Doctors have an 8% chance of not losing an AP when they heal an ally with 35 or fewer HP. Civilian Cop: Discipline. Life on the beat is one long string of deadly situations. Officers can live or die based on their ability to keep a cool head when the odds are stacked against them. Cops have an 8% chance to avoid spending an AP each time they miss an enemy with a ranged weapon. (Similar to the Private's ability, this would result in an average 0.96 extra AP for a 34-round combat with maxed skills. Compared to Valor, this ability is somewhat stronger in the early game, and somewhat weaker in the late game.) Firefighter: Heroism. Firefighters gain a 5% chance to keep their AP when performing a melee attack when 20 or more zombies are present. (This would come out to 2 extra AP for 40 turns of combat. I'm not terribly confident in this skill, as the firefighter's role is very ill-defined. This is the best I could come up with. Feel free to suggest something else.) Consumer: Keen Eye. In modern western civilization, there is no ideal more deeply ingrained than capitalism. The consumer is a true believer, who has spent his life keeping a watchful eye out for exciting bargains. Consumers recieve a 2% chance to not lose an AP when searching. (1 extra AP for a full day of searching.) Zombie Corpse: Instinct. The lurching hordes of Malton act not on intellect, or even emotion, but pure impulse. This mindlessness can occasionally be an advantage - the undead attack fiercely, with neither thought nor hesitation. Corpses gain a 2% chance to keep their AP when attacking. (1 extra AP for a full day of combat.) Please do note that the numbers I have suggested are not set in stone. They can of course be tweaked to improve balance. Suggestions are quite welcome all around.
Notes:	35/36 Keep/Total. Removes the homogenity characters get later on. Scout should be changed to 2% like the Consumer and Zombie classes; walking around isn't a skill that needs extra searching times like the rest of the 8% ones. The scout's ability is more likely to trigger because his is the only one that covers an activity which cannot get you either XP or items. Definite number tweaking required. Could these percentages possibly improve as a character leveled up? Give starting zombies a slightly better advantage than the others - make more people want to start as zombies and CONTINUE PLAYING as zombies. Raise the Zombie one to 3% or 4% since they can only attack to gain XP and nothing else. However, they're all good but the Firefighter one. Firefighters should get that same bonus, only with the axe with any number of zombies. Might seem unbalencing, but remember that fire axes only have a max of 40% accuracy and only do 3 damage, which allows for one kill a day at best. However, whatever you do with it, making each one different like this is something the game begs for! However, before finishing my comment, one thing.. How about adding a little more flavor to the zombie class innate skill? I know only one zombie class exists, but they need something to give them something to make them more unique. So perhaps two or three innate skills and they can only choose one? Keep Private regains AP on hit, Cop regains on miss. Well when the ranged ability goes over 50%, which it eventually will, then the cop is by its very nature underpowered compared to private. Sure it's not a big deal, which is why I'm not voting Kill, but it's still worth noting. It's almost a bad thing to raise your accuracy in that case. (of course it's so small it's barely noticeable either way) Oh, and failing to scan and revive... well, revive, happens so rarely. Usually a scientist can keep track of who has brain rot and who doesn't. ** Note the early- and late-game disparity between the Cop and Private skills in the text of the submission. The two classes are almost identical already, making them a bit different in this way could only be a good thing. The gameplay differences are fairly interesting as well - for example, a Cop who pumps his pistol skill but neglects his shotgun might still find it worthwhile to fire off all those shells he collects while searching PDs. The only problem with this suggestion is that the numbers low to avoid being chewed out for unbalancing - these added bonuses matter pretty much not at all. Did not want to have a huge impact on the gameplay - my goal was to gently encourage players to act as someone of their class likely would, while still ultimately allowing them to viably pursue whatever path they like. Problem 1 - it breaks the retroactive penalty rule. Even though its a bonus, its a bonus that varies by which choice you made at the beginning of the game when there was no hint these bonuses would ever even exist and thus they weren't a factor in your choice. Players are guaranteed to complain that they were forced to get one they didn't want instead of the one they did, and I don't blame them. Problem 2 - It is unbalanced. Some of those skills are much, much, much more useful than others. For instance, a maxed gun user will hit more often than he misses, so private is objectively better than cop in addition to still leveling faster, and guns always beat axes for high levels so even if the gun bonuses required a horde and the fire axe didn't the firemen would still be screwed. Then you've got the scout's bonus, which is only going to make a difference in a few rare instances, and the necrotech one, which only kicks in when they're screwing up and makes even less difference than the scout one, and the consumer one which is the only one that is useful for every role available. These are terribly unbalanced, and even if they weren't they are also going to turn decisions made months ago into new benefits or lack there of that didn't even exist when the decision was made. Firefighter: Heroism.--How about every time there are 20 or more non-military players present. The heroism when there are 20 or more zombies is worthless because even with a slight AP boost, a firefighter can only take out one zombie, leaving the other 19 to kill or infect him as soon as he is done. He will have to run away, which is cowardice. If the bonus is given when there are non-military players present then the extra AP will not only be helpful, but encourage the player to stay in character and assist the people being attacked. If not non-military types, it is possible to make the AP bonus for when there are survivors below a certain level, say 5. This has the same implications and makes up for the skills higher players get allowing them to ward off an attack themselves. A fireman is a servant of the public and I believe that this will encourage more firemen to help those trapped by an incoming zombie attack.
Left Queue:	20:14, 17 Dec 2005 (GMT)

• I agree that the Cop special ability is unbalanced, so I propose the following change. In addition to the 8% chance to not lose AP per miss, also to give the Cop an extra 1% chance to hit. This would reflect the different nature between Privates and Cops, Privates being far more likely to be newly recruited, and therefore even though they have Valor, reflecting better morale and training, the Cop will probably have served far longer than the Private has, giving the Cop more field experience.
• The Firefighter's bonus should apply whenever there are five or less non-military players present, instead of 20, which would give lone players, especially those starting out, a far better chance of their skill actually kicking in.
• I've thought up three different possibilities for the Corpse class, but since I'm not a zombie player, feel free to change these suggestions: Fat Corpse, with Large Weight, which would give the zombie an 8% chance of spending an extra AP to move somewhere, i.e. 3 instead of 2 without Lurching Gait, but also 55 HP from the start and 8% chance to deal an extra point of damage when using the claw attack. Fit Corpse, with Lean Body, which would be almost the exact opposite of Large Weight, giving the zombie an 8% chance of spending one less AP to move somewhere (yes, with Lurching Gait it would be identical to the proposed 'Speed' ability of the Scout), 45 HP, and extra 8% to HIT, reflecting their nimbleness, with the claw attack. Finally, the generic Corpse which would be basically the normal Corpse right now, with no stat buffs, but also no stat decreases. Feel free to change the numbers for anything...too much math bad for brain...

---

Separate Zombie/Survivor Levels

Timestamp:	18:33, 15 Nov 2005 (GMT)
Type:	Balance Change
Scope:	Zombies and Survivors
Description:	Survivor Level does not add to Zombie Level and vice-versa for determining the level number used for XP damage from Headshots and qualifying for Zombie Hunter Skills. Survivors who have no Zombie Skills and are killed will be treated as a Level 1 Zombie, and Zombies who are revived and have no Survivor Skills will be treated as a Level 1 Survivor. This will (1) Help Zombies by allowing high level Survivors who become Zombies to level easier as Zombies, and will (2) Hinder Zombies by keeping Zombies who become Survivors from easily getting Headshot and other future Zombie Hunter skills. Note - I am not sure how certain cross-race skills that still work, such as Survivor Skills Diagnosis and Body Building, should be treated. I would say for the sake of argument that certain skills do count towards Zombie level (though Diagnosis really shouldn't work when I'm a Zombie), but until my Zombie Character can use First Aid, axes, and guns, those skills should not count towards determining his level. Background - this stems from a recent experience; my level 8 and level 13 Survivors were both killed. I really wanted to play as a zombie, so I had no problem with this, but they were rendered completely useless as they could not gain levels due to the Headshots. This would have been a minor drawback if they were treated as the true level 1 Zombies that they were, but Headshot qualified them as Levels 8 and 13. I guess that the overall character level is supposed to reflect my experience with the game (as a player), but honestly, I'm discouraged from ever letting my guys (who are now revived) become zombies again. Could have been fun, but I could not accumulate enough XP to get even one level. Cue violins.
Notes:	16/16 Keep/Total : 100%. Recommend hiding unused skills in a profile -- check a survivor's profile, you can't see what zombie skills he has, and vice versa. Note' that levels are already separate for the purpose of buying Headshot. Headshot should only count human skills. I should, perhaps, point out that this change was recommended back when Headshot removed XP, and that was the entire purpose of this suggestion--allowing freshly survivors-turned-zombies to have a chance to level up. Bentley Foss 17:19, 22 Dec 2005 (GMT)
Left Queue:	16:05, 30 Nov 2005 (GMT)

---

Starting Equipment

Timestamp:	11:23, 22 October 2006 (BST)
Type:	Balance change
Scope:	Starting Characters
Description:	The equipment and skills given out to starting characters are not balanced. A cop gets a loaded pistol and two clips, equipment that has a direct synergy with their starting skill (Basic Firearms Training). They're immediately set to gain XP. Compare that to the lowly consumer - with Shopping (a skill they can only use in Malls - which are EHB most of the time) and the unrelated Mobile Phone (a comms device over-shadowed now by the radio), they're going to struggle in the early game. The medic looks good, with a loaded pistol, a spare clip, a FAK and First Aid, but the First Aid skill is actually an impedement to them gaining XP, as it heals the wounded too quickly. All round great flavour, but terrible balance. It's not as simple, of course, as "everyone should start out with the same amount of items", so an investigation was carried out and applied the following (simple) points system to a starting character's skill and items: Item Points System: Temporary item: 1 Permanent item: 2 Skill Points System synergy with item: +1 XP impedement: -1 XP incentive: +1 It's Free Running: +2 Here's what that looks like under the current system: class skill item1 item2 item3 item4 item5 Index Cop Basic Firearms Training Pistol [6 bullets] Flak Jacket ~ ~ 7 Points: 2 2 1 2 ~ ~ Firefighter Axe Proficiency Fire Axe ~ ~ ~ ~ 4 Points: 2 2 ~ ~ ~ ~ Consumer Shopping Mobile Phone ~ ~ ~ ~ 2 Points: 0 2 ~ ~ ~ ~ Private Basic Firearms Training Pistol [6 bullets] Pistol Clip Pistol Clip ~ 7 Points: 2 2 1 1 1 ~ Medic First Aid FAK Pistol [6 bullets] Pistol Clip ~ 5 Points: 0 1 2 1 1 ~ Scout Free Running Flare Gun ~ ~ ~ ~ 3 Points: 2 1 ~ ~ ~ ~ Doctor First Aid FAK FAK ~ ~ ~ 2 Points: 0 1 1 ~ ~ ~ NecroTech Assistant NecroTech Employment DNA Extractor ~ ~ ~ ~ 4 Points: 2 2 ~ ~ ~ ~ Corpse Vigour Mortis [claws] [teeth] ~ ~ ~ 6 Points: 2 2 2 ~ ~ ~ The following table shows the changes to the system that are being requested by this suggestion. Changes are shown in blue, but three other suggestions (Doctor change, Binoculars for New Scouts & Fire Fighters Start With Radio) have been referenced, and the changes from those are shown in red: class skill item1 item2 item3 item4 item5 Index Cop Basic Firearms Training Pistol [6 bullets] Flak Jacket ~ ~ 7 Points: 2 2 1 2 ~ ~ Firefighter Axe Proficiency Fire Axe Radio Flare Gun ~ ~ 7 Points: 2 2 2 1 ~ ~ Consumer Shopping Mobile Phone Crowbar Fuel Can Spray Can ~ 7 Points: 1 2 2 1 1 ~ Private Basic Firearms Training Pistol [6 bullets] Pistol Clip Pistol Clip ~ 7 Points: 2 2 1 1 1 ~ Medic First Aid FAK Pistol [6 bullets] Pistol Clip Knife 7 Points: 0 1 2 1 1 2 Scout Free Running Flare Gun Binoculars Knife ~ ~ 7 Points: 2 1 2 2 ~ ~ Doctor Diagnosis FAK FAK Knife [random] book or wine ~ 7 Points: 2 1 1 2 [1] ~ NecroTech Assistant NecroTech Employment DNA Extractor NT Syringe GPS FAK ~ 7 Points: 2 2 1 1 1 ~ Corpse Vigour Mortis [claws] [teeth] [random] bat or pipe ~ ~ 7 Points: 2 2 2 1 ~ ~ Justification: Overall: An attempt to provide every starting character with a way to gain XP, and to make each choice seem like a fair one to a starting player. Cop & Private: no change - they're good as is. Fire Fighter - the addition of a flare gun for flavour, the radio replaces the wirecutters (useless) as per the referenced suggestion. Consumer - the addition of the crowbar gives the consumer some chance to get into a Mall and use their Shopping skill. Other one-shot flavour items indicate that the consumer is a natural scavenger - the fuel can lets them do something useful, and the spray can gives them a way of gaining a small amount of XP even if they are stuck outside. It's still quite a crap starting class - this is just trying to show them some love. Medic - the knife (medical-stylee) provides the medic with a way of gaining XP, and adds to the sense of this character being a Jack-of-all-trades-but-master-of-none with their shooty/healy/stabby equipment. Scout - binoculars as per the Peer Reviewed suggestion and the addition of a knife to provide a way of gaining XP. Doctor - Diagnosis as per the Peer Reviewed suggestion, a medical-stylee knife (bone-saw!) from the operating theatre and a random flavour item for fun - this doctor was either studying or on their way to a dinner party. NT assistant - the syringe gives them an incentive to work towards the science skills, the GPS is a nice bit of science-flavour and the FAK to protect them from infection. Corpse - by giving the corpse a bat or a pipe, if they get combat-revived, they at least have something to hit with. Even though it's a permanent item, it's not really much use to a zombie, so it's been given only 1 point. Credits: Original Concept: Andrew McM Contributers: Catriona McM, Funt Solo, Gene Splicer.
Notes:	27/30. Strong suggestion amongst many voters (and the only reason for the 3 kill votes) that consumers should not start the game with a spray can - fear of a zerg graffiti army. Otherwise, well accepted as is. Was "Starting Equipment 1.1".
Left Queue:	16:18, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

---

Technical Gameplay Improvements

Timestamp:	Valore 07:24, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
Type:	Technical Gameplay Improvements
Scope:	Kevan and all players
Description:	Alright, to be unusual, Ive actually thought of a few suggestions especially for Kevan, which are intended to make his life easier, in a two ways: 1. Raise donations 2. Reduce server strain Firstly, Kevan has always stated he will perhaps add some benefits in the future for those who donate. I doubt that it will be possible to add any gameplay changes, as that would unfairly be forcing people to donate to keep up. However, perhaps some perks which do not influence gameplay would be possible, such as: An increased 1000 character limit on each of their profile pages A certain amount of SEPERATE Free AP each day, which could ONLY be used for using cell phones. Originally, this would have been used for talking and radio as well, but several voters commented on the already significant spam problem, hence these were removed. A customized item perhaps, based on the stats of an already existing item. For example, I could see the C4NT wanting their fire axes renamed tridents for logical reasons, or the MPD renaming their pistols tasers, whatever. Well, lets hear it. Any support for making Kevans life easier without making those who dont donate feel compelled to?
Notes:	18/22 Keep/Total. Was "Resubmitted Changes for Kevan"
Left Queue:	13:38, 26 March 2007 (BST)

---

Speech

Call after

Timestamp:	22:09, 2 August 2006 (BST)
Type:	Talking improvement
Scope:	Survivors
Description:	Whenever you try and speak to someone who is online in game, there is a chance that they will move before you can speak. When they have moved you just talk to yourself. eg: You say to Bob: "Hi Bob, if you move again, you will die", however Bob is online and decides to move one block west from you, so your message is "you say 'Hi Bob....etc' to yourself. I propose that if you are outside with a single survivor and that survivor moves as you speak to them, you shout to them. The receiver will receive a message saying "As you move Jim calls after you and says '<insert text here>'. The sender will receive a message saying "As Bob walks away you shout '<insert text here>' after him" Note: This only works if you are outside and there is only one other survivor on the same block as you.
Notes:	21/24 Keep/Total. Well accepted as is.
Left Queue:	07:49, 24 August 2006 (BST)

---

Emotes

Timestamp:	01:51, 18 February 2006 (GMT)
Type:	Feature
Scope:	Survivors and zombies (in different ways)
Description:	Ah, the emote. It keeps getting suggested; it keeps getting shot down. Here is my suggestion for an emote feature that addresses the most common problems. For those who don't know, an "emote" is typing "/me does something" in the Speak field and having "/me" translated into your character name. Hence "/me waves" typed by "John" would become "John waves" when seen by others. One of the major problems is that emotes make it easy to fake game messages. John could type "/me attacks you for 3 damage" and suddenly everyone in the room thinks they just lost 3hp to John. Hilarious! Or not so much. Another problem is how to apply the feature to zeds. Since an emote is not technically speech, but a narrative description, it doesn't make a lot of sense to run zombie emotes through Death Rattle. However, giving zeds a plain text emote feature would provide an easy loophole for using human speech all the time. So, I suggest a two-pronged approach. For survivors, we change the tense. For zombies, we provide a few standard emotes. A survivor emote should work a bit differently from the traditional emotes seen in internet chats. Instead of typing "/me waves" to get "John waves," I suggest typing /me wave to emote You see John wave to other players. (Your own message would be, simply, "You wave.") This makes it impossible to mimic real game messages. Under this system, if you type "/me attack you for 3 damage," the game will output "You see John attack you for 3 damage." As this is quite different from a real attack message, and just sounds odd, it should be pretty immediately obvious that no real attack occurred. However, it does make all the genuine emote uses possible: You see Sgt Boots toast you with a glass of wine. You see JaneGirl shake her head vigorously. Players will mostly just need to remember to leave the "s" off their verbs when they type emotes. While this is different from IRC emotes, IRC emotes are not exactly the paragon of grammatical virtue either. Now, for zombies. Zombies should simply be afforded a pull-down of four or five standard emotes, much as zeds without Death Rattle must choose from common zed phrases. When any of these are selected and emoted, other players will see things like You see a zombie take a step toward you. Here are my suggestions for zombie emotes: glare menacingly in your direction take a step toward you back away cautiously gesture angrily, while uttering strange sounds attempt to breakdance
Notes:	34/35 Keep/Total. Was "Ultimate Emote Deluxe".
Left Queue:	18:08, 5 March 2006 (GMT)

---

Mark Fifty Person Cutoff Point

Timestamp:	Jon Pyre 05:08, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
Type:	Improvement
Scope:	Survivors/Zombies
Description:	Talking and Death Rattle can only be heard by up 50 people in one place. However it can be hard to tell who will get the message and who won't unless you manually count the names in the room description. I suggest adding a little marker between the name of the last person who will hear a message and the first person who won't so you can easily tell which characters are out of speaking range. The marker could be a simple line, a red dot, an arrow pointing towards those who can hear you, or maybe a little message in parathensis: "(50 people)".
Notes:	21/21 Keep/Total. You-nano-mouse. Was "Mark Fifty Person Limit Speech Cutoff Point".
Left Queue:	20:03, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

---

Select Which Fifty

Timestamp:	02:08, 30 Jan 2006 (GMT)
Type:	Improvement
Scope:	Survivors
Description:	Right now a survivor has no way of talking to anyone but the first fifty people in a crowded building. This can be a problem if there is a person or people you specifically want to reach beyond the 50, or if you have information everyone in the building needs to know. Originally survivors could talk to everyone in a building, this was changed to the first fifty system in order to cut down on server load. Here's an idea that would preserve the server and help this problem with communications: Next to the dialogue box for speech have a drop down button. It'd have these selections: "First Fifty", "Second Fifty", "Third Fifty", etc, going up until however many are needed. You'd be able to speak to different groups of fifty with each selection. If there was a number not divisible by 50, like 239, the last fifty would just contact everyone at the end (in this case "Fifth Fifty" would reach 39 people). It would not increase server load because there's no difference between talking in 5 buildings full of 50 people and talking 5 times in one building to reach 5 groups of 50 people. It'd cost the same AP to talk and be no more difficult for the server to handle.
Notes:	11/12 Keep/Total. Well accepted as it is as it combats the talking to 50 people problem.
Left Queue:	10:32, 29 May 2006 (BST)

---

Talk to Nobody

Timestamp:	21:18, 24 June 2006 (BST)
Type:	minor change
Scope:	everyone
Description:	the other day I PKed someone, but dumped their body before taunting them unmercifully. "No problem" I thought "I will just step outside and taunt their rotten corpse there." Apparently not. I went outside and to my disgust discovered that the "speak" button dissapears when there are no "standing" characters in the block. Since death is temporary in this game, I think we should be able to talk to a pile of dead bodies, if only just to taunt them. Note - this would include making dead bodies able to hear, if they can't already.
Notes:	19/23 Keep/Total. Well accepted as is.
Left Queue:	07:40, 8 July 2006 (BST)

---

Two Free Speeches Per Day

Timestamp:	04:19, 29 Nov 2005 (GMT)
Type:	improvement
Scope:	All players
Description:	Everybody gets to make 2 free speeches a day. If they want to speak more than two times in a 24-hour period, it will start costing them 1 AP for each extra speech. Currently, well-established veteran players (who are already leveled up to the max) can easily spare the 1 AP for each speech, but the newbie players are the ones who need to make use of speech the most to communicate with others and learn about the game, yet they need to scrounge up every AP they have to gain experience which puts them at a speech disadvantage. This will also encourage communication between all players while forcing any chance of spamming to be extremely negligible.
Notes:	14/18 Keep/Total 5 would be a better number - to encourage people and zombies to communicate. DISSENT: Taking away the AP requirement would provide a boon to survivors who will then be able to organize and coordinate their movements far more easily, without any cost to themselves. Zombies on the other hand are already hampered by the inability to speak and coordinate, and will now face the potential of better coordinated survivors who have more APs freed up to search for weapons to kill them with and to use said weapons. COUNTERPOINT: Those legions of zombies around Caiger Mall were all drawn there by accident or player instinct, then. We're playing zombies, the inability to speak should come with the territory. However, human beings talk and communicate, that's what people do. Allowing players to speak briefly without cost is more than fair. No unlimited diatribes, simply the fact that now a survivor can stumble into a building and give a warning without worrying about reserving an AP for it. For lower level players, the silence in most survivor buildings is deafening. ALTERNATIVE: The idea of limited free speech acts per day is unquestionably good. However, perhaps there should be a sliding scale, new players can speak more freely to find out what is going on and how to play, while veterans will need to keep thier speech more conscise and to the point. Free speech also adds alot of flavour to the game, survivors most certainly would be talking to each other. This suggestion is mainly for public communication between players who don't know each other. Two sets of speeches per day is not much, and it is mainly to encourage interaction between players in the game. Since players really get 48 AP's a day and not 50 (there are 24 hours in a day) the extra two should be for free speech to make it 50. Was "Limited Free Speech".
Left Queue:	16:55, 14 Dec 2005 (GMT)

---

User Toggle Nearest Fifty

Timestamp:	23:30, 5 Jan 2006 (GMT)
Type:	Improvement
Scope:	All
Description:	Instead of having the speech affect only the fifty most recently active members, I suggest that showing all of the speech is an option. People can select to turn it on or off by going to their "edit profile" page. If it was "off", then the speech would be shown as it is now. If it was "on", then it would go back to showing all speech, no matter the level of activity of a person. Some members aren't very active, so they might miss an important message. Some people might want to message a person, but will be unable to. This would solve that problem. I rather liked having many people talking-- gave the game more life. DEFAULT SETTING WOULD BE "OFF"!!!
Notes:	14/19 Concern over server load support conditional on default setting being off Was "Change of "Fifty People Nearest to You" Speech Idea".
Left Queue:	10:18, 19 April 2006 (BST)

---

Yell: Heard Outside Building

Timestamp:	03:54, 1 Dec 2005 (GMT)
Type:	Game Mechanics / User Interface
Scope:	Universal Gameplay
Description:	Next to the Speak button, include a Yell button. If you are inside a building and you yell, then anyone outside the building, on the same block, can hear you. They won't know who's yelling, but they'll understand what you're saying. (i.e. - Someone inside the factory yells "Who's out there?") If you are outside and you yell, then anyone inside a building on the same block as you, or outside within one block of you, can hear you clearly. People outside within two blocks, or inside a building one block away, would hear someone yelling, but would not understand what you're saying. (i.e. - There is screaming to the south-west.) This allows limited communication at a short distance, but it also tips off every zombie within two blocks to your presence. You can yell for help, but that might not be what arrives. Likewise, zombies can yell, or at least grunt loudly, to scare people in a barricaded building (i.e. - You hear loud grunting outside.), or to call their friends over for a feeding frenzy.
Notes:	21/24 Keep/Total. Similar to bullhorn but does not require an item and does not have as much range. In a war torn ravaged city, you'd expect to hear yelling all over the place, not everyone speaking in hushed tones. Combined with the Bullhorn and Flare, you'd use Speaking for communication with your immidiate surroundings, Yelling for slightly futher a field (be very useful for yelling into buildings survivors can't enter), the Bullhorn item for wider announcements and the Flare for the most widespread, but least descriptive communication. Was "Yell".
Left Queue:	15:20, 16 Dec 2005 (GMT)

---