Developing Suggestions

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Developing Suggestions

This section is for general discussion of suggestions for the game Urban Dead.

It also includes the capacity to pitch suggestions for conversation and feedback.

Further Discussion

• Discussion concerning this page takes place here.
• Discussion concerning the suggestions system in general, including policies about it, takes place here.

Resources

• The Frequently Suggested List
• Suggestions Dos and Do Nots

How To Make a Discussion

Adding a New Discussion

To add a general discussion topic, please add a Tier 3 Header (===Example===) below, with your idea or proposal.

Adding a New Suggestion

• To add a new suggestion proposal, copy the code in the box below.
• Click here to begin editing. This is the same as clicking the [edit] link to the right of the Suggestions header.

• Paste the copied text above the other suggestions, right under the heading.
• Substitute the text in RED CAPITALS with the details of your suggestion.
• The process is illustrated in this image.

{{subst:DevelopingSuggestion
|time=~~~~
|name=SUGGESTION NAME
|type=TYPE HERE
|scope=SCOPE HERE
|description=DESCRIPTION HERE
}}

• Name - Give the suggestion a short but descriptive name.
• Type is the nature of the suggestion, such as a new class, skill change, balance change.
• Scope is who or what the suggestion affects. Typically survivors or zombies (or both), but occasionally Malton, the game interface or something else.
• Description should be a full explanation of your suggestion. Include information like flavor text, search odds, hit percentages, etc, as appropriate. Unless you are as yet unsure of the exact details behind the suggestion, try not to leave out anything important. Check your spelling and grammar.

Cycling Suggestions

• Suggestions with no new discussion in the past month may be cycled without notice.

Please add new discussions and suggestions to the top of the list

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Suggestions

Gun noise

Timestamp: ~m T! 02:51, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Type: game mechanic

Scope: firearms fired in streets

Description: I think this has been discussed before in the old days, but what's the opinion on firearms being heard from nearby blocks, at least when fired from the street?

Discussion (Gun noise)

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For one, I'm a supporter of the idea. Specially nowadays, since the server is a lot emptier than it used to be and there are many ghost towns around, I like ideas that draw players to action (like this, if it could be hear by zombies too) ~m ^T! 02:54, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

XP for Feeding

Timestamp:  Swiers 22:25, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Type: Buff to feeding

Scope: Zombies

Description: Instead of just zombies who have Digestion, ALL zombies would be able to feed on dead bodies. In addition to the 4 HP gain for those with digestion, feeding on a fresh body ALWAYS gains you 1 XP.

Discussion (XP for Feeding)

Bodies are a babah zambahz' book. Looking at that as precedence, I like it. -- Spiderzed▋ 22:28, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Grand to me. 00:09, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Count me in. ~m ^T! 02:40, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

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Shout

Timestamp: ~ 17:29, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Type: Survivor Skill

Scope: Survivors

Description: Shout is the survivor equivalent to the Zombie skill Feeding Groan. When a building's barricade level reaches Lightly or below, survivors are able to shout into the streets, beckoning survivors up to 4 blocks in any direction to aid with building defense. Skill Tree and Cost: Shout is a subset of the Civilian skill Construction and costs 100XP for all survivors. Flavor: To those shouting: You have no reason to shout. (There there is no immediate threat to this building.) (Barricades above Lightly Barricaded) You shout in astonishment. (Lightly Barricaded) - 2 block radius You shout loudly into the streets. (Loosely Barricaded) - 3 block radius You shout alarmingly into the streets. (Doors secured or wide open) - 4 block radius Shouting as heard by others: You heard a loud commotion from inside the building. (If the shout comes from your current location) You heard loud shouting X blocks to the <direction>.

Discussion (Shout)

Another variation of Shout would be more similar to feeding groan and is available only when faced with a horde of zombies. I looked through suggestion portal and didn't find this one but pardon if it is a dupe. I think this would help with some of the survivor disorganization issues. It's a non-meta way of getting specific information to other survivors and unlike firing flares, shout leaves no guessing as to what's going on in the surrounding area. Flares can be used in ANY situation and does not deliver specific (or even valuable IMO) information ~ 17:29, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Won't the zombie hear this as well? --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 17:31, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

I had thought about that and it makes sense that a zombie would here and audible cue like shouting. However, a human would likewise be able to hear zombie groans. In-game they cannot. I think to keep it consistent with feeding groan, it should be audible only to survivors or possibly to survivors and zombies at that location. I suppose one could argue that zombies are driven by feeding instincts and the scent of death and their auditory senses are limited only to Death Rattle. ~ 18:13, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Survivors CAN hear feeding groans- if they are outside when the noise is being made. Nobody (survivor or zombie) can hear any feeding groans if they are inside. Also, zombies can understand human speech just fine, so it also not true that "their auditory senses are limited only to Death Rattle."  Swiers 22:18, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I think it's fine like this. Shouting in the face of a horde of enemies is for orcs, not humans. Yelling like a girl because the 'cades are down, that's more like it. ~m ^T! 21:32, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

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Fireman's Carry

Timestamp: Wayson 00:09, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Type: Survivor Skill

Scope: Move people outside of buildings inside them

Description: Currently, zombies can drag people out of buildings into the street, where babah zambahz can chow down on fresh bra!nz. That's excellent, but as a survivor it always sometimes sucks to see one of your mates dragged out as an appetizer. At present, all you can do is slap a FAK on him and hope that he logs in before it's too late. But in a real zombie apocalypse, would you be content with putting a bandage on your friend and then leaving him in the middle of a shamblin' crowd of cannibals? Of course not! That would be plain mean. Getting serious, what I propose is a mechanic whereby survivors can carry, pull, drag, or otherwise move unconscious survivors into buildings. The mechanic would only be available if the individual in question was standing directly outside the building. (Presumably he was dragged out, but maybe he's just stupid or doesn't have free running.) This would involve a more-than-usual AP cost, such as 5 or 10 AP. There is an issue that I can think of immediately, and that's the problem of this skill being used to circumvent free running. On the one hand, any problems could be avoided through the simple expedient of having cades greater than VSB++ negate the use of this skill. But on the other hand, it could be also be avoided by having the carrying player 'toss' the unconscious survivor over the barricade, while he himself remains outside and needs to negotiate his own way back to safety. Needless to say, I favor the second suggestion. At present a mechanic similar to this suggestion already exists; in Forts, survivors have the option to dump bodies outside of the gatehouse, in effect 'dragging' corpses over multiple blocks. Obviously doing the same thing for survivors (dragging over multiple blocks) would be a case of Pied Piper Skills, which would be bad. Reiterating, the Fireman's Carry would only function if the target was directly outside the building. Other names for this could be 'Helping Hand' and so on. I envision it falling under the Civilian skill-set, with Bodybuilding as a prerequisite. (People are heavy! You think some shrimpy survivor is going to carry someone to safety? Nu-uh.) In closing, it should be obvious to everyone that the greatest weapons survivors have are coordination and teamwork. We need to heal and revive our people, we need to hide behind barricades and repair ruined buildings, and we need to communicate and watch each others backs. This skill would flow directly from those principles. Thoughts?

Discussion (Fireman's Carry)

Feeding Drag is one of the skills that should never, under any circumstances, be neutured. Its greatest use is for feeding babahz, and that's a difficult task to accomplish. Hurting it only hurts new players. 00:17, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Peer Reviewed already. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 00:19, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Didn't see that (and I did look), but no wonder! It was last peer reviewed in 2006. I'd say that four years entitles me to another review? --Wayson 00:23, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Nope. It'll be used as a dupe link until you make noticeable changes in your suggestion to make it "different" than the given dupe. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 00:32, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

That is silly and mindlessly bureaucratic. But this this is the UD wiki so I'm not sure what else I was expecting. The suggestion will stand unaltered, as I believe that it has merit and that four years is sufficient time to raise the point again. In response to Misanthropy, I don't believe that it substantially neuters Feeding Drag. It's a race between survivors to save one of their own, and zombies to eat that same individual. The babahz still have the opportunity to feast... they just need to be prompt about it. --Wayson 00:47, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Organisation isn't often the forte of new players. You're essentially comparing "need to gain a foothold in the game" with "need to not die and mrh for a revive", when one is a greatly more pressing concern. 00:50, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

You can leave it unaltered, but I'm telling you now, the dupe vote will stand, regardless of how long ago it was. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 00:51, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Misanthropy: I agree, but the two aren't mutually exclusive. When writing this, I had in mind situations where every survivor counts and needles are scarce, for example during smaller sieges (the only kind where survivors have a chance) or when rebuilding destroyed suburbs.
Axe: what sort of noticeable changes would you recommend? In the end, this suggestion boils down to 'move unconscious survivor into building'. I don't really know how else to put that. --Wayson 01:04, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

IMO, the peer reviewed (and this) version both have a huge flaw in terms of flavor; the guy who got dragged out can't simply be carried back in, because zombies would be swarming all over him. This is true in EVERY zombie movie. I'd say each zombie outside has a 50% chance of blocking the use of fireman's carry; two zombies would thus block for a net 75%, three for 87.5%, four for 93.75%, 5 for 96.875%, etc. Basically, any sizable swarm would make such rescue very unlikely (or at least very effort intensive) due to its costing an unpredictable but large number of AP to do so. Remember, zombies can NOT just drag survivors outside for 1 AP; first they have to bring down the barricades and than take that survivor below 12 HP.  Swiers 01:36, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

I kind of like this idea as a parachuter's buff. Imagine you have 10 players outside an EHB building. 9 survivors and one zombie. Zombie infects all survivors and lowers their health. One survivor spends all their AP dumping bodies over the cades. 8 infected players die inside, stand for 1AP each, kill everything and ransack. It would be great. ~ 14:50, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Don't forget the devious suicide repair team, enters the building on 13hp, repairs, get dragged by a friendly zombie who then ruins the building, only for another survivor to bring them back inside. Perfect for the permadeath cities. --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 17:39, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

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Zombies get small XP bonus for witness survivor slayings

Timestamp: -- LEMON #1 08:42, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Type: Zombies

Scope: helping newb zeds, hordes

Description: When a zombie witnesses a death of a harman, why should the last hit get the XP? I'm thinking a small XP payoff should be given to zombies in the vicinity of survivor that dies. So far, I'm thinking of three versions of this suggestions: 2 or 3 XP payoff for all zombies who witness the death of a survivor, regardless of whether they attacked the survivor or what skills they have. 5XP bonus for survivors who you manage to hit before they die (you'd only need to land one decent hit for it to register, and the survivor would need to have not done any action between when you hit him and when he dies) 5XP bonus for a zombie who has Scent Fear (maybe Scent Trail?) and witnesses a death. Flavour could be that the zombies now take a keen interest in wounded/dying survivors and now take notice of the deaths and the way they are dying, remembering a bit more with each death they witness. being a zombie is cool, but it's a bitch and a half to get that XP as a newb. This also re-inforces awesome horde tactics. Let's bring em back, boys. Thoughts?

Discussion (Zombies get small XP bonus for witness survivor slayings)

I like 2 and 3. 2 because it would stop peeping toms just going around and watching deaths to level up. (e.g. Major seige - 100 survivors die, 5 skill levels gained by standing there). 3 I like less, for the reason mentioned above, but it makes more sense with flavour.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature3 08:51, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Go with #1 and keep it down to 1XP, to avoid zambahz jumping up several levels in a night just by being a mall siege. #2 is a beast to keep track of, while #3 helps mostly zambahz who have already some levels under their belt. -- Spiderzed▋ 12:26, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Reduce the gain of nr 1 or drop it entirely, don't give stuff away for free. Reduce nr 2 to the last survivor the zombie hit, current version encourages attacking multiple targets instead of focusing on a single target. Reduce the gain of nr 3. - User:Whitehouse 12:38, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

#2 undermines another skill (Tangling Grasp), by encouraging people to break other's grasps. Plus, it'd make for some new tactics that I find to be a bad idea (zombies getting resurrected and healing each other repeatedly for the sole purpose of feeding as baby zeds as possible). #3 is overpowered, I'd say. #1 doesn't seem too bad, but I still can't get past the fact that it makes strike teams even further and away the best source for XP for a newbie zed. Newbie zeds should have new feral options to level, not new horde options, since the horde options are already strong enough. And, as others have pointed out, the idea of gaining an entire level by doing nothing but standing indoors during a mall siege is not a good thing. —Aichon— 13:02, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I'd perhaps give it a limit to when it stops taking effect - perhaps Memories of Life becomes the "off switch" that stops zombies gaining this XP. That stops it being an endless source of XP so you can keep the payout decent. 17:04, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I think a simpler solution would be to allow zombies who do not have digestion to gain XP by feeding on dead bodies. 1 XP per feeding would work. If you witness a survivor being killed... well, there's a fresh body to eat, right? But this is better, since you don't have to actually be there.
Helps feral newbies a lot more than simply getting xp for seeing a survivor die would, and gives those non-vigor-mortis zombies a way of earning XP semi-reliably by "cleaning up" after combats, comparable to unskilled survivors getting XP for dumping dead bodies or healing people. Hell, I'll probably take that direct to suggestions. Only problem I can see is it would decrease the pool of edible bodies avaialble for zombies whop do have digestion, as dead survivors are likely to chow down. Then again, almost anything that encourages survivors to try an earn XP as zombies seems a good thing in my book.  Swiers 01:44, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

I'm with others above. # 2. That's the direction I would go when suggesting.

@swiers That suggestion would need a bit more work before it would pass I think. It sounds good but there are a couple of problems and I don't want to spam DDR's DS. ~ 04:39, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

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Interior Description Mod

Timestamp: Necrofeelinya 04:05, 30 October 2010 (BST)

Type: Flavor/Building Status Indicator Change

Scope: Pretty much everyone

Description: I've been thinking lately, which is always a problem and never bodes well for the future. The first stage in this unfortunate process brought to my attention the fact that although zombies outside a ruined building get a vague notion of how long it's been ruined ("very long time", "some time", etc.), when they're inside there's no similar indication. So I thought "if we got that, that'd be a nice change", but given the troublesome nature of my thought processes, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I then got to thinking "but it makes sense that we probably shouldn't get that in darkened buildings", because in the dark you really can't tell how messed up things are or how long it's been that way. And then another realization set in, which is that the same basic concepts should apply to survivors somehow. So I propose that you shouldn't find out the exact AP cost to raise a darkened building until you light the place up, and shouldn't get an interior description of the ruination level of the building until you can actually see what's around you. Just estimate from the exterior description like zombies do. So the sum of what I'm suggesting here is this, though some of the effects for humans might be already implemented and I'm just too perpetually zombified to realize it: 1. Zombies should get some vague indication of duration of ruination status inside as well as outside except in darkened buildings. 2. Humans should have to install a genny in a darkened building before they find out the exact AP cost to repair it or get an indication of duration of ruination status on the inside. Also, Simon says take a shot or chug a beer every time someone posts the word "buff" or "nerf" in response to this suggestion. Ready... Set... Go!

Discussion (Interior Description Mod)

Welcome back Necro. Decay levels in building change based on time. Its more vague than the outside, but it exists. How would you change the messages. Im pretty sure survivors can't see repair coast until dark buildings are repaired. --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 12:12, 30 October 2010 (BST)

Yeah, I'll confirm this. There's no clear cost until the place is lit. Dark buildings: the bane of repairers everywhere. And while I'm here *Nukes the suggestion just for the lols*

Since that won't be accepted, I'll say here that it's a good idea. I personally like it, adds a bit of atmosphere to the game. I mean, you aren't going to walk into a ruin and not notice that it's trashed :) Shadok ^{T Balance is power} 12:22, 30 October 2010 (BST)

Why thank you, Ross. It must be pretty vague indeed, I didn't even realize it exists, but I guess I just wasn't paying enough attention. I tried to look up whether survivors could see repair costs in darkened buildings, but the Wiki pages I checked for Ruins and Decay didn't seem to mention it specifically. Anyway, guess that renders the whole thing moot.--Necrofeelinya 12:25, 30 October 2010 (BST)

Y'know, I remember a time when you were pretty much guaranteed a rapid if not at all satisfactory response on this page... Geez... Fine, I'll do it myself... Buff! Nerf! Buff! Nerf! Buff! Nerf! Buff! Nerf! Buff! Nerf! Stagger to your feet and start cooking something but then pass out and wake up to the sound of the fire alarm as the room fills with smoke, take it off the heat, chuck it in the sink and open the windows and pass out, wake up late the next day to the sound of your obnoxious neighbors chatting loudly about their various illegal behaviors just outside your apartment door! Lather, rinse, repeat as necessary!--Necrofeelinya 12:19, 30 October 2010 (BST)

*Downs ten cans of beer* --16:58, 30 October 2010 (BST)

The way I see it, this suggestion buffs the zombies all to hell when what they really need is a nerf. Except in those areas they need buffs, because they need to be buffed, buffed, buffed right up if you ask me in lots of ways. But mainly they need nerfs. Survivors needs nerfs too...NERF GUNS! But that'd be a zombie buff if all of the survivors had to use nerf guns, but it'd also nerf the trenchiness of some trenchies, so that'd buff intelligent players, which is always a good thing. Who woulda thought you could buff players by literally nerfing them? —Aichon— 17:50, 30 October 2010 (BST)

I have one question about this suggestion: How much nerf could a buff nerf buff if a nerf buff nerf got buff?--E Gadus 22:35, 30 October 2010 (BST)

*Counts all the nerfs and buffs in both Aichon and E Gadus's posts, then adds two for his own* *Downs 23 cans of beer* For all I know, I might have miscounted. >_< --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 22:39, 30 October 2010 (BST)

42! ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 22:43, 30 October 2010 (BST)

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Bagman Cometh

Timestamp: Pardus 12:53, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Type: Science Skill (Medical)

Scope: Hospitals

Description: Setup Clinic: Setting up a clinic costs 30AP and grants the ability to heal at the cost of 5AP without a First Aid Kit and the ability to diagnose infections within the building, until the player dies or the building is ruined. Can only be used in a powered hospital, is mutually exclusive with Scout Safehouse Does it need improvement? Which parts do I need to explain like I am talking to a 5yo? Suggestions?

Discussion (Bagman Cometh)

No healing for harmanz without FAKs (or beers or wines). Limited resources are one of the defining weakspots of them that should never be undercut. -- Spiderzed▋ 13:04, 28 October 2010 (BST)

You realise you are only arguing semantics, said "limited resources" are determined by search rate which for FAK's in a hospital is 18.9%, therefore 5ap would be spent searching. So it would in effect only increase said search rates to 25% for that single hospital after 30ap is spent. So the real net gain would be a 16.5% healing efficiency or 10ap per day devoted solely to the provess of healing, if the only thing you did was heal. -- Pardus 13:31, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Limited resources are not just APs. (That's a limitation that holds true for both survivors and zombies.) The real bottleneck for harmanz is encumbrance. A doctor who hasn't to fill his backpack with FAKs, but can spread out at will into guns, needles, genniefuels or toolkits is at a massive advantage. -- Spiderzed▋ 13:45, 28 October 2010 (BST)

So 3ap to make a FAK would be better in your opinion? -- Pardus 13:55, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Scout Safehouse is already a big ol' bag of gack. Don't try specialising it more. 15:19, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Scout Safehouse is pretty much a mallrat skill and it's a military skill, personally I would like to see more science skills and anything that makes less use of malls is an awesome thing IMHO. -- Pardus 00:32, 29 October 2010 (BST)

In addition to agreeing with everything the others have said so far, I also don't think it makes in-game sense. Scout Safehouse makes sense, since it's you memorizing the location well enough that you can move through it more quickly than others can. If you set up a clinic, however, everyone should be able to take advantage of it. I've never once heard of a clinic that only one person could see and use. —Aichon— 17:48, 28 October 2010 (BST)

My response to that argument is simply "Ankle Grab". Or Free Running or Flesh Rot. Whilst I don't like this suggestion, it's hardly unique in making no sense flavour-wise. 22:27, 28 October 2010 (BST)

I don't follow. All of those make in-game sense. Zombies learn to grab their ankles to get up faster (okay, so the mechanic makes no sense, but whatever). Survivors learn how to free run out of necessity. Zombies develop Flesh Rot after an extended period of time. I'm not tracking the difficulty with those. —Aichon— 22:34, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Free Running is not that thing The Tick does to get around rooftops, it's just a sort of urban sport. Using it to leap from building to building makes no sense. With Flesh Rot, rotting further should make penetration easier (though it could be argued that endurance is enhanced through rotted nerves but it's not explained this way). And with Ankle Grab, no amount of grabbing at my own ankles gets my ass up faster, and it works without others around so it's not about grabbing someone else's. 22:38, 28 October 2010 (BST)

See, I envision Ankle Grab as when you're on your back and grab onto your legs, then rock/roll forward onto your feet before standing up. And I know what Free Running is, but I'm thinking about it more in terms of these buildings being tightly packed (hence the lack of streets) and relatively low to the ground, meaning that you could do stuff like jump between them easily (without being The Tick) or even wall jump a bit to get into places. And Flesh Rot was something I always saw as producing a calloused, somewhat hard crustiness as a byproduct of the rot, kinda like chitinous scabs covering the zombies. —Aichon— 22:43, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Maybe my imagination's borked. 22:45, 28 October 2010 (BST)

How would you flavour the idea? (cause clearly you are not talking mechanics) Tho you speak like we have label makers and other ways to organize things so no one else will have to learn how you organized everything. -- Pardus 00:32, 29 October 2010 (BST)

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