Will you "Die2Nite?"

[Ghambit]

Game just entered OB and the 1st season just started.
(click here so we can keep in touch and possibly stay in the same town)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z8iG-yBygY

1st trailer vid. I've seen of a pbbg where it's live action resembling the game.  e.g. what happens in the vid is very similar to the game itself

Die2Nite is a cooperative game set in the post-apoclyptic world. You are one of forty individuals that must survive in a zombie-infested world for as many days as you can, using only items that you find in the surrounding desert. However, don't stay out there too long. Each Night, at 23:00 server time, a horde of zombies sets out to destroy your town. As long as the gates are shut, the zombies will not break into your town unless enough zombies overcome the defenses. From there, you depend on your own defenses (a.k.a. your home). If that fails, you're dead.

Each Town starts with a random amount of water (usually somewhere in the range of 80-140 rations), a bank, and a construction site. Every player that joins the town is given a  citizen's welcome pack and a  doggy bag.

 However, you cannot win by simply building up your own defenses. You must work together with your town. Things such as building a hovel, hoarding defensive items, and taking items from the bank without asking are not advised, or you may end up banished or even hanged! Will you be a leader? A pariah? A follower? The choices are yours, and yours alone, but remember that people won't always agree with your actions (whether they have good intentions or not).
So what will it be? Will you Die2Nite?

Well, I havent happened upon any decent pbbgs in quite a long while and I dont normally like zombie games, but this one shows some promise... especially as an 'f13' browsergame.
Lots of opportunity for passive aggression, forum warz, psycho-fuckery, and asshattery.  All the while you're trying to organize 40 people in your town to stay alive through the night (at midnite the server completely shuts down and zombies attack).  This game kind of reminds me of a few good euro-style coop boardgames on the market right now, wherein the game is a puzzle you must work together to solve.  No hack and slash, no real dice roll, just smart play.  Only, you can banish people, hang them, steal from them, etc.  You can even play the role of a zombie if you really wanted (letting yourself die in the desert to come back as a zombie the following night).

I've only played one night and it was surprisingly hairaising, even though the game runs in real-time - 24hrs.  Pretty much me and one other guy were the only ones left in the town, everyone else was offline or outside and offline.  The other guy went outside to save a stranded citizen and ran out of AP (which can be regened with water, food, drugs, etc.).  In doing-so, he couldnt close the gate and neither could I (I was thirsty, exhausted, and injured from a prior attack in the desert which left me 1 AP short).  It got down to 3 mins and no one else showed up, including those still outside, so we had to scramble and raided the Bank to bolster our own personal defenses (you're given your own 'house' you maintain; but in doing-so, you hurt the town obviously).  So the zombies got in the town, two of them made it to my little 'tent' and I just BARELY had enough defense to stay alive; same for the other guy.  (citizens are worth 2 defense, plus built defenses, and zombies 1 attack...  >= and you're ok)  Before all this went down, we stole as much as we could from the stuck citizens tents, before they were zombiefied.

So tomorrow night we'll have at least 10 more zombies to deal with and 10 less citizens to fend them off.  pfft  I think the record is 15 nights survival in this game. hehe  Not getting off to a good start.

[Ghambit]

update:  dont use IE with this one.  FF works fine though so far.
And if anyone joins using my link/coalition, please come save my ass before tomorrow night.  Basically, show up on my space (1,0) and wait for me to logon and move off.  Then you can go about your business.  I'm terrorised so I'm worth no control points.  So even though there's only 1 zombie here, he's worth 1 more point than I've got.  If someone shows up that isnt terrorised, they'll be worth 2 pts and then we'll control the zone... then I can leave; with 3 rations of water also btw.    (water regens AP and kills zombies)

Also, move the corpses from the town pleasethanks.

[Samwise]

I've been wanting a cooperative city-building zombie game for a while now.  Like, since I played Urban Dead waaay back when; that was a great game in many ways but I was always annoyed by how static its game world was.  Definitely checking this out.

[Ghambit]

I've been wanting a cooperative city-building zombie game for a while now.  Like, since I played Urban Dead waaay back when; that was a great game in many ways but I was always annoyed by how static its game world was.  Definitely checking this out.

Heh, I know you being 'Samwisey' will like this game.  Nothing else out there like it aside from maybe The West.  Be sure to click my link or at least provide your screename so I can add you to the coalition.  You'd also be wise to try and scam an alt if you can.  I screwed up and tried too many times, now my IP is blocked from doing-so.  :(

The devs in this one are quite slick.  They make it so you have NO CHOICE but to start in a random town, even if you intend on joining a coalition.  You can kill yourself by staying outside and THEN you can join your coalition's town assuming there's room, but not until then.  I learned this the hard way and got IP-banned.  Main reason they do this is obvious, if you find yourself trapped outside and think making an alt can save you, you're mistaken.  Your alt will go to a random town.

Also, chatzy or some such is a fuckin must in this game.  Coordinating expeditions and what-not are near impossible otherwise, let alone the meta involved with resource gathering an the inevitable decline of available water.

edit:
I'm ingame as 'Infiniteless' and 'Ghambit.'

[Samwise]

Very poor in-game documentation and feedback, and it's clear that the developers either don't understand how human beings operate or they don't want the game to be "winnable" without extremely heavy metagaming.

Most striking example is the city building -- you have a bunch of people contributing resources to the bank and trying to save up for a workshop, and as far as I can tell, one jackass can burn all those resources by starting construction on some other (useless) building.  It's probably not even malicious; that "build" button shows up once the resources are present to build something, and it's inevitable that a new player is going to click it without knowing that they're boning the town.  Stupid.  And such an obvious solution -- let people earmark their donated resources for a specific project.

[Ghambit]

It's designed that way purposely so townspeople have an excuse to shun or hang someone. 
Also, it IS documented but it's just not easy to find; you either have to sift through the wiki or stumble onto a vague 'suggestion.'  Beyond that, common sense dictates you dont just go grabbing whatever you like from the bank w/o a prior forum post or note on someone's door.

Towns that survive have good comms. and typically dont run into this problem.  Towns that dont have quiet forums, and suffer because of this.

Sam??  wassamatter, you get spanked for dipping into the cookie jar?   

[Samwise]

To me the hallmark of a really good co-op multiplayer game is that cooperation is fostered by the game's mechanics and interface rather than requiring a lot of tedious metagame bullshit.  I think this game's developers are going for a more hardcore metagaming/guildie audience than me (either that or they're just incompetent).

My experience in the game so far has consisted of spending all my APs scrounging for resources, depositing them in the bank, and then seeing them get used to build something useless.  And then dying in the night, with no indication of how I could have done anything to avoid that.  Then I respawned and went out for more resources and got surrounded by zombies (which I guess I somehow couldn't see until I was right in the middle of them), wasted AP trying to fight them, got away but was permanently maimed (I guess... it says I'm "wounded" but doesn't say if there's any way to heal), put my one plank of wood in the town bank, and then watched that get used to build something else that's useless.  /quit

BiiF?  No.  

[Ghambit]

You could always just grief towns for your enjoyment   

[Samwise]

Too easy.  I don't derive enjoyment from kicking cripples.  

I've got a month-long sabbatical coming up.  I've been doodling design ideas for my perfect zombie browser game for years now; maybe with all that free time I'll take a crack at implementing something and show these amateurs how it's done.

[Ghambit]

What are you gonna code it in?

[Samwise]

Brainfuck.

[Ghambit]

Brainfuck.

Ahhh!  PhP!   

Seriously though, I really thought you'd like this one.  hmmmm    I'm actually having a pretty good time (once I found the right town).

[Samwise]

Okay, I admit, I'm having more fun with this game now.  The learning curve is a horrible bitch and they really need to fix that, but once you're over that AND you're in a town with other people who are also over it, it's pretty fun.  Arguing over cost/benefit of different construction projects and getting shit put together and then having everyone survive the night because you planned well is really satisfying.  And there's a fairly low demand of actual "online time" compared to most of these web MMOGs.

In another couple of days I should have enough Soul Points to join a veteran town, which I'm expecting will radically change the game.

[Xanthippe]

I am trying this but I have no idea what I'm doing.  I've read the town forum, introduced myself, gone outside and come back in, ate a ration, and have 4 AP points that I'm standing inside the gates with.  Apparently items are needed to continue building but I don't know how to find them.  I don't know how to save people or do anything.

[Samwise]

Yeah, the learning curve is atrocious.

What you want to do your first day in town is probably go outside, hit Search, and then stay there (you'll "autosearch" every 2 hours without spending AP).  Before the gates close (there's a countdown in the upper right of the screen), come back to town and dump everything you've got into the bank.  Spend any remaining AP on building whatever project everyone else seems to be working on (workshop and watchtower are the two first things any town should be building).

Also you should pretty much expect that your first couple of towns you'll get something wrong and everyone will get mad at you and lynch you.

[Xanthippe]

So I'm in a depleted zone 2 squares from town and I have 2 moves.  I'm sitting and searching.  There's a pack of zombies to my north.  I have a ration of water.  What do I do if the zombies move into my square?

Should I sit tight, continuing to search until closer to zero hour or should I go back to town now?

[Samwise]

The zombies don't move during the day, at least not that I've ever seen.  As long as you don't walk into them you're safe.  So just sit and wait for another autosearch if you've got time for it.  You'll want to be back in town by about 20 minutes before zero hour, which is usually when the gates get closed.

[Ghambit]

Sorry Sammy I havent been ingame (I told ya so btw).  Rift is taking up all my time.  I'm a paid subscriber too 

[Samwise]

There are definitely some deep flaws with the game.  The absolute reliance on items that require a lucky die roll is a big one.  I was in one town where we couldn't get a workshop up until day 3 because nobody could find goddamn cement, and that boned us beyond recovery.  My current town is in dire need of a hacksaw but we haven't found one yet.

I like the potential for the luck of what you find scavenging to make certain defense trees more advantageous than others, but the fact that the gating items are sometimes needed for absolutely vital tech buildings kinda wrecks that potential.  These are good lessons to learn for when I get around to making my game, though.

[Xanthippe]

I have survived for 3 days (am one of 3 left) with no workshop.  Today is it, I think.

This game is strangely compelling.

[Samwise]

What's your name in game?  We're probably not going to be in a town together any time soon but we might as well add you to the coalition.

(edit) Actually, I'm going to start a proper Bat Country coalition since I'm pretty sure that other than Ghambit these other people aren't F13'ers and they're all inactive anyway.

(edit) Lame, you can't actually name your coalition?

[Xanthippe]

Merri.  I'm currently in a coalition that formed after the last town - I died but got some points.  Now I'm in a new town.

I'm just a resident, not a hero - I assume that's what you become when you want to pay for the game?  And you get more moves and more options?

For a game that takes checking a few times a day and only a few minutes to play - in other words, a game light on demands - it's very interesting.

[Samwise]

I'm just a resident, not a hero - I assume that's what you become when you want to pay for the game?  And you get more moves and more options?

Yeah, although I got a few free hero days once by being the last man standing.  You get a bunch of perks like special upgrades you can build in your house, extra inventory space (I think?) and the non-resident professions, each of which gives you some nice bonus (scavenger finds more stuff, scout can sneak past zombies, guardian has extra control points).

I've thought about buying the hero thing but I think it's a tiny bit overpriced, something like 12 euros a month.  That's like an actual MMOG subscription.

[Ghambit]

You will get to the point where you really need VOIP or chat to get serious.  'Specially in the vet. towns.

[Samwise]

Given the slow pace of the game that seems a little silly.  The only place where you need anything approaching realtime coordination is on expeditions, and you have a half-hour margin of error there.

[Samwise]

The best part of this game IMO is that you can convert griefers into food.

[Rendakor]

Just decided to give this a whirl, so I'm in as Rendakor. Add me to the coalition please.

Edit: Do I need to keep the game window open in order to keep auto searching? Also, is there anything I can do to fortify my own house?

[Xanthippe]

No, you will autosearch whether you are online or not.

Be careful about updating your house beyond a tent (which takes no resources).  You can update it but the resources needed are better put to other uses until later.

Make sure to use the town forum!

[Samwise]

Be careful about updating your house beyond a tent (which takes no resources).  You can update it but the resources needed are better put to other uses until later.

Building a hovel is a good way to get the entire town to instantly hate you.  The game is balanced such that resources put toward defending the town as a whole go much further than resources put toward fortifying your own house, so keeping resources for yourself is generally taken as an indicator that you're out to fuck everyone else as quickly as possible so you can get the Last Man Standing achievement.

[Zaljerem]

Just started playing this and I'm really enjoying it. Wouldn't mind getting involved in your coalition, if one of you is still running one ... let me know.

[Sutro]

Also playing and enjoying. Anyone else? In as 'Sutro'.

[Samwise]

Anyone else noticed that season 2 is a lot harder?  Apparently there was a major search tower nerf.  That and every other jackass is spending all his time camping instead of being useful.

[Sutro]

Yeah, the camping thing is highly annoying. The fact that you can get a maximum survival percentage of 90 percent doesn't appeal to my desire for certainty, and it seems like a pretty poor play for most people to camp.

Honestly, the only time I would do it is if I were a tamer and went far afield on day 1.

[Samwise]

The town I'm in now just built a nuclear reactor.  I think we're the first ones in the game to do this.  Nobody knows what exactly is going to be required to keep it from exploding.   

[Ghambit]

Whaa?  How long have you survived to pull that off?  How many people are even left in the town? (I assume it's a vet town)
I need to get back into this game.