Dean Hall plans to step down as lead designer of Day Z

PC GAMER

This soon when Day Z is still in its alpha I guess he might take the money a ran

DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall plans to step down as lead designer of the massively popular multiplayer survival game. Talking to Eurogamer, Hall explained his desire to leave Bohemia Interactive by the end of the year, to set up a new studio in New Zealand.

"I have a specific use, Hall said. "I'm really good at risk-taking and making other people take risks, I've always been good at that in my life. Like you say, maybe I've got the gift of the gab, so I can talk, I can explain something, I can talk people up to the ledge and get them to jump off it.

"Eventually, that's the bad person to have. Eventually, you don't want the guy telling you to go over the top and get through. So at some point I'll be a disaster for the project, at least in a leadership role."

Hall explained that he wasn't originally intending to be around for 2014, but claimed "it would be stupid not to, and it would be unfair to the community." On that note, he said that he would remain with the project as long as he was needed, either as leader or in a more creative role. "I'll always be involved," he stated.

Later in the interview, Hall reveals that he has a number of other multiplayer games he'd like to work on, saying that sees DayZ as a "fundamentally flawed" concept. "It's not the perfect game," he said, "it's not the multiplayer experience, and it never can be, [with] the absolute spark that I want in it."

The game is not even complete and he already received the money and leaves. Pretty douchebag if you ask me.

I heard he said something about not leaving until its done but the game seems far from finishing even at the end of 2014

Glad I didn't fill his pockets.

Just last night, I uninstalled the free DAYZ mod and the ARMAII games you needed to be able to run it, because it's a train wreck. I don't know how it became so popular, because it's among the buggiest games I've ever played. I think it exists not to play, but to give you something to brag about if you get it to work at all.

Overall bad.

hes not leaving until the end of 2014.. its not like hes not leaving tommorrow.. read much?

Pretty shitty timing to say you're stepping down and the game you're working on isn't everything you hoped it would be before it's even out of Alpha. A lot of people bought the early access expecting him to see the full product through right until full release, but I guess that's the risk you take with early access

I don't condone this type of behaviour

-sees DayZ as a "fundamentally flawed" concept. "It's not the perfect game," he said, "it's not the multiplayer experience, and it never can be, [with] the absolute spark that I want in it-

Bwahahaha. He puts out a fundamentally flawed product, with more bugs than you could count, and takes the money and runs. Hey, he's sticking around until the end of the year though lol...

Now you know why consoles have quality controls.

This is pretty funny since so many people think highly of Dean.

The mod was always buggy. The standalone was less so.

being as it is dayz he prolly didn't step down.

he probably turned his back on someone and they clubbed him in the back of the skull and took all his shyt.

interesting. new zealand of all places.

well path of exile came from there. maybe there's untapped talent or something. or maybe he just likes sheep.

By the time he steps down, DayZ will be about finished. I'm not sure why this time line is so hard for people to grasp. People are acting like he's the sole developer behind DayZ and he's running with people's money or something. DayZ is Bohemia Interactive's game, not Dean Hall's. He guides the development team, but doesn't create too much of the game himself. If he doesn't want to stick around once his work is finished - I don't see what obligation he has to it.

What do you condone? Lying when asked about it? Dean is a transparent guy - he's not going to sit around and bullshit that he wants to sit around and work on DayZ forever when he has other future interests. I think honesty should be condoned.

Besides, he is sticking it through until the game is about released. The game isn't super far from finished, 10 months is plenty of time...

I don't condone calling your product fundamentally flawed and saying you're moving on to make the ultimate multiplayer game while your current game isn't even out of Alpha and was supposed to be exactly what you say it's not. He can leave all he wants when the game is done like he plans on, but to announce that stuff while your game is still being made is just off. There's no need to say it and will only cause people to start doubting the game

the damage control. the game is a mess. hes leaving because he knows it will never be what it was intended to be. all it is now is a bunch of childish machosists force feeding eachother crap and PvPing in a world with barely any zombies.

biggest survival mechanic.... spawning only a few pieces of food and water around a large map.

charge £20 .... never really becomes an "AAA project" or anything worth paying for. wins.

He's got the cash now, so he'll run.

Guy's an idiot. Good luck with his new studio. This move just teared down his reputation completely.

People don't care how much PR BS you throw at them, that he's still "going to be around" to end the game. The guy is quitting period, and basically saying he's done with the game, he won't convince people otherwise.

Well. PC gamers are fans of trash games like these, which is why Rust, Day Z, DOTA, League of Legends, all MMOs, and Star Shitizen are doing so well.

PC gaming has very low standards.

Walking simulator.

Day Z, and games like it, give the player something they can't find anywhere else. A reason to move strategically, and as if they were being hunted.

In most games the protagonist it being hunted, but the player almost never feels like it. 99% of the things that hunt them are functionally helpless compared to them, or the player has the power to run up buildings or vanish without a trace if they are at a disadvantage. Even in most multiplayer games are balanced so both have a fighting chance. In these new multiplayer grieffests, the non-troll gamer has reason to look at a road and see a death trap, instead of the obvious path holding their hand so they can be guided to safety. There are things out there stronger then them, and they will be casually slaughtered if they stick to the obvious path. Even worse, their death makes their attacker stronger!

Most games like this are a mess. These games however are the only time I have gone up a mountain covered in edges that will/have killed or crippled me because roads are too freaking scary to risk my pack full of goodies. A pack I spent an hour mining in the middle of no where, because the middle of no where is the only place it is safe to make noise. I would like to get that in a well put together and finished game, but I haven't found one with a real possibility of failure in a very long time.

To win big it must be possible to lose big. This style of game gives you just that. It makes getting home safe feel like an accomplishment, instead of the end of a grinding session.

@JustSignedUp: while I agree 40 isn't enough, interactions aren't meant to be every 5 minutes. that wouldn't be very realistic. I think 60 players is a good fit.

I've moved on to playing the Arma 3 version of the mod these days, it's far more polished

Sadly, it never came together that well for me because of how incredibly buggy the game is. When I'm running from a zombie who happened to have spotted me, and he gets stuck in the floor and forgets all about me, the fun of what you're describing goes away.

In movies and games, people are expecting to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy whatever it is they're doing. I can't suspend belief when suddenly zombies can't climb a flight of stairs and are clipping through the floor.

It's too bad that it works so poorly, because the ideas are neat, because the technical execution is really, really bad.

@musicalmac:

If you don't feel burnt too badly, I would say try Rust. The PvE elements are kind of an after thought, and only a threat in the very beginning until you get your hands on a bow and figure out how to fire it without a handy dandy sight. Once you get used to the bow, the only time the environment will kill you is when you fall to your death trying to slide down a ledge you know you shouldn't.

Mostly the game just gives people the ability to hunt you, and reason to. After that it is up to players to react to the threats as they see fit, and there is tremendous opportunity to do so. As example, I am the worst shooter in the history of shooters, and have never killed anyone with a firearm in Rust. Taken a couple with a bow at range but I can't even pull off a shotgun kill. I have however tricked teams of people into running off of a cliff at night. Only takes an intimate familiarity with the Mountains of Rust (Which I have, because roads are death traps unless you travel in packs) and a willingness to play tricks with camp fires and torches.

I am not going to claim it is issue free. No game I have ever come across however has empowered a low skill player by rewarding patience. The overwhelming majority of times I die I know about it well in advance because I am doing something I know I shouldn't. One warning though, if you grief and someone starts taunting you by shooting a bow at your base and then running into the mountains, don't follow =P. He couldn't actually kill you if he tried. That or learn the mountains (they all have a lot in common once you explore them) and shoot the fool in the back of the head the next time he goes to light a camp fire.