Why foxes?

[WarNerve]

I get adding hares or rabbits. They are a common "game" animal, traditionally hunted and killed for food. But not foxes. Foxes were often hunted, back in the day, but for their pelts, not for their meat.

Don't get me wrong, I like that they're adding more wildlife. But I wish they had added something more suitable as a food source. Such as pheasant,quail,duck, or even pigeons. Pigeons were actually raised for food at one time, much like chickens are today.

I think the thing that I find most odd about adding the fox as a food source is that they have made it so that wolf and bear meat now makes you sick, if you eat it. Why would wolf or bear meat make you sick, while the fox meat does not? It just doesn't make sense. Wolves,coyote, and fox have very similar diets. So if the wolf is somehow tainted by something due to their diet, the fox should be as well.

I read that the devs didn't want the wolves acting as a "food delivery service" any more. Ok. I can understand that, sort of. But the wolves can be dangerous if you're not adequately armed. They can even pose a significant threat even when you ARE armed, by forcing you to give up your location by firing your weapon when they attack you. I feel that, if you've been attacked by a pack of wolves, and you kill them, their meat is the reward for doing so. If they wanted to curb the "food delivery service" inherent in a wolf pack coming to you, then they could have just made it so that the wolves only give one piece of meat each.

As for the bears, I feel they should have been left alone. Bears are a significant threat, unless you are well armed. So, again, I feel that if you manage to kill one, then you deserve to come away with some meat as a reward. Besides, bear meat is very good, in real life, and is somewhat of a delicacy. It's nearly impossible to acquire unless you are a hunter, or you know someone that is. I don't know about Europe, but in the US, the sale of bear meat is prohibited. You can hunt bear, and you can possess meat from a bear that you have hunted. But you can't buy it. Making it quite a coveted game meat, for those that enjoy it.

I've rambled on enough.. I'm curious what others think of this change to bear and wolf meat. What do you think?

[etwas]

Originally posted by WarNerve:

What do you think?

why a fox? i dunno... why not? u suggested birds instead... which i assume would be harder to program - just for the flying part and all its animations involved.

the change to predator meat giving u a chance (40% in latest exp... this numbers might change) to get sick is fine imho.
why?
u should not rely on wolf or bear steaks as simple food delivery. once you're in their territory, u should be geared enough to defeat the threat. a threat - thats what they should act like.
people ask now... "where is my reward killing a bear?" - uhm... you're still alive... theres no better reward. also that sickness will be easy to cure (as any other sickness in the game) i assume.
on top of it - theres eatable food ♥♥♥♥♥♥ everywhere in the game. it just takes a little effort. which is fair in a survival game to get well fed.

remember its a game not a real life simulator. they gotta find some balance to it. in the GAME the fox doesnt act as a predator, hence it will be fine to eat.

[WarNerve]

Originally posted by etwas:

Originally posted by WarNerve:

What do you think?

why a fox? i dunno... why not? u suggested birds instead... which i assume would be harder to program - just for the flying part and all its animations involved.

the change to predator meat giving u a chance (40% in latest exp... this numbers might change) to get sick is fine imho.
why?
u should not rely on wolf or bear steaks as simple food delivery. once you're in their territory, u should be geared enough to defeat the threat. a threat - thats what they should act like.
people ask now... "where is my reward killing a bear?" - uhm... you're still alive... theres no better reward. also that sickness will be easy to cure (as any other sickness in the game) i assume.
on top of it - theres eatable food ♥♥♥♥♥♥ everywhere in the game. it just takes a little effort. which is fair in a survival game to get well fed.

remember its a game not a real life simulator. they gotta find some balance to it. in the GAME the fox doesnt act as a predator, hence it will be fine to eat.

You may be right. Programming flying birds would, most likely, be very problematic. But I was thinking of having them on the ground. Like the chickens currently are. Perhaps pigeons near urban areas. On the streets or, perhaps, sitting on the powerlines. That could be cool. Maybe ducks could be found around the edges of lakes and ponds.

To be clear, I'm not against the addition of the foxes. I welcome the addition of any new wildlife. I just found the choice of animal odd, as they made wolf meat something that gets you sick if you eat it. That's all. It just seemed strange to me.

As for the "reward" aspect of killing a bear.. perhaps I worded that poorly. I don't think bears are much of a threat, as they make noises that allow you to completely avoid them most of the time. But I saw them as a good food source to seek out when needed. So I viewed going after one as a risk/reward proposition. Now I will view them simply as an annoyance to avoid.

I agree with you, about food being everywhere. I have no worries about not being able to acquire food simply because of the change to the wolf and bear meat. But, with that being said, one thing I love about DayZ is the amazing range of possibilities within the game. And the options you have open to you while on your adventures. I understand it's a game. And a game about a zombie apocalypse, at that, so it's not completely realistic. But I do find the level of realism, that it does have, very appealing. So I liked that, just as you'd be able to in real life, if you so chose you COULD, kill and eat a wolf. Or hunt a bear and eat it, et cetera. So, sadly, I feel like those two possibilities have been removed. Or made much less viable, at least.

In regards to the fox not being a predator, that's not true. A fox is a predator, but it's also an opportunist. Much like the player, actually. =) They will kill and eat smaller animals, as well as things like berries, fruits, and nuts. But they will also scavenge from corpses, as do wolves and bears. This is why I found it odd that a wolf will make you sick, but not the fox.

As you pointed out, this is a game and, as such, concessions must be made in regards to balance, et cetera. I just feel that there are ways to go about things that allow for easier suspension of disbelief than others, while in the pursuit of balance.

I feel like I may be giving the impression that I'm against the fox being added. But that is not the case, at all. On the contrary, I very much like the fox. I think he looks awesome. And his movements look great.

I just found the change to wolf meat as odd. While allowing the fox meat to be fine. That's all. I just felt it was a bit weird. But, overall, I can deal with it. But, as for the bear meat, I feel like that could have been left alone. Perhaps decrease the amount of meat given. The bear is difficult enough to kill that I don't see their meat as being some OP source of food that is too easy to acquire, or something. If that makes sense. What I mean is, the bears don't seek you out and run to your location from hundreds of meters away, like the wolves do.

I apologize if I'm not making much sense. I, sometimes, struggle to put my thoughts into words properly. So I don't know if I'm adequately explaining my thoughts.

I was just curious how others felt. Thanks for your response, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

EDIT: Typos

[etwas]

cheers for sharing your thoughts. it made all sense to me :)

[_KC76_]

Originally posted by WarNerve:

In regards to the fox not being a predator, that's not true. A fox is a predator, but it's also an opportunist. Much like the player, actually. =) They will kill and eat smaller animals, as well as things like berries, fruits, and nuts. But they will also scavenge from corpses, as do wolves and bears. This is why I found it odd that a wolf will make you sick, but not the fox.

This ^^

Wolves are strong enough Predators, that they rarely would scavenge (though a lot of their hunting would be the easy-pickings of the infected), where-as Fox would be more likely to scavenge ded bodies (the left-overs from the Wolves), in addition to hunting the Hare .. The Fox should be just as susceptible to have parasites/disease, and be a kind-of nuisance "threat", maybe "tattle tale" is a better term, like ambient birds, that give away your location.

And since you mention "fruits, berries, and nuts", we need more of those .. there are a few in the game files already, that are not "active", but additional wild Walnut trees would fit in well (maybe you have to roast the Walnuts before you can eat them), as well as various Berries.

[Jethro]

Originally posted by _KC76_:

…..like ambient birds, that give away your location.

So is this really a thing? I heard mixed thoughts on this (certain bird chirps signify other player nearby).

I swear I’ve heard a specific bird chirp a few times that stood out to me as not very common, and each of those times there was another player nearby. But wouldn’t your own character also trigger the chirp? Or is it all in my head?

[_KC76_]

Originally posted by Jethro:

Originally posted by _KC76_:

…..like ambient birds, that give away your location.

So is this really a thing? I heard mixed thoughts on this (certain bird chirps signify other player nearby).

I swear I’ve heard a specific bird chirp a few times that stood out to me as not very common, and each of those times there was another player nearby. But wouldn’t your own character also trigger the chirp? Or is it all in my head?

Not in your head, and yes, you also trigger them .. You can tell from the volume if it is you or a player some distance away. It's not perfect, but it works.

[withered]

You get foxes and less chickens. Real reason why chicken farm on deer isle is usually devoid of life ;p.

[mud]

why foxes? why not? if not foxes then it would be some other type of animal i figure. regardless it is nice to have more animal variety.

[WarNerve]

Originally posted by _KC76_:

Originally posted by WarNerve:

In regards to the fox not being a predator, that's not true. A fox is a predator, but it's also an opportunist. Much like the player, actually. =) They will kill and eat smaller animals, as well as things like berries, fruits, and nuts. But they will also scavenge from corpses, as do wolves and bears. This is why I found it odd that a wolf will make you sick, but not the fox.

This ^^

Wolves are strong enough Predators, that they rarely would scavenge (though a lot of their hunting would be the easy-pickings of the infected), where-as Fox would be more likely to scavenge ded bodies (the left-overs from the Wolves), in addition to hunting the Hare .. The Fox should be just as susceptible to have parasites/disease, and be a kind-of nuisance "threat", maybe "tattle tale" is a better term, like ambient birds, that give away your location.

And since you mention "fruits, berries, and nuts", we need more of those .. there are a few in the game files already, that are not "active", but additional wild Walnut trees would fit in well (maybe you have to roast the Walnuts before you can eat them), as well as various Berries.

That's a great idea. I used to go deer hunting in the mountains, in Vermont, and there was a lot of wild Beechnut trees in the area, I could see Beechnuts,Walnuts,Acorns, etc. Perhaps some blackberry bushes on the summer maps?

[us271934-Слава Україн]

There is only one real answer to the OP's question - the devs are fanbois

https://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE?si=HHDdlW50Hs55dLfZ