You know what mate, i cant agree with you more. Dont get me wrong, ill love standalone, in know it. But to be honest, zombies dont really do much for me. The player has always been the main antagonist. I know i have referenced them before, but look at Mad Max / Book of Eli type films. A lot of enphesis on bandits and VERY limited supplies, but also the feel of being alone. Which is never the case in DayZ! Personally, i'd prefer not having zombies and only worrying about the living. Meaning you will have a lot less encounters where you need to use a weapon, but when you do, there more tence
Very much, that is the impelling story line which rings so much with us. Its you on your own against the world.
Looking back now. I would rather have done my own non DayZ mod from the start now. That is not to knock DayZ, rocket did something very special there, but in hindsight I would have done (what I have done) differently. Still without DayZ I would not have been given the springboard to put me on the road to learning how it all worked. So I owe a lot to it, but the bread is going a little stale for me now.