DayZ Awards

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Let's tally up the awards and share the write-ups.

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Game Stars 2012 indie games and mods

First place with an overwhelming 6076 votes, followed by Black Mesa with 2672 votes.

For the first time we crown at the Game Stars 2012 also specifically indie games and mods in a separate category. And we couldn't have chosen a better time, because mods and indie titles have shaken the gaming market in 2012 significantly. Since ARMA was 2 years after the publication of a sales success, because the players wanted to experience an incomparable zombie adventure with DayZ mod.

www.gamestars2012.de/category/31/

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3rd & 2nd Place

The 11th annual Mod of the Year awards, a celebration of the best mods released in 2012 as well as the up and coming whom we hope edge towards release in 2013. For the next 30 days, it's time to recognize the dedication and creativty of so many hobbyist game developers who have given everything to their craft (which, in many cases amounts to years of development). 2012 was a massive year with horror mods like Cry of Fear and the hotly anticipated Black Mesa pushing our servers to their absolute limits with over 300,000 people in one day, all trying to play.

We expect the 2012 Mod of the Year to be our biggest yet - so make yourself count by finding your favorite mods and voting for them! Who will join our first ever MOTY winner Natural Selection, who in 2002 took out the awards and 11 years later released a critially acclaimed best-selling sequel? Up until Jan 1st 2013 join us and help celebrate your community, culture and give thanks to the developers by voting for your favorite projects. Welcome to the 11th Annual Mod of the Year Awards.


Editor's Choice -
www.moddb.com/events/2012-mod-of-the-year-awards/features/moty-editors-choice-2012

Players Choice -
www.moddb.com/events/2012-mod-of-the-year-awards/features/mod-of-the-year-2012

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pcgamer
The Mod of the Year 2012: DayZ
29 DEC 2012



If XCOM reminded us of the value of loss in 2012, DayZ was a valuable lesson in hardship. The Arma 2 mod was one of the least-forgiving and most intimidating games of the year. It was a shooter that you entered without a gun. Arma’s control scheme made actions such as inventory management a hassle; its 225km2 landscape asked you to run mini-marathons to get around, often without a map. Permadeath and persistency lent consequence to every action. And in its alpha state, DayZ was buggy and vulnerable to hackers.

1.3 million people played it.

DayZ is heartening; it reinforces what players are willing to put up with in exchange for novel, self-authored experiences. It’s a rare shooter that gives banal tasks such as searching for water or riding a bicycle as much meaning as firing a gun.

Among bandit pursuits, lucky loot runs, mourning the death of friends, and castle raids, one of my unforgettable moments is when my friends and I accidentally orchestrated our own sniping mission. We’d arrived outside Chernarus’ Northwest Airfield: treacherously naked terrain with the potential for military loot.

With empty backpacks, two teammates moved in. If they fired a shot, they’d ring a dinner bell for the undead. But 500 meters away, atop a hill, my sniper rifle was out of earshot. This was an escort mission: their lives were my responsibility, and Arma 2’s ballistics meant I had to lead targets on two axes, manually dial-in my scope, and read my map to estimate ranges. It was a pure and exhilarating shooting experience, but more importantly, an expression of our teamwork. Moments like this in DayZ arise simply as a result of the mechanics, vulnerability, and players’ natural storytelling ability. By being so hands-off with us, DayZ gives us ownership over every moment.