Grant Hammerhoof

Throwing in my lengthy opinion for what little it's worth. This mod needs less "PvP" references and more "Incidental Player Kill" references. By that I mean first and foremost I see this as a survival game, and love it all the more because of that. Being stuck in the wilderness in pitch blackness, relying only upon a map and the north star above me to tell where I'm going--hearing only the sound of zombies in the distance as I get closer to towns that I need to scout for supplies--it's a survival game, not a free-for-all. It's the deathmatch mentality of a lot of the (frequently new) players that ruins the experience for me--players who buy ARMA II simply so they can play the Zombie mod. A lot of them don't have the cooperative experiences that stock ARMA II provides, or understand the realism mechanics, or the general mentality of people who enjoy the milsim style of gameplay not to be found in shooters like Modern Warfare and such. People like those only see the respawn counter, and the item pickups. They don't see the cooperative ventures, the required teamwork in surviving against a common foe. They know they'll repawn if they die, and thus don't see the consequences of death as being that great. Players who embrace the survivalist, realism side of the game see only the next checkpoint--the next ration they need to use. It's muddying the waters having two completely different player bases in a single server. People who play for the cooperation side of things get punished for trying to help other players, when those other players either turn on them five minutes in, or shoot them simply for the hell of it. "PvPers" have nothing to lose by dying--they know they'll respawn. They don't have the same emphasis on survival as much as they do killing other players. When I first heard of the mod from my buddy, I thought it was just another zombie mod, but when I started playing, and saw how intact the realism settings were, I rejoiced! Here was a game where I could apply my tradecraft and survival knowledge, where I could actually look at the stars and gain useful information, where I could pinpoint landmarks and figure out my bearings, and feel rewarded for successfully reaching my destination (and a few hours afterwards I was sniped by someone with night vision and a high powered rifle whilst I was laying in the middle of a dark, cluttered forest examining my map). Keep the player killing option. It's fine. But try to get rid of this 'Player versus Player" deathmatch mentality that's spreading so rapidly. Just look at the "Murders" counter on the front page--it goes up by 3 every minute! In a single day, well over 500 murders take place! The ARMA 2 engine has its limitations, but there needs to be some greater purpose to the mod, in order to remove the unintentional emphasis on killing other players. But right now, all a bandit player needs to do is run to the airport or something, find some night vision goggles, and then go to town. They get the satisfaction of getting kills on other players, and those players get the frustration of having their survival experience ruined. Life isn't fair, life isn't balanced, but this game isn't about life, it's about the undead zombies. It's anti-life. Just let us have our life ended by the zombies we're massacring, not by some prick who gets entertainment by playing ARMA 2 like other generic free-for-all first person shooters.

Not when you have a pistol out. Only works for rifles. However when you have a pistol' date=' you can press [G'] (default) to check gear, and when you crouch, you'll raise the pistol up to the side. Kinda works in its place--but you have to press [G] every time you want to lower it--and when you stand up, the pistol is raised again.

I'm Grant, my name is "Beast" in-game. Since there are probably a lot of Beasts, you might not necessarily see me--but if you see me type a special smiley face (hint, it's a minotaur with horns), you'll know it's me me. I'm a nice guy, a survivalist, and a co-op player through and through, and usually only have time to play when the server is pitch black night-time. I hate the "Player-Versus-Player Deathmatch Free-For-All" mentality of a lot of DayZ players (especially the ones who have never played ARMA 2, and only got it so they could play the mod; thus not understanding the simulation/realism mechanics, and treating the game like some average first-person-shooter), but I'm all for having player-on-player shooting mechanics. Sort of a, "Friendly Fire Plus". I don't mind getting killed off by another player if it's for my food or weapon, but it makes me rage to be killed by some kid in a tower with night vision and a sniper rifle, shooting others for nothing more than a sense of 'fun'. Groovy.

Not entirely sure I agree with the "are you friendly" business--but adjusting spawn locations based on level of Humanity sounds darned clever! It'd definitely help separate the player killers from the players actually interested in survival and cooperative ventures.

I agree with the idea of having scripted events with zombies--have them invade some town or other--maybe even give them special equipment that will reward players who work together to defeat the invasion. Nothing too special or unique (after all, equipment earned would stay on the player, so giving all players night vision from a single raid would significantly overpower them in the game world), but make it worth while; ammo, water, lights and food. Anywho, I agree with you, Bukk. Good idea.