Silver Side

It was actually one of the more fun experiences I've had with my several hours of the SA so far. That's the sort of rush you love having but at the same time hate having in DayZ, lol. It was a great game of cat and mouse. If I had had a weapon, it wouldn't have ended with me simply running to shelter with my tale between my legs though ;)

... Unless all the gear on the body was infected with said disease!!!

I wish "loot only spawns on server reset" was an option for biggest problem the standalone faces. That, the hunger/thirst system, and the zombies are the only issues I've wanted to see addressed right away.

I've actually never shot a fresh player. In fact, if I hear of someone doing so or witness evidence of such a thing, I try to hunt down the culprit and put him in his place ;) Nothing better than tracking down killers of unarmed players in areas like Cherno and Elektro!

My comrades and I were just talking about the opposite, actually. We were noticing how everyone seems MUCH friendlier as they get a feel for all the new mechanics and gear. I've had well over a dozen player interactions now (I play in high population severs typically, although that's changed since I realized loot only spawn upon server reset), and only a few of those have resulted in conflict or hostility. Actually... The first hostile act was from a random fresh spawn. I had made fwiends with another fresh spawn (like myself) somewhere west of Balota. We were just talking in the dark when suddenly the hostile revealed himself and beat my new fwiend to death! I had to run around the fence that separated us and take vengeance with my fistycuffs. The second was a guy that shot me to death with a pistol because I was running around him in circles too much (lulz). The third was pretty awesome actually. I was heading for the fire station in Cherno when I took a sniper bullet to the gut. I booked it to cover and bandaged myself up with some rags, then bobbed and weaved around the area the shot came from. He took a few more pop shots at me but missed every time. I eventually lost him and continued looting in peace. ... and that's it. Weird.

This game is COMPLETELY player driven, meaning technically the only goal is to survive. We're given the tools and resources we need to not only do just that in a hostile environment, but also do it however we want to do it. Morale is a good idea, just not implemented in a way that gives players such an incentive to group up that if you don't do so, you're at an even bigger disadvantage than you usually would be if you're a loner. As others have said, that basically forces people to interact a certain way in a game that's all about uncertain interactions. Maybe this morale system could be implemented in a different way. Such as... if you've been eating/drinking just enough to get by and running around for kilometers on end, your morale gets low and thus you have a greater chance of getting sick or breaking a leg if injured. Whereas if you've been generally stationary or walking instead of running, and have consistently been eating/drinking along with sustaining no injuries, your chances of getting sick or breaking a leg or etc decrease, even if you may not have purified your water or something. Of course, before implementing yet another complex new equation that calculates itself in the background, Rocket and the gang are probably going to be polishing everything and working out all the kinks of existing systems and processes first...Hopefully ;)

I haven't gotten any since the last patch either and I must've spammed F twenty times at a well earlier.

Back in the mod there were a few times when I found myself strolling through the countryside with a vehicle full of guns and ammo and absolutely nothing to do with them, plus a tent and/or another vehicle back at the camp site with more... My friend and I were driving along when we saw another dude in a truck. We agreed to form a triangle with our vehicles and trade. We got two sets of NVGs and a Coyote backpack out of him, he got a DMR with tons of ammo out of us. Probably the most successful barter with a stranger in DayZ I've ever had. We went our separate ways while ensuring he wasn't following us to our campsite, and that was that. Luckily I think I've always placed trust with the right people :) With how bad the hunger meter is right now in SA, and how scarce food loot seems to be, I haven't been in a position to give away food, lol. Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is DON'T LOSE FAITH! :D

Aaaaand after the latest Steam update I'm having a harder time than ever... Seems like loot and hunger meter is broken. Hope they're working on it xD

I figured it was something like this... And to me, it means they should seriously consider revamping the system. If a person can potentially survive days without water and weeks without food, I can really only come to the conclusion that my character is a fatty and is drinking salt water whilst I'm logged off.

Another vote for Cherno. Particularly the area around the church and supermarket. Over the past few days of play, I've been to Cherno and Elektro pretty much equally in terms of time, and Cherno was definitely more active. Everything was fine at Elektro except for one particular instance, in which a sniper was firing at me until I managed to hit the coast and run toward Cherno, all whilst another player was following me trying to a shot on me. I got away eventually though. Cherno on the other hand... I've been in a few firefights, and have encountered two hackers.

Wow! So I've heard about DayZ Commander but just decided to try it out since you so kindly linked it, and it's displaying a lot more servers than the other client was for some reason. Thanks for the suggestion, it looks like I won't be playing on empty servers anymore!

Hey again guys. I'm having a problem finding regular servers, even after searching all through Play with Six. All of them seem to have extra vehicles, start with guns, infinite daylight, etc. I like for my gameplay on DayZ to be the classic flashlight and bandage in the beginning, scared of the dark, vehicles are special experience. Is there any possibility that there are more servers like that out there, but they just aren't on the server list? Also, I like for there to be at least 20 players on a server when I play. The few regular servers I've found tend to be on the low population side of things.

Well guys, you've been quite helpful, thanks a lot! I've had a few successful encounters now, and I feel comfortable enough during interactions. I've only seen a few players since the last time I posted, but all went well! I did have to kill a guy once though... I was in the midst of raiding the barn in Prigorodky one last time before heading further inland when someone with a hatchet ran in from the rain to hide from some pursuing zombies. I had a Remington pointed at him as he ran up the stairs, not noticing me. I got on direct com and told him I was hanging out here, and that I'd help him take care of the zombies but he would have to leave right after... He turned around and looked at me, which I allowed, because he only had the hatchet. Then he ran up to the third floor and picked up a CZ and aimed at me... I called him a a silly goose and took him out. He then was all "what the hell? on side, but I told him I gave him multiple warnings and was friendly enough over direct com... He then said he didn't realize I was talking to him. So I explained how he can tell the difference between side and direct coms, and he was all "whatever"... I'm sure he was just trying to steal the loot I had a claim on. But anyway, thanks again everyone! Feel free to post more tips and trips, or any other noobs reading in, feel free to chime in as well!

Awesome, thanks guys! I think it's clear at this point that I need to be a tad more cautious til I'm more experienced and more geared. Cherno and Elektro distract you so easily when you're running up and down the coast trying to find your buddy, but luckily we met up at Cape Golova and held up in Prigorodky. Not sure where we're going to go from there, but definitely staying away from the urban areas until we have some better gear (I have a double barrel and a Makarov, he has a hatchet and an empty crossbow xD ).