Grey Jackal

Basically this. I'm trying to get a few IRL friends into DayZ as well, but I'd like to find a good group to run with -- both to learn the ropes of the game, but also to actually have some fun. As I've found so far, it's pretty easy to survive Zeds once you have a basic weapon. Scavenging for supplies isn't scary at all on an unpopulated server. What I'd like to do is make a difference with other players, help them out and eventually show them the ropes. That, and I haven't found a "home" in a server yet. Been hopping into several different servers, and so far just haven't found a "home" yet. I wasn't sure if there was a specific private hive that would have more "heroic" players to group with or not.

I kept seeing a lot of talk on Reddit and other sites about DayZ, and I finally gave in, saved up a little cash, and got ARMA 2 and DayZ. I was severely discouraged at first -- I started up a couple quick games of ARMA 2 and got obliterated long before I could see my enemy. I haven't played a realistic military sim since the first Operation Flashpoint (and I was a wee kid at the time), so it was a kick in the teeth. However, I downloaded DayZ, and after a long and lengthy trial-and-error to get it working, solving one error after another, I finally got into a server today! I joined an empty server to start with, to get my bearings and get used to the engine (which feels pretty clunky, but I'm getting used to it!). Got my first hatchet, got a canteen, and am slowly getting used to fighting off Zeds -- which is pretty hard considering how melee seems to work like a short-range gun, and I have notoriously bad internet in the first place. Anyway, I'm really interested in playing with a group; namely, do-good heroes. I love the idea of helping others who may be new to the game, and fending off bandit players as needed. Can anyone recommend a U.S. server that may be good for me to start on? I'm not against bandits or PvP (it's what makes playing a "good guy" interesting, after all), but I'd love to get my feet wet by not having to worry too much about this whole getting "sniped on the coast" thing. I also don't have any voice chat (as I said, bad internet, so I don't want to bother cluttering it with VOIP). TL;DR New player looking for a U.S. server to help others on. Any suggestions?