survivalgaming (DayZ)

The Survival Gaming DayZ server has been around since the beginning of February, 2013. Since then, players have had numerous memorable interactions, a few of which were bad, but most of them good. Players have experienced the excitement of scavenging for their first can of beans, the thrill of crash-site hunting, the adrenaline rush of engaging in shoot-outs with NPC bandits, and the feeling of utter despair when death knocks on their door after being eaten alive by a horde of zombies. The SG DayZ server is about cooperative gameplay, teamwork, and semi-realism survival with a small group of survivors against the environment. We are a community of gamers who are looking to live out the zombie apocalypse in a non-competitive virtual world our way. There are several different playstyles on the server, such as scavengers, bandit hunters, minimalist survivalists, solo-ers, high profile badasses who take names and seem invincible, low profile stealthers who sneak into town without a sound, people who just want to see what kind of shenanigans they can get into with others, and more. Don't just survive... live... Currently, the server is using a version of DayZ called DayZ Epoch (obtainable through DayZ Commander) which adds numerous well crafted and deserved additions to DayZ, such as:- Over 200 vehicles in various colors; Armored SUV, multi-colored SUVs, Hello Kitty Smart Car, MV-22, AutoGyro Ultralight, Mosquito Ultralight Helicopter, fuel trucks, UH1H, police vehicles, Land Rover Special, and more.- Currency System: gold, silver, copper, tin, and aluminium bars.- Base Building & Crafting System: ability to craft certain items such as; wooden sheds, fences, tents, hesco barriers, deerstands, arrows, etc).- Tree Cutting System: Ability to harvest wood from a tree, then have it fall down after. You will collect more wood the taller the tree.- Tag Friendly Players: Get a visual identifier for those you have made friends with.- Traders Towns: Buy and sell weapons, ammo, tools, food, vehicle parts, vehicles, and more.- Dynamic Road Debris System: DayZ debris system replaced by random vehicle wrecks and debris that spawn on roads with loot.- Debris Removal: Ability to remove road debris and get a chance to receive a random vehicle part.- Vehicle Ownership: Purchased vehicles come with a key that is used to lock/unlocked the vehicle.- Cargo Check: Ability to check the free storage space available (vehicles, tents, safes, etc).- Salvage Parts: Remove wheels and window glass from vehicles. The higher the damage to the part the higher the chance the part will break and be destroyed.- Siphon Fuel: Fill Empty Jerry Cans on vehicles if they have enough fuel.- Some Custom New Items: currency, gold, silver, copper, tin and aluminium bars for trading; keys used to lock/unlock vehicles; keymakers kit used to copy keys to lock/unlock vehicles; personal 4-digit lockable safe storage; 30 meter plot pole used to enable building structures; fishing pole to fish for food in the ocean; fuel barrel with a much larger fuel capacity; energy drinks; zombie parts bag after gutting zombies used to make bio meat; bio meat adds 1600 blood when eaten but high chance of infection.- Tons of wearable clothing for both male and female characters.- Ability for infected players to become zombies that can: walk or crawl like a zombie, practically invisible to other zombies both sight and hearing, can run very fast without sprinting, cannot use any items or carry weapons, cannot bleed, cannot drive or ride in vehicles, and can raise a horde of zombies, perform melee attacks, feed on player bodies and dead animals, and have "zombie night vision."- Encumbrance system: Everything has a weight value, if a player carries too much for too long they could start to to become fatigued and eventually go unconscious for a bit. In addition, we have a variety of other customizations and enhancements, such as:- AI/NPC bandits which dynamically spawn around the map in addition to scaling difficulty static spawn points at BAF, Cherno, Elektro, Berezino, NEAF, and NWAF. In addition, there are bandit camps/strongholds spread around the map for survivors to raid. The AI/NPC bandits have a large variety of weapons and are a challenge for the most hardened of players. I am constantly balancing and tuning them, but numerous so-called "veteran PVP survivors" have rage quit the server after getting flanked by bandits or having their vehicle blown up.- Custom debug monitor with FPS & numeric blood value.- Loot set to a 30 minute respawn, rather than the default of 10 minutes for item scarcity.- No vehicles spawn on the map, survivors must purchase them using the monetary system within DayZ Epoch.- Self blood bag; 6,000 blood, 5 second action, 30 second reuse timer, for -1,000 humanity- Disabled sidechat, survivors are encouraged to use the TS3 server.- Vehicle towing and lifting; trucks can tow other ground vehicles, helicopters can lift other aircraft, and sea/ground vehicles.- Helicopter fast-roping- 6 hours of day.- Vodnik bus that travels around to numerous bus stops.- Bridge to Skalisty Island- Self-managed dedicated server for fast updates, and improved performance located in a Chicago, USA data-center.- 1,000 ms ping- Empty objects (vehicles, tents, certain built structures) are deleted after 21 days.- J.S.R.S. sound mod supported. Server rules:- No PVP- No stealing- No douchebags Sound like fun? That's because it is! Visit the site, read the forums a bit, and if you are interested, apply to be added to the whitelist. We look forward to seeing you in game. http://www.survivalgaming.org

Bump.

We just upgraded our dedicated server today to better accommodate the influx of players we have had over the last couple weeks. Still room for more! :)

Another update: I put in a refund request on July 3rd, which was not responded to until July 10th; they blamed an update to their ticket system to prevent spam. The pro-rated refund they offered was a credit to my account for future Vilayer services, which I have absolutely zero intent on ever purchasing. My conclusion: Vilayer is not a good hosting provider in support or reliability and people should avoid them. Fighter: Thank you for recommending NFO Servers. I switched to them, under a VDS/VPS plan, and could not be happier.

Update/bump.

Bump.

Updated.

Bump.

Bump.

Just an update: The ticket which I submitted on Sunday, June 30, at 10:40 AM was responded to on Tuesday, July 2, at 4:10 PM. This is over 53 hours after my ticket; 62 hours after my server went down. The response stated that there was a hardware failure, they were able to save the data, and they would be extended my bill date by 2 weeks plus the down time. Unfortunately for Vilayer, I had already ordered a VDS/VPS from another hosting company and was in the middle of setting it up at that time. I have since cancelled my account with Vilayer. I had high hopes for Vilayer, but they fell far far short of my expectations.

My experience with Vilayer thus far... I ordered my private hive DayZ Mod game server with Vilayer LTD on June 9 after a couple hours of restless sleep because of frustrations with Dayz.st. After ordering I went back to sleep while the account was fully activated. I awake several hours later, with an activated account, but did not have FTP access. First support ticket submitted and it was resolved in about one hour; awesome. That same day I get to configuring the server (Vilayer LTD has a lot more features than Dayz.st has), uploading mission file, and then go to import my SQL DB. Unfortunately, I cannot connect to the SQL DB, despite the fact the game server is on. Second support ticket submitted, where I state the game server is on. It was responded to just 6 minutes later and support informed me the server must be turned on for the SQL DB to be running. I respond by re-stating that the game server is on. Within 15 minutes I am magically able to connect to the SQL DB. Issued resolved (either by support or divine intervention) within 38 minutes. June 12th I submit a ticket because my time in my control panel is different from the game server and because I can't figure out which .ArmA2OAProfile to edit to change server difficulty settings; there are several. About 12 hours and 30 minutes later I get a response advising me to change my profile time within the panel (duh, lol...) and then a "I don’t know which file it is, but I will find out for you..." response. I respond within an hour. I then do not get a reply from Vilayer for roughly 6 days and 14 hours, which they apologized for and blamed the increased support response time on the incompatibility you will read about below, but the response has the answer I was looking for. June 15th I submit a ticket because I am unable to connect to the database via a PHP script. I provide the error message, which based on my reseach is generally caused by connections being refused by the SQL server. I get a response just over an hour later stating that they don't provide support for third party SQL applications, they can connect just fine, and I may be putting in the wrong IP/port or my game server is stopped when I try to connect. I respond by stating that I never requested assistance with the third party tool, since that is not their problem, however I am requesting support to open access to the SQL DB on the game server which I rent from Vilayer. I also state that I have zero issues connecting to the server using something like NaviCat/HeidiSQL, only when connecting to PHP base SQL admin tools; I tried three different ones. An hour later I send a follow-up message that maybe it is the socket. One day and 18 hours later I get "no" response and maybe the firewall on my web host is blocking it, and they can connect just fine. I respond within an hour stating that my web host is not blocking the connection (way to try passing the buck), that I don't have issues connecting to other databases, and that all of these PHP tools have simple ip/port/user/db/pass configs. About two hours and 30 minutes later I get a "sorry for the confusion" reply and that they do not support PHP my admin due to security issues. While I do not like the answer, I can accept it and thank the support person to taking ownership of the issue. I then suggest having the small PHP script be part of the install process for the mod I am using and accessible somehow via the control panel. June 19th I get a response saying that it is totally possible to connect to the SQL DB via a PHP script and "Any of our Web Hosting packages will support this php system." The CEO, Lee Benson, offers help setting it up via Skype/TS3, but I do not take him up on the offer because I know he has no idea what he is talking about, it won't work, and I don't feel like engaging in a voice conversation with the guy, I have better things to do. I respond within 5 minutes asking for clarifation as to whether I can use my own web hosting or I need to get web hosting from Vilayer? June 20th I have to respond to the ticket advising support to make sure they read the entire ticket because it is merged with an unrelated ticket. About 12 hours later I get a response that they will look into it. I again ask for clarification if I need web hosting with Vilayer or not. I get a response about 15 hours later saying "sorry" and my web host should work. I respond within 30 minutes saying that if that is the case, why am I unable to connect to the Vilayer SQL DB via a PHP script, and provide a copy/paste of three different config files for these scripts, which is basically ip/port/user/db/pass, and state that I have zero issues connecting via HeidiSQL/NaviCat. About 11 hours later on June 21 I get a response that it appears to be a socket issue (lol, called it) and that they will work with the coders to get it resolved; I just respond with thanks. On June 27th I get a "we didn't forget about you response." Ticket automatically closed on June 30th. Whatever, not really a big deal, relatively speaking. June 16th I submit an advisory ticket that an application add-on which can be used to send scheduled messages does not install and that the Battleye Extended Controls (BEC) are not working. Approximately 26 hours and 30 minutes later I get a copy/paste response, that my server should be fully functional again in 30 minutes. Actually, it was the exact same response I got from the above ticket. It fails to actually answer my ticket, which I state. Support responds by saying that they know, but just wanted to advise me that my server would be restarting multiple times and that they are looking into the issue. About 18 hours later I respond by saying that the issues still exists. Eight hours later the ticket is marked as "answered" so I respond again saying that no answer has been given. About 12 hours later I am advised that "there is a major update coming out tonight that will fix the installation issues on server messages and fix a huge amount of other issues currently in out bug list with the DayZ Package." June 17th my game server goes down with a status of "unknown." I am unable to make any sort of connection to the machine. A response was sent approximately five hours later saying that their scripts are not compatible with the latest DayZ mod update and they hope to have it resolved soon. I get another response 4 hours and 30 minutes later that my game server "will be fully functional again within the next 30 minutes." Two hours later my server is still down and I just go to bed. When I wake up the game server is running except... June 18th my game server has been totally wiped, reset, and set to "default." I also received an email stating that servers affected will get a two week billing cycle extension; awesome. Thankfully, I was able to export my database the day prior just before the server exploded so I begin configuring & uploading everything; had I not done that I would be pissed. Initially, I am unable to start the server because my account is limited to 40 slots, which is how my config files were set, but the game kept starting with 64 slots. After just over three hours the server starts magically working, but I am unable to connect to the SQL database. Approximately 15 minutes later I am advised to run the "change database password" script, which works. I am then able to finish setting my server up... again. June 18th I submit a ticket that in an effort to get the BEC working I uninstalled it, deleted the configuration folder via FTP, then reinstalled BEC. However, it did not recreate the configuration files. I ask for assistance to replace the file with the Vilayer default configuration file. About 12 hours later I respond that since the whitelist application is also not working I tried to totally reinstall everything by resetting my account to default, but this did not work.I get a response 19 hours later that they are looking into it. This ticket is merged by someone with the ticket created on June 15th. June 24 I submit a ticket referencing the above tickets asking when this update is coming and asking about the two week billing cycle extension. Within 15 minutes I get a response that they are still working on getting stuff working and he will get the two week extension added to my account. Then about 3 hours after that someone else in support responds by saying "we know about the issues with BEC" and that they have made the "server messages" application for use in lieu of. Confused I respond by asking for some kind of round about ETA; am I expected to wait a day, a couple days, a week? I also ask how the two week billing extension works as it is not reflected in my account details nor on my PayPal subscription. Within 30 minutes I get the following response, "Because we know BEC has not been working we had made another program just to run messages in the ACP addon control panel called 'Server Messages'" I send a response within a minute that the server messages application does not install. Approximately 2 hours later I get a "sorry, we are having issues" message. 35 minutes later I respond again because neither of my questions were answered; When will the BEC/whitelist/server message applications work, and how does the two week billing extension work? Just over an hour later I get a response that they hope to have it working within a few days and the ticket has been flagged to be seen by someone else. This is all acceptable. About 2 hours and 30 minutes after that the two weeks have been added to my account. June 26th when my server goes to restart is has an empty -mod= switch, causing it to not load the mod. After about 90 minutes of looking to see if I can edit the command line, I submit a ticket. Approximately 12 hours later I get a response and the server is fixed. They blame the issue on changes they made to the start script not working right. June 27th I get an email from Leo "Lee" Benson, CEO, that the add-on scripts for vanilla DayZ should now be working. June 28th I submit a ticket about two hours after my game server shutdown and became inaccessible. I get a response about 7 hours later stating that it works. June 28th I also submitted a follow-up ticket asking what is going on with the BEC/whitelist/server message applications. One of the reasons I switched to Vilayer was because I would no longer need to run this stuff on my second computer. Up until this point I had been patient because I was given a two week extension to my billing cycle, but it has now been two weeks since my server was wiped and these issues all started, so my patience will begin to wear thin soon. On June 30th, while playing a game, the server suddenly disconnects everyone *without warning*... once... twice... I say on TS, "I wonder if they are responding to my ticket about BEC/whitelist/server messages..." after the third restart "Matt - Vilayer" attempts to join the server a couple times, but is kicked for not being on the whitelist. It is at this point I note how professional it is of him to notify the server that he was going to restart the server; what a douche. Thankfully no one was flying at the time. He responds to my ticket that the add-on applications are now working, and that there is a large backlog of support tickets after the 1.7.7 update incident. June 30th at approximately 0145 hours CDT, just a couple hours after the last ticket ended, my server goes down with a status of "unknown." After two hours I say F this and go to sleep. I submit a ticket 9 hours after the server went down. As I type this my server is still down and my ticket has not been responded to. The server went down a couple other times and I did not bother to submit a ticket, thinking it would resolve itself. Thankfully, they did. I will let the reader make their own judgments based on my experience thus far.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

TTT.

You two are welcome to join my server, though it is a different version of DayZ called Epoch, which you can download through DayZ Commander. Epoch itself is a very interesting twist on DayZ, having a money system, base building, huge selection of vehicles to drive/pilot, ability to lock the doors of your purchased (using in game money) vehicles, different types of player skins, crafting, dynamic debri piles with loot that you can remove for more loot, and more. Everyone on the server is very friendly, helping each other, rather than trying to shoot each other in the back. We have a community camp where we stage out of, and have shared resources. There is no pvp, and no stealing, so if you have real life obligations to attend to for a few days your stuff will still be right where you left it, making the game not feel like so much of a chore. But don't think that just because there is no pvp it is easy. We have AI bandits which dynamically spawn based on player location, with places of interest having higher numbers of bandits who are more than happy to kill you if you aren't careful. Loot also only spawns once every 30 minutes, rather than every 10 minutes. We run 24/7 day currently because the AI bandits turn blind during at night, and we like the challenge. It is a whitelist only server, filled with people who go through a vetting process.

Yeah, I am aware, and don't really care. The server is more for people who want to engage in cooperative and organized game play in small groups, hunting the AI bandits, and scavenging for supplies than sitting in a bush with a sniper rifle waiting to kill someone looking for beans. Or the folks who want to experience more of the survival aspect. Or the folks who want to be able to go to school/work/sleep/etc and not worry about their vehicle/camp being ransacked. We die plenty though, thanks to the AI bandits.