Nanoha

Would be nice to have third person but with the frustum culling of first person (as far as other players go). I do prefer third person mainly because Arma/DayZ first person feels very rough but I do dislike being able to see over walls and around corners etc.

I would say the northern airfields are probably the safest. The fact that NW airfield is so spread out probably makes it a little safer than some of the other spots. Also, hospitals are all pretty damn safe. Never seen a single other person near them. Not much worth looting mind you.. The only Saline packs I have found (SA equivalent of blood bags) have been in one particular type of house. I forget what it looks like on the outside but it has 1 room downstairs, 2 up stairs and a little lounge looking area at the top of the stairs. Only one way into that house.

The sun has conditioned me to running facing the floor all the time, it really screws me over when playing other games.

Ah that is disappointing, I figured they would be more residential too (similar to the mosin).

Not working currently but totally correct about the rounds. Let's hope we see some sub sonic ones at some point.

Fire Stations are the place to go if you want pistol mags. Looted 2, got 5 mags.

I'd like to see a system of character development over gear development.

Well he sounds like he's having a lot of fun compared to just shooting people.

I don't want to see stupid systems but I do want to see something that breaks down barriers between cooperation. I must confess I haven't once cooperated with a player in DayZ (mod and standalone) whom I didn't know from outside of the game which I think is quite sad. I generally just leave people alone, fight back if attacked or kill if threatened. If you think of mmos etc (this game is actually tagged as massive multiplayer on Steam..), then you tend to group up with strangers. Even in Ultima Online (where you could freely kill people and take all their stuff), people grouped up with strangers and so on. Unfortunately in DayZ kill on sight or avoiding other players is the only option, it really is a tragic system. I want to be able to kill anyone I want but I also want to get along with people, do things that I can't do alone etc. We need reasons for cooperation and we need ways to break down the barriers that prevent people interacting. Rocket appears to want the same which is good. A system that gave you some indication of whether you are at risk or relatively safe would be nice. In real life I can look at people and tell if they look trust worthy or not - this should be reflected in game. Of course, they could look wonderful then stab you in the back but hey, same in real life so that's good. If you come across someone who's murdered 50 people, with a necklace of ears around their neck your gonna think "I should probably avoid this person", your character in game could have vague thoughts about people they look at too like the "I feel hungry" messages. Hardcore and teamwork/cooperation are not mutually exclusive.

Never seen any loot in them, given up looking.

How do you know you are missing? After playing something like BF (hit indicators), I find it very odd to shoot people and not know if I am hitting them or not. I shot at someone from about 2 meters away crouched, first person and aimed down sights and I still have no idea if I hit them as there was no body/person. He shouted something when I started shooting and must have either logged before I hit (doubtful, I had the jump on him) or logged dead and the body went. I have not noticed any decrease in accuracy using aimed/third person, I find it is actually easier to aim that way and you can zoom in more too (unless you have a mag scope). I've been shot and kill right through concrete stairs too so I don't put to much faith in the hit mechanics of this.

DayZ is still in development so in that respect it's not as fleshed out as the mod BUT even in its current state SA is superior in many ways and with the potential to be superior in almost every way. Off the top of my head, the inventory is a vast improvement which brings a lot of potential. If you are interested only in DayZ I would definitely get the standalone. I would get the mod (for now) if you are interested in Arma 2 (great game) and get SA when it is more polished as you will notice a big improvement on the mod. SA will most definitely end up being the superior of the 2 (and given it costs money I should hope so).

Have you emptied the bottle out first? You can't fill a half full bottle. Water bottles only carry 6ml iirc, canteen carry 10ml. Is the bottle ruined?

Complex game mechanics are good, complicated game mechanics are bad. It would be far more fun imo if blood was just blood without the types. My friend and I take each others blood and hold onto it so we are guaranteed to have the right type for one another but in an emergency you're just flipping a coin. Test kits are far to rare and the inability to write the type on the blood makes it difficult to keep track of. It might as well be no blood types and 50% chance that a blood transfusion will kill you. I've never even had the chance to use blood, shot - dead every time which is a shame. I would love a moment where I am having to bring someone back from the brink. Only time I've used a saline is when my friend was seeing the light from other reasons (relatively safe).

This is Arma for you, I shoot the ground at times also (when using the sights). I wish they had Arma3 funky different stance mechanism as this would alleviate the problem. A lot of the time I don't even hit the ground on DayZ while prone, I hit like some magic invisible force field a few cm above the ground instead.

Nothing, absolutely nothing in DayZ scares me more than getting on a ladder. After it launched me off the top of one I've been scared of them ever since. I think I have developed ladder phobia. At least the height was enough to snap my legs (it outright killed me).

I found one in a hangar. It is a bit daft how difficult they are to find (1 in 30 hours).

It's the anti server hop military camp fix. In all serious though it has happened to me once, I spawned as a survivor on the beach, I immediately left the server and joined another one and I was back with all my gear in the forest where I had logged off.

I bet most people KOS because they are scared the other person might kill them and they will lose their stuff. Died twice to players so far (with next to nothing to lose), not killed anyone, left plenty of people live, been shot at, shot back etc. I guess I'm just a nice guy who doesn't care too much about his epic gear. I personally find the initial gearing/surviving bit the most enjoyable, I am currently armed to the teeth and it's not so fun.

I managed to turn mine on no problem, it didn't seem to emit any light (well it did a tiny bit, enough to see a small spot at my feet...) but it did glow. I had it in my hand, right clicked on it in the inventory and selected turn on. Check it's not ruined as it won't come on when ruined. It shouldn't require matches or anything to light, just a can attached.

There was another post somewhere, something along the lines of - I got robbed, I might as well have just been shot. It was basically all about your character meaning nothing and you being defined by your gear. There were suggestions on how to make people care about their character. I think your idea is an excellent one and would also work towards the "caring about you character" problem. You should start weak and malnourished and as you start to survive and strive get fitter and stronger just as you say. I think it would also be good if the more muscular you are the more you must eat and illness/malnutrition should start to degrade your muscle. In short, excellent idea!

I feel sad that I took an m4 in place of my Mosin but when I came across a non-looted airfield with lots of 5.56 ammo I felt rude not to. I look forward to using the Mosin again.

I haven't killed anyone yet (32 hours so far). I've been killed a few times, maybe twice. I have got the jump on several people and just left them alone. I have also had people leave me alone, sometimes they are just outgunned. This one guy snuck up on me when I was munching on my seriously loud food and just stood there looking at me until I turned which was quite scary. He gave me a compass and I went on my way. I've been shot at several times but managed to escape, sometimes I've shot back. The way I see it is this: it doesn't come down to what you gain, it comes down to what you will lose. When you have nothing then sure you have a lot to gain but their stuff will be wrecked when you kill them anyway. When you are geared up, you stand to gain nothing but if you don't kill someone then you stand to lose all of your stuff. I think it is the fear of losing more than the lure of gaining that drives people to kill on sight. I would like to see more implemented to reduce kos because it does spoil the game. I'm not talking overkill type stuff but more things to encourage cooperation and reduce the fear of losing stuff though I have no suggestions. I would welcome something to ell if a person is friendly or not - some text message when you get near someone saying your thoughts "This person seems to have a certain kindness about them," and so on. Just anything to break down the barriers that prevent initial interaction. You watch something like The Walking Dead and you know if one of the characters looks trustworthy or sly etc, I don't see how this shouldn't be done in game too.