PhillyT

LOL you are probably right, I just find it laughable, because lets be honest, in a zombie apocalypse where there are both zombies and legions of sadists, being handcuffed in some abandoned town is preferable to running off into the woods and taking a risk that you might be shot!

I just find the predilection to handcuff hilarious. What right do you have to "arrest" anyone? Unless you are COMPLETELY outclassed and have no chance of escape or killing the enemy, there isn't a single occasion I would allow myself to be cuffed. I have cuffed people to check them for a gun, though generally I am fine with them taking off their gear for me to look at it instead, but I don't trust people to cuff then release. I would rather have the chance to fight back.

Unless I am covered by a gun at close range and there is more than one player, there is no way I am going to let anyone arrest me for anything. I'll take the risk that I can kill you before you kill me. Folks get entirely too sadistic when they pullout those handcuffs. It is downright creepy. I generally ignore the player or talk to them from cover.

Have you ever fired an m4 or ask fully auto? Not too many shots will be on target. I think the mid range accuracy is fine, but longer ranged, out to 300 can be tricky.

But in reality, the M4 is MORE accurate than a Mosin. Mosin are and were cheap. I picked up mine for less than $100. THe thing can't hit much. I have shot several and all have the same issue. It is an okay gun, but my AR frames are much more accurate. I get that there needs to be game balance, but the two have very different profiles in real life compared to the game.

I don't even carry a secondary weapon when I have the M4. You don't need it. You will be dead long before you run dry of ammo.

The ACOG does fine for zooming. The M4 is generally the more useful weapon. I don't know how many times I have rushed a poor Mosin player in the woods or on the outskirts. But you are right, there is a need for some form of binocular.

I have killed plenty of people with the M4, more than with any other weapon (shot guns are close though) Now I am no bandit, and my total kills are less than 50 on about 100 hours, but the M4 is a great weapon at around 100 yards. IF you are the sort to kill more beyond that then yeah, you will not like it as much. With a bipod, laying down, using an ACOG, it is fine out to 200 yards and sometimes 300 yards. Either way, at 50 - 100 yards, you can mag dump anyone down if you chose. The addition of the shotgun does take a little bit away from the gun though.

I don't have a real problem with the military weapons, I just think they should be more rare. It is easy to get an M4 right now, but maybe when we have the restrictions on server hopping, things will be different. I would like to see more civilian weapons. Some lower powered cheap revolver maybe. I do think we have a few of the common weapons covered (a hunting style rifle, basic shotgun, semi-automatic mid level rifle) but it would be nice to see more regionally correct weapons appear (like AK of various sorts). Military gear is fine since there are plenty of military bases, it is just too common and too easy a choice right now.

Yes, look at boxing and UFC. Rarely is anyone knocked out by one shots that aren't sweeping haymakers. Uppercuts are powerful, but they are landed fairly often without someone going facedown for 15 seconds. The strikes that are thrown in Dayz are jabs and crosses, both straight punches. Neither are "knockout" strikes, though a good cross can stun. The main problem is that there is no "unprepared" status in this game. Generally, you are staring at the guy trying to knock you out. This isn't some barroom sucker punch. The game essentially has 165 pound men straight punching other men with ridiculous amounts of knockout potential. I am not trying to pretend to be an expert here. I am speaking from the position of someone who boxed in the past (kick boxing, but still boxing) and who has taught karate. Unlike in most movies and soap operas, it is highly unusual to knock out a person. By knockout I mean the kind of knock out the game has where the guy is laid completely out. There is no stun mechanic, just punched and bloody or flat out smoked. It is a ridiculous mechanic and leads to the sort of hell for bear assaults by bambis that are so annoying.

People mention the invisible zombie kills all the time, but I am not sure that is what just happened to me. I was in the lumber yard at Berezino, had just sprinted past a couple zombies on the school and was at the cement wall looking around when I heard a melee thump and suddenly went to grey vision with lots of blood, like an axe hit. Strange right? They were military zombies I had passed, but they don't hit that hard do they? I ran to the building on the coast, looking behind to see if someone struck me through the wall. I then heard what sounded like a gun shot and a bullet strike near me. I ran around behind a fence into a position nobody in town could have seen and heard another shot and bullet strike. I ran into the building, up the stairs and into the upstairs bedroom. I bandaged and raised my shotgun to the door. I then heard another thump and got the "You are dead." statement. I almost assume I was being shot with a mosin. THe damage is roughly that (like half life at a torso shot), but the melee thump confused me. The killing blow happened away from windows and in a closed room. I suppose the person could have backed away from the house until they managed to see me, but I think I would have heard the gun. Likewise, they could have shot me through the floor, but generally, again, you would hear the gun rapport. Does this sound like some glitch with the invisible zombie I have heard so much about? Seems unlikely given the gunshots I was hearing, but either way, things were behaving strangely.

I heard the zombie, but I have never seen zombies climb those sorts of stairs and the door stayed shut (not that our current zombies care about doors!)

God, no it won't. Seriously, go to a gym and try some of this shit out before using soap opera logic to justify stupid game mechanics.

If I don't have a gun, if you hold me up and I feel like you are a dick, I will run or try to kill you. It is easy to get a sweat shirt and a can of food. Who holds up new spawn anyway? More likely they want a plaything. Homey don't play that.

I don't put a huge amount of stock in how long my characters survive. Honestly, you can survive as long as you want. Low pop servers, out of the way cabins, it isn't difficult. You would need to restrict it to saying only use full servers and hang out in the major towns to get a clear picture. It is just too easy to ive currently.

It isnt that it cant happen, it is that it is extremely rare. If you know the strike is coming it is even less likely. Suckerpunches can be stunning, but that isn't what the game is showing. It has an unbalanced punch mechanic in a game where you can hit someone with a baseball bat ten times before there is any obvious effect.

Finally meet my end hunting spawn killers in Berenzino. After fighting and defend Zeleno for three full days, I decided to head back east to see what adventures may await me. I journeyed through the Stary, saline bagging a nice young player who had been mugged by zombies in Novy. I showed him the fountain then went on to Polana. I looked for spawns there but found none. I then trekked towards the hospital at Berenzino. Sitting in the pines eating beans, I spotted a lone new spawn with only a tee shirt and a bad attitude looking around the hospital. Before long, he decided a fist fight with some zombies was in order in front of the Hospital. Three were beating on him before I deployed my bipod, ranged my ACOG, and managed to take a couple out. I moved towards the hospital to see if he needed medical assistance, but he was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared into the building, but all the doors were closed. I assume he thought I was shooting at him and logged. I drank from the fountain behind the cafe and waited in the bush nearby since I heard M4 and Mosin fire. While there, lurking for four minutes or so, I saw no less than three survivors with no clothes running around. Shots continued and when I left my bush I found several dead unclothed survivors in the streets near Tank Square. I can only assume the killers where holding people up, stripping them down, and then letting them run free only to shoot them after. I moved off, towards the south of town, to look towards the construction site and warn off any newspawns in the area. For about five minutes I watched, when I saw several men moving around the perimeter and upper floors. There were four that I could see, but I assumed there had to be more than that, since I saw no less than six different styles of dress. At least two had M4 from what I could tell. I could only assume that these were the bandits killing spawn. While trying to get into a position to watch their path, I lost them as they moved towards the coast and lumber yard. I immediately shifted back towards Tank Square, not wanting a gun fight in an open field when I was so heavily outnumbered. As I moved, I had been hearing m4 and mosin shots for quite a while and moved to the apartments near the grocery store to get a look out. This proved to be a very bad move. I assume that while I was looking, someone else was looking at me. Not seeing anyone, I made my way back down and at the bottom found myself looking at a double barrel held by a man at the front door. Improbably, I began unloading on him first despite him having the drop and his single shot swung wide. He obviously died. I ran up stairs a flight and waited to see if I could hear anyone. I had to assume that the gang heard me. On a lark I said: "PSSSSSST, I know you are there." Bandit: "Come on down with your hands up. We won't shoot you." Me: "No thanks, why don't you come up here?" At this point, one of my main running mates logged in at Stary Sobor. He was listen to the entire thing and was trying to make his way towards me but I told him that the encounter would most likely be over before his help could come. I had resolved to sell my life dearly and kill as many of them as I could.

Sure enough, they did chose to come up. I killed an m4 armed player on the second floor as we exchanged fire (I was in one of the bedrooms to the left of the stairs. Moving across the hall into another bedroom, I killed a third player also armed with an m4 as he sprinted across the hall. I now heard several people below me. A player raced across the stairs into the bathroom across from the stairs and I prepared to fire on him when another squirted up the steps and into the room across from me. A third m4 player peered around the stairwell and all hell broke loose. I opened fire at the peering player and struck him, probably killed him, though I will never know since the other two players opened fire and I went dead. They then taunted me through the mic, apparent forgetting I killed at least three of their merry band and they now had my ruined equipment and much of theirs to show for it.

But really, a fun night! I sold my life dearly and got some licks in. I know many will think me a fool for playing the hero (I am looking at you Frosti!) but I like the play style and find it a challenge.

I should point out, due to my resistance to banditry, I don't get that much experience in full on fire fights. I don't KOS, but I generally let people go without them knowing I am there. I think a more experienced player would never have died in that building. I had 4 60 round mags and a couple hundred spare rounds. I could have killed a dozen men without trouble. I also had the advantage. They only had one way into the building. But I did well enough in the grand scheme of things, and sometimes it is fun to just start fresh.

Sure. My steam name is the same as my forum name. I have a group of 5 who play, three who play regularly (the others are waiting for the SA to improve a little - they hate running). As far as playing a hero, I just like the interactions. I can kill countless faceless gas mask people and barely remember, but I remember the interactions with those I met where we both go our separate ways. I have been bit in the ass more than once, which has led me to have a few rules: 1. Don't walk closer than 10 feet from me with your fists up. 2. You will always have a gun pointed at you, either mine or one of my friends. Sometimes a friend who you aren't aware of! 3. If you are armed, I may handcuff you, or request you remove your vest and backpack. You can keep your pants (yes I know you can hide a pistol in there, but I am willing to risk it for you to retain some dignity). I can regear really quickly, so those times when things REALLY go wrong and I get blasted aren't too serious. The times when things go great make it all worth while. I played for about an hour and a half after dying and had a hunting pack, two snap loaders, a shotgun, 22 rounds for the shotgun, piles of food, and a fire axe on the same server I died on. I spawned at the factory, ran inland to the construction site, hit Polana, went to Dolena, and logged off. This morning I checked Dolena again, made my way back to the construction site near Polana and found a Mosin on the 2nd floor saw horse. I sawed off my shot gun so I am pretty well prepared now. I went to BErenzino and found a .45 in school, though I have no magazines or rounds for it (consquently, they reduced .357 spawns, but now leave HEAPS of ammo for it everywhere!)

I have no idea what happened with that. I wrote some of it in Word. I just copied it, edited it and repasted at it seems fixed!

Same argument is made for the 5.45, but really, you would need some serious tumble to match the impact of the .308, or even the 6.8 which is a more powerful round by quite a lot compared to 5.56.

I am not sure where you get your information. I have an R25 in a .308 in my collection. The difference in plate damage at the range between it and the .223 my MP15 fires is beyond comparison (I know the 5.56 is more powerful than the .223). I have a Stag 6.8mm, which is more powerful than the 5.56mm, and it too is quite a ways beneath the power of the .308. Even assuming the most potent 5.56mm rounds available, you aren't adding 1000 pounds of muzzle energy to beat the .308 (or the 7.62x54 or 7.62x51).

Great. So if my guy were carrying a light machine gun, he will be slower. How about when my guy is standing upright with a tee shirt and jeans? Moves almost exactly the same. No, this isn't an effective attempt to simulate reality, it is a poorly designed engine trying to mimic human response. We all know the ARMA engine is garbage, lets not pretend it is garbage with the intent to simulate reality. I have time and training with pistols and assault weapons in tactical situations. Nothing about movement in ARMA is accurate in terms of limiting movement.

This games main limit right now if the completely wonky way the character moves. It is like the Resident Evil games of the 90's. The character moves more like a tank than a human.

I have a good friend in Florida who plays often and another friend in Maine with me who plays as well (though he is a little bandity at times - I like to play friendly).