Whyherro123

I've gotten 13 or so kills in a row on a high-pop server using the bow. The thing is, you usually aren't going to win in a straight-up fight, unless the other player also has a bow, which is when the fight comes down to skill with the bow, positioning, and balls. The bow (and the crossbow), like all "primitive weapons" (I would love to have some more improvised weapons included, like a spear and a sling, as they are both VERY deadly and easy to make. Not so easy to use, but effective) are AMBUSH weapons. You distract the foe, then strike when they are not paying attention. Stick and move, stick and move, kind of a like a dance. I piled up some open cans near the police station in Kamyshovo, and hid behind a fence about 15 feet away. Players would run up to the police station, look at the cans, and (seriously) proceed to eat the food out in the open. That is when I would stand up, draw the arrow back, and shoot them in the chest. Lethal, and the players kept coming. Idiots. It was clearly an ambush!

Hopefully, either agriculture will be much more fleshed out, and/or foraging for wild edibles will become more possible. You would be surprised at just how much food is available in the wilds, ESPECIALLY during Autumn, which is what the in-game physical world is set in. Oak trees are dropping acorns, berries are available, tubers such as river-cane and cat-tail (cat-tail is probably the most amazing plant EVER, as almost all of it is edible/useful, during different parts of the year.) are ready, and crops are ready to be picked. http://tacticalintelligence.net/blog/the-fantastic-four-4-essential-wild-edible-plants-that-may-one-day-just-save-your-life.htm I amend my first statement; Nothing would be better than sitting on the shore of a lake, with a fishing pole rigged up ( ), a fire roaring in your shelter, a pot of soup bubbling, and corn, beans, potatoes and pumpkins rustling in the breeze. http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

You are looking for "relaxing", or "lessening the draw". Like I said in my above thread, the current in-game improvised bow would be a massive pile of shit in reality. There are "stick-bows" (which is essentially what the in-game bow is), but they are pretty much strictly field-expedient, and deteriorate (set, lose power, etc) pretty quickly. An actual self-bow would be a pretty useful weapon. Take a look at some of those videos; guy shoots a deer and it dies from blood loss within 30 seconds. The only thing is, it takes a LOT of practice in order to be effective, which is the main reason why early guns become more popular than bows, not effectiveness. A soldier could be trained to use a gun in 2 weeks, a bow took multiple years.

I can say with experience that the improvised bow can make "accurate" shots out to 30 meters, but you have to know how the arrow trajectory works, as well as the effects of terrain and the speed/trajectory of the target. I took a shot on a moving zombie at Msta, from 30 meters away. He was walking away from me on an angle, down a hill. I aimed in 3rd person, as using the bow in 1PP is far more difficult than IRL, for some odd reason. You also need to wait until the bow "swings all the way to the left" (why it has such outrageous sway, I dunno), as the arrow will sail the straightest. I aimed about 1/2 an inch on my screen above his head, let fly, and watched the arrow nail him in the throat. This is why you sneak up as close as possible. Using a bow really makes you think about how the animals (or people. I've got some human kills with the bow, believe me or not). Use bushes, trees, depressions in the land, and crouch and even go prone as much as possible. I've gotten within 20 or so feet of a deer. Took me half an hour. Bushcraft, and especially archery. is a truly beautiful way of life.

I, too, have done this, and in my opinion, not relying on military loot, guns, nor "planning" to PvP makes Day Z a different game ENTIRELY. Things are much more.....relaxing, for lack of a better word. It is kind of serene, sitting near the shores of a lake, with the crackle of a fire behind you, watching the sun set over the ridgeline to the west. Sneaking up as close as possible to a deer or boar in order to get the most effective shot with the bow just feels different than blowing it away with a rifle. The only things I would change, or add really, would be to allows us to boil water using a pot on a tripod, changing how bows were made, to make them more effective, and to allows us to build shelters and "camp furniture" so that we can stay warm and dry, even in the coldest, wettest weather. But I am sure that all of these things will come in time. http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/215247-quiver-arrows/ notice the reflector wall that you would build a fire against. It would reflect more heat back into your shelter, heat that would otherwise be "wasted" away from you into the empty air. Also, notice the grass insulation where you would sleep. Insulation beneath you will prevent 90% of heat loss to the ground, which is where you lose most of your body heat. Boiled water is probably the most important "thing" you can make in a survival situation. I hold the personal belief that if you have a fire, you should have something on it. A pot of water is the most useful. Boiled water can be used for drinking, boiling bandages, cooking food (and making broth), making teas (for medicine, food, and morale), steaming wood for woodworking, etc etc etc

Exactly. My problem with amputation isn't immersion, it is the fact that very few people would actually survive it in a DayZ-like situation.

American doctors during the Civil War did amputate many limbs, but they also did not do it correctly (causing a lot of pain and shock for the subject), as well as actually sewing up the stump at the end of the procedure. They usually would not cauterize. And, a lot of soldiers did in fact die from post-amputation infections. Don't forget, the germ theory wasn't really in vogue yet, and many doctors wouldn't sterilize their instruments. A similar process would occur in Day Z, not due to misinformation, but to lack of resources in a post-apocalyptic world. If my friend developed an infection in a wound, I would have them rest almost 24/7, with them being warm and comfortable (exertion and discomfort leads to a depressed immune system), while having them drink plenty of clean water and eating the best and most of whatever food I had. (being dehydrated or hungry [low on energy] also leads to a decreased immune response) I would also clean up the wound to the best of my ability, by actually applying hard alcohols (yet again, hard 40-50+ proof alcohols are your friend!), clean (boiled) dressings, and washing out the pus with warm water and soap. IF the wound became gangrenous, I would discuss the situation with them (don't forget, the level of infection where gangrene forms often leads to decreased mental facilities due to fever), and kindly suggest a mercy kill. Life without a limb in a post-apocalyptic world would not be pleasant, both for the amputee and for the rest of the community that now has to work harder in order to both feed/clothe/warm themselves as well as now-unfortunately "dead weight". The amputee would really be limited to "little" tasks, like weaving, basket-making, etc etc. The truth of the matter is, before the "Modern Era" (1600s or so), unless you were important enough to have people already working for you, the loss of a limb usually meant death. Of course, I know how to make/find natural antibiotics, sterile dressings, and soap, so I am probably better off than most people.

What. Why would you cut off a limb? If the limb is bad enough (assuming no access to advanced medicine.....which is the situation in Day Z) where it warrants being cut off, you are already going to die. Cutting off the limb won't remove the infection. All you did was remove the gangrenous bits, which WOULD help, but a blood infection is possibly, and probably, spread to more than just a localized part of the body. And, you are forgetting the fact that the subject will be subjected to utterly MASSIVE levels of shock if you try to amputate a limb with the process above. The shock from the amputation alone would kill them, THEN there is the rapid loss of blood from the amputated limb, THEN there is the MASSIVE levels of shock AGAIN, from the cauterization, which, by the way, fell out of favor as treatment option about 175 years ago. You are doing more harm than help by amputating with the above method. There are methods of "safely" amputating a limb, but again, if the infection gets to the point where a whole limb needs to go, you are pretty much fucked, and a bullet in the head would be far more of a mercy. So, no to amputations, much less with a machete. Machetes are blades made for chopping through leafy vegetation, not hacking through bone. A hacksaw? Maybe. You would be better off going through the joint with a sharp knife, and that means the ankle, the knee, or the hip. Which means that that character is essentially useless. I've made a thread about diseases, you should take a look at it. (http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/216141-diseases/) And, yes, synthetic medicines would be rare, but with a little know-how, you can prepare "natural" versions of most medicines that would work as well as the pills. I can make antibiotics out of spaghnum moss (which would grow in almost any swampy place in Chernarus) and honey, painkillers out of willow bark, blood-staunching agents out of smashed plantain leaves (which are also edible), and stomach-settlers from a tea made from white pine and wintergreen. Survival is fun. People should really look into it sometimes.

Why not? As in real life, eventually those things mentioned above will come to pass. The game won't suddenly become supereasy merely because there are trading caravans wandering around Chernarus. People still have to find the raw materials, produce the goods, then persuade the traders to trade with them. They won't just be , "Yah, LOL, here take this AK and all this food for freesies!" In all reality, Epoch was probably the most realistic (with the exception of the utterly ridiculous structures being built) version of Day Z. Shit, even during the Neolithic period, when humanity was very much in "survival mode", as it were, we still had continent-spanning trade routes, organized industries (producing some very technical stuff, like consistent-quality cloth, etc), specialized divisions of labor, and organized tribal communities. All of the above are possible in Day Z, and it doesn't necessarily make it any less of a "survival game". I must ask, and we do agree on a lot of points; what "activities" do you consider not survival-y enough? For me, farming, light industry, light construction, all can be considered survival activities, as survival is mainly about fear, mostly concerning the future. Just because someone has a small farm with a communally owned tractor doesn't mean he can't have multiple bad harvest, bandits raiding him for food, or a despot taking over the valley through force. To me, those are "survival aspects" as well, and to be quite blunt, I would find the current "loot n' shoot" gameplay of Day Z quite boring if it was ALL we could do. No development, no future plans, just "find and store guns for future PvP". I find the re-emergence of society from the ashes of the old quite interesting.

Pretty much. Take some of the base-building aspects (kinda like the palisade idea I had in another thread), add some impetus for player-led trading and light industry, and season with some roleplay, and you will end up with a pretty good game.

People seemingly forget that, to our metabolisms and senses, human beings are still stone-age hunter-gatherers. Humans are predators. Our eyes are instinctively attracted to movement, especially movement which implies "fleeing" or "weakness" , such as running, stumbling, twitching, etc. Humans also have a "chase instinct", not as developed as dogs, but enough to make us focus on weakened and injured prey. Walking, crouching, and moving from cover to cover essentially "fools" our instincts, and we are much less likely to focus on someone sneaking around vs them running around screaming. Hence, the old "bait and switch".

Heh

You WON'T be forced to walk. You can still jog and sprint, just limited by overheating and the upcoming weight and stamina system.

With that, I agree. Being able to melee with a longarm would make melee combat much less clunky. A buttstroke can easily kill someone, and we all can guess what mounted bayonets can do...

No...you are not "forced" to shoot almost everyone you run across. You choose to. No-one is holding a gun to your head or a knife to your throat, screaming 'KILL THEM OR YOU DIE!". Let us not mince words here.

Considering how you can make a pretty defensible and comfortable log cabin with 4 guys and about 2 weeks of work, it isn't that far-fetched to be able to build a palisade \ with a similar amount of real-world time, or even less, as a palisade does not require seasoned, notched logs. All you do is dig a ditch, stand logs upright, fill in ditch, and use the extra soil to build up the inside, giving a platform to stand on. A 30 foot by 30 foot palisade would require 5 days or so, assuming they are using hand-tools to dig the ditch (which really only has to be 2 feet or so deep), and having plentiful materials nearby (Lodgepole Pines?) A tractor with some attachments (backhoe, dozer blade, etc), which I have seen numerous advertisements for across Chernarus (maybe an in-the-works vehicle? -WANT-) would make this work even faster. Said 30' x 30' palisade would have enough interior space for a couple of tents, a vehicle, and some workspace. So, not ALL that unreasonable. The walls aren't bulletproof, but DO prevent egress, unless someone wants to climb over them (some razorwire at the top would prevent that), pull some of the logs out of the ground (difficult, and near-impossible if they are boarded or tied together, which a lot of palisade stakes were, chop through them (LOTS of noise), or...just bust in through the main gate. Of course, not EVERYONE and their mother should have a palisade around their camp. It would, and should, take a lot of work and time. But, it IS possible, even with basic hand tools....... Think of the sieges! Water would be a problem, unless they were smart and built it around a pond or a well......... Uh....how this was related to duct-taping a scope to a rifle, I dunno. I just got all excited for basebuilding.....

Do you know how firearms work? How scopes work? If you can't rely on the accuracy of the optics mounted to your rifle, why the hell would you mount it?

And I've run from Berezino to Sinistok, the town in the extreme northwest of the map, in 25 minutes. Problem? 1) I don't have a Youtube account, and don't want one 2) YOU asked us to "walk everywhere in-game, and tell us how fun it is". I complied. No reason to get all butthurt.

How the hell would you reliably zero a scope that is strapped to a rifle with duct tape?

.....Because I prefer the Blaze? I don't like the Mosins iron sights. And using speedloaders and a fast hand on the TAB button (alongside a well organized inventory), I can achieve a fire rate that, over time, is at least similar to the Mosin. I also don't lay down in one "secret sniper spot" (really known to everyone), nor so I stand out in the middle of the street like I see so many coastal bandits do. I pop behind a stone wall, sneak off a shot to suppress, move to another piece of cover while reloading, pop off another shot (suppressing them again), move into close cover, etc etc etc kind of like peeling an apple. I've only gotten killed once using a Blaze to PvP; I got cornered, and I STILL killed three of them before they managed to get me. I've also gotten killed more times using an assault rifle to PvP than I have using the Blaze. I hold the belief that having an assault rifle is rather like wearing a bicycle helmet; yes, they make you safer, but, because of this, you tend to make really bad choices, which end up making you less safe than if you didn't have a helmet on in the first place. (This is an actual phenomena, look it up). I've seen assault-rifle wielding guys stand in a field, or in the middle of the street, while mag-dumping and NEVER hitting anything. They think because they have an automatic weapon, they are "invincible", when all they are doing is telling actually skilled players how much of a dumbass they are. "Effectiveness in PvP" in Day Z is more dependent on skill with a particular weapon, tactics, and level-headedness, than it is dependent on the viability of any particular weapon. So, an AKM will give you a solid boost, but that guy with the Blaze, who is really good with it, actually using solid tactics (cover, suppression, etc), and keeps a solid head rather than freaking out, will usually win. Last life, I made a bow and improvised arrows. I got 13 kills in a row by ambushing players in Kamyshovo. The Bow, probably the worst ranged weapon in the game at this point. It all comes down to skill and strategy.

And I've killed far more people with a Blaze 95 than I have with an M4 or an AKM. It comes down to preference, and given the choice between an AKM and a Blaze, I would choose the Blaze 95 99% of the time. I am not dependent on military loot spawns I can keep my rifle fed FAR easier than you can. I have FAR more effective iron sights than you do etc etc etc

I can definitely agree to the "losing water faster when sprinting" thing. I was in Novo last night, and I alternately jogged/sprinted to Turovo. I then turned around to meet up with a friend spawing into Chernanya Polana. Before I got to Cheranya Polana, I was dark red thirsty, where I was dark green hydrated in Novo.

http://www.dayztv.com/video/dayz-how-long-does-it-take-to-run-1k-jogsprint-dayz-standalone-mythbuster/ At that pace, it would take about half an hour to jog across the map, 20 minutes to do the same at a full sprint. Plus, I already do walk next-to all the time. I like looking at the scenery. It is pretty awesome to walk along a mountain ridge, and watch the sun rise over the next ridge over a kilometer away. Of course, I have a good computer, so I can see that far....

Even if there were dozens of zombies in the smallest of villages, you still would not "need" an assault rifle. That Blaze 95 and a pocketful of rounds could serve you just as well with some forethought, moving from cover to cover, and, most importantly, knowing when to flee.

I thought the title said "Baklava" : ( I am hungry now....