Knifeguy

I found this patch has made the game considerably less enjoyable. As a new spawn, gaining the attention of a zombie is pretty much a death sentence to me. I can't seem to get my frame rate above 15 in towns, so I have significant trouble keeping track of where the zombies are. And good lord, they hit 10x faster than I can swing. By the time I manage to land a couple of blows I've already been hit 10-20 times. The lack of loot has made stealth game play an impossibility. I starve to death before I can find enough food and water to sustain me, and if I go faster I come back around to the problem of being a zombie punching bag with no chance of surviving. I would love to see a more functional melee system before the zeds get buffed again.

I had two encounters the other day on one server in short succession. Once in the jail house in Zelenagorsk. He came upon me as I ate an orange with an AK pointed at my head. Not much I can do in close quarters with no weapon out, so I comply with his demands. He rooted through my stuff, took my AK mag, a compass, and some bandages, then let me go on my way. Overall a pleasant (even though I got a little robbed) experience. He was just being cautious. Not 10 minutes later a lady wearing a skirt and an SKS ran in on me in some barracks. I was a little more alert this time and already has a 1911 out, just in case. Turned out she just needed some help with a splint. I gave her some morphine, we went on our way, bumped into each other a few times before we left the base. Plenty of opportunity to off one another if we felt like it. There are decent people out there, but there are plenty of idiots who'd rather be a jerk than be friendly. I'm always cautious, but I give people the benefit of the doubt. I haven't been betrayed yet.

I think I can run from the NW airfield to Novo in about 20-25 minutes. That's about 4.5 miles. It seems like we can run roughly 5 minute miles in DayZ. That's not factoring in hills and stopping to make sure I'm going the right way.

The interesting thing is this demonstrates how easy it is to get turned around IRL. A little shift in direction to make the uphill easier, a subconscious tweak here to follow a particular line, and then before you know it you're going in completely the wrong direction. Landmarks and references are the best way to keep track. If you are new then it'll take a little time to find the recognizable points, but one you do you'll likely be able to figure out where you are.

I've always enjoyed playing as the sniper, primarily so I can provide Overwatch for my friends. I've been able to direct my squad to safely avoid people or surround them with as little risk to themselves as is feasible in a game like this. If I'm by myself I'm more likely to take a shot near someone if I want to scare them off. Getting blown away without any warning or provocation sucks, so I try to avoid doing it to people.

The very first people I ran into in DayZ, I have been good friends with now for almost a year. You just never know what will happens. I suppose that's what makes this game so interesting.

Isn't that what holding Shift while walking does?

At this point in time does getting damp/wet/soaked have any adverse effects on gear/characters? IIRC the end goal is you'll get sick if you get wet, and you need a fire to dry out, but not all of that has been implemented yet.

Haha! Right now it's hiding in the grass, looking around cautiously and thinking "I should take a better look around.". You stand to attention, saluting with your eye enhancement devices, and nearly waving a flag going "LOOK AT MEEEE."

I look forward to when you can use the binoculars in crouch and prone position.

In my experience, Berenzino is the new Elektro.

Sniping that distance is very difficult. I find that even with pristine attachments when it gets to a certain distance there's a decent amount of luck involved, mostly at 700+ meters.

You're really just coming off as another whiner with no patience. Report the bugs, start over, and keep looking for more bugs. The only reason to get into early access is to help bug test, not to get early access to a finished product. My friend fell through a floor the other day and got beaten to death by 5 zombies. His response was "well that sucks, grab what you can off my corpse and I'll re-gear." NOT "this game is so broken I can't believe I paid money for this the devs are lying and are just sitting on our money waaaahhhh.". Be useful or don't be useful, just keep the whining to yourself.

I think you'd be surprised at how common that is.

I generally find that people who get fed up with the game not being complete turn completely against it. It very quickly turns into "this game is fucking stupid and anyone who supports it and believes the devs are morons and fanboys." It's not even voicing an opinion, it's just spewing vitriol. Congratulations, you ignored all warnings and purchased the game anyways! A game that should not be realistically released for another two years. If you're that unhappy with it then just leave and stop being a detriment to the community. On topic, I enjoy the new difficulty level of the zombies. The melee combat is pretty clunky, but it's manageable. There definitely are phantom hits and Dalsim zombies, though. My favorite was coming across a zombie standing still and throwing melee attacks at nothing. I got closer in behind it to look and I got hit. AOE zombie attacks, wheee!

Unless it's a head wound the odd of surviving a single gun shot are about 70% +/-. Especially from handguns.

I would have had an incredibly hard time getting started if I hadn't run into a few friendly players right off the bat. There's a lot to learn that's not readily apparent and can be frustrating to figure out. If you want some in-game protection/guidance let me know and we can figure out where you are and get you started in a survivable direction.

I had difficulty getting myself to actually talk to people. My first instinct is to hide and watch. The thought of approaching people I didn't know and trying to come up with something to say freaked me out. But I didn't just kill those people, either. I just tried to avoid for a long time.

Using an online map can take a little of the fun out of it. You can also find maps in the game, but they're pretty rare. If you don't want to use an online map you could learn what the signs say and follow them. I wanted to cut back on using a map so I made a quick cipher so I can translate the road signs.

You should be able to smash the battery on a rock and eat it. That would probably end you pretty quickly.

Your own footsteps are far more apparent to you than to anyone else. If you're moving slowly you'll be hard to hear from other peoples perspectives.

A badly damaged ACOG scope is like looking through a pair of glasses that was thrown down on concrete, jumped up and down on, and then dragged around by a car for 500 miles. The only scope that doesn't get affected by status is the Long range scope.

I'd gladly exchange a few insta-deaths or packs of ruined gear for a few lottery wins :P. I didn't feel like interacting much the other day so I went on to a low population server and just ran around. I went to Balota and started picking off zombies with an M4. Mind you, I haven't played a lot since the new Zs were put in, so I didn't realize just how ridiculous the zombie spawning was. 80 bullets later and about 40 zombies, I had gotten clobbered about 13-15 times, with a pause to bandage some bleeding. My pants went from worn to damaged, and that was the extent of the damage to my gear. I think I took one or two hits while crouched, too. I wouldn't mind running into a hoard of zombies, and using every last bullet to escape, but having them constantly spawning behind me within aggro range is very annoying.

I think the mental image of that will haunt me for a long time. I meant more like heavy footsteps, crunching underbrush, shuffling, etc. I don't mind their enhanced speed or damage, I can deal with that. Sitting well hidden, still, and quiet, then having a zombie just clobber me from behind after running 300 meters as quiet as a ninja with felted shoes is a little annoying.

The zombies are a little broken at the moment. I've taken a dozen hits from zombies since the patch and have only had my pants become 'damaged'. Other people (decked out in protective clothing) get killed in one hit. The spawning mechanism needs an overhaul, too. Safest thing to do at the moment is find a building with a second floor to bind your wounds and feed yourself. I personally hate how quiet the zombies are. You'd think with a decaying body they'd make a little more noise when they run.