Jayrod (DayZ)

Since the update I have had a couple instances where once an article of clothing gets ruined, a zombie has killed me in a single blow. No unconsciousness or bleeding out just bam dead. While my clothing is somewhat intact it seems I can take numerous blows with little effect. Anyone else experiencing this? Is it better to replace ruined items immediately with anything you find instead of keeping them on?

Thank you! Be sure to check out my new thread for more epic tales of survival :D

Thank you! Yes, these along with my previous stories here are all true in game experiences.

Contact! After a successful sweep of a small hill top village and drinking his fill at the well, this lone survivor was anxious to see what the large city down the hill had to offer. Armed with only a harmless .22 sporter rifle and an unwieldy pickaxe that he was still getting used to, he set off cautiously. Concealed under a pine close to the outskirts of the city he spotted the familiar look of a police station down the main road. Surely there would be some better weapons to be had there. He crouched low and made his way into the city, avoiding the direct approach he entered the courtyard behind the police station and near a broken down truck spotted a backpack much larger than his current one. Not knowing what bounty the police station may hold he decided to swap bags to ensure he had enough room for whatever he may come across. While transferring his goods to the new pack a voice called out from the building "Hey you! Are you friendly?". Despite his efforts at concealment he had been spotted. "I'm not looking to hurt anyone, but I'm coming inside" he replied. Through the door he was greeted by a man brandishing a stylish M4. "What's your name" the man asked. The two exchanged introductions, the man's name was "A". A was very helpful and trusting, pointing out where a nice rifle was located and even providing a small stack of ammo for it. Quickly sweeping the rest of the building he thanked A for his hospitality and was eager to get back to the safety of the woods. While running out of the city he glanced behind only to find A following. "Hey want to team up?" A asked. "Sounds good but not here man, lets get up to the tree line" he replied. Once the two were safely outside the city they attempted to catch their breath and get their bearings so they could locate their position on the map found inside the police station. Unable to find a reference point the two discussed what to do next but were interupted by a crazed Zombie bursting through the trees. "BEHIND YOU!" he shouted to A as he readied his pickaxe. A leaped for cover while blows from the pickaxe rained down on the Zombie, the sloped terrain made a headshot difficult but finally he was able to connect and the Zombie slumped over like a marionette with it's strings cut. The melee left him with a gushing wound that he was forced to bandage before the two continued on, deciding to make their way up the nearby road and look for signs to guide them further inland. Eventually they spotted a radio tower on top a tall peak and thought it would be a good vantage point for the surrounding area. The tower yielded little in the way of information but off in the distance they spotted a large air base which begged to be investigated further. The two men leap frogged between concealment closer and closer to the base, watching for movement and finding access through a hole in the worn out fencing, eventually making their way to a building near the hangers. Opening the doors to the building they were quickly greeted by the body of another survivor, his gear badly damaged with little worth salvaging. Further in another body was discovered, this one stripped to his undergarments. Clearing the rest of the rooms he slowly made his way up the stairs, his new SKS at the ready. As he ascended, he spotted the head of crouching man over the railing. In the moment it took to contemplate that this could be the killer of the two men below, a shot rang out! He rapidly returned fire, emptying his magazine up the stairwell as he retreated back towards the door. A was caught off guard as the killer stormed down the stairs but was able to make it out of the building. He ran to cover as fast as he could to reload and he could hear his new friend and the killer exchanging gun fire. He peared around the corner trying to find his friend or the killer but saw no one, adrenaline coursing through his veins and almost out of ammo he made a dash for the tree line, hoping his friend would do the same. He waited in vain as his friend never arrived. Taking shelter in a nearby cottage he was thankful to have survived the encounter but saddened that he was once again on his own.

That would probably make more sense than what we have now where a hacksaw and screwdriver take up the same amount of space. I could probably fit five screwdrivers in my pocket but good luck getting a fucking hacksaw in there. In regards to the clothing, to anyone who has done a little camping clothes do tend to take up quite a bit of space even when folded or rolled or whatever. They don't necessarily take up less space if you are neat about shoving them in your pack.

Only if I can do it whilst running at full speed... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLQFWYYvvnA

Exactly. I didn't know people actually take SOE seriously anymore.

Death #7 If there was ever a story about the importance of being prepared this is it. After traveling the coast for a short distance this survivor spotted a derelict vessel hugging the beach. Surely it must be full of useful items he thought as he carefully made his approach. He neared the entrance and another survivor came dashing out. After a surprisingly friendly conversation about what was still on board they parted ways and he set about exploring the ruined corridors. The pickings were sparse, no food or weaponry was to be found but he did leave with a large pack and with the large town nearby he was determined to fill it. With hunger and thirst nagging at his every move he set about searching the houses on the town's perimeter, all picked clean. The ever present undead menace would not allow him to penetrate further into town and his high speed escape from a pack of zombies was only allowed by the presence of another unarmed survivor running for his life. Giving up he made a break for the nearby hills, the map he found aboard the vessel was useless as he failed to recognize any useful landmarks to pinpoint his position. Nonetheless he marched forth only to find roads that led to no where and utter desolation. The hunger and thirst worsening. The landscape vast and the sparse scattering of structures empty. Throwing all caution aside he stuck to main roads, running as fast as he could hoping to come across anything of value. Eventually a fork in the road and a sign led him to a small hilltop village. His vision was blurring rapidly and starvation was imminent. He checked the barn first, nothing, he stumbled his way to the first house along the road and began a frantic search for food. As he opened the door to the kitchen his world went black, his body spent, severe dehydration and starvation taking their final toll. It now seems I've run the gamut of ways to die and I'm entering my second week in DayZ so this will be my last entry here. I've learned a ton about the game mechanics and I'm starting to grasp how varying server settings can impact the gameplay, zombie aggression, loot/zombie respawn, etc. Next I will focus on tales of survival and getting involved with groups of survivors. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.

I have the feeling there is a bug with this as well. There also needs to be varying levels of leg injuries, just adding something like a sprained ankle that slows you down before full out broken leg crawlsky mode would be a huge improvement.

Death #5 After exploring the ruins of a mountain top castle, this adventerous survivor sought shelter outside of a large coastal city. He took refuge in the tower of a fire station just outside the town and settled in for a much deserved nap. When he awoke the smell of blood and death was in the air. Descending the tower he was quickly overwhelmed by the sight of a body below him, still gushing with blood. A quick search revealed nothing of immediate value, the dead mans gun suspiciously out of ammo. It was not long before the second body was discovered on the other side of the building. Obviously a skirmish had taken place but it was not clear if these men were killed by another who may still be lurking in the shadows or if they took each others lives. Not wanting to stick around long enough to find out and being severly dehydrated he snagged a canteen from the second dead man and made a break for the nearby woods, once he was sure no one had followed him, he attempted to quench his thirst only to discover the canteen was ruined, the fluid inside undrinkable. The few houses outside of the city yielded nothing and he made the decision to trek farther in. So far no other survivors had been seen but he sensed they were out there. On the edge of the city he entered another large structure with a tower, this one appeared to be for police use and tragically lacked any liquid refreshment. It did however provide an excellent vantage point to investigate the city further and as he peered out over the ledge on top the tower it began to look familiar. He had seen this city in several instructional videos prior to his arrival and knew that if he was to venture further his pants would need to be removed. Not willing to part with his pants and spotting an armed survivor scuttling around the police station off in the distance he decided this city was best left for the dead. Racing out back across the field he had crossed earlier he stopped momentarily under some brush to make sure he was not spotted by the zombie down the hill, this proved to be a fatal mistake however as he was quickly set upon by a ninja with a pitchfork. He was taken by complete surprise, not sure where or how the camoflaged ninja was able to approach him undetected, and unable to react in time he was knocked unconscious by his assailant. The world went dark and he hoped he would wake up and be able to reason with the pitchfork ninja but his injuries were too grave and he died with his pants on, his only consolation. Death #6 Having no resources at his disposal other than a useless flashlight, this survivor thought he could get by on his charisma alone, he thought wrong. Close to where he landed he witnessed the brutal execution of a fleeing survivor at the hands of a small paramilitary force patrolling the coast. These six individuals were heavily armed and laughing as they riddled the unlucky man's corpse with round after round. Surley that man had done something to deserve this type of treatment he thought and obviously these were men of experience who would be worth getting to know. He boldly approached the group who were still in joyous celebration over their recent victory and greeted them with a "Hey". They replied with "LOOK ANOTHER ONE!" and a shotgun blast to the face.

Death #1 The character I started with was not to my liking and I was not sure how to change it to my new default character. After a failed attempt at drowning herself she was forced to suicide off the roof of a building. Her motorcycle helmet did little to save her from the fall, nor did the pleas from the other players in the area telling me to watch out for the ledge. Death #2 Full of spirit my new toon headed inland from the coast at a frenzied pace. The terrain was rocky and his inexperience in traversing this jagged landscape cost him his legs. After what seemed an eternity of crawling in the pouring rain he stumbled upon a rail yard. As he began searching the box cars for anything which could mend his fractured legs he was set upon by a vicious zombie. Unable to use his body to fend off the attack he took refuge in the rear of the box car. The zombie was ravenous and failed to lose interest. Starving and bleeding he made a vain attempt to escape. Sprawled on the tracks like a dying hobo he succumbed to the gnashing blows of the zombie. Death #3 With renewed spirit and several successful raids on small farming villages, this toon was set for a bright future as a survivor. Armed with a sturdy axe and a child's pack full of provisions his new found boldness would be his undoing. Whilst searching an abandon domicile for treats he was ambushed by a heavily armed "policeman" instructing him to drop the axe or he would be killed, the muzzle of his rifle only feet from his head. Unafraid, he returned his axe to his pack and stood to confront his accoster. He attempted to converse with the heavily armed man but was unable to find his words (due to his microphone not being plugged in). He made sure to make no threatening motions toward the man but the silence was too much for him. The last thing he heard was the fatal shot turning out the lights on his bright future. First Kill and Death #4 With a working microphone and small server change this survivor was ready for anything. Immediately upon entering he was approached by a wounded man crawling at him with a shovel. Soaked and broken the man pleaded for death, relinquishing his shovel and begging him to end his life. Unwilling to perform the deed at first he frantically searched nearby homes for anything to mend the wounds but his efforts were fruitless. He instructed the broken man to follow him into the kitchen where one deft blow from the shovel ended his suffering. After coming to terms with what he had done he spent the following days travelling the country side, eventually coming to a large inland town where he was able to arm himself with a powerful rifle and trusty sidearm. He had food, drink, means of defending himself and ample medical supplies but he lacked companionship and lonliness eventually got the better of him. He decided to head back to the coast to seek out other survivors. Once there he found a large factory complex and was curious to see what may lie inside. Attempting to play it safe he scaled the side of the main building hoping there would be an alternate entrance on top. He saw no entrance but heard the groans from the undead menace below. He made a dash for the ladder but it was too late, the zombie was waiting for him. Feeling bold from several Rasputins he returned to the roof and drew his sidearm, taking aim down the ladder. To his astonishment the zombie retreated into the building and the shot was lost. He tried to draw the creature back out into the open but failed to notice how dangerously close to the edge he was, the fall was a brief but fatal one. He did not find companionship in life but will in death among the other fallen survivors.