Mookie (original)

I think the AKM only spawns in barracks - so Balota, 'secret' base (Jeez that place gives me the creeps), Vybor barracks and NWAF. I've never seen one other than in a barracks building. Not sure about attachments, although again I've only ever seen them in barracks. AK mags I've definitely seen elsewhere - eg jails. Only place to find M4s, attachments and mags is in heli crash sites (real Blackhawk crash sites, not the two or three Mi8s that are on the map), but they are currently broke, so don't bother. I've only ever found one MP5 and can't be bothered to run around looking for one again, plus mags. Again - remember the rule. If you're deliberately looking for something you will not find it. If you're doing something else, you will find that thing. Accidentally, everywhere... :)

Last week I was able to paint my Mosin green, and then black to get the camo pattern. This week it doesn't work. It's either black, or green. :( Wondering whether this is because I did it with the compensator on? That's the only difference.

I took the scope and comp off just to be sure, and 'added' instead of 'painted'. Worked. Thanks both.

Just some things I've spent a hard time learning, that may not be mentioned explicitly in other new players guides. The emphasis is on lone-wolfery: 1. Don't immediately run to a military base when you freshly spawn. Try to get at least some sort of firearm and ammo at a police or fire station before you jog innocently into the NEAF or NWAF or Balota. But the military option is not the only one. The game support many playstyles - survivalist, collective comedy, etc, not just PvP 2. Don't bother carrying food or drink cans with you. Just eat or drink them when and where you find them. 3. It's tempting to try to carry two rifles, especially a Mosin and something else. Don't do it - make a choice and go with it, because: While you will respawn with the second rifle at the bottom of your inventory, you will drop it after you put anything else in your hands. More precisely, you will drop the rifle when you put that other thing back or drop it. By having to look for, and carry, two kinds of rifle ammo, you will halve the storage space for your primary ammoIf you're having to run around with the secondary rifle in your hands, you will be slower.4. Similar things go for sidearms. It's tempting to just pick them, and their carying ammo types up, so that you're walking around with three or four different handguns. Again, make your choice. Mine is for .45 pistols and/or Magnum. 4. After a while, when managing your inventory, you will need to put something down in order to move things around. Be very cautious about this. If you put something down in woodland, you may have difficulty finding it again (try going prone and first person). If you put something down on an upper storey, or (even worse) in one of those little houses that are raised above ground, it may sink into the floor and be irrecoverable. 5. Get a 300 round box, first aid kit, small protector cases. The point is that they maximise your inventory by having six slots, but occupying only four. And they protect things against ruination. 6. Prioritise can opener and canteen/bottle. You can do without them, but they also give you more independence to move. Rags at first, and then bandages, are also crucial to survival. Have at least two in an accessible place (ie near the top) of your inventory. Binos are a huge friend, but not strictly necessary if you already have an LRS. 7. Get a compass. Even with dayzdb map, you will get lost (especially in the woods). If worn or damaged, it will deviate from true by 10-30 degrees. Find a straight road whose direction you can tell from the map, and work out what that deviation is. Bear in mind that an occasional glitch means a compass can completely reverse (so S is N, E is W, etc.) Relogging can cure. 7. If you choose to run from, rather than just kill zombies (and remember, shots attract any nearby zombies...), line of sight is very important. Zig zag, and jink direction in woods or around buildings and bushes. 8. Camo is important. Choose the right clothes and paint other kit. Certain clothes work better in different contexts. TTsKO, for example, is great in woodland, but has high contrast in open country. You can paint rifles and melee weapons with spraycans. If you spray your Mosin green and then black, it will come up in a funky camo pattern. I even spray my fire axe black... 9. There are a lot of lone wolves out there. If you run into one, trying to talking to him/her, rather than slaughtering each other. Just be sure they don't have any friends :) 10. It's been said countless times, but DO NOT GET ATTACHED TO YOUR STUFF. Because you will die sooner or later, almost certainly to a stupid mistake.If you feel geared to a level acceptable to you, go and explore. Hope someone finds some of this useful.

Regular, stable: Looking for: Pristine LRS and/or Mosin compensator. Trading for: 75 round drum and/or 2x walkie talkies (one pristine, one worn) in their own pristine yellow case! PM me if interested please.

The dazdb map is getting a bit out of date. The small, unnamed village in the far northwest just isn't there anymore (although at least one of the water pumps is...thankfully).I'm not sure it's accurate about the NWAF buildings either.

I liked your post OP (and thought it was well written). For me, there would have to be a fourth item: server management. The extent to which admins and clans can abuse the public hive, kicking everyone else in order to get geared up to the max themselves should be dealt with. Servers on the public hive should not allow admins to kick that easily...

I think you're missing my point a little. He was right to shoot me in that context. But I only opened up on him because I thought he was a Z and I think he saw me before I saw him. Anyway, in terms of incentives, there is a touch of the classic Prisoners' Dilemma here. In a one-on-one situation, if someone just fires, the outcome for both players collectively is worse because they have a roughly average 50% chance of dying (moderated, according to context, by the first shooter having a slightly improved probability of survival).

Both my first kills were at the 0.45 version NEAF. First time, I'm well geared, just poking around the main ATC room, when a guy comes roaring up the stairs and unloads his shotgun in my general direction. He misses and scampers back down. Cue two minutes of quiet sweating. Then he comes back up with a 1911 and fires off all seven rounds. They all miss. I get two or three M4 shots at his chest and he retreats, bleeding heavily. Found him dead at the bottom of the stairs. Second time (a day later), same place, I see a guy out on the balcony, well geared, M4, helmet. He doesn't do anything - just crouches. I say I'm friendly, but he doesn't answer. I can still see his head, and feeling nervous that he has friends, I fire three shots at it. He goes down. He really is well geared - three 60 round mags, etc. But every single item is ruined. Felt bad for him - he'd obviously been through a lot. The NEAF is almost always fatal (either for me, or for the other guy). I used to hope for spawns near it. Now I hope for the Msta or Dolina spawns so I can go west via the police stations. Mind you, even that has its risks. Last night I was attacked by an axe-wielding maniac in a police station. Cue some desperate close quarters SKS shooting. Found him dead upstairs, his yellow child's briefcase dripping with blood.

You'd be best off heading for Svet and looting the police station there, then moving on to Chernaya to have a go at the fire station there. Then town-hop westwards. Don't go to NEAF, because it's crap and heavily camped.

Learn something new every day :)

You need an axe to cut wooden sticks to craft the splint don't you? I've never seen the 'cut kindling' option when I run (or crawl) up to a bush without an axe... http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Wooden_Stick

Breaking your leg, without an axe, is much, much worse. It forces you to crawl around pathetically trying to find a Z to kill you, or for starvation to come. I slipped off the fire station stairs at NWAF last night, fully geared, completely furious with myself. Then got myself together, crawled out the back to the bushes, used my trust fire axe and rags and - voila - crafted and used a split for the first time. But the feeling of being well geared and being able to do nothing but crawl was hideous... :(

I've definitely heard an admin telling a player to stop KOSing on global more than once. It happens. The DayzDB web map has an ad that starts up now and then, which always gives me a shock :)

I agree with you OP. This does seem to have changed since I started playing a couple of months ago. The social interactions that used to make the game much more interesting to play seem almost non-existent. Apart from kiddie campers, it would help if people were more willing to speak. For example, my most recent really bad death ('bad' meaning I was really well geared and enjoying roaming) came when I thought a player was a Z at the secret base, ran down a corridor, got my 1911 out to meet the assumed Z sprinting towards me, and opened up instead on a well geared player about 20m from the door. He had an AKM - I didn't have a chance. He looked like a lone wolf, like me, If he'd said something we could have agreed to quietly go our separate ways. :( Personally, I get a kick out of helping people. I'd also like to roam a bit with some other people instead of having only deer and the occasional Z for company. Sniff....

It's north, rather than east. So just keep running with the sea to your right and you'll get there sooner or later. I'm not a fan of the Rify wreck. it's a big sniper target (people camp on the hill next to it), is a bit of a pain to loot, and quite possible to get lost in it.

Looking forward to not having a single zed glitch through a wall and one-hit kill your fully geared char.

First, not sure I'd classify you as 'fully geared'. Your rifle's not the best (Moisin/LRS, AKM/PSO, or M4/ACOG, according to personal taste), you don't have binoculars (v handy), and a few other things. I managed to accidentally run off a roof the other day with pretty much everything I wanted loot-wise, my ideal LRRP/recon/camo outfit, and a beautiful green sprayed M4 with every attachment save an ACOG, and over 200 rounds of 5.56. I just sat open mouthed, staring at 'You are dead.' on the screen for ten minutes. Then I respawned and am now pretty much back to where I was (save the M4, cos crash sites aren't spawing on 0.46 stable... >:() There may well come a point where, in an abstract risk/reward sense, it actually makes more sense not to play the game. At that point I usually potter off to look for adventures, or manage do something really stupid. Like run off a roof....

Lost mine tonight when I accidentally ran off a roof :o . Is it just me or are the walking/running/turbo controls a bit screwed since 0.46? Oh well, at least it didn't have an ACOG...

So preserve your 5.56mm, M4 owners... :(

Thanks Knight - would be very interested in the answer. Like others I was finding them when they went on stable on 0.45, but absolutely none so far in 0.46 - and I know where to look.