eno

So what's the idea? Just host a public server (because it's cheaper) and kick everyone off so you can run around and loot everything?

Unfortunately this type of event is here to stay. Nobody can stop these idiots from loot whoring and server hopping around to grab all their gear then run down and pick on people who have little to nothing and have worked for hours to get it. It's reached a point where most of the people doing it are doing it for no other reason than because they got butthurt when someone did it to them- so now they "DON'T TRUST ANYONE AND I'M PARANOID AND MURDER EVERYTHING I CAN FIND AND EAT PEOPLE BISHES!" I'm still pretty new and I haven't turned yet but the things I've seen so far just embarrass me as a gamer and as a person. I can only imagine some of these people are acting out real world frustrations or are just generally totally unremarkable people trying to leave a mark on a virtual world in a grasp for self satisfaction and respect from their imaginary peer group. / rant On an objective note, OP- there are a few servers I've found that run a little smaller... and the interactions are generally more positive. EVERY time I've encountered someone on a full server (30-50 people), you either get KoS or lured into some sort of stupid trap and then murdered outright. Sounds fun, right? Smaller servers give these idiots less to entertain themselves with so while you still ALWAYS need to be careful I've actually bumped into some people who were just enjoying the game and the possible interactions. I did get held up a couple times- guys checked me out and opened my cans of peaches for me then let me go... Just the other day someone actually steered clear of my partner and I (I spied them running away and ducking between buildings- assuming they saw us since we were in the open). I have to admit- though I generally abhor the murdering play style and everyone who uses the excuse that they got killed so many times so just decided to buy into it- these people do add an intensity to the game. There is a private shard server mentioned in the server room that is mature gamers, no PVP, whitelist. Though that seems like it is EXACTLY what I'm looking for I'm not sure that would be as much fun considering there is absolutely no challenge with the current zombie environment. It'd just be an empty world where a couple swings with an axe would keep you protected from the only hazard in the game. I have read a little about role playing servers and it would be kind of neat to have a proportionate number of different types of players- 1 outright murder, a couple pockets of bandits a couple of randoms and the rest just doing the best they can to protect themselves against the dynamic element. That'd be pretty neat but I have no idea how a person sets up something like that. Anyway OP sorry this turned into a bit of a semi rant / ramble / ramblant- you're definitely not the only struggling with the current state... so like mentioned above consider your server- maybe play on some less populated and stay away from the military areas / cherno - elektro - berezino. Mooch around in middle earth- get REALLY familiar with your area of choice so you can navigate around it blindfolded... and as your comfort level increases just gradually step up the challenge.

Yeah that sounds more like my experience so far.

Last death a pair in Berezino acted friendly- lured us into the woods to start a fire so the one guy could warm up and while my partner and I were helping them light a fire we were ambushed... We're not 100% sure if it was the pair we were with or someone watching our group (which unfortunately is a neat part of the game)... but we definitely got shot. Both semi-fresh.

Not nearly as exciting as you guys but ZH and I remained in the Berezino area over the last couple of days. He'd made his way from Krasnostov to around the factory between solichny and Berezino. I entered into the same server as he was and we regrouped at the lumber mill. I'm still on the hunt for a couple more burlap sacs so we comb the area around there. There weren't that many folks in the server so we weren't anticipating too much trouble but that random encounter has been known to happen. ZH wanted to check out the prison and I didn't have a great feeling about it. We haven't had much luck in prisons so now unless I'm REALLY, REALLY curious I tend to monitor them but I don't enter. He went in and I hid out of side and kept an eye open. As I was getting into position I saw some movement behind me. I got behind cover and checked it out with 3PP and saw someone sneaking around some buildings a short distance away. When I caught him in the corner of my eye I was facing a different direction and heading behind a fence so I'm not sure if he knew I'd caught him or not. I could talk to ZH over TS3 over my ipad but my computer mic doesn't work, so I told ZH to sit tight and that I was evaluating a threat. "There's someone back here- and I'm not sure he saw us and is sneaking around or if he has no idea we're here. Just close the door and sit tight." I watched this guy for about 30 seconds and noticed he was a semi-fresh with a green rain coat and maybe a cowboy hat or tan boonie hat... Didn't LOOK like he had any weapons on his back or anything- so if he saw me (gorka style, Mosin, Axe, Magnum) he'd have had good reason to keep his distance. But as I've made pretty clear in previous stories mine is definitely not to bring harm to others. I couldn't call out to this guy... so I typed in global in hopes that I could reach him that way. "Hello- my friend and I are working in this area and are not interested in making trouble. If you need any supplies then please say so now- otherwise we will be on our way." No response. But I didn't see the guy again either so he may have ducked around a building and legged it for fear of us chasing. We watched over our shoulder as we continued north and then cut west to head up to Black Mountain. ZH wants that broadsword and hadn't seen the castle yet so I figured I'd take him there and then he wanted to log out. I still had a little more in me so I ducked down into Krasnostov again to work through some sheds and then headed to the NEAF again to watch it and see if there was any activity. By the time I got there it was late so I picked a good spot and logged out. Following day I came back in and there was limited activity in the server so I watched the NEAF for a few minutes for movement and seeing none decided just to go for it. I don't know why since it has been disappointing lately. I don't care for M4s and AKs and all that jazz- but what I did want was to find a high cap vest before I committed to a ghillie. When I'd spawned in on this life I was in Novo military area and found one right away but then it glitched out when I tried to get a jacket on. Needless to say I've been pining for one ever since. I darted across to the garage (I ignore the hangar and attached buildings now since I've never found anything in either of them other than a V3S). I stopped at a few of the wrecked vehicles mid-field and guess what I found? Bingo- high cap vest! And a OD / DPM (green) one at that... Oh yes, and also ANOTHER V3S parked at the gate near that guard shack. That's 3 I've seen in that area including Krasnostov near the super market in front of the mechanic shop). I also ended up finding a burlap sac in the military mechanic shop at NEAF... then the last one I needed (of 10) in a shed on the other side of the field. All set. I already had two 100% green paint cans and the 5 netting (for those of you who haven't seen the videos that's what you need for a full woodland ghillie top, wrap and hood. For a darker ghillie -mossy- you need 2 cans of black paint as well). I was watching a video of a guy who looked like he knew what he was doing and he had an interesting configuration on- with a tan gun wrap and hood and a woodland (lighter shade) top. I wasn't sure if there was method to his madness or not but I got thinking of my area of choice (NE) and realized the ground overlay that you see at a distance is very tan but the closer you get the overgrowth becomes darker... So best of both worlds? We'll see I guess. I'm hoping that the tan will help me blend in from a distance from the front- while the darker will help me blend in closer up from behind. Where I generally set up people wouldn't typically have a long view range on me from behind. So my mission continues: I'm going to TRY and monitor activities around Berezino... I'll be targeting anyone holding up fresh spawns or semi-fresh survivors. In the meantime- I'm going to be keeping my head down as much as possible. I'm also going to TRY and stay close to my backpack so that when time comes to move around I can stow the suit and run around in something a little less aggro.

Small village with orchards sounds like a place just south of berezino- North of solichny

Each part- hood, wrap, full / bushrag can be painted separately but it does take quite a bit of paint. Green only will get you to woodland while green and an equal amount of black can make mossy. The videos I've watched recommend "woodland" since mossy is a bit dark for a majority of the ambient ground layers. Hrdrok makes a good point about the stock tan colour being good around the coast and it's something I've noticed from working a ghillie in that area. Much of the foliage in that area is darker and at a glance a person would think woodland would be more appropriate- however because of the rendering and draw issues, most of that doesn't actually serve to hide you but instead makes you stand out on the relatively light ground overlay currently existing in much of that area. The GROUND is more of a tan colour- and that is what you're trying to blend into at a distance. With that said, as people get closer to you you'll start to stand out a bit more as the surface clutter is filled in around you. One thing I noticed was that folks would spray their hood and maybe their wrap and have little paint left over. Spraying the full ghillie with any less than 100% paint can will result in no paint being applied at all (in my experience). The videos I watched recommended having 2 full paint cans (2 full green 2 full black if you plan on going with the mossy) since I think painting all 3 parts generally require > 140%. I am carrying paint just in case but I'm going to do some sight testing along the coast to see how it blends in before I paint. I can't see EVER going to mossy... but woodland is a pretty nice middle ground.

^ You saying that about the general absence of friendly groups is really making me regret not taking out that group by the hospital in Berezino. Then again, ZH and I are friendly so maybe I did the right thing by holding off on the shot. Also- wasn't even aware you could put an LRS on the magnum... no idea why one would but hey I don't know why a guy would run past a cow to skin a dude and eat him either but I guess that's part of the novelty.

I assume you're talking about in .53 experimental?

I don't "THINK" I've encountered a hacker yet- though I've always been suspect of eating the green wiener in the middle of the woods... I took a look at that "concentration" thread and a lot of folks have died in that treeline- presumably because it's sniper alley... Good story though Halp... I just keep hoping that ZH and I hang onto the "good spirits" long enough to survive this KOS spree. Those few quick interactions I've had with guys just playing the game and enjoying the experience are still worth a passive approach. Thing is, I imagine if someone sees me in my gorka outfit, a camo'd mosin, a fire axe, a chest holstered .357 and carrying a sawed off- they're not going to expect me to be passive. In addition I'm pretty much geared up with what many people are looking for so I further up the ante on my "I had it coming" motto. At the same time, I think it would make me feel awesome to come across a bambi or someone just mooching around for stuff... have that quick little chat to establish some intentions, then just offer them some food or maybe something to drink and then just carry on our way. I'd also like to think that if I came across a murderer or bandit while they were in the act of bullying that I would be able to take a serious fight to them. I'm STILL chafing over that experience ZH and I had where the guys lead us into the woods to start a fire and likely ambushed us as we were setting it up... but evidently there are still good people out there! Trick is to find them- and I'm pretty sure high pop servers isn't the end of the rainbow.

Didn't they say pretty specifically that they were testing something server side specific with the version they just released?

Maybe also mention the significant compass bug that flips it over 180 degrees whether pristine or damaged at completely random times. It's actually not a great way to navigate at all unless you start from a known location, confirm that the compass is working by getting a bearing on a couple of known landmarks on a map, then use the compass to confirm the direction of the sun and use that as your landmark keeping in mind that it might change slightly when the server resets. Then once you head on your way, don't EVER deviate from that path since when you enter the woods if you get turned around there's no way to guaranty your compass hasn't flipped over unless you have the sun as a reference. Edit: I'm told below that this was fixed in a background patch that was applied and works. I was so frustrated with using it from when it didn't work I hadn't really depended on one over the past couple days. So I apologize for my inaccurate remark. Edit again: Ooops. Looks like still broken.

I had a bit of a relaxing day scouring the coast for netting after scouring the construction site near Berezino for some other useful supplies. I found some paint, a mosin, a compensator and the cherished LRS. A squirt of paint here, a dab of paint there... and I look like a VERY killable soul indeed. At this point, if I get KOS I basically write it off as my own fault since I know what that represents and still do it. Kind of encourages me to be a little more careful that usual... and today it paid off either for me or someone else. I have roughly 2/3rds of my needed supplies before I melt into the woods- When I first spawned in I was EXTREMELY fortunate to have arrived in a military depot of some sort in Novo and immediately found a high capacity vest- the OD / DPM variety. Of course it would so happen that I found a jacket as well- and went to put it on but couldn't. So I put the high cap vest down thinking I needed to have it off before putting the jacket on and the $%#$%#%g thing disappeared on me. Evaporated. So there I am with a jacket. @#%34g alpha. I was just looting some sheds on the NE edge of Berezino, coming back up along a wall alongside the tracks when I caught movement in the corner of my screen. This character- too far away to see clearly- bolted off towards the west up a road near the prison. To be honest, after watching in that area for awhile I thought it just might have been a zed launch- I never saw them again and didn't hear anything. I waited for a few minutes, scanning around and behind me but saw nothing so decided to continue with caution. I was keeping to the wall, anticipating a dart over the tracks into another industrial area. Then I caught more movement- this time I could see the character clearly... which meant he may have been able to see me. I'm pretty decked out right now and can take a fight to the enemy but I still stuck at this and not only don't have a functioning mic but also currently on wireless! I got out of LOS from him pretty quickly but was able to change my field of view to see him over the nearby wall. I stayed motionless as he moved past a small opening between a house and the wall I was hiding along- trying to be still to avoid detection. I wasn't getting any impression from him that he'd seen me- he just jogged across the tracks towards the west and then carried on to the next row of houses and out of sight. He had an orange or red backpack on and for some reason I'm thinking a cowboy hat or tan booney hat. I ducked down and went prone behind a metal frame and free viewed so as to not move my body as I searched for him in the windows of the nearby homes. I eventually did see him moving through the upstairs. He moved around up there a little then out of sight for good. Obviously I have no idea who it was- considering the small number of people on the server I was surprised to run into him so quickly. Once I cleared that area I started making my way over to Rify...

Reliably? Not sure... but one thing I do know for sure (and that I was amazed by) is that I once put my drybag down at the NWAF to reduce my profile as I minced around the area trying to avoid detection... I was new- what can I say. Anyway I put it in a very specific spot... ended up either resetting the server or getting kicked from it or crashing (whatever happened)- went into another server because I kept getting the "wait for host"... kind of forgot I'd switched servers (again, I was new) and went back looking for it. OF COURSE it wasn't there in the new server. I came online here to talk about it and get some more information- the suggestion was that it had been wiped until I realized I'd switched servers. In fact, I didn't even know what server it was. Probably a week later I was playing with ZH (my accomplice) in some random public server and ended up at the NWAF. He says, "Hey! I just found a dry bag FULL of equipment!" Guess who's drybag that was? Obviously we ended up in the same server again (I have a few familiar ones that I will go to with him since he's quite young and they're less populated) and my drybag was not as hidden as I thought lol. Now, with that all being said your experience may differ and I don't think there was a total server "wipe" that occurred in the meantime- but if I were in a persistence on server I'd be confident putting my gear down under a tree behind me a bit to put on my ghillie. If the server resets, I'm pretty sure it'll still be there when I get back. With that said, I probably wouldn't do it on a Wednesday...

Says the guy that shoots people for wearing them. Seems to me stereotyping is also the mark of a manhunter. I was sporting one for a few hours around Berezino... I actually had good intentions with an "overwatch" concept at a lucrative loot area where I expected some banditry but went for a stroll in the woods in my area for awhile to record some distances and got killed without warning on my way back. I let it go since I knew it looked bad and I was pretty sure that this was the prevailing mentality whether the person knew I was there actually trying to protect the freshies as opposed to shooting them. It's a bit of a ripoff anyway since most of the foliage the ghillie is designed to blend in with isn't even rendered at the distance where you spend more of your time from your potential enemies... Even tree roots I thought would provide excellent cover in the absence of actual brush aren't rendered until you get pretty close. My DayZ partner did some view checks on me from various distances and I was really, really annoyed at how exposed it makes you unless you're sitting COMPLETELY still. It helps if people don't know EXACTLY where to look- but it's still an overrated garment considering most have the stereotype mentioned above. Don't get me wrong, probably for good reason- same way I think of guys with motorcycle helmets on... or basically say "friendly," or are alive. Ghillies get a bad rap... bandits... KOS... guys with red dry bags... guys with Russian accents... everyone... You're just as liable to get killed by the guy who kills everyone in a ghillie on sight as you are to get killed by the person who will kill anyone anyway- so you might as well run with it and see how far you make it. I'm going to go try it again but I'm going to try and "transit" with a backpack- I can stow the suit in there and carry what I need in my hicap vest. When I'm in position I can stash the drybag / backpack and put the ghillie on.

I can imagine... but mine doesn't work I swear! I'm pretty quick typing with a keyboard but not when I'm doing the ASDW shuffle trying to avoid getting shot in the face. It's actually been a great motivator to stay out of sight out of mind...

Had a quiet night last night. I'm in a bit of a predicament since my laptop microphone isn't working I'm very limited in how much I can talk. As a result, I'm hanging back and trying to keep my distance from people. Time to practice some stuff- fishing... building a fire... maybe even shoot an animal and skin it... Nope, haven't done anything yet, really. ZH and I had spawned out near NEAF so I went back in and was really looking for a saw to cut down my shotgun. I do like how it's practically invisible under the backpack but I do understand that's why guys tell you to take it off when they're holding you up. I get it... and I suppose a part of showing good faith would be to explain to someone that you do have a loaded shotgun under the backpack... but then again it might be better to spend said time getting your fingers ready to draw it and start shooting. Anyway- found my saw in the prison of all places... after having checked every fricken shed in Krasnostov. Found some supplies at the local school and stuffed my face, then made my way back down to the NEAF. ZH and I had been there a few days ago so I figured I'd check it over. We left a couple notes laying around but have little hope anyone will read them. Who knows? I ran into the hangar and saw a truck in there- sitting purdy. No interest in driving that thing around since I'd rather catch a ball in a cup- but it was the first one I'd seen and yes of course I took a screenshot nobody will ever see. It's the little things, right? I was in a pretty active server but still never saw anyone. My last couple of incidents really soured my take on the gameplay overall. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that guys who were "quite active" didn't shout out in this thread to give their side of the story. Kind of feel I know what that means... I am getting to know the area a bit more and getting a better feel for where water is located. There is a store in town as well. I think many of the guys who want to weaponize their character are aware by now that there really isn't that great a selection of weapons / equipment at the NEAF and that it isn't really worth the trip. There are some wrecked APCs there and some occasional military clothing but the only thing I've found there are some SKS and no ammo for them. (In my limited experience!) One thing I've noticed about the ghilley and it's enormously disappointing is that a lot of the foliage that you would hide in that makes it beneficial doesn't render at distances so is very limited in its usefulness. I'm still accumulating burlap sacs since I'd like to give it another go- but I found the overwatch "hero" assignment (self established) difficult. Standing off at long range and trying to identify bandits vs normal folks was almost impossible unless you caught them in the act and my vantage point was VERY well concealed but had limited exposure. I almost wish for opportunities to see how I was killed as a sniper to figure out what I did wrong- I keep looking at the videos for "sniper down in Berezino!" or something to that effect. I'd probably facepalm at my noobishness... Berezino is a hotbed and as I mentioned earlier on seeing a sniper decked out with mosin / compensator skulking around the hospital probably LOOKS bad. Makes it even more important to stay completely out of sight and have the discipline to stay in cover no matter how bored you get. Anyway- hope you guys are having good dayz out there... Just got to stick with it and see what I have in store for me tonight!

20 minutes ^ How about last 20 hours...

Well- not going to lie... we had a match last night that tested my patience. ZH210 and I were working around our normal area in Berezino... I was having some crash trouble and he did as well and somewhere in the middle of him being in and me coming back online he stumbled into someone. He was dressed pretty normally- like a scavenger, not like a soldier. Now, keep in mind, ZH is pretty young so he does his best to communicate. He offered the other guy something and it was established pretty quickly that the other guy was friendly. I think he was bleeding and ZH quickly offered him some rags. ZH mentioned that I was coming in and the other guy (you told me your name and I forgot after what eventually happened) mentioned he had a friend too. We were scoping out the hospital and the grocery store when I got kicked and that was generally where all this went down. I finally got in and to my surprise was being mauled by zeds almost immediately and ran away since I only had a crowbar. I knew my general area and headed to the hospital so the group could help get them off my tail. I could hear from over my shoulder that the other guy's friend had arrived and they were sorting each other out. I came running up out of nowhere trying to tell them that I had zombies chasing me- The new guy was challenging me as I approached and I could see him standing off. I was trying to hit the direct chat key as I ran but kept hitting shift tab instead- kind of funny to watch, I imagine. I finally managed, "I'm with ZombieHunter! I'm his friend!" The guy stood down, urged us to be careful since there were 3 fire axes being plunged into zombie heads to and fro... I did what I could with my crowbar but quickly voted against getting too much into it since it forced me in closer- it wouldn't have taken much miscalculation to put an axe into me instead of a zed. When the coast was clear we had a bit of conversation. There was a name exchange (I've since forgotten) and some formalities. "I'm ENO... I'm in the forums quite a bit actually- not sure if you recognize the name?" "No- but we're in there quite a bit too. Just posted a pretty righteous (exact word escapes me) photo in there. You should look it up when we're done." "Yeah- sounds good. I put quite a few entries in the "how was your dayz" thread..." ZH said, "We were heading up to the NWAF... we were going to grab some supplies here and then head up there." One of them replied that sounded great. "Hey guys-" the friend said. "I'm freezing right now... let's get out of sight and build a fire. Anyone have matches?" ZombieHunter says he does and we agree to scope out the grocery store first before moving into the hills. They found a dry bag and the guy recommended I grab it since it was perfect. We get up into the hills- in a little dimple that hid us from view in Berezino. I picked up a zed tail and then a second joined the fray. Fortunately all our guys were now armed with what they needed- I think I'd even found an axe by then. We hacked and slashed our way through to daylight and set forth bringing down a couple trees to light a fire. None of us were that familiar with what was required to light a fire and everyone had a bit of everything but nobody had all they needed. Seemed to be some confusion- but now I look back on it and it seemed like it might have been part of the play. One guy was walking ZH through the steps of creating thirds from logs and I was trying to combine my rags with the sticks when it happened. I don't know if we caught someone else's attention and they ambushed our group- or if these two guys turned on us and opened fire while we were distracted... I was killed almost instantly and ZH got a few shots off at someone. It was chaos. I was already dead so I looked over my shoulder to see who was shooting at us and he says "THIS GUY!" and pulled the trigger... the guy had a bandanna over his face- and it kind of looked like one of the guys we had been with? I couldn't tell but what I could tell was that the guy was shooting. ZH put a few rounds into him in desperation but then he was knocked unconscious to eventually die. I'm putting this out there in hopes that the guys we were with read it and can confirm one way or the other if "that's just the way the game is played, dude" or "Holy cow that was chaos, we were ambushed and rounds were flying all over the place! No idea what happened... we all had to fresh spawn." Either way- I hope if the story gets through to them I hope they'll come clean since it'll really enlighten me to what just happened.

Well... I guess I had it coming- skulking around in the forest the way I was. I'd hooked up with ZH for awhile and we were doing our thing. Saw a couple people while ZH was in the hospital but it looked like they were being chased by zeds into a more distant part of Berezino- we didn't interfere. I crashed and ZH decided to log out- but I went back in just to monitor things. As I watched, I figured I'd continue to explore the area I was in to find different vantage points and record some distances. I made my way across- quite some distance from the treeline... YOU ARE DEAD. 0456. So I ended up near Solnichniy as a freshie... sprinted back to Berezino to see if I could scavenge ANY of my stuff- As I approached the factory I picked up a couple zeds and just kept running... sort of hoping I'd bump into someone with some better weapons to help me knock them out. I had a crowbar and while it's okay, I had 3 and eventually 4 in tow. I cut through the factory to the tracks and there was another guy running around on the tracks! Perfect! I called out to him and said hey! I'm fresh and I have a bunch of trouble following me! He promptly drew an axe and started waving it around at various zeds- knocking them out. I took out one as well. I asked him where he was headed when things calmed down and he said he was waiting for a friend. Sounded a bit younger. I told him I'd just been assassinated over at Berezino so I was headed back there. I thanked him for the help and we went our different directions. On the way I stopped in Niznoye (sp) knowing there is a well there and while I was looting the diner I got shot at. I ran away zigzagging and trying to cover myself with obstructions but looking over my shoulder I couldn't see anyone following me. I made a big circle around and headed over to the well. I sat around the corner from the well for a minute, looking around for any movement at all. I didn't see any- so I decided to go against my gut and went to the well. "Well hello there" said a character who came out of the trees... "Hi. I'm fresh so you're not going to get much from me." "Meet my friend Maximilian," the guy with a long rifle of some sort said... I looked over my other shoulder and there was a guy with what looked like an SKS painted black. He had a balaclava on- uh oh. I put my hands up and they told me they wanted to check my pockets. Not sure exactly how to do that- I figured I'd just take my stuff off. Max said his handcuffs weren't working- but he also mentioned he had a key and not to worry. "Were you the guys who shot at me at the diner?" "Yes, you startled us... but I saw you didn't have a gun so I didn't chase." "Ah!" Then he said: "I can open your cans for you." "Yes please. I've just spawned and sprinted from down south so I'm quite hungry and thirsty." They opened my cans and put them back... Thank you to Maximilian and your friend! I sprinted back to the spot where I'd been killed and scanned everywhere in that area I could for my gear- but it was gone... Sigh. On one hand that's good since now I can get back in action and do my thing. On the other hand, there's hours of accumulating netting, burlap and paint... Ah well.

Almost killed my first person last night. I didn't have a bunch of time to play but I ended up getting back together with ZombieHunter210 (Formerly SBJ). I scouted the area for him as he approached Berezino and everything looked clear. It wasn't too busy in the server so we didn't anticipate any trouble. I didn't see anyone at the time so he came in and took a look around to get familiar with the area. We agreed it was perfect. A couple of wells close by, very prominent landmarks to help us navigate around quickly and efficiently- good access to a market... What's not to like?! He'd had to run for about 15 minutes straight to close the distance between us so once he was done with that he helped me with some "spotting" exercises to confirm my "overwatch" positions and then stepped out. I decided to up the ante a bit and went into a busier server to perform my duties. I spawned into a 29/30 server and within about a minute saw a guy with a ghillie hood sniping from on top of a building nearby! Oh really? My palms started to sweat as I zoomed in on him and watched him for a few seconds. I JUST got centered on him when he stood up and headed over to a ladder, then started to descend. He was warping a bit and I didn't want to expose myself by shooting and missing. Unfortunately he then moved out of my view. I scoured the area for him but didn't see him again... Next time...

Had an intense few moments in game today... We were talking about those opportunities where you have someone cross your path and unbeknownst to them you let them pass. They'll likely never know you were even there. Maybe they read one of these stories and say- hey wait a minute... that was ME! I was working around the area I've chosen to bed down on and was performing my self assigned overwatch duties- just scanning my area for bandits and freshies tangling with zombies etc. I am pretty well off with supplies so I just sort of tucked in and checked out a few vantage points, recorded some distances with the range finder and just kind of enjoyed the scenery. I expected to be there for awhile but no matter, I kept myself entertained. The server was busier than what I'm used to so I paid a little closer attention than usual and I'm glad I did. It was only a couple minutes before someone entered my line of sight. He was carrying an orange backpack and headed out of view pretty quickly. Not 2 minutes later a group of 4 appeared from the same direction. A few of them had long guns out but they looked like either long shotguns or maybe Mosins. They were dressed conservatively- nothing teched out that I could see. Normal coloured drybags and civ clothes. I watched them with curiosity- Just a group of guys hanging out, helping each other out? Bandits waiting around a corner so someone could stumble into them? Not sure- but boy did I watch them carefully. They ran into one building together and I could see them making their way up the staircase. Are they going to sit up there and snipe at folks? More importantly are they going to sit up there and snipe at freshies or are they going to do what I'm doing? I noticed a zombie come racing in from the right and ended up going up the ramps after them. Pretty sure they had that well in hand so I let that play out. A couple minutes passed and most of the guys had moved back down the ramp and were unseen in the hospital- but this one guy stayed on the roof. "I've got my eye on you, buddy" I thought to myself as I tracked his movements. He zigzagged a couple times... then FELL OFF THE ROOF! It was almost comical to watch his buddies all make their way outside... a few of them could be seen looking up at the roof... then around... then back up at the roof. They waited there in the back courtyard of the building for probably 10-15 minutes... spending plenty of time standing still where I got some aiming practice in. I didn't shoot- but I have to practice sometime, right?! A couple of them left for a bit- leaving one guy behind the building. He ran around aimlessly for awhile... The other guys returned and they carried on about their business. I WISH I'd had a neat place to hide closer to them so I could hear the conversation. A few more minutes passed and a freshie comes running up from the coast... Well, here we go- what's going to happen now? A hold up? Murder? Is this their buddy returned after his flight lesson to grab his gear? Seemed to be the latter. There was lots of looking up at the roof of the building... running around... They eventually headed south together, stopped off at a nearby well and then the server restarted. Not sure who you guys were or what you were up to but if you ever end up reading this I sure hope you were just a bunch of guys working through the motions and not some group of D-Bags I should have executed wholesale. I'm not a great shot- but I wouldn't have had to be.

^ Looking forward to those experiences. Didn't have a great day last night since SBJ and I were able to get in game together again (I work away from home)... He was still where we left off and I'd been all over the place so he spent some time collecting resources and making his way to the east side. My intro to overwatch wasn't so great- I'm not exactly sure how it happened but SBJ started getting chased by a zombie and I said "hold my beer and watch this!" So I took aim at the zombie in chase- he was leading it by about 20 feet or so and they were about 500m. Now that my arm isn't broken anymore I figured that would be like shooting a house. Take aim... hold my breath... fire. "You shot me!" he shouts from over my shoulder. His screen is grey and all his equipment (bandages / rags etc) is wrecked. WTF? Not only was I aiming WAY behind him, but I also made a rookie mistake and forgot to adjust my zero- I was still shooting 200. No idea what happened- I told him I was pretty sure I didn't shoot him but all the evidence pointed to the fact that I did. I sprinted down the hill and he finished off the zombie the old fashioned way... Then just as I came over to give him a rag to patch himself out he went unconscious. I tried to bandage him myself (and I did) but he stayed unconscious. I didn't have any epi... and neither did he- though even after he died (according to his screen) all I could do was inspect his gear. I couldn't take any of it. Perhaps because it was ruined? I don't know. So that was his character wasted... probably by me. Ugh. Spent the rest of the evening trying to head south to meet up with him. I think he's spawned almost exclusively at Elektro and Cherno... I don't think I've ever spawned down there. Weird. Another frustrating thing has been happening lately regarding the zeds. At one point a couple took off after a cow in the field I was camped out beside- probably 10 layers of trees back from the treeline. The cow goes off on its escape and evasion routine and probably just randomly ended up coming straight for me. It veered off with 2 zeds in tow- I was prone and completely motionless and in a ghillie pushed up against a tree. Instead of continuing on after the cow that is still running around in full motion, both branch off and head after me. Was kind of expecting it (mr. Murphy) so I'd already got my axe ready. Also... this whole rumor that you can "break contact" with zombies by breaking line of sight and then stopping when they go into search mode is rubbish. I can't count how many times I'll have caught a launch, killed the zed... gone off to my shelter and 5 minutes later or more I've got zeds coming in on me from multiple directions. I doubt it's because they're spawning in on me close enough to see me laying on the ground motionless- Anyway- for those reading just be aware to keep your eyes and ears open for awhile after contact is made. Today I just ran into town for some food and get topped up with bandages / rags. It's quiet in there today so I'll probably just lay low. Great stories above, btw... Glad to see I'm not the only one whose having a blast in there!

THAT is what I love about this game. That constant possibility that you've just sprinted past someone's little setup, or crossed their path while they were out hunting (or something)... and that they took your life in their hands and chose to give it back.

Point taken- I guess I'd really just like to see there be a balance of good and bad when you decide to pull the trigger. Right now the worst thing that can happen is your shot ruins that nice piece of equipment you didn't know the guy you shot was carrying. Ruined that AKM mag? Oooooh Noooooooo (Jim Jefferies). I'm hoping they have some plans since turning this into one elaborate pvp is going to leave 95% of the functions they've spent a year now (and probably at least another year) developing unused since everyone will still run around and shoot first. I by nature am more team orientated- and don't generally LIKE running around alone. Ironically now I play in the role of an overwatch kind of watching things go down. I'm timid as I'm still learning the game and don't have the reflex skills to get into anyone's face with confidence. Gradually I will. I'm excited about the potential that more zombies will bring provided they don't compromise game performance. I understand we can't have EVERYTHING and some guys running lower end systems and holding true to their Windows XP fetish may be left grumbling... But the constant threat of large wads of zombies coming in and ransacking everything you've accumulated, whether gardens or tents or otherwise... would be an extremely gratifying terror. Well fed or not- you won't be able to run forever... but the zeds will.