Excanto

Nah I never play on private servers. When that server is down, my character is down. I'd rather play on public so I have more options. Well I'll follow that advice of trying to figure out the timing of the restart and not dropping anything near that time.

Last I heard, you need a fireplace with lots of wood so the fire doesn't go out during the cooking process. A tripod to add to the fireplace which holds the pot. A pot full of water. Some meat. I never had all that stuff to try before the patch. I did have a pot full of water and a stove and 2 canisters that worked. I started cooking and the meat changed color twice but never said cooked. The red started to turn pink on the pan so I switched canisters and it went dark red again and then after awhile it went pink and the crap never cooked. I threw it all on the ground and went and ate some canned food. I don't bother with that now because it was pretty frustrating. Spoiler ahead if you don't want to know how to farm, stop reading here. Seeds stack together, I found a 3 pumpkin and a 8 pumpkin and stacked them into a 11 pumpkin. Find a small shovel and prepare the soil, anywhere as far as I can tell. Then use the shovel to make a tile, which prepares the spot for 1 plant. Put seeds in your hand and plant a seed and it says it's too dry but if you look you will see a stick poking out of one of the tiles of dirt. Put a canteen/bottle in hand and point at it and pick water plant. now sit back and relax until it says harvest fruit etc. Eat and be merry.

I have my server filter set to ping 100 or less. I don't have a lot of choices that way for servers, but all the problems listed in this thread that are caused by server lag, vanish when you get on a low ping server. As for the update, wasn't it boring fighting zombies? Axe, sidestep, swing. Axe, sidestep, swing. Boring. The only time I ever had a chance to shoot my weapon was because a player was shooting at me, otherwise I used the axe to stay quiet. Now I don't want to risk my gear getting damaged and I clear out what zombies I can see from a distance, letting other players know where I am generally from the gunfire. I run out of ammo now and have to switch to pistol and run low on that as well. I never did that till this update, that makes me really careful about where I go and when I risk engagement. I think one of the problems we have now are hoarders. :-)

I realize the game has had a major change, but it's still fun, even when I get frustrated at times. It's exciting, scary and fulfilling. Exciting when you are finding something cool. Scary when a zombie hits you out of no where and screeches in your face. Fulfilling when you finish eating and drinking and see that healthy bar turn bright green again. I remember once I was running thru nw airfield before the patch when I had an AKM and no magazines and I stopped on the tarmac to eat a can of peaches and I dropped the rifle and ate and drank some and then picked up my akm and saw that there was a 75 round drum mag under me!!! Someone must have accidentally hit r with a fill mag while they were running and had no room for the mag coming off and it dropped and they didn't notice. What are the chances of me stopping right on top of it. We kinda need a floating ground search panel that is always there and goes ding when we run across an item. :-D

I have found 2 drum mags since the update, both in the same spot. A jeep jammed between several broken down trucks. One was on the hood and one was low inside the drivers side door and I had to visually grab it from the passenger side because I couldn't get it to show up on ground search no matter where I stood. I also found a silencer and pso-1 scope in that jeep. It seems like in that particular military camp, there is a tank that has the same stuff every time, sub machine guns, pistol, cuffs, keys and clothes. The military camp I am referring to is the tent camp way west near the edge of the map, south west of the NW airfield. There are no zombies at that camp, so it's pretty dangerous. :-O So far I have fully geared there a couple times, except for an AKM. I have only found a 22 sporter, that folding 22, a blaze, a shotgun and an sks at that camp and I can't be sure if they spawned there or were player dropped. It seems odd walking around with pristine handguard, buttstock, pso-1 scope and 2 75 round mags and not having an akm. lol.

I've learned to run faster and weave left and right when I hear someone say "Hi" over in game mic, trying to get me to stop so they can shoot me easier. I've learned to get trees between me and the gun firing bullets at me as I run. I've learned to break line of sight and then change directions so the player chasing me runs the wrong way. I've learned to look more carefully as I move and be patient when I feel like someone is near, even though I don't see anyone. I've learned that it is crazy fun to not be seen, while seeing others, getting close and watching them and then watching them leave without knowing their danger. Fun! I've learned to be ruthless when I'm near death and in desperate need, even shooting a man in the dark with a shotgun at close range while he is picking apples. I have only acknowledged in this game my understanding of how important food and water and good gear and good decisions are to surviving in the wild. I'm sure we all have realized how accidental shootings can occur while we are under great duress and so jumpy that any movement causes a trigger squeeze. And I am positive we all know how pathetic it is for someone to say "it's magazine not clip" someone needs to put there nose somewhere less stinky,

My opinion about the loot system is forget everything we learned up until now and imagine it is your first day here and your curious and you look everywhere. The only old knowledge that seems worthwhile is where to find a water pump. I run like a madman to the water pump, finding a pet bottle and canteen and some clothes and pumpkin seeds along the way. Pet bottle holds more then the canteen at the moment. I get to the water pump and drink up and find a small shovel in a nearby farm and booyah I am gonna live!! Grow some pumpkins and eat up and head out from my new base of operations and find all sorts of things that are useless by themselves. Gun with no ammo, ammo with no gun, Gas stove with no gas bottle. Pristine ACOG scope OMG!!! I can't drop that pile of crap lead weight that is useless without the rifle. So many things I find that I can't use and can't drop because they are wonderful!!! I don't have good enough clothes etc with lots of pockets so I have to pick and choose wisely. I know if I set down the acog in a field that I will find a helicopter crash minutes later, not. I run to a military camp I know of and yes, canteens, pet bottles, cans of food, better clothes, an sks FINALLY a rifle I have rounds for. Off to a spot with lots of trucks and tanks, better gear and an axe and helmet and better backpack. Big long loop mostly avoiding the zombies and big towns and back to the farm almost dead from starvation and thirst and loss of blood. :-O Drink and plant some pumpkins and camp there till I am full health again. Ok have some burlap strips so I try for a swim to prison island and the place is barren, no nets, no nothing and swim back. Hmm where should I go next? Is the game harder? Ya! Is it a cake walk? No! Am I having fun? Ya! Do I want better gear? Ya! Guess I'll have to go check somewhere much more dangerous.......

It seems to me that the exact things spawn in certain places. On one particular tank, same sub machine guns and pistol and clothes over and over as I do the horrible action of server jumping. I have only found a 75 round drum magazine in 1 place, in a particular jeep in a particular place :-) It has all sorts of junk as well, but so far 2 75 round drum magazines. Once on the top of the engine cover and once hidden inside the drivers door so you have to grab it using sight grab from the passenger side. I also found silencer, pso-1 scope among the plain stuff. One tank almost always has a sks and some ak74 ammo. You definitely have to look places you didn't look before. I found a rifle in a broken down truck and it was not visible anywhere, but it showed up with a ground search. One particular military camp will have you setup pretty well, canteens, pet bottles, food, can openers, clothes, rifles, ammo and boots etc. Of course that particular location has high traffic now it seems, but any new spawns making it there are not equipped for much of a battle.