Peyj

Just one - I'm new to this murdering business. We were running around as a pair - only one of us armed. We'd just run into someone in a barn and all assured each other we were friendly. I peek out of the barn and see two players crouched in the fields outside. My partner - who was armed - shot them both. We ran over to loot their corpses, and the guy from the barn runs alongside us and starts taking loot as well. Turns out that's a pretty good way to get shot at point blank range. We felt pretty bad, but then again, he hadn't helped with the kills at all (had hid in the barn the whole time), and was helping himself to the loot he wanted without even letting us take a look first.

Hahah, yes. I laughed out loud when I saw the title of this thread, thinking about that scene. :D

I agree that from ponds and other places you can fill your canteen, it would be nice to be able to just plain drink. I actually assumed you could but recently found out that's not the case. I think it would be a nice/realistic addition. :)

There's a distinct difference between thoughtlessly posting complaints that benefit nobody, and posting valid concerns and bug reports that help the developers. It seems a lot of people don't understand that, why is why they repeatedly get told "This is an alpha".

I'm a new player. I died twice since the spawning without a weapon was introduced - one was my own stupid fault for getting impatient & alt-tabbing while I was loading in (I think I got shot by another player). The other was having the misfortune to pull a zombie and his several friends before I was armed. Since then, I have stayed alive and managed to pick up some survival gear along the way. New players have every chance, we just have to take it a bit slower, be extra careful and stay on our toes. It can be difficult, yes, but all these suggestions that it's "impossible" are greatly exaggerated. I'm a terrible shot and I'm still getting used to the controls, but by taking extra care, I've been managing. It's not supposed to be a casual stroll in the park. It's supposed to be challenging. It's certainly not impossible for new players.

The word "casual" used as an insult for gamers makes me cringe. I remember when it didn't matter if the game you were playing was "cool" or "hardcore" or not. Was it fun? Yeah? Cool, that's all that matters. Where did people get this idea from that they're hardcore for playing a damn video game? But, yeah, agree - gaming communities on the whole can be absolutely terrible. It's all about who's more hardcore, blah blah. Or whining about games to get what they want, or flaming each other to hell. It's been a long time since I've seen a online gaming forum with a decent attitude, unfortunately. :/

You seem to be conveniently ignoring the fact that there is a MAJOR difference between helpful, constructive criticism and blatant whining/ranting/bitching/mindlessly bashing a keyboard with complaints. The reason people keep saying IT'S AN ALPHA is because nearly all of the complaints that get posted repeatedly are stupid, unnecessary whining - OR as posted as self-entitled, "give me this immediately, I demand my money back!" rubbish. If people have complaints or suggestions they feel as valid, why don't they form them as such? Example: "I've noticed that the difficulty in sneaking past zombies - even in buildings - is tuned a little too high. Is it worth considering lowering their aggro radius/sensitivity or raising the stealthiness of crawling?" "I can pick up various items such as empty Jack Daniels bottles. I suggest we are able to use these as melee, or even thrown, weapons. This would help new players and give them a survival tool much quicker, as generally these are easier to come by than a traditional weapon." The OP in this case is pretty decent. But the reason people are repeatedly saying "OMG IT'S A GODDAMN ALPHA" is because we're all sick to death of all the unhelpful, pointless complaining. :)

He's just baiting people for responses.. Which you just gave him.

I don't really understand complaining/quitting over losing gear. It's an alpha, you could have the best available gear in the entire game but you were NEVER keeping it. Even in beta, you will NEVER keep that gear. Just relax about it, start again or take a break. There isn't a single game that will let you keep stuff acquired in alpha, so there's no point holding any kind of attachment whatsoever to your stuff.

Yup, playing last night was the first time I've had a completely random guy help me out. I found saying "I'm friendly and unarmed!" worked well. He peeled some zombies off me and even indicated where I could find myself a weapon nearby.

I recommend just grabbing the copy from Steam - $19.99 for ARMA II, or $29.99 for the pack including Operation Arrowhead. :)

Yes, you do.

Am I the only person really enjoying the new 'survival kits'? Got killed last night by two other players, so respawned and started out fresh. The first attempt, pretty sure I got shot as soon as I spawned on the coast. I was AFK momentarily and came back to "You are dead" :p. Second attempt, I managed to make it to some barns and farmhouses. Got lucky and found another dead player in the hills and picked up his gun (sadly no ammo). Snuck into a barn and pulled a zombie (and his numerous friends, somehow) and once again it was game over. Third attempt, I had much better success. Managed to sneak my way through various farmhouses and stuff on my way to Elektro. Didn't pick up much of any use on the way, and as I was running into the city, someone drove through and pulled the nearby zombies away (I heard the vehicle and, luckily, hid in time). Next thing I know I've run around the corner and am coming under fire from another player. I'm frantically telling him, "I'm friendly! Unarmed!" and he stopped firing and let me run in and take cover in the building he was in. At this point my husband came running in from the other side, I'd pulled a couple of zombies, and yet another player was shooting at us. Husband and the random guy took out the other player (I was still unarmed at this point). Random player let us know there were two weapons he'd left in the building, we thanked him, and he went on his way. Totally saved my butt. Anyway, the server then started crashing a fair bit, but managed to pick up a handful of bandages, painkillers, some food and drinks, a watch and a compass. Hopefully I'll log in and will have kept it all, but if not I don't care. There's so much fun and adventure - and a nice dose of challenge - to be had spawning with next to nothing. You're racing against the clock (hunger/thirst), got to be smart and hide/stealth your way through zombies, avoid other players, and just hope you're lucky enough to hit the jackpot with some good supplies to get you started. This whole adventure took us a few hours, and we only managed to meet up right at the end, just before the server crashing got the better of us and we decided to call it a night. I'd say that it was the most fun I've had since the first time I played DayZ, am I alone in thinking the more difficult it gets, the more fun it is? Hiding in a barn, listening to zombies grunting outside, hoping you're hidden - hoping you judge when you're safe to make a run for it.. Hearing gunfire from players in the distance and just thinking, "Oh damn, wonder if I can get out of here without them spotting me/wonder if they'll accept I'm friendly and let me go?" Looking forward to doing it all again tonight, and kind of even a little bit hoping I do get owned again, so I can have all the fun of last night once again. :)

Hm, I guess this is what happened to me last night. I had been hiding in a barn (unluckily didn't find a weapon), and thought I'd quite sneakily come back down, but I'd managed to pull a zombie, who then must have called out for his friends to join the party. That character was a very short-lived one. :p

Yup, the starter gear for all characters was just recently changed, so a lot of the info you've seen previously is now outdated. A good starting point is to check out some of the freely available online maps which highlight various spawn points, figure out where you've landed, and the closest way to try and obtain some gear. Sneak everywhere, hiding from both zombies and other players, until you can get yourself some equipment. :)

I agree. I really don't understand why people can't provide constructive feedback. There's so much raging and self entitled ranting on here, but the same can be said of most gaming forums, quite sad really. I'm sure the devs would appreciate feedback that isn't just mindless ranting, we just waste everyone's time if we're all just going to yell at each other about minor things.

I think to add another element of "survival" to the game, to keep players on their toes. :)