Peyj

Edit: There you go, DeathComesSilently's answer is much better than mine. :D See below.

Sneaking is definitely the key - either prone (Z) or crouch (X). Tap shift to sneak instead of running full speed. Keep a constant eye out, looking around. Always play with sound on - if you can hear a zombie but can't see it yet, check out the situation properly before blindly running in. Look at some of the online maps that highlight various spawn points so you're not wasting your time checking out fruitless spots. Until you can gather your own matches and become self-sufficient food-wise, collect as much food/beverages as you can reasonably carry.

Some really great advice already in this thread. :) A big tip is to always be cautious, even over-cautious. If you think there's a slight chance you're too close to that zombie, or you see another player, play cautiously. Back away from the zombie (crawling, preferably), and get outta there if you see a player! Most players at the moment are playing on a "shoot first, ask questions maybe" basis.

And don't forget to pick up any soda cans you find. I noticed there were a fair few around in the past few days and I have been keeping a stash for emergencies.

No. You may only use Yahoo or Bing! once it gets dark. Anything else would break the game. On a serious note, I'm a pretty new player but I'm pretty sure what Turin said is correct - they already exist, just rare. ;)

Hooray! :) Sorry if someone has already asked this, or if you've already provided this info, but does this only apply to newly spawned characters, or will my existing male character be fixed? I chose female shortly after the genders were announced, but late last week got killed and respawned as a male. Either way, thank-you very much for fixing this. :)

I've seen a few people get annoyed because of the language differences in global chat; possibly feeling nervous that they can't see/understand what's going on, I guess. Probably won't see this happening much anymore now that global chat has been removed.

I'm only speaking for myself here, but while the ganking can be frustrating and inconvenient, it also adds to my enjoyment of the game. I actually enjoy having to constantly watch my back, think about where I'm headed and what I'm doing. I enjoy needing my headphones on and reacting quickly if I hear an out of place noise. What was that? A gunshot? Duck. Hide. Scan the area, am I safe? Even if this passive mode was implemented with full NPCs to 'replace' the role of bandits played by real people, they could never bring to the table the same level of being on edge, challenge and fun. NPCs can be consistently outplayed. Either that, or made so difficult that they present an overwhelming challenge - at which point, doesn't that defeat the purpose? Would that not then turn into requests to nerf them? The biggest element of enjoyment in DayZ, for me, is the element of danger and surprise. There is a certain level of realism the current game reaches, where I cannot assume safety at any given moment - just in case. I could turn the corner and come face to face with another player, and he COULD just decide to shoot me. After all, if there were such a zombie outbreak, and it was every man for himself - with limited supplies available - that IS how many people would behave. For me, I find no point in playing a game such as this where I can assume safety from random encounters with others.

I could also just take the buttstock on my rifle and smash the window, pistolwhip it, or just plain kick it out... Bottomline is, you dont need a special tool to get into a car, if anything you need a screwdriver to start it, but thats it. That's my problem with this suggestion, too. If I'm running around with a gun or a hatchet or similar, why should I need a crowbar to bust into a car? We recently lost our one and only vehicle to other players while we were logged out, due to not choosing our hiding spot very well. While that was annoying, I think that the system as it is, is pretty good (e.g. having to find a good hiding spot to secure it away from other players). We now know our original hiding spot was pretty poor, and won't use it again.

Really good suggestion - an auto-run feature is the one thing I feel is really missing in the game. There's often a lot of terrain to cover, and my wussy little hands get pretty tired cramming down on "W" for long treks! :)