Just a quick note from a brand new player who isn't familiar with the previous versions or the map, I don't find the lack of weapon to necessarily be a problem, given that I don't know what it was like to play with one. I've put in about five hours of gameplay and died three times, all of these times without ever having found a weapon. It makes the game incredibly tense; however, I've steered clear of almost any towns because of the aggro range on zombies. It's almost impossible to do anything near buildings because, regardless of traveling prone, being smart, avoiding line of sight, zombies are immediately on top of me. This isn't in comparison to any previous mod version. The aggro range on the zombies actually feels sorely inconsistent. I'll spend a good amount of time moving slowly and carefully through the terrain, only to be ransacked by undead before I've even had a chance to see them. With that kind of acuity, there doesn't seem to be a way to play "smart" except to avoid towns and hope to get lucky. Also, there seems to be a rather staunch defense of the ability to simply run from zombies, but I haven't been able to outrun one yet. This might be a lapse on my part (something I don't know) but otherwise, I die as soon as I aggro. Otherwise, I love the alienation and dread that the environment creates, and provided there's just a bit more balance, the lack of weapon start seems apropos.
