Pale Ryder

Pretty cool... but I, too, noticed the lack of damage or blood loss.

Of course no one likes bandits.. not even other bandits. Yes, it is a play style choice and yes it adds a certain element to the game.. but there should certainly be some sort of negative consequence. The towel doesn't prevent you from being a bandit... nor does it prevent you from -not- shooting people on sight. As for your reformed criminal metaphor... criminals with a record like yours, don't get opportunities to go turn down the straight and narrow.

Negative. Like others said, you didn't get that by jumping between good guy and bad guy. It's not so much fun to be immediately fired upon instead of shooting someone in the back after they give you a blood bag or a can of beans, is it? You did it, you wanted to play that way, you deal with it.

I've often wondered this myself. Especially after taking care to aim at a zombie's head only to have him roflstomp into me afterwards. Since then it's just easier to put a few into the body than to take the time to headshot. I know headshots are -supposed- to be 1 shot kills with any weapon.. but like yourself, I've seen some instances where that wasn't the case. Perhaps it is a desync issue or graphical error, but you aren't the only one who has the same issue.

So, I'm definately interested.. I just have a few questions. 1. How many people do you have signed up/playing? 2. What do you have your max ping set at? I live in the US.. but due to where I'm located, my internet can tend to jump on occasion (it's done by radio signal.. I live on a ranch, so fiber optic/cable isn't an option out here) anywhere from 40 ms up to 300/400. Not that it's is an issue, but I'd be disappointed to get kicked constantly. Most servers set their limits to like 120.. which I just can't always maintain. 3. Any risk of all 50 slots being filled and not allowing access?

I finally have a tale to tell... and yes, it involves that cursed place that we shall not name. Now - let me put in a addendum before I begin: I have kept up with this thread and largely believed that the majority of the stories are either hackers/glitches or out-right lies. However, after my incident, I'm back on the fence. Having been alive on my current character for quite some time, I decided to just live off of the land for awhile. I was satisfied with my gear (nothing high end), had a few canteens, some emergency cans of food and some meat. I stick to the wilderness, hit up the ponds and small outlying barns for necessities, and hunt animals. However, I was starting to run into a few people who were doing the same thing. Ultimately, I decided that I would move to the wooded area around -you know where-; my thought processes being that people things it's haunted or creepy and will generally stay away from it.. if nothing else, you may have a few curious passerbys, but no one out hunting survivors. Fully packed for a several day stay, I headed up the slope - but not too close to the mountain itself. As I'm scouting out an area, I notice the little white periphery circle pop up on my screen. "Great, probably a rabbit or boar. Easy meat" I think. I turn to move in that direction, and I don't see anything. I made several, slow circles and see nothing. I head back to the original area and see the spot appear again. This time it went from the top corner of the screen to the bottom. Again I turn toward it and see nothing. Make another, larger circle and again I see nothing. Now the sun is setting, and a slight creepy feeling begins to claw into my mind, but I ignore it and go on. The sun sets, and it gets pretty dark.. that sort of dark, gray, smokey haze that occurs in the late evenings - as the last dying rays fade from the sky. I considered making a fire, but decide I'll wait till later. Now, I hear movement. It's running and walking in the distance. Fast, slow. Fast, slow. I go prone - I squint and watch, I listen. It sounds as if someone is making a semi circle through the trees. "Got to be someone heading up the mountain.. or maybe someone spotted me crossing the road earlier. Either way, they don't seem to know where I'm at... just sit tight." I tell myself. This continues for several minutes. I don't move a muscle, I just keep my G17 in that direction, as my primary is a sniper that won't do me much good in the dark. Finally, as it grows pitch black, the footsteps head away and vanish. "Adios asshole.." I move locations just to be safe. Right as I go to set up a fire to cook some meat, I hear the footsteps again. Closer this time. They are slower this time, as if someone is deliberately looking for something. I ponder calling out.. but I don't want to give a confirmation that I'm here. Instead, I belly crawl away a bit, stand up behind another set of trees and hurl a road flare down the hill in the direction of the footsteps. I get ready to run and circle around, but as the flare lights up the area, for a brief moment I spot a man in a ghillie suit running from a tree. Now I'm in KIT (keep it together!) mode. I run perpendicular to the LOS and try to flank him. He's gone. No footsteps, nothing. It was a scene from a horror movie when the victim finally spots their tormentor for the first time. At this point, I'm still convincing myself that this is a player.. though I couldn't determine a weapon during the brief moment I saw him. Surely he is laying prone in the dark, having fled from the flare. Nothing to be gained from this fight.. just move further on. I begin easing my way further around the mountain.. and I hear it again. This time, it's running behind me. I spin and pop on the light of the G17 and the guy is running RIGHT AT ME. I squeeze off two rounds in a mild panic at the figure, which cuts to the right and back into the dark. I try and swing my light to follow, but I see nothing. It's quiet again. I've resigned myself that this is a hacker. I call out over the direct comm, "Everyone pays the piper.. you got me." Nothing. I turn and begin sprinting back toward the road. As I reach the road, I get on it and run up the middle of it like a noob. I finally reach the open field and turn to look. There up the road in the dark is a ball of light that vanishes. I kept at a dead sprint until I could see the outline of the next town. I still don't know exactly what I was dealing with... but I am determined to go back again and see what else the mountain has to offer.