Katana67

Granted, it's Alpha. So I feel this feature will be reworked. But I think this should actually be left in to some degree. It's a pretty darn realistic game, and your dude doesn't just disappear from the world he's in. Food/water should be consumed, but not so that it puts you in the red. Maybe just knocks you down from green to yellow if you haven't been on in a while and that's the limit.

There's a place that I want to one day build up, but no place is safe. Even a map as big as Chernarus has only so many spots to make settlements and the edges of the map aren't cutting it if you want to remain somewhat hidden. I find a settlement almost every time I go into the wilderness on a stable server.

Get off the freakin' beach! It takes me all of fifteen seconds to get off the beach and disappear into the wilderness. GET OFF THE BEACH!

So... there are some of us that enter into banditry for sport, some out of mere blood lust, some out of uber-survivalistic tendencies, and some that mimic the Joker and just want "to watch the world burn". There are some who are forced into banditry after being confronted with the cold truth of survival. I speak, of course, of those who have been wronged by other survivors after putting faith in others. This might appear to some as merely being angry at the situation, or as the kids these days say... "butthurt". It is not, I assure you, but it is merely a realization that even those who profess or appear to be on the side of altruism simply cannot be trusted. The guise of cohesion becomes quickly smeared by the response of "Don't shoot", rather than "I'm friendly and will help you". Mexican stand-offs around corners at the NW Airfield revealing the true essence of uncertainty in personal intention. These are things that make this Alpha/mod/game so unique and special. But it is also what drives those trusting enough to put their faith in people to turn to the life of banditry which they entered into the world so vehemently in opposition to. It is not out of hatred, malice, or a "for the lulz" attitude that I've been forced into banditry. It's the simple fact that people are either not worthy of trust, or just incompetent to a dangerous degree. I have not yet been pushed into the realm of hate, or anger. Just the realistic notion that one must do anything to survive. I don't see myself ever purposefully seeking conflict with another player. If they're just passing through and haven't noticed me, then so be it. They can go along unimpeded. It is not out of malcontent that I have decided to become a bandit, it is out of experience. Even the most prudent survivor makes mistakes and reacts without thinking, or misjudges an encounter. However, if I suspect a player is aware of my presence... or are in the vicinity of an objective of mine... I'm cookin' that fool no questions asked. Simply put, I am not a bandit of opportunism... but a bandit of self-preservation. I say this, so that one might be inclined to view the various nuances of being both a bandit and survivor as far more gray than is readily apparent. That's all I have to say about that. Comment, if you will, on the ethics of banditry and your personal experiences.

I haven't seen this items as planned. Can you link this? Thanks! TKJ Weather effects are what the Thermometer HUD item is for, search Rocket's posts... should be in there. Dogs, they were announced with a screen on a PC Gamer article that came out either yesterday or the day before. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/16/day-z-interview-how-zombies-arma-2-created-gamings-best-story-machine/

- Dog (Planned) - Weather effects (Planned) - Slightly slower zombie respawns - Global chat removed, direct chat fixed - Some kind of variant of zombie that shambles, not sprints -- I love the sprinters, but it makes zombie attacks pretty formulaic. Shamblers would mix things up - More spread out loot tables - More deployable tent variants, like ones that can be entered - Selectable character skins/loadouts

Oh, I agree totally. Cherno and Elektro should totally be deathtraps. Hence why I've never been to either :D EDIT - So... another update. Today, I came to the realization that I haven't got the bandit skin since my first character over two weeks ago now. I've killed a few here and a few there, but never two in one life... or I've killed a player, but they've disconnected so I didn't get credit for it. It's sort of called into question my adopting the bandit philosophy. I mean, I abide by it... but just haven't really put it into full-fledged practice. This is no fault of my own, as I'd rather be not seen and let someone go than just shoot them. I've never had any real problem getting resources and weapons, so I don't kill for that reason. But I started to think that I cannot really be called a "bandit" per se. This is due to the gray areas that are not accounted for in the Survivor/Bandit duality. Perhaps it's worth dividing into three categories, Paragon, Survivor, Bandit. No idea.

Yeah, I really do like how hard it is to loot towns solo now. Or at least, it's slower and more dangerous. It's sort of irritating though, because sometimes I'll just stand up randomly and get aggro'd by zombies... which is weak. But, outside of the deathtraps of Elektro and Cherno, I don't see too many bandits in towns like Stary Sobor anymore or any towns up north. There are just too many zombies to be packing off rounds at survivors with CZ's and DMR's. Much more dangerous in the fields though.

I posted on your Youtube video... My nights look nothing like this, they're absolutely black. No moonlight whatsoever, no shadow variance... it's just all black. Great video by the way.

Maybe not the best way, but certainly the fastest I'd say. Faster than hiking up north, with whatever I find on the way (CZ, Winchester, Enfield) and looting heavily infested and highly-bandit-patrolled cities and military installations. But yeah, I really am starting to hate the "get gunz" dynamic now. Well, not hate, but just become disenchanted with it. One can do pretty well with just a CZ, Winchester, or Enfield. Certainly as well as someone with an AK or M4. It's just a status thing I guess. Obviously, if I happen upon a DMR whilst I have a CZ... I'll opt for the DMR. But I do want to stop placing such an emphasis on getting better weapons. The one thing that I do risk my neck for, along with food/water when I need it, are the utilities and better packs.

I've been finding them more and more after 1.5.7, so I don't think they're as rare as they once were... or were just bugged. I've found three or four over the past few days, but nowhere near as many as the Pepsi and Coke cans.

Haven't seen the show unfortunately. As I understand it, the main character is a serial killer by night and a... what? By day?

God help the person that kills my dog... God help you... My dog dies at your hand? I will not think of anything else other than wringing your neck and leaving you for zombie bait. Sex? Hah! Breathing?! Please... all of these urges and thoughts pale in comparison to my desire to murder you and all things you hold dear.

It's more about adding a fun dynamic to the game, rather than copping out of killing people. Sometimes it's not prudent to just kill and loot, meaning if there are zombies and other hostile players around. Or other scenarios like that. Furthermore, to the sociopaths out there, I'm sure people would get some sick pleasure on leaving a player itemless in the middle of zomb-city.

God help the bandit/survivor that kills my dog. I will crucify them. Oh, there's no way to crucify someone in Day Z? That's what you think... Dog killers have a special rung of hell reserved for them, and it ain't pretty.

@ Above I really agree with your assessment of the "experimental" nature of Day Z. Aside from being a simulator in the tangible sense, Day Z is also a simulator in what happens when the social contract we know now disintegrates. It's akin to the stories that I've heard out of WoW (Never played it) whereby a disease becomes bugged and spreads throughout the server, simulating a real-world epidemic. These types of things, facilitated by a free-world environment really are fascinating. As an update to my evolution narrative... I hop on the same server I mentioned in my previous post, early in the morning, with the full intention of waltzing back up to that camp and making off with a ton of loot. After having some trouble connecting, I got in... only to find that there was a person who had been guarding the camp earlier logging in as I was just starting out. So, that was the end of the easy way for me right? Wrong. I say "Hi" to the dude, and he says "Hi" back. Offers to return my DMR and ammunition, even give me a blood transfusion, for not blabbing the location of his camp (Which, I believe they moved regardless). I was stunned when it all went down without a hitch and in a very friendly manner. I had already acquired an M16A2 as a backup and an M14 AIM as a primary, so I wasn't too worried about getting my DMR back. But did so anyway because I needed blood badly. Was a huge risk, that in hind sight, I probably shouldn't have taken. However, it payed off and reaffirmed my dwindling faith in other players. I guess I'll have to just roll with the punches and take things situationally. Which, will still not stop me from slaying anyone that gets in my way or anyone whose intentions are uncertain to me. I am interested in hearing from the more malicious bandits though, given the nature of compare and contrasting. I've been following the sociopath thread, which is enjoyable and creepy as hell at the same time. Like, serial killer creepy... hence why a lot of serial killers are sociopaths. Is it purely for the hell of it? Or for some grand scheme? Survival? I'm curious.

The solution, it seems, is to make night bright enough so that one doesn't need gamma adjustments to help. And also to make it dark enough to be atmospheric and make night time much harder to navigate in, as it should be.

This is why I stick to me, myself, and I. No disappointment when bandits come rape my camp, because I don't have one! Excellent stuff though.

Question... Is the CZ's magnification the same as the DMR's? I know the DMR is variable magnification through zoom, but the maximum magnification seems the same as the CZ's fixed magnification. If they're the same, then I think I'm going to skip the risk of trying to get a DMR and just stick with the CZ due to the ammo availability. Such a great recce rifle. If only switching primaries in and out of the backpack were easier, I'd roll the CZ 550 and an AKM/M4A3 CCO all day.

I've been using it quite successfully with infantry. Can only think of one instance where I would've been better suited using a mouse. Using a keyboard and controller is tricky, but you get the hang of it. Most of the controls on the keyboard are fairly static anyhow. Only thing I wish I could map to the controller is free look. I don't get why it gets such a bad rap, it's just personal preference. So what if it's not as responsive? I like the way it feels and this isn't CS, you don't need knee-jerk CoD reaction times to do well.

I just think night time is too dark. It's too dark, so that one cannot see landforms and buildings even on moonlit nights. If night time were a bit brighter, or if there was at least some ambient light, then I think the necessity for a flashlight wouldn't be as significant. Obviously, I want the flashlight to have a purpose, but I think this purpose should be seeing details and clearing buildings. Not large scale land nav.

I do agree, and I guess it's situational. Because there are some times where I have to really be careful entering places (mostly during peak playing times) and times that I don't, like early in the morning. As a rule, I just avoid airfields and Stary simply because they're a haul and are hard to make work solo unless you get insanely lucky with loot spawns. It just seems a bit repetitive for people to chill at the airfield and such, which makes me almost want to suggest that the loot "migrates" or something from military installation to installation. But what we have now works, so it doesn't need changing.

I second this. North is really where it's at, and it's really starting to get to me all these "LETS HEAD TO CHERNO" newbie parties which never end up lasting more than ten minutes before they're all dead. Coast is a deathtrap, I always say, head north. I do like the freedom of the north, and it'd be pretty hard for bandits to cover every field. I don't think they should be able to either, but I think a more spread out bandit presence would give much more depth to the game rather than keeping them focused at the obvious points, airfields, bases, and the like.

Banditry evolution update... So I was amassing a decent arsenal. DMR with a few mags, tons of cooked meat, all that jazz. Spent the night (night on some server) in the woods west of Zelenogorsk. Cooked some more meat up, was delicious. Then found out I was de-synced and logged into another server where it was bright as day. Awesome. So now I'm in the wilderness, fully stocked, and ready to roll. I dip down south towards Pavlovo, still in the western wilderness, and come across three tents, barbed wire guarded, two cars, bus, and perhaps a helicopter (I heard it earlier, didn't actually see it). Saw a bandit as clear as day, come up to a tent and check it out. So I sight him in, from underneath a tree at 500m. Took the shot, and hit him. Didn't kill him outright, so I fired again. Unsure if I hit him with the second shot, but he was bleeding and ducked behind the tents. So I decided to disengage, knowing that an encampment that size couldn't be constructed by one guy alone. Relayed the general location to the rest of the folks on the server. Seemed like a prudent thing to do at the time, given the fact that there were bandits there and I'm not picking any sides. They obviously didn't want to be found, now they were. Sort of a dick move I guess? But, seemed to me like they had more than they needed by far and could handle a bit of sport if people started roving closer to them. Plus, after seeing all these videos online of people masking the location of their stockpiles... I felt it was warranted given how smug they tend to be. (I won't say the server, that'd be a bit much). Anyway, I disengage and thought I was heading east. I wasn't. Walked right into the back of the encampment and got killed. Wasn't mad, because it was my own fault for being terrible at land nav. They were pretty offended though, like I was in some sort of secret covenant to never reveal their location. Didn't help their cause that some guy was spouting off sarcastically about how they had so much stuff beforehand. Typical insults to my intelligence for not waiting longer, and broadcasting the general location to the world.

How do you mean? Just in the fact it's easier to communicate between survivors and thus maintain better working relationships? As an update, in my first character after the debacle that caused me to become a bandit, I came across two players in Zelenogorsk. They had barricaded off the supermarket, and the night sky was illuminated with flares that they had popped surrounding the building. I had entered Zelenogorsk with the exact intention of raiding the supermarket, so they were in my way. They were also attracting quite the zombie presence, I had entered the town at a crawl in prone. There were zombies bolting past me along the road and converging on the supermarket, I started hearing gunfire as I approached the building. I engaged in a brief, but uneventful firefight with my Winchester which didn't yield any deaths. So, I backed off, as they had barricaded the supermarket pretty well and I had lost the element of surprise. Headed up the hill, across a field, to a barn which I searched. Traded in my Winchester for a CZ 550 with one magazine and planned on continuing north. On my way out, noticed the glowing red glimmer of the supermarket flares and decided to re-engage in order to get the supplies in the supermarket. Set up in the grass on the hill above Zelenogorsk, gave me a great view of the broad windowed front of the supermarket. I had eyes on the two of them the entire time. Waited until one of them stopped for long enough and took a shot from 300m. Bagged him and he went down like a sack of potatoes. The other guy hid behind a rack of shelves and then fell back into the rooms where I couldn't see. The guy I killed reconnected and spawned, and the living member of the pair was still popping flares at the supermarket. After about a half hour of observing the building, I backed off and disengaged for good. I sort of felt bad, as I just bagged one of them and had gained nothing. They were just frustrated I'm sure, but they were broadcasting a pretty big footprint with the flares. Was fun sniping at night though, and I walked away from my first direct act of banditry alive and with some ammunition to spare.