theboneranger

It makes perfect sense. Your rage is why they do it. You know that. You coming here and proclaiming your rage only makes them want to do it more. Here's the reality of the situation: Griefing, much like hacking, does not offer long-lasting satisfaction. This game is new, has a lot of buzz, and is in its infancy. In a few days, or weeks, or months even, the folks who are here to piss you off will get bored of pissing you off. They will move back to another game where it is easier to piss off more people with less time invested. Soon, the people playing this game will be the people who want to play to the scenario. You're always going to die, but I foresee soon it will be less senseless. Still though, the solution to all these problems is to find people you can trust and avoid all others. I would point you towards the Survivor HQ and Bandit Campfire forums to aid in your search.

There were five of us moving along the road north of Polana. It was dark. Real dark. The rain had stopped, but the moon remained hidden by black clouds moving inland from the coast. Two of us were hurt bad, myself included. We'd managed to eat enough to keep from blacking out, but our vision was so distorted our point man had to carry a chem light just so we wouldn't get lost. As we approached a gas station pointman called a halt, extinguished the light, and we spread out and moved to cover, three of us on the left side of the road in a thicket, two on the right along the treeline. He had spotted a helicopter, appearing in working order. It was surrounded by bodies. He scanned the area around the chopper while I searched the gas station with my binoculars. I spotted movement and relayed the position, but my blood loss made me unable to determine if the target might be friendly. We had heard reports of bandits over the airwaves so we held tight. "He's a bandit!" Ben said, "Should we kill him?" "I don't like this scenario, I say we move on unnoticed," replied James. "Why risk our own necks." "Besides the helicopter?" I asked. "Obviously this guy set it down in the middle of the field as bait and has been killing the curious for their gear. I say we fuck him up the ass for being a treacherous bastard." "Well I can't hit him from here. You're going to have to take the shot." I couldn't take the shot, however, because I could barely see him. "Watch for more, he can't be alone," I said as I crawled to Ben to give him my CZ 550. Brandon and Tony both spotted the second bandit at the same time. Meanwhile Ben was chasing the first guy in his sights but couldn't get a good bead. The second however had run out in the open and crouched in front of the pumps. "I got him I got him I got him are you ready? Should I take it? Fuck it I'm taking the shot." Bang. "I got the fucker!" The first bandit ran for cover and we all lost sight of him. We sat for several tense minutes without seeing him again. We heard a shot and all of a sudden Brandon was down, a bleeding hole where his eye used to be and the back side of his skull blasted open. He was just a boy. Ben and I rolled farther into cover. A transmission regarding a skirmish in the area came over the radio. Ben asked the survivor if he and his group were friendly. He replied yes and we explained our situation, if not our exact location. As it turns out it was their helicopter and theses bandits were the ones attacking them. James spotted movement in the trees to his 11 o'clock. He was careful not to give himself away, but Ben couldn't see him due to slope of the terrain. James waited quietly, patiently for him to draw closer as he moved in and out of his field of view, his AKS aimed and at the ready. "Oh shit he's got NV!" we heard him yell as they both fired. James went down. As his lungs expelled the bloody spray of his last breath he cursed the universe, a death rattle that sounded like "laaaaaaaaag..." A few minutes passed. There was no moving without being seen for either of us, but he had the advantage of the building being near the tree line. Our vigilance paid off though. He must have needed more medical supplies, else he never would have dared to return to his comrade's corpse. One more blast from the 550. He went down in a heap. The three of us held still for a moment and discussed our approach. "Contact on the ridge, east in the trees," called Tony. One survivor Ben and I could see, two survivors Tony could see. Before we had a chance to communicate a shot rang out and Ben took one to the dome. I held still, hoping I wouldn't be spotted, but the moon had come out and I had exposed myself looking for the bandit. I was the next to go. Tony took the first shot he could and one of the survivors went down, one murder under his belt. The sniper on the ridge shot Tony last, three murders under his. Turns out they were the same guys we spoke to over the radio, too nervous to check their fire. Best experience in game yet.

I have zero murders and am indeed still fighting the good fight. My thoughts on PVP here, if you're interested: http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=588&pid=24414#pid24414 It's good to know you don't just kill on sight. I have been edging closer and closer to not giving a fuck. I've got 6 good friends who play, plus another 4 from the UK we met in game who may also be interested. We will discuss and I'll let one of the admins know in the next few days if I/we want to join up. Seems like a smart thing to do and will give the game a bit more direction. However, Diablo 3 just released and I don't expect to see a few of them back for a while.

I have spawned at Khamenka in the SW corner, Berezino on the NE side, and everywhere along the coast in between. I find it hard to believe spawn camping is such an issue that it needs to be handled by the devs. Mountains of molehills, folks. Seriously, all this complaining is misdirected. You should be talking to server admins while you're in game who can do something about this. It's quite easy for them to spawn as a gull and freelook for abusers and kick/ban them. I'm even willing to bet most would do so. No one likes a griefer. However, I would like to thank the spawn killers, the RDMers, and the people like me who will respawn several times to land in a favorable location. Bodies along the coast provide me with the extra food and water I need to get inland. Furthermore, I would like to thank the campers in Cherno and Elektro for sniping other players and making it that much easier for me to find the gear they have already picked up around town. Creeping in and looting one body for a Winchester, revolver, and blood is much easier and faster than creeping all around town to find the same. In the dozen or so times I have crept around the two big cities, stealth has outweighed bad luck on the scales of PVP. I finally understand your problem, Metal. You gave up.

That will illustrate the direct chat channel. It is a thing that exists. Were it to work, all other chat channels could and should be disabled. I agree though, it's really dumb to not to be able to see a person's name when you look at them. And my mother told me I was silly to tattoo my name on my forehead. Regarding this being a video game, I am aware; however, for the last decade I have been listening to tech developers and media outlets claim immersion as the end all be all of video games. To make you feel like you're really there. BI has provided us with powerful software for tactical simulation. Rocket has taken that software and is providing us with a zombie apocalypse simulation. And yet, in what is and could be the most immersive game I've ever played, I have never met so many people so eager to remind us that "It's just a game." Finally I get to play something that doesn't feel like a glorified fetch quest, with glowing halos and telltale sparkles to illuminate the path and the goal. I take it back. Day Z is not a game. Games impose rules. Day Z is a place where players make rules. That is what is so awesome about this. /offtopic

I'm enjoying the more zombies. Doesn't seem unreasonably difficult to lose them or kill them if I'm in a building. Sneaking around Cherno and Elektro in the dark is still the best way to get loot and avoid other players. Game is still lots of fun, especially with friends. I will complain about the physics-defying, tron-bike turns the zombies make at full sprint, but I'm sure that's nothing new. Reading this flame war is lots of fun too. I think most people who complain about the gameplay have never played Arma or OFP before.

Seemed appropriate. I've discussed such sheriff-type groups with my fellow players, but I fear what could happen if such a group became too large. Practically, there's enough servers that I think everyone can play the game the way they'd like, but on principle who are you to tell the rest of us how we should behave? I like the anarchistic nature of the game world and your law and order, while interesting and perhaps even something I'd like to be a part of, makes me want to rebel if only for rebellion's sake. Like Ytman's post above, who decides what's savage and what's salvation? Do you folks have any rules of engagement? Follow the Geneva Convention? Or are you just a growing group of zealots high on rhetoric? Anyway, I was thinking that it would be nice to have a group with a stockpile of weapons and supplies (my friends and I haven't made it that far yet), and patrols operating out of a base could leave with enough space in their packs to carry dead men's gear until they returned. There's a hell of an incentive to both participate and hold to the groups rules. We'll save your shit for you!

The Direct Communication Channel. Only people within earshot can read or hear what is being said. With voice it actually increases and decreases volume depending on distance from speaker. You would be able to tell the guy you just stumbled across you're not intending harm and move along your way before he decides to shoot you. Or tell him to surrender if you're so inclined. Or ask someone nearby for help without announcing your location to the entire server. I do use Skype with my friends, even a few guys I've met in servers. That doesn't help with communicating with everyone else. You've been there. You and your friends are at a location, you see another person and decide to ask friend or foe. On a normal server you can call them by name. On a hardcore server you have to announce their location (and therefore your general vicinity) to everyone just so they know you're speaking to them. That is a problem when bandits are about. And bandits are always about.

Who watches the Watchmen?

I have played the game for 34 hours (20 or so lives maybe) now before deciding to comment. I am still a survivor. I am sure that I have made several other survivors into bandits (or put them well on their way) because I don't shoot other survivors. In fact, I have been murdered by just a single bandit that I could see. Possibly three, two deaths were from unknown positions. Fully six encounters with other survivors ended in me respawning to tell them what dicks they are. This game needs direct chat to work. Both voice and type. Especially on HC servers (which I prefer) where every survivor is just another dude in a hat with no way to identify himself. I like the idea of the humanity system. I will shoot a bandit on sight. But now that I'm all tooled out, if I'm not with my regular group (maybe even if I am) I'm shooting anyone who doesn't gtfo of my/our vicinity. Many have said there needs to be a greater incentive to not PK, and until there is I believe we will all inevitably become bandits. What is the point of a survivor skin if every survivor will kill you because it's just too risky to trust them. So far, the only incentive to not kill others is that there is safety in numbers, from both zombies and bandits. This game breeds mistrust. What it lacks is some mechanic that makes you want to trust. Someone proposed a skill tree idea (that I think got moved to this thread? can't find it on search) that was spot on. Medic, Engineer etc. with skillsets that provide both selfish and selfless benefits. Earn points by performing actions within the class skillset, ie. every 10 transfusions you get a medic skill. Proposed Medic skills: 1. Can use bandage, morphine, and pills twice on other players. 2. Can use one bag of blood twice on other players 3. Daily spawn of medical supplies in tent. (If you have a tent) 4. Can transfuse self. You have to figure if your playing the game with any regularity, making it to the fourth skill before death will be nigh on impossible. And even if you have players farming supplies just to increase skills, they're going to have to get them from some very dangerous places. Not to mention these skills are really only useful in PVE considering one or two rounds from a well-equipped player end a life. Anywho, I'm all for the PVP. Zombies are good for scares and all, but the PVP has provided the most exciting and rewarding experiences I've had thus far. Really though, from what I can tell Direct chat is broken completely and until that is fixed there's no hope of playing with strangers. Edit: I hope I don't sound like an ass. I'm really enjoying this game and appreciate all the work that's gone into it. I guess I'm just hoping for a little more role play in my survival horror.