Gibbonici

People who died trying to survive in the first few chaotic, mad weeks of the zombie apocalypse?

The number of "NO until melee" responses would suggest that a lot of people still have much to learn about that.

3 player kills isn't low humanity in the bigger picture.

YES Nice idea. Make humanity reset on death though. Maybe a random humanity perception modifier too, so we never really know...?

I've always thought that there should be a chance that players get infected by zombie-inflicted wounds (after all, that is a big part of the horror of zombies, or the 28 Days Later infected), but had never thought of it being related to how inhumane a player character may be. I like it, it's a cool idea - not because it would be a means of controlling player behaviour but because it works within the context of the infection, or at least in its effects. It's easy to rationalise the infection as something that amplifies the violent, psychopathic tendancies that lie deep in the human psyche. Tying it to humanity is a great idea, just as long as higher humanity survivors (like my characters, for example) still have a frighteningly reasonable chance of getting infected. For the record (its a shame that a disclaimer seems necessary but whatevs), I don't mind the PvP-heavy gameplay that a lot of players go in for, hell I don't even mind the snipers and outright PKers - again their existence in the game is perfect within its context. After all, such characters and threats are a staple of zombie movies. I don't care if they're punished or not, but I do like the idea of the infection having a bit of depth to it.

If the no weapon on spawn thing happens, then a character wipe would seem necessary otherwise the gathered metrics wouldn't mean much.

Run away. Even better: don't be seen in the first place. That's exactly how I play already. It's actually as much fun being the hunted as it is being the hunter.

YES Dying needs more consequences. Also delete tents, vehicles etc when their owners die. It'll suck, but that's death for you.

Except the one carrying a backpack?

^ This I've always thought of DayZ as more like The Road than, say, the Dawn of the Dead remake.

Time to start stocking up on beans, then.

All off for me. I'm also looking forward to global chat being turned off once direct comms works properly. That'll change everything.

Insert prologue to 28 Days Later. Job done.

That's a great set of rules and is exactly how I've learnt to play through trial, error and refinement. I would add one more though, again learnt from bitter experience - 7) Always have at least one bandage, painkiller and morphine stick in your bag. Bleeding out with a broken leg on a remote, rainy hillside is no way to die. Also, don't underestimate the Makarov. Practice headshots with it and you've got a decent, relatively quiet solution for that one zombie that just won't get out of your way.

I'd say that surviving a zombie apocalypse being difficult *is* realistic.

I usually carry a few trade items in my pack just in case. It's been a handy habit to keep on more than one occasion.