SGTFledge

After my little survivor group fell apart, I decided to roleplay a survivor gone insane from seeing his best friend torn apart by his former allies. He hunts anything on two, four, or six legs. ...Wait a minute...

Does it count if I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body playing a male character?

Look, this is a mod for a video game, alright? Plain and simple. Yet it has made me run a length of emotions that is breathtaking and that I rarely get while playing games anymore. Mind you, the only experiences that have me run that length are marked by their outstanding narrative and the delivery of that narrative. This game has no narrative unless you make one, which is what I do. I'm the kind of guy that only opens fire when fired open, which, nowadays, is pretty damn often. Sadly. The way I am translates into the game, and this is often seen with a lot of people, and not just in this game. Games that allow choices often allow a sort of glimpse into the way people react. Of course, some people read far too much into that. There's always gonna be someone that always murders in DayZ because they're paranoid or they just want to survive through eliminating a potential threat and taking the gear of that person, Makes perfect sense, they're trying to survive. There's gonna be those that stick to their guns and adhere to some moral code, and that makes perfect sense too because their code or beliefs are being mirrored in game through their actions. And then there's people who murder because they're bored and want something to shoot. The problem here, mate, is that you're trying to argue a topic, an issue that is far more complicated because of the people it adheres to. There's people in DayZ who detach themselves and roleplay themselves into some pretty damn convincing characters. There's people in DayZ who play casually and just want the experience. There's people in DayZ who takes things seriously, and some who take it to seriously. Some have codes or morals that carry over, others leave them at the door because they just wanna screw around. Add in meta-gaming, interaction with the community on the forums, opposing views and beliefs, and the fact of that matter is that the topic you're trying to discuss here is far more complicated and the whole "how someone plays shows this part or that part of them" just doesn't completely apply to everyone.

No. Some people, in real life, when they kill, don't feel anything at all. Being a bandit is a way of playing the game, and the crazy-murder-count-raising that goes on is just an unfortunate consequence.

When I jumped into this mod, I knew what I was in for. I knew that even though I should have my weapon up at all times, shooting on sight because of how many anecdotes I find here about betrayal and pointless killing, and of course the killing with a point. Yet I couldn't exactly do that. My first survivor, I declared friendly, so did he, and we tried to make a trek north. Server connection problems separated us, and we decided to meet later on, on another server. Haven't seen him since, but I truly do wish him the best of luck. My second survivor was a Russian-sounding fella who I ran into at Balota. An AKM and an AK-74 were aimed at that moment, but I had the drop on him. Yet we spoke friendly and I helped him loot the hangars. In comes a third survivor, armed with a measly sidearm, yet we help him find a primary and wish him luck as my Russian companion says he wishes to move northward. Looting a village, we aggro and try to run. Now, this was a few days into the mod for me, so I had not become accustomed to yelling "GET TO DA BUILDING" and making a mad dash to said building. There was a warehouse nearby, but we made our stand outside, and got slaughtered. Didn't meet the guy ever again. I hope he's done well for himself, and I am sincerely sorry for getting him killed. Third survivor was crawling in Elektro. This was after my mates had jumped in and had basically controlled the city on a low population server. They shot on sight, innocent or veteran alike, and I secretly hated their gungho attitudes. While our "leader" has a growing obsession on getting the bus outside the church up and running, I ran out of that school/office(?) building in the center of Elektro and nearly tripped over a survivor who was crawling in the direction of the hospital. We aimed our Enfields, but he yelled friendly, and said his legs were broken. I threw him a stick of morphine, and when he asked if I had any food supplies, I pointed to the supermarket and said "Go in, grab what you can, get out. And head north. My friends will shoot you on sight." He did just that, and ran, but not before thanking me and tossing me a couple extra Enfield mags he didn't need. And, for all the stuff I see about shooting on sight, I've had so many instances of running into survivors who, if they didn't trade or exchange information with me, just spoke a few sentences and motioned with their military grade weapon to scurry before they changed their mind. And all the altercations I've had were with survivors who I accidently scarred, who I had witnessed killing other survivors, or who were a group and were busy raiding in the area I was in. Not once have I been blasted by someone bored who wanted an increased kill count. However, my group...our leader is vehicle crazed. His new addons, some fellas who didn't shoot him on sight (even though he shot one of them in the ass, with a crossbow) are even more gungho. They champ at the bit, calling for raids on Stary and NWA, and relish contact against other survivors. It's a rush, I have to admit, but if I had my druthers, contact would be avoided in the first place. They prize high end gear when a simple Enfield can do the job, with a better chance of abundant ammunition. While raiding NEA one of those newcomers found an M24, I believe, in the control tower. Vehicle crazy leader of ours stormed up the tower and scooped it up without a single word. The newcomer, let's call him...Mike (have to use names, don't want things getting confusing) blasts our leader, and disconnects with his pal, who we will call Murphy. While my best friend in the group tries to reason with both sides, Mike and Murphy beat it to our camp, where I have recently logged in. I had been spending a day with the missus, and I had no idea what had happened. We communicated through Skype, you see, but I logged in just as the chaos was calming down. My mouse had been acting up, and had minimized the game. As I finally got it working and jumped back in, guess what I was facing. YOU. ARE. DEAD. Me. Dead. The one in the group that didn't chase after survivors unless they were a clear and present threat, the one that didn't champ at the bit for slaughter, the one that didn't use terms such as "fag" or the "n*gger" when referring to their teammates or their prey. The one who saw Zed and Bandit as the true enemy, not just a number to add onto a kill count. Yet DayZ is a harsh mistress. I mentioned once the intent of dropping a frag on all of them during their little peace meeting. Didn't have to. The leaders of both factions, Vehicle-Crazed and Mike had it out. Now they're both working together, but they still distrust each other. I remember having a little outburst with them, something along the lines of "I want to survive, you morons are making that difficult, and if I get killed by one of you again, or worse, loose my beloved Catherine (my rifle) because of you guys, I'm going to shoot at both sides, not one or the other." To quote a certain Lannister, "Madness. Madness and stupidity". Yet there was something else. And as I sat on a lonely little hill, eyeing them as they scurried into Krastonav to loot the market, I realized that this mod was downright amazing. Not just for the experience and thrill, but rather how much it made me feel. I WAS the survivor who just wanted a quiet life while all the others wanted the "big boy" perks: big guns, big trucks, and big kill counts. I was the survivor who gave others the chance, and while I paid for it, was rewarded with so many anecdotes of friendly souls who wanted to keep living. I wasn't just playing a game, or a mod if you want to be technical. I was...experiencing something amazing, intriguing, something that made me think. For all its faults, its bugs, the sometimes shitty/fanatic/zealous community, this game, this MOD is downright amazing. While it lacks many things (I'm eagerly awaiting those base building features), I am definitely in for the long run, and despite everything I witness, I'll still the be the kind of survivor that stands tense against a wall or in a bush, weapon drawn, waiting, hoping that the other fellow to reply back with "friendly".

Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't. Sadly, I don't play as often as I'd like anymore. Life comes in, the missus gets up and throws everything in your face and leaves, school begins to loom over the horizon, and I only frequent certain servers. Have only ran into one hacking event, but I don't wanna push my luck. Exactly, that's my belief as well. Besides, iron sights are much more comfortable, to me, than a scope. Too restrictive with vision. That or I'm too paranoid. However, many people are coming to the conclusion that's there's only Big Bertha M107 and her husband Johnny-Can't-See-Me Ghillie suit. Unless new features get added, I might end up losing interest. Of course, I'm still keeping an eye out on the announcements. Hope the Rocket-Man takes his next big leap. Oh, I've done the same, but most of my killing happens up North. Story time again, folks. Before the incident where Vehicle-Crazed got shot by Mike, we were raiding Stary Sober on our usual server. We were modestly decked out and all, some nice mid level gear, and I had my hands on Catherine 2.0: an M14. Now, while I love my Enfield, that M14 is all kinds of amazing, so I was providing overwatch for the fellas raiding the tents. First sign of trouble? The lot piles in the middle of the rows of tents. Someone had been moving the stuff out into the open to coax more loot to spawn. Just as they noticed, Murphy went down, Mike dove to cover in a tent, opening up on the fella who got Mike, and Vehicle-Crazed hoofed it to the top of the warehouse and called out that we had a Saw opening up on us from a nearby hill, with a big gun, either an AS50 or M107, firing from outside of the town. I had recently logged back in, an emergency had forced me away, and everything was going to, well, shit. I distinctly remembered how damn scared I was. The Saw was firing to my left, further down the hill, closer to the tents, but I couldn't get a good bead on the sound. Mike was yelling for help, Vehicle-Crazed couldn't get a shot off, so I slowly crawled down the hill, keeping to the bushes and trees. The sound picked up, louder than ever as a burst stitched into the tent beside Mike's, so I got up and ran towards the general location of the sound, dropped behind a tree, and spotted the Saw gunner, STANDING, backtracking, literally running backwards, towards me. I got up and took aim. My adrenaline was pumping. The only thing that existed was my target and the rifle in my hands. I led him by maybe a third of a foot, and opened fire. "Opened fire", however, is a bit of a...understatement. In reality, I hit the caps-lock button, yelled "COME ON!" at the top of my lungs, and emptied a whole magazine into the guy. While Vehicle-Crazed nearly rolled off the walkway due to how badly he was laughing, I emptied half another clip into the body's face. I was called "Trigger Finger" after that , since I had already given everyone else nicknames. That was open engagement, however. I never took part in murders. To be honest, I've killed. I've killed a lot, in DayZ, that is. And so many of them are arguably murders, yet most were up North, and can or can't be justified...I don't dwell on it. Down south, however, I open fire when fired upon. And since I know spend my time roaming Cherno and Elektro, trying to help people out since I have nothing better to do...I end up firing my weapon more often than I have before. It's...saddening, but what can you do, ya know? Just gotta keep moving forward, and stick to your guns.

Yes to the SKS. Would be a bit more powerful though, since it is a semi-automatic rifle. Throw in a Mosin-Nagant and a Tokarev and you have a deal. Hell, add in the PPSH!

An orange dot is (usually) a zombie registering as an "unknown man" on the map. The orange dot would usually show up on your map in regular ARMA 2 when you spotted someone but couldn't identify them as enemy or friendly. A blue dot is a survivor. And if there's more than the one you are on the map... Someone's gonna be having a bad time.

Tell me about it. I ended up ditching the game back in the 1.7.1.etc series of updates because of how bad I was being mauled. I knew nothing. When my friend and his pals (Vehicle-crazed and the others) jumped in, I saw Elektro and Cherno for the first time in one life. Let me tell ya, I wondered what the hype was about. But on the bright side, I also saw my first can of food that day as well! :D I'll take 'em as long as I can give you another can back. Fair trade and all. :beans:

So, I read all of this suggestion. And I like it. I like it a lot. I would leave to be a part of it. The only thing that I find questionable is the "seven days" deal. Seven back to back days. Some of us can only afford that at certain times out of a year. That aside, this idea is great and extremely detailed and somewhat unfeasible. The greatest restriction DayZ suffers is what it modifies: ARMA 2. There's just so many hurdles, I can't even find a place to start and tell you why this idea might not be completely feasible. Then again, I like it so much, I would definitely look forward to it and support its implementation. What bought me off was the character restrictions: your character can't disconnect from the server to save their life AND they're restricted to that server. Of course, that would require a lot of dedicated servers, and constant community communication concerning the coming or ongoing campaigns. Hell, if such a feature were implemented, imagine how the forums would blow up, becoming hubs of communication, a thread for each server with each campaign. I only speak for myself, yet I believe a lot of people would be interested in this. And those who don't like it can just go to the regular DayZ servers, were nothing is changed and they can play to their hearts' content.

Primary - Usually an Enfield, but when I get the chance to find them, I switch out between a Remington in close quarters and an M14 for long to mid range. That M14 is all but automatic with Enfield stopping power and twice the loudness. So worth it. Sidearm - Either an M1911 or a Revolver. Usually a revolver, even if I get seven rounds with the M1911. Role: Overwatch with Enfield/M14, point man with Remington Mind you, this is my favored load out. I take what I can when I bite the bullet.

We all start out as "survivors", when we spawn with only our starting gear. The line between bandit and survivor is difficult, especially concerning in game mechanics. If those who kill other survivors would be penalized, would I end up losing that chance for rare spawns just because I killed someone in self defense? If you're going to add incentive for not turning bandit, you gotta draw the line where one goes from survivor and bandit, and find a way to make that line non-exploitable and very clear in game. Until then...Madness.

DO NOT PUNISH, BROTHERS. LEARN. IDENTIFY. FIGHT. Come on, fellas, it's rather simple. We get a feature that helps us identify the bastards, and things get more interesting. Bandits, they're a part of the game, even if I don't exactly hold them in high regard.

Look, I bought ARMA 2 and OA for DayZ. When DayZ when through its rough patches, my friends and I decided to give regular ARMA 2 a spin. Loved it. Now we're becoming avid players, and alternate between this great mod and this great game. Some are even looking into the more structured ARMA 2 multiplayer clans/organizations. I'd pay full price for a standalone if it had many, many features that were not available with the mod due to engine limitations and whatnot. I mean, if I'm going to buy the standalone version, I want something that REALLY makes it worth my while, something that makes me thing "You know, playing the mod on ARMA 2 is alright, but that standalone version...I want it."

Primary for both players and zombies. Usually at least six mags or clips for it, with a painkiller on standby, a morphine injector, and a canteen. Secondary with four mags/speedloaders with four bandages. Ruck with two food items (cooked meat preferable), two drink items OR another canteen (canteen preferable), two sticks of morphine, two boxes of painkillers, and (if available) a box of antibiotics or a heatpack (only during night ops). Usually the ruck is an ALICE or a Coyote Pack. Toolbelt, at minimum, consists of a flashlight, hatchet, knife, matchbox, map, compass, and a watch. GPS, entrenchment tool, and military flashlight only if they are found.

You paid for the game ARMA 2. You didn't pay for DayZ. You downloaded the MOD DayZ and are basically playtesting it since it's currently an ALPHA, with all its buggy glory. It's Rocket's mod, it's his baby, and you didn't pay for it, so lose that sense of entitlement.

Yes, yes, yes. Those dynamic events, I like them. I would definitely be interested, especially the zed migrations. Imagine the poor fellows shooting up NWA suddenly finding themselves inundated with a "Stary horde".

THIS. This story right here. I run with a group of friends. Always go to the high traffic spots. Guess why? They're a bunch of killers, who gain a thrill from taking down survivors, but at least don't DC when the survivors fight back. They always shoot everyone that isn't them. Two of them, the "leaders" had a recent scuffle, with everyone taking sides, except for me. It's turning into a damn civil war. We're meeting at our tents to work things out. I've an M14, and there are a couple of grenades in our tents... Anyway, to the poster, good luck, friend. Tell us everything about your journey when you return. Just know that there are others out there who try and help whenever they can.

I believe he means that the mags are taped together, so instead of reaching for another one in your webbing, you flip that sucker over and are back to mowing down Zed in no time flat. I'd actually be interested in that. Hell, add duct tape and it'll seal the deal. And yes to bayonets. Only if it works properly, but I want a bayonet. Imagine, bayonet charging across Elektro...so much fun...

Enfield. Ten rounds of beautiful .303 with at least an effective distance of 400 meters. Is it a dinner bell? Why yes, it is, but it's also a bell that tolls for the lives of the poor survivors that just made the mistake of crossing me and opening fire. Besides, ammo is so common for this thing I can keep firing 'till the cows come home. I think I once cleared Elektro with an Enfield, two times. Or three. Couldn't count over the mound of Zed bodies at my doorstep. I even named it after my girlfriend, so I can claim that the rifle is as loud as its namesake. Of course, I now resort to using a sidearm after displacing from where I shot the Enfield. Sniping 101. Besides, Winchester is a rifle in real life. Until they rectify that mistake in game, I'm not touching it.

Look, death should definitely hold more meaning in this way, but let's go about the smart way on making that so. I agree with the posters saying MILITARY GRADE WEAPONS should be rarer. NVGs, range finders, all that stuff should be rare, ammo included. However, this IS a Post-Soviet bloc nation, so the AK variants should be slightly more common, just slightly, so that finding an M16 is more world-rocking than finding an AKM. However, ammo should be scarce, not so that picking up the weapon is a waste of time, but rather just enough to provide a glimmer of hope that the next loot location you go to with a chance for that type of ammo is worth the risk of going there. Bottom line is: finding good military grade stuff should be something that makes you bolder or more of a recluse because of how rare that stuff is. I also agree that civilian weapons should be more common. While the Winchester, in real life, isn't a damn shotgun, it's still a civilian weapon and should be more common like double barrels, Makarovs, Enfields, M1911s, etc, etc. There should be, perhaps, more civilian weapons with advantages and disadvantages. I'm still waiting for my Mosin-Nagant. HOWEVER, I disagree with those saying you should be locked out for a certain amount of time after dying. That isn't making death a tragedy, that's is making it all out goddamn annoying. Death should be frustrating: it should remind you like a hammer coming down onto an anvil that YOU just FUCKED UP and LOST EVERYTHING. All that RARE stuff is gone. Gone. And there's less an a one percent chance of finding it again. Time limits after death make that just pointless, because you're not frustrated and willing to jump back in, thinking of where to go, how to face any players on the way, progressively thinking of the path you're going to take to maximize your gains with minimum risk, thinking of whether you'll actually brave Cherno and Elektro. No, instead you're stuck looking at a damn timer, thinking of how you'll be busy playing ANOTHER game. Now, I understand some of you might be fine with a thirty minute timer. That could work for the hardcore crowd, but DayZ just hit 500,000 user. Let that sink in. 500,000, half a million, user. How many of those aren't vocal on the forums? How many of those just play casually and whatnot? How many of those would say "This isn't worth it" and just go to something else because of a measly thirty minute timer after death? Now, this idea of server levers just reeks. No server admin in their right mind-correction, no server owner in their right mind would agree to it, especially the clanners and those who have groups, time, items, and KILLS invested in those servers. It would make things far more complicated than they are, and would just add more complaints and trouble to the mod, no matter what stage it's at Weapon and gear loot chances are where to start. Death timer and server levels aren't. A lot of good ideas, though. Very glad to see we got people actively thinking about this in the forums.

Always. Every advantage helps as long as it isn't an exploit or outright cheating. This is DayZ. We're trying to survive here.

Chernarus is a post-Soviet bloc nation...I think that's the term, anyway. A PKM would make more sense than a M240.

I like this idea, I really do. I already like the inventory and don't really have any problems with it, except for bugs, but this would add a whole new dimension, in a sense, to it. Of course, imagine the PvP implications. Even if you can't identify by looking at a player model that they have the medkit, one shot from a hidden sniper takes down a group's capability to whether an extended combat situation. If the ammo carrier goes down, and his body can't be retrieved, fire discipline would become a priority, same thing for each man with the specific packs he's been assigned. Adds another facet that extends the tension of a situation. I mean, it'd go from feeling wary when your pal goes down to feeling like you've just been hung out to dry when your pal, who took the role of medic, went down.

WELCOME TO DAYZ.