cragzeek

I seem to have been able to do my own version of a quick start both in Churno and Elektro fairly effectively. I use stealth. I crouch walk (not run, I hold down shift) around. If I have to move between zombies or in a corridor I crawl. I look for open doorways. I go into every open house I see, especially if they are two stories. I find that starting in Churno or Elektro at the dock areas is the easiest. Sometimes getting into town is the hardest part as there is little cover and the perimeter is always swarming. Also don't be shy about using alt while walking to turn your head. I am constantly scanning. Patience has been what has saved me. It has also made me a nervous wreck. People have posted here several times, and I will post again, the quick-start guides. They use the opposite of my method and it has never worked for me but clearly it works for some people more skilled than I:

First: I dropped an akm and some rounds for a friend and they just dissapeared, what gives? Is this common? It was on a hill. Should I not drop things on a hill? Second: This game is stressful. Really stressful. I love it but I feel the need to vent a little. Its my second day. I took today off and just tooled around Churno and Elektro. I was killed several times by people and by zeds, but I got a little better and sneaking and looting. I had one particularly frustrating moment where I made it to a meeting point between me and my friend after finally getting out of Elektro with decent gear...only to be sniped from a direction I couldn't even imagine. I decided to myself:you are going to be a survivor. There is something so human about this game that the idea of being a bandit disturbs me. There is already this frenetic stress filled environment, I couldn't imagine doing what that sniper did to me. But then there came a moment late in the day. I had only a revolver. He had a lot of equipment. I'd been shot at earlier. I wasn't sure if it was him. We had a stand-off. I asked if he was friendly and he didn't respond. I told him I had friends coming, a lie. He said "do you need any help?" Blam. Blam. Blam. Three to the chest. He died. I wasn't even sure why I pulled the trigger. I immediately was filled with guilt, apprehension, fear. Would he come back for me? I looted him quick. He said in all chat: "why?" And I wasn't sure. Jeesus. I need a drink. Does anyone else get this emotional invested in the game? I'm not a very RP person, but I think its the tension in the game that gets me so invested. Goodnight people.

I wonder if this guys tactics are appropriate for new players. Perhaps he can get away with running through a town and kiting zombies thru buildings...I, on the other hand, seem to die rather quickly that way. Is it fear? I'm not sure. But It'll be hard to try his method until I die and lose my current gear. No risk makes me a braver man.

Haha well thats good. Either my over-dramatization amused you or it intrigued you. Whatever the case, I aims to please.

Trusted players? Good luck. You'll find rather quickly that its nearly impossible to tell until a trigger is pulled if someone is friend or foe. I think best thing for you is to try to learn the engine and the ins and outs of getting geared before you even worry about finding a group. There appears to be places on this site that you can request a group. How, if at all, you can tell if THEY aren't just bandits in disguise...is rather beyond me.

I never seem to get that reticle past my initial usage of it. But do you really need to aim that thing? I say just right click for the close up, aim for the head. Hatchets are damn useful. I've killed a ton of zombies that way before getting a gun. The shitty part is that you'll bleed if they bite you, though I find that I can kill one with only one bite if not no bites using a hatchet. AND hatchets don't alert nearby zombies.

I feel terribly guilty. Maybe it will pass with time. I'm basically a helpless noobie at the moment. I've been a few fights, killed in self defence, but thats it. After a long hard day getting start-up gear I'm on the run to meet up with friends. I am shot at a bit earlier but I escape. I meet a guy, possibly the shooter, but no way of knowing. He is well geared, looks to have a rifle. I say into my mic: "I have well armed friends coming, are you friendly?" He doesn't respond for a while and tension is ramping. Then he types: "lol yeah, need any help bro?" I shoot him three times in the chest with my piddly revolver. I loot his ak, his map, everything. He's been surviving for days it seems. He has a map with a ton of locations marked off, all the materials for cooking and hunting. I don't know why I shot him. Maybe it was the stress of this game. I didn't plan on it. In-fact I wanted to be a survivor. Now I'm not so sure. Its a damn intense game, and I'm going a little crazy playing it. Gonna take some time off. This is somewhat of an actual moral quandry for me. Don't get me wrong, I think its totally cool for people to be bandits, thats working as intended. I just don't know If that is what I wanna do. But fuck it....right?