Sparks (DayZ)

This is something I have been thinking about lately that has to do with regards to killing others. Has anyone here ever tried to take someone alive, like a sneak up behind and say "drop the gun or Ill shoot" type of idea? You could be robbing them or just trying to make contact without letting them be in a position to shoot you. I was thinking maybe you could have them drop the rifle without turning around and equip the flashlight or something. I was wondering if this is a practical alternative to simply killing everyone or if 99% of the people will just throw caution to the wind and try to quickly turn around and kill you. I want to try it myself but have not had the chance. What are your guys' experiences of thoughts about this?

I don't know, I feel like the factions thing should be player enforced and less an actual mechanic in the game. Maybe being able to secure a town or something in the future would be cool if you got enough people and met a few conditions. At the moment though, there are other things that need to be fixed and exploits/bugs to be hammered out. Something as complex as what you are suggesting would take a lot of well thought out mechanics that are not as simple as one might think.

I have only been playing for about a week so my mind may change over time but at the moment this is what I think and how I play. I normally try to play in a way that would semi reflect how I would act in the situation if it were 'real'. I can't do it all the time because its a game and as a game there are situations where you must treat it as such. I usually walk places, I avoid high population areas and the coast as much as possible, I prefer stealth over brute force etc. As far as how I treat other survivors I see in the game, except for the 2 other people I play with currently, I usually go out of my way to avoid others as I simply do not have the luxury of being able to trust anyone. They could just as easily murder me for my stuff because they need it or kill me just because they are evil (its a game so I realize they are not actually evil), as beg for my help when I do not have enough supplies to share, or try to team up with me. At the same time I do not like the purely shoot first ask questions later approach either. I do not like the idea of robbing someone of their life just because I am 'afraid' at some later point they may try to end mine. So this is the code of conduct I have decided upon when dealing with other people. 1. Avoid contact if possible. If I see you, you do not see me, and your not going to the same place I am, I will simply avoid you and let you go on your marry way. This happened yesterday when I went to fill up my groups supply of canteens. 2. If contact is inevitable because we are going to the same place but you have not seen me yet, I will try to get close enough to make contact without letting you see me or try to get behind you and take you alive. E.I. "Move and your dead. Friendly. Now put down the gun." Note: #2 is a work in progress as I have not actually had a situation where I have been able to apply it. 3. If I see you and you see me and were close enough for small arms fire (meaning were not on opposite ends of a field or something) and your not holding a flashlight or a hatchet this is the one and only time I will just blow your head off without even thinking about it. You have a gun, I have a gun, the person who hesitates is 9 times out of 10 the person dead. 4. If we both see each other at the same time and we are at opposite ends of a field or a similar condition, Ill just run off. This is how I try to play the game. I have noticed a certain tendency I seem to have though. If a person is getting swarmed by zombies and I have the means, I usually try to pick off the zombies.

ROFLMAO

I really like the yawning mechanic. Warn the players nearby that another player is about to wake up. Its simple, it can be argued that its 'realistic' (some people yawn and some do not when waking up), and it still gives players the choice to log off in a building and not artificially making it impossible. If you do not want to take the chance you will spawn on top of someone, log out in the woods, the chance of you popping out in front of someone is tiny there. At the same time it may help discourage server hopping a little bit (even if most people will likely still do it) as now they know it will almost always end with them at a disadvantage if they happen to spawn near someone. As for as the "I need to get the hell out of here before someone gets the drop on me" feeling, that is plenty supplied by people that could walk in. I do not know how you could justify a "Someone might coalesce into being at anytime near me, I must move quickly" as being a legitimate fear people should be worried about without breaking immersion. A sleeping person you overlooked at least wont rip you out of the experience as much.

I haven't had to many problems with this issue on the servers I play on. Maybe your getting unlucky. btw, I'm new so I just want a quick term clarification. A "Server hopper" is someone who jumps from one server to another in a short amount of time to farm loot in the building or town he is currently in, right?

Here is an idea: When the Developers think it is necessary.

I'm new to Day Z as well, been playing about a week now, and to be honest I like the way we start now. No gun and only a bandage and flashlight makes the game feel incredibly tense. I love the feeling of relief I get whenever I find a weapon or some desperately needed supplies. Whenever I go foraging for stuff in cities I'm tense and hyper alert not just for zombies but for other survivors that may or may not decide they want my gear. I play for this feeling. The only thing I wish I had at the start is the ability to hit a zombie with my flashlight, even if it took 8 hits to kill one. Either that or being able to punch or something similar. But even if this was never added it wouldn't be a big deal because once you find one of the hundreds of hatchets in the map your fine. Anyway, my first post on the forums!