Deathcall

Some tents regenerate loot after restarts. That could mean that your camp may have been found by others while you were offline and looted. When you come online, the server has restarted, so your stuff is all back in there. Next day, you leave a car and log, when the person who knows your camp's location comes pick up more items, he finds the vehicle and takes it away. It's a possibility... that or hacks.

People keep bringing up this "humanity-meter" concept, but I believe there's a better option to something so "ephemeral" as that. If you allow me some shameless self-promotion: http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/39498-stress-not-just-an-anti-bandit-meassure/page__hl__stress

I'm not truly a fan of meta-gaming, but bandits got enough anonymity as it is... Is his in-game name the same as in the forums? I want to know who I got to watch out for.

@spawn Oh common! I even used bold characters and sections! Do you have any idea how hard it is for a non-native to write that much in English? Least you can do is give it a quick glance...

I started playing a bit before they removed it. I understand they disabled it to make things more realistic, but right now, I rather not have to depend on the forums to find someone to play with. In all fairness, if we wanted to avoid meta-gaming, the "Need Medical Assistance" thread on the Survivors HQ forum should be locked. Do we truly want people further isolating themselves and depending on mere-chance for finding like-minded survivors? I think immersion can take one for the team in this case.

*deep sigh* Where to begin? DayZ has many(many - many [MANY] - ) problems, but it's my opinion that, today, what plagues players the most is not the storm of artifacts hovering over the most sought after loot locations, or the fact that tents eat-up loot, but hackers. Yes, hackers. Has nothing to do with this topic, but well, I wanted to be precise. Now, right after hackers, its the community that seems to piss people off the most. Community. Do we even have a community? Can we get a percentage of the people playing the game and participating in the forums? I do not think we can count every player as part of this "community" when - I assume - there's a vast majority that don't give an empty tin can about the future of the mod. It might seem unfair to discriminate in this way, but I strongly believe that since we lack a "persistent" world and servers with enough capacity to hold sizable chunks of the population, the only true community building tool that we possess are these forums. Now, we got our community, alright. A small one, and it seems most of it is spread over who knows how many servers. Meaning that even if I know there's a bunch of friendlies out there, there's no way I can tell if I'm sharing the server I play with them (specially since most people choose different names for the game/server/steam/skype/etc). So what does this lead us to? KOS Mentality Killing on sight is a natural thing... for a game. The psychology behind it is by no means complicated. As we play we progress, and as we progress our invested time becomes more valuable. When you are faced with the possibility of having all your efforts squandered, it's only logical to do your best to avoid it. This usually leads to KOS, lone-wolfing or playing with people whom you already trust (trust earned by "meta-gaming" in most cases). People argue that it's the player's right to kill on sight as he sees fit. Of course, it is. The same way it's the player's right to try and co-op with others. What's the problem? One kind eats the other. If you have player A (KOS Mentality) and player B (Co-Op Mentality) meet, player A will most likely kill player B. Repeat this enough times, and you'll have yourself a convert. This is the already mentioned axiom: "If a player gets killed by bandits enough times, he himself will turn into one." It might look like a formula for a Mythbusters episode, but it's only the plain and simple truth. Simple cause and effect. Regardless of statistics (the ones I've seen at least), I strongly believe the majority of Day Z deaths are caused by other players. That's because probably (judging from personal experience over a two-month play time) 80-90% of the players prefer to shoot at other players which they don't already recognize as friendly. There are only a few "die-hard" friendlies out there, and I'm thinking nobody is truly "free of sin" in Day Z. Even I, who think of myself as the ultimate nice guy (ie.: today I spared a guy who shot an entire makarov clip on my back after I saved him from some zombies), have two murders on my shoulders. Granted, I gave the guys warning and told them to call friendly or I'd shoot. But still, I could just have walked away or remained hidden. But I digress... The point here: Is KOS what the developers intended all along? Unlikely. You want to know why I think that? Simple. Rocket has been known to say that Day Z is an anti-game, meaning, it's not meant to be a game. Rather, it's supposed to be an "experience". Like reading a "choose your own adventure" book, or writing a story, or something similar. Now I ask you: What's more "gamey" than killing others because you are afraid of loosing your loot? Or even worse, what's more gamey (or psychotic) than killing others "for fun"? Hell, the whole KOS Mentality goes against one of the main principles of Day Z: "Do NOT get attached to your loot." Skins and Sides After all that introduction, we come to the topic at hand. I'll be completely honest with you here: I regret the inclusion of skins but understand the need for them. There's just too much killing right now, it has to stop. We need people realizing that Day Z is not a FPS, or worse, just a sandbox deathmatch simulator. This is a zombie (infected?) apocalypse simulator. Our objective is to survive, not to finish of the rest of the human race. One would think that having the majority of the world's population turned into feral animals that will attack on sight would deter survivors from doing the same. You don't want this new feature ruining your immersion? I'd consider people camping hills and picking off recently washed ashore survivors (just for fun) far more damaging than a scarf or hat which you'll most likely not even get the chance to see anyway because half the bandits will kill you before you see them, and the other half will wait for the right time to strike. In all fairness, I doubt this new implementation will put a stop to the current general behavior. More cooperative tasks must be brought into the mod if Rocket wants to see how a true "end-world" situation would fan out. Problem is that once you have the means to survive and defend yourself from the occasional zombie, there's not much else to do in the mod. Yes, you can go up north and try to gather those awesome weapons but... In reality (and I do mean reality) I'd rather keep my durable Makarov (with it's easy to find ammo) and my hatchet over an AS50. The only reason to have more advanced weapons is to fight other survivors, and that is something that shouldn't truly be a priority. If anything, people should try securing the most amount of survivors to their side, in order to assure long-term survival. It's survivors themselves that will become the most valuable assets in a "world-end" scenario, not that thermal vision scoped gun or that range-finder. Even more, I believe that Day Z should try to foster this kind of situations in the mod. That would truly be an interesting social experiment. Seeing people form groups under basis other than "friend in real life". In example, suppose a group has secured a farm. Now, characters interested in securing a food-supply would most likely try to join that community. On the other hand, characters established around a hospital would most likely trade their supplies (and expertise) for food. There are tons of "synergistic" relationships that could arise from different combinations. But again, I digress... Right now, the OP worries about the game turning into a side A vs Side B kind of thing. But that won't ever happen in Day Z. Simply because Bandits aren't always friendly to other bandits, and survivors will not always want to cooperate with other survivors. As things are now, it's likely that small groups will be the most common, with a few big ones belonging to either clans or very charismatic party leaders who can maintain the loyalty of their followers. Immersion was brought up too. I already talked about it a bit, but it's worth revisiting. Getting blood stains after checking someone's corpse is as realistic as getting a scarf because you murdered someone. Can't you pull up your sleeves? Be careful and not touch the blood? What if I just take the gun the guy was holding? How come I don't get stained by my own blood? There are a hundred things that could ruin your immersion, but I believe that the most relevant fact against this idea would be that it will not help stop the KOS mentality. This feature could be added for additional realism though, but, as I've said before, it's pretty low on the to-do list.

Metal Gear music of course... And dude, aim for the head!

I'd say go into the ocean and kill yourself. Otherwise, some other new spawn might find it and the dilemma continues.

I think it would be contradictory to allow players a "permanent" base and then make vehicles reset every 48 hours. In all fairness, what you say is quite true. Hacks and duping are making it so there's many more geared people than there should be. Normally, the majority of players should be running around with pistols and low-end rifles, instead, we got snipers and thermal-vision along with night-vision and grenade launchers laying siege to high-populated towns. You got to remember, though, that it has been previously stated (several times) that DayZ is an anti-game, so you can't really expect it to provide an "end-game" experience. DayZ is what you make it. I encourage you to aim for more social goals such as community building and interaction. After all, this is a zombie apocalypse game, not Fallout, if zombies out there to kill us all can't make most of the people bunch up together to survive, I don't know what will. EDIT Yes to less fuel. Idea for standalone: Limit the capacity of the fuel tanks we use to fill the jerry cans with and give them a timer before they refill (say a week or more). Create new building: Refinery. Toy around with the idea of it working as an asset (similar to how other resource buildings such as farms or ammunition stores could be).

Mmm... Helicopter Crashes are the best places to loot in the game. Most likely he didn't feel like sharing... In truth, bandits need no motive to kill you, they just will. You got unlucky, next time, try to get a rifle before venturing into the wilderness.

Mythbusters 0 Falls 1?

I agree, greatly put.

Come back with results!

There's a video about myth busting in DayZ that shows that you can survive falls that would otherwise kill you if you aim for objects. The video itself portrays a man jumping from the top of the hotel where you are at onto some debris by the street in front of it. He breaks his legs, but he survives. I'd say you could try that. PD: Video was posted right above.

Figure they'll play with water in the standalone version of the game, right now they are prioritizing other concerns. As it is now, only the PBX is fast enough to justify using water vehicles (the other ships spawn too far and move too slow to matter). And there ain't many places to go or hide but Drakon and Stalinsky. Hopefully in the future they make it so it plays a bigger role in the game, as you say. After all, one of the most common responses to "what will you do in the case of a zombie apocalypse?" is go to a deserted island.

The idea of a safe-heaven, for any purposes, has been proposed before. Stalinsky Islands poses the perfect example of how this idea could work. There's plenty of room for base building, there's game in the forests, there's a water-well in the small town, and you are relatively safe from sniping since most of the "habitable" part of the islands faces away from the hills of the mainland. In theory, the only thing preventing people from securing Stalinsky and making it a "stronghold" is that people can ghost in. How do you solve this? Easy. First, make it so every server has the "lose your stuff when swimming". Don't allow admins to choose in this. This will not only be extremely detrimental to people "exploring" the island, but also, make ships (even the really slow ones) useful and worth taking down south. Second, make it so that it's impossible to ghost in by adding a mechanic that relocates people joining in from other servers. Possibly placing them along the coast north of the island. This will grant a sense of security that we are currently lacking because it doesn't matter how well we defend a location, people can always get among our ranks by using this exploit. Third, organize the base and protection yourself. No need for NPCs. Auction House can't be implemented in a world where there's no common currency. Bartering will take over and people will exchange things on a need-basis. Law-enforcement is up to the people "handling" the island. And that's it. With those simple things you can accomplish all that you want and possibly more.

Oh my god turn off your flashlight man! You are like a lighthouse for bandits!

I think I saw a video somewhere that showed you can destroy buildings with smoke-granades. Wonder what it does to players though...

Nowadays using hatchets is okay because the leg breaking thing has been toned down. Before the last patches, it was almost a sure thing that from every 3 hits you got by a zombie, one would break your leg, and there's only so much morphine you can carry around. The advantages of using a hatchet are simply it's silence. Experienced players will know that there's someone in town because of the zombie spawns. So, if there's nobody around, you are just making your life harder, and if there is, you aren't truly concealing yourself. My advice: Get a makarov and shoot to the head. Easier, faster, and if a bandit ambushes you, you have some means of defending yourself.

Maybe he was an Olympic Diver before the apocalypse?

Electro and Cherno have hospitals, of course. Berezino does too. Deer Stands, Helicopter Crashes and actually any kind of military loot location has a chance to spawn medical supplies. The problem here is rarity. You can almost always get morphine at hospitals, while other locations are rare. You can't use bloodpacks on yourself because of the same reason you can't drink water from lakes unless you have a water bottle, it's just that way. My advice to you, carry around sufficient meat to bring you up to the point where you aren't faiting any more.

Damn! That should totally go into the suggestion forums.

Oh... So THAT's why the server reset all of the sudden! Damn, seems I missed out all the action! Beans to you, that was some entertaining watch.

Another story from today... So I log in at... hell, where was I? I think nearby Olsha. The thing is, I was so bored that I decided I'd play a scout today. The job was simple, I'd go to every vehicle spawn I could come across while still in range of food and water and tag them on the in-game map with time-stamps and info. I started at the Airport near Olsha, nothing there. Marked it on the map with a time-stamp, hoping I'd save people some time (posted date as well, along with my name). I kept moving from there on to Black Lake, Krasnotav, Klen, Black Mountain, Novy Lug, Gvozdno, Devil's Castle and Grishino, marking every spot. There I turned north-west to a long farm house and marked a Helicopter Crash, the first find of the day. I didn't bother looting and went on scouting. I tagged Bashnya and then went into the NAF. As I was entering the server restarted and turned into full night. As soon as I logged back in I saw another Helicopter Crash by the eastern fences, tagged it and moved on. I did a bit of scavenging for ammunition at the barracks (trying to avoid the tempest of artifacts) and made another note saying that there was no helicopter (working one) or UAZ to be had there. From there I moved south-west on to Vybor to check the bus spawn, but midway there I got ambushed by a sniper. Somehow I managed to avoid his bullets and hid away at the school for a while before moving further west. I visited all the small housings by the western roads and actually spotted a Hilux on the buildings directly west of Pustoshka. I tagged it and left a note with the parts that were needed to fix it. Then, I kept moving south through Pass Sosnovy, Sosnovka, Green Mountain and Zelenogorsk. There I had a bit of a run in with an amazing amount of zombies and got my leg broken right in the middle of town when I got myself cornered against a fence. I had to quickly kill the zombies nearby and apply some morphine to myself (realizing that now it takes time to do it). I hid in the market for a while and ate everything there to bring my health back up. After I was back in shape, I continued towards Kozlovka and from there I made a bee-line to Chernogosk to loot some essentials. Luckly I had no run ins with bandits while I looted the north hospital and the appartment buildings near it. Once restocked, I moved to the Balota Airfield (pretty foolish since there's never any vehicles there, but I was trying to be thorough). The effort was, of course, futile, but I found a hidden motorcycle in working order in the forests between Cherno and the Airfield, so I tagged that and made my way to Kopyto. No heli there and no vehicles at Prigorodki either, so I kept moving along the coast to Cap Golova and then up the mountain to Pik Kozlova. No luck in either. After a small detour on Topolka Dam I scouted the hills north of Electrozavodsk and left a note about the odd lack of snipers today. From there, I moved to Drakon where I spotted a small two tent camp from the coast. I decided it was not worth the swim so I kept moving. A quick peek at Otmel (just out of curiosity) lead me to Kamyshovo, where I spotted to newly spawned survivors. I kept my distance without being seen just in case, wondering how lucky I was since there were only three people on the server and now we were all in the same area. From there, it was just a short jog to my homebase, and I was pretty tired after all the walking, so I decided it was time to pack it in. When I got myself ready to log, I saw one of those survivors got killed. Mustering all the strength I had left, I climbed on my PBX and scoured the coast to find the remaning survivor. It didn't take long, since the only direction in which he could have gone was west due to Electro. I picked him up while he was waving his flashlight at some grass. The survivor was less surprised than what I had expected, but still thankful. I helped him find his friend (who had spawned near Komarovo - luckly I had plenty of fuel -) and I was ferrying them to Cherno when the guy we picked up died from blood loss (it seems they were really new). After a second pick-up, I parked us as close to the Motorcyle I found earlier as I could and brought them there. I gave one of them my NVGs and the other my compass and map, and told them how to use waypoints. From there, they were on their own. After that much work, I went back to my PBX and sailed home, to a much deserved rest, feeling I had done some good today. One of the guys I helped said that after what I had done for them, he'd think twice before shooting people on sight. And the other said he'd do his best to help other new players as well. I can only hope they keep their words.

This mod is a social experiment. In a zombie apocalypse, it seems that people will just kill everyone on sight because they are bored with just eating and drinking until they die. Nobody will try to re-establish society, oh no, they'll just get bored of remaining alive and go around killing other survivors, because zombies are too "easy". If you want a challenge, try actually making friends in-game, instead of grouping with people you already know won't kill or betray you down the line. Try making safe-zones and protecting them from other players with similar mentality to yours, try doing something DIFFERENT. If you get bored of just surviving, and if you have no will to help others, well, you can go kill players in any of the other FPS out there, I'm sure you'll have much more fun.