hoorah (DayZ)

I think there is such a disagreement on the proper way to loot cherno/elektro because people don't specify how populated the server is. No one is going to snipe a server with 7 people in it. If I'm on a server with <10 people, I'm going to move slower and quieter so that I don't draw in zombie aggro, giving away my position. I'm going to go right for the firestation and roll the dice that its empty and that there is a gun in it. If the server has 20 people on it, I'm going to assume the firestation / supermarket is hopping. I will move quickly as if there is a sniper in the common places. I'm going to zig-zag and cut LOS as often as I can and try to get to a building like a barn or a pup that has a chance of an enfield or even a makarov BEFORE I go looking for the firestation. As I'm running around, I'm listening for sniper shots to let me know if there is a sniper in a tower somewhere. If its a 40+ person server, I'm going to stay as hidden as I possibly can and wait for a chance to loot a dead player, because they will be everywhere. The loot spawns are going to be picked clean already. Then, unless I'm looking to deathmatch, I am going to get my butt OUT of cherno or elektro, because on a 40 person server I am not going to last long. Totally different play styles depending on how busy the server is.

It seems that the gamma slider has varying effects depending upon how bright the moon is on a given server. Sometimes full gamma makes it like I have NVGs, other times, its still impossible to see. Either way, I don't mind, so long as the playing field is even. I actually prefer NOT using gamma hacks, just because the atmosphere is SOOO much better when its dark. You're trying to find your way around, then, all of the sudden, the next street over lights up with that red, eerie glow from a road flare, and you know you are not alone. Thats when the game gets interesting for me. My favorite activity of all in Dayz is hunting flashlights. Trying to get as close as I can to a player, using only their light, tracking their movements. Anticipating where they will go next based on where they are currently. Sometimes I like to get just outside of the building they are in, then having a little chat over direct comms. Most times I just rattle them a little and move on if they're noob, offer a few hints (such as don't use your damn flashlight), and move on. If they're running around with a gun though, I will usually take the shot when I get close enough.

Week 1: Man, this sucks. There are no vehicles because everyone hides them! Week 2: Awesome! We repaired a car! Better hide it in the woods so no one takes it!

Mostly it depends on side chat. If they sound like they're 14 or full of shenanigans, I'll shoot at them. If they sound like they're just trying to accomplish a goal, and the goal doesn't involve killing me, I'll let them go. If they have an accent that makes it difficult to guess their intentions, I usually kill them.

At what point do you draw the line on logging into a high pop server? What if you play on the same server, run to a sniping spot, but don't see anyone for 15 minutes. Log out. Come back the next day and log back in and there are 35 people in game while you're logging into your sniper spot. Is that ghosting? Should you have to logout in the woods or on the coast? What if you're on a low pop server and your friend logs on and says "hey, we're in this server, join us there". Do you say "sorry guys, no can do, you have to meet me in the low pop"? Of course not. I won't switch servers while in the middle of an active firefight, but anything else I just consider part of the gameplay.

Good thing they took the time to dick around with the debug monitor instead of fixing real issues.

I never had any intention of slowing down my playtime on this game, and I've stopped playing all other games as a result of it. So here I am one day about to get on. I sign into teamspeak on a private hive I play on. "Hey guys, whats up, where is everyone?" "No fuck that shit lets rebuild a heli" "All the helis are hoarded" "No way man theres one on the island" "No I checked there" "Hey who has morphine?" "I can dupe you some but I'm halfway across the map" "okay get an ATV" "No the one I had disappeared on server restart" "I think I know where theres a car" "I just died can anyone pick me up and dupe me gear?" And on and on and on....alright, well, I haven't played alone in awhile, maybe I'll give that a shot. Log into the other private hive where I play as a bandit killing everyone in elektro. "Okay, theres a guy with nothing. No point in killing him....okay theres another guy with nothing....theres a guy with a makarov...screw this, Im bored, I'll kill them anyway. Okay, now they're dead. I guess that didn't really accomplish anything, and I'm getting bored of shooting people in elektro. I guess I'll explore the map". "Theres a town....no point in looting because I have all the low tier gear.....another town....no point in looting" Why am I playing this again? I guess my next step will be to start playing as a hero and try helping people, but the initial draw is wearing thin. Survival is super easy. If you're not crazy into PVP, theres not much use for military gear, so once you have all the low tier gear I guess you just deathmatch in elektro or derp around doing stupid stuff with cars (which don't work and don't save).

I found the NVG FNFAL in an ATV I looted from a camp. Was so surprised when I saw it. Could not believe my luck. Cried like a girl when I put it into the backpack I *thought* was empty.

Since I had never been to berezino, I decided to check it out the other day. Ran into town, didn't see anyone. Found an apartment building with a bunch of lee enfield and .45 ammo. Brought it all up to the roof. Picked off zombies with the Enfield. Whole town came running, shot them all coming up the ladder. Then started seeing how far away I could pick off zombies with the .45. After about 10 minutes of this I got bored and logged out. Either the town was empty or no one wanted to party with me.

Glad I could help. Something I forgot to mention, but probably the most critical, is that if I am tracking/sniping a player, the BEST time to shoot is when they are looting or dicking around in their gear. If you watch sniping videos on youtube, you'll see the same. Its so much harder to hit a moving target. If a sniper spots someone, they usually try to predict where they're going to go and wait for them to stop moving. I wrote a thread awhile back on sniping at night and what I was looking for to give people a better idea of how to avoid it. For example, I was once in cherno and saw a group of 3 survivors with a LONG trail of zeds running into the city from the north, near the apartment buildings. I quickly got high ground and watched where they were going. 2 had winchesters/shotguns, one had an AK. With that kind of weaponry, I figured they were heading to the military tents or the fire station for better guns. Once I got up high, I ranged both places. I could have started shooting at them immediately, but at best, I would have taken out one and the rest would run away/log off. So, I waited and watched them make their way to the fire station. One went into the tower and the other two were looting downstairs. As soon as they hit the loot pile in the corner and stopped, I fired and hit the first, then fired and hit the second, then went back to finish the first. My friend took out the one in the tower. So, these guys were spotted on the hill running into cherno and weren't fired on until about 6-8 minutes later in the firestation when they stood still. Of course, part of that was because they were in a group. A single survivor is easier to take out when walking slowly or running in a straight line, but the basic principle still applies - you're easier to hit when you're stopped looting or messing with gear.

I've heard that one as well. I have no idea if that was the original intent or not but I've heard it does seem to correlate from people in the field.

Either way, I can't say I'd be particularly combat effective after being hit by a .22, much less a .223 (5.56) Okay, now I see what you are saying. Yes, the 5.56 is intended to yaw once it hits its target and spin around causing more damage than if it were to just punch a tiny hole and go straight through. I thought you were suggesting that the bullet immediately flung itself into pieces upon impact, which is what a frangible round does, but not a FMJ round. There is much debate about the frequency (or lack thereof) that the round yaws in the body. Apparently its not as often as the shooter would like. You're also correct about the bullet bouncing off of bones, but thats not limited to a particular type of round. Yes, this is hydrostatic shock I believe. Its a shock wave that damaged the mostly fluid filled tissue around the impact site.

I thought for sure you were going to roll off the edge about halfway through the video

Pretty much, yeah. The 5.56 is a pretty weak round, and has been the focus of much debate over the years about why many NATO countries chose to use it. I believe it had something to do with the Geneva convention, or some other such agreement to make battle wounds a little less severe, not totally sure though. Feel free to educate me if I got that wrong, but I do not believe it would cause you to bleed out in a few seconds by any stretch. As for the whole FMJs being unstable, thats a bunch of hogwash. Perhaps they're thinking of hollowpoints? or frangible rounds? Don't know here. The last part has a hint of truth to it if they're referring to hydrostatic shock, but hydrostatic shock is most definitely not limited to AR caliber variants.

Good players have plenty of ways of tracking you, even out in the middle of nowhere. I'll start by first saying that most times I kill a player that doesn't see me, I've been following him for some time getting into a better position. If I shoot the second I see a person and miss, I've thrown away the element of surprise and given them the opportunity to alt-F4. So, if I see someone far off, or running, I don't immediately open fire. I track them and wait for the right time. Thus, by the time you're killed, they might have spotted you awhile ago. Second, to know where players are, you need to know how to exploit the AI, especially the zombie spawn distance. If I see zombies (or even dead zombies) in a town in the middle of nowhere, I know a player is around. Then, I try to think of where that player might be headed based on where we are. For example, if I find zombies in Lopatino, it would be a pretty safe guess the player/players are headed to NWAF. If I find zombies in Novy, chances are, they're headed to stary. Then I can try to head them off. Third, zombies will wander from a set starting point. So, if I come across a deer stand, and the zombies are wayyy out in the field, they didn't just spawn. Someone spawned them 2-3 minutes ago. They're either in the deer stand, or they've already hit the deer stand and moved on. If I come to the deer stand and the zombies are a few feet from each other and walking away, it means I spawned them. If there are 3 deer stands in a cluster, I might head to the third one hoping to catch them ahead of time. If I see 5-6 zombies wandering away from town in the same direction, thats a pretty good indicator the zombies heard a shot and are moving in the direction of the noise. Last, if you are on a vehicle, and you drive into a town, you will not spawn zombies until you get out. So, I could drive a car/motorbike/atv into a barn or industrial building, like the big red building in stary, and wait. As soon as zombies spawn, you know someone is approaching. When THEY entered the town, there were no zombies, so they think its clear. The red building is a great spot to camp the military tents. Im sure I can think of more, but this should get you started.