Trying to introduce a friend to DayZ

[IWillFlipOut 3]

This a friend who has been a gaming partner for many years. We have drifted away from pc games the past few years but I have come back to them. We mainly used to play FPS games like UT, CoD, RTCW, ET, etc. Lately, he has been dropping by to play the Lara Croft XBLA game in co-op and that has been fun. So a couple weeks ago, I had been talking alot about DayZ and decided to show him the game. I had a hell of a time connecting to a server and spent around an hour messing with it until I got in (this was fixt by simply checking the "use beta so steam works in DZC). He left soon after so he did not get a good look at it.

Last night he was over. We played some LC with the intention of playing some DayZ afterwards. I had my son's pc setup for him so with could both log on at the same time, hoping that this would lead to some of the interactions that make DayZ so unique. I patched both games to 1.7.3, connected on Skype and we picked the only daytime server we could both see in DZC, US 303 I think (not sure why his install didn't see all the servers I did) and is was just about full when we logged in - 46/50 including us. Here's how it went:

He spawned god knows where. The last time my son and I played he had hopped on astranger's vehicle (he said it was three ATVs hooked together?) and went for a ride, jumping out while moving and broke his leg. I thought he had died then and my friend would spawn with a new character but no such luck. Not having a clue where he was since he didn't know to look for it when he logged in, we decided to get the guy killed. It took close to 10 minuted for a Zed to kill him.

He respawns at the Quarry. I'm just west of Elektro so I begin to head in his direction. Before I can go even 50 meters, he is teleported to some ruins. I've never been there so I have no idea where he is. There are half a dozen to a dozen bandits running around there and he has no clue what to do. He's still checking the options to see what the damn controls are. There are plenty of weapons laying around there. I let him know that they must be hackers but tell him to try not to give them reason to kill him and I'll see if I can figure out where he is and get to him. Maybe we can grab a weapon or two and GTFO. That might be fun, right? As I'm pulling up the Steam browser to try and figure out his location, he starts messing around. How could he resist, right? He picks up a rifle and the bandits go a bit crazy, yelling at him to put it down, etc. He accidently shoots one of them (we are used to the mouse buttons being strafe) and they waste him.

He we have him respawn, which of course takes another five or more minutes. He is beginning to get frustrated. He's not patience with technology like I am and states that it takes too long to log in and the he would never get this game for his own pc. But he'll try log in while we are hanging out before he heads home. So he spawns on the coast just west of Elektro. I say cool because I'm maybe 500 meters north of him. I tell him to stay where he is and I'll come to him. Then a zed attacks him. He doesn't know what to do and starts running circles. I start moving towards him, not that I can help as I don't have a weapon. I keep instructing him to find a building to go in to lose the zeds. He had picked up a bunch more while running around. He finds a building by the pier to hide in and I'm almost to him. When I get to his building just off the pier, I don't see any zeds. None. So I enter the garage or shack that he is in and show him how to bandage himself. We then step outside so I can show him where we are going. There's a building just on the other side of the pier that spawns hatchet fairly frequently. We can go grab that, perhaps. And we step around a vehicle, while I'm telling him about making noise on a road, etc. and considering the best way to move to this building even though we see no zombies. Right then, he is teleported to the ruins and the bandits again. They shoot him immediately. He is dead. My friend says he is done. Fuck that. That's bullshit and hurls some insults at the bandits through direct sits down to watch me before he leaves for home. I run over, grab that hatchet and since I don't see any zombies and consider running around Elektro grabbing loot when I'm teleported to the ruins and the bandits. I hear instructions to drop the hatchet, do not swing etc. Without hesitation I ran at the closest guy and axe his ass. he didn't die but I got a good hit in, maybe broke a leg. Then I'm dead. Fucking hackers.

So my friend is not pleased with his DayZ experience. I think he sees how it could be cool when we hook up and start actually playing the game but he has no tolerance for the bugs and tech issues and the fact that hackers can repeatedly grief you, puts him 100% in the not gonna buy camp. Perhaps, if the standalone addresses these issue effectively, I may be able to get him to reconsider. I guess I'm going to have to finds friends in-game to play with. Bummer.

[sheepdawg 278]

Your best(err...better bet) is to next time show him the ropes on a Private Hive. You will both have fresh spawns, and chances are very minimal that there will be hackers/scripters there(admins usually watch PH servers).

These servers also tend to be better running both due to active admins and usually "frequesnt" restarts. You should use DayzCommander(if you dont already) as it will tell you what setting are enabled, has the ability to add favorites and best of all...tells you the ping AND time of day. That should make things a little better for him. Also let him know the Stand Alone should fix or at least alleviate many of the very issues he saw.

Oh...and my guess is he probably got TP'd to Devils Castle. Those are the only "ruins" I can think of in Chernarus.

[Spandex 5]

Shoulda jumped out and found another server as soon as he got teleported the first time. Just hanging around in the same server waiting for the hackers to fuck with you is asking for trouble.

[IWillFlipOut 3]

Your best(err...better bet) is to next time show him the ropes on a Private Hive. You will both have fresh spawns, and chances are very minimal that there will be hackers/scripters there(admins usually watch PH servers).

These servers also tend to be better running both due to active admins and usually "frequesnt" restarts. You should use DayzCommander(if you dont already) as it will tell you what setting are enabled, has the ability to add favorites and best of all...tells you the ping AND time of day. That should make things a little better for him. Also let him know the Stand Alone should fix or at least alleviate many of the very issues he saw.

Oh...and my guess is he probably got TP'd to Devils Castle. Those are the only "ruins" I can think of in Chernarus.

I figured it was Devil's Castle. While I've never been there, I think I've seen it on youtube. I had originally hoped to have us both join a server with hardly anyone or nobody on it. But like I said, with the new patch, there weren't a lot of servers to choose from and the DZC on his pc didn't even see all the US servers I could see. I have told him that DayZsa is aggressively addressing all these issues and he did comment that hopefully it does because he seems intrigue by the idea of DayZ.

Also, I/we do use DayzCommander (DZC). Great piece of software.

[IWillFlipOut 3]

Shoulda jumped out and found another server as soon as he got teleported the first time. Just hanging around in the same server waiting for the hackers to fuck with you is asking for trouble.

I thought of that but opted not to because of the scarcity of servers I could find on both PCs and the frustration he was already expressing over the load up times. But, yes, you are correct. That is exactly what we should have done. I'll spend some time checking out different servers and find one or two that are good in this regards and save them to favorites. Perhaps I might be able to get him to try again, although I don't think there is any chance of persuading him to purchase Combines Operations.

[ManiacMike69 37]

Lol private hives u need to play on!

I ain't played on a public server for about 2 months.

Just get the standalone when it's out and stop bitching, it's a mod not a game.

[Spandex 5]

No, it's not a game suited to all people. I have a few friends I play games like L4D with but I have not bothered recommending DayZ to them. Many simply don't have the patience

[IWillFlipOut 3]

Lol private hives u need to play on!

I ain't played on a public server for about 2 months.

Just get the standalone when it's out and stop bitching, it's a mod not a game.

Nobody's bitching here. I'm merely sharing my experience concerning a friend. I imagine others have had similar experiences and I look forward hearing their insight regarding it. The point regarding private hives is a good example of constructive feedback. Had I not started this thread, I may have not realized how much impact playing public vs. private has on gameplay.

Thanks for your input but I do not intend to stop sharing my thoughts regarding DayZ and whatever experiences I have with it. I completely understand that it is a mod and its alpha/beta status and I am very appreciative of the game that it is. Simply amazing, imo.

[IWillFlipOut 3]

No, it's not a game suited to all people. I have a few friends I play games like L4D with but I have not bothered recommending DayZ to them. Many simply don't have the patience

Right. That's kind of what I was trying to express in the OP. Unfortunately, that apparently comes as "bitching" to some. I think many simply don't have the patience for message boards, either. ;)

[AIRCAV 62]

You could set up your friend's keymap and controls in Operation Arrowhead single player; they carry over to Dayz. Going through the basic training segment of OA would give your buddy an introduction to the game mechanics, and inventory system.

The Arma-based games won't be a surprise to someone with as much fps experience as your friend, but the attention to detail in the simulation engine, and the complexity of the interface might.

Hope this helps,

Aircav

[IWillFlipOut 3]

You could set up your friend's keymap and controls in Operation Arrowhead single player; they carry over to Dayz. Going through the basic training segment of OA would give your buddy an introduction to the game mechanics, and inventory system.

The Arma-based games won't be a surprise to someone with as much fps experience as your friend, but the attention to detail in the simulation engine, and the complexity of the interface might.

Hope this helps,

Aircav

Good idea. While he might not agree to to do this, I think I might. I have changed the controls quite a bit and I'm still quite confused so this is a really good idea. Thanks!

[Slyguy65 499]

If i could read....i would say something like...

"Wo shit did not expect all thisreading shit" upon clicking this.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Slyguy65

[ThuggleS 45]

Use low-population servers when playing with a new friend. New players need to learn the game before they can start handling dealing with other people and bandits.

[Maxxgold (DayZ) 62]

You can play on my Private Hive and not have to worry about any of this happening to you. We are not upgrading to 1.7.3 until were sure it's not just a buggy mess though. It's easy to downgrade in DayZ commander or you can just go to your @DayZ folder and extract the 1.7.2.6 files. If you play on a public server this is all your going to experience. Public Servers are dead except for Noobs and cheaters.