First impressions/experiences of a "New Guy".

[Pvt Parts (DayZ) 0]

Hi everybody!

And that's pretty much the gist of this post. I only discovered DayZ last week and spent about 6 hours in the evening watching youtube vids of game play (mostly DevilDogGamer's Survive series), I was just that mesmerized by it. I mean it looked like this was finally the zombie survival game I had been waiting for, one with the emphasis upon survival! So after a couple of days spent convincing my girlfriend that spending more money on another game simply for a mod for it, here I am.

So far I have to say I am not disappointed. Sure starting to play the very night before patch 1.7.1 has caused me no end of frustration these past couple of days, but like a beaten housewife, I always return for more punishment. So I thought I'd just share a few thoughts from the perspective of a "new guy".

I thought I'd begin with my first character spawn, since it caused much hilarity from my girlfriend that she thought she'd share it with our other friends on FB. My Steam dl finally finishes and 11:30pm, I know the UK servers are going to be pitch black but I don't care, after days of watching the vids I -have- to play it at least once before I head off to bed, so I dl the Six launcher and away I go. I load in, it's indeed pitch black but I hear the sound of the ocean behind me. I decide to pop a flare to get my bearings, see if I can spot a road and head towards a town. As soon as I ignite the flare, my heart jumps, I hear a groan, I look left, there's a Zed, I look right, another one moving in. The flare fly's from my hand into the field and lights up three more. I panic, yell curses as I begin to run only to be tackled side on and knocked to the ground. More curses fly as I begin to bash random buttons in an attempt to switch back to my pistol, meanwhile my girlfriend sits beside me laughing her arse off as my character, now with a broken leg, flails his arms around and throws flares left and right before being eaten by several Zeds which thanks to the flares appear to be on fire.

So after that I decide to jump into a US server so I can spawn in the light and try to work out some of the controls. That done I go to bed. The following day I spawn in with a chap behind me, three shots and I'm dead by the time I see where they came from. I respawn in a rather confused state as I seem to be missing most of my inventory, I shrug, assume it was a bug and hit respawn again, curious, the same thing, I try to find out what's going on from the global channel, wait, that's missing too. I assume it was the server I was on so I jump to another, then another. Finally I check the site and see this was all intended.

"Well, lets see how this plays out." I think to myself after reading the many, many posts from both sides of the no starter weapon argument. And I died, a hell of a lot. Each time I found a perspective building I thought may have something more than tin cans or ammo, I would get spotted, so to the woods I would run, but not quite having gotten the hang of the stealthing system it took forever to loose the one that saw me ans his few friends I would pick up on the way out of town. So long in fact I would be completely lost and so far from the town I'd no longer be able to see it. And this was the case so many times it became unfunny, and my frustration grew. Being new to the game and trying to sneak into a town/house in the hopes of finding something of use with no way to defend yourself apart from your zombie like stamina was not a pleasant thing indeed. But I carried on, because despite the frustration of not being able to defend myself or find a weapon, I fel in love with the atmosphere. The constantly looking over your shoulder, the feeling of dread you feel when you hear a Zeds groan from the building you finally found that can be entered, all of it is amazing.

And today I find there is yet another update, not only fixes but the addition of melee weapons and what a huge smile I have, the hopes that axes will be easier to find that the elusive guns have been for me is high so I update and jump right in. After about 15 minuets of searching I find an axe, I cheer out set off with the hope that I'll now be able to enter buildings and find some food, coke, perhaps even a map or gun. I wander through to woods and find a small town, I begin to sneak into it, I see a Zed wandering around a building I hope I can enter, I have my trusty axe so I got for it, I sneak in as close as I can and swing like a madman as soon as he turns. He's dead! My first kill after days I playing and dieing, I'm feel renewed, like I can take anything now. So I move through town, find a building I can enter, I hear the horrific sounds of a monkey-man Zed, a noise that would once send me running to the woods, but this time it's different, I have an axe, I can kill him. So I move in, he spots me, I swing my axe a few times, he dies. Yes I think, I've got this down, then as I turn, I see a spray of red, I'm bleeding, quickly I bandage myself, then look at my blood, I'm down to 4k. Crap! I get into the building, find a can of Pepsi and take to the tree's once again. In all the excitement of finally finding a weapon, I forgot one vital thing, this is a melee weapon, and that's just the place you -don't- want to be with Zeds.

So yes, those are my first few experiences within this wonderful, frustrating, atmospheric mod. The feel of it is amazing and a wonderful job has been done. Yes the removal of a starting weapon is so incredibly frustrating for new players, and really ramps up the learning curve, but I think if people give it the time needed, it'll be a nice change. The addition of melee weapons I really like, and the dangers than come with them for those that are unprepared for the hits they will receive while using them is a nice way to begin the balancing, as with any new content for something in it's Alpha stages, it's not perfect and needs work, but that's what we're all here for and those things will come. Perhaps when the kinks have been worked out and the balance has been gotten right, a melee weapon could be the new starter weapon, so fresh players have at least some form of defence? Or at least have them common enough you'll spot one before a gun and it won't take an hour of searching or 5-10 deaths to finally find one.

TLDR; Love the atmosphere and feel of the game. Yes no starter pistol is frustrating, esp for new players but when the stealth system is worked out fully it'll feel right. Melee weapons are a great touch, still need a little work, but they are new so they will. Perhaps once they have been tweaked enough they could become the new starter weapon?

[dissaifer 3]

Pretty good story.

Weapons and food were removed because of rampant PvP and I doubt they will be put back in.

As for the rest of it, here are some tips, get on your belly, and try to avoid detection. This is the only sure fire way to avoid Z's even when you get a gun. If you get spotted, try running into a building or behind some object to hide. Z's work on line of sight (LOS), after a bit they forget about you.

Melee is new and comes with inherent risks. It is better than having nothing at all, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Sixteen18 15]

That's quite a story you wrote there. It's good to see new players that are actually learning the game through experience rather than crying about it on forums, welcome.

[TerryChuffnuts 7]

As above, nice to see a new player actually taking the time to learn the game, and not whining! May your survival be long and prosperous. Until you get shot by a bandit. :D

[gutzdorf 29]

Nice post.

I had a very similar experience last night on my first full foray into Chernarus.

A few swift deaths and a respawn in - what I presume is - Debug Woods, I wandered around on a power plant roof for a while after hearing the tell-tale sound of buzzing flies, but could not find the body anywhere.

I slowly crawled my way through overgrown gardens until I reached a fairly large red building with an invitingly open front door. I reached the the steps and my heart sank as I heard the inhuman groan coming from within - a sneaky look and sure enough, there were two hungry zeds waiting for me.

Still without a weapon I backed off and went around the side alley, picking up some binoculars and a little package on the way, before legging it to the woods as I needed to log for the night.

My little package turned out to be a ghillie suit! Looking forward to playing again later, as the amazing 'Sniper with no gun'.

[Pvt Parts (DayZ) 0]

"Melee is new and comes with inherent risks. It is better than having nothing at all, but I wouldn't recommend it."

And that's the way it should be, it's great. Plus I like the illusion of power it gives you (or at least myself as a new player) when you first get it. You think that's it now, all the buildings are mine to enter, until you swiftly realize melee with a Zed is something you really don't want to do unless you have to.

Thanks for the warm welcome too, I see no point in whining about the difficulty, hell I fully expected to die repeatedly before I got this, and I have, perhaps a little more than I would have done if starting with a gun, but hey, it's all part and parcel of the mods evolution.

the only real down side I have at the moment is that I am currently using the free version of ArmA 2 along with the Operation Arrowhead expansion so my textures look like crap. But hopefully I'll have enough spare cash next month to be able to pick up the full version and pretty up my environment somewhat.

[twotoes 11]

the other night i'd spawned, pitch black - out came the flash light.

noticed another flash light further down so headed towards it hoping for a friendly.

what i got was a friendly moron. needless to say it wasn't long before we were running - for me, not only away from the zeds but also the other survivor, but it was too late, the zeds were on me.

then i heard it, a car horn. thought i must have imagened it or that it was was outside my house, but then i heard it again.

started screaming in direct comm's "sound off!!!"

then i saw the tail lights.

with zombies right on my back, flash lights swinging left and right and horns going off i just made it to the car, dived in and we were off. jesus christ i said in direct comms - everyone laughed at me.

these guys turned out to be friendly pro's, cruising along with nv.

we made it up to somewhere, got kitted up then some bandit pro's jumped us just as we were driving off. they must have been sat there with nv just watching us stock up, waiting for the right time.

i died in the back of the truck, riddled with bullets, in a blaze of tracer fire and radio chatter.

even bugged to hell and back, this game rules.

[dunnobe 3]

Good story bro, we all had that intense feeling when we first started. I'm an arma veteran but the atmosphere baffled me.

Pics of your girlfriend?

[koenigscat 10]

Ah man I love reading all these experiences from other players. Makes this game feel like a world of itself :)

[Leitbild 8]

lol @ bittereinder

Welcome to the DayZ community, this game is teh awesome!!1