Are people more hostile, or friendly?

[A27_StarWolf 0]

Hi, I was hoping someone who has played this game for a good amount of time could help me settle a dispute between some friends and myself.

I claim that more people would be friendly, or willing to help others in this game. Working together is better than roughing it out on your own.

They claim psychology doesn't apply to video games and everyone just tries to kill everyone...

So who is right?

[MR DELICIOUS 297]

I personally struggle to kill someone who isn't actively attacking me, especially if they're a survivor. I'm happy to gun a bandit down, unless I've seen them talking about meeting up with someone, and come across as relatively benevolent.

A week ago I sat up at NW airfield knowing that five or six survivors were scouring the airfield as a group. I began to pick them off with a CZ, knocking them down and then using them as bait for the rest of their group.

Seeing people bleeding to death after being hit in the legs or the collar bone, or outright dead and bleeding next to their friends as they desperately try to revive them gave me the creeps. I ended up outright killing two or three and had to walk away as two others bled to death while the sixth stayed in hiding. Made me feel a bit queasy afterwards. That was enough banditry for me.

Watch out for MR DELIGHTFUL though. He shoots people repeatedly in the legs until they have no more morphine, and then leaves them there to crawl or seek help, then he kills anyone who comes to help. He's a proper sociopath.

[cybercam 0]

Your friends are totally RIGHT! I'm going through my 5th character & I only died from zombies once! People for the most part are evil, especially when it comes to gaming. I thought like you in the beginning... I figured this game would be a great way to get people together to work as a team against the zombies. However, when they do work as a team, it's more to hunt & kill other players and not help others.

I have nor will I ever out right gun someone down for no reason. I use ask other if they need help, but not anymore, I just avoid them all together. It's a shame really, for a "zombie horror" game... the horror is not with the zombies but with the human players! The one down fall in this game is that players that kill other players get rewarded. Meanwhile the ones just trying to get along get the short end of the stick.

They should have players that get killed by other players, respawn their next character with a primary and the ones that kill others (when they finally die) respawn their next character with a weapon at all. That would change the whole dynamic of the game and get players to work together against the zombies & the bandits!

There is actually more teamwork in the online of ArmA2 (OA,CO,BAF,PMC), I've had some really good team oriented sessions with people I don't even know on those games.

I fine myself alone & looking out for numero uno in DayZ however. If a real zombie apocolypse ever happen, it would be the end of humanity for sure!

[dunkhan 8]

Your question is flawed. A comparative needs something to compare with, ie are people more hostile than X. I can see two possible interpretations: Either you mean are people more hostile in dayz than they would be in real life, or you mean are there more hostile people in dayz than freindly people.

I would answer both with a no. Zombie apocalypse is not friendly to the psyche, and especially in countries like the US where a lot of people have guns, you would expect a significant number of survivors to lose it and go ape shit. I can't predict such a hypothetical with any accuracy but I believe there are regions in the world where the proportion of murderers would roughly correspond to the average dayz server. There are definitely more friendlies than murderers on the servers, it is just that you notice the murderers more as the friendlies are hiding in the bushes and the murderers are shooting you in the face. One good bandit can kill dozens or even scores of players in a few hours, and under the hail of bullets it is easy to believe the whole server is out to get you, but they are not. I estimate about 10-30% bandits, depending on the server and the time of day. Server admins can probably give you more accurate numbers. The stats page is at just over 10% bandits although that doesn't take activeness into account.

[Drake Sigar 9]

Hostile, but it depends on the circumstances. If you spot them first and announce yourself beforehand, your chances significantly improve. Still no guarantees though. Many players are wary from being killed over and over, and lacking Bill Murray's epiphany, they kill anyone they see and become as bad as the people they so hate.

[dallas 5195]

Even friendly encounters can turn fatal very very quickly.

[fox808 40]

According to the official stats about 13% of alive characters are bandits, so I would assume most people are (more or less) friendly. Personally I teamed up with strangers many times, but never when I had good gear. Too much risk.

[jason.jblackman@gmail.com 3]

Depends what mood I'm in, sometimes I'll help someone, sometimes I'll just kill them. If they've been talking total shit in chat, I usually kill them. However, if they seem to be cool, I'll help them out.

I saved someone from a horde of zombies yesterday, and it resulted in me joining their Teamspeak, and becoming part of a 10-man group.

[chrisaa 0]

There's a fine line between hostile and "I don't trust anyone not to shoot me with all my gear".

I simply, if possible will tell someone to lower their gun (right control + r, wont work with pistol) or to turn around if they want to be alive in the next 3 seconds, also assuming of course vicinity chat is working, which is currently is on at least the server I'm on.

Then if a verbal exchange is possible, I'll ask their intent, if I'm not sure I'll tell them to walk away, if none of my commands are met within reasonable time I'll fire a warning shot (Can often be misunderstood as a missed shot) and eventually, if you won't listen, death.

It takes a long time to get 3/4/5 people in the same area and it's very easy to kill 2/3 of them as a random before anyone can react.

It's a crappy position to be in but I really don't trust most people, I'd rather give them some chance to explain/be reasonable but the best experience is if you just walk away and go to the next town, and don't try and sneak up around because there's guys in the bushes following you! :D

[shemashko 2]

If you mean people who stray away from humans as friendly then there would be more of them than hostiles imo XD.

[grandmont@live.ca 1]

I heard that from the server stats roughly 30% of the playerbase is bandits.

I've killed a few survivors and felt pretty bad about it. Usually I ask if they're friendly, fire a warning shot, and if they don't run away, ask again before shooting them.

Bandits I usually kill, unless they're with a survivor friend.

The only time I kill people on sight is if I'm with a large group and we need to keep people out of the area without telling the entire server our positions.

[ashten18@gmail.com 0]

I would like to be a survivor, but if killing someone has more gains, than loses I will do it.

[bacon55 (DayZ) 2]

Your friends are totally RIGHT! I'm going through my 5th character & I only died from zombies once! People for the most part are evil' date=' especially when it comes to gaming. I thought like you in the beginning... I figured this game would be a great way to get people together to work as a team against the zombies. However, when they do work as a team, it's more to hunt & kill other players and not help others.

I have nor will I ever out right gun someone down for no reason. I use ask other if they need help, but not anymore, I just avoid them all together. It's a shame really, for a "zombie horror" game... the horror is not with the zombies but with the human players! The one down fall in this game is that players that kill other players get rewarded. Meanwhile the ones just trying to get along get the short end of the stick.

They should have players that get killed by other players, respawn their next character with a primary and the ones that kill others (when they finally die) respawn their next character with a weapon at all. That would change the whole dynamic of the game and get players to work together against the zombies & the bandits!

There is actually more teamwork in the online of ArmA2 (OA,CO,BAF,PMC), I've had some really good team oriented sessions with people I don't even know on those games.

I fine myself alone & looking out for numero uno in DayZ however. If a real zombie apocolypse ever happen, it would be the end of humanity for sure!

[/quote']

We need some more deadly zombies. STALKER type bloodsuckers. They're not nearly deadly enough to force people to work together to get stuff.

[Spiker (DayZ) 0]

Well i am currently playing the game as a Medic. I'm sitting at 4500 humanity, i usually try to patch up anybody or blood transfusion or any other help anyone needs if i have the chance. i haven't killed a player yet. however, i have cautious around other players still cant trust everyone you run up to.

[FreedomTea 9]

Seeing people bleeding to death after being hit in the legs or the collar bone, or outright dead and bleeding next to their friends as they desperately try to revive them gave me the creeps. I ended up outright killing two or three and had to walk away as two others bled to death while the sixth stayed in hiding. Made me feel a bit queasy afterwards. That was enough banditry for me.

+1, I used to pride myself on never killing any player, bandit or otherwise, but I was killed with some delicious loot and lost it.

I found the military shotgun at a base and heard shooting near a coastal dock. I ran all the way over as shots continued - I wouldnt have found them if they hadnt been shooting so loud for so long.

Once I arrived I saw three survivors... all looking the other way. For some reason I picked up the shotgun and downed two instantly, the third ran south towards a hanger, bleeding. I took him down running.

I looted the hanger guy and heard shots in the distance - I went prone and began to crawl towards the others. I got halfway across the concrete when one of the dead guys just rolled over on his side and drew his pistol.... I put him down before he could fire but it was very strange.

Thats the first time anything like that has happened on a game and it was pretty surreal, I could swear these guys were dead and the way he rolled over seemed so seamless and real - as if he was playing dead and waiting for me to come loot the corpse. I can only assume he passed out and then came around just as I was crawling over. It must have been pretty scary for him too.

Needless to say I havent been killing since and now sit on 3.2k humanity, as the friend I play with keeps falling off deer towers and needing blood transfusions. Although if anyone hesistates to respond they will have to be put down as the loot I carry at the moment is pretty nice.

Such is life in the zone.

[numerics 27]

I don't kill unless I feel threatened. I'm not hostile, just paranoid. There were countless incidents where I watched survivors go on about their own business without attempting to stalk or kill them. I felt bad after the times I did do it.. Because at least in this mod, you're erasing someone's effort and progress when you kill them, you're not just killing them for a stat, You're literally taking what time they gave in.

[willia_ho@hotmail.com 1]

Last night I spawned near one building ..... spotted someone in it and moved towards a wall to stay out of view ..... then I noticed someone else prone in the grass to my left. I did a dance to the left and he started firing. Managed to avoid all bullets coming my way but in self defence I killed the guy (I didn't fire first and I ain't going to stop to type when I can die). Went from humanity of 2560 down to 80 just trying to save my own skin, this has annoyed the hell out of me :dodgy:

With the scarce loot since 1.5.6, alot of ppl are shooting first without provocation. Maybe it adds atmosphere but I think the humanity rating needs to be looked at in cases like these where you had to defend yourself but your were lucky (or unlucky) to have the other guy miss you.

[griffinz 2816]

Im sorry but I need to see this comic at least 4 times per day:

[numerics 27]

lol i'm glad you like it, took all of my creativity to make that comic. :P

[Dr Klunk 11]

I am a newcomer to both Arma2 and more specifically Dayz. I have been playing a few hours, both solo and with friends.

What struck me at fist, watching the clips at youtube (which incidentally made me interested in the mod in the first place), was how friendly players were towards eachother.. what I lacked in other similar games/sims .. cooperation, I thought I could find here.

It took me surprise that this was not the case.. at all. Even though I have met up with a handful of players who promotes cooperation, most players I have "met", especially when playing "solo", behave very aggresively, and most often those encounters have ended with me with a bullet in my head (even though I have tried all tricks such as saluting them, lowering my arms etc etc.

That in terms have made me vary cautious. From the beginnig I only considered zombies beeing threats... these days everything that moves is a threat... therefore I tend to stay as invisable as possible. Only once have I turned my gun at a survivor other than in self defence, and I will stay that way.

I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Bad of course because I think this attitude scares off newcomers and bad because I realize that this... maybe... is what human nature is; paranoia, fear and aggression.

The good thing I guess is that if humankind is like this, the game simulate how mankind would behave in a real post apocalytic world, thus beeing a full flown simulation... and that is really what I appreciate with games.

Time will tell if DayZ benefits from this overall attitude or not. Meanwhile I will enjoy the game and atmosphere as it is, play accordingly (stay away from others) and having a good time with friends.

PS. I think though that when in-game communication (microphone and Direct Communication) works as it should, maybe.. just maybe.. we might see a trend towards cooperation. Until this issue is solved I guess that the DayZ-world will continue to be a world of paranoia... with a capital "P". (reminds me of the excellent, classic RPG "Paranoia" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)" )

I would also suggest to the developers, that when fixing the in-game communication, that they allow voice communication ONLY with Direct Communication (no global channel or similar); making it impossible to "talk" over longer distances than maybe 50 meters. This makes the game 1) more realistic 2) voice spammers are limited.

PS: This suggestion only apply to VOICE, not chat.

my 2 cents....

[griffinz 2816]

Those of you who started playing back around 1.2 will know that it started out as extremely cooperative...no-one knew what to do, and everyone was working together.

...As the days went by, the trust disappeared. Then the direct communications failed, which just led to anarchy.

Where we are now as a DayZ society may not be reversible

[numerics 27]

The current state of DayZ is "The Road" with Zombies.

[FreedomTea 9]

lol, making bandits strip and stealing their stuff then getting caught without a bandage to slowly bleed out whilst your son watches.... from the pc next door

[BlackAlpha 12]

Maybe it's not as bad as we think. I mean, people do form groups, communities even. I see it happening more and more often. Three up to six guys, roaming the area. And the groups are slowly getting bigger and bigger. So it's not like it's a total deathmatch.

The thing is that you have to join a permanent group of people and stick with them. Going solo is suicide. You go solo and you die quickly. You team up and you survive. It's quite similar to real life. And it makes sense, right?

So, join a community/clan if you want to survive.

[thomasgilling@hotmail.com 5]

Treat people the way you'd like to be treated.

That's my ethos in game and in (real) life. However, if you're a dick to me, I'll be a complete cunt back. As my forum sig suggests, I'm always friendly, unless you're a bandit scumbag!

I generally tend to avoid teaming up with other survivors as I can't trust anyone but I won't shoot on sight and if I get shot at by a survivor, I'll run away like a little girl as I don't want to become a bandit. I may wound someone mind.