A Noobie's Impression and comments

[dicemanrick 1]

This is a longish post, but "noobs" might want to read before they invest time in the game. I'm not new to this kind of game.I was a WoW player for years on PvE and PvP servers.

First, get Dayz Commander..it mkes life MUCH easier!

To clarify, I not only played the tutorials for Arma II, I played through 7 solo scenarios and two or three segments of the campaign. I'm not a rookie at this.

I logged into 8 servers over the last 5 days to try DayZ after I set everything up through DayZ Commander. They were all US servers and some were day, some night. I ran through roughly 15 "lives"

DayZ is NOT like Arma II. In most servers you start with a bandage and some road flares (what a dumb set...who would have road flares when the dayz hits?) Nobody smokes I guess, so no one has a lighter in their pocket. No one has a pocket knife. No one has a rain coat (five of my "lives" were in the rain and one died because he caught a cold in about three hours game time and DIED). If you don't have a bandage you can't rip your shirt?

You have to scavenge for everything including drink and food. The most common loot seemed to be empty cans and broken whiskey bottles. You can DIE if you don't find drink or food (and this is in less than 4 hours play!) You can't drink from lakes or ponds and you can't fill an empty can with water (huh??) . Real people can go for days without water and longer without food. With all the damn rain, can't you drink out of a puddle?

Zombies (Zeds) are wierd. Even the "hoppers" can catch you if you run. This ain't "Walking Dead""---these suckers all "motor" like fast bloodhounds.Of course as you run you get thirsty too. The only way to lose them is run into an open building ( it seems like this is about 1 in 10) or run into a forest or up and over a hill. I did a LOT of running, particularly since the Zeds seem to see through walls and spot prone guys with ease, EVEN at NIGHT. Sometimes you can lose them if you use a smoke grenade or flare, but mostly they will chase you down.

Some things in the game are asinine. You see an ax stuck in a stump in a backyard. You can't get the ax. You can't have a melee weapon like a two-by-four or a tree branch off the millions of trees on the map. You can't even hit them with a brick. You can't trip them but they can knock you down when you try to ecape.

Good luck trying to find a weapon! In my 15 last "lives" I managed to find a machete and ONE asssault weapon with bullets. Mostly I found guns without bullets and bullets without matching guns. The one assault weapon lasted five minutes in my hands because some griefer "bandit" shot me in the back and took it. Once I approached a building at the same time as another player. He got there first. The loot was a gun with bullets and he promptly shot and killed me. My deaths in the game were roughly 10 percent from hunger/thirst, 60 percent from Zeds, and 40 per cent from other "players". It's a known fact that idiot players love to camp out and snipe at other players. How this is fun, I can't say.

I think I'll give up for now until the stand-alone game is released. It's really not that much fun to play for three hours and die from thirst.

My two cents worth of suggestions:

Modify the drink/food issue over several game days (if you live that long). Don't let players "catch a cold" and die.

Allow simple melee weapons (clubs/kitchen knives/rocks)

Either slow the chase aspect of the zeds or have them break off after a while

Have "noobie" friendly servers so people can learn the game ...this means banning PvP combat.

Thanks for reading!

[OrLoK 16185]

Hello there

Thanks for your review, but I think you have stumbled a couple of times and folk here will pick up on these issues.

Firstly one cannot compare wow and Dayz. They are literally worlds apart.

Secondly you say that you are not "a rookie". Being a rookie is not a bad thing, but your limited experience with the engine/game/mod shows that you are indeed "a rookie". That's not a bad thing though.

You also have to remember "asinine" issues like an axe in a stump that's not retrievable is hardly game breaking and simply reflects the mods roots as a milsim.

The majority of your other issues seem to be down to a lack of real knowledge of how to play the game in an advantageous way, but that will come with time and effort.

It *is* an unforgiving game and that's why many of us like it.

Now, some ideas like being able to collect water in empty cans is a good idea and you should whack a post in the suggestions area.

The Zed balancing is also down to taste. I too think they should be an immediate threat but not have the will to engage in a marathon chase. But each to their own.

It sound to me like you might like a customised server which adds many weapons and equipment.

For me I like being able to find anything useful a tough experience.

Rdgs

LoK

[creature 1189]

That's awefully harsh considering you were playing a free mod for another game. I think the mod is one hell of an accomplishment considering the limitations of Arma II. Transforming a military sim (with no melee system) into a zombie survival game as popular as this? I'd say it's pretty damn good.

You should give a few of the other maps or mods a try before you pass final judgement.

[Vicco 123]

Get ready for "What, only 15 attempts to last a few hours? Try harder man, it's the Apocalypse."

The 40% kills from PvP isn't bad. Dying easily from zeds/infection disease is a bummer.

Don't expect the stand-alone to eliminate the PvP. That's ok with me. There are ways to avoid getting killed by players. But if the loot and infection rate is the same as the current Dayz, I want no part of the stand-alone.

[Vicco 123]

You should give a few of the other maps or mods a try before you pass final judgement.

Yep. But understand - AFAIK - they are still all Dayz V1.7.6.1. Different game as far the zeds/infection goes. Could also go on 1.7.6.1 Chernarus servers.

[shadow_otw 2]

Doesn't vs 1.7.7.1 mod the zeds into a less relentless foe? I know on several private servers, the PvP is horrible. I can either choose to deal and get better or take my ball and go home.

DayZ isn't for everyone...seriously.

[herrjon 478]

As Orlok and others have said, it is a mod of milsim, it comes with limitations. In fact, it amazes me that there are even melee weapons to begin with. Even when standalone comes around, even with the thousands of items they're promising, I can bet you there will be things people will claim they can do IRL that they won't be able to do in DayZ. At the end of the day, it's a game, or in the case a mod of a game, that's in development, and it's sure as hell the most realistic zombie survival sim I've seen.

As for dying hunger/thirst quickly and whatnot, certain things of dayz must be sped up in order for them to be an actual threat to your life, and also to keep things interesting. If we could get by without eating a can of beans for a weeks worth of actual gameplay, they would have to make food and animals ridiculously rare in order for there to be any real threat of hunger. On the medical side, bloodbags take 12 seconds to fully heal someone currently. In real life it would be a multiple hour operation for a full blood transfusion. Would you want to literally sit there, in-game and wait for hours for the transfusion just because "it's more realistic"? Or worse, in standalone, you break your leg and have to hobble around with crutches and a cast for a few weeks of in-game time? I'm all for realism and immersion, but I certainly wouldn't want to wait, especially considering my job in DayZ.

The rest comes down to simply getting used to the harsh world of DayZ and learning how to survive. Granted you did come in on a fairly rough patch, but you can still do it if you put the determination into it and not blame your failure on the lack of trivial features. It may seem impossible now, but it can be done, I've seen it for myself. We've had a few new players come through TMW, didn't even have Arma experience, and they managed to survive and thrive on their own within the first couple of weeks.

Don't expect the stand-alone to eliminate the PvP. That's ok with me. There are ways to avoid getting killed by players. But if the loot and infection rate is the same as the current Dayz, I want no part of the stand-alone.

You might want to look into some of the recent dev blogs and E3 footage, as well as general news. Standalone is going to feature multiple types of infections and diseases, different, specific ways of curing said ailments, as well as basically needing to disinfect everything before using it. They're also going to do hive-server spawning, meaning they will only spawn a finite number of non-combustibles into ever server, basically meaning there could only be like 100 NVG's total or something similar.

You may want to hold off on the SA insta-buy.

[applejaxc 2500]

First of all, DayZ Commander doesn't make shit easier. It's clunky and I wouldn't wipe my ass with it. (same goes for PW6)

Second... did you SERIOUSLY just suggest that World of Warcraft PvP is ANYTHING like DayZ? That's unbelievably dumb.

[applejaxc 2500]

Good luck trying to find a weapon! In my 15 last "lives" I managed to find a machete and ONE asssault weapon with bullets.

That's pretty sad. I can find 3 guns easily on a 10 minute run through Chernogorsk with ammo and a coyote backpack without having to kill players for it. I can almost guarantee getting a gun running through Elektrozavodsk (although I'm reworking my loot run to be less risky at the moment). There's always (ALWAYS) a Winchester or Lee Enfield for the taking. I've never had bad luck finding guns (not counting when I first joined and was terrible).

[broguenz 333]

Not sure which version you've been playing but if a zed is spotting you prone your too close before dropping or just in his path hoping he won't notice you when he trips over your legs. Personally haven't had any issue when prone. Perhaps learn to stop, drop (watch) and roll? (evasive left and right)

Have never died of hunger, cold or thirst before death from an unrelated cause. Loot any Z's you kill, they have soda, beans and bandages..sometimes

Pvp is harsh if your learning I must say, so many other things to worry about other than players but you'll either get used to it or rage quit.

Get a mic for direct chatting to players don't hang about with a dumb look on your face, get out of line of sight.

As you've discovered most will shoot you, but not everyone. If you engage rather than choose to avoid do so from a position where you have control you may find you die less often. People shit their dacks if they run into you unexpectedly and more often than not your dead whether they feel any remorse or not.

Don't know what else to say other than maybe its not the game for you?

And I don't consider myself great at DayZ by any stretch of my own imagination but I don't spit the dummy (much) at games these days I just be go wid da flo bro

[Death_Dealer 3155]

First of all, DayZ Commander doesn't make shit easier. It's clunky and I wouldn't wipe my ass with it. (same goes for PW6)

As opposed to the Steam version?

lol

[herrjon 478]

Oh, also OP, if you do happen to come back and read this, there are "newbie friendly" servers, but those that actively advertise it are typically riddled with heavily gear bandits, because they know you're easy prey. There are PvE servers out there, but they'll be on a private hive, so don't check "hide unofficial" on DZC. Those are up to interpretation though, as there is no way to turn off PvP damage, so they just ban anyone who shoots and/or kills another player. It's not perfect, but it's there.

[RJTurneR 112]

About the only point I agree with is DayZ commander. Not sure why some people call it clunky or not very good, it's incredibly simply and easy to use.

The turorials and campaigns will only get you used to how ArmA works, the controls, etc.. So in all fairness, yes, you are a rookie at DayZ, it's a mod with a different method of playing, and requires a lot more from yourself than what the core game will.

To clarify, DayZ is ArmA II. It's a mod of the game, please do not treat it seperatly. And pretty much all your points seem to be related to the fact you are treating it seperatly as a game. DayZ is a mod, is heavily scripted and has come an incredible distance since it first started.. I mean, they decided to make a SA of it. Stuff like ripping your shirt off or taking an axe from a tree stump is not part of ArmA there for is not part of DayZ.

There is only such much the developers can do in terms of scripting, adding new things, making stuff more optimised. The mod is limited which is why the SA was taken into consideration to start with, along with the popularity of DayZ.

It also seems like you barely have given DayZ a chance. You will need to go through 100's of lives before you begin to get used and get good at the DayZ,15 is nothing, people go through 15 lives in one day alone. Also, ban PvP combat so noobs can get used to playing? This is why playing ArmA II itself is useful first, get a feel for the game, then move on to DayZ and in time you will begin to get a feel for other players, the enviroment, etc.. Banning combat will only make it worse. New players need to learn the hard way the risk/reward. Want to go loot Cherno? Fine, but you take the risk of being killed.

You have ditched the game before it even started for yourself. Can't see you getting on well with the SA if your expectations are that high.

Edited July 2, 2013 by RJTurneR

[hass22 0]

Sound's like op is frustrated with the difficutly level of this game. I dont have the game yet but what you said op is not going to deter me from getting the game. I have however watched many Dayz vid's on youtube like shosho, frankie, jackfrags, acebane etc., and they are good because they have learned to adapt, as well as learn from error. If you watch the first vid jackfrags put out he was a complete noob, but after awhile he became very skilled, just like many other people probably started out too, and I will most likely start out the same way.

[Muromets 19]

My deaths in the game were roughly 10 percent from hunger/thirst, 60 percent from Zeds, and 40 per cent from other "players".

umm....

[philbottle 430]

I think I'll give up for now until the stand-alone game is released. It's really not that much fun to play for three hours and die from thirst.

All that effort to give up so quickly. I suggest the standalone won't be your cup of tea either. Try Minecraft!

[r4z0r49 4761]

died from thrust lol :P at least its different then dying from infection :-)

[AntiHero (DayZ) 16]

....I'm not new to this kind of game.I was a WoW player for years on PvE and PvP servers.

Although I did read your whole post you nearly lost me with this opening statement. You absolutely cannot compare the two and I say that as someone who played wow for seven years. Yes they are both online but that's where the similarities end.

That aside, my best advice if you want to "learn" DayZ is to hop on a low pop server, learn the ropes, learn the best way to survive alone before getting a group, get some looting routes and learn the map. You shouldn't be dying from thirst or hunger, let alone the cold.

Did you have matches and a hatchet? Did you know you can make a fire to keep warm? I'm not asking that in a patronising way, I died myself from dehydration on an epoch server last night (yeah yeah inb4 noob comments), my own fault for not carrying enough drinks and getting stuck out in the wilderness but i consider that the worst way to die as it is easily avoided if one prepares. Which I didn't.

In any case I hope you don't quit on the game just yet, it can be very rewarding, but also incredibly cruel. It sure isn't for everyone.

I'm not sure that "giving up until the standalone is released" is the best option, by all accounts the standalone is going to be a lot harder.

Edited July 2, 2013 by AntiHero

[Sutinen 635]

First of all, DayZ Commander doesn't make shit easier. It's clunky and I wouldn't wipe my ass with it. (same goes for PW6)

I could waste my time downloading beta patches from the page and manually adding the new version of DayZ, but DayZCommander does make it easier. I mainly use it to search for servers.

By the way, there are some things I can relate to when I first started playing (Which aren't the mods fault)

You can't drink from lakes or ponds and you can't fill an empty can with water (huh??)

Some things in the game are asinine. You see an ax stuck in a stump in a backyard. You can't get the ax.

I remember one time when I came across one of the axe-stumps and tried to take it with no success :D

Edited July 2, 2013 by Sutinen

[Dr. Goner 661]

Here's what you need to do. These items are your goal. Hatchet, water bottle, matches, hunting knife, and a gun with ammo. In that order. This should be the only reason you exist when you begin playing this game. If you're playing at night... put flashlight at the top of the list.

Second or B or whatever number we're on. POLANA, POLANA, POLANA!! Polana is where noobs should live. All the items I listed and many others can be found in the grocery and adjacent house in Polana. It's away from the coast of death and lightly traveled so you'll be safe. You can learn about loot cycling there. Every time you die, head to Polana and start gathering the items I listed again and again. They allow you to hunt food, stay hydrated, and keep warm.

Last... Notice I didn't mention anything about defending yourself. When you start playing dayz, stealth should be your mode, no questions about it. You don't go near ANYONE. If you see someone, you run the opposite direction. All you need to do is focus on looting the items I listed and staying alive. The closest you get to PVP for now is the rush you feel while safely watching someone through binoculars from a bush.

It's really a blast man. Survive for a while. You'll know you've moved on from noob to novice when you meet your first stranger to exchange blood. Have fun! Don't quit yet.

[dicemanrick 1]

First of all, DayZ Commander doesn't make shit easier. It's clunky and I wouldn't wipe my ass with it. (same goes for PW6)

Second... did you SERIOUSLY just suggest that World of Warcraft PvP is ANYTHING like DayZ? That's unbelievably dumb.

I compared PvP WoW to DayZ PvP. There's no real difference in method. In WoW you end up dead if you are a noob. The same happens in DayZ. The only real difference is that in DayZ you can loot your killed opponent. This may give you a higher motivation to "turn rogue" in DayZ. In Wow it's more a status thing to kill an opposing faction member.

[dicemanrick 1]

That's pretty sad. I can find 3 guns easily on a 10 minute run through Chernogorsk with ammo and a coyote backpack without having to kill players for it. I can almost guarantee getting a gun running through Elektrozavodsk (although I'm reworking my loot run to be less risky at the moment). There's always (ALWAYS) a Winchester or Lee Enfield for the taking. I've never had bad luck finding guns (not counting when I first joined and was terrible).

Experience with finding things depends on where you spawn and luck. My experience is what I recorded. I found 1 pistol (but had bullets for another), 1 shotgun, 1 crossbow (no arrows), 1 assaault weapon, 1 machete, and on the last run 1 sniper rifle (no bullets). Most of the guns I did find were in Electro. YMMV.

Edited July 2, 2013 by dicemanrick

[dicemanrick 1]

Oh, also OP, if you do happen to come back and read this, there are "newbie friendly" servers, but those that actively advertise it are typically riddled with heavily gear bandits, because they know you're easy prey. There are PvE servers out there, but they'll be on a private hive, so don't check "hide unofficial" on DZC. Those are up to interpretation though, as there is no way to turn off PvP damage, so they just ban anyone who shoots and/or kills another player. It's not perfect, but it's there.

Thanks for the info. I haven't given up on the game as there are some aspects I enjoy. I just hope some small improvements can be made, not to take away the anticipation of survival, but to make your enjoyment a bit better.

Edited July 2, 2013 by dicemanrick

[Vicco 123]

Experience with finding things depends on where you spawn and luck. My experience is what I recorded. I found 1 pistol (but had bullets for another), 1 shotgun, 1 crossbow (no arrows), 1 assaault weapon, 1 machete, and on the last run 1 sniper rifle (no bullets). Most of the guns I did find were in Electro. YMMV.

You can find "no PvP" servers.

Or a low population public server. Pick your play time when server population is low.

If it's night on the server, turn your gamma/brightness full up and see if that will work for you. If not, log off and try a daytime server.

You want to get yourself a start, otherwise you'll give up. Which is ok too.

Run crouched straight for the woods after spawning. Stay crouched near the tree line until you find a barn. Look for high vantage points. Avoid zombies at all costs.

Look at http://db.dayzwiki.com/map/chernarus#position=5,69.65,122.49

Best map I've seen.

Figure out your position on the map. Not easy for a new player, but it can be done.

There are plenty of pictures of different cities on the internet to help you.

Stay prone under a tree/bush as you swap out to look at internet aides.

Somebody doesn't like that, tell them to get fucked.

It's your life and survival in Dayz, not theirs. Use every exploit available.

Remember clouds always move west to east. Good enough compass until you find one.

Best bet for starting weapons is barns. Axe is by far the best starting weapon in 1.7.7.1.

Industrial buildings often have axes too, but they are generally more dangerous than barns.

Don't bother with Lee Enfields and shotguns. Wait for a Winchester. While in barns, kill some zombies with your axe, and get some food/drink from them. Dead zeds are one of the best common loot sources in this new version.

Here's your key tactic. If you are bleeding/infected, maybe panicking, and know you're going to die soon, get yourself prone under a tree and log out. That will give you time to collect your wits.

When you log back in your plan will be - suicide for health. This is a new "feature" with the Dayz 1.7.7, 1.7.7.1 high and deadly infection rates, and rarity of anti-biotics.

Suicide is quickly done by drawing a few zeds up to your tree-line hiding place, which you can re-locate by landmarks. Make sure you have the landmarks for your body down pat.

If the server is giving good restart messages, make sure you don't die just before a restart. You'll lose your body.

If you're real close to dying you don't need zeds. Just wait for your last breath.

Presto! You respawn with no infection and full health. Decide if you're close enough to your body for a run there through the woods, or you want to suicide-by-zed until you get a closer spawn.

This way - slowly or quickly - build up the necessities for survival. If you've found matches,

you don't want to have to find them again if it's avoidable.

Of course it might go all wrong. Which is the key feature of Dayz.

[thengeance 19]

I think the most important thing to take away from this thread is the impression that new players are getting from the game, at least as it is currently. I'm all for keeping it a niche, non-sellout game, but there are some things to think about if you want to add people to this game's population. I also support OP's call for either a few "learning" servers or tutorial programs in SA that will at least give people a way to get their feet wet. Some players aren't as hardy as the posters on this forum!

@OP: You've stumbled upon a community that is very much akin to the one that existed in Vanilla WoW. This is a group that is in love with this mod and doesn't want to see it watered down to appeal to a wider base. I played good old WoW for 5 years, and if that game's trajectory is an indication of what happens when a product is built to sell rather than built to be a good product, then I hope DayZ remains frustrating and difficult.

Edited July 2, 2013 by thengeance