Wired: How a near-death experience inspired a blockbuster zombie game

[fluxley 2228]

What are everyone's thoughts on the interaction with the 'apparently' near-death hiker?

I'm not an expert. I've never mountaineered but I would hope in that instance the 'dog-eat-dog' mentality would not win out. I wonder if Dean Hall has had reservations about that moment. He told the reporter about it, so maybe not. Just a very strange anecdote that really should have lead the story.

 

Thoughts?

 

Its not so much dog eat dog as harsh reality, at those heights just getting your own body back is a major challenge, never mind trying to carry someone who is already as good as dead. 

 

Rocket goes into a little more detail about it  here  http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/7/4405710/dean-hall-mount-everest-interview

[Nihilum 209]

Can we get a full-length Bible put into the game please? There's a role I'd be interested in playing...

 

 

[MOS182 63]

Can someone explain to me how Rocket got involved with programming? Did he have any programming experience before making the DayZ mod?

[RedNome 443]

Rocket posted this on Reddit a few minutes ago in response to this post to put it in context:

 

 

I'm floored by the Everest incident. Keep going "up" or die with them? Why not turn and go back down with a chance that you could help someone live?

I'd rather be known for giving up the peak to attempt to save someone's life, than 'struggling on upward' to complete some 'dangerous fun' trip I paid a year's salary to take. Is there a different 'down' route that must be taken once the summit is complete, that precludes this and essentially absolves Dean's decision to continue up?

I'd really like to know more details of the story instead of going on what amounts to a few sentences of anecdotal details, likely played up by the article's writer or Dean to somehow tie it to the marketing for the game.

 

Rockets response:

 

 

I won't say much here because I feel whatever I say, without really being there, only leads to more questions. However:

When we reached the body, he looked like he had been dead a long time to me. He looked absolutely and completely frozen. It was 2-3am, somewhere between the balcony and the south summit. It was only once we were back at Base Camp, that my fellow team member was insistent that the guy was moving when he passed him. We would have passed him about 20 minutes later.

One of our guides (former sherpa) was just ahead of me and my climbing sherpa, and he had checked the body and radio'ed back to other parties that there was a body pulling the rope extremely tight. Speaking at that altitude is extremely difficult. It's bitterly cold. I don't even know how to describe just how cold it is. There was no discussions just practicality. The rope was quite dangerous now because it was being pulled very tight. Nobody even had the energy to move his body to reduce tension on the rope despite the danger the tight rope posed us.

I wasn't about to turn back just because someone died. In fact, multiple people had died while I was there - one body got lowered right past us on the Lhotse face. A member of our team pulled out right at that moment. Another climber got decapitated and found by helicopter. We witnessed an attempted rescue that failed of a climber stranded high on Lhotse.

I suppose to try and put things in perspective, I'll pass on a little anecdote from the final push. Before we got to the body, somewhere past the balcony, I was having some trouble clipping between rope sections. You have mitts on top of gloves, on top of gloves, on top of chemical hand warmers. You may as well have pillows for hands. I tried to adjust my gloves, a very, very risky maneuver - if I had lost a glove it would have meant loss of at least fingers even if we had turned back right then. I was having a hell of a time doing it. It was so incredibly frustrating. And I was so fucking tired. I got more and more agitated. Like a little child I guess, it became my whole focus. I started ignoring everything else and started making these sobbing/mewing noises as I tried desperately to get the gloves right.

It felt like hours but was probably about 2 minutes. My climber sherpa gave me the "wtf are you doing" look and grabbed my gloves, adjusted them, gave me a quizzical thumbs up, and we carried on.

If I really concentrated on what I was doing, I was able to stay focused. But thinking was hard. It's not about being exhausted, or tired, or anything. It's a weird feeling and I can't quite describe it. Getting a drink was an effort. At one point I just looked at my climbing sherpa, willing him telepathically to grab my water bottle out of my pocket for a drink (it's much easier to get each others bottles, because you can't move your head much due to mask/helmet/etc...).

tl;dr

I was sure he was as dead as could be. And I wasn't about to start going around grabbing people's dead bodies. As weird as it sounds now, at the time it seemed like that would be disrespectful. I wasn't going to turn back because someone had died. Lots of people had already died. And even if he was alive, what was I going to do? Revive him so he would die again? If our O2 ran out, we would have been in deep, deep shit. Our next O2 drop was at the South Summit. We stuck to the plan.

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/1l95dc/wiredcom_article_about_dayz_dean_hall/cbxaov1?context=3

[Wayze 549]

 I did not read the full article, but isn't "near death expirience" a bit exaggerated? Sure, he was hungry, but as "near geath expirience" I understand actually being dead but then being reanimated. Like seeing the white tunnel and stuff.

But other from that the article seems good, reminds me on the time when DayZ was a survival game... I will read it tomorrow because it is 3am right now.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Wayze

[Nihilum 209]

 I did not read the full article, but isn't "near death expirience" a bit exaggerated? Sure, he was hungry, but as "near geath expirience" I understand actually being dead but then being reanimated. Like seeing the white tunnel and stuff.

But other from that the article seems good, reminds me on the time when DayZ was a survival game... I will read it tomorrow because it is 3am right now.

He had an intestinal blockage -- for an extended period of time, leading to a nasty bowel disorder of some sort in addition to said blockage. That wouldn't be a problem if he could have strolled into a hospital and received modern medical care in a timely fashion. That isn't how survival training goes. You're out in the middle of no where with the basics. Even here in the us, soldiers die during wilderness/survival training. Little things can become big things when medical facilities are taken out the equation.

[Death_Dealer 3155]

Someone needs to add this to the wikipedia page about Rocket or DayZ or both :D

[RooBurger 285]

 I did not read the full article, but isn't "near death expirience" a bit exaggerated? Sure, he was hungry, but as "near geath expirience" I understand actually being dead but then being reanimated. Like seeing the white tunnel and stuff.

But other from that the article seems good, reminds me on the time when DayZ was a survival game... I will read it tomorrow because it is 3am right now.

 

If he was out there another few days he probably would have died. He was starving. And due to intestinal blockage, eating wasn't going to help. He's a skinny little dude and he lost 44 pounds. If the training didn't end there it was GG for Dean, and unfortunately there would be no respawn on the beach.

[beastoverlord 574]

What are everyone's thoughts on the interaction with the 'apparently' near-death hiker?

I'm not an expert. I've never mountaineered but I would hope in that instance the 'dog-eat-dog' mentality would not win out. I wonder if Dean Hall has had reservations about that moment. He told the reporter about it, so maybe not. Just a very strange anecdote that really should have lead the story.

 

Thoughts?

 

Read his blog on it. The article makes it sound like the guy was savable. In Dean's blog, it sounds like the guy was just about dead at the time. How do you get a person who is unresponsive through all of the cliffs on Everest and all the way down the mountain with no rescue material? Plus, if the guy was completely limp, it is unlikely that he would have even survived a portion of the rescue even with proper supplies. 

[Zodiac13 173]

He should have checked the dead guys body for loot then cut the rope. All joking aside I believe that a sudden impact death would be better then sitting there helpless as your body froze. In all fairness how many people can honestly say they would risk their life and the lives of the other people with you at a small chance of saving a stranger? If I had been in the situation that the dead guy had been in I would have wanted someone to just end it. Also at the end of that it states the game comes out this fall. Is that the new launch window? Be awesome to see it come out for Halloween lol.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Zodiac13

[mzltv 2281]

You have mitts on top of gloves, on top of gloves, on top of chemical hand warmers.

Fuck that - I have enough trouble getting my bus pass out with thin gloves... Let along climbing a mountain...

[St. Jimmy 1631]

Also at the end of that it states the game comes out this fall. Is that the new launch window? Be awesome to see it come out for Halloween lol.

Woah woah!  Wired may need to cut out that one. Probably just a target like other release targets and not a release date.

[SMLE 39]

Great read thankyou for the link , I don't think its fair to judge the Everest thing without having been there there are so many factors we don't know about , I do know if a Sherpa told me to move along theres no hope I would do so , those guys know what their about .

I did find it interesting Mr Hall never considered joining the other people on the survival trip rather than raiding them .

cheers

[Wayze 549]

He had an intestinal blockage -- for an extended period of time, leading to a nasty bowel disorder of some sort in addition to said blockage. That wouldn't be a problem if he could have strolled into a hospital and received modern medical care in a timely fashion. That isn't how survival training goes. You're out in the middle of no where with the basics. Even here in the us, soldiers die during wilderness/survival training. Little things can become big things when medical facilities are taken out the equation.

 

If he was out there another few days he probably would have died. He was starving. And due to intestinal blockage, eating wasn't going to help. He's a skinny little dude and he lost 44 pounds. If the training didn't end there it was GG for Dean, and unfortunately there would be no respawn on the beach.

Yes, I am not saying it was not dangerous, but like I said a near death experience is the moment where you are clinically dead, not where you are in danger of death. Yes, Rocket is a hard guy, but if he was alone he would have not survived the near death experience, because like I said you are clinically dead, not just almost dead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience

 

I admire Dean for what he did. He is a tough guy that's for sure, but some journalist obviously exaggerated there to get some more clicks. And I know how that is.

[RooBurger 285]

I'd say the journalist just didn't intend it that way. Before reading the article I assumed he meant that Dean nearly died, rather than actually had a near-death experience. He might not even be aware of the specific meaning of the phrase.

 

Meh.

[Wayze 549]

I'd say the journalist just didn't intend it that way. Before reading the article I assumed he meant that Dean nearly died, rather than actually had a near-death experience. He might not even be aware of the specific meaning of the phrase.

 

Meh.

He is a journalist, he is supposed to know what a near-death-expirience is. Don't defend the journalist, he just doing his job ;)

[Nihilum 209]

"impending death"

im·pend (m-pnd) intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends
1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending.
2. To threaten to happen; menace: discouraged by the trouble that impended.
3. Archaic To jut out; hang suspended.


B) seems apt. , giving that myself just had an intestinal block that required emergency surgery, and that was only after two days. (rocking that nice scar below my belly button)

Imagine not being able to shit or pass gas, or if you can, it being bloody diarrhea, and on top of that spitting/vomiting up anything you try to eat, all while experiencing terrible pain and cramps. Now imagine you are out in the middle of nowhere, and you are literally starving on top of the latter in addition to this going on an extended period of time.


:(  Poor Rocket's bowel. Thankfully it didn't strangulate and die, along with him, and thankfully he's not shitting in a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Nihilum

[m.cab 83]

im pretty sure the photo was made when he was working as a background dancer for TakeThat!

[Post Hoc 30]

It comes out this fall?

[Wayze 549]

It comes out this fall?

What did you think? Next year?

[Hosty 647]

What a good read.

[Skat3rat 1633]

It comes out this fall?

 

Don't trust these articles that say when SA will be out.  Many say that SA will be out at a certain time and then it never happens.  Wait for Rocket himself to state when it is coming out.

[Post Hoc 30]

What did you think? Next year?

At the rate it is going, yes. Is it not feasible that it would release in more than 3 months? It peaked my curiosity, why did the author put that information in there? I'm not on the forum as much now so i thought maybe i had missed this bit of information somewhere. The sarcasm is not necessary 

 

P.S. I really don't care when it comes out, but I will be buying it when it does.

[Deathwind (DayZ) 28]

I liked that read.

[Deathwind (DayZ) 28]

Now makes me even more pissed at the guts people have to KOS and ruin this games premise.