Would you have shot this guy?

[TimF 79]

Last night our group of 5 were in Gorka just topping up food, as background we are all pretty geared up but we don't dress mil spec or masks - more hunting gear. By nature we aren't bandits, we always tell people we are friendly and have offered to help out with supplies when meeting people in the past.

 

So we are checking the big houses in the mid south of Gorka, I'm hanging back keeping an eye out when I see a player on the northern slopes near the factory. I call it out, unclear if we'd been seen at that point everyone takes cover where we can until we know if they are friendly. Me and one other friend go prone and start working our way up that small wooded hill to the SW of town to get a better view. We catch a few glimpses of the guy on the far side of the warehouse but then lose him. Suddenly we see him almost on top of us - he is in mil spec gear with an M4 out and raised but he somehow hasn't seen us in the trees and starts moving past us to the town.

 

I have a lot going through my mind here - I could call out for him to stop but he was side on to me with gun ready and he could easily have turned and shot before me. It seemed like there wasn't a good reason for him to be flanking round our groups last known position with gun ready and I couldn't see a safe way to defuse things so I pulled my magnum, aimed with heart pumping  and emptied it into him, and my mate got a shot in with his rifle too. Took a few minutes to calm down again after that.

 

Did I read it right? What would you have done?

[Steak and Potatoes 13480]

I would have just broke off and walked away.  His flank was a fail you saw him, let him live another day and you become the ultimate hunter.

[MR DELICIOUS 297]

I think it's always 50/50 with these types of situation. Any player walking around with a gun and doesn't actually have it at the ready would be very unwise - it doesn't mean he's going to KOS you. 

I probably would have shadowed him down and let your friends in town interact with him. If he doesn't reply/begins shooting, I'd then take him out. I'd also be watching closely to see if he's got company. Shooting the way you did could have meant that any friends he had would have been well within their rights to KOS you.

 

Also, if I encounter another armed player, I'll quickly say "stop or I will kill you" first, and in a really calm voice (important), and then repeat "stay still, lower your gun please". A friendly player will instantly lower their gun/stop/talk to you over DC etc. An enemy player won't respond, will start to turn, etc. As soon as you see them disobey and start to turn/move/run they're either new or a bandit. I open fire, as a new player needs to learn how to interact in a high stress situation, and a bandit needs to die.

[samwalker1995@live.co.uk 17]

To be honest I would have probably 'Attempted' To flank him and hold him up, Just to see what his motives were. But you didn't do the wrong thing you had the safety of your entire group on your mind and somewhat on your hands for that split few minutes, Better the loss of one life, then all or any of your squad?

Hope my input gave a different perspective on things!

Would you have done anything differently looking back on it? 

[svenbreakfast 231]

military gear+gun at the ready=take the shot

 

I still have my hero skin in the mod, but these days I think the non-KOS players are sophisticated enough to know that if you're rocking combat gear and have your rifle shouldered that is an aggressive stance. If I saw this dude rolling towards me I'd be focused on taking him out so I could get to outmaneuvering his partners. 

 

 

[MR DELICIOUS 297]

military gear+gun at the ready=take the shot

 

I still have my hero skin in the mod, but these days I think the non-KOS players are sophisticated enough to know that if you're rocking combat gear and have your rifle shouldered that is an aggressive stance. If I saw this dude rolling towards me I'd be focused on taking him out so I could get to outmaneuvering his partners. 

 

You realise anyone who has played the SA for more than 3 hours with one character looks like this? Mil gear + rifle... This is the part where you gotta look at yourself and realise you are the KOS scum everyone gets annoyed about. 90% of the time I encounter a player I could let him walk away without confronting him.

Edited January 11, 2014 by MR DELICIOUS

[TimF 79]

You realise anyone who has played the SA for more than 3 hours with one character looks like this? Mil gear + rifle... This is the part where you gotta look at yourself and realise you are the KOS scum everyone gets annoyed about. 90% of the time I encounter a player I could let him walk away without confronting him.

 

Yeah same, I've never had an encounter before this when I was the agressor but here I had a snap decision as I only had a few seconds before I lost sight of him and he was moving towards the rear of the rest of my groups position.

 

In hindsight it may have been worth calling for him to stop and hoping he didn't try anything but then what's the play from there? If he actually stops do you make him drop his guns and keep the upper hand or trust him to lower guns and not shoot? Next time I mjight try to tell him to stop before I shoot.

 

*FWIW we've mostly been alive for over 20 hours playtime with current characters and noone is wearing helmets, masks etc, we deliberately don't want to appear threatening (like this guy did).

[libertine 351]

Yeah, as a sort of vigilante if i see a player, i'll sometimes try and follow him  and see if i can catch him killing or robbing someone. Ill have my gun out if i get too close because i'm KOS'd a lot if i don't run with my weapon at the ready. Putting my hands up gets me a bullet to the brain.

 

Wouldn't your group like to have murderers get a red arm band to signify they've killed more than say 10 people? While "heroes" get a blue arm band for killing X amount of murderers? In the beginning you could get a red band accidentally, but over time, your play style would give you a side. You could get around it probably, but that would just continue the much loved distrust between players DayZ in known for. Then you could get in there and hunt yourselves.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Thane

[Radio Friendly 7]

military gear+gun at the ready=take the shot

 

I still have my hero skin in the mod, but these days I think the non-KOS players are sophisticated enough to know that if you're rocking combat gear and have your rifle shouldered that is an aggressive stance. If I saw this dude rolling towards me I'd be focused on taking him out so I could get to outmaneuvering his partners. 

 

I walk around in my military gear with my dallas mask on and my M4 at the ready.

 

I've never KOS'd anyone, and in fact only killed one person in my time so far in standalone.

 

You'd think that a vetern player like yourself should realize that everyone who's played this game for more than an hour or two and knows where to look is rocking mil gear and M4's and any smart player is going to have their weapon ready for self defense because people are going to fire on them for no reason.

 

It's not a "threatening stance" it's being prepared to defend yourself from the KOS gank squad which you seem to be a part of.

[TimF 79]

It's not a "threatening stance" it's being prepared to defend yourself from the KOS gank squad which you seem to be a part of.

 

But wouldn't you say trying to stealthily flank behind a group of players when you have a clear path to just walk away is a 'threatening stance'?

 

If this was really the zombie apocalypse and I saw a lone gunman with an assault rifle and a clown mask sneaking up on me I'm pretty sure I'd be threatened.

Edited January 11, 2014 by TimF

[wgaf 251]

Without reading your post, I can answer "absolutely yes."

 

My reasoning:

 

A-  There is a guy

B-  It is possible to shoot him

 

Therefore

 

C-   Shoot the guy. 

Edited January 11, 2014 by HCHellCaptain

[jasher11 67]

i wouldnt have shot him, beacuse you can see there is 1 of him (maybe more, if you waited you could find out), 5 vs 1 you cant lose  unless somthing goes badly wrong, trail him , tell your friends, hold him up, if he moves shoot, if he logs hes a prick, if he hands you his gear then fair game let him go on his way with no ammo

[VincentNZ 5]

Yeah 50/50. I guess most kills in this game happen because you can not assess the situation correctly or objectively and decide to take the least risk, or out of sheer panic situations. This is further enhanced by the fact that the only threat in DayZ right now are the players themselves, neither the resources or the zombies.

[Highlander007 249]

For me, it would be rather humiliating to get held as a prisoner and have my stuff taken from me. I'd rather die fighting and so I always carry a gun on ready for protection and to kos

[Flight96 99]

You saw him first, at that point his life was in you and your groups hands. Period

 

You could've kept him at gunpoint until he moved out of range of you guys. If there was no potential of any of you being spotted by him and he was going to move by without noticing ANY of you then you shouldn't have killed him.

 

Hope you got some decent stuff though.

[Radio Friendly 7]

But wouldn't you say trying to stealthily flank behind a group of players when you have a clear path to just walk away is a 'threatening stance'?

 

If this was really the zombie apocalypse and I saw a lone gunman with an assault rifle and a clown mask sneaking up on me I'm pretty sure I'd be threatened.

 

Maybe, I wasn't really referencing this exact situation in the OP but rather the comment that "people walking around in mil gear with a gun out" are automatically KOS targets because they're trying to kill you.

[klassent 28]

I've come up with a bit of an internal flowchart for determining the outcome of my contact reports:

 

1. Ambient Threat Level

Recent events are the biggest factor in determining how my encounter plays out. If I've just overheard a gunfight nearby, I'm going to drop anyone outside of my group that has a weapon shouldered. True, perhaps they're some poor soul that just fought off a KoS'er and barely escaped with their life; regrettably, you're going to victim of circumstance if that's the case. It simply isn't worth the risk if you can confirm recent hostilities in the area. On the other side of the coin, though, if I've just overheard a friendly exchange over Direct, then I'm much more likely to identify myself and see if there's anything we can do to help each other out.

 

2. Location

The difference between how I handle urban encounters as opposed to scenarios in rural settlements is staggering too. I presume anyone that's in the middle of Cherno or Elektro has gone there with a very specific purpose in mind, whether it's to scrounge up a few medical supplies or hit the densely populated parts of town for a major food run. Either way, friendly banter usually isn't on their list of priorities. Not only do I expect players to be more natively hostile in urban encounters, there are also a lot more places an interested third party could be hiding to ambush both of us even when I do happen to find a friendly. Best-case scenario for a big city is evasion, but if the threat level dictates it, I don't rule out KoS if we both stumble across each other out in the open.

 

3. Can I gain anything out of an interaction?

Are there any supplies of which I am in immediate need? Antibiotics, morphine, food, water? If so, and there's not an immediately high threat level, I'll call out and see if I can trade, though still attempt to keep vision one-sided. If I can see you, but you don't have a clear fix on me, I like having that ace up my sleeve. Also helps to illustrate that I could have easily killed them by now if that's all I really wanted to do, a fact I often bring up to help cut any tension that arises. If, however, I don't particularly *need* anything at the moment, and just happened across someone on the way into town for a general lootgrab, I prefer to remain invisible unless I can confirm a recent friendly interaction as per Step 1.

 

4. Sizing up the individual

The sort of gear my new contact is running around with is honestly one of the last points of consideration I make. I've been known to wear everything from bright rainslicks to military camo, and my attitude regarding interaction never really changed based on the clothes I had on. If I can tell that they're only packing a melee weapon, though, that dials down the threat level pretty significantly, and I'll usually make a callout to see if there's anything they need. I also don't know of too many people that would bite the hand that feeds them, so the same applies to folks that are running around bleeding or have a horde of the undead lumbering after them. If they're ill-equipped to even take care of themselves, I doubt they'll be in a rush to "take care" of me-- though it's admittedly bitten me on the ass once or twice, I consider those exceptions to the rule, and it hasn't really turned me off from offering aid again in the future.

 

---

 

In your case, I probably wouldn't have shot the guy; if there was some reason for you to initiate contact with him, I would have had one of your buddies make the callout (since you were in the best position to take the shot, that immediately means your position is the one that has to be held secret.) I definitely wouldn't have turned my back on him, either, unless he was moving in a manner that implied he was actively trying to outflank the rest of the squad. Honestly, if the guy ran right past your position without notice, it's just as likely he had no clue your buddies were even there. Keep friendlies apprised of an approaching contact, keep him in your sights if worse comes to worse, and don't hesitate to pull the trigger if that's what it comes down to. I certainly don't fault you for taking the shot, because he posed at least SOME level of threat to the remainder of your squad, and the safety of five is worth the price of a bullet... Just possible that it wasn't a necessary course of action. :D

[Nanoha 37]

Gun out + not running in opposite direction -> shoot.

Only time I am happy to leave people alone is if they don't have a gun or if they are heading away from me. Guns are just too dangerous to leave people wandering round with them. Personally though, I would rather have a gun and risk getting shot over it than not having a gun and being unable to defend myself.