Server population - do you gravitate to large or small?

[Chawktah 43]

Gotta start low, collect some gear and a bag, then pop off to a more populated server to get your murder on. I find it most fun to hunt other bandit groups, checking overview and roadside camper spots then going into Electro to watch the fireworks

[Claw 26]

I dont play a great deal of Dayz ( mostly play wasteland on the busiest servers i can find ) but when i do i play low pops - for me 20 is the best number.

 

I will tell you why. For me i want to the apocolypse to feel like one and if i'm bumping into ppl all the time it RUINS the imersion, normally an apocolypse scenario is small collections of ppl and most of the world wiped out.  On full pops its just sooo predicitable where you will see ppl and pretty much guaranted, that in itself reminds me i'm playing a game.

 

I play Breaking point A3 for this very reason, even when the servers are so full because altis is such a huge map you have long periods of solice and the irmersion really sets in.

 

I remember a friend asking me why i prefer tactical shooters like Project Reality, Neotokyo , Arma etc. He likes past pace arcade games and said he finds realism boring. For me the excitement is the tension of what could be, and trekking for 40 mins say in Pr to finally have an engagement is where the tension breaks and feels so much more real / enjoyable than constant action ( if i want constant deathmatch action will play quake etc )

 

I dont think i have ever seen anyone adivse on this angle as they normally want to play low pops to learn the game or gear up and then move to busier servers, or if they are tired and just want to relax in the enviroment of dayz ( something i also like )

 

100 man sever on chernous map sounds like an utter nightmare : | i got very bored of deathmatch years ago, squad work / teamwork is where its at for me. Its funny i see all the ref's to COD kiddies all the time and ppl seem to think themselves superior due to Arma engine being a relistic simulation, well dayz is as we know  but its also really just a deathmatch game ( like cod) so its a tad ironic but nevermind.

[Monkfish (DayZ) 339]

At present, I aim for 20-30 pop servers if my character is relatively new and in need of food. This is simply because the loot doesn't respawn and there's a far higher probability of places being cleared out on full/nearly full servers. If I'm geared/have plenty of food then I'll hit the highest pop server I can get into and head to the coast to bandit hunt/help Bambis.

 

Once loot respawning is in, I'll be hitting the highest pop servers I can get every time. :D

[Bine (DayZ) 2]

Right now I am preferring Hiking Simulator 2014 (10 or less people). I have little desire to run into  a bandit every 20 minutes and currently play alone so I travel the map learning it.

 

Though when I am with my brother, I like the 30 man servers. Its populated enough to manhandle some bandits and enjoy ourselves.

[cywehner1234 582]

20+ people normally. Servers lag too much to have any more, and map is too small.

[PJSleaze 111]

Week 1- <10. Now that I know my way around, I'm moving up into the 10-20 range. That does seem to be a magic number for drawing server hoppers, I've been having a lot of fun harassing them up north lately.

[iBane 381]

I've typically stuck to low-pop as a fresh spawn worrying busy servers would be loot-less without loot re-spawning.  However, even in higher-pop servers I find reasonable amounts of loot, so I'm assuming server restarts refresh the loot spawns.  

 

Is this correct and if so, do you all find that popular/busy servers are restarted reasonably often (every few days perhaps) so loot is available?

[Rudette 435]

I think the sweet spot would be between 60 and 80.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Rudette

[Wheunis 228]

I think the sweet spot would be between 60 and 80.

 

I have my personal opinion quite firmly set to Max 50.

Played on the increased seat experimental servers... it is exactly around 60 that things start getting a little TOO fast and a little TOO wild.

By the time it hits 70 it really does spiral RAPIDLY out of control.

[Deathlove 2286]

I personally like sticking to low pop server makes finding loot more tangible. Especially on rarer items. Anything higher than 10 and i normally wait or play something else.

[king_of_the_beans 92]

I will only join a large population server willingly if and only if they fix the loot spawning I am tired of finding jack squat in the all the buildings and I have to wait till a server reset to get stuff

[dejeffers 39]

10-15 on a server is my max at the moment.

I find I get a more varied experience if/when I do cross paths with someone. Most of the high-pop servers seem to be just circle-jerks for those who believe that as soon as an apocalypse hits, everyone will instantly go round killing each other.

[Rudette 435]

I have my personal opinion quite firmly set to Max 50.

Played on the increased seat experimental servers... it is exactly around 60 that things start getting a little TOO fast and a little TOO wild.

By the time it hits 70 it really does spiral RAPIDLY out of control.

Interesting!

[deebz1234 243]

balls to the wall for sure.

 

i used to play low pop when the performance was shittier, but now those 64 person servers were totally playable 30-60 fps np.

 

I used to do a lot of low pop for loot, but i find I loot up quicker on high pop servers now.

(but that usually entails a fist fight or 2 lol)

 

for whatever reason the last few spawns there seemed to be groups of people doing fight club on the coast in EXP servers...so i just went over and axed them and stole buddies SKS without ammo and all their food and ran up north. LOL

fun times!

[DarkwaveDomina 1099]

My main priority is low ping, my second priority is my mood. If I'm in the mood for a relatively peaceful session I'll go for a server with ~20 people, otherwise I'll go for a full one.

[krebsy 11]

using standard numbers from multiplayer games, 128 is probably the max we are likely to see.  Just enouogh so you can avoid people if you want plus enough players to form a few factions and scattered raiders/solo's.

 

K.