Hardcore and situational awareness

[Cap'n (DayZ) 1827]

Alright, I'll admit that I've been a pretty big backer of keeping 3pp. But a couple of months ago, I tried a 1st locked server. And, surprisingly, I enjoyed. Now, I play on and off 1st/3rd. 1st for my lonely stealth times, and 3rd for the buddies that have some aversion to it (aka; all my friends). This morning, I decided to hop on a 1st person Exp server, and loot up a bit. All I had was a improvised bow, a handful of arrows, some assorted survival equipment and such. I was within jogging distance of the International airport, so it was first choice for loot.

 

Upon entering, I headed for the tents. I assumed it was the safest looting place among the airfield, and this was a full server. In and out, quickly. That would be the best way to tackle it. Being the sneaky little shit I am, I took a long but mostly wooded and out of the way path towards the edge of the airfield. I loaded my bow, but kept it on my back. It is not a defensive weapon, but a stealthy one that requires extensive sneaking to get within range of a target. I weighed the risk, and decided it was simply safer to risk the goodwill of strangers by carrying nothing. Besides, the vast majority of the community are terrible shots. I could simply retreat to the outer wall and on to the forest if need be.

 

It was raining pretty hard, but luckily I had a Gorka shirt to keep me dry. The idea of campers and kos freaks dying of hypothermia made me quite happy, seeing as I'm more of a survivalist type. I searched two small sand bunkers and a larger one near the road. They were filled to the brim with clothes and vests. This worried me, as it meant someone had looted the other end of the airfield and caused more loot to spawn here as a result. Quickly forgetting this, I set upon the riches of tent city. By some margin of luck, I decided to pillage the large sandbag fortress within the base. It too was filled with clothes and ammo, but these were unnecessary. I climbed the ladder, picked up a PM handgun. Something moved in my peripheral vision.

 

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/67873315937006638/5FC4F37604298BBD5293905F5271A8375B7AE9D8/

 

If you can't see him, it's okay. I have no idea how I saw the guy, but the eyes are attracted to movement. About fifty meters ahead of me, this tovarisch was looting my tents. Naturally, this worried me. What were his intentions? Food? Guns? Waterproof clothing? Well, it didn't matter. This is the North fucking West airfield, and comrade tovarisch here would probably unscrew my head at first chance. I pulled out my binoculars to get a better look.

 

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/67873315937002510/8D987021CAF1BF523A66EE1BA672A01E4DA61BDD/

 

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/67873315937011491/297A238DE934AAE9A751AAAA6AAD395ED23334D3/

 

This guy was geared. SKS, hunting pack, Partizan camouflage, and full Smersh vest. With that goldmine of clothing accessories, he probably isn't looking for a friendly game of patty cake. But what really bothered me, was his lack of awareness.

 

Seriously, he looked directly at me several times. I was prone, peeking out from an open sandbag tower. And shortly after, I moved to the guard tower on the gate. He looked in my direction twice more, and still didn't seem the least worried. As soon as he finished ransacking FOB "Fuckoff" (our nickname for tent city), he made a b-line for the motherfucking tree line. I made suite, and followed my newfound foe to forest. He stopped, and by mistake, I ran ahead of him. I dived prone, and prayed to Jehovah that mister comrade tosvarich here didn't spot my Bear Grylls ass. And he ran directly over me, like half a meter. Didn't even hear me hastily shuffling for the closest pine fur. Nope, just made straight towards the bright blue hangar things. I let out an audible "wut?".

 

After taking WAY too long to loot the two blue storage hangar things, he headed for the lonely tent. I've had enough of watching this guy run around. I loaded my bow, and sneakily approached the tent. I rolled to the side, probably looking like a complete idiot, and then slowly shuffled towards the door. I readied myself, shoveling another handful of crackers covered in humus into my gape. I peeked around the corner, and he was hunched over a uncharacteristically large pile of mountain packs. For giggles, I yelled "Surprise!" in direct. He beings to turn, but alas, is too late. A streaming white arrow flies across the room, connecting with his jugular, and ending his life as quickly as it began. I surveyed the pillage; smersh and pristine Gorka. What an idiot...

 

This has peaked my interest. Is everyone really this unaware of their surrounding. I made several pretty large mistakes that anyone in freelook paying attention to the game might have picked up on. It's just rather odd that I avoided this guys attention so easily, only for him to be ended by arguably the worst weapon in the game. Anyone else experience anything similar?

Edited August 30, 2014 by Cap'n

[Chaingunfighter 917]

Why, exactly, did you kill him? The only reason I can see is punishment for not seeing you, because the way you worded it you weren't looking to kill anyone who you didn't need to.

 

Besides that, you'd be surprised how easy it is to miss people in quick sight when you're not paying extremely close attention. It's like playing a game of hide and seek and having the hunters walk past you quite a lot, with the game ending and you bragging about "how they walked right past you". As the hider, you only have to focus on a single point, while the person who is hunting has to look all over, scanning an entire area (including away from you), so it's a lot harder to do that.

 

To answer "Is everyone really this unaware of their surrounding", I'd say no, because this is one instance. Usually someone acting as obvious as you were would be spotted very quickly (it's happened to almost everyone I've ever encountered and been non-stealthy with). It's entirely possible that this guy had his sound off/broken/low, given that he didn't really respond to a single audio cue you gave. And even if it wasn't sometimes there are those oblivious people. I generally wouldn't categorize most people like that, though.

[klesh 2423]

It "piqued" your interest.  ;)

 

 

Hardcore or not, people try to play this game way faster than things would happen in real life.  No one ever walks, they sprint at full bore everywhere they go, taking a cursory glance here and there that might be able to spot someone in a pink tracksuit at 50m.  When teh lootz are in your tunnel vision, one might forget their are hundreds of meters around them and people might be watching and moving in on them.

 

That being said, sometimes the safest option for a lone wolf is fast in/ fast out, the longer you linger in an area (peaking around every corner to see no one) the better your chance of running into someone.

[doctajones 123]

10 minutes later and im still looking for him in the first picture.

[green_machine 179]

The resolution is strange tbh. I've prone'd on a hill and watched a town a few times and it's blurry.. until several seconds later, it becomes clear and I can see every pixel. 

I think fatigue de-rezes your view, so he may have never taken the time to catch his breath... making things blurry. I don't like it tbh, a needless implementation unless you're very fatigued. I entered branzino from the north and the first shed I looted, a person trapped me inside with auto-fire and strafed into view, spraying me... I was in 3rd person.. Scanning every angle.. Must have been the resolution drop from fatigue   

This individual must have never taken the time to get his breathe back like how I died. 

I think it's an overcomplicated, needless idea to blur your vision due to fatigue. 

Edited August 30, 2014 by DaveZ

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

^^^I'm a long distance cyclist and can tell you that blurred and even tunnel vision can occur during prolonged cardio. (This is illustrated well in the movie, The Flying Scotsman)

 

As far as situational awareness is concerned I feel most players have little interest in patient forms of stealth, which include scouting parameters and taking longer routes to enter towns in hopes of going undetected.

 

Personally, I try to play with the feeling of eyes on me at all times and I also have a very keen eye for movement, patterns, shapes, and silhouettes.

 

I often wonder if I do enough to watch my surroundings and wonder how many benevolent souls have seen my geared but non-aggressive character, and let me live.

 

I don't PK at all. I have avoided FPS games since the 90's and was tired of the genre not long after Golden Eye came out. I honestly enjoy the search and explore aspect of DayZ and play on mostly low pop servers in stable play. Most FPS games would not have enough options in place to make my style of play even possible.

 

The only way I have managed to survive for long periods of time in this fashion is by seeing YOU first.

 

And when I tell you I've had countless players (with better gear than I at the time) in my scope and let them pass, I'm not lying.

[St. Jimmy 1631]

Maybe he ignored you because you didn't have a gun. But it's still bad to not watch your back to make sure if anyone isn't following that he clearly then made at least.

[creature 1189]

From your description it sounds like very bad situational awareness. But people do strange things. The player may have seen you several times and figured you weren't a threat. Part of the beauty of Dayz is that you never know for sure. 

[green_machine 179]

^^^I'm a long distance cyclist and can tell you that blurred and even tunnel vision can occur during prolonged cardio. (This is illustrated well in the movie, The Flying Scotsman)

 I don't like it tbh, a needless implementation unless you're very fatigued.

 

You're talking about Endurance Sports... This is just going from building to building.. looting. In a town or city, You have to get in & out. (Unless you're poking out of every window with a gun, looking for people following you). 

You're not exactly pushing yourself to the limits, 

[Caboose187 (DayZ) 3036]

You're talking about Endurance Sports... This is just going from building to building.. looting. In a town or city, You have to get in & out. (Unless you're poking out of every window with a gun, looking for people following you). 

You're not exactly pushing yourself to the limits, 

The majority of players are running full tilt non stop, yes they are getting exhausted.  It`s about fricking time they started adding the actual key pieces that made DayZ what is truly is.

[Survivor_Ted 269]

Maybe he saw you and when he realized he was being watched and didn't get shot at, he became really layed back and didn't give a single fuck.

[Irish. 4886]

Good kill Cap'n!

 

In 1st only some people just have zero s.a. .. fyi. 

[q.S Sachiel 470]

The resolution is strange tbh. I've prone'd on a hill and watched a town a few times and it's blurry.. until several seconds later, it becomes clear and I can see every pixel. 

I think fatigue de-rezes your view, so he may have never taken the time to catch his breath... making things blurry. I don't like it tbh, a needless implementation unless you're very fatigued. I entered branzino from the north and the first shed I looted, a person trapped me inside with auto-fire and strafed into view, spraying me... I was in 3rd person.. Scanning every angle.. Must have been the resolution drop from fatigue   

This individual must have never taken the time to get his breathe back like how I died. 

I think it's an overcomplicated, needless idea to blur your vision due to fatigue. 

 

You're most likely being blurred by tree and bush leaves/grass blades interrupting your vision, and DayZ punishes you for this making your view blurry. 

May also because you're in shock from being hit / lost blood, or because you logged in with the blur.

They've corrected it on log-in from what i can tell since 0.48, but do try pressing ESC>options>Video and that usually 'unfogs' your screen, that is if you're not clipping through a bush or grass on the ground.

I believe the reason for this is because DayZ is modelling depth of field, and your vision is in line with the close object, not the background that you think you're actually looking at.

 

OT:

excellent read, OP.  Don't play too much 1pp but did want to give it a try eventually.  I prefer not to run in 1pp though because your view jigs and jags all over the place making it really hard to identify things, but doesn't strain my vision as much as in the mod.  I'd say this is probably his biggest issue, that he was moving and it was raining meaning you blend a lot better.  Sound is dampened and i'm guessing you were half decently clothed with your gorka top and what not.

Then there's just the element of dirty pot luck where he didn't look at you for some time, then missed you when you ran past him.

Darwin would be pleased.

Edited August 30, 2014 by q.S Sachiel

[solodude23 649]

 I prefer not to run in 1pp though because your view jigs and jags all over the place making it really hard to identify things, but doesn't strain my vision as much as in the mod. 

Are you referring to head bob? If so, it can be turned down or off in the settings.

[q.S Sachiel 470]

by the power of bill cosby's sweater.

thank you sir i'll check this out.  Should have known it would be an option, though i've never needed to turn it down in any other game (though things like quake are just little to the left stop little to the right stop).

Edited August 30, 2014 by q.S Sachiel

[Bororm 1156]

I've mentioned it before but the NWAF is the new coast in terms of pvp prowess compared to the mod where the opposite was true.  The majority of people I encounter there are super oblivious.  I think they expect to hardly encounter anyone or something, and are just there to stock up on easy military loot.

 

There's exceptions of course, but overall that's the type of player I run into and it makes for easy kills.

[GriefSlicer (DayZ) 84]

I actually love playing on first person servers just for the fact that you know that every fight will be fair unless lag comes into place. I do enjoy 3pp servers, but it seems like RP is more of a thing in the hardcore servers and people grasp the aspect of robbery and friendliness a bit more. Yes there is still Kos, but for me the game needs people that Kos to make it more challenging, because right now the game is too easy. If no one Kos'ed PVP would not exactly have much of a indent in the games play style and you would be stuck with worrying about getting robbed or get hit by lagging zombies which would just be boring. Anyways back on with Sit. Awareness people seem to always forget to check their back and also they forgot about the free look key. I am always making sure that I actually do a full perimeter scan before I loot at a military area, because I know the possibility of someone being there is high. 

Edited August 31, 2014 by GriefSlicer

[KingOfTime 267]

 

He stopped, and by mistake, I ran ahead of him. I dived prone, and prayed to Jehovah that mister comrade tosvarich here didn't spot my Les Stroud ass.

 

***Firefox won't let me type outside of the quote for some reason, but I fixed it for you.***

Edited August 31, 2014 by gr8mghtyp00

[KingOfTime 267]

I've mentioned it before but the NWAF is the new coast in terms of pvp prowess compared to the mod where the opposite was true.  The majority of people I encounter there are super oblivious.  I think they expect to hardly encounter anyone or something, and are just there to stock up on easy military loot.

 

There's exceptions of course, but overall that's the type of player I run into and it makes for easy kills.

On a full server, it used to be that the NWAF was completely devoid of players. Has this changed at all?

[Bororm 1156]

On a full server, it used to be that the NWAF was completely devoid of players. Has this changed at all?

 

It's more popular than it used to be imo.  It's sorta hit and miss though.  You can go a long time without seeing anyone, or it can be pretty active.  I'd say your chances are high though, and my group usually picks high pop servers.  I'd recommend picking something with a bit of room to grow rather than a completely full one though.  If you're joining say, a half full 40 server, you've got more chance of people logging in at the airfield rather than a 40/40 one in which case either people will already be there if you're lucky, or if you're unlucky you're gonna have to wait for them to show up.

 

I do think you have a somewhat higher chance of running into solo players on a lower pop server though.  Like in the mod, when there's like less than 10 people on the server, you can bet where they're either headed or already are, the nwaf.

[ebrim 998]

The comment about people sprinting around is very true though. On a full exp server yesterday at a tree stand in the middle of nowhere I'm taking a drink from my canteen and some guy goes rushing past. I'm somewhat obscured by a bush and could easily have taken him down with my sidearm but I decided to risk it and let him know I was there over mic. Nobody died, so it was a success but I'm sure others may not have been so nice.