Etiquette around people sitting by a fire?

[Death By Crowbar 1213]

With the new cold changes and risk of hypothermia, I've had to carry a fire kit with me (which takes a LOT of space) as any time my jacket gets ruined I get red text about being cold and/or shaking pretty quick. It takes sitting next to a fire to fix that, as far as I can tell. This means that I take a quick few minute break here or there to assemble and sit by the fire.

 

As I was logging off last night it dawned on me - I've picked ok-ish locations to do this, where it's possible someone could run into me but the odds are in my favor. On the flip side, I've not run into anyone sitting by a fire, which I find odd but I guess it makes sense if others are as careful as I am.

 

So my question is as follows - getting cold and needing a fire is a new thing. What's the the consensus on etiquette for dealing with finding someone sitting by a fire trying to warm up?

[irishroy 1347]

Stop by and offer them some bear-meat.

Because sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear, well, he eat's you.

 

And I tink it's better to eat the bear, and not vice-versa

[PongoZ 127]

Not seen in the wild but I am very paranoid when I have to do it. 

BTW, does the fire work to warm and dry you when its not set up under cover? I always do it in the open garages or under huge trees. But is that necessary?

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

Not seen in the wild but I am very paranoid when I have to do it. 

BTW, does the fire work to warm and dry you when its not set up under cover? I always do it in the open garages or under huge trees. But is that necessary?

 

It's not necessary. You can do it out in the open and it will work fine.

[Sleeves 98]

Etiquette has to be followed when you see someone at a fire? Do we have to pull "The Road" on them and stalk them for miles while checking the fires for baby bones?

Why not do whatever you want instead of letting the (gaming) societal rules affect your personal morals, when they really should not.

[sab0t 109]

if I had a good vantage point, I think I'd shoot one, just to see how the others react..

[AshleyP 121]

So my question is as follows - getting cold and needing a fire is a new thing. What's the the consensus on etiquette for dealing with finding someone sitting by a fire trying to warm up?

 

This is one of those topics where most of the replies will be bullshit along the lines of "I would check them out, ask to sit next to the fire, run off and get some meat, carefully scope out the situation before alerting them in side chat etc".

 

In reality? You, me, everybody in this thread and in the game will be thinking "free kill". If I see someone next to a fire I'll hang back until I'm reasonably certain they don't have friends, then I shoot them. Then I wait to see if their friends come along. Then I bug out in the other direction. I don't need to loot their kit, I have plenty of my own. I do however need to kill them. If I light a fire I make sure it's on an empty server because I fully expect the other players to do the same to me, and lights are visible for miles around.*

 

Two reasons. (i) they're a potential threat (ii) there are few more effective ways of asserting your dominance than by killing someone, few more effective ways of surviving than by killing everybody else. Fewer targets to track, more loot for you. It simplifies things. "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have."

 

* On a tangent, I remember the first few days of the standalone had street lights - do they still exist? In the mod you could light a fire, cook and boil your supplies, and extinguish the fire in less than a minute, in the standalone it seems you have to stand around for ages before your meat cooks / you heat up. No, just no.

Edited October 7, 2014 by AshleyP

[StarLord (DayZ) 39]

I've come across some gents sitting by a fire on a daytime server right outside of Cherno. Kind of silly of them, but I avoided them just in case THEY were hostile.

Odd's are the outcome is no different than someone stopping to get a drink. You avoid them, or try to make frannnssss.

[pillock 850]

I made a fire on the steps outside the church in Svetlo town square.

 

Got shot.

[MartinD (DayZ) 86]

I like a bit of RP so I would probably ask if I could sit down and join them.

[blackberrygoo 1416]

This is one of those topics where most of the replies will be bullshit along the lines of "I would check them out, ask to sit next to the fire, run off and get some meat, carefully scope out the situation before alerting them in side chat etc".

In reality? You, me, everybody in this thread and in the game will be thinking "free kill". If I see someone next to a fire I'll hang back until I'm reasonably certain they don't have friends, then I shoot them. Then I wait to see if their friends come along. Then I bug out in the other direction. I don't need to loot their kit, I have plenty of my own. I do however need to kill them. If I light a fire I make sure it's on an empty server because I fully expect the other players to do the same to me, and lights are visible for miles around.*

I would not do that lol and I'm sure plenty others wouldn't either .. There's way more fun experiences to be had if you have the guts to approach a fire with survivors at it ... Personally I would watch for just a minute or two to make sure there's noone watching in the bushes , then id creep up in their blind spots and depending on the mood I'm in , keep my gun up yelling something like " friendly don't pull out guns and I won't fire and I'll put it down " or if I'm in a lazy mood id Probly just walk up to them and sit down while pronouncing friendly lol , the former is probably the smarter choice though Haha.

[escobert 112]

This is one of those topics where most of the replies will be bullshit along the lines of "I would check them out, ask to sit next to the fire, run off and get some meat, carefully scope out the situation before alerting them in side chat etc".

 

In reality? You, me, everybody in this thread and in the game will be thinking "free kill". If I see someone next to a fire I'll hang back until I'm reasonably certain they don't have friends, then I shoot them. Then I wait to see if their friends come along. Then I bug out in the other direction. I don't need to loot their kit, I have plenty of my own. I do however need to kill them. If I light a fire I make sure it's on an empty server because I fully expect the other players to do the same to me, and lights are visible for miles around.*

 

Two reasons. (i) they're a potential threat (ii) there are few more effective ways of asserting your dominance than by killing someone, few more effective ways of surviving than by killing everybody else. Fewer targets to track, more loot for you. It simplifies things. "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have."

 

* On a tangent, I remember the first few days of the standalone had street lights - do they still exist? In the mod you could light a fire, cook and boil your supplies, and extinguish the fire in less than a minute, in the standalone it seems you have to stand around for ages before your meat cooks / you heat up. No, just no.

No, no  wouldn't.

[Tatanko 5591]

In reality? You, me, everybody in this thread and in the game will be thinking "free kill".

Nope. Speak for yourself.

 

there are few more effective ways of asserting your dominance than by killing someone

Again, I disagree. The best way for me to assert my dominance is by letting someone live when I could simply kill them, forcing them to live with the insecurity of not knowing who could be watching them at any given time. My mind is far more powerful than my gun or my ax.

 

 

As per the OP: I would probably very cautiously join them. That would be the goal, anyway. As with any social situation in DayZ, there are a million variables that would need to be quickly assessed in order to make an informed decision. Generally speaking, I find that most people (keyword: most) that I approach in a friendly manner won't try and strike back at me, especially if it's a situation like this where you should have the advantage over the other person (it would take them some time to get up and shoot you or hit you). Once they realize that you COULD have killed them and chose not to, they are far more likely to be friendly with you, and this is probably one of the most ideal situations for demonstrating that principle.

 

If I was pretty sure I could pull off a friendly interaction, I would plop myself down next to the fire and offer to share some food. Who knows what might happen next? :)

[RagedDrew 209]

I think it depends on the situation, if I needed warmth I'd probably ask to join them (But then again I can make my own fire) If I had some meat and need to get warm, again I might ask to join and cook some food with them (Again, I can do that on my own)

 

The chances are I'd leave them be, I wouldn't shot them unless I had no choice.

Edited October 7, 2014 by RagedDrew

[qwer4790 26]

I once found some guys lighting a fire place in tentment building....I chose to throw a grenade.

[agentstaple 29]

I would do what ever I felt like doing.

 

I actually want to play dayz one time and use "fate" to decide what I do, 3 choices, 1 dice 1,2/3,4/5,6 decide what I do. Would definitely mix things up a bit.

 

I think people should pick where they light fires very well, choose low traffic areas, easily defended, covered areas, example, don't choose a valley because anyone passing by has height on you. Inside buildings is a pretty good idea as long as it's not in cherno.

 

And always always keep your eyes peeled. spending any more than 10 seconds without glancing around the forests is a bad idea. check places where you would hide if you were about to snipe someone.

[Sleeves 98]

Good thing I always carry around a tactical low light emitting heat pack, only obtainable by server hopping for three hours near a helicopter crash site.

[Grundlesmuggler 41]

The one fire I've seen with people around it was outside the svet church.  They were doing a wedding RP thing inside.  They were KoS'ing anything around the fire.

[RedGuard 40]

Joined some fellows at a fire camp once, nothing to offer besides a wet, cold, and smelly char.

They were 3 of them. The fire was warm, they were friendly.

I ended up unconscious and dead.

 

Red

[Mos1ey 6301]

This is one of those topics where most of the replies will be bullshit along the lines of "I would check them out, ask to sit next to the fire, run off and get some meat, carefully scope out the situation before alerting them in side chat etc".

 

In reality? You, me, everybody in this thread and in the game will be thinking "free kill". If I see someone next to a fire I'll hang back until I'm reasonably certain they don't have friends, then I shoot them. Then I wait to see if their friends come along. Then I bug out in the other direction. I don't need to loot their kit, I have plenty of my own. I do however need to kill them. If I light a fire I make sure it's on an empty server because I fully expect the other players to do the same to me, and lights are visible for miles around.*

 

Two reasons. (i) they're a potential threat (ii) there are few more effective ways of asserting your dominance than by killing someone, few more effective ways of surviving than by killing everybody else. Fewer targets to track, more loot for you. It simplifies things. "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have."

 

* On a tangent, I remember the first few days of the standalone had street lights - do they still exist? In the mod you could light a fire, cook and boil your supplies, and extinguish the fire in less than a minute, in the standalone it seems you have to stand around for ages before your meat cooks / you heat up. No, just no.

 

This is why I wish characters were locked to a single server. 

[karlkurtz32 59]

There is no etiquette.  

 

If you play like it's real life (as I do) you recon from a far distance with binoculars and gather useful intel.

 

If you play to be a douche then you run up and kill them all.

 

Personally, if I'm sitting around a fire, it's going to be so deep in the woods that no one will ever see me.

If you sit around a fire in the open to the point where people will see you then you should expect death.

[agentstaple 29]

There is no etiquette.  

 

If you play like it's real life (as I do) you recon from a far distance with binoculars and gather useful intel.

 

If you play to be a douche then you run up and kill them all.

 

Personally, if I'm sitting around a fire, it's going to be so deep in the woods that no one will ever see me.

If you sit around a fire in the open to the point where people will see you then you should expect death.

I've got into gunfights with people in the middle of butt fuck now where. There is always a chance someone will see you.

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

Etiquette? come on... this is dayz not a high society afternoon meeting.

[Bad Company 140]

Encountered this the other night, relatively new-spawn. Ran up to the fire, removed the wood and took the fireplace kit and ran off.

[sachad 1016]

I'd probably assume it was a set-up and avoid them. I don't like fires in the wilderness any more than I like road flares in the middle of the road.