too-easy 56 Posted March 18, 2015 Hi everybody.Do you ever come across situations where you completely panic and later think what you should have done differently or better? (I bet you do.)How do you handle it when you suddenly get ambushed/surprised by hostile players and bullets flying past your head?Do you just die or do you get out of these situations alive? Two examples:I usually play on a popular private server which is always full (50 players).I was looting a village on the south coast, west of Balota, north-east of the prison island. I had a blaze without ammo and saw a police car down the street. I rushed to it and found the right ammo in the trunk. Unfortunately my inventory was completely full and I needed a few seconds to decide what to drop. Just as I picked up the ammo to dash to the next house for cover I heard a shot and went unconcious.A few seconds later I woke up and the shooter just ran away from my body, oblivious to the fact that I was still alive. Here is where I pannicked. If I had stayed cool, I could have checked if I still had the ammo for the blaze, loaded it and shot the guy before he even realized that I was still alive.Instead I stood up and tried to run, only to realize that my legs were broken. I checked my status and saw the fracture and bleeding. I decided to patch myself up. At this moment my nemesis realized that I was still alive and came back to finish me off with his axe. :( Another time I got shot at in another small village but only heard the bullets and ricochets. I didn't panic, though, and ran around crazy to provoke more shots. I finally heard the shots and rushed him with my sawn off shotgun. He had wasted his 5 bullets of his mosin and was an easy target while he was fumbeling to reload. He died quickly but unfortunately had a friend who killed me before I could even look at his stuff. (Another mistake one should avoid! Always check for other players before looting a dead body.) Again my question:How do you fare in stressfull situations when you get surprised by bullets flying past your head? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpoonsandForks 78 Posted March 18, 2015 well, i almost always panic just a little bit, but as of late, I'm always playing with other people, forcing me to communicate with them, so that has really helped a lot with calming me down, instead of just internalizing my thoughts, I'm forced to declare what is happening. I always tend to be the one that gets killed, mainly because I rush into things, because F that guy who just shot at us.But in general, communication, and even if I'm playing alone, declaring exactly what is going on, even to myself, has really helped.example, me and the missus are at one of the heli-crashes just NW of Zeleno, the server is calm, just a dozen or so players in, when we hear a couple of magnum shots,I say "when we hear", but in reality, a guy has, very craftily, snuck up to the tail-end of the chopper, and started to shoot at my ol' lady.the difference between my reaction, and my action is as following:Reaction: "S**t! F**k! What!? where!? there you are! I'll effing have you mate!" -pew pew- "booooyah, MFer! you got friends b***h!? huh!? do yah?! naaah"Action: "shots, tail-end, one guy, I got him" -pew pew- "he's down, scouting, clear."It helps me a lot to focus, instead of acting on impulse, and logically just state what is going on, even if it is just to myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
q.S Sachiel 470 Posted March 18, 2015 cool or cold?I fire if threatened. Otherwise it's flee. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ColdAtrophy 1850 Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) well, i almost always panic just a little bit, but as of late, I'm always playing with other people, forcing me to communicate with them, so that has really helped a lot with calming me down, instead of just internalizing my thoughts, I'm forced to declare what is happening. I always tend to be the one that gets killed, mainly because I rush into things, because F that guy who just shot at us.But in general, communication, and even if I'm playing alone, declaring exactly what is going on, even to myself, has really helped.example, me and the missus are at one of the heli-crashes just NW of Zeleno, the server is calm, just a dozen or so players in, when we hear a couple of magnum shots,I say "when we hear", but in reality, a guy has, very craftily, snuck up to the tail-end of the chopper, and started to shoot at my ol' lady.the difference between my reaction, and my action is as following:Reaction: "S**t! F**k! What!? where!? there you are! I'll effing have you mate!" -pew pew- "booooyah, MFer! you got friends b***h!? huh!? do yah?! naaah"Action: "shots, tail-end, one guy, I got him" -pew pew- "he's down, scouting, clear."It helps me a lot to focus, instead of acting on impulse, and logically just state what is going on, even if it is just to myself. You really might be onto something here. I tend to freak out a bit when I come across other players because it's almost always rare and unexpected when I do. I stay away from highly looted and populated areas especially when I am playing alone. I'm gonna give your method a try. I did a little bit of reading and I think I understand why this works for you and may work for others. When you are in danger (IRL), your brain takes sensory information about the situation and sends it to your adrenal glands which begins to release adrenaline into the bloodstream. While this game is not real life, the mechanics of it make you fear death in a way that most games do not. It is capable of producing a very real fight or flight response in you. I have had this happen to me at least once, especially when surprised by another player. When this biological response kicks in, it becomes harder for your brain to process information the way that you normally would. "In moments of extreme stress, the brain does not allow for contemplation; it does not process new information the way it normally does. The more advanced parts of the brain that handle decision making go off-line, unable to intervene until the immediate fear has diminished." http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/your-brain-in-a-shootout-guns-fear-and-flawed-instincts/ This article describes the way that an officer's brain handled a situation wherein he and his partner came under fire from a guy with a revolver. He was able to do things physically that he might not normally be able to do, but he made some mistakes too that seem silly from a 3rd party perspective, like dropping his gun and not realizing it at all. When you begin to state what you see and do factually, you are using your left brain which is responsible for logical, grounded analysis, as you can see in the picture above. The right side of the brain, while not shut off or anything, is no longer "in control", which helps to block out feelings and emotional responses. I suspect that this is part of the reason why soldiers operate the way they do, aside from the obvious benefits of clarity in communicating to one another. You are forcing fear and emotional responses to the backburner. Edited March 18, 2015 by ColdAtrophy 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conrad_The_Comrade 577 Posted March 18, 2015 well, i almost always panic just a little bit, but as of late, I'm always playing with other people, forcing me to communicate with them, so that has really helped a lot with calming me down, instead of just internalizing my thoughts, I'm forced to declare what is happening. I always tend to be the one that gets killed, mainly because I rush into things, because F that guy who just shot at us.But in general, communication, and even if I'm playing alone, declaring exactly what is going on, even to myself, has really helped.example, me and the missus are at one of the heli-crashes just NW of Zeleno, the server is calm, just a dozen or so players in, when we hear a couple of magnum shots,I say "when we hear", but in reality, a guy has, very craftily, snuck up to the tail-end of the chopper, and started to shoot at my ol' lady.the difference between my reaction, and my action is as following:Reaction: "S**t! F**k! What!? where!? there you are! I'll effing have you mate!" -pew pew- "booooyah, MFer! you got friends b***h!? huh!? do yah?! naaah"Action: "shots, tail-end, one guy, I got him" -pew pew- "he's down, scouting, clear."It helps me a lot to focus, instead of acting on impulse, and logically just state what is going on, even if it is just to myself. You really might be onto something here. I tend to freak out a bit when I come across other players because it's almost always rare and unexpected when I do. I stay away from highly looted and populated areas especially when I am playing alone. I'm gonna give your method a try. I did a little bit of reading and I think I understand why this works for you and may work for others. When you are in danger (IRL), your brain takes sensory information about the situation and sends it to your adrenal glands which begins to release adrenaline into the bloodstream. While this game is not real life, the mechanics of it make you fear death in a way that most games do not. It is capable of producing a very real fight or flight response in you. I have had this happen to me at least once, especially when surprised by another player. When this biological response kicks in, it becomes harder for your brain to process information the way that you normally would. "In moments of extreme stress, the brain does not allow for contemplation; it does not process new information the way it normally does. The more advanced parts of the brain that handle decision making go off-line, unable to intervene until the immediate fear has diminished." http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/your-brain-in-a-shootout-guns-fear-and-flawed-instincts/ This article describes the way that an officer's brain handled a situation wherein he and his partner came under fire from a guy with a revolver. He was able to do things physically that he might not normally be able to do, but he made some mistakes too that seem silly from a 3rd party perspective, like dropping his gun and not realizing it at all. When you begin to state what you see and do factually, you are using your left brain which is responsible for logical, grounded analysis, as you can see in the picture above. The right side of the brain, while not shut off or anything, is no longer "in control", which helps to block out feelings and emotional responses. I suspect that this is part of the reason why soldiers operate the way they do, aside from the obvious benefits of clarity in communicating to one another. You are forcing fear and emotional responses to the backburner. This is just wonderful xD Thanks for that bit of education, and yeah, I'm always talking away when I'm with at least one other person, just trying to keep things clear for my partner(s) which really actually helps. I usually lead as well, so I feel responsible for their lives and gear, and no way in hell am I gonna let the opposition take it from us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danfinger (DayZ) 14 Posted March 18, 2015 When you begin to state what you see and do factually, you are using your left brain which is responsible for logical, grounded analysis, as you can see in the picture above. The right side of the brain, while not shut off or anything, is no longer "in control", which helps to block out feelings and emotional responses. I suspect that this is part of the reason why soldiers operate the way they do, aside from the obvious benefits of clarity in communicating to one another. You are forcing fear and emotional responses to the backburner. That whole 'Left Brain / Right Brain' thing has been debunked. Most people use their whole brain unless they have had a physical injury to a specific region. Lateralization of brain function Broad generalizations are often made in "pop" psychology about one side or the other having characteristic labels, such as "logical" for the left side or "creative" for the right. These labels are not supported by studies on lateralization, as lateralization does not add specialized usage from either hemisphere.[2] Both hemispheres contribute to both kinds of processes,[3] and experimental evidence provides little support for correlating the structural differences between the sides with such broadly-defined functional differences. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ColdAtrophy 1850 Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) That whole 'Left Brain / Right Brain' thing has been debunked. Most people use their whole brain unless they have had a physical injury to a specific region. Lateralization of brain function Broad generalizations are often made in "pop" psychology about one side or the other having characteristic labels, such as "logical" for the left side or "creative" for the right. These labels are not supported by studies on lateralization, as lateralization does not add specialized usage from either hemisphere.[2] Both hemispheres contribute to both kinds of processes,[3] and experimental evidence provides little support for correlating the structural differences between the sides with such broadly-defined functional differences. I see the link you posted. I see what it says, but I also know that specific areas of the brain light up on scans when individuals are experiencing different stimuli, emotions, solving specific kinds of problems, etc. If this was not the case, then people like this: http://thehumancalculator.com/would not be able to do what he can do. His brain, for whatever reason, began to use the part of the brain that controls motor function (movement in 3 dimensional space) to do mathematics. He doesn't use the same area of the brain that the vast mejority of us do. If you like, I can look for more examples. There are tons of studies out there that support this. We use specific parts of our brain to perform specific tasks, process information, etc. It has been proven untrue (as is still parroted by many as an urban legend) that we only use 10% of our brain, but that is because we now actually know what each part of our brain does. I'm not a psychiatrist or a doctor, but I did have to take a psychology class in college and we talked about this specifically. Perhaps you can find more information and I will be proven uncorrect. I'm not interested only in defending my initial statement. I'm open to learning. However, Wikipedia, while being a good starting point when you begin to research a topic, is not generally used as a relaible source because of the fact that anyone can add anything to a page, regardless of their qualifications, sources, or ability to properly interpret and transcribe that information into the wiki. Based on what I've learned in school and my own reading and experiences, I'd say the idea that our whole brain contributes to all processes has a lot of explaining to do because it would force us to rewrite nearly everything we know about the human brain. This is not good reason for it to be ignored (many new scientific ideas are met with stubborn refusal to listen but later proven correct), but it is a good reason to look into it further without simply accepting it at face value. EDIT: Based on what I'm reading so far, the idea of left or right side brain dominanace in particular people has been debunked, not that specific parts of our brains handle specific emotions, processing, actions, etc. Edited March 18, 2015 by ColdAtrophy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danfinger (DayZ) 14 Posted March 18, 2015 I see the link you posted. I see what it says, but I also know that specific areas of the brain light up on scans when individuals are experiencing different stimuli, emotions, solving specific kinds of problems, etc. If this was not the case, then people like this: http://thehumancalculator.com/would not be able to do what he can do. His brain, for whatever reason, began to use the part of the brain that controls motor function (movement in 3 dimensional space) to do mathematics. He doesn't use the same area of the brain that the vast mejority of us do. If you like, I can look for more examples. There are tons of studies out there that support this. We use specific parts of our brain to perform specific tasks, process information, etc. It has been proven untrue (as is still parroted by many as an urban legend) that we only use 10% of our brain, but that is because we now actually know what each part of our brain does. I'm not a psychiatrist or a doctor, but I did have to take a psychology class in college and we talked about this specifically. Perhaps you can find more information and I will be proven uncorrect. I'm not interested only in defending my initial statement. I'm open to learning. However, Wikipedia, while being a good starting point when you begin to research a topic, is not generally used as a relaible source because of the fact that anyone can add anything to a page, regardless of their qualifications, sources, or ability to properly interpret and transcribe that information into the wiki. Based on what I've learned in school and my own reading and experiences, I'd say the idea that our whole brain contributes to all processes has a lot of explaining to do because it would force us to rewrite nearly everything we know about the human brain. This is not good reason for it to be ignored (many new scientific ideas are met with stubborn refusal to listen but later proven correct), but it is a good reason to look into it further without simply accepting it at face value. You are correct that certain physical parts of the brain control certain physical functions, sight, motor control, lymbic response etc. But the notion that "Logic" is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain and "creativity" is controlled by the right side is proven to be utter balderdash. Logic and creativity are far too complex and require lots of input from lots of different regions of our brains. Another scientific study debunking the claim that (for example) "the left side of the brain is responsible for logic"An Evaluation of the Left-Brain vs. Right-Brain Hypothesis with Resting State Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging Lateralized brain regions subserve functions such as language and visuospatial processing. It has been conjectured that individuals may be left-brain dominant or right-brain dominant based on personality and cognitive style, but neuroimaging data has not provided clear evidence whether such phenotypic differences in the strength of left-dominant or right-dominant networks exist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydogHex 8 Posted March 18, 2015 Even in a game situation panic is going to happen and affect you. Most times your ability to function is going to depend on your instincts and repetative training. In-game that means knowing where the buttons are and how to respond. In my first real in-game combat experience (Not counting where I was just sniped or killed while trying to be friendly.) I ran across a guy leaving a heli crash. I saw him running south and was content to let him go until he stopped and turned towards me. I raised my AKM and fired a burst at pretty much the same time he shot at me. My screen went grey and I fell to the ground. At first all I could think was how screwed I was. Red status effects were scrolling on the screen and I was bleeding. I knew I was in bad shape and in a bit of a panic, so I fired off another burst and the guy fled behind the heli. I quickly realized that if I didn't stop the bleeding that I was a dead man. So even though it was a bad move due to being in the open I bandaged. The action finished and I was still alive. Now what to do? I'd seen that my boots were ruined, and the text kept telling me that my feet were really sore. I decided to low crawl to the right and see if I could see him beside the heli. It took a bit and when I got into position he wasn't there. Oh crap. Oh crap where is he? I saw some bushes that were behind the tail and a bit off to the left. He must be hiding there. A minute went by and I see him rush back towards the heli. I fire another burst and he seemed to back track while fleeing away from the heli. I lost sight of him behind the bushes again. I was pretty sure I never hit him. I lay there for a moment pretty panicked and thought, well I really don't want to die. How am I going to get out of this? Wait... lets see if I can make it to these bushes to that are about 20' away to my right. I chanced standing up to run only to discover I could barely hobble along. Oh great! I made it about 10' when I start hearing shots. OMG they are behind me and to the right, I turn toward the shots and see him about 50 feet away. Ahhh! He's circled around me! How'd he do that?Without thinking I hit the prone button and he lowers his weapon and starts walking towards me. What? Does he think I'm dead? A sense of calm washed over me. I knew what to do... I moved my target over him as he made his way towards me. I knew I only had one chance so I waited, not knowing if all the damage I'd taken would mess up my aim or if he'd decide to finish me off. As he got to about 15' a way I fired a burst... all three rounds were hits. His body did that jerking motion and he fell. Dead. I'm alive!!Without a doubt panic made my shooting horrible and I also made some bad choices like standing up and not going for cover immediately. Hitting the prone button was pure instinct. That and the luck of a poor decision on his part pulled me through. While I did have to hobble a over a klick to find a town I could scavenge for shoes, none of my other gear was damaged so it turned out to be a good learning encounter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ColdAtrophy 1850 Posted March 19, 2015 Another scientific study debunking the claim that (for example) "the left side of the brain is responsible for logic"An Evaluation of the Left-Brain vs. Right-Brain Hypothesis with Resting State Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging Lateralized brain regions subserve functions such as language and visuospatial processing. It has been conjectured that individuals may be left-brain dominant or right-brain dominant based on personality and cognitive style, but neuroimaging data has not provided clear evidence whether such phenotypic differences in the strength of left-dominant or right-dominant networks exist. And, again, I'm not reading anything on this subject that states what you claim. From what I gather the hypothesis was that certain people more dominantly use the left or the right side of their brain. The study that you are citing seeks to debunk that and has succeeded. There appears to be no evidence that one side or the other is more or less globally dominant. It really seems like you are misinterpreting the data and extrapolating too far based on what you think it means to say, rather than what it says. "Based on the brain regions we identified as hubs in the broader left-dominant and right-dominant connectivity networks, a more consistent schema might include left-dominant connections associated with language and perception of internal stimuli, and right-dominant connections associated with attention to external stimuli." While this paper you cited is a very technical read, and I will not pretend that I fully understand all of it, it seems that they did, in fact, find some differences in how a person perceives the world around them and over development of grey matter around certain lateral hubs. They also don't really have anything to say here that backs up your statement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Parazight 1599 Posted March 19, 2015 Doctors don't really know all that much about the human brain organ. It's WAY too complex to analyze and apply to Dayz. I don't have any evidence to back this up other than what a neurologist from Harvard told me once. anyway... I miss the panic days. I miss the days where I don't know where the hell I am in-game. Those were the days. When the game was fresh and you're still discovering how everything works, where stuff is, best ways to do things, learning mechanics, etc. I came back to this game after a 6 month break and I still love it. But the panic is gone. After several encounters where I panicked and wound up dead, I decided to change my gameplay style a bit. I spent a few months just getting into fist-fights and melee combat with other new spawns. I challenged myself to see how many times I could get killed by other players in one game setting. I knew that like in the other mmos that I play, the more that I die, the less it will bother me. It really works! Become desensitized! I encourage you to try this! The side benefit is that you really learn how to gear up as a fresh spawn quite efficiently! Also, learning how to melee combat is fun and useful. When you don't care about dying in-game, you will keep a level head. Try gearing up just by looting the corpses of other players! Now, please don't read this as a reason to KOS. You don't benefit at all by killing noobs and bads. Leave those poor souls alone, they still have to learn to not die to stairs. Seek out those players who like to fight. Believe me, they're there. Overcome fear by dying as much as possible. It's Alpha! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dayy 173 Posted March 19, 2015 I find that if it's something that I know is going to happen, I.E I see someone somewhere, and I know they are going to take shots at me. I lose my shit and the adrenaline starts pumping. In contrast, if something surprises me, I.E Say i'm looting like a heli-crash and a few shots ping near me, then I react quickly, and normally effectively, never giving time for the nervousness to fall in. I find this happens to me because with the latter situation, I personally became very focused, as I don't give a second thought to what COULD happen, and instead am completely set on making what I WANT to happen happen. With the first example, I have time to think, and normally am not as focused, my imagination runs wild and normally it's not thinking of the better. Both of these reactions I experience have positives and negatives. The first one normally destroys my rational, and I don't make the best decisions, and my aim is all over the place, but, as I am imagining the worst outcomes, I tend to act timidly, and quite cautiously, hearing every sound the game is feeding to me. The second situation, I make effective decisions, and my aim is on point... BUT, I am to focused on the task at hand, and sometimes miss key visual input, I.E I am so focused on smacking someone with lead bullets, that I miss seeing the hostile sniper moving in the treeline a few hundred meters away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites