I'm done with not being friendly

[VLG Castiel 3]

That topic reference. Hey, a little story for those who like to read them.

Me and my partner were heading from the outskirts of Cherno to northeast in our Jeep, decided to go through the coast to find something to shoot at. Then likely camp a spot near Elektro and snipe everyone in the main road that has access to all the good stuff before continuing northeast [Current life murders: 53].

Stopped at the gas station west of Elektro to refuel. As we're cleaning the area my partner breaks a bone and shoots me trying to kill a zed at my 6, I shoot him thinking it was an attempted betrayal. Big bloody unbelievable mess. I start dragging his unconscious body to inside a building to avoid easy detection when a bus starts coming up in the main road half a mile away, I dump my unconscious partner in the field and run to the building for cover.

The bus stops near my fully geared partner, no longer unconscious but still bleeding with a broken bone. The guy beeps a few times then carries on through the road ignoring him completely. As I scope out the bus I see a group of 4 players in the coast near the industrial area of Elektro, we get ourselves back up and on the jeep, ride to the hills overlooking the area and I get ready to snipe them. I've never sniped from that location, was unsure exactly what range they were in, my zeroing was way off and they were in constant movement. Missed 4 close shots and gave up, swapped weapons, got back on the Jeep and drove to them to introduce the M249.

As I move towards them and reach Direct Comm range I hear the Americans talking. They panicked in voice chat when they saw the Jeep. I thought what the heck, easier kill if I just claim to be friendly. As I get out of the vehicle with my sniper lowered they are genuinely grateful over not being dead. Let's try giving this some context [Most of it can be wrong, this was all in voice chat and I don't remember half of it, this is what I recall].

Survivor 1: JEEP, JEEP

Survivor 2: Run

Survivor 3: Enemies? We just got shot.

Survivor 2: Enemies.

Survivor 4: FRIENDLY?!

Survivor 3: This is not good.

Me: Friendly.

Survivor 2: I don't believe it, we just got shot.

*Leave vehicle and lower weapon (2xCTRL)*

Survivor 1: Sniper!

Me: We are friendly. Feel free to loot the jeep for supplies.

*Survivor 2 and 3 run to the jeep and notice our extreme amount of supplies*

Survivor 2: Holy shit, so much stuff.

Survivor 3: Oh man...

*The other two run in*

Survivor 1: Thank you SO much. There was a guy on a bus that tried to shoot us a while ago.

Me: Yeah, I saw him too.

Survivor 4: Oh my god thank you...

Survivor 2: Hey guys, who needs guns?

Me: Feel free to loot anything.

*One of them was a sidearm short so I drop mine*

Me: Another gun on the floor.

Survivor 3: You guys are awesome, thanks.

Me: Aight, we'll be going then.

Survivor 2: Oh you're going? Okay, thanks so much!!

Survivor 1: Wow that was so unexpected...

*We continue our path northeast*

Partner: So, this is when you park 500 meters away and snipe all 4 of them to get our stuff back right?

Me: No, I think we'll leave them be.

Partner: I was gonna suggest the same.

Who would've known? After all these days killing every player in sight whether he has a chance to defend himself or not and getting several rare items resulting from the mindset. The thrill of the hunt, the kill, is enormous. It feels extremely good when there's so much to lose. The experience from taking someone else's life in this game is not comparable to any other, PvP is intense. No matter when if you spot a player or hear a gunshot your heart starts beating.

The same reason that makes killing such an intense experience also applies to genuine gratitude. The feeling you get from it is intensified the same way. It's also harder, killing a player is easy, getting a player to trust you isn't. The challenge is greater and the feeling is better. For all you bandits out there still shooting against harmless players, you don't know what you're missing.

[Bottlerocket 205]

Testify, brother!

Amen.

[yahhzoo 10]

You are so right about getting people to trust you. It is one of the hardest things to do in Chernarus.

[DaveAzoicer (DayZ) 135]

Especially when 99% starts shooting at you as soon as they see you.

But yeah, glad you choose the high road.

[Uuni 74]

Your actions are so generous I doubt I woulda have believed you .__.'

[zombie3000@hotmail.co.uk 27]

Had a pistol & a few supplies...man walks into the barn with an axe & says friendly so i reply friendly. I say i think there is a gun on the other side that he can get. I move down to help him clear a zombie out of the way...man chops me in the head with an axe & kills me! 1st time i got murdered. :(

Next time i'll still try to be 'that' guy but my pistol stays pointed at them!

[yahhzoo 10]

Had a pistol & a few supplies...man walks into the barn with an axe & says friendly so i reply friendly. I say i think there is a gun on the other side that he can get. I move down to help him clear a zombie out of the way...man chops me in the head with an axe & kills me! 1st time i got murdered. :(

Next time i'll still try to be 'that' guy but my pistol stays pointed at them!

Yeah a lot of bandits try to trick people into thinking they are friendly. So yes always keep a eye on them until you can actually trust them. Always be wary! It is the safest way to survive and be friendly to people.

[evoxtom 142]

Great story. Changes my mind about the very defensive nature I've developed over the course of playing. Not saying I am going to stop shooting those with a gun pointed at me, but I wouldn't mind helping others.

[samjwbrowne@gmail.com 15]

I'm glad we have a new convert! While I really do understand the multitude of reasons people shoot on sight, there's so much more to gain from helping people.

I honestly believe that nearly all of those 90% that shoot on sight are doing so simply because they got shot on sight and decide "that's it, I'm killing everybody"--simply increasing their numbers. I've had to beg my friends not do turn into this, otherwise we literally just become one of them.

The best feeling I've had in the game so far was when me and a friend set up the "Chernagorsk City Justice Force", and helped three new players get set up and armed in Chernogorsk in their first couple of days of play. We were set up on the top of the gas refinery in that interior section, and when they finally stepped off the last rung of the ladder, me saluting and saying "you're safe now", the gratitude we recieved was easily worth the risk of leading three noobs through a city full of zombies and bandits.

It was a bit of a shame that a bunch of bandits (the clan TFB, or The Bastards--never trust these guys, ever) thought it would be funny to shoot them off the roof about 10 minutes later.

We also saved lone survivors from hordes of zombies by shooting them from the town hall roof, and attempted to avenge the deaths of others. I proudly say I've never shot someone without a huge reason to do so, and while it can be a lot harder, what's the point of surviving if you've lost your humanity? May as well be a zombie.

[Didzhey 0]

I was once running across a field being chased by zombies(like usual) when all of the sudden I heard a crack as a bullet whizzed past my head. I thought to myself "This is it, another death to a faceless opponent that is probably a kilometer away". I then proceeded to look behind me to see that there was one less zombie chasing me. I heard another crack and the last zombie fell. I never saw or met the guy that helped me out, but it is probably for the best. Ever since then I have tried to help others safely when I can.

[Pyro_Marine 147]

Great read.

Um...Welcome to the...light side? >.>

[Survivor-Kyle 148]

Great read and great thread. I totally agree. The hardest, most rewarding, way to play DayZ is as a human. Killing people is.easy and robs you of the interactions that make truly great stories.

[JimmyJK96 1]

I tried helping someone once...

They were alone (as was I) and he was running like hell with about 10-15 zombies after him. I followed and started killing the zombies that had him pinned in the corner of a room. I found myself standing in front of this guy slaughtering the zombies trying to get me and him when suddenly this guy axed me...

Never helped anyone since then.

[Techercizer 82]

Dying is temporary. Helping someone is permanent.

[Deadly7 2]

It's nice that this situation worked out for you but these situations are far in between that its easier to kill on sight that try to communicate with them.

[Tweak (DayZ) 0]

Getting someone to trust you in DayZ is the endgame content. Hardest thing to do ingame

[Naykon (DayZ) 25]

Nice Story and very true.

You feel great for helping people.... but the risk of helping them is huge.

I met a guy in a supermarket yesterday. I had no weapon, I walked into the doorway and saluted, said "hello/unarmed/friendly" over voice.

He didn't even blink, just shot me in the head.

[Merrick (DayZ) 7]

Amen Brotha, Glad you found a whole new level of game-play. Next time i see a survivor/noob, im gonna voice comm.

[MeatAbstract 47]

I met my first friendly today. He helped me when I was low on blood and holed up in a warehouse and he came running in with an axe. We fought our way out and started moving to Elektro to gather supplied and he said he'd help me get to a hospital.

On our way we met two other people. One was armed, the other way saying "I have a flashlight and I know how to use it" so I both typed and said down the mic "We mean you no harm, you can lower your gun" because I was becoming wary of his mate pointing his winchester at us. After a stand off I turned to my friend to leave and the guy shot me in the back of the head so his friend could take my rifle. Scum.

[Al Bundy (DayZ) 0]

The human interaction is what makes dayz fun when it comes down to it. If it was a single player game of you vs zombies it would be incredibly boring.

Helping people is a lot of fun and also a lot of work because of the mass paranoia. Yes people shoot on sight if you want the full experience you've just gotta endure it. Everytime someone falls in to the "I shoot on sight because everyone else does that to me!" spiral they're missing out on some great experiences.

Now...that's not to say that helping is the only way to interact. Killing basically has no interaction because of how quickly it happens, sometimes it's even outright instant. Robbing(without killing) is just as rewarding as helping in my opinion. The robber is taking the risk of being shot even though he could have just shot first and the victim has several thoughts racing through his mind about what he should do. I've been on both ends before.

Betrayal is interesting too but most people aren't going to put enough thought in to it to actually make it memorable. They'd rather just use one bullet.

[Elias (DayZ) 57]

There! You've found a whole new level of gameplay, good for you!

Hopefully your story will be an eyeopener for others, so they will finaly *know* there is much more to this game than just PK'ing everybody. Letting people live takes so much more skills than shooting on sight.

+10 for you.

[Never 237]

Bumping this cos its a nice pointer of the fact the players make the mod what it is.

All those saying, 'ah but i still get shot' don't stop being the nice guy on occasion, once you join the 'kill everyone cos everyone else does' crowd you've just lost and the game, and a little bit of your real life humanity. Rise above init.

[Hetstaine 10852]

'kill everyone cos everyone else does'

Thats the mindset that is hard to break. A mate i play with regularly was so pissed off with the spammed wire fencing blocking loot spawns that he said to me ..

' Stuff it, next wire i find i am blocking a doorway ! '

Im like..uh..why ? So you can piss other people off ? Yeh that makes sense dude.

Its a weird thing.

[Stridsbulten 9]

The old movie quote of "If all your friends jumped off the MTV building, would you do it too?" applies. Just because a lot of people are ***hats doesnt mean you have to be too. In fact, it means the opposite.

Another nice and fairly more epic quote: "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing".

And, of course, there is the fact that human interaction in Dayz have given me far more enjoyment and pleasure than straight up PvP. To share a few examples.

----------------------------------------

I was heading to the military camp at Stary Sobor, coming in from the north and running down the hill. I had recently respawned so I didn't have much to lose except an Enfield and some basic supplies. As I am going down the hill, I spot a guy laying behind a tree in front of me covering the camp. I dive for it and end up just a few meters behind him. He hasnt seen me. I could easily drop him. I zero in and prepare to fire. With my finger on the trigger I active direct communication. "I am friendly if you are. I just need some supplies. I won't shoot". I can literally see the character jerk as the guys hand twitches. He starts spinning around and I tell him "I'm cool, I won't shoot". He responds "OK, I won't either". At this stage, that means squat. Situation can go either way. I tell him I am heading down into the camp. He says "OK, cool, I have two friends coming out the same way. Please don't shoot them". I say fine, no worries. I start crawling down and on my way in I pass his buddies. We say hello over direct comms. Before we leave direct range, I say "Thanks. I havent had a single friendly encounter that resultet in dialogue instead of shooting in about two weeks". They respond in the same sentiment with a chuckle and obvious relief in their voice. This was much more interesting than just shooting the guy on the hill.

Another time I was going through the Factory area on the east coast looking for car parts when I collided with another survivor. He had the drop on me but hesitated to shoot, I turned and ran. I headed into the treeline, went prown and crawled to an over watch position. In my ghuillie I was fairly sure he had lost track of me. I covered the building he was in for a while and saw him move about through the windows. Not knowing if he was friendly or not I sent a message to him over direct comms. "I got you in my sights, but I am not shooting. I am going in for car parts. I hope you return the favor!". I flanked and moved in from another direction, having lost track of the guy. I was pretty nervous and edgy, because I suspected he was around but I really wanted to check those buildings. I searched a few of them and then decided to leave, having pushed my luck. As I walked out the building I heard someone say "Have a good day!" over the comms. I turned around and saw the guy kneeling some distance away with his gun aimed at the ground. We could have shot it out the first time we saw each other but I doubt that would have stayed with me as such a memorable experience if we had.

[sleepless 22]

Had two guys in a barn near cherno friend query me yesterday, i think its spreading. I will certainly give anyone ive got the drop on a chance, the game becomes way more interesting.