There may only be one other player on that server, but...

[Mookie (original) 799]

...you may still (literally) bump into them. On a low pop, I tend to assume that people are either on the coast, or at NWAF, or at Myshkino, or crash hunting. Not running in the woods right next to me.

This afternoon I was jogging through the woods just west of Pustoshka, on my way back north after a successful netting hunt, when I thought I'd take a little detour into the town to look for burlap.

Suddenly, the sound of my own running seemed echoed in stereo. Just for a second I thought 'the sound on this server's a bit glitchy', when the only other player on the server sprinted past me, with about 5m to spare. I don't think he'd seen me at all, and I took aim. I had a pretty good shot, but asked myself if I really wanted to ruin his day. He seemed to finally notice me at the bottom of the slope, turned round and then ducked behind a shed. I shouted that I was friendly, wondered if he needed anything, but he was quiet.

So I jogged on.

 

[Red_Ensign 990]

yeah I run into people in odd 'not where you'd expect' places too.  when I'm not going to a planned meeting I don't usually wear a mic, so I just wave and continue on (speed depending on whether they shoot or not).  if it's a freshie sometimes I'll type out a friendly hello and ask if they need anything.

funny random encounter story:  the 556 I just gave you came from a guy that shot at me on the coast a couple of days ago (after I waved).  the building I ran to for cover turned out to be where he had 2 barrels full of goodies. :-D  I was new spawn without even a shirt so I could only take a yellow case full of stuff and run.

[nl 986]

Oh yeah, happened to me too a couple of times. I am second person on the map but still run into the other and not always in high traffic areas. What are the odds you would think...

[odin_lowe 3686]

That happened to me quite often as well. 

In fact, the very first time it happened to me was on January 10th 2014, on the NEAF when it used to be "military". I was alone on the server, moving from the then empty plains of Svetlo where I spawned, heading west into the mainland. Stopped at the NEAF to grab a few weapons/ammo. Heard footsteps outside of the ATC, so I started talking in direct, telling the other player I wasn't hostile. No replies. I tried for a few more seconds to talk to the guy, when he just went prone and aimed at the door where I was. Last warning, no change, so I just peeked and gave him a swift spawn back on the coast somewhere.

Since then, I had often encountered players on either empty or very low pop servers. How ironic to not find any players on high pop servers when you try to get encounters after...