What would be your best advice to a new player?

[Trev_Bash 9]

I've been playing for three months and it's only now starting to dawn on me that my friendly happy-go-lucky playing style must change. For too long I've been taken for a mug, simply a walking stash of food and loot to be plundered.

Based on my (very short) experience so far, my advice would be:

1. There are no rules so kill everyone you meet because if you don't kill them then they WILL kill you. Being friendly WILL get you killed. Anyone in a ghillie suit is not approaching you to have a friendly chat about the weather and is probably not alone.

2. Carry just the few essentials that you need to get by. Too much 'stuff' slows you down when escaping and everything you are carrying WILL be taken by your killer except your nasty virus.

3. The rain, the darkness and the zombies are your friends. Find a partner to watch your back and most importantly remember it's just a game...

What would your best advice to a noob be?

[Guest]

Join a private server for roleplay and factions if you go to public server it will mostly be pvp

[generalmayhem 29]

Join and use a few different servers and play each one different. Use diffent tatics use different routes explore and use the maps to your advantage.Take risks and see where it gets you play safe there is always another day. I saw a car coming yesterday from a fair way off but the total joy I was experiencing at the time I just hid and let them pass. There is nothing like watching Z's and goats having a right set too. This was the joy I was witnessing. I cried with laughter.

Edited January 6, 2020 by generalmayhem

[Trev_Bash 9]

Thanks all for the advice. I'm sure you're right, private servers will provide a better playing experience all round... that's in hand. Think I was just venting a bit after being mugged for the umpteenth time... always feels better sharing it 😉 and, to be honest, I have been playing a bit smarter since - sneaking more, not running in straight lines and carrying a big axe. 

In-game there are more ups than downs and it is a scream watching the Z's chase animals. One time I happened to be near a Z when I heard gunshots some distance away. It was off like a rocket and led me straight to the victim. Haven't seen a moving car yet!

[Kean__1 144]

When DayZ first released on PS4, the community was great.  Most you met were willing to talk with you, share loot, exchange information and perhaps even team up to accomplish each others goals and provide protection for one another.  Not long after however, the more aggressive and deceptive folks among us had already converted most into a "shoot on sight" mentality.  .....fool me once.

We can't call these guys griefers as this is all within the rules of the game.  ......a game which has no rules except to survive.  I simply got to a point where it wasn't even worth the risk to try and start a dialogue with someone so I either avoided people or killed them before they had the opportunity to kill me. 

....but yeah, on public servers I will use the environment to help mask my movements.  I rarely will run out in the open and generally stick to tree lines when getting from point to point.  When raiding houses, I try not to travel in a pattern.  I'll switch entry / exit points from front to back of buildings, etc.  I can't tell you how many people I see collecting loot in homes going door to door down the middle of the street.  ......easy targets.  

Playing with friends / groups gives you a lot more freedom to do things in the game.  Simply having others there to watch your back can really make your life a lot easier.  It's funny but tactics that work in real life work just as well in DayZ.  Groups / friends that work well together benefit greatly from this.  

Personally, I stopped playing on public servers mostly due to the glitches, bugs, duping and so on.  I rented a server when they became available and my friend and I started a PvE game.  It was actually really educational as we were able to use weapons we found that were extremely rare in our public sessions.  We built various cars, forts, etc.  Some consider it boring but we still found it fun.  ....and when they made the Infected tougher and the other survival aspects, it was even more enjoyable.  We gained more experience about the gameworld, mechanics, weapons, items, etc. than we ever would have in public sessions.   ....so when (or if) we ever do venture back into the official servers, we are a lot more prepared than we once were.  ....but who knows.  I may just create my own PvE / PvP server with our own rules.

[EzyStriderPS4 191]

I play on 1pp official server, PS4. Yesterday, I looped the map in a car. I try to use my mic more than my guns. Met a fresh spawn without a weapon from France in Berezino. After briefly conversing, he wanted me to go meet his friend, and leave my car. I got shot at twice on the south coast. One guy logged out in a house, and the other guy just disappeared in a field 25m from my position (I suspect he shut off his PS4 when I tagged him). Finally, I tried to get some gas, but had to put down two zeds with a KAS. Position compromised, I got in the ride and left, or tried to. I got shot at less than 40m down the road!

So, after all that, what's my best advice for DayZ players? In each of these situations, even though my strategy may have differed, and the terrain varied, one thing remained constant:

OODA Loop.

Get familiar with the concept. It's not just for PvP situations! You may not remember to use it, especially under duress, but through experience, which means dying, many, many times, comes clarity.

[Guest]

On 12/23/2019 at 1:14 AM, warrior78 said:

I am in your server but my PS$ broke. it fell lol. ill be getting a new one for Xmas. you guys still at it?

 

10 hours ago, Kean__1 said:

When DayZ first released on PS4, the community was great.  Most you met were willing to talk with you, share loot, exchange information and perhaps even team up to accomplish each others goals and provide protection for one another.  Not long after however, the more aggressive and deceptive folks among us had already converted most into a "shoot on sight" mentality.  .....fool me once.

We can't call these guys griefers as this is all within the rules of the game.  ......a game which has no rules except to survive.  I simply got to a point where it wasn't even worth the risk to try and start a dialogue with someone so I either avoided people or killed them before they had the opportunity to kill me. 

....but yeah, on public servers I will use the environment to help mask my movements.  I rarely will run out in the open and generally stick to tree lines when getting from point to point.  When raiding houses, I try not to travel in a pattern.  I'll switch entry / exit points from front to back of buildings, etc.  I can't tell you how many people I see collecting loot in homes going door to door down the middle of the street.  ......easy targets.  

Playing with friends / groups gives you a lot more freedom to do things in the game.  Simply having others there to watch your back can really make your life a lot easier.  It's funny but tactics that work in real life work just as well in DayZ.  Groups / friends that work well together benefit greatly from this.  

Personally, I stopped playing on public servers mostly due to the glitches, bugs, duping and so on.  I rented a server when they became available and my friend and I started a PvE game.  It was actually really educational as we were able to use weapons we found that were extremely rare in our public sessions.  We built various cars, forts, etc.  Some consider it boring but we still found it fun.  ....and when they made the Infected tougher and the other survival aspects, it was even more enjoyable.  We gained more experience about the gameworld, mechanics, weapons, items, etc. than we ever would have in public sessions.   ....so when (or if) we ever do venture back into the official servers, we are a lot more prepared than we once were.  ....but who knows.  I may just create my own PvE / PvP server with our own rules.

I agree with you. In my.serger we roleplay and trade and stuff. But when I want PVP. My friends and I just go to public servers. Both maps. When I first started like yourself. Everyone was willing to help and have fun running around and yes have PVP. But after a few weeks it just became straight pvp. I would collect find and go to the coast and give to new spawns and try to run with them. Just to have that interaction and meet new players but that didn't last. 

[Kean__1 144]

10 hours ago, Crazy 8 said:

 

I agree with you. In my.serger we roleplay and trade and stuff. But when I want PVP. My friends and I just go to public servers. Both maps. When I first started like yourself. Everyone was willing to help and have fun running around and yes have PVP. But after a few weeks it just became straight pvp. I would collect find and go to the coast and give to new spawns and try to run with them. Just to have that interaction and meet new players but that didn't last. 

Yeah, it became an exercise in frustration coupled with the bugs / issues.  If they had all that ironed out I might be more willing to get into a public session again although I was never big on full tilt PvP.  .......I love co-op play much more with a sprinkling of PvP.  

I do like the damage increase they included for the new zombies as it makes encounters more risky.  I wish there were more random herds and behavioral changes they could make though to mix it up.  A variation in the types of Infected would be cool.  .....maybe even ones that are more vicious at night, etc.  In fact, if this were the case, people might be more willing to team up with other players than trying to kill them off.  ....safety in numbers.  As it is, the Infected are not much more than a nuisance in the game to most.  .....sort of background noise.  The changes to bleeding, Z damage, etc. helped make them more of a threat but I think they could be more so (personally).  

[Trev_Bash 9]

As a noob I think playing solo on public servers makes this THE most frustrating game I've played. I think I would re-name it -- 'snakes'n' ladders minefield' -- every time you step on a snake/mine you are taken right back to the start. You put so much time and effort into foraging and surviving knowing all the time that, without doubt, you will die at some point (whether from ambush, sickness or starvation) and it will all have been for nothing. There is no 'save', you will be reset right back at the beginning. Fun while it lasts but frustrating and the more effort you put in the more you stand to lose. I can see now why the ambush, kill and steal technique is so popular as it cuts out all the work.

The OODA loop is the best survival advice but there is still a chance that you will miss something and unexpectedly step on a 'mine' (i.e walk into ambush) no matter how careful you try to be.

So, as I was advised above, (thank you), top of my revised advice list would be to get onto a community server.