Five lives, five lessons

[The Fu 3]

Dayz is a pretty awesome game. Kinda like a hot dog. I bought Arma2 for DayZ and it's money well spent. I've died four times, the fourth just last night, and each life has been better than the last. Since I've enjoyed reading other people's stories so much, I decided to share my experiences here. I wanted to keep it brief, but it turned out to be a pretty huge write up. There are a few tidbits in there, so I hope you find it worthwhile.

Life 1

Into the world of DayZ. It was dark out, and I was terrified as I crawled around avoiding the walkers. Not knowing anything, I avoided a small coastal town and found some barns to explore. Grabbed a Winchester and some other gear. So far so good, but not for long.

I drew some aggro and ended up bleeding. How do I play this game? Nearly bled out figuring out how to apply a bandage. Managed to make it to a small radio tower and climb to safety before passing out (called it a night). My next session was short lived, as I stumbled about, passing out again and again. I finally fell to a pack of infected.

Lesson 1: How to play the game. Basic controls and knowledge of infected behavior.

Life 2

Spawned near Kamenka. Still afraid of towns, so I headed north and hit up some barns and deer stands. Passed up Pavlovo and headed toward Zelenogorsk. Began to realize that if I ever wanted to get geared up, I was going to have to hit town. Raided the lumber mill just west of the south end of town, then went to the grocery store. *cue angelic choir* After scraping by in the sticks, I was overjoyed by the bounty at the store. I loaded up and spent a couple gaming sessions looping around Zeleno - hitting the barns to the north, moving to Drozhino, then back to the grocery on another day.

On the end of my second loop, going in for a night raid on the grocery store, it all went wrong. Approaching from the southwest, I tossed out some flares to lead the infected away. As I moved in along the wall, I began to hear a delicate "ping ping". I suddenly dawned on me "Holy s**t I'm taking fire!" I ran away, regrouped, then headed back in. The same way. I actually saw the person creeping toward the northwest side of the grocery. What did I do? Kept creeping up and tried to make contact. Took fire, got hit, hid behind a wall seeing blurry black-and-white, got executed as he ran up to finish the job.

Lesson 2: More game experience. Seeing more buildings, learning how to survive (the infected, at least). Big lessons: flares at night = duh, and learning rules of engagement. Why, oh why, did I approach after taking fire? And why didn't I take a shot when I had a chance? It's kill or be killed, so don't be soft.

Life 3

Started out near Kamenka again. Went with the same itinerary, except I decided not to loop around Zeleno and instead continued north. Figured I'd have more fun exploring than farming. Visited Green Mountain, hit up Sosnovka and Myshkino, then decided "what the hell, I'll go to the NW airfield". I expected death, but I also expected fun. I risked a run into Pustoshka, heading into the church. Grabbed an ALICE pack and a matchbox, finally gathering the necessary gear for survival (knife, matches, hatchet). Decided that I'd go hunt a bit, survive, and see the world. As I was checking out the final loot pile, *BAM BAM*. Done.

Lesson 3: Life is short. I've pretty much got the whole loot and survive thing down. I need serious work on surviving against bandits, though. Big mistake was not closing the church doors. I was thinking "If I close the doors, it will be obvious I'm inside". Well, dummy, leaving the doors hanging wide open allowed someone to shoot you from . . . who knows where while you left yourself exposed. l2loot.

This death was actually pretty emotional. I was writing a story in my mind, something of a survival odyssey. Having it snuffed out so suddenly was a shock. I needed to take a little break and approach the game differently next time.

Life 4

I started near Cherno - Prigorodky. After an emotional death, I had decided to join the big-city death match. I couldn't bring myself to do it, though. I once again headed north, visiting Pusta, Mogilevka, Guglovo, and Polana. Having started before the "start with nothing" patch, I was fully geared and ready for anything. Hunted and cooked up some steaks and was looking at indefinite survival, if I wanted it. Nah. No fun in that.

I decided to hit up Berezino and the NE airfield. At a deer stand SW of Berezino, I found my first military-grade weapons - an AK74 and a frag grenade. I went into town and hit the hospital and southern grocery before heading through the fields to the northern grocery. The server started getting wonky, so I logged out in the norther grocery.

When I logged back in yesterday, I knew something was up. There was loot in the grocery, so someone else had to be around. Having learned my lessons, I was much more tactical in my movements, taking my time and scoping everything out. Everything seemed clear. I moved to the apartments across the road and cleared one out. Found an ALICE pack and finally found my first compass. Learned the hard way to transfer goods to a new pack before switching - my Czech pack disappeared, wiping out all my surplus medical supplies and extra food/ammo/etc. Damn. Figured I'd have to go back to the hospital after all. Went into a second apartment building and started working my way up. At the top of the stairs, on the third floor, I saw a loot pile with cooked meat in it. Well, someone must have put it there. What did I do? Stare at it like a dummy. Hmmm. Guess I'll take it since I lost all mine. *BAM BAM* Done.

Lesson 4: You went for that? Really? Doh! Even though I knew damn well someone else was around, my guard was down. I either fell into a trap or just failed to secure the area prior to checking out loot. First thought: someone must have left it there. Second though: pick it up? How about fall back, take cover, maybe even lob that grenade around the corner just in case? Now that would have been a hoot.

The real lesson is that I need people to watch my back. It's just too easy for bandits to prey on the lone survivor exploring the world.

Also, it seems that when I find an ALICE pack, death is imminent. React accordingly.

Life 5

Just last night. I started just west of Elektro and decided to go for it. Drew some aggro, took some damage, eluded some infected. Was checking out a construction site when another survivor led a zombie train by, forcing me out and back on the run. The fourth survivor I've encountered, but only the second I've seen. No time for to chat, though.

The infected detection and evasion mechanics are pretty good. It was intense making my way into town. The other guy ended up clearing the way for me pretty well, though. He was running like a fool and dragging a train behind him. I followed up, checking out the large brick houses on the west side of town. Some basic gear, but no weapons. Made my way through the industrial buildings on the coast, aggroing and evading. Still no weapons. Ended up just east of the large, brick house on the coast. Hid in the bushes and logged out.

Logged back in a couple hours later. I revisited the brick house and scored a 1911 with plenty of ammo, so I moved on to the residential block right on the coast. That's when things really went downhill.

I stumbled into an infected and ended up bleeding, so I ran into the nearest house to make a stand. A pack of infected came in staggered, so I couldn't bandage until I had lost a few thousand blood. I was trying to regroup and started looting the bodies when I had this great idea: if I hide the bodies, it will be easier to loot. As I was looting and hiding, I heard more aggroed infected inbound. This kept going on for a while until I messed up. A group of them got it and I ended up on the ground with a broken leg. A vicious close-quarters battle ensued, and I eventually cleaned house.

I was alive, but in sad shape. ~5100 blood and a broken leg. No way I was giving up, though. The hospital and church were just north of my location. If I could make it up to them, I could be back on my feet and fully equipped to boot. I ate what I had to build up my strength and began the crawl. Turns out having a broken leg has benefits - being forced to crawl virtually eliminated any worry of aggroing infected. I wasn't exactly worried about infected, though, as I entered the rear yard of the church. I was expecting to be shot at any moment near such high value buildings, but I had to move if I wanted to survive.

I was faced with a choice - the hospital or the church? I needed medical supplies stat, but if I scored a bigger bag in the church, I could loot even more when I got to the hospital. In the end I opted for the hospital. My survival chances were dwindling with each moment and I needed to get on my feet. I made the crawl and finally found a box loaded with goodies. I packed up and headed to the church, where I rounded out my basic survival gear. I risked a run across the street to avoid getting sniped from the fire station, and began made getting out of town my #1 priority.

I headed north, deciding to hit the grocery on the way out. I ducked into the residential building south of the store and cleared it, then grabbed what I could and prepared to move out. Then I heard gun fire. The first time I've ever heard shots that weren't directed at me, so I couldn't tell much about it. I waited, but the streets were clear. More gunfire, this time closer. It sounded like a Lee Enfield, and the shot pattern sounded a lot like killing infected, so I made a break for it. Hit the grocery, grabbed a couple items, the bolted out the back and made a bee-line for the trees. Set up camp in a secluded area and called it a night.

Lesson 5: This game is awesome. What an intense experience. If I had died, it surely would have been emotional. Starting with no gear is not only OK, it's great. I had a danger-filled ride through the death trap that is Elektro and managed to come out the other side. I did learn something about infected mechanics, too. I realized during the battle in that little house that my hiding infected bodies was causing them to respawn already aggroed. It wasn't until I stopped hiding bodies that the onslaught stopped. Huh.

Well, that's that. My journey continues from this point, though I don't know what I'm going to do to top my run through Elektro. Sorry for the novel.

[usszim 35]

Sounds like you've learned very quickly :) Here's my tip-off to know when to run: if you see bodies, zombies or otherwise, run! People with guns are not very friendly :(

However, if you happen to run into me, I'm always looking to help others out :D

[GangreeL 3]

Cool story bro.I liked it.

[UppedAlarm7 1]

:P I :heart: this story. Funny, And it seems you learn quick. I useally just read wiki's on a game before i buy it. So i know everything abut the game when i start. But i like how you adapted and learned very quickly, When I see you i'll know that i'm fighting a Smart Opponent! ;)

[Excluded 0]

This was a awesome story, i wish i would learn that fast. Im just slow walking trough small towns trying to somehow score some loot :p

[The Fu 3]

Thanks all for taking the time to read and leaving nice replies. I did do some research on the game prior to diving in, but I never picked up the whole right-click-on-items mechanic. It's really cool how every death so far has brought a lesson, rather than just being the end. I think my next step is to expand on Lesson 4 and find some friends.

It's about time this game got made. Mod, whatever.

[fshelton3@yahoo.com 1]

Great post!

[Baldor 0]

Lesson 6:

Before you enter a town, stay _far_ away and check for zombies : If there arent any, there are no players, if there are zombie then stay out of the town unless you wanna risk to be shot again. Zombies appear only if a player triggers them by walking close to the city. They disappear shortly after the player is gone, too.

Lesson 7:

Don't ever feel save at any airfield if there are no zombies around. Snipers can stay out of trigger-range easily. Be quick, check loot with binocular if you got one and never stay at a loot pile for longer than two seconds. Avoid crawling and only stop in buildings. It's better to pull some zombie and kill them inside a house than to crawl/walk slowly outside.

Well these two lessons are painfull to learn, so I'll just save you two lives but wont spoiler more ;)

[Greensoxxx 3]

If only I learned so quick, even though I always scout before going in to town, I still go when stuff seems suspicious.

But maybe thats because I'm lazy, I didn't walk all that way just to let all that loot go.

[OutLord 7]

Good read, thanks.

Next time when fist starting out, make a bee line for shops and fire stations. Its easy to lose Zeds around corners and through buildings. as soon as youve got food and fluids, head north and lott gets better quickly.

[notemedown 2]

Very good read.

But in your first lives, how did u know all about what cities were which?

I still rarely know where i am :P

[Blokster 0]

Also, it seems that when I find an ALICE pack, death is imminent. React accordingly.

That was funny. And that was also a good write up.