We Need More Expert Servers

[Roguepacket 12]

My bandit buddy and I have recently taken to the handful of sparsely populated Expert servers. We’ve only been playing Arma/Day Z for a few weeks, but we’ve just found the combination of peripheral dots and third person on Regular/Veteran servers to be too much of a detriment – it breaks the immersion, allows other players to see you from around cover, and just makes the game too easy. Just let me say, moving to Expert is the most fun we’ve had in Day Z.

With only a dozen people on our regular server this morning, we somehow managed to run into all of them around Novy and Stary. It started with the loot hoppers (very common on Expert servers) at the Stary tents – we were rifling through the tents and hunting someone nearby who had been carelessly firing their Winchester, when all of a sudden, I saw movement in the trees above the tents. Two survivors had just hopped in before our very eyes, not 50 metres away from me. I immediately took cover while my buddy confirmed it was just the two of them carrying a Lee Enfield and Remington. They must not have seen us, because they had barely moved by the time I popped out from cover to take my shots. I switched my AKS-74 Kobra to semi-auto, and put three shots into the hopper carrying the Lee Enfield. Before his body hit the ground, I swung to the right and put three more into his friend. It was over before either could hit Alt-F4. Other than a bounty of beans and coke, there was nothing of interest on them. That was when we heard the AKM shots from Novy.

Running across the field and into cover on the West side of town, we spotted our mark in a Ghillie suit. It wasn’t difficult – he had been popping off AKM rounds and his M1911 the entire time, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he drew the entire town every time he shot. After my buddy unsuccessfully engaged him with his M4 at range, he retreated into the church. We had him cornered – both of our guns on the door, and an endless train of zombies drawn to his shots, each one opening the doors as it entered. We hit him a few times and even lobbed a grenade inside – victory was assured… or so we thought. The explosion and constant stream of gunfire undoubtedly drew someone’s interest, because it didn’t take long for us to be on the receiving end of an AKM. After taking a few hits from our invisible assailant I was in shock and bleeding, and would surely be dead after hit. We quickly retreated from town and into the woods to replenish and establish overwatch. We could still hear the battle raging around the church – there must have been at least three others in the firefight by the sheer amount of ammunition being fired.

Once we had our eyes on the church from the trees, we thought we were safe – until my friend screamed and I was deafened by gunfire from an M16 in a pine tree not 10 metres away. We both hit the ground immediately, but my friend was already a corpse. Our fellow bandit wasted no time in claiming his prize, but was instead greeted by a burst from my AKS. I doubt he even heard the shots.

Silence overtook Novy Sobor. The fighting was surely over – but I was not ready to repeat the mistakes of our bandit friend. I pulled up my watch and counted 10 minutes in a nearby tree, patiently waiting for anyone else who had been drawn to the gunfire. Nobody came. At 10:01, I took a deep breath, clearing the rest of the adrenaline from my arms, and stepped out to claim my prize – an M16 M203, GPS, and a bag full of medical supplies.

I don’t know what happened to our mark in the church, nor who was shooting at us with the AKM. Did our mark call in reinforcements? Did another bandit pin him in the church after shooting at us? Were we being followed the entire time? I know this is a long read, but none of this would have been possible on a Regular or Veteran server – the loot hoppers at Stary would have seen us from behind the trees using third person, and the peripheral dots would have led us directly to each other in Novy instead of forcing us to rely on our instincts, squad tactics, and extensive preparation. That particular server is our home now, and I hope those of you reading this will consider moving to Expert servers as well. There are not enough of them in the community today, but I can guarantee you will experience a story like this every time you visit one. And for those of you who DO play on Expert servers... I want to hear your stories! Maybe you were with us this morning and can tell us exactly what happened in that church?

[TigerMoth 1]

Good read, and i might have a few stories to put in later!

Right now all of them apart from one end with my death, and that one is a long tale to tell ;)

I can vouche for the awesome experiences on expert servers though!

[izodn 37]

Very good read indeed. I'll be playing on Expert servers when my newb character is defeated.

[ebianbluefox 29]

Because it's not popular. My US 302 was on Expert with everything turned off and it never got above 6 people who were just farming NW Airfield since no one was ever on, and to me it makes the game less fun to play with no one on. Kinda defeats the purpose and intensity of PVP.

[alyas 14]

After reading Your Post OP i think ill be moving from vet to expert. I am tired of people being able to abuse the 3rd person view finding. Ill admit I do it to.

I think its about time i Found myself looking through tall grass when I'm prone Shitting myself hoping no one is 3 feet in front of me