How fun is this game solo?

[Deftallica 0]

I've been watching a lot of videos on Youtube by some of my favorite players of other games (Battlefield, CoD, etc) and DayZ looks like a lot of fun. The only thing is most of the time, at the very least, there's two guys working together. In some cases, groups of four or more.

I just bought Arma 2: Combined Operations on Steam's summer sale so I'm committed to trying it out but I don't have any buddies who play PC games. Lots of friends on Xbox, none on PC, unfortunately. So I'll be going it solo. The way everyone makes it sound other players are far more likely to shoot on sight than help each other.

I'd just hate for, even after putting in several hours and learning the game, to be shot in the face while going about my business. I realize that's just kinda part of the game and all and I'll just have to man up.

If solo'ing isn't too bad, great. Has anyone had success meeting folks on the forums for grouping together?

[Dingus (DayZ) 429]

No one is watching your back. You can have solo success, but you have to play a much more conservative way usually. Going to smaller towns, going to deer stands, using animals/lakes to eat/drink.

You can usually find someone to play with in the Survivor HQ board. Lots of people want to play together. if you want to play to kill people, you can go to the bandit board too.

edit - As for fear of being shot and losing progress. It will happen, likely a lot. This is Day Z. As soon as you get excited or attached to your gear, you have gained a liability.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Dingus

[Shuriken333 20]

On the forums, we single players are called Lone Wolves. I am a Lone Wolf and have been the entire time I've been playing (about 3 weeks). I absolutely love playing solo, although having a friend get DayZ one day would be cool. I make sure I get all the things I need to survive out there (matches, hatchet, knife, water canteens) and I always stay aware of my surroundings and zombie activity, since zombie activity can indicate other players. After some practice, I learned when to shoot, which is a very useful skill because you don't know if another player has a friend overwatching him. Being alone means only one set of eyes, so you need extra caution.

I have not grouped up with anybody yet.

[Dancingg 27]

I have about 50 hours of solo play. It's fun regardless, but it's a different experience that's all. Both have pro's cons. With how many new players are coming in though due to the Arma sale, as well as how aggresive infected are now it may be worth it to grab a partner at least.

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

I've been playing solo for a few weeks now and having loads of fun. One thing you'll have to accept though is that you will die, even after getting good and being really careful, that's just the nature of the game and it's what makes it so tense and also so unique.

Many players will shoot on sight but I've also met loads of people who will want to team up, you just have to be really careful when approaching anyone. If your worried about losing your valuables, then your gonna need to get a tent. That way you can build up a secret stash. When you die you can come back and stock up on essentials. Also theres loads of groups to join if you need more security. Enjoy.

[Deftallica 0]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll play on my own at least long enough to learn the controls, aggro radius', etc and then maybe look to the forums to group with folks.

So tents... they keep your things even if you die, you just have to remember where you put them? If another player finds your tent I assume they can take all your stuff?

[Dingus (DayZ) 429]

So tents... they keep your things even if you die, you just have to remember where you put them? If another player finds your tent I assume they can take all your stuff?

Place the tent on a flat surface, "save" the tent using the option it should have, and the tent will exist on that server.

Tents will despawn two days after a player death as far as I'm aware, so if you die, you have two days to get back to it and save it again.

A tent with nothing in it will despawn in seven days.

Any player may access any tent, so people try to hide them.

If your server resets, the tents may not be available immediately, but usually appear at some point after you've logged back in.

Tents have been known to do a lot of strange things in this alpha. Eat items, transform items, dupe items, weird stuff happens for whatever reason. If bad things happen, just accept it.

These are my experiences with tents.

[Deftallica 0]

Thank you, Dingus!

[Dingus (DayZ) 429]

Thank you, Dingus!

You're more than welcome.

[SlipreeGypsy 0]

I've been playing this game for a good week now, solo. I've been offered several times (in-game or by other means) to join groups but refuse to trust anybody that I don't know in real life.

From my experience, it's neat at first and very fun. However the longer you survive and the better geared you become puts you in a constant state of paranoia - the fear of losing all your gear which I think is amplified because you have nobody to back you up, or help you. I've basically been shooting other players on site (within a range I believe is adequate to kill at without firing too many rounds off) or avoiding them completely.

From all reports grouping up is a much funner option minus the trust issues if they aren't very close to you. Soloing is fun for a while, but once the paranoia starts to set in, it makes enjoying it much harder.

[Dancingg 27]

Yes, grouping up earlier on gives a less chance of someone wanting your stuff.

[Jgut90 71]

Been playing solo too. Quite interesting just observing other players run around towns. In a few hours of playing you can really get the stuff you need to survive such as :hatchet, matches, canteen, and a hunting knife. All the rest just follows. Just remember if you don't want to die quickly you must avoid any encounter with other players since there is no telling if they are up to no good or not.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Jgut90

[DoshDosh 62]

I've only played this game solo so far and I like it. Everything becomes more desperate and every single decision you make becomes a make-it-or-break-it situation, not to mention the difficulty spike. If you like a Silent Hill-type atmosphere, playing DayZ solo will give it to you for sure.

You can totally win engagements with other survivors (even groups of them) provided you have the proper preparation, but the odds will generally be stacked against you in a straight out firefight- the easiest way to take down players is to stay hidden, spot the enemy first and put some quick damage into their back so they don't have the time to react or alt+f4. It's generally easier to play with a bandit playstyle if you're solo, since rule of thumb is you shouldn't trust anyone except your IRL buddies you play together with.

[PixelatedBartek 8]

If you want to play it solo be prepared to be paranoid, I'm serious about that.

I have only played DayZ for a day and so far I'm alone (Waiting for 5 friends to join me) and it's hard, scary and I'm a bit paranoid in this game.

You will die a lot, meet some friendlies/bandits but eventually you will be able to survive, just need some luck to find proper equipment and voila.

The worst thing in this game is "shoot on sight players" because often other people will be paranoid and shoot you (like me, but I don't even have a gun and I don't like shooting, I prefer to team up and play together ;)).

It's quite easy to find friendly players like today I was shot by a mistake, a guy dragged me to the hospital but I told him I will die anyway so he can have my stuff and leave me to death, another one died because he was loosing blood but we talked a bit, and the last talked with me too but went north to find his friends.

This game is amazing, you just have to have a right attitude and you're set to go! :)

Good luck!

[Trips28 2]

When playing solo i tend to go all rambo (1st blood)... sticking to & living off the wilderness. In my personal experience it's a lot less stressful but make sure you bring a map/compass or you can get really lost for hours/days.

[Carl Weathers 3]

Meh, I've yet to group up and I've slightly given up on the game. Once I gathered my good gear I don't want to lose it, but need bandages and want to get back to the hospital. I'm out of bandages now and would hate to lose my progress due to no having bandages haha. The choices are much more difficult on your own.

[enforcer1975 1111]

Playing in groups is fun because you have more eyes and of course more guns, but a larger group also means you are easier to spot and it's not always easy because there are players who play careless and are triggerhappy and want to shoot everyone they see and put their team in danger. And you also need more supplies. I've tried playing in a 4-6 man group but it really is stressful to coordinate them because i have to take the role of spotter/coordinator and can't come to help my favorite partner because he tends to volunteer to do the dangerous work.

I've been playing in tandem for most of the time because that's where i feel the most comfortable, might be because i can trust my buddy 101%?

Edited July 13, 2012 by Enforcer

[Fooz (DayZ) 46]

As people have mentioned playing solo and in a team both have pros and cons, I have mainly played with one other friend and it seems to work great, except when he shot me accidently breaking a bone in the process and me shooting him accidently killing him.

Solo is just more challenging and decisions are more important, if you mess up on your own you are a goner, whereas with a friend they might be able to save you.

Finally, if you are solo trust nobody, especially if you have good gear, it's just not worth it.

[Moxyz1 (DayZ) 10]

i spent my first 3 weeks or so on my own lone wolfing it & having a bear grills type existence in the woods surviving and loved every game i played. When not playing i was either at work or watching youtube DayZ survival video series , guess im hooked now !! . My friend from work has just got the Mod and now i meet up with him in game and its great to loot towns together and now he loves the mod as much as me. i still havent murdered any player but ive been killed by bandits 3 times, ive no intention of ever shooting anyone on sight either unless they try kill me first.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Moxyz1

[Texas Red 8]

I have done some solo. But. It is a completely different thing than with 1 or 2 people. You just get kinda, lonely. And very paranoid. Paranoia is always something of this game. Always be careful. It is just so much more different with how you play, groups or not.

[deepfried 95]

Solo, pretty good for a couple of weeks, maybe 3 weeks. Then you need a group/clan.

[sixbarns 217]

If you want to run and gun or visit a major city, you're going to have a bad time.

[gunner_eric@live.nl 6]

If you want to run and gun or visit a major city, you're going to have a bad time.

I managed myself to get some good lood when solo, Playing solo is fun but also what he said is true you going to have a bad time.

Youre the only person Zeds are targeting and It's less fun.

[Hendrix (DayZ) 14]

I've been watching a lot of videos on Youtube by some of my favorite players of other games (Battlefield, CoD, etc) and DayZ looks like a lot of fun. The only thing is most of the time, at the very least, there's two guys working together. In some cases, groups of four or more.

I just bought Arma 2: Combined Operations on Steam's summer sale so I'm committed to trying it out but I don't have any buddies who play PC games. Lots of friends on Xbox, none on PC, unfortunately. So I'll be going it solo. The way everyone makes it sound other players are far more likely to shoot on sight than help each other.

I'd just hate for, even after putting in several hours and learning the game, to be shot in the face while going about my business. I realize that's just kinda part of the game and all and I'll just have to man up.

If solo'ing isn't too bad, great. Has anyone had success meeting folks on the forums for grouping together?

here you will find some helpful hints at gameplay....

http://dayzmod.com/f...ayer-guide-v10/

here are a few clan suggestions....

http://dayzgamers.bl...ting-apply.html

http://www.thesasclan.co.uk/

just be careful because this post seems to contradict this....

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/29019-are-you-looking-for-others-to-team-up-with-want-to-announce-clan-read-this/

Edited July 14, 2012 by Hendrix

[ocelot113 0]

I've been playing solo and I don't find it fun at all. There are 2 choices and both are boring and ultimately don't satisfy what I'd expect from a survival zombie game.

1) City play is nothing more than an arena game. Rush to get a good gun and hold a building. Fast deaths and ultimately boring because there is no interaction with anyone seems how everyone will shoot you on site.

2) Rural play, small towns, deer stands, and lots of running with hoping and preying that you find some matches before you starve. I think this is more fun seems how you are less likely to be gunned down within the first 20 min, but it gets frustrating seems how LOTS of the buildings out of major towns are inaccessible.

Overall, once you figure out how to pull the zombies inside and run out the other side and how to lose them through trees or kill them easily with a hatchet the game gets boring solo because people are just out to kill each other and its nothing more than a 1v1v1 death match game. People are more afraid of people than zombies and there is no reason to work together because the zombies are retarded. Basically - bad pathing, bad sight when running through trees (run into a pine tree, then crouch and keep moving [they will take 1-2 seconds to reset line of sight], prone after 1-2 seconds of being crouched and crawl away), walk up hills, walk indoors, now zombies climb so you can just sit at the top and hatchet them one by one, bad change because it's harder to have to come back down to 5 zombies than kill them one by one).

Edited August 3, 2012 by ocelot113