Prove Me Wrong

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Okay, there are two parts to this discussion and these threads always get them mixed up.

First, you can sit around all day and wax pseudo-philosophically on what would actually happen if such an infection were to spread. It is of course disingenuious of you to ask for "proof" of anything. Any such discussion is inherently speculative. You may feel you have more basis for your speculated outcomes than others, but please lets not talk in absolutes - proof, truth, fact, reality, etc. these words mean nothing when you're talking about a theoretical future and an event such as that depicted in DayZ.

Second, you can have a practical discussion about game design and mechanics and whether the presence of unrestricted murder in the game is a boon or a detriment to the overall experience.

But, don't mix these two up. Just because you feel strongly that DayZ may not 100% accurately recreate what might happen does not mean you have identified a flaw in the game design.

One need not justify their actions in the game on the basis that "this is how it would really be." You run into all sorts of pitfalls if you start to claim that DayZ's goal should be to emulate reality as closely as possible.

For instance, we have killed 128,461,093 zombies so far. That's almost the entire population of modern day Russia. Even when you account for the number of servers, we would be running out of zombies eventually. Also, once all the guns are gone, nobody gets anymore guns. Everyone else has to fight with their hands. I'm sure you see where this is going... I could go on for 3 pages with things that would break immediately in the game if they were turned from game mechanics into reality simulators.

Every one of these threads mucks these two concepts up and the conversation is unproductive and circular as a result.

Edited July 19, 2012 by ZedsDeadBaby

[herrjon 478]

But please don't waste anyone's time with the "that's what I'd do in real life" argument because it's utter bullshit.

Except in your given senario, both your and your aquatance have ample supplies to get on for now. The situation I would shoot to kill is when I'm desperate for supplies. Chances are unless he's a hoarder he won't have enough food to sustain two people, so it's much better for your survival to shoot, grab, and run. It's also harder to travel the more people you have with you, more supplies needed, bigger target for those phyco-bandits, more easily alerting the horde in towns, etc. It would be reasonable for 2-3 for watchmen and what not, but beyond that it would become more difficult rather than easier.

And of course if they shoot at me, I'd shoot back, clearly they don't want to be friendly.

The PK'ing in this game is a bit high, but the argument is valid.

[Fishmitts 65]

This argument is just absurd. I see it in almost every thread. People going on about "In a post apocalypse environment I would kill you for food/water no matter what".

In a real zombie apocalypse there is absolutely NO WAY you would have this mentality. The next time your driving down the road look at the population of the city your in. For me that is roughly 100,000+ in a suburb. In a outbreak (whether it be swine flu, small pox whatever) it is projected that only 10% of the population would be immune. So just in my own city we are looking at close to 90,000 zombies. Do you have any f*cking idea how many zombies that is? I have played L4D for close to 200 hours, killing zombies constantly & don't even have 90,000 kills. That is just 1 city...

The DayZ servers restrict zombies to manmade structures & even then they are very low in density. I would love to see all those claiming "I would shoot you on sight for supplies" if Dayz servers could actually hold a reasonable zombie population. Its the #1 reason griefing has gotten out of hand as much as it has & why the game will continue to be a pvp deathmatch until zombies actually become a threat.

I wouldnt shoot because I need your food and water. I'd shoot you because my family needs it. And I would not think twice.

[dallas 5195]

All we know for sure is:

A virus killed off or infected 98% of the population with a zombie like urge to kill people on sight.

Of remaining 2%, who were imune to the virus, 98% of them kill people on sight for giggles also.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Dallas