Long term survival is pointless

[VossRG 0]

My goal for the last few days has been to live in the interior by hunting. Yesterday, I almost accomplished this - I found a knife and matches in Cherno, and was 10 yards from the treeline and safety when a "survivor" killed me in one hit.

Today, I decided to avoid the big cities. I found a Winchester in a barn, and made my way north. Eventually, I found a knife. I took a break and then connected to a different server, which was doing the "no zombies, no loot" thing. I decided I would check out one of the northern towns, just to see what's there.

In one of the buildings was a dead survivor, who had matches. I was so excited that I hid myself in the building, while I looked at a newly-found map to figure how to get out as safely as possible.

After about 2 minutes, I left the building in a sprint, only to be instantly gunned down by "survivors" at the doorstep.

That followed hours upon hours upon hours of searching every promising building, which entailed carefully scouting it out from a distance, determining which route to take, crawling around the zombies with no margin for error, and then doing it again at the next site.

There is no point in having such goals as a survivor in this game. Life will only get easier and easier for the bandits as they accumulate the rarer and more effective items, while it gets harder for us.

Instead, just have fun in Chernogorsk or Elektrozavodsk, running from zombies or shooting player killers (or being player killers). All the time you put into attaining a goal will only be snuffed out in a second.

In the end, no amount of caution can save you. So throw it to the wind, and live for the moment.

[Bandit Hunter 29]

Caution absolutely leads to safety. It can't help that you are playing at the peak hours. Bandits die as often as survivors, they just don't tend to complain about it because they're willing to murder for our things.

[dallas 5195]

A dead survivor is cause for alarm and you need to acknowledge the mistake of not immediately leaving town after looting the dead body.

[Napoleon Solo 10]

With the new patch it will be harder to see who's who. Bandits will surely have the benefit of shooting first and asking questions later to get better loot faster. Their strategy will probably accumulate more loot than what lone survivors can do alone.

The builder/survivor strategy is likely more efficient than the bandit strategy once its done in groups who collaborate and share loot to improve group stability (i.e. making sure people don't get too much more than others, and that people who are without things are next in turn, removing incentives to kill team members - they are more valuable alive). Bandit groups on the other side are likely less stable than survivor groups and disintegrate with lethal outcomes more often.

In the beginning with a badly organized community I guess bandits will have the upper hand. But as players tend to organize I think survivors will have the edge in the long term.

[homeslice1986 9]

With the new patch it will be harder to see who's who. Bandits will surely have the benefit of shooting first and asking questions later to get better loot faster. Their strategy will probably accumulate more loot than what lone survivors can do alone.

The builder/survivor strategy is likely more efficient than the bandit strategy once its done in groups who collaborate and share loot to improve group stability (i.e. making sure people don't get too much more than others' date=' and that people who are without things are next in turn, removing incentives to kill team members - they are more valuable alive). Bandit groups on the other side are likely less stable than survivor groups and disintegrate with lethal outcomes more often.

In the beginning with a badly organized community I guess bandits will have the upper hand. But as players tend to organize I think survivors will have the edge in the long term.

[/quote']

Organised survivors are just as bad as bandits. The whole "if youre not with us, youre against us" attitude takes over and the group will kill all they come across, without question. Its just what happens, no one wants to take the risk of losing an established group member, over possibly adding a new one.

[Frito Pendejo ☠ 4]

A dead survivor is cause for alarm and you need to acknowledge the mistake of not immediately leaving town after looting the dead body.

This, hit n run bro

[weissenwulf 0]

Survivors are generally weaker because they INSIST on remaining in the south, blasting away at zeds and players alike, meaninglessly, in Elektro and Cherno until someone finally puts them out of their noob misery.

No matter which server you join you'll find some stooge typing furiously away: "Friendly in elektro? Who's shooting by the hospital in Cherno?" etc etc. It's comical.

The north, NW and NE are much different. The loot is much better. Encounters with other players are rare...but deadly. I'd wager 60% of Day Z players haven't been north of Pusta...

Most players -- in any game -- do what is both easiest and most popular. For Day Z that means running around Elektro and Cherno and whining about the absence of loot.

[Kingllama 18]

I stay at the coast because i feel i'm safer and i know what i am doing. My char hasn't died within a day so i'm doing okay i have a good amount of ammo for both guns!

[i wub pugs 16]

Survivors are generally weaker because they INSIST on remaining in the south' date=' blasting away at zeds and players alike, meaninglessly, in Elektro and Cherno until someone finally puts them out of their noob misery.

No matter which server you join you'll find some stooge typing furiously away: "Friendly in elektro? Who's shooting by the hospital in Cherno?" etc etc. It's comical.

The north, NW and NE are much different. The loot is much better. Encounters with other players are rare...but deadly. I'd wager 60% of Day Z players haven't been north of Pusta...

Most players -- in any game -- do what is both easiest and most popular. For Day Z that means running around Elektro and Cherno and whining about the absence of loot.

[/quote']

Yeah, if I see you up in Berezino or between it and the NW AF, it's pretty much gonna be game over for you. Those are long treks, and no one wants to be the second guy to shoot when you've walked that far.

[easton 1]

Organised survivors are just as bad as bandits. The whole "if youre not with us' date=' youre against us" attitude takes over and the group will kill all they come across, without question. Its just what happens, no one wants to take the risk of losing an established group member, over possibly adding a new one.

[/quote']

Agree. It's the nature of the situation. This game lends itself to groups of 3-5. Any more, and you're too noticeable. Players with the best of intentions won't hesitate to shoot anyone who is not one of their buddies. That's simply how it is. The stake are too high. You just have to hope you see them too.

IMO, the difference between a Survivor and a Bandit is that a bandit who comes across a survivor will chase him down to kill him. A survivor who comes across another survivor and isn't seen, will be more willing to just let him go.

[mike10019314@yahoo.ca 3]

Survivors are generally weaker because they INSIST on remaining in the south' date=' blasting away at zeds and players alike, meaninglessly, in Elektro and Cherno until someone finally puts them out of their noob misery.

No matter which server you join you'll find some stooge typing furiously away: "Friendly in elektro? Who's shooting by the hospital in Cherno?" etc etc. It's comical.

The north, NW and NE are much different. The loot is much better. Encounters with other players are rare...but deadly. I'd wager 60% of Day Z players haven't been north of Pusta...

Most players -- in any game -- do what is both easiest and most popular. For Day Z that means running around Elektro and Cherno and whining about the absence of loot.

[/quote']

my second death since i found this game happend up at pustoshka one town away from the north airport, i had a 1911 and a win on me, would have made it a bit longer maybe but a zed bit my ass through a wall while i was looting a security checkpoint in the factorty there and i called down a horde when i shot it

[whtwlf 8]

Caution absolutely leads to safety.

Amen to that. I can't tell you how many times just waiting those extra few seconds before rushing in or using a bit of teamwork with my friends has saved my hide. The only times I've ever died were when I was being sloppy and rushing or because I wasn't being tactical.

[sixgun 5]

Today I woke up atop the peak north of Pusta. I headed north, downslope, and filled my canteens and had breakfast. Then I hit the forest and didn't look back. Mid afternoon I came out of the tree line at Mogilevka. Crawled in past the Zeds and went shopping. Left the town with my ruck bulging with goodies and weighed down with 12 ga. rounds for the shotty. Moved west across the remote terrain until Rogovo. Screwed up and got escorted out of town by a few dozen former residents. Kept going until I hit some ville way in the west. I lay down for the night under some bushes.

My strategy is one of "break contact". I want to stay away from civilization as much as possible, but I still require enough gear to operate 24/7. That means NVGs, a suppressed weapon, and food/drink. I won't actively hunt other players here, nor will I interfere with their scavenging. There's enough for everyone. Just don't follow me.

[aviator.wcc@gmail.com 6]

my 1st 5 deaths were to "survivors" who i saw and didnt shoot only to have them kill me.

Now days once i have decent loot, I shoot first f i run into another survivor unexpectedly. Today i'd made my way about halfway north towards my goal spot for meeting up my friends when i stopped to try to find a few tools, and hopefully a compass and better pistol in a mini mart /convenience store. I looked for a couple mins then crawled in the back door, saw a 1911 first thing with 1 mag. Sat in the corner of the room and loaded it...with t he only mag i had. Figured i'd find more ammo soon enough or get afew clips from a friend further up north. Was ready to move into the rest of the store and ...oh shit a guy walks through the door right past me not seeing me and he's got a revolver equipped and out. He didn't see me! he went straight to he loot pile...i just know he's gonna turn, see me and kill me, and i've done well this life getting so far towards my goal without even a compass...so i unload my only 1911 clip into him and hope the zeds outside (if any are close) won't hear it and get to me before i get his guns. I unloaded the whole mag of 7 into his side/back in a near panic and he dies almost instantly of course. i grab his revolver, his tools, he has a LOT of tools like matches knife and compass + couple others and i trade his pack for mine without even looking in it cause mine was empty starter and his was an alice. I sneak out of there without checking the rest of the store and sneak north through the town to another lootable building where i stop and check his pack, it's loaded, 20 slots of awesome.

From one survivor to another the goods passed...I don't hunt players...but my first 5 deaths from other survivors taught me well...shoot first if you're scared shitless or are pretty sure he's gonna shoot as soon as you turn your back.

[wnxlions 1]

I do basically what Willy said. If I see someone in the distance and they aren't posing an immediate threat, I watch for a little and most likely let them pass. If I'm in a town and someone startles me close up you will be sure I'll shoot first and ask questions later.

The trick with meeting other players is the decision you have to make in a blink of an eye. In milliseconds you have to access the situation and react to it.

[davidcastle 19]

I have to respectfully disagree with your assumption that long term survival is pointless.

I play with a group of 9 friends, usually only about 3-4 are on at a time. But I must say that being lone does NOT make it harder to survive. It is just different. Let me outline some differences.

Group Pros

- More bullets downrange

- More threatening to would be survivors

- Able to carry more items and of a larger variety

- Travel is safer

- Spotting is easier

- Someone can shoot while you run

Group Cons

- Friendly fire if unorganized (it happens even to us organized)

- If your dead, your out of the group till you meet up again, this can skew your travel paths as usually you try and make a B-Line back to allies.

- Easier to spot when traveling.

- Looting and travel is slower

Lone Pros

- Travel is more subtle

- Travel is faster

- Looting is faster

- No friendly fire, everyone can safely be assumed dangerous

- Travel where you want.

Lone Cons

- No one is gona keep people and zeds off while you bandage/no one shoots while you run

- Less items and smaller variety.

- Less bullets downrange

- Less of a threat to grouped survivors or bandits

In the end they both of have pros and cons, BUT the BIG pro of the Lone survivor is the "travel where you want" and "more subtle" These 2 things will keep you alive much longer than groups.

One of our guys is going on 20 hours right now with just a winchester (keep trying to convince him to use at least a different shotgun, but he loves that thing). The two things keeping him alive are those 2 main pros. I actually don't think hes killed a survivor on his current life.

The rest of us however may get high end rifles and guns within an hour and be grouped up then proceed to hunt in the north usually only last 4-5 hours. Our main downfall is actually other equal sized groups as well as ambushers who hit us when we aggro zeds. See, with a bigger group, its harder to keep track of who is who, so the guy with the same gun as your pal who you think is shooting a zed on you, really is an ambusher taking advantage of the situation.

This is a simple reason why I would not at all doubt a single survivor... hell I sniped 2 groups of 3 survivors myself today (had allies with me, but they didn't fire). So if I can, you can to.

Tips for lone survivor.

- Silenced weapon.... but most likely this is 5 hours out so.

- CZ and mak, and be smart.

I am hitting 100 hours on Dayz here pretty soon and will be writing an in depth post of my stories, guides, tactics, and tips for what I have learned in 100 hours, look out for it. It's sure to be a best seller =_)

[Bernardusaurus 2]

I've been alive for over a week now. If you're careful and stay away from major areas, you'll be just fine. I haven't even seen a player other than my bro for like 4 days.

[dale 11]

When I do get far north I move into forests near Devils Castle and Petrovka, a lot of bandits near the Airfield but I never really attempt to go there, I can live a subsistent life of rabbits and the occasional cow up there with good loot available around those areas.

Some point im going to make my way up to Misty Peak and take a look there :)

[Moosey 1]

I've found it very hard to trust anybody I stumble across in the north. You can feel them eyeing that sweet weapon you've got slung over your shoulder.

Never hunted a person actively, but if I'm in a well established group of 4 - 5 survivors and somebody is approaching, it's kill or be killed.

[dale 11]

Lone Cons

- Less of a threat to grouped survivors or bandits

Thats not true :) ive been playing Arma since day 1 (and a bit of OFP) and I can tell you now there are a lot of inexperienced Arma players who are easily being gunned down in large groups.

In fact ive found it easier to take out 5 survivors by myself in a town every time than I have going in group to group warfare, working in groups helps when you've got a really organised team, usually several two man groups.

All working in an area with two sitting with snipers, and a two man team of one winchester(PvE) another Assault rifle(PvP), and another two man group of what are supply holders (can hold whatever but have large amounts of food water and carry the heavy stuff such as tires and engine parts).

If you make those all follow each other of course they are going to take ages.

Try to get everyone into a 1 km line, when you get to a town reorg on a position and prepare to move in by setting your players out (if you've got a tent fill it and save) then move in to the town with the snipers set up and covering in good areas, also if you do come into contact with other survivors you spread out the risk of everyone dying.

Do that several times and soon you'll be pros ;), it will take several minutes to get set up and youll be in and out of the town in no time with snipers taking out other survivors before your main team even gets there.

[Renegade0260 3]

I've been playing my current incarnation for about 3 days now, now I have 6 water bottles, a knife, matches to hunt and cook food, map, compass to navigate and know where lots of dear stands are to replenish ammo, I could survive indefinitely if I manage to avoid any bandits.

I'm slowly gathering parts to fix up a Hummer, I wonder if I'll manage it...

[MuzzleRat 0]

I'm a lone wolf myself, but happily join up for temporary teaming when the situation calls for it.

I've yet to pull the trigger on a survivor myself, but I've been killed by more survivors than bandits to date.

A couple of recent situations though: Heading north from the coast, I'm hear frantic running behind me. I turn around to see a survivor running toward me with around 20 to 30 zeds chasing. He stops, looks at me. I look at him, holding my crossbow, tell him I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do (I don't have enough ammo on my secondary, let alone the crossbow), turn and run into the forest. Later, I come across a small shack with a flare outside, and all the zeds mulling about. There's only one corpse. Poor sod. NOW there was something I could do about it; I had a frag grenade I'd been saving for a special occasion. Lobbed that into the shack, and walked away. I didn't check his corpse, left him in peace.

Later that day I'm in Zelenogorsk, still trying to find ammo for my secondary, but now down to one bolt on my crossbow. A run of questionable luck has left me with good supplies, but no weapons, so I'm trying to be cautious. I'm in the supermarket and I see another survivor running toward the shop, again, with a good 15-20 zeds trailing. I can't help, but I make my presence known by standing at the window shouting "Survivor being chased by zeds running to the shop, I'm a friendly! Do not fire!". He keeps running. He enters the shop. He doesn't even hesitate; he turns the .45 on me and guns me down where I stand with my weapon lowered in mid salute.

Contrast that to the other day when I'm at Stary, watching from the hill and see a survivor scouting about the mil tents. He picks up a zed and the horde soon follow. I watch for another 5 minutes as he picks up more and more. I lose sight, then the next moment he and the zeds burs out the bush next to me. I open up with my MP5A and start gunning down the zeds. The survivor hesitates, looking at me, trying to figure out if I'm hostile or not; then runs next up next to me as he realises the zeds are dropping and he isn't. We get most of them but I've by now run out of ammo on both weapons, kill count is now at 46 or so and they're still coming. We make a mad, semi-strategic dash down to the camp, trying to find guns and ammo. We succeed, and gun the rest down. In the moments that follow I try to communicate, but he doesn't reply, probably can't understand, but we've formed a temporary alliance. We both go about checking the individual tents, watching eachothers back, then the worst happens. The zeds respawn. He picks up another and panics; I'm bunkered in a tent. He runs, zeds follow. Zeds glitch through the tent, run over me, break my legs. THAT'S when they notice me. I unload what remaining ammo I have, but it's a pointless gesture, I'm swarmed.

Encounters, I've found, are 50/50, better to slip away when you can.

[LeYuno (DayZ) 51]

I've never been killed by survivors to date, but I only started playing a couple of days ago so it might be that most I've come across were just as new as I was. Came across two others that were shooting wildly at zombies near a barn where I just passed by. I let them go, as I was in the mountains and only had the standard handgun you start out with.

[Weejus 0]

Been murdered countless times for no other reason than "I needed ammo" which I would have shared, and "Shits and giggles"

[Cooper42 0]

Long term survival is far from pointless -if- as a lone survivor you can find a decent spot for a tent.

The ability to move about unseen on your own makes for great advantages above others.

Many a time have I seen other survivors in villages, towns and airfields and announced myself first to then work with them. The other day I managed to get a random stranger to use one of the blood packs I had to give me a transfusion...

This is all possible by starting with the upper hand. Bandits will use that upper hand to shoot on sight, survivors will use the upper hand to make contact on their own terms.

The major reason, however, that so many bandits are trigger happy is the easy abuse of disconnecting. As it stands, if you ahve the upper hand, it's easier to shoot than to talk. Because if you take a few shots and miss, and they start to return fire, you can just disconnect...

If bandits didn't have the safety net of Alt+F4, then I'd wager we'd see a lot less shoot-on-sights...