Universal "First Contact" Protocol.

[Time Glitch 453]

Alright, this is a crazy idea, but I think we need to start somewhere. There's simply too much killing going on, and not enough trust. This can't be helped by the nature of the game, but perhaps there's some way we can help ease the tension and learn to trust our fellow survivor a little bit more.

Basically, this is a system I've devised to have survivors meet on neutral and non-hostile ground in the hopes that they can cooperate in the future. I'm of course willing to take suggestions, or you guys can come up with another sytem that's 20x better than mine. My point is, we survivors need a code of conduct for first contact that both parties can agree and be happy with.

Okay, so here it goes:

Preface:

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All of these steps must be agreed upon by both survivors, or the situation will be considered hostile. Breakage of any of these steps will result in the situation being considered hostile, and grounds for opening fire.

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You've made contact with a survivor, maybe exchanged "friendly"s. You don't know what to do next. You might not even know where this person is.

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-Agree to meet indoors or in a sniper-blind spot. Indoors, behind a rock, etc. This reduces the risk of traps.

-If both survivors have rifles, they must be lowered and pointed away. If you or the other survivor does not have a rifle, they must aim their pistol at the floor and use their Alt key to see where they're going. Double tapping Alt will lock your gun down and allow you to free look.

-Following up with the previous point, both parties must enter the neutral ground walking sideways.

-Both survivors must enter the meeting space standing upright and walking. This will allow for a quick escape if things go badly.

-Once visual contact has been made, it must be maintained by both parties until the end of the exchange. Any attempt to break line of sight or getting behind the other player will be considered a hostile action.

-Each movement or action will be dictated before performed. Not stating that you're going into your gear or switching weapons is considered a hostile action.

-At this point, what you do is up to you. If you feel safe enough, you might want to consider dropping weapons and talking for a bit, or trading supplies/information. The point is, you've met on neutral ground and are able to open a dialog without fear of being shot.

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Here's my logic behind the system:

The indoors aspect is to deter the "baiting" tactic that some bandits like to use: Put a fresh spawn out there and then snipe whoever's trusting them. Meeting with guns down and to the side ensures that if someone has the intent of shooting you, they must both turn and raise their weapon to fire upon you, giving you a heads-up and a chance to run away or return fire. Standing is necessary because you can quickly move to sprint and get out of there if need-be.

Dictating action is a good sign of trust, because you won't be surprised by any action the other player is making. Tensions will be high, and considering any breaking of the rules will be considered a hostile action, dictating your actions will be good for easing that tension.

This is not something that can catch on overnight, but if you guys come up with a better system or would like to use this system, I suggest an opening phrase that lets other survivors know you're in on the know of the First Contact protocol.

One of my favorite little details of the Halo universe was the secret phrase that every Spartan II used as an "all clear". The exchange would go as follows:

Initiator: "Oly Oly Oxen Free!"

Response: "All out in the free, We're all free."

So if you ran across another survivor, you'd open with "[survivor name] Oly Oly Oxen Free!". If the other player knew the proper response, they would say "All out in the free, We're all free." A bit like an advanced Marco Polo. From that point, you'd initiate the first contact protocol.

This might be a tad bit complicated, but I think it's better than the "Friendly" nonsense that's quickly becoming outdated. In all likelihood, the survivor you run across will not know the protocol, so you ask them if they're willing to meet on certain terms and explain it to them.

At the very least, you might run in to at least one other person who understands the code. That alone might do wonders for your trust.

What do you guys think? Good idea? Horrible idea? Give me some of your ideas, as I think a standardized First Contact protocol is very much needed in this game.

[demazi99 1]

Or you cand do as a dude just did with me.

It was a survivor.

-Sees me inside a building from the same building. I'm gearing up.

-Shoot in the head.

-I die.

Seriously makes sense how many bandits are out there, it is just cheear advantage being one.

[Time Glitch 453]

Or you cand do as a dude just did with me.

It was a survivor.

-Sees me inside a building from the same building. I'm gearing up.

-Shoot in the head.

-I die.

Seriously makes sense how many bandits are out there' date=' it is just cheear advantage being one.

[/quote']

Yeah, being a "shoot everything that moves" bandit is pretty much "easy mode" compared to what we survivors have to deal with.

This is all in an attempt to make the trust part easier.

[mikyjax 3]

Yeah, that s about all i do instinctively :)

Exept In most of the case it ends in:

"oly oly ...HOLLY SHIT!!!"

:)

[ellocoremolacha 1]

I dont know i trusted in two people, one shoot me in the back but didnt killed me.

And with the other one we were repairing a car and when we finished he sooth me and stole the car, so now im a bandit, not a "i will hunt all the survivors" just a "get to close to me and i will kill you, leave me alone and i wll leave you alone"

[clever 12]

I like this general protocol, it could become on a universally agreed on kind of protocol. Therefore if someone disagrees to do it, you know that something's up and you should probably steer clear of that person.

[Time Glitch 453]

I dont know i trusted in two people' date=' one shoot me in the back but didnt killed me.

And with the other one we were repairing a car and when we finished he sooth me and stole the car, so now im a bandit, not a "i will hunt all the survivors" just a "get to close to me and i will kill you, leave me alone and i wll leave you alone"

[/quote']

That's a real dick move: Have someone help you repair a car and then shoot them...

This system won't prevent that kind of thing, but it might help trades and brief encounters. You can't ever counter a betrayer.

I like this general protocol' date=' it could become on a universally agreed on kind of protocol. Therefore if someone disagrees to do it, you know that something's up and you should probably steer clear of that person.

[/quote']

Exactly. If they don't agree to everything, you probably don't have good intentions.

[ulanthorn 0]

I don't see any chance for nonhostile encounter as long as direct VoIP is not working right.

All kind of encounter procedures involving move sideways and poitn here or there are not practical and problematic at best....text is no way of fast situational clarification...I got shot typing most of the time when i was naive enough to even try.

[Time Glitch 453]

I don't see any chance for nonhostile encounter as long as direct VoIP is not working right.

All kind of encounter procedures involving move sideways and poitn here or there are not practical and problematic at best....text is no way of fast situational clarification...I got shot typing most of the time when i was naive enough to even try.

Yeah, I think this is all dependent on voice communication working. Did it break in an update or something? I saw Direct comms all the time on older DayZ videos.

[ulanthorn 0]

VoIP works on rather empty servers...it seems that it ceases to work as soon as there are more then 30 players. Some servers have it deativated by default.

[lemonsoup 0]

I think its much too complicated, but at the end of that day I have had a lot of luck with simply trusting people.

My own tactic is to get into an elevated, hidden position and say 'Person X, I am in the field to your south, low on blood. friendly?' Of course, I am on this hill to the north and if he raises his weapon and runs to the field I can safely pop him. Otherwise, I have met far more survivorbros than backstabbers.

Having an elongated and cumbersome protocol that not everyone will be familiar with is just asking for trouble. The percentage of bandits is actually pretty low, the only thing that is causing this shoot-on-sight mentality is the assumption that every second person is out to kill you. If you have that mindset, just avoid encounters all together, rather than popping them 'just in case' and becoming one of those you hate the most.

[dallas 5195]

First step for any friendly player is to find solid cover upon contact.

[weemadando 0]

Yeah, putting yourself in a position to have the drop on them or be able to exfil quietly, then giving some misleading info to test reactions is a winner. Often this can take multiple steps, each time assessing the response and looking out for any flanking forces or snipers before committing to a meet.

Only one player made it to the meet stage so far and that was me being relatively desperate and needing to risk it in Cherno.

Thanks to Panatox for proving trustworthy.

Many others I've watched for anything from 1-15 minutes trying to judge if it's safe to even initiate a contact.

I'm playing stealthily. If it means hiding in long grass and dumping my pack temporarily to reduce my silhouette then I'll do it and let you pass by. But be sure that I've got a M9SD on your dome.

Thus far I've managed to not kill another player and only needed to cap a dozen or so zombies simply by being cautious and stealthy.

[Nate (DayZ) 7]

It pleases me to see you making an effort to ease things as far as 'shooting on sight', but I highly doubt this idea will work. Maybe when direct chat is sorted out and they remove the pesky global and side chat, until then, your best bet is to just wait for the mod to develop further. That's what me and my two friends are doing. We have plenty of good ideas that we want to try, but it is near enough impossible or pointless to try in the mod's current state.

[trichome (DayZ) 198]

I'm sticking with avoid everybody at all costs. Has done me good upto now. Havent been killed yet by a bandit or survivor. Maybe if direct comms is working I might attempt to team up with strangers but tbh I don't trust anybody so that's probably doubtful :)

[DrTyWords 0]

I'm sticking with avoid everybody at all costs. Has done me good upto now. Havent been killed yet by a bandit or survivor. Maybe if direct comms is working I might attempt to team up with strangers but tbh I don't trust anybody so that's probably doubtful :)

Exactly. I don't trust anyone either and there is absolutely no reason to. I am surviving on my own. There is a high likelyhood that if a person is asking for help, he is either not alone or not in any danger.

I watched a bandit for probably 20 minutes yesterday from the northwest hill overlooking Zelenogorsk. He was hurt. Had been attacked by zombies at least twice during my recon. I told him to loot the barn on the hill to the southwest and move south or I would kill him. He tried to bait me. Saying I just need help can you please help me? I said no I don't want contact. He continued to plead for help even though I had told him if he didn't comply I would shoot. Of course I didn't Have sniper capabilities although I could have ended him from cover and in silent bliss if he got anywhere near my position.

All the while another survivor who could easily read the conversation I was having with the bandit (Remember I told him I wanted to have no contact with anyone) Thought it'd be a good idea to sneak up behind me and say hello. He was riddled with bullets and hemmoraging as he ran down the hill and disconnected. His name was DocHolliday by the way. Shouldn't have did that Doc sorry about the bullet wounds, oh and you owe me 6 mp5sd you clock punching pussy.

[Mangles 1]

the best sign I have seen that you can visually show someone your friendly is the QE dance. Hitting Q then E then Q then E ect ect.

You can't get head shot easily because of the movement, and even torso shots take a little more effort, and its really easy to see and identify. Helps a lot if you are in a city and you don't know if the guy you just saw responded with friendly or not.

[Khaan 2]

When someone stares at me fore more then 5 seconds... hes most likely typing so i shoot them... thats my universal greetings..