In game vs real life

[pulse89 0]

I have been lurking and reading the stories being told around the Bandit Campfire and although not one myself, I find the mentality of the bandits here interesting.

This lead me to one question. If this was a real life situation, how many of you guys would actually transfer the mentality you have in this game into real life i.e. shooting almost everyone you meet, intentionally luring people to their deaths for no more of a reason than "shit 'n' gig's"?

[imagelesskjc 35]

I'm a psychotic killer in real life... so yah. There's that.

[Jan (DayZ) 1]

Seeing as I'm a psycho ingame i would quickly begin to murder and rape my way through the world, eating beans all the way.

[SRTie4k 1]

Almost nobody would act the same, I can guarantee you of that.

And you're asking a question which nobody definitively has an answer to, simply because very few here have ever been put in that situation. Most people that play soldier games are keyboard commandos.

[dacaveboy@hotmail.com 6]

I think you would find that the vast majority of peeps who say "In a real life PA situation THIS would happen...." would commit suicide after a week without the internet. :P

I've lived in a disaster zone, albeit one that still had law and order, and as a whole the society banded together and got more supportive and helpful of each other. And while there was relatively widespread looting, there was no large scale serious crime for the benefit of oneself, despite people having little food, shelter or drinkable water. So while I do believe that bandit like behaviour would happen in a PA situation, it would not happen to the same extent as portrayed in fiction and the imagination of the vast hordes of bandit players in this game. Such antisocial psychotic types would very much be a minority.

Hell you only have to actually talk to these guys on TS to know that they aren't actual cold blooded like the characters they play in game, much much the opposite. Think of it as an extension of the keyboard warriors you see on internet forums.

I'm gonna get so flamed for that last bit. but really, don't subscribe to the "if this was real" mentality man, video games are escapism for most people, not true simulation (Despite that being Armas goal. Most day z kids aren't Arma kids) and for most people playing a bandit is their way of controlling a situation that seems uncontrollable and that they know they wouldn't be able to control so readily if it happened.

Im rambling, but you get the point.

EDIT: Argh im one of the people I mention in my first sentence! All in one post, arghhhhhh

[pulse89 0]

I know there's no definitive answer so it would be who THINKS they would transfer the mentality of it's better to be selfish and would befriend people with the intention to kill them the moment they no longer have any use for them.

[Kaw 23]

Its hard to say how one would act like in a real world situation similar to this, specially when it comes to killing Innocent for there loot an beans (=p). But one thing I do know with the right manipulation of your mind by making yourself believe one thing when your doing another is well very easy with practice...and one can do just about anything thing when they can manipulate their morals of whats right and whats wrong.

[ZeroGravitySE 5]

I think you would find that the vast majority of peeps who say "In a real life PA situation THIS would happen...." would commit suicide after a week without the internet. :P

I've lived in a disaster zone' date=' albeit one that still had law and order, and as a whole the society banded together and got more supportive and helpful of each other. And while there was relatively widespread looting, there was no large scale serious crime for the benefit of oneself, despite people having little food, shelter or drinkable water. So while I do believe that bandit like behaviour would happen in a PA situation, it would not happen to the same extent as portrayed in fiction and the imagination of the vast hordes of bandit players in this game. Such antisocial psychotic types would very much be a minority.

Hell you only have to actually talk to these guys on TS to know that they aren't actual cold blooded like the characters they play in game, much much the opposite. Think of it as an extension of the keyboard warriors you see on internet forums.

I'm gonna get so flamed for that last bit. but really, don't subscribe to the "if this was real" mentality man, video games are escapism for most people, not true simulation (Despite that being Armas goal. Most day z kids aren't Arma kids) and for most people playing a bandit is their way of controlling a situation that seems uncontrollable and that they know they wouldn't be able to control so readily if it happened.

Im rambling, but you get the point.

EDIT: Argh im one of the people I mention in my first sentence! All in one post, arghhhhhh

[/quote']

I think the difference between your RL scenario and a zombie-apoc is that people know eventually things will get better in your scenario and people tend to know this somewhere in the back of their mind, so being a rapist/murderer just means it'll catch up to you later and its not the world that is ending.

Where in a zombie-apoc, usually the whole world is dying, being either eaten alive, or killed by other people that fear that others will kill them for what little they have. NO ONE in this world has dealt with this scenario because even in total war, there is still somewhere else in the world that nothing is happening, and people are living peacefully.

So I would have to say that the majority of people would turn into bandits that don't have something they'd want to protect. Like a family, or wife, or something. Mostly based in morality where people who have things that bring them happiness usually want to share that with others.

For example. This game. We all shared it, now its popular :D People don't want to be alone, even though in a small minority they choose to be a lone, but overall I think deep down, no one wants to die alone, or be left alone. Some stronger than others, but majority being weak.

[Kaw 23]

I have to say ZeroGravitySE I really liked your answer specially the last paragraph, really well said.

[pulse89 0]

Its hard to say how one would act like in a real world situation similar to this' date=' specially when it comes to killing Innocent for there loot an beans (=p). But one thing I do know with the right manipulation of your mind by making yourself believe one thing when your doing another is well very easy with practice...and one can do just about anything thing when they can manipulate their morals of whats right and whats wrong.

[/quote']

My style of play with DayZ is very instinctual, I do what comes naturally to me. It actually takes a lot of concentration for me to go against it. I tried being a bandit once in game before and found myself helping another player without even thinking about it later on.

Boganova, I think the whole town thing would change things. Atm there are none so I guess it is easier to bandit while there are very loose groups with no actual authority. I wonder what banditing would be like if there was a large clan dedicated to law enforcement in game. Would make for some interesting shoot outs :p

[Swi1ch 39]

It's pretty much impossible to compare, game mechanics prohibit or promote certain unrealistic actions of players.

You'd probably see more co-operation, with survivors just avoiding other groups more than attempting to kill them, but that can be much more easily accomplished IRL with the ability to talk.

I do however think it's not unreasonable to assume that people would still kill each other, even those who would otherwise identify themselves as 'good' people. Survivors would secure ground and camp it, killing those who attempt to enter. The only difference here is that the ground camped would have some sort of strategic value, rather than just a random place.

Occasionally in DayZ you get to see some actions that I believe would actually happen in a real life scenario, such as an 'accidental' loss of a human who was a liability. He just 'stood up in front of me whilst I was firing', honest.

[lille_bingo-mannen 10]

I wouldn't kill anyone. Really.

[Broadside (DayZ) 1]

I suppose the only real way you can judge what people would do is to, well, not judge.

It's entirely likely that most of us, if not almost all of us would be zombie meat and those that would end up doing something would just do it. Speculation gets you killed in the apocalypse, instinct keeps you going.

[dacaveboy@hotmail.com 6]

Zerogravity i do agree with you, like I said my situation was quite different (For starters noone was coming back to life and eating people) but the biggest thing you noticed was that suddenly EVERYONE had something in common. It was a great levelling device. didnt matter if you were rich or poor, or where your family was from, everyone effected was effected and everyone had that in common. As a result people were a lot more open and caring towards each other in general. Suddenly you found yourself getting to know your neighbours and helping them with things like fresh water or whatever they needed.

Now if you look at it in context, a ZA would be more likely to make peeps form a strong bond, cause its an US VS them scenario. Everyone isnt just experiencing a common situation but has a common enemy. Sure, people would be more desperate, and as a result resort to greater measures of deprivation to protect them or their loved ones, but it would never get to the same sort of ratio as it does in game. The two simply wouldn't compare. Plus you would have pre-established community spirit as well, with existing communities carrying over into the disaster, as opposed to the whole starting off desperate and alone like in the game, forced to try and find friend and foe amongst who you stumble across.

Im not saying there wouldnt be bandit type activity, just not to the same extent that it is present in game.

[jonryan32@gmail.com 2]

I'd no doubt try and be as helpful as possible and work with as many people as I could.

I wouldn't hesitate to put down somebody that presented a threat to the security though.

But that isn't really that different then how I play in game. I'm not a ruthless bandit. I'll help people when I feel like it's safe enough to do so. I don't kill everyone on sight. I just take certain opportunities when they're presented to me.

[StrayWolf 1]

'Civilization' is a thin veneer...and an illusion.

If such an apocalypse were to occur...at first people would 'band together' thinking that tomorrow everything will go back 'to normal'. When things don't go back to normal and its obvious that this is the 'new normal' people will freak out much more so when the government isn't there to 'protect' them...

Then the shitheads will get the clue that they can rape, pillage and murder. Essentially prey on the weak and defenseless - which unfortunately is the majority of the world.

Sheep dogs will appear - first to protect themselves and then protect the defenseless. Its a natural chain of events.

The scumbags will eventually die off and/or run away if they do not have the numbers. Then some sort of new 'normalcy' will prevail - but nothing like pre-Apocalypse.

BTW...RL will be interesting soon enough.

[Guest]

I'm a psychotic killer in real life... so yah. There's that.

[Karko (DayZ) 2]

*text*

I agree with what he said.

I wouldn't be murdering everyone I saw on sight, probably try to secure supplies and fortify a single building hidden away somewhere. I'd try to keep a low profile and just generally avoid other people as opposed to actively hunting them down.