I think I'm not playing the game correctly.

[ParagonXVIII 4]

Recently I feel as though I have not felt as immersed as I first was in DayZ, I know how to abuse the zombie attack animations to favor my advantage, I've learnt if I run inside a building and I'm being chased I'm pretty much going to be fine, I've learnt that from experience to always shoot on sight if I don't know who they are as I know for a fact they will do the same as I think people feel the risk is to high to trust someone so it would be easier just to pop them (Which is not cool!) Not only do I not feel as immersed I don't feel connected to my character anymore but more towards the loot I've found, I don't want to die because I really don't want to run all that way again and have to find all my gear but really I should be worrying about my characters story ending as I feel that's the way the mod was intended to be played.

tl;dr not scared of zeds, shooting players on sight, immersion is slipping, need help getting it back.

[sverath 0]

I just think your perspective on the game is different than how you thought it was at the start, that's understandable. Try being more of a scavenger, playing stealthier. I usually scavenge for a set amount of time in a city, then head back to the woods to scout out other towns. Pretend like you want to be a shadow, and not trying to draw alert to yourself. Now i'm not sure if you've trusted someone before and they end up backstabbing you, but I wouldn't just assume everyone is a bandit; yesterday a group of 6 of us got together and we pretty much raided several towns together, it felt great.

[dallas 5195]

Next time you play, attempt to never shoot first. Whenever you see another player, place yourself near some solid cover and gauge the other player's reaction. Rather than engaging automatically on sight, try to defuse potential confrontations.

You'll probably encounter plenty of playerkillers, but don't deny yourself the rare pleasure of helping a new player or joining forces with a stranger for a while. Whether it's just a short moment, looting a store together without killing eachother for whatever little loot or it's teaming up for a journey into the northern territories.

Anyone can kill anyone, but the hardest shot you ever have to make, is the one you don't take.

[instagoat 13]

I think the game shapes the player, as much as the players shape the game. At some point, everything runs into a deadlock, where a sort of status quo settles in.

The Zombies are not dangerous. Other players are. Surviving alone isn´t challenging enough, so people have a lot of time to spend elsewhere. Most apparently spend it on killing each other.

The concept of the mod is great, it just has a few rough edges that need to be taken off. Right now, I don´t see it being enjoyable in the long run. It´s still alpha, though, so everything is still in flux. I´m pretty sure the devs have a couple of aces up their sleeves in the future :>