What makes DayZ special?

[Dr Wasteland MD 597]

I've been pretty active in this game and in the game community for awhile now, and what I ask myself more often than anything else is - what makes DayZ special?

When I started playing, at the insistence of my girlfriend, I saw what I think most people see - the most realistic approach to a zombie apocalypse that I'd ever seen. I saw people thrust into a scenario that, at first glance, seemed very realistic. On the one hand you have the danger - sickness, pain, death - but on the other hand you have people making experiences with one another. It was that potential for community that made me want to keep playing, even though I played (and still prefer to play) as a lone wolf.

When I decided to step out of the mold, it was because I wanted to enlighten people and make them realize that there is no one way to play DayZ. People would tell me, when I was learning, that I couldn't trust anyone. I was told to shoot on sight any other player I saw. I came to discover that that was merely one aspect of the game, but one that most players at the time saw as "how the game was played." To most people in those days, since everyone was essentially a bandit, you had to become one too in order to survive.

But what continues to surprise and excite me about DayZ is it's potential. I admire how the developers do not try to dictate how to play their game. Instead, they've created this world, and they let the community figure out how to play in it. The DayZ Dev team seems to have no real agenda - certainly a rare thing in our modern world. It would have been so easy for them to say "let's create less of an incentive for killing players," and indeed many people have called for something like this. But it takes real guts for Rocket and his staff to keep a distance from it all and just watch.

I guess what makes DayZ special for me is the freedom. And so I encourage every player to seek out new experiences that you may not have had before. After all, each and every one of us will hit that wall where we ask ourselves "what's the point in playing anymore? I have all the gear I could ever want, I have a car, I have a group of people to play with..." And I guess when you come to that point, just ask yourself if there is something you've never done, and if you think of something, put yourself, your equipment and your time at risk in search of that new experience.

Like me, you may be surprised at what you discover.

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

For me it's perma-death that is key. It's what creates the tension, it's what scares the crap out of you when you hear footsteps nearby. It's also what gives you the sense of achievment when you manage to stay alive for more than a few hours. If this wasn't compulsory or was removed, DayZ would be an entirely different experience.

Edit* - It's also the game engine. Yes it's flawed, but it's also pretty amazing when it works properly. Bring on the next one!

Edited August 14, 2012 by Fraggle

[Bobcomss 189]

I love the fact that this game can physically get my shaking, I love the paranoia it brings and I love the fact that an any moment you can be killed for no reason other then you are in the wrong place at he wrong time...

Being able to say... "Ok I am 2 hours in, I have to be doing something right"

The fact that every encounter is unique and there is no way of knowing how it will end.

All in all I love this game! :)

AJ

[ruffriderz_01@tiscali.co.uk 7]

you have my beanz

[hazzathealmighty 51]

For me it's the permanent death.

My heart beats a million miles an hour when I even glimpse another player, or I hear a gunshot.

I love this game

[plymouth_colony 10]

My heart beats a million miles an hour when I even glimpse another player, or I hear a gunshot.

According to the DayZ 31337 evangelists, this is the wrong game for you, because you're not afraid of Zombies. Your heart would beat without zombies as well. So you must be co called PVP and COD kiddie.

[joeoblong@yahoo.com 614]

It brings back the emotions and dreams of a 1997 me. Playing UO and wondering about the limitless possibilities of gaming? Yeah the one before all the carebear nerf herders arrived and ruined it! Rocket is returning some faith in gaming to me. I'll support him as long as he never gives those crying sacks of donor organs an inch.

[latster@gmail.com 4]

The relentlessness, the perma-death, the fact a sniper bullet could burst your head open from any angle at any time, the free open world, the paranoia and some of the most random shit you encounter out of nowhere.

[tinit 54]

the atmosphere and emotion that is created through perma death , military style tactics and weaponry , basic survival needs ...

[nano27 15]

I have never done this before on a forum... but

I stopped reading right here: "at the insistence of my girlfriend"

Can we trade?