The "Friendly!" Experiment

[Freust 20]

I believe it is worth mentioning that all of these storied that you are reading are 100% real.

So after seeing many people complain that very few people in this game are friendly, I have decided to start a big experiment, that spans Chernaurus, and even Lingor Island. During the course of my travels I met many players on a variety of servers, and every time I came in contact with each and every one of them, I saw a different reaction. The goal of this experiment is not to say that "Being a bandit is bad!!!111!", for it is not true, as PvP is part of the game that will, and needs to stay. It's here to show the following:

1) How do players react upon seeing someone.

2) How likely they are to attempt to communicate, and thus help eachother.

3) What happens when two players see eachother without expecting it.

So! Without further ado, the results!

1: The Balota "Lighthouse".

Server did NOT have side chat enabled.

Contact established using Direct Communication Voice Chat.

So I respawned near Balota airstrip one time. It was a very dark, moonless night. Naturally, the first think I did was run to the 4 deer stands to acquire weapons, and hopefully chemlights/Military Flashlight. The Bean Gods were smiling upon me, as I found an AKM with ammo, a Military flashlight and food + water. I decided to see if there is anything in the hangars. I pull out my military flashlight and start looking inside when I suddenly see a player in the ACT. At first I thought he didn't see me, as I wasn't pointing the flashlight at him, or in his direction. The player looked unarmed, but had a flashlight in his hands. I try to quietly approach the lighthouse to see if I could:

A) Establish Contact

B) Engage

While I am approaching the ACT, I suddenly see him turning on the flashlight on top of the tower, and then he proceeded to...spin in circles. Like a lighthouse. That's right, I think he did it for a good couple of minutes. I approached him whenever he was looking at the other side. When I came up to him, I noticed he had an AK-74 Kobra on him, but it wasn't loaded, as he told me that later.

But back to the story, I told him to identify himself, and he said that he was not looking for trouble. We started talking and I offered some supplies, which he declined at first, but accepted later. We both raided Cherno and Electro together, and at one point he offered me to switch to Skype. One moment later, we're chatting in Skype like we're old buddies. In the end, I have acquired a friend with whom I still play to this day, in both Chernaurus and Lingor. We've been everywhere, from Cherno to NW Airfield to Berezino. Helping each other out was an unspoken, automatic agreement, whether it was using a blood bag on eachother or sharing ammo.

At some point in time, he told me that he was actually a new player and didn't know what the hell to do until I came along. That may have influenced the fact that I didn't end up shooting at him. Nonetheless, I have acquired a friend, a comrade and a buddy that I can steal ammo from share some laughs with.

2: Cherno Shootout

The server did NOT have Side chat enabled.

Contact attempted via voice comm, but failed.

So me and my buddy from the first log have started looting cherno for food and hopefully Camo/Ghillie suits, when we suddenly see two players running near a bus that just spawned. I was the first one to see the two players, as my buddy was covering my flanks as we marched through the city. I attempt to call them over via voice chat, but the only reply I received were Winchester + Remington slugs. Fortunately, they were pretty bad shots, and I had the opportunity to pick them both off relatively easily.

I did feel some regret after shooting these guys, as I am usually a peaceful player. But we figured that they simply weren't willing to share the bus with us. Or were simply murderers, either one. The result of this experiment? A bus, but also two bodies on my hands. Very unfortunate.

3: Nighttime Lee Enfield Combat

The server did NOT have Side chat enabled.

Contact was made via Lee Enfield boolet™ in self-defense.

I was looting the barns near...Berezino I think? It was also very late at night, and even max gamma didn't help much. As I leave through the doors of a barn, I hear Makarov shots in my direction, and unfortunately I get down to ~4k blood. I instantly turn back, and panic-fired my Lee Enfield, hitting the guy in the head. Keep in mind, that this was BEFORE the LE nerf.

As I killed that guy, I was shaking. I do not engage in PvP often, and this was one of my scarier encounters in DayZ. I pass out from low blood, but fortunately only for a few seconds. As I quickly bandage myself and take painkillers, I hear a Lee Enfield gunshot fly right above my head. I decide to flank the man that was shooting me by going to the other side of the barn. Unfortunately, he picks on and for some reason switched to the Makarov and starts shooting me, bringing me to 1.8k blood. Luckily for me, I manage to graze him in the arm, putting an end to yet another bandit. Thus began my long restoration of health via beans (I did not find any animals at that time, so I camped Berezino grocery store lol).

The result? A murder and a bandit kill, along with some cool backpacks and some supplies that I lacked. But I still find it sad that people didn't even think about communicating with me, considering I had the exact, if not worse gear than them. Oh well.

4: One's a man, Two's a duo, Seven's an army

The server HAD Side chat enabled

Contact was made via Voice Comm and Side Chat.

This happened recently actually. We (me and my friend from the first experiment) were walking around the Southern Lingor Airfield at Calamar, when I saw a player run nearby. He was unarmed, so we attempted to establish contact. It was a success, so we started looting the airstrip, the three of us. Then we stumbled upon yet another couple of players, who joined us, despite being superior to us in every way shape or form. (They had Machineguns vs. our AKM's, plus they were kitted out to the max, gillie and everything). All of us have decided that ArmA 2 chat is only going to get us so far, so we decided to add eachother in Skype and communicate that way.

Turns out, they had some friends playing DayZ as well, so they talked a little and two more joined our little squad. I was grinning like a Cheshire cat at that point, as I thought I did the impossible, assembling a 7-man squad entirely using the tools the game provided. We ended up relaxing a little bit and just engaging in random nonsense and PvP. I still have people added to this day, but we don't play often now. We even had a guy find a Tractor, which was hilarious because the dude was driving it around the airfield like nobody's business until his fuel ran out. He also alleged that he was attempted to be killed with some kind of .50 cal rifle, but I cannot confirm that. All I know is that we all were alive and enjoying the Survival and FUN aspect of the game.

This is perhaps the biggest feat I've ever pulled off in DayZ, and while I befriend many more people in the future, I doubt I will ever manage to find THESE kinds of friends.

5: Lingor ATV, also known as three players two seats

The server HAD Side chat enabled

Contact was made via Side Chat and Voice Comm.

So I am walking around Calamar in a (so far) futile attempt at getting a compass, when I spy a player running near the factories. I could have killed him with my M14, as he was only ~100 metres away, or try to establish contact. As I approached the factory he was in the guy ran out of one of the rooms and immediately started calling out "Friendly, Friendly!" via Voice chat. We start talking, I ask him if he needs any supplies or blood, to which he says no. He told me that he had a buddy on Skype and that he was also nearby. After getting together, they ask what am I looking for in this city. I replied that I was looking for a backpack, since I had a crappy Czech bag. They agreed and we start looting nearby buildings to attempt to find me an Alice pack.

That's where things get interesting. We climb on top of a roof and one of the guys with an M24 spots an ATV somewhere up on the hills. His buddy offers to get it, while we overwatch, so we do. It's at that time that an explosion goes off somewhere in the city, so I offer to investigate. I run towards the source of the sound, and decide that high ground is a good option to see around me. Shortly after I climb up on the roof of one of the factories, I spot two players, kitted out with Coyote BP's and pretty good rifles. It looks like they aggroed at least 20 zombies around the building they were in, so I had an option, once again. They were completely oblivious to me, and two M14 shots could have netted me some nice gear and two murders. But the thing is, they ID'd as friendlies in the Side chat, so I merely try to play around by scaring them.

It's at this time that an explosive went off right near their building. The guys proned faster than I've ever seen, and decided to lay in hiding. I still had LoS on them, and the opportunity to acquire some good gear was getting even better.

But I didn't. I threw a smoke grenade at them, just for laughs. They obviously freak out and earn me a few giggles. Now, remember the guy with the M24? That's right. He shows up and shoots twice killing both of them. He later explains that he thought I was engaging them since he saw me throw the smoke grenade and just looking at them with an M14 at the ready. He apologized and the guys forgave him. No biggie. But when we went to recover their gear, the corpses disappeared. Scumbag DayZ.

The time came to part ways, and a couple minutes later, the three of us come to the ATV to find that...The engine's crap. So we all spread out to find a replacement. I was the first one to find it, and we regrouped at the ATV again. Now, they didn't take off immediately, they spent some time storing guns and stuff. And at ANY point during that time I had an opportunity to kill BOTH of them AND get a fully repaired ATV with crazy gear. But I didn't. They thanked me, called me "A diamond in the rough", told me where to find an Alice Pack, and took off.

I could have ended up with four murders, an ATV and a crapton of gear. But I went against that will, no matter how strong it was. I wasn't about to ruin someone's day, and I think that murdering is just wrong and plain frustrating, even in a 'vidja game. Don't worry, fans of killing, I've had to kill multiple people during my time doing this experiment, and I'll be more than happy to share with you.

6: "He gave me "that" look

The server HAD Sid chat enabled

Contact was not established using Voice, text or Side chat.

I am at Calamar once again looting one of the residential buildings when I spy a player on top of the schoolhouse. And by the top, I mean the VERY top, all exposed and ripe for picking. Noticing him, I decide to get into the open and attempting to communicate with voice comm. Little did I know that this scoundrel here was nothing but a lowly bandit. He looked in my direction and aimed down sights using his AK-74. Fortunately, my reaction time was faster than his, and I emptied seven M14 bullets into his body. One second later, he collapsed, giving me a murder.

Now, usually, I really dislike killing people, unless it's for some REALLY good gear. But this time, I felt absolutely no remorse. This man was about to shoot me, and he could have easily killed me, since trying to flee into an ArmA 2 balcony doorway is impossible without staring STRAIGHT AT IT. This man had no loot of interest to me, but I felt a little happy that one more bandit is dead. He was kicked by Battle Eye seconds after this little battle, thus adding further humor and insult to injury.

7: A DayZ hero will die healing, and won't ever shoot back an innocent.

The server HAD Side chat enabled

Contact was established via Side chat + Voice comm.

So I enter a grocery store in order to stock up some food and hopefully find a sodding compass. As I enter the store, I spy a player, back exposed, just screaming "GET A FREE MURDER!!!111". I decide that establishing contact would still be a pretty good idea, but the gods of Karma decide to put on their trollfaces. As I try to talk, my finger slips on the fire button, unlouading a bullet right above his head. To add more insult to injury, I attempt to crouch since I though that any attempts to communicate will not work. Guess what? I press the Vault key instead. For two seconds, I was exposed, his winchester able to kill me easily. I was telling him in voice chat that I misclicked, and through some kind of sheer luck, he decided not to shoot me. We both talked a little, and as an apology, I guide him to the man with an AK-74 that I killed in the previous experiment. I apologized again, cursed myself for my clumsiness and we parted our ways.

What truly amazed me is that any other player could have used the opportunity to attempt to receive some pretty awesome gear. Yet instead, he decided to spare me and share some loot, including beans. This man, I had to repay for his kindness. He did not have a hero skin, but if any man deserves it, it would be him.

Update: Another 2 experiments added. Enjoy! Field Friendly Freust out! By the way, why does me pressing backspace in the middle of a sentence deletes an entire line? Really infuriating :@

Edited September 22, 2012 by Freust

[Tarkastio 38]

Neat stuff. Glad to know there are more people than the ones who shoot everything that moves on sight.

[Lefroy Jenkins 32]

This is great idea, and we should all post about encounters like these. So far I've met two friendlies, one a russian gentleman who was using the same tactic as I do, calling out before entering a building, and the second was a reforming bandit who fired at me, then called out friendly and apologized for the hasty fire.

Each time we went our separate ways, mainly because my play style is kind of dangerous for those around me. :) I like to tear ass through towns once i have an axe.

Is there already a "shout-out" thread to give recognition to the players who DON'T KoS? If not, maybe we should have one.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

I recently brought my 27 day mountain man down into civilization for the first time, and was promptly murdered by an unseen assailant.

I then decided to try to make contact through side chat with other like minded regulars on this low pop server.

I geared up with the basics and soon found myself near a construction site while people began searching for vehicles. Just as I am loading an engine, fuel tank, scarp, and glass into my inventory, one player proclaims that he has found a bus!

I tell him that I have the parts, and we quickly meet up.

Then we realize neither of us has tools!

Again I reach out in chat, and another player says he has tools but would like a ride on the now "party bus".

2 more players on the server express interest in joining our group and we were 5.

What to do?

Raid NWA!

Approaching from the South, just outside of Navoy Sobor when we are all instakilled by a hacker!

We all respawn and sprint towards our remains to find.... the hacker left a box!

I was able to get all of gear back, plus some extra items.

Now we have EVERYTHING, and the bus is intact.

What to do?

Level buildings at NWA with satchel charges!

^^^Humming sound in audio. (Problem recently solved, likely a ground loop.)

Friendlies DO exist!

[fatherjohn 143]

I love that the first player was spinning with his flashlight inside the lighthouse. Dude was totally tripping balls on acid.

[Bludy 324]

i don't trust randoms very much, but playing friendly makes you encounter a lot of people who don't shoot and it's everytime a big emotion, instead of the emptyness feeling of being shot and killed by unknowns..

[dsi24 227]

If more and more people started being friendly (especially with newbies) it would spread just as shoot on sight did way back after first release.

People only shoot on sight because they always get shot on sight :)

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

I find side chat certainly has it's advantages.

[MitchRan91 25]

Side chat does make it a lot easier to see who's friendly or not

[andrewmont 91]

Not had many friendly encounters. Sometimes I have but they didn't talk so I didn't really trust it and left them. Did have one where I found A German guy in a building, we both just had starter gear so we went to stary then the NWA and got ourselves better kitted out was fun tagging along with someone but most of the time I've just been solo.

[tightbyte 0]

A great read. I'm one of those who by far prefer to play DayZ for the people I meet and the many different kinds of interaction that can come out of it. I'd very much like to keep reading about your adventures.

[thelonewarrior 886]

We had a great run on lingor once, had 4 of my clan and 5-6 random survivors join us throughout the day

If you skip to about 8:25 thats when we meet the first surviviors not part of our orignal group, the first 8mins are us driving around picking up our own clan members

We accidently ran him over, but he was alive so we patched him up and before you know it everyone else on the server is wanting a pickup (SIDE CHAT IS ENABLED) as they see a large friendly group emerging and probably figure its safer in numbers

We lock down the airport and set up a safe haven to bring people in and load up on gear and weapons which all the new people coming in to join our group like a lot

Edited September 20, 2012 by Regulator Lone Warrior

[jason_m_perry@hotmail.com 38]

Being friendly happens and I think that really is part of having side chat enabled. I rarely found any friendlies on Chernarus even trying to communicate via direct, but on Lingor I have found friends a few times.

I did find a repairable chopper just last night and got her going only to pick up a guy that had a difficult death to another player. I found this via side chat. We flew all around and hit some downed chopper etc. Eventually I invited him to my ventrilo and we both decided to play together over the coming days.

His story was very similar to mine having a lot of friends playing DayZ in the beginning only to it being himself playing nowadays. Nice playing solo sometimes, but with a friend is always nice too.

[Freust 20]

Whoa, I didn't expect all that many people to actually read the thread. Well, it's awesome!

I'm glad to see positive feedback, and even some stories of your own. I am going to school now, but as soon as I get back I will add more of my encounters. I will also add YOUR stories as well!

[Tyratops 11]

Weird, a few weeks ago, I logged out in the ACT on NWA one night and when I played again the next day, I logged into a blown up ACT. :P

[DemonGroover 8836]

After i had just gotten my fully geared up character killed by hackers 10 seconds into spawning onto a low pop server i decided enough was enough. I would now just stick to the coast and meet people - if i died, so what?

I logged into a private hive, found myself a hatchet and proceeded to run up and down the coast. I quickly found a Ghillie suit and a vehicle which just needed fuel and one wheel. After many hacking adventures with zombies (much more pleasurable than bullets) i found the required fuel and wheel and proceeded to fix the car up.

In all this time i had yet to bump into any players at all. It was nearing the end of the night and i was looking for someplace to hide my car when i thought, stuff this i'm going to make some noobs day.

I drove down to the coast again and soon found a trail of zombies chasing a hatchet carrying player running down the centre of the road. Had to be a noob.

I drove over a few zombies and then did my best handbrake turn (without using a handbrake) right in front of the noob - it must have looked bad ass as i screamed "Get in!" He got in and shat himself as he'd never seen a Ghillie suit before.

We drove off and further down the road i stopped and told the guy to get out. He must have thought his time was up. I exited, turned to him and said the car is yours. The guy must have been about 12 because he screamed in delight and thanked me no end. I disappeared into the forest and logged out.

For most of my DayZ life i had shunned others like the plague but now i am going to try and seek out players, especially noobs, and show them that not everyone is a complete bastard.

Unless you trespass in my Cherno apartment - then i'll shoot your face.

[Freust 20]

Thanks for posting everybody, it's nice to see some of your stories, for they too contribute to the "Friendly!" experiment. I have added quite a large story to the OP, go ahead and read it.

Also, I think I'll tinker with the thread a little bit, make it look nicer, have some more descriptions and whatnot.

[Steak and Potatoes 13480]

I met german and befriended him he has a thick accent and is utterly insane not sure why he didin't kill me but after playing with him for a few days now all i ever hear is yaaaa deezzzzz guyzzzz ovaa heeeaaa guyzzz heeaaaar and blam he shoots everything and is constantly drunk online. Friendly to me fight or flight every other time i see him also did i mention he is crazy he sits in the middle of cherno killing zombies and until he runs out of ammo throws the guns in the market goes to firehouse repeats process all while yelling haaaa haaa zeeezz dang zombiezzz yaaaa you see that hahahahaha i own ze cherno? one more story we had a group of five guys german was murdered by a sniper while we were all in the factory at elecro german reenters after some time with hatchet asking where his body went his friend replies i buried so no one could get your gear. German replies oyaaaa huhhhh give me that back pack then aaahhh chops the dude to shreds with all of us there we patched him up and clamed the german down.

[Lefroy Jenkins 32]

If more and more people started being friendly (especially with newbies) it would spread just as shoot on sight did way back after first release.

People only shoot on sight because they always get shot on sight :)

Well said. I've only ever taken so much as a single hatchet swing at another survivor - it was a panic move as he was shooting me in the face. I called out on direct comm to let me be, I would kill the zeds and be on my way. He let me kill the zeds, then capped me in the back of the head.

[Freust 20]

Updated thread with two more experiments. The last one is probably one of the most interesting I've ever had an opportunity to conduct.