Arma II: Dayz

[Scotty]

DayZ is a zombie apocalypse mod for Arma II.  I'm finding it equal parts frustrating as well as exhilarating to play.  Essentially the concept is that you spawn on the map with nothing aside from a bandage, a flashlight, and other random pieces of gear that, by themselves, don't guarantee your survival.  You have to scavenge for gear; be it a firearm, hatchet, crowbar, anything that can be used as a weapon, otherwise you are powerless to defend yourself against zombies and other players.

The reason it is so exhilarating is due to the fact that it's perma-death.  If you die, you start over with a brand new character.  You don't get any gear back, you have to find your old body and hope it hasn't been ransacked by another player, or that it can be found at all (bug?).

It's still in alpha, and I can guarantee there are going to be plenty of people who dislike the game, either because it's too frustrating, or they don't understand the concept of an alpha release with all the bugs.  For me, perma-death is one of the most appealing features, even more so when everyone you meet is a god-$%&#ed-dick and wouldn't hesitate to kill you just because they can.  You have to be stealthy, or zombies and other players will kill you without hesitation.

The only downside to the PvP is that, in my opinion at least, its recent fame has attracted many more players, including many more dicks who play it as a CoD game with little to no regard for the survival aspect.  Sure, it's only natural that such a turn would occur, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Anywho, saw an article on Ars this morning detailing one of their columnists adventures when seeking out a dedicated medic in the game so that he could A - perform a blood transfusion on the columnist, and B - get his perspective on being a dedicated medic in the game.  There's some pretty effin cool stories in the article (risking the medic and his teammates lives to land a heli in a hot LZ to MEDEVAC a random dude who asked for help on the forums, as one example), and its seriously inspiring me to take the life up.  To quote the medic from part of the article:

?High-end players are looking out for me. There have been times when I have nothing, get a patient, and I hit a hospital with nothing, and come up to other players in need asking for help. There have been times that I don't want to run all the way to the coast and I suicide to get to the coast. People on server chat are like: ?Who killed you? We'll get them!??

Here's the article in full.

[Chaos]

That's interesting, cause a full-on medic is kinda what I was planning on trying for.  :P

[jackel1994]

Really great game, play it for hours at a time.

I wouldn't consider myself a dick, but I shoot on sight because I've been screwed so many times trying to be friendly. NEVER AGAIN.

Anyways let me  know if you want to play. (I don't shoot friends on sight :b just randoms)

[igufed]

I'm pretty spectacular at this game already and have only been playing for 20 minutes.

Ok, I lied, I'm awful, but, so far so good.  Once I manage to get any kind of item, I'll be happy.

@Jackel, I'd hop on Scotty's TS if you're looking for people here to play with.  While you were making this post, there was (and still is at this point) 5 of us playing on there.

[tehrozzy]

I've been playing this a fair bit since the beginning of the steam sales, and I have to say it's pretty amazing. I've managed to forge partnerships and ceasefires several times, and my main team is extremely cooperative. However, this medic life sounds good, and since Im normally the one helping out my team, I may just take it up.

[Lucifer]

If you guys are serious about becoming Medics, I recommend checking this out;
http://www.reddit.com/r/RedditRescueForce

I've come to the conclusion that I have to play Day Z in moderation. I have collected the items I require for survival so many times, then scavenged for items that I desire for further enjoyment and participation in late-game content just to be shot down and forced to start again. Each new life I become more impatient, less willing to prone and scavenge safely, more willing to charge into populated cities just to speed up the process.

You definitely have to play this game with some kind of goal other than "collect everything I lost last life," or you will become frustrated. For instance, my next goal will be to attempt humane banditry. I dislike the concept of conscienceless sniping from hilltops, instead I'm going to see what happens when I sneak up behind another player and yell "Freeze, don't move or I'll shoot!" into direct communications, then proceed to instruct them to drop their gun and their pack and leave. No doubt 99% of the time the player will instantly turn around and shoot me, or turn after an internal debate about their self-worth and capability to respawn, but I think they'd remember me.

Edit: Sort of like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P0Hhti6ccU

[Jake]

So last night was epic (and frustrating). It was me, Scott, Pwnage, and Nick, and we were traveling across the country side to Stary Sobor, which contains a large military camp with lots of guns and items. After an hour of scavenging barns and towns on the way, we finally made it to the outskirts of the military camp. On the north side of town is a long stretched hill overlooking it, and is often times occupied by snipers.

We moved in carefully. Nick in front, followed by Pwnage, then me and Scott. We get almost to the top of the hill when shots start ringing out. Nick is dead. Pwnage is stuck behind horrible cover, and Scott and I dive for the nearest rock. Shots keep flying, and I hear a grenade explode close by. Pwnage knows he is trapped, and soon gets shot and dies. Me and Scott did the honorable thing that anybody would do in that situation... We logged out.

I know many of us will frown on this next part, but it was necessary to exact revenge. We traveled to a better position on a different server and then re-logged in to the original server. I spawned in a forest about half a mile away, and perched myself behind a large rock. I was carrying a CZ 550 Sniper Rifle. Very loud, but packs a punch and has great range. Soon afterwards, one of the snipers that had originally attacked us makes himself visible. He comes to a stop in a crouched position. I steady my breath, knowing that I had to make this shot count. I pull the trigger while trying not to let my nerves effect my aim. The shot rings out, and I see the bullet hit his left leg. Unfortunately, he's still alive and runs back to his group. I stay focused for 10 minutes, not moving an inch. It had crossed my mind that they may have logged off at this point, so I move out from behind the rock to scan the horizon. Then, I see them... 3 or 4 guys laying prone on a hill, all aimed in my general vicinity but clearly not aware of where I was yet. I start shooting. Two of them run to different cover and try to peak out behind a rock. I shoot again and make contact, but somehow he survives and rolls back behind cover. During this time, the rest of the group spots Scott and starts raining fire down on him as he dives for cover.

2 minutes later, the shots subside, and I can no longer make out their location. Me and Scott sit there for 15 minutes, scanning the hillside and our area for any traces of people, but we see no one. Then I hear Scotts voice through the headset "Is that a helicopter? Dude that's a freakin helicopter". In the middle of the field to the southwest, a fully functional helicopter is laying there completely unoccupied. We make the educated guess that it probably belonged to the snipers, meaning they probably haven't left the area yet. None-the-less, we saw an opportunity to obtain what few have obtained. After waiting a while longer to spot any individuals that might have tried to sneak back, we decide we're gonna try to steal that bitch. After some slight deliberation, Scott agrees to make a B-line for the chopper while I scan the hillside and provide cover fire. We do some quick planning and Scott begins his trek through the field while I vigorously keep watch. Soon, he approaches the helicopter and hops in the pilot seat. Unfortunately, however, he realizes it's completely out of gas. "Alright" I say, "lets head into town and get some jerry cans".

As soon as we start heading over, chaos erupts, but not in the form of enemy gunman. Everything goes foggy, then pitch black, and bright white. I should have known it was a hacker and logged off, but my confusion caused me to hesitate. All of a sudden, every single person on the server gets warped to one room. "Abort!!" I yell, but as soon as the words come out of my mouth I get shot and pass out while slowly bleeding to death. After realizing there was nothing I could do, I let myself die. Not exactly the way I wanted to go, but I had a fun time regardless.

Screw hackers.

[Scotty]

If you guys are serious about becoming Medics, I recommend checking this out;
http://www.reddit.com/r/RedditRescueForce

I've come to the conclusion that I have to play Day Z in moderation. I have collected the items I require for survival so many times, then scavenged for items that I desire for further enjoyment and participation in late-game content just to be shot down and forced to start again. Each new life I become more impatient, less willing to prone and scavenge safely, more willing to charge into populated cities just to speed up the process.

You definitely have to play this game with some kind of goal other than "collect everything I lost last life," or you will become frustrated. For instance, my next goal will be to attempt humane banditry. I dislike the concept of conscienceless sniping from hilltops, instead I'm going to see what happens when I sneak up behind another player and yell "Freeze, don't move or I'll shoot!" into direct communications, then proceed to instruct them to drop their gun and their pack and leave. No doubt 99% of the time the player will instantly turn around, or turn after an internal debate about their self-worth and capability to respawn, but I think they'd remember me.

Edit: Sort of like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P0Hhti6ccU

Why would they turn around 99% of the time you ask?  Because that silky smooth voice that you soothe my daily work-induced stressors away with would not just cause them to turn around and shoot you, but first beg that you whisper sweet nothings in their ear.

Oh yeah, and last night was by far the most heart-thumping experience I've had in the game thus far.

[Meiun]

The idea of this game sounds insanely awesome. I will most likely end up getting it, but I am slightly concerned about the whole hacker ordeal you guys mentioned. Are they a serious problem? The incident Jake reported sounded  pretty frustrating =/ If so, have the devs mentioned any plans to better the situation? If they even have intentions to remedy the issue then I'd probably still get it (it is in alpha after all). But if encountering cheaters remains a normal thing then i may reconsider.

[ARTgames]

Really would like the play this. Been hearing many things about this game.

[Scotty]

The idea of this game sounds insanely awesome. I will most likely end up getting it, but I am slightly concerned about the whole hacker ordeal you guys mentioned. Are they a serious problem? The incident Jake reported sounded  pretty frustrating =/ If so, have the devs mentioned any plans to better the situation? If they even have intentions to remedy the issue then I'd probably still get it (it is in alpha after all). But if encountering cheaters remains a normal thing then i may reconsider.

That was only time I've seen what we assumed was a blatant exploit of the game.  In all honesty even, we can't really say with 100% certainty that it was a hacker that caused it.  We encountered several eyebrow raising events throughout the evening as well, this one just resulted in Jake's death, and we're told that can't happen unless a hacker was to blame.  ;D

As I was having my freak-out moment in the seat of the Huey, I did look them up in the DayZ Wiki, and found the following snippet at the bottom of the article:

This vehicle is currently not in the game unless it is running an older version, any seen in newer versions are not legitimate, and should not be taken lightly.

Of course, I'm in the freakin' cockpit of a damn Huey, so eff the fact that it shouldn't be there, it freakin' is!  I shouldn't have taken that so lightly I suppose. 

[Titan]

I'm really torn on whether to buy this game or not, it sounds like a lot of fun!

[Jake]

As I was having my freak-out moment in the seat of the Huey, I did look them up in the DayZ Wiki, and found the following snippet at the bottom of the article:

This vehicle is currently not in the game unless it is running an older version, any seen in newer versions are not legitimate, and should not be taken lightly.

Of course, I'm in the freakin' cockpit of a damn Huey, so eff the fact that it shouldn't be there, it freakin' is!  I shouldn't have taken that so lightly I suppose.

I read that later and realized that should have been my first warning that something was amiss. Oh well. Fortunately, that is the first time in 40 hours of play that I've dealt with a hacker.

[Scotty]

Tonight was by far the most immersive and intense evening of game play for myself as well as three others:

The evening was approaching when I met up with Nick (Chaos' friend), Pwnage, and Lucifer.  I found them around a dam cooking up the meat they had scavenged off random rabbits roaming the green country side.  As I approach I mockingly site in directly on the rabbit, and fire a single shot from my bolt action Lee Enfield rifle in their direction.  They immediately disperse in fear of having a bandit sighting in on them from afar.  I emerge from underneath the tree that I was crouched underneath and poke fun at them for reacting in such a dramatic fashion.  After barbecuing their freshly hunted meat, we take off in search of Stary Sobor, a city miles ahead of us to the northeast.  Along the way I decided to challenge myself with this bolt action rifle to see how distant of shots I can make, and with what accuracy this fine work of craftsmanship it was designed with.  After attracting the attention of a few zeds along the way, I decided to test my riflemanship at an unsuspecting zed over a couple hundred yards away.   To my astonishment, the zombie crumbles like the bag of bones he is to his knees and then to his chest.  I exclaim to Pwnage the excitement I felt over how accurate my rifle is at long range, to which he looks down range, sees the body, and agrees with me at how impressive of a shot that was.

We continue on in our adventure to Star Sobor, all of us aware of what awaits us at our destination.  The city is well known for having an abandoned military encampment that is rumored to be stocked with military grade firearms, medical supplies, and more ammunition than one can hold.  That alone is the motivation we needed to press on through the forests, the ponds, and even the open fields where we could easily be discovered and picked off by a rival sniper should the enemy feel so brave.  Constantly I was challenged to see how far I could one-shot-kill unsuspecting zombies, not once missing my mark at distances well over a couple of hundred yards.  I keep my chin up at the praise given by my comrades.

As we press along on our journey, we frequented barns that often carry extra supplies that would aid us in our journey.  Supplies may include cans of beans, soda, ammunition, and if we're lucky, firearms.  Unfortunately the barns of mostly empty during our travels.  As we approach the final barn in our journey before reaching the destination, Nick calls out two zeds at our 12 o'clock, which is synonymous for me to take them out with my new-found impressive sharp-shooting skills.  As a take a knee within one-hundred yards and sight in, Lucifer finds it wise to also walk in front of my sights.  I remain calm, and say with my usual sarcastic tone "Hey hatchet-boy, you may want to move".  He counteracts my sarcasm by turning around and facing me.  At this point, I inadvertently find myself sighting in between the whites of his eyes, my heart beating faster with the concern that the zeds may spot us before Lucifer's common sense dominates his sense of sarcasm.

It doesn't.  He looks straight at me and mocks the autistic by exclaiming "durr" over and over again.  I merely shrug aside his sarcasm in favor of survival and wait for him to move.  He turns back around, thus providing me a shot directly over his shoulder, and at the upper-chest of the zed beyond.  I slowly squeeze the trigger with steadfast intent, only to see Lucifer turn back towards me.  To both our amazement, the shot goes off, directly in the chest of Lucifer.  He screams and falls forward onto his chest, blood spurting from his exit wound on the back.  I immediately run up, both scared for Lucifer's life, as well as scared for our lives.  The Lee Enfield bolt action rifle isn't know for it's silent gunshots, and has proven itself most attractive to surrounding Zeds.  As I approach Lucifer's body with the hopes of bandaging his wounds, Nick and Pwnage also approach, and we begin to find ourselves in a conundrum over who should bandage Lucifer's soon-to-be-dead body.  Eventually, within Lucifer's final breath, I apply a bandage, and we rush to the barn, hand guns at the ready, taking out any oncoming zeds.  Pwnage performs a blood transfusion for Lucifer, using a blood-bag his had acquired previously, saving his life.

Along with the rumors of great treasure, come rumors of great danger.  Our previous lives have taught us that Stary Sobor is a treasure among the mud of this zed covered waste land, and is often guarded by those who would rather see us suffer than enjoy in the riches that the city may provide.  Often are there people who would shoot at unsuspecting travelers for no more than the mere gain of an ego boost, and bragging rights.  We know this, thus we decide it is within our best interest to abandon the main road and move in from the far north east, as opposed to taking the road directly in.  Along our way in, I keep reminding people to reduce their firearm usage to mere emergencies.  Unfortunately my wisdom goes unheard as Nick continues to use his 12 gauge combat shotgun as though it wasn't the loudest weapon of all.  The closer we approach the city, the more nervous I get.  I abandon using my loud bolt action rifle, in favor of the trusty .45 caliber 1911 I acquired the night prior, in order to enact self defense with the various zeds we encounter in our descent on the city.  We stick to our path, approaching from a distance, and eventually come upon eye-sight of the treasured tents that hold the military weapons and supplies we seek.

To all of our surprise, Nick nearly steps on a person, lying in the grass.  He has donned a ghillie suit to disguise himself within the grass that he lays prone in.  I cannot see him, but I hear Nick exclaim that there is a sniper, and that he is standing directly behind him.  I scan my fellow comrades trying to determine which one of them is Nick, finally seeing the barrel of a high-powered sniper rifle sticking out from what appeared to be a low-rising bush, Nick standing behind it.  Nick calls out to the sniper from no more than two feed away "Surrender, or be friendly."  To this moment, I have no idea where the latter part of that bargain came from, as honor in this world is about as non-existent as human life.  The sniper is un-responsive past an initial twitch, and soon disappears from our sight, indicating that he would rather cower in fear, run away, then face the fact that we didn't have any intent of causing harm where it wasn't due.  Luckily for us though, we managed to pop off a few shots and loot some of his gear before he vanished from our eyes.

Now nervous of exploits, I urge my team mates to hurry and move in on the tents before the sniper re-appears in a different, and more opportune position to lay waste upon our efforts.  I volunteer to approach the tents first from the northern forest no further than a fifteen second sprint from the tents.  Before I approach though, I un-holster my 1911 and place a magazine worth of ammo in two zeds that waddle in my path.  As soon as I am clear, my comrades decide to join me in looting our treasure.  To all of our amazement, no one fires upon us as we traverse two rows of a two dozen cumulative tents.  I acquire a high-powered sniper rifle of my own, as does Lucifer.  Nick retains his shotgun, and Pwnage finds a Russian AK-74u, with plenty of ammunition to take out a bear.  After settling upon who gets what, we find it within our best interest to depart unscathed.

It is around this time that we receive contact from Chaos informing us that is is miles south of us, and is interested in meeting up.  Being that we got what we came for, we easily all agree it is within our best interest to move south in an attempt to meet up with him.  Along our travels, we all pat each other's backs over a job well done.  We accomplished what we came for, and even had enough left over to supply our comrade to the south, but our travels are not stress free.

We approach a city, and I hear Pwnage exclaim that he sees survivors below in the city that we are approaching.  His binoculars proved to save us from what could have been a bloody ambush, but luckily, we have the high ground.  Upon further patient examination, we discover that they are huddling around a broken vehicle, attempting to get it started and drive off.  The complication of course was local zeds in the city, as well as the lack of a front, driver side wheel that had blown.  Nick expresses his intent to steal the car, and rushes off.  With no option but to support his decision, the remaining three of us take up positions at the top of the northern hill.  Pwnage is screaming through our communication system everything he sees, be it blowing grass, leaves on trees, while Lucifer and I both silently scope in on the targets.  I immediately notice one thing, we may be in over our heads.  There are four well armed men in the city trying to get this vehicle working, and they are brave enough to do it when surrounded by dozens of zeds.  I fear for Nick's life, after our successes, and focus upon sighting in on the targets.  One thing is for certain, despite them not noticing us, in favor of survival from the zeds, they move fast, and frequent around buildings in attempts to ditch the zeds, making it very difficult to hit should I need to fire.  Should I need to fire, what a silly phrase in a dog-eat-dog world, but we all swore previously to only fire upon stranger survivors should they provoke first.  A dangerous rule of engagement, but we weren't out to kill others, we were out to make the best of our unfortunate lives.

Contact!  I hear Nick scream through the microphone, myself concerned too much with the rules of engagement to remember that I have a fellow comrade down in the city, and have lost sight of him.  I spot the first person that I know of to carry a combat-shotgun, luckily it being Nick.  He has one of the survivors quickly approaching his position, at the eccentrically painted house that he was using for cover.  I witness Nick swiftly moving to the breeze way as the only form of cover within reasonable distance.  He hides behind it, and I hear shots ring out to my left.  Lucifer got the beat on the enemy survivors before I could.  They shot first, that's the first thing that came to mind, and my rifle became a deadly weapon of engagement.  I quickly open fire on anything that moved, be it zed, or survivor, as long as the survivor wasn't carrying a shotgun, as that was the only indication I had of it being Nick from my great distance.  The enemy survivor quickly realizes his is well over his head in this encounter, and sprints off to find cover.  Nick as well has to relocate, and finds an adjacent barn to move into.  As he runs in, I hear him communicating back that he has a tail that entered the barn behind him, little good that does snipers on a hilltop hundreds of yards away.  He runs out the back door, and my sights immediately fixate on the exit that Nick just took.  I know they're in there, I know they're going to come out after him.  At our distance, the only sound they could hear was either the sound of dirt getting kicked up by bullets, or the sound of Saint Peter forbidding entrance beyond the pearly gates for instantiating combat by firing first.  Nick goes prone beside the door, also awaiting anyone to exit.  Sure enough, within seconds, Nick's tail exits the barn, well within sight of both Nick, Lucifer, and myself.  He never stood a chance. 

To be continued tomorrow.

[Chaos]

To be continued tomorrow.

And the best part is yet to come for our tale. :D