Lag lag lag- shit shit shit someone is shooting at me!

The  side city was a bust. I was barely able to breach the outer edge before my game was overcome by crippling lag. Texture bugs plagued the entire experience as DayZ desperately tried to load Low Quality textures in one moment and High Quality the next. It truly and completely sucked.

I managed to fix the worst of it by cranking up my settings to a higher quality which allowed me to flee the town. I had visited other cities without lag but there must have been something especially buggy about this one. I decided to leave the way I came back. The entire side trip cost me several bandages and most of my food as I kept getting jumped by zombies in the laggy confusion.

In doing so, I also suffered an arm fracture. Shit.

I only knew of one medical center within a 10 minute walk from my position. I tried to look at my compass to confirm which way I was heading but the most recent zombie attack reduced the innocent directional tool from Pristine to Ruined. I threw the useless scrap away and took off in what I figured to be East, South-East.

This entire trip was hectic. I was a little closer to the main road than I liked in en effort to avoid getting lost. I backtracked to the town I had previously staked out and managed to loot 39 more .22 rounds from the police station. Score!

On a whim I decided to check out one of the Gostinitsys and was glad I did as I found a pristine Long Range Scope. I had found three Mosins in about two days already and was sure this baby would come in handy at some point. Sure enough, I check the Administration building and found a Mosin on the floor.

The problem was, I already had an SKS with scope, a .22 rifle and a handgun in my backpack. I didn't want to ditch the SKS as I had 28 rounds between three clips... but I didn't want to abandon the .22 either as I had more than 90 rounds and two 30 round clips. As cool as a scoped bolt action rifle would be, I decided to leave it behind. I would probably get myself killed trying to use it, whereas I am much more comfortable with the .22

It feels good to be moving again. I had a certain sense of safety inside my little city. I knew where to expect zombies, where to camp out to avoid players, and a general sense of game stability. There was tons of food and lots of water. I could have lived there if not for the fact that it was more than a little boring.

While it did feel good to move, I also felt really exposed. My sense of control was now gone, and every zombie spawn meant taking more damage in an effort to pull out my hoe (I STILL haven't found an axe!!) or wasted bullets popping them with the .22

Slowly but surely, I was running out of bandages, food, and water... and my ARM was still fractured. Shit shit.

I finally break the tree line and end up where I expected, about half a kilometer from the hospital. I could easily see it from my vantage point... problem was, there were even more zombies and an even greater chance to run into another player (what I want most and least of all).

I stay in cover, going from bush to bush interspersed with mad dashes through no-man's-land. I was almost there when I get jumped by a military zombie. Either by lag or bad aim, I waste 7 bullets taking this guy down. I decide to pop inside the nearest building where my game is promptly dropped by the server. Upon relog, my .22 is gone.

Now, I feel a mixture of frustration and relief having lost the .22. Sure, I had tons of ammo for it and I had been carrying it for two days... but at the same time, having to constantly "Take a weapon into my hands" and having to drop said weapon every time I wanted to do something was really starting to get on my nerves. So I chalk loosing the .22 up to both good and bad fortune. I still had my SKS and I could easily rely on melee to dispatch any zombies. I decided to keep moving and not to dwell on my lost rifle.

I step outside and the wall exploded next to me with semi-automatic rifle fire.

I straight up bolt and run behind the building and make my way for a thicket. Three more shots, bang-bang-bang behind me. Not a single shot lands.

My heart rate is jacked and I shout back, "you motherfucker!" to no one in particular.

I make my way to the treeline and hump the dirt for a good fifteen minutes, SKS out. I scan the scene... nobody.

I wait for awhile... the phone rings in real life and I decide to log for about 20 minutes. I come back and decide that if I'm going to make a break for the hospital, now is my best chance.

I make my way under cover until I hit the clearing and full out sprint. My real-life heart was pounding despite the fact I sat lazily in my computer chair. I thought that I would be engaged in mortal combat at any second.

Nothing.

I stepped through the open door to the hospital and quickly closed all three doors. The tension is so high at this point that I feel the urge to urinate. I hold it in and frantically began to search for morphine and found some. One injection and my fractured arm was cured. If only real life was so simple. I wonder if they will make fractures/broken limbs more significant in later releases for the sake of realism?


The end of this session and I am back in player central. My sidearm is gone, I have one bullet loaded in my clip-less handgun (a one shot gut-gun in case I get robbed), and still no axe.

But I'm alive, hydrated, energized, and healthy...