Transfer stories from the DayZ Forum

(Here are my two transfer stories from the forum, comprising my first two posts since creating my account there)


I had pussyfooted my way around buying this game for awhile now before I finally bought it. Boy, am I glad I did.

I didn't really 'get' this game at first and actually felt like I had wasted my money after the first couple hours of gameplay. The learning curve combined with the unstable alpha feel is pretty unforgiving for the "bambi", as many of you call them. Once I got the mechanics down, I found it rather enjoyable to raid houses, chop wood, feed myself, stay warm: stay alive. The moment I learned how to open canned food with bladed weapons boosted my survival rate significantly, and actually made me shout out "booyah!" over a spilled can of imaginary "Tactical Bacon". I still didn't 'get' the game, though.

I didn't really concern myself with ranged weapons, figured everyone had taken all the good stuff way ahead of me anyway. Instead I focused on the life and death stuff, and after I had that down, I started getting the "what do I do now?/where the hell is everybody?" feeling. Dayz was really getting kind of lonely. Six hours in and on a 30 person server I still had not seen a single other survivor, and having only zombies for company was really getting on my nerves.

Then it happened.





"Hellllloooo", A stranger declared from behind me in a long and trailing voice,






I whipped around as fast I could. My heart was pounding, my axe out and ready. I responded without thinking,




"BACK OFF MAN, I DON'T WANT ANY TROUBLE".

The guy's reaction was priceless. He held up his arms and replied to my frantic plea, "woah woah woah buddy, be cool, be cool"

It was in this very encounter that I finally 'got' DayZ. The oppressive atmosphere had driven me into a simulated paranoia, that while subtle, flowed consistently beneath the current of the entire experience. Health, protection from the elements, food and water is one very controllable aspect in this game, the human element is not.

We talked a bit and he turned out to be friendly enough, and after a short while we raided a house together. My character was starving, and I greedily dove on each piece of fruit with a shout, "MINE!". We were very quickly split up  by zombies and I never saw him again. He must have died, oh well.

I was alone again... and I felt it.

Shortly thereafter, I was armed too.

I mean, really really armed. I found some spawn points lucked the hell out and scored three guns that fit some clips and bullets I had been carrying around, and while I felt safer in one respect I also felt a lot more exposed at the same time. I had not shot a single round in this game and had no idea how weapons reacted or the subtlety of reloading and inventory management, the realism of the game really began to sink in at this point. If this were real life and I had "scored" some weapons, I would be in the exact same position. I know how to basically shoot and operate firearms, but can I risk range testing them?

It is a strange feeling to find a weapon in this game and never know if you will live long enough to use it. So much time spent raiding for equipment and some jerkoff with a round chambered in a popgun could just drop me and loot my corpse/wounded body. This feeling is wonderful in terms of how easily it is invoked in DayZ, but horribly self aware and paranoia inducing at the same time. Its like a good horror movie, the experience is stressful but engaging on a primal level.

I saw a few more players at a distance, but instead of greeting them I just let them pass. Motorcycle helmet clad backpack wearers with rifles made me uneasy. Perhaps I watched too much Mad Max or perhaps I watched just the right amount. Was he a regular guy, friendly but cautious like me? Or a bandit on rendeavouz with some of his scumbag buddies.

I don't know, I don't know... better not to risk it.

Shortly after this encounter, I killed my first player.

I really didn't want to, but the guy forced my hand.

I was inside a cabin, sorting my equipment and discarding ruined items when I saw a player enter my living space. He had that bambi look: default jeans/shirt and armed with a pitchfork. I immediately raised my gun and asked him to leave me alone.

The guy said he was friendly, raised his arms and kind of watched me for a moment. I asked him what he wanted and he responded, "man, you are breaking up. I can't understand you. Type in the chat box". He edged a little closer.

Type in the chat box and let him get the jump on me? Do I look like I was born yesterday? Hell no. I told him in no uncertain terms to "get the fuck out or receive a bullet to the spine". Holy crap did he haul ass.

"Yeah that's right! RUN BOY!"

(I'm not proud that I actually shouted that)

This is where I made my mistake. I should have shot him the moment I suspected such a deliberate move to get the drop on me. Instead, I continued to close up shop in preparation to log off when I saw him sprinting into my cabin again through one of the open windows. In an instant it all became clear:

I had only enough time to raise my gun when he burst in. The awkward engine and item switching gave him enough time to land several successive shots with the rapid pitch fork. In the surprise/adrenaline I had accidentally lowered/unequipped my gun too, which gave him more chances to stick me. If I had not been wearing a helmet, I'm sure he would have landed a head shot and my character would be dead right now.

I finally got my semi-automatic rifle up and kept shooting until he dropped. I probably overdid it, and wasted five bullets on him, but the situation and the blurry grey screen made me lose my cool.

In end, you could call it a victory albeit a costly one. I survived, he didn't.

My heart was pounding as I bandaged myself up. In his inventory: A can of ruined beans and some torn up rags. Experienced player on respawn, or fresh bambi: it didn't matter. I had WAY more to lose than this guy and he knew it.

Now this is game is a RUSH... but I'm getting that anti-social feeling again. This attack affected the way I play this game. I can't trust anyone, but this game is sort of boring if I spend it completely alone in secluded areas... I want to reach out, but I can't.



***

At present the raiding/scavenging continues. I've found an isolated town somewhat off the beaten path that also happens to have a police station and government building. Close enough to civilization to interact with other players when I feel ready but reasonably far away that I feel somewhat isolated too. I find this to be a comfortable middle ground.

On a side note, five years of studying Russian and a little time abroad has kind of come in handy with this game. The Russian setting is a total bonus for me personally. I let role play fantasies pop into my head of playing a character that got trapped during the Apocalypse during a study abroad. I wonder if there are any dedicated Russian speaking servers? That would be cool as hell. I found that as a foreigner, it was easy enough to ingratiate myself with Russians - I'd be interested to see if the novelty of being a curious traveler carried over in DayZ as well.

So I staked out the entire town from a nice vantage point and have since raided each building more than once. I've learned a few more things about this game too. First off, I discovered that buildings labeled гостиницы (hotels) have lots of food, clothing, and quite often weapon tech (scopes/unusual equipment). I suppose because the hotel also doubles as a столовая (basically, kitchen)- which makes a lot of sense that they are so well stocked. The town I was in had two of these places so frequent scouting turned up some cool trinkets like a gun scope for my SKS and a waterproof container (as well as a good condition can opener!).

I've put away a lot of ammunition and was able to score two 30 round clips for my 22. rifle which I've managed to fill up completely with about 25 rounds left over on reserve. Its a quiet gun and I like that because this town also has a hell of a lot of zombie spawns crawling around. I discovered that if I hug walls and stay off the city streets, that I can usually avoid zombie encounters - but just in case, I feel a lot safer having a more stealthy gun with plenty of bullets. I also feel a lot more comfortable with the shooting mechanics now that I have practical experience aiming, reloading, holding my breath and naturally, capping zombies.

I had to log quickly while still inside the police station. I knew it was a risky maneuver but I took the chance. I was nervous when I logged back in later, and sure enough, as soon as I did I heard people talking to one another.

I raised my gun and listened to their conversation. With 30 rounds packed I was SURE I had the drop on them. There was no way for them to know I had logged in right on top of them, and while my heart was pumping and I felt taken by surprise, the element of surprise was mine. Let me tell you, it was a powerful feeling.

I sat inside the storage closet, gun ready, and listened.

"Ha ha, you got that right, man" one of them said.

"Shit, dude. I might log soon, I'm hunnnngry." said a second.

"Alright, let's blow." Said the first.

Okay, there is probably just two of them, I thought - and they are leaving, great. I waited a few beats and crept out of the closet. No one. I made my way up to the coopala on the roof and entered third person where I easily saw the two of them making their way down the street, carelessly playing tag with a zombie. I placed my .22 on the ground and pulled out the SKS, angling myself in the doorframe where I scooted forward until I had them in my scope.

These guys were totally screwing around, checking out buildings and melee killing zombies. They looked like they were having a good time too. I envied them, actually.

Then the inevitable thought popped into my head: Should I stay put, say hello... or kill them?

As friendly as I portrayed myself to be, I found myself actually dwelling on the "kill them" decision a little longer than I expected.

A lot could go wrong, sure. There were two of them, and I would probably only be able to kill one of them right off. But from my vantage point I could easily see his friend run away, allowing me to loot the corpse. If he chose to stay and fight I stood a fair chance taking him out. The more I thought about it the more powerful I felt.

What a strange strange feeling that no game has ever invoked in me before. Any other shooter, and it would have been little concern to kill these guys. They would respawn full stocked and good to go. In DayZ, absolutely not. I don't have to imagine how long it took them to learn this game, gear up, or find one another. I was in an interesting position to end their fun and if I'm being completely honest I found the prospect tantalizing.

I lowered my gun. No. There was no need. My guy was energized, hydrated and healthy. My vision clear, my backpack stuffed with food and bullets and I knew my terrain. Most importantly: they were leaving. There was no reason to kill these guys, who seemed to be rather enjoying the apocalypse, together.

I watched them go for awhile, heading west, presumably towards the next populated city. It was at this moment that I decided it was time to leave and set off South, into the woods.

My destination: one more side city and then back towards the coast, where I will seek out other players and see what the hell happens...