So I really want to play DayZ, but I got some questions.

[Zack Alklazaris]

The game sounds fun, I really could use a more complex zombie game than Left 4 Dead. DayZ appears to have crafting elements and refreshing gameplay next to the hundreds or so "just shoot em zombie" games. Am I right so far?

Now how craftable can I go? Can I build my own fortress? I heard you can build cars...
If you die or get killed by another player is it permadeath? As you in you lose everything and start from scratch?
Are the players as bad as I've heard or are they a respectable type. For example am I more likely to get shot, robbed, or helped by the players?

I've played Battlefield 3 before (I stay out of CoD territory) so I don't mind great players roaming around taking their shots and their wins, but the permadeath freaks me out. I don't want to spend weeks on something only to end up with nothing at all or are there ways around that? I mean it must be brutal...

 

[dyre]

Hmm, craftable elements? It's been a few weeks since I've played it (last I played, they didn't have revolvers yet, just revolver ammo), but the only crafting I remember was attaching a flashlight to a battery to make it work. Or, screwdriver + canned tuna = opened canned tuna. I think there will be cars in the final version (it's still in alpha), not sure about fortresses.

If you die, that's it, yeah. All your work gone. Eventually you'll be able to leave items in packs that you can pick up in your next life, but you might have to walk for hours (real time) to retrieve those packs. A fair amount of players are friendly, but do you really want to risk hours of work to spare a guy armed with an assault rifle, knowing that if he was a bandit (a non-friendly player) he could gun you down in a single burst? That's the beauty of DayZ, I guess. It's like a prisoner's dilemma...not knowing what the other party will do generally leads both sides to achieve the worst outcome, even if they're normally not the type of people who would gun others down. So it's safest to just avoid people in general.

I definitely agree the game's brutal. I play it in short bursts, gather lots of stuff over the course of a few hours, maybe kill a few people out of paranoia or self defense (though I generally try to spare people who are not heavily armed and therefore not a major threat), and inevitable get killed.

 

[jademunky]

I would recommend waiting until the game is actually finished. I got DayZ as a gift and was really disappointed in the lack of actual content once you have figured out the survival end of it. (its still in alpha stages)

The standalone game does not have very much in the way of crafting or customization. Just wandering around, picking through the buildings looking for slightly better gear and avoiding other better-armed players.

 

[Cazza]

Oh don't worry. You wont get anywhere close to a week before for your lives. 1 mistake gets you killed. Back in the mod I had an ak and a ton of hp kits to be 1 hit knocked out by a zombie and then 1 hit killed.

You just learn to not get so attached to your stuff.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

The game sounds fun, I really could use a more complex zombie game than Left 4 Dead. DayZ appears to have crafting elements and refreshing gameplay next to the hundreds or so "just shoot em zombie" games. Am I right so far?

Now how craftable can I go? Can I build my own fortress? I heard you can build cars...
If you die or get killed by another player is it permadeath? As you in you lose everything and start from scratch?
Are the players as bad as I've heard or are they a respectable type. For example am I more likely to get shot, robbed, or helped by the players?

I've played Battlefield 3 before (I stay out of CoD territory) so I don't mind great players roaming around taking their shots and their wins, but the permadeath freaks me out. I don't want to spend weeks on something only to end up with nothing at all or are there ways around that? I mean it must be brutal...

They have no plans for outright "fortress building." Assuming they will add all the features from the standalone, you will be able to fix up cars, ATVS, and even helicopters. You can also set up barb wire to set up a "base," although I don't think it will survive a server reset or attack of a clan. You will also be able to set up tents to store your stuff (but anyone can raid it).

It's permadeath. Unless you can reach your body, if it hasn't been picked dry, or use the tents (once they been added) you lose everything. I just died today, losing a LOT of stuff. I went from military gear to a flashlight and a wrench.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Oh don't worry. You wont get anywhere close to a week before for your lives. 1 mistake gets you killed. Back in the mod I had an ak and a ton of hp kits to be 1 hit knocked out by a zombie and then 1 hit killed.

You just learn to not get so attached to your stuff.

I guess that would help me as a person... always been a bit to materialistic even in the digital world. Would be healthy.

They have no plans for outright "fortress building." Assuming they will add all the features from the standalone, you will be able to fix up cars, ATVS, and even helicopters. You can also set up barb wire to set up a "base," although I don't think it will survive a server reset or attack of a clan. You will also be able to set up tents to store your stuff (but anyone can raid it).

It's permadeath. Unless you can reach your body, if it hasn't been picked dry, or use the tents (once they been added) you lose everything. I just died today, losing a LOT of stuff. I went from military gear to a flashlight and a wrench.

Oh so its not like old school SWG where you spend a year making a character into a jedi then a few oopsies later and your characters permadead and a year is wasted. Glad to hear it...

Now I just need to buy the fricken original game thats it based its foundation on.

Thanks Guys

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I think you should look at Rust Instead. Like DayZ but with a lot more features implemented like crafting and housebuilding.

 

[Hazy]

You're probably more in the mindset for Rust than DayZ.

That said, I will address your points:

Now how craftable can I go? Can I build my own fortress? I heard you can build cars...

You cannot build your own fortress, and at present, I do not believe you can build cars. In the ArmA 2 mod you could repair vehicles to make them drivable, which most groups of people would keep deep in the forests. Weapon customization ranges from attaching new items to your guns (stocks, sights, things like that).

If you die or get killed by another player is it permadeath? As you in you lose everything and start from scratch?

Yes, but take solace in the fact that something bigger and badder will one day kill him. You'll start on the South coast, and at present, there's no real reason to venture North, so you'll always be relatively close by if you happen to bite the dust (more on that below.)

Are the players as bad as I've heard or are they a respectable type. For example am I more likely to get shot, robbed, or helped by the players?

You'll probably get killed on sight when it comes to the majority of players. That's one of the things that slowly became the new norm as it became more popular, and it all started when Reddit got wind of it. That's pretty much what sparked the whole "deathmatch for a can of beans" joke -- vindictive players will just immediately KoS due to rampant paranoia (since the game is so brutal with its repercussions of death.)

That said, many of these problems can be bypassed by simply rolling with a crew of several guys, preferably friends you know IRL. More guns means a higher likelihood that random solo bandits won't mess with you, you get more areas to cover, and if you get killed relatively close to spawn, your crew can sit on your gear for you while you make your way back.

That isn't to say robberies don't happen, and when they do, they're totally [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdCU1jhL9fw&feature=youtu.be] fucking [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCqrML56g7A] awesome, but they're few and far between these days. Like a retrospective old man, sometimes I long for the good old days.

 

[Hazy]

Now I just need to buy the fricken original game thats it based its foundation on.

Thanks Guys

Assuming you're talking about ArmA 2, rest easy, you do not. DayZ standalone is just that: standalone.

That is, unless you're referring to the DayZ ArmA 2 mod, in which case you're correct, you'll need the base to play it.

 

[Creator002]

Now I just need to buy the fricken original game thats it based its foundation on.

Thanks Guys

DayZ now has its own standalone game in the Steam store. You don't need Arma II anymore.

EDIT: Goddamn beaten to the punch.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I think you should look at Rust Instead. Like DayZ but with a lot more features implemented like crafting and housebuilding.

Just subtract the zombies, add a lot of paranoia and sociopaths to the mix and you have Rust... I wonder if people could do objective studies on how players interact in both DayZ (mod and standalone) and Rust. I swear the results would be frightening and hilarious.

 

[Smooth Operator]

DayZ for now is still very buggy so I would wait until things get further along, right now you have more chance to dying because of glitches rather then actual dangers.

And if you want crafting you go for Rust, while DayZ is a military sim with added item pick ups and some cross interactions Rust was actually made to be very Minecraft like where you can tear down and build up block for block of the world.
Rust is at this moment also much more playable, still not completed but all the major kinks seems to be worked out so it's a far less painful experience, well apart from people turning psycho the moment survival is in question.

 

[DalekJaas]

DO not buy DayZ standalone, a lot more needs to be added to the game to even make it playable. Atm it is basically a walking simulator. I played for 6 hours straight, found all the gear and food I needed, never saw another player and that was it. I played on several full servers and never found anyone else, eventually uninstalled because its so boring.

 

[SinisterGehe]

If you want any of those building or crafting elements go play Rust.
DayZ is about looting, killing on sight and extremely unfair situations. You can spawn run 3 hours and die of thirst or hunger without finding anything to help in that.
Or nowdays on some days there has started the jolly trend of instead of straight out killing you, they handcuff you, mug you, poison you and leave you to die slowly.

Also... You will die from 1 shots - a lot. And if you survive you will most likely bleedout.

I really recommend Rust it has more to do with survival than DayZ which is mainly about PvP in unfair situations currently.

There are PvE servers but they aren't that different.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I enjoy how cruel the game is, to be honest.

I have to say that so far I've not met too many KoS players. Most players I've met have been fairly noob-friendly, offering me basic provisions when I'm a new-spawn... Things of that nature. If you try to talk to people instead of just shooting, you actually create more interesting situations for yourself, so I recommend playing that way if you're charismatic enough to make friends and alliances.

Earlier I ran into "Elektra" whilst getting shot at from on the hill. I managed to get by unscathed. I was then confronted by 2 guys with plenty of gear who stopped me, gave me some tuna and told me about snipers on the hill. I kinda said "yeh... noticed that shit was happening". They asked me if I was trustworthy and whether I'd help stop them. They gave me a pistol and then we did just that.

Moments like that are why I love the game. I think I probably do pretend to be more naive in game than I really am... Things just seem to work out better that way.