Day Z: Persistant world zombie survival mod

On June 07 2012 15:31 Karliath wrote:
I was on my 4th life, with about 3 hours of total game time experience. In this life, I had just spawned 10 minutes ago into a rainy dusk on the Southern shore.

On the docks of Elektro, I noticed that all the zombies were dead. Walking around a building, I heard the deafening buzz of flies. Where could the body be? Amidst the zombie bodies on the floor, I tried to find the corpse of a survivor, but to no avail.

I noticed that there was a ladder leading up to the roof of the building. Climbing up, I wondered if the sound of the flies could be coming from up there. When I was almost at the top, however, I froze. In third-person, I could see that there was already someone on the roof of the building, and he was aiming his pistol at the top of the ladder. If I had been more careless, I would have died right there.

Freezing on the ladder in shock, I didn't know what to do.

"Friendly," I said. "Please, friendly."

My policy is this: I always try to communicate peace in non-sudden encounters. In this case, I was on the ladder, so I couldn't have shot him anyway. If the opposing person returns a sign of friendliness, I try to trust them. However, if there is no response, or if the encounter was unexpected, I shoot on sight.

He didn't reply. In fact, he disappeared. Thinking that he had disconnected, I climbed up the roof. That was when I saw the body. Lying on the floor, previously blocked by the camera, was a prone human figure.

Oh, I thought, this is the source of the flies.

But then he moved.

I didn't think--I reacted. Firing three shots, I stopped him cold. What the hell was that? Before I could wrap my mind around what had happened, he moved again! This time, I unloaded the rest of my Makarov rounds into his torso. I wasn't taking any chances.

What had happened to the original body? Who was this guy? As it turns out, the guy I had killed was the same person who was aiming at the top of the ladder. In death, he communicated through chat, accusing me of professing friendliness, yet firing on him when he easily could have killed me while I was defenseless. He claimed to have responded friendliness, but I didn't see it at all.

Perhaps such backstabbing is normal behavior for bandits, but not me. I'm a survivor, not a heartless killer. I was overridden with guilt.

The guy was carrying two assault rifles, an ALICE backpack, and 11 blood bags, among other goods. Through chat, he asked me to stay on the roof so that he could come back and reclaim his gear (I had communicated my apologies).

"No grudge," he said. "Just give me the compass. That shit was hard to find."

I wanted to comply. It would have relieved me of the guilt.

No grudge.... No--I couldn't risk it. I have to live with my guilt, because I have to survive.

I dropped the compass on the roof, and disconnected.

Day Z: Persistant world zombie survival mod - Page 42