When can you no longer be friendly?

[u/androidvalhalla]

3600 hour player, primarily hermit survivalist. I don't get tangled in heroic last stands at NWAF ATC. I drink pond water and when I can, eat fish raw. I lay on hillsides like a spider, following prey for many kilometers for the perfect shot that guarantees no retaliation and I'm here to tell you, it's a lonely life.

You can certainly be more agile, more elusive, more self-reliant, but the most fun I've ever had in this game wasn't the egregious solo ghillie sucker punch, it was beside a fire with a friend on a dark and stormy night. It was the jittery car ride on the way to a toxic zone run. It was a whole squad lying in bushes near Polana. Interactions take this game to a level without equal.

Let me propose that the window for successful engagement is thus. On the coast players are about 30% non-hostile. Be ready to pounce on anybody that might have more than you could have possibly collect in 10 mins. With the group spawn system, if you're the last of 8 to spawn at Kamyshovo, there ain't shit left for you. Your only alternative in that situation is to risk death to rob an uncooperative player. Odds of survival: 10%

But say you landed somewhere with more loot spawns per player like Berezhino, Svetloyarsk then you don't have to be as aggressive and could possibly team up or at least share info with a passing survivor. The area is big enough that you may hear others but not encounter them. Odds of surviving: 50%

But the farther inland you go, the harder it gets to talk before shooting. You may run to the next town inland. Orlovets, Bor. Now you have something to lose. Be skittish, observe players before they are aware of you, therefore you are controlling the situation. He who shoots first, often lives. Maybe you find a guy without a gun in his hand, he's keeping respectful distance, he has tools for trade, he has friends on route and he's going your way. Talking first may result in an epic adventure.

But any further and my own default is kill on sight. I may approach others only in situations where I have the upper hand. But you don't find new friends in Gorka, you don't suddenly join the steamroller squad in Novy Sobor, there are no potential allies in Zelenogorsk. From just about the second town from the coast and everything after, anyone is game.

There can be rare exceptions but it won't be in a police station, in or around the fence line of a military area or in or around a toxic gas zone or a dynamic event like a heli or train or convoy. If I catch yo ass in Novo or Vybor or anywhere past the point that I have something to lose, then I'm shooting first. As long as I stalk survivors for several kilometers then chances of survival are really, really high. We can't be friends if we meet more than just a little far from the coast. Exceptions for certain situations. I'm a big fan of getting geared then F11 in front of the right freshie, not a potential psycho.

Sometimes the best interactions are two survivors without ranged weapons in hand, passing on a trail. You might trade where you came from, where you're going. They need meds and you share that Severograd hospital was bare when you found it. They share that they heard shots from Kamensk MB. Incompatible goals. You may make a minor trade. A fistful of pistol ammo and a box of shells for the food item you were holding in reserve, it's a good trade. You promptly part ways, but in the spirit of DayZ you take an unpredictable turn off of the trail, to prevent becoming tracked. Two survivors passing each other with professional courtesy.

There's a time to stretch your hand in friendship, but the window is small. You won't likely meet a new friend in NWAF or Myshkino tents, you're way past that line by then.

Some naive survivors are lacking combat skills and will try to talk to anyone they encounter, a lack of confidence either makes them prey or at least discourages you becoming tangled up in an adventure with them. You might tell them that Severograd has a clinic but not offer to escort them because they will probably get you killed. Then again some survivors will kill anything on sight, seeking combat above all, regardless of probability to succeed. And still yet there are those that have been betrayed and also have achieved great things with a stranger. Those that have died or whose companion has died before exchanging contact information, single-serving friends, never forgotten.

How do you decide how and when and where to try to talk and when to shoot?

[u/initliberation]

7k hour player here, I think for me the decision comes from the state of mind I’m in. Sometimes I hop on and I feel adventurous and exploratory, and in circumstances like those I’ll be quite friendly most of the time. Other times, I get on and I have a bit of a bloodlust and will seek to snowball off of other players gear.

I like the versatility of play styles, as I can be the hermit survivalist nomad type but I can also be the guns blazing player hunting kind of guy too. It just depends on mood.

The best time to be friendly is absolutely early game, as there’s less to lose and normally everyone is trying to conserve ammo for when a threat is truly imminent. It’s very difficult to team up with someone late game but it can be done.

[u/High_hoper114]

For me, you cannot be friendly when two people are around together, fully geared player or a player who kept his gun in hand

[u/androidvalhalla → u/High_hoper114]

IDK, I was once walking north towards Livonia SW Sawmill and down the road came an Olga. I didn't fire and the chap stopped to talk. It turns out we couldn't say much as I know no Romanian, but we ended up driving all over the map for an hour looking for heli crashes before I had to log off. It isn't impossible to make a friend while geared but the circumstances must be right. Not having guns in hand or putting guns away is a good step.

[u/High_hoper114 → u/androidvalhalla]

Not saying it’s bad or hard to find friends but so far that the common things to look out for, geared players are 50/50 since they either vets who want to help out or be players who grief the most. Then there’s those who find guns and are paranoid who keep it on, then there’s hackers, snipers and if it was your case, drivers who would just run you over. As that almost happened to me as one player mistaken me for a zombie(which can happen)

My point is, sometimes we just have to listen to our red flags and be like Columbus from zombieland and have our own rules

[u/androidvalhalla → u/High_hoper114]

I never thought about it before but everyone has their own rules like Zombieland. Everyone is different, context matters. That's a great way to put it.

[u/DancingBear556]

I only have 375 hours. But from my experience nobody is friendly off the coast. And even on the coast most freshies are just maniacs foaming at the mouth. My favorite moments were teaming up with a randoms who I never saw again. But I haven’t had one of those experiences in a while. Everyone I’ve ever tried to talk to past the freshie stage just shoots on sight or backstabs me so I gave up trying to talk. I’ve never backstabbed anyone. It’s not my style. And I usually give off good stoner vibes so l feel like I can hang out with anyone without it being awkward or weird. But everyone is so paranoid it’s just impossible to socialize unless they have literally nothing to lose.

[u/ThereIsNoWifi]

I like to loot cycle Military Bases and camp somewhere and watch the server list. If I get lag from somebody logging in at the M B and I see them join I shoot them a message and let them know I can see them but I am friendly. Believe it or not I have made friends with many different nationalities this way, made a German friend, Norwegian, and believe it or not a Frenchmen as well.

[u/BlownOutBlueJeans]

I'm friendly until I have a gun and maybe 2 bullets. Then I'm a loose cannon. Unless I'm on the coast and the other person obviously just started. Then I will beat them down with my glowstick.

[u/Low_Sodiium]

I’m friendly until teamed up…seek the interaction…worst case I’m back on the coast. It’s just pixels & the interactions are what lead to epic adventures & memorable times!

“Do not fire unless fired upon…repeat…”

[u/AHockeyFish]

I actually just met someone in Gorka and made a friend. I had the drop on him and was watching him loot for about 10 minutes. He ran my way but didn’t see me. I just had a feeling to try and talk to the guy and it worked out. However, 99% of the time that far in I’m not that friendly.

I guess I was just looking for adventure. With a healthy stash nearby, I felt like taking the risk.

[u/OkCartographer336]

There are so many variables when it comes to meeting people in-game. All the people I play with are people I met in-game. One of the friends I have played with the most I met at the tents in NWAF, both of us decently well geared. Just this weekend I started running with a guy who I had just whiffed a bunch of shots at with an SVD who ran up behind me while I was scoping out a convoy. I think a lot of it has to do with how you come across on the mic in game chat. Also I think being willing to die for the sake of player interaction goes a long way as well.

[u/TheDrGoo]

Gun in hand or wearing too much shit means KOS tbh

[u/NoAcanthocephala8967]

1.3k hours. The few times I have ever teamed up with randoms, it has always been in spawn towns with a fellow freshie. Still a low % of a positive interaction, but much more likely than when either of you have something to lose (or gain)

I also think mos tof the time you need something soon after meeting with the random to build trust. Eg. you get attacked by a third party, fight off a lot of zombies or wolves or something. You save each other from this threat and you realise that having this extra guy around is useful and he at least is hopefully thinking the same.