I feel like this game was getting quite a bit of hate in the chat, but I think it looks and sounds awesome. The NeoGaf thread does a much better job of explaining the basic game than I ever could:

The setup: Your typical zombie survival scenario EXCEPT for the fact that the focus is not on actually killing zombies. Much like The Walking Dead comics, this mod is primarily about human interaction/emotion.

When you start off you have a pistol with a couple mags, some water and a can of beans. You have no map/compass and have no idea where you are. Naturally, food, weapons and other useful items are scarce, so scavenging/hunting/trading is the only way to survive.

The stakes: You can only play one character at a time and death for each character you play is permanent. If you've survived for weeks out in the wilderness (all of your character's items/info are saved to a master server), only to be shot in the head by a marauding bandit player, that character is gone forever. When you respawn, you will start a new character.

Player interaction: Most of your time in DayZ will be spent building relationships and deciding who to trust. Some people want to live in a friendly community, some will do whatever it takes to survive (even if that means killing you for a can of beans because they were on the verge of starvation) and some just want to watch the world burn. I've seen small groups of friendly survivors get robbed by masked bandits and used as zombie bait/distraction. I've seen people get murdered for a can of Coke. I've seen people trust others, only to be shot in the back and stripped bare as they lay bleeding on the ground. This is the reality that DayZ presents.

The mod is still in Alpha so there are still some bugs to be sorted out, but if you like the idea of a true survival sandbox, I can't recommend this mod enough.

By the way this all takes place on the entirety of Chernarus' 225 sq km.

I've also compiled a few Youtube videos with some moments that have really sold me on the concept. (They're worth a watch, but I've just linked the highlights):

Guy meets group of random strangersand after some time spent scoping out a small town, they get overrun by a horde of zombies. Two guys get split from the main group and one must sacrifice them self to save the other.

This whole 'The Days Ahead' series is pretty great!

Two of the guysfrom the last video that have long been separated from the main group. After about an hour of looting and running from zambies, they spot a couple potentially hostile players in the trees. They go on to cook some food and spare some meat for a random a stranger.

Considering this is still just in alpha, I think it's getting pretty close to the zombie game experience that some people have been waiting for. Would there be any interest in some kind of GB community?

EDIT: Stuff.

I started playing this a few weeks ago after a thread on /v/, and I'm fucking astounded at how big it's gotten. At first there were maybe 6 or 7 servers with only a few of them ever being full, and now there are 30+ - with more popping up every day - and getting into one is a crapshoot since they're almost always full.

Awesome game, awesome mod, can't wait to see it get even bigger/more polished with time.

Makes me wish my PC could run ARMA 2 properly. 
Will settle for watching everyone else play it.

Most of the hate on the stream was just due to how janky it is, but hey, it's an alpha. It'll get there.

Giant Bomb needs to get a group for this together.

Never wanted ARMA 2 until now.

Yeah, it's a weird gem. Aside from the servers being slow to respond and jackass bandits shooting you for no good reason other than for lols. I've been shot plenty of times, I don't mind the times when there was a reason for it or forewarning. But just shooting and then saying nothing in chat like it was just another kill in CSS is just boring.

Never wanted ARMA 2 until now.

Man I really want this now. Any Australian servers up?

@TruthTellah said:

Most of the hate on the stream was just due to how janky it is, but hey, it's an alpha. It'll get there.

Janky is Arma 2. Unpolished like a true simulator. From the silly and awkward animations (or the lack of), to the large mostly empty land of Chernarus, everything about it is an Arma game. Of course besides for zombies, a few survival mechanics (thirst, hunger, gathering meat, refilling water cans), some specific buildings spawned in the map and randomized item drops. Vinny perfectly showed off the prime Arma experience; a lot of running around peppered with the occasional firefight with a sudden death from a few bullets from some fucking asshole. An open-world zombie sandbox with no objectives, no mission scripting.

They should've played Chernarus Apocalypse. Everyone would've had a much better time.

Never wanted ARMA 2 until now.

@deathstriker666 said:

@TruthTellah said:

Most of the hate on the stream was just due to how janky it is, but hey, it's an alpha. It'll get there.

Janky is Arma 2. Unpolished like a true simulator. From the silly and awkward animations (or the lack of), to the large mostly empty land of Chernarus, everything about it is an Arma game. Of course besides for zombies, a few survival mechanics (thirst, hunger, gathering meat, refilling water cans), some specific buildings spawned in the map and randomized item drops. Vinny perfectly showed off the prime Arma experience; a lot of running around peppered with the occasional firefight with a sudden death from a few bullets from some fucking asshole. An open-world zombie sandbox with no objectives, no mission scripting.

They should've played Chernarus Apocalypse. Everyone would've had a much better time.

Well, janky as far as servers. The game's imperfections and animations is one thing. That's just character. But the server problems were what were really getting people frustrated.

@ShadowConqueror said:

Giant Bomb needs to get a group for this together.

Yeah, I feel like the experience would be half as fun without some kind of group. I think I've seen an Arma II game night in the Steam group but I'm not sure how active they are.

Well, time to get into ARMA2 and see if we can't get a Giant Bomb group together.

I spent most of the day playing it, and I definitely think it would be more enjoyable with a trustworthy group. It would be great if someone organized a GB group.

I like the idea in concept, but the actual interaction looked pretty thin to me. Mostly people saying, "Friendly, don't shoot!" or something to that effect. I don't know what a better way would be, but it simply wasn't that interesting.

The next beta patch that's coming will fix the broken Direct VOIP comms. So once that's out we could easily group up ingame without having to sit on a mumble or teamspeak or likewise.

In the meantime, information on the Arma 2 Giant Bomb group can be found here.

So is there some sort of leveling system or not? Because I swear I heard someone talking about dinging in some DayZ video.

Also if the perma-death just means you lose your items, couldn't you, in a sense, cheat death if you have a buddy there to pick up your stuff and give it back to you when you roll a new character?

Christ, I wish my PC could run this game. Spent a bunch of last night watching videos of this game and this is exactly what I feel like playing at the moment. Shame my computer can't run Arma on anything but the very lowest setting.

So uh, I just bought this game and then I'll eventually get to downloading the Day Z mod so I can play it. Kind of excited.

I think its awesome, and it's about as broken as the rest of Arma 2.

Been playing this daily for about a week - up for a GB group for sure, add me on steam - tamaster11

@Srah@Tim_the_Corsair : I believe I saw some AU servers when I played last night.

@Rocospi: No leveling system that I know of (yet). The problem with your buddy picking up your stuff is that inventory is very limited, even with extra packs, and each player can only carry one pistol and one primary weapon, meaning those weapons wouldn't be retrievable by him.

There's a regular Arma 2 event scheduled for this Friday (5/11/2012) if anyone is interested. I'm sure we could plan a Day Z event amongst ourselves then.

*Raises hand* I have a question! As I said above I went to Steam and bought this game, so, how do I install the Day Z mod? Do I make a new folder? Can someone walk me through this please? I don't want to do something wrong ._.

@Srah said:

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

Man I really want this now. Any Australian servers up?

I'd like to know too.

I haven't played it because the whole premise seems fundamentally broken to me. There's no reason to give anyone an ounce of trust. You shouldn't group up with anyone you don't know, because they could turn around and shoot you in the back with zero consequence. That, to me, really ruins the whole affair. The benefit of having others with you doesn't seem to outweigh the danger of trusting them. And at that point, it really just turns into a deathmatch.

@ShaggE said:

Never wanted ARMA 2 until now.

So fucking true

*Raises hand* I have a question! As I said above I went to Steam and bo

ught this game, so, how do I install the Day Z mod? Do I make a new folder? Can someone walk me through this please? I don't want to do something wrong ._.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

I use the non steam method, even though I have it on steam. Just run the game once before you use Six Updater and your good to go.

@Bourbon_Warrior: There was atleast one 50-slot AU or NZ server last time I played.

I have the bas ARMA 2, and am going to pick up Operation Arrowhead so I can play this. If a Giant Bomb group ends up forming, please let me know!

Let me know about a UK posse, i might not be able to play much until after my exams are over at the end of the month however.

Anyone want to join me? I seriously need someone to give me a blood transfusion :( Steam name is the same: Rocospi

@Akrid said:

I haven't played it because the whole premise seems fundamentally broken to me. There's no reason to give anyone an ounce of trust. You shouldn't group up with anyone you don't know, because they could turn around and shoot you in the back with zero consequence. That, to me, really ruins the whole affair. The benefit of having others with you doesn't seem to outweigh the danger of trusting them. And at that point, it really just turns into a deathmatch.

So it's a realistic zombie scenario?

Ah crap, I need Operation Arrowhead? Damn it. I'll get to buying that later on.

This is exactly what I've always wanted... And my computer can't run it. >:(

I thought the game seemed neat, but more than a little buggy right now.

Yeah bought Arma II and Operation Arrowhead specifically for this.

TOTTALLY worth it.

AH! I was so close to playing this! But my Arma 2 copy didn't work so I'm redownloading it from Steam. Something about a bad serial key or something.

It would be awesome once this mod could becomes more polished, or If some developer could make a full polished game like this. Add greater production value into the mood and settings and it would be an awesome zombie survival game. It would be also cool if you could bard doors to keep the zombies out at night of shelter and stuff like that,

@Akrid said:

I haven't played it because the whole premise seems fundamentally broken to me. There's no reason to give anyone an ounce of trust. You shouldn't group up with anyone you don't know, because they could turn around and shoot you in the back with zero consequence. That, to me, really ruins the whole affair. The benefit of having others with you doesn't seem to outweigh the danger of trusting them. And at that point, it really just turns into a deathmatch.

I don't completely agree with you. From the videos I've seen it is pretty much impossible to play this game solo with any amount of success. You are going to have to trust people to survive, and those people can turn on you in an instant. That's what makes this mod seem so fascinating to me.

The only shame is that aparently a lot of people just like to grief others without regard of their own safety, which is indeed a fundamental problem with this game. It somehow needs to give players a good reason to want to survive, instead of playing it like a "kill or be killed" game.

Someone needs to spin this off into it's own thing (and put it on consoles). The videos I've watched on youtube are what I imagined the perfect zombie game to be like.

This game was pretty awesoem for when i played, helps to have a Mic otherwise its less kool and ill probably end up playing Arma 2 Multiplayer cuz of this.

I formatted my pc recently though and had some problems getting back into steam so i have to wait until they respond to my ticket thing which totally sucks, i wish they had a call centre, but seriously if you can get a neat small gang of people, and print out a paper map of the area so you know where your going and can navigate by looking at the road signs, compass ect this is pretty damn awesome to play, any GB duders playing this add my Steam M.Shini for when i get back for come awesome group action.

I think it would be better if there were more zombies and they were slow walkers. Though, I guess thats just cause I prefer the slow types. Also, definately an inclusion of some melee weapons so using ammo would be a last resort. There also needs to be more emphasis on the player interaction. There should be big benefits to grouping with people, or even just not killing other players. You should really have to think about it, and whether or not you need their pistol etc. It's a really cool idea though and with some further ideas and expansion will be great. I wish I had Arma 2 now, a lot.

I was about to play the game but then I found out you have to pay for ARMA II expansion. Hell naw.

GOTY

@Rapid said:

It would be awesome once this mod could becomes more polished, or If some developer could make a full polished game like this. Add greater production value into the mood and settings and it would be an awesome zombie survival game. It would be also cool if you could bard doors to keep the zombies out at night of shelter and stuff like that,

I think they actually are thinking about turning it into a standalone game.