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    DayZ

    Game » consists of 5 releases. Released Dec 13, 2013

    Beginning as a mod for ArmA II, DayZ has players attempting to survive a zombie outbreak in a large fictional post-Soviet country.

    anxiety, introversion, and DayZ

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    Doskias

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    I've been having a hard time deciding if DayZ is an experience I want to have.

    On the one hand, I've heard a lot of great stories and seen a lot of videos that paint an amazing picture of what this game could be. On the other, I suffer from (among other brain-related issues) severe anxiety and a number of social phobias that make it hard for me to interact with other people, even online. Sometimes it's easy to put aside, sometimes it's impossible - to the point where in some online games I'm not even able to respond to another player that's addressing me directly.

    It seems like a lot of what DayZ is about relies on you being able to communicate with other players, whether to bargain, threaten, or beg for your life. I'm concerned that this will make it impossible for me to have a good time with this game.

    I'm curious if any of you suffer from similar issues, and how (or if) that affects your experience with DayZ, or really any other online game where communication is important.

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    markies

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    Well i've only played the game a couple of days so far. But it's perfectly fine to play solo and not interact with anyone else. Interacting may make it easier at times but can also be more dangerous (who can you trust?). There are also different servers, pve, pvp, rp so that's also things to look for. I'd say a pve server sounds right for you :)

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    Kidavenger

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    #3  Edited By Kidavenger

    The more you expose yourself to social situations, the easier it is to deal with them, that has been my experience.

    I think Day Z or any other online multiplayer game is good practice to a point, and worth spending time with as it's also fairly low pressure, if you screw up, it doesn't really matter so I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you are having fun.

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    Stimpack

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    #4  Edited By Stimpack

    @doskias: If you're ever looking to hop on in, just let me know. I decided to buy it today, and I also dislike society. Wish me luck!

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    JC_Phoenix

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    @doskias: I'm definitely in the same boat. I've been playing DayZ for about 2 months now, and my first few weeks were spent wandering around alone, being killed by random people that just kill you on sight, and logging out or running away when someone actually tried to talk to me or be nice. It's like I love the social aspect of DayZ, but it also scares the crap out of me. Eventually I found the Trusted Medics of the Wasteland group, and have been trying to work up the nerve to try and join them.

    I did make one friend by PMing a guy that posted on the official DayZ forums asking for help with his broken legs. We PMed back and forth until I eventually found him, and... fell to my death. I think he felt sorry for me and like he owed me, if it wasn't for my death I probably would have just healed him up and then ran away, but because he felt so bad and wanted to give me my stuff back I added him on steam and we've been playing together since. When we finally met and he gave me my stuff he tried to talk to me, but went back to typing when I didnt respond. It was a little funny when he told me I should get a mic and I finally spoke saying: "Uhh, yeah... I do have a mic." So, yeah its not impossible to have fun with social anxiety and DayZ, you just have to find the right people to group up with. If you want you can add me on steam, my steam name is: Phoenix1213. You can just hang out, follow us around, whatever, no pressure to talk or anything if you don't feel like it.

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    LikeaSsur

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    The more you expose yourself to social situations, the easier it is to deal with them, that has been my experience.

    I think Day Z or any other online multiplayer game is good practice to a point, and worth spending time with as it's also fairly low pressure, if you screw up, it doesn't really matter so I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you are having fun.

    My thoughts exactly. Anxiety of any kind has always resulted from inexperience from whatever is causing the anxiety, be it public speaking, getting into an argument, or just talking to other people online. The only issue is that you've caught yourself in a vicious circle where you don't have the skills to communicate effectively, which means social situations are awkward, which causes stress, which causes you to avoid social situations, and rinse and repeat.

    DayZ is probably the best way to break out of that circle, especially right now where the only way you can see names is if you type into chat or pull up the player list. Other than those two things, you are completely anonymous.

    To sate your curiosity, absolutely do I suffer from those kinds of anxiety. Who doesn't? But I'm working on it, and so can you.

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    jkz

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    @likeassur:

    Worth keeping in mind (as someone who worked in retail / customer facing jobs for much of my life w/ severe anxiety [of the generalised and social sort]) that anxieties can take a lot more getting over than that. I tried plenty of brute forcing, but it more came down to developing coping strategies to deal with the fact that the anxiety would never fully "go away", and so it more became about understanding it. I've gotten to the point where I can deal with it, but social situations still end with me being sweaty as shit and elated at having overcome them, and while I'm at peace with that, it unfortunately doesn't make the anxiety go away.

    Obviously anxiety can occur from pure inexperience and initial discomfort, but there are forms of more generalised anxiety that don't go away with simple practice, oftentimes because they're also tied to neurochemical imbalances and such. I don't mean to speak FOR the OP, because I've no idea what specific anxiety problems he suffers from, but merely to say that while practice works for some, it won't work for everyone.

    As for the OP's question, I've had plenty a good time going solo in day z (I tend to go lone-wolf in multiplayer games in general because I like them to unwind and...well, socialising doesn't do that for me :P), but there's no denying that the experience is built very much on the co-operation vs competition balance that so many people love in it. Basically, it's a fun time solo, but I'll also say I felt like I was less likely to run into the "crazy shit" that you always hear stories of because of my hesitance to engage with other people.

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    Broomhitches

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    I feel you, duder. I've been staying away from multiplayer games that require me to interact with others, which has resulted in me missing out on some awesome gaming experiences. I can't get over the way I talk and have tried to change it, but failed. Shit, I don't even know why I own a cellphone.

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    spraynardtatum

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    #9  Edited By spraynardtatum

    @doskias: What I think you should do is find people and stalk them without letting them know you're there. That way you can experience DayZ and all the player interactions and even add another layer of fucked up on top of it.

    Then if anyone sees you just kill yourself.

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