Group and Faction Etiquette

Overview

The Factions of DayzUnderground are the official "Groups" of the server. They continue to interact, explore, tell stories, and are active on the server even when population levels are low. Most groups on DUG can become Factions, but there are certain prerequisites they must meet beforehand. These prerequisites include a willingness to set an example for the rest of the server with their behaviour:

Factions Lead by Example: Factions are well aware of the rules of the server. They show new members what is good conduct on our servers and what is not. Faction leadership are people that can be passionate about the game and their group without letting their emotions get in the way of being a leader. Each Faction shows fairness and respect to community members.

The DayzUnderground Staff Team have identified and compiled common negative behaviours that significantly hurt both gameplay quality and the community atmosphere on DUG. These behaviours are often driven by the goal of “winning” over the creation of meaningful interactions and experiences, and as such they set an undeniably poor example for the community at large. While this list is by no means exhaustive, they would like it to be clear that they disapprove of these behaviours from any group, and especially do not wish to see them from current or prospective factions. To assist the community with understanding and applying these points of etiquette, the Staff have also included example scenarios and guidance for acting in the interest of the community.

“Zerging”

Zerging is defined as regular roaming in disproportionately large squads with no story-oriented aim. Larger groups should consider splitting up into smaller squads of roughly four people when looking for interaction, as idle roaming hours are when some of the best organic encounters happen. When a large group is roaming en masse, creative and surprising interactions often turn into one-dimensional encounters. There will always be times when a faction needs all hands on deck, but we strongly encourage larger factions to do this sparingly.

Scenario: Faction X has 7 members online and wishes to roam the map for the evening, looking for players to interact with. However, doing so in a single group would lead to more one-dimensional interactions with very few options for those they encountered.

Etiquette: Faction X should split into two or more separate parties, roaming the map separately and visiting different locations. This will not only increase the area they can cover leading to more interaction, but will also lead to more nuanced and exciting encounters.

Third-Party “Alarms”

The use of third-party platforms, such as Teamspeak or Discord, to coordinate a large response in a rapid and inorganic manner in response to potential conflict. We believe that these so-called attack or raid “alarms” have a significant negative impact on the quality of story building on our game server, reducing nuanced conflicts with a chance for lasting impact on the landscape of the server to simple shoot-and-loot gameplay. We do not wish to see this behaviour from factions, and encourage the use of more organic communication methods to coordinate immersive group relations. If a faction encounters combat or conflict in-game, they should be handling it with those who can be reached through in-game means.

Scenario: Faction X is under attack from an unknown assailant. The “best” most efficient way to handle this would be to send a discord message or hop Teamspeak channels to request help from friendly groups, but doing this may not be proportionate and will likely prevent any meaningful story events such as negotiations or hostage-taking.

Etiquette: Faction X reaches out to its allies through organic means, such as sending a runner or using the in-game radio, while attempting to solve the issue by itself. In addition to being more immersive, this approach allows for more interesting consequences and leads to a more meaningful experience for all involved.

Out-of-Character (OoC) Setups

The ebb and flow of DayzUnderground sometimes leads to hostile roleplay, and this is something that we encourage and celebrate. However, the use of OoC platforms such as discord or teamspeak to arrange or facilitate in-game setups is underhanded and can lead to serious misunderstandings between community members. We strongly advise factions looking to facilitate hostile roleplay or conflict, especially in the form of betrayals or setups, to do this through in-game means only to prevent any confusion between out-of-character (OoC) and in-character (IC) intentions.

Scenario: Faction X wants to betray faction Y at an in-game meeting, killing them as revenge for a previous incident. The most efficient way to do this would be to message them in discord and invite them to a meeting at a given place and time. However, doing this could cause faction Y to mistake their intentions and lead to issues down the line.

Etiquette: Faction X reaches out to faction Y through purely in-game means to make sure their intentions are not mistaken in any way. Faction Y can then take this invitation at face value in-character (IC) and respond as they see fit.

Joint Raiding

Coordinating with a neighbouring group or a close ally is fine in and of itself, but larger groups and factions should carry their own weight where possible. As a general principle, larger groups should not be joining together to raid as a conglomerate, as this is simply not necessary or proportionate. Conducting raids or attacks with a disproportionate weight of numbers leaves no room for counterplay, reducing interactions to a numerical game and leaving no room for an interesting or nuanced conflict to evolve. We feel that these behaviours also indicate an unhealthy win mentality, with a sole focus on “success” with little emphasis on story building or the creation of memorable and exciting interactions.

Scenario: Faction X is planning a raid on their rivals. They can bring a lot of people, and are confident that they will outnumber their enemy with this manpower alone. They could also invite their allies to join the raid, but doing so would make for an entirely one-sided affair.

Etiquette: Faction X conducts the raid alone without inviting allies. This decision offers their rivals a reasonable chance at defending themselves, and leads to more engaging gameplay for all involved.

Hoarding & Over-building

We expect our factions to take a common-sense approach when building their bases and storing gear. While it is possible to continue expanding one’s base infinitely, doing so can often be detrimental to server performance, as well as causing client-side frame rate issues in a local area. Hoarding of driveable vehicles for storage is particularly disrespectful to others, as this limits their intended use. Out of respect to their fellow players, factions are encouraged to only build and store what they need and self-regulate when this gets out of hand.

Scenario: The amount of gear Faction X stores is starting to cause noticeable frame rate drops and network latency for other players around their base and/or territory. Storing any more gear would be sure to make this problem worse, degrading the experience of other players.

Etiquette: Faction X gives away or disposes of material that is not of use or surplus to requirements, alleviating any performance issues around their base.