The mod is brilliant in its simplicity. It embodies a "do more with less" philosophy. The learning curve and difficulty level were off the charts, and the harshness/brutality of the game made it feel so much more real. If a zombie apocalypse ever actually happened, the DayZ mod of Arma 2 is likely the closest possible thing you can get in a video game as to how it would be. But it seems like they're trying to make the standalone more accessible with a shallower learning curve, more information displayed, and misplaced focus on customization, which completely ruins the magic of the mod. Just my opinion though. A buddy of mine who I used to play a ton of DayZ with loves the standalone even more than the mod.