have you tried removing your ping filter? I believe dayz sets it to <100 by default but I quite often get the problem that they don't show up. once I remove my ping filter they all show up then when I click on the server the ping normalizes.

I reinstalled windows 2 days ago, had to reinstall steam and DayZ, my character still had all of his gear and inventory... up until the dude at NWAF put a bullet in my head.

looks like you discovered the debug plains.

are you able to punch when you have this issue? (ie, holster your weapon and use fists)

I think it's a common bug, i've heard about it and had it happen to me a few times, only way I was able to solve it was to completely exit out of the game and reload.

I find that the game freezes for 5-10 seconds when it first loads up and the "I Understand" button is there, then when I click it and get to the main menu I get a 5-10 second freeze again. Is Generally okay after that though.

I don't know if this will help the issue but i've had it happen to me a few times when i've been "up close and personal" with the ladder. I have had more success with ladders if I 'activate' them from a short distance away, that way when the ladder animation happens, your character isn't in danger of 'stepping' over the edge, the reported "teleportation" to the ladder isn't a huge issue if your character manages to live though imo.