What is the future of this franchise?

[iceman77 18]

After months of being gone, due to the lack of pvp servers and the overwhelming amount of DayZ servers, I come back and the Arma2/OA server list has the feeling of a ghost town. Not even a domination,evolution or warfare going. Of course there's plenty of DayZ servers going.Lately I've been playing BF3 to get my pvp fix. It's terrible compared to what pvp was in flashpoint, Arma1 and early Arma2. But it's better than Arma2/OA current state, and that makes me sad (literally). I figured by now, a lot of the newly had DayZ player base would have migrated over to the real game of Arma2 and that I may actually have some Arma2 pvp to look forward to.I reinstalled to find that even COOPs are dead.

Are there any plans to rejuvenate the original game play that was seen in OFP,Arma1,early Arma2... in Arma3? The way I see it, we have the best of the series (even better than OFP) coming up in Arma3.The new animations, the diving etc etc. But, will it just be another phenomenal, large scale war simulator over taken by zombies?

I realize DayZ brought BI more money, which some may think is great. Ironically, at what cost? The games lost several of the original, loyal, flashpoint and Arma players because of this DayZ mod. Not necessarily losing them to the DayZ mod, but losing them entirely, overtime because of the lack of actual Arma2 servers. The DayZ mod is like a cancer to the game. It slowly spread and has overtaken the game until it's become lifeless. The majority of the player base you had, played this game over other games (the BFs and the CODs) because it offered something different and unique in terms of virtual large scale warfare.Will we see this again in Arma3?

I would like to hear what the community thinks.So if you have an opinion please share it.I'd like to hear it. Thanks.

regards,

David

[-=seany=- 5]

Anyone one who thinks that DayZ has ruined Arma is delusional to be honest. The mod has done nothing but good for Arma and BIS. And has in fact brought new players. Maybe there is some thing wrong with your server browser, but whatever about PVP (this always has had limited player base, and imo doesn't really work that well in Public servers. Maybe if the right mission came along it would be good, but with what we have now it is not) Coop is very healthy for Arma at the moment. The Domination coop server I play on most evenings is constantly full (45 slots).

For me, the fact you call DayZ "a cancer to the game" looses you a lot of credibility/potential for rational discussion.

I actually find it ironic and kind of sad, the amount of supposed PVP fans who absolutely shun DayZ, even though it has been the most popular PVP game mode OFP/Arma has ever had. Sure the obvious answer is "it has Zombie and we want Mil Sim" , but for me everything that is magic about Arma/OFP's style and atmosphere and its game world is captured perfectly in DayZ, despite the Zombies. It reminds me of those excellent original BIS missions from OFP resistance, where it was you alone with your AK, fighting for survival, trying not to get turned around in some Forrest, with buckets loads of atmosphere.

Edited October 26, 2012 by -=seany=-
spelling

[eddieck 10]

Are you looking at the "full" (as in, no search filters) server list? It's not actually the full list anymore, due to it causing too much load for GameSpy - see Suma's post.

The solution is to search for servers with specific filters.

(On another note, I hope GameSpy isn't used for ArmA 3, although I doubt that will be the case.)

[iceman77 18]

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

Well, I've been around since ofp and the pvp population was infact very healthy in Arma1.Even early Arma2 had a good pvp base.. 120 player berzerk and vahalla servers. Large campaign tournaments. And what happened to the PR servers? Also, I know how to use the server filter.DayZ has drove many original, loyal ofp/arma fans away from the game. I know because I watched my clan and manyothers dwindle down little by little because of DayZ. Sure it's made BI money, it also drove away many old schoolers, because it's attracted the battlefield and cod crowd..but for the wrong reason, not attracted them to arma, but to a zombie marathon.

The only people who would disagree are the DayZ fanatics. Which is understandable. I have my own opinions though.

From what I've gathered from many sources, people either love DayZ or you hate DayZ. Unfortunately, I hate the Mod. Over the last decade I've never said that about any other mod, even poorly done mods and addons. I can surely respect a person or a group of persons for their modding abilities..but DayZ just kind of took over the game and it has nothing to do with being a large scale mil sim. The mil sim I've grown to love over the last decade+.

@ seany, yeah resistance was awesome that way. Atleast we can agree on that =P

regards,

David

Edited October 26, 2012 by Iceman77

[.kju 3244]

There needs to be a full patch out ASAP to sort the the server browser issues (aka dayZ filtered out and a meaningful list of servers returned).

[dmarkwick 261]

Well you know, DayZ didn't force people to not play other game styles. If there's little in the way of PvP co-op etc, then it's not because of DayZ IMO, it's more probably a perception thing. DayZ has lots of servers, while the co-ops, Evolution etc has maybe slightly fewer than before. It's very probably about the same size as it's ever been.

[nikiller 18]

hi,

I hear you OP. It became very difficult to find a server even with the filter. I think it will be sorted out when DayZ standalone will release. The mod will be still up but it will attract less people. They will migrate to standalone servers and everything will go back to normal.

cya.

Nikiller.

[Maio 293]

1 simple solution:

Find a clan/group of organized players with their own private server>>> get the server IP>>> direct join.

When I was back home and was able to play A2 on my desktop, we had an influx of new players on our server once DayZ became mainstream... most were good and shocked that they never tried A2 before and some were fu*knuts and ruined our mission start. So from my experience, it's just like before DayZ hit the market only in larger numbers...

[chortles 263]

Well you know, DayZ didn't force people to not play other game styles. If there's little in the way of PvP co-op etc, then it's not because of DayZ IMO, it's more probably a perception thing.

I'd suggest that it's more of what =-=seany=- alluded to, with the caveat that PVP doesn't seem to feel popular in the current ARMA player base (I still remember Rocket pushing for a standalone by suggesting that Real Virtuality wasn't properly designed for PVP in the first place) by the time DayZ came out... remember the thread in the ARMA 2 subforum wondering why some people preferred co-op over CTI? Remember a certain someone outright believing that "PVP is about ruining the experience for others"?? Also, I would like to point at this:

Maybe if the right mission came along it would be good, but with what we have now it is not)

Sure the obvious answer is "it has Zombie and we want Mil Sim" , but for me everything that is magic about Arma/OFP's style and atmosphere and its game world is captured perfectly in DayZ, despite the Zombies.

This right here makes all the difference to me, Dmarkwick, Iceman77 -- somehow in three years, no mission maker in the community had a "big idea" that even vaguely approached the impact of the DayZ concept; it's with reason that =-=seany=- called it "the most popular PVP game mode OFP/Arma has ever had"... who's more at fault, Rocket for the DayZ concept or everyone else making missions for three years or more (with OFP/ARMA) before him for not coming up with something?

DayZ just kind of took over the game and it has nothing to do with being a large scale mil sim. The mil sim I've grown to love over the last decade+.

To me this just shows how limited the appeal of "large scale mil sim" ever was. Heck, isn't PR down to like one official server by now and yet to pass 0.15 beta?

One thing that has to be remembered is that while you accused DayZ of attracting the COD/BF3 crowd, the crowd was not only okay with the infamous hardcore realism of ARMA (and in incorporating eating, drinking and Blood it was more realistic than your precious milsim) but that realism was part of the appeal of the DayZ concept!

If anything, I'd dare suggest that to that crowd, "milsim" is a dirtier word than "realism"... I wonder why? :rolleyes:

I hear you OP. It became very difficult to find a server even with the filter. I think it will be sorted out when DayZ standalone will release. The mod will be still up but it will attract less people. They will migrate to standalone servers and everything will go back to normal.

Note however the mod will also have some longevity ironically due to what had kept ARMA 2 around for so long instead of fading into obscurity: MODDING! :D

The DayZ devs have since sanctioned private hives and the inevitable "modding" that goes with that -- so not only will people keep on playing the mod before the standalone comes out if they need to indulge that badly (though many understandably are waiting for the standalone) but they'll now be able to play "customized DayZ", something that Rocket is explicitly not allowing (at first) in the standalone; I would consider DayZ: Namalsk (despite requiring 'vanilla' DayZ mod) to be an example of this phenomenon in action, as well as the plethora of other islands/terrains that other players could play on, some mentioned at PC Gamer's article on Namalsk.

You know, the funny thing is that I'd previously heard that one of the beta patches was now supposed to filter out DayZ so that DayZ servers would only appear if the player client had the mod loaded... whatever happened to that, hmm?

P.S. Re: realism - one of the sweeter things about DayZ was seeing a video where instead of complaining about "DayZ" ballistics not being hitscan, the uploader gave a "how to" guide for the PSO-1 reticle. :D

Edited October 26, 2012 by Chortles

[St. Jimmy 272]

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

And what happened to the PR servers?

Well I think that PR servers popularity decreased before DayZ but there are still action in the weekends. At least last weekend there was like 50-60 players in one server.

But I hope and believe that we won't see the DayZ servers overwhelming in Arma 3 because the standalone is already out then. And I agree it is sometimes hard to find the server what you are looking for even with filters.

[Tonci87 163]

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

Well, I've been around since ofp and the pvp population was infact very healthy in Arma1.Even early Arma2 had a good pvp base.. 120 player berzerk and vahalla servers. Large campaign tournaments. And what happened to the PR servers? Also, I know how to use the server filter.DayZ has drove many original, loyal ofp/arma fans away from the game. I know because I watched my clan and manyothers dwindle down little by little because of DayZ. Sure it's made BI money, it also drove away many old schoolers, because it's attracted the battlefield and cod crowd..but for the wrong reason, not attracted them to arma, but to a zombie marathon.

The only people who would disagree are the DayZ fanatics. Which is understandable. I have my own opinions though.

From what I've gathered from many sources, people either love DayZ or you hate DayZ. Unfortunately, I hate the Mod. Over the last decade I've never said that about any other mod, even poorly done mods and addons. I can surely respect a person or a group of persons for their modding abilities..but DayZ just kind of took over the game and it has nothing to do with being a large scale mil sim. The mil sim I've grown to love over the last decade+.

@ seany, yeah resistance was awesome that way. Atleast we can agree on that =P

regards,

David

Sorry but that is not true, at least not for our group.

DayZ has brought us many new players who wanted to experience true Coop. And it promoted Arma 2 in general. We get contacted by people who simply didn´t know anything about Arma before it became popular. They never played DayZ (I never played it either) but they realized that there is a FPS with quite realistic gameplay, something that many of them always dreamed of.

[iceman77 18]

I'd suggest that it's more of what =-=seany=- alluded to, with the caveat that PVP doesn't seem to feel popular in the current ARMA player base (I still remember Rocket pushing for a standalone by suggesting that Real Virtuality wasn't properly designed for PVP in the first place) by the time DayZ came out... remember the thread in the ARMA 2 subforum wondering why some people preferred co-op over CTI? Remember a certain someone outright believing that "PVP is about ruining the experience for others"?? Also, I would like to point at this:This right here makes all the difference to me, Dmarkwick, Iceman77 -- somehow in three years, no mission maker in the community had a "big idea" that even vaguely approached the impact of the DayZ concept; it's with reason that =-=seany=- called it "the most popular PVP game mode OFP/Arma has ever had"... who's more at fault, Rocket for the DayZ concept or everyone else making missions for three years or more (with OFP/ARMA) before him for not coming up with something?To me this just shows how limited the appeal of "large scale mil sim" ever was. Heck, isn't PR down to like one official server by now and yet to pass 0.15 beta?

One thing that has to be remembered is that while you accused DayZ of attracting the COD/BF3 crowd, the crowd was not only okay with the infamous hardcore realism of ARMA (and in incorporating eating, drinking and Blood it was more realistic than your precious milsim) but that realism was part of the appeal of the DayZ concept!

If anything, I'd dare suggest that to that crowd, "milsim" is a dirtier word than "realism"... I wonder why? :rolleyes:Note however the mod will also have some longevity ironically due to what had kept ARMA 2 around for so long instead of fading into obscurity: MODDING! :D

The DayZ devs have since sanctioned private hives and the inevitable "modding" that goes with that -- so not only will people keep on playing the mod before the standalone comes out if they need to indulge that badly (though many understandably are waiting for the standalone) but they'll now be able to play "customized DayZ", something that Rocket is explicitly not allowing (at first) in the standalone; I would consider DayZ: Namalsk (despite requiring 'vanilla' DayZ mod) to be an example of this phenomenon in action, as well as the plethora of other islands/terrains that other players could play on, some mentioned at PC Gamer's article on Namalsk.

You know, the funny thing is that I'd previously heard that one of the beta patches was now supposed to filter out DayZ so that DayZ servers would only appear if the player client had the mod loaded... whatever happened to that, hmm?

P.S. Re: realism - one of the sweeter things about DayZ was seeing a video where instead of complaining about "DayZ" ballistics not being hitscan, the uploader gave a "how to" guide for the PSO-1 reticle. :D

Thanks for the reply and in-depth discussion. We can agree to disagree, but in the end, I pray DayZ does in fact become a stand alone. DayZ was the first "big idea"? I don't think so. I could compile a list of mods that > DayZ (my opinion of course). Some of the starwars mods for OFP were better than DayZ!! And it's been ~12 years not 3 since the franchise started with Operation Flashpoint (the original Arma). There's been plenty of outstanding mods and game modes over the years besides DayZ, which frankly isn't that great in my opinion. Just because loads of people play a certain game doesn't make it "great". For me and many others who have pretty much been playing for the last decade feel the same way, it's taken over and ruined the game.

"eating and drinking and blood"... okay.. how does that make the game more realistic than my "precious milsim"? Did you forget the whole zombie part of the mod? Also, if you really wanna go down the "realistic" route,wouldn't having to eat food constantly every few minutes to survive, actually be unrealistic? The average person eats 3 meals a day. So basically, I guess if I'm a virtual marine in the field, during any given operation I should have to eat every few minutes.. less I die of starvation? That's not realistic at all. Infact a person can go ~30 days without food IRL (3 days without water)

---------- Post added at 03:09 ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 ----------

Sorry but that is not true, at least not for our group.

DayZ has brought us many new players who wanted to experience true Coop. And it promoted Arma 2 in general. We get contacted by people who simply didn´t know anything about Arma before it became popular. They never played DayZ (I never played it either) but they realized that there is a FPS with quite realistic gameplay, something that many of them always dreamed of.

Sure it's true. Do the math. There used to be plenty of domination,evo and warfare servers. Now you're lucky to see one or maybe two on the list (combined).The rest is DayZ. You're gonna say that DayZ didn't have a negative impact on the actual milsim part of the game? That's laughable. Shortly after DayZ came, the other servers pretty much vanished or are empty.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Iceman77

[ProfTournesol 956]

Well, DayZ showed everybody how important modding is, and how versatile the engine could be with a little more love towards modders. The franchise is about realistic war/combat gameplay, BUT all modding possibilities and universes should stay open THANKS to the engine versatility. I hope ArmA3 will be as open (and maybe more open) than the previous games were, so that we can meet OFP's diversity of mods again.

[chortles 263]

in the end, I pray DayZ does in fact become a stand alone

I only have time to respond to this one point, I'll reply to the rest later: the standalone was confirmed over two months ago, we're supposed to be looking at a public alpha release either next month or December.

[iceman77 18]

I only have time to respond to this one point, I'll reply to the rest later: the standalone was confirmed over two months ago, we're supposed to be looking at a public alpha release either next month or December.

cool, i had no idea. Been away from the game for months and just reinstalled today. The dayz mod drove me and many others away months ago. LOL, just looked at the Co server list, filtered for 1 player minimum.. All DayZ servers (literally). It's cool and all that people like the mod, but you or anyone else can't sit here and tell me and all of the other disgusted players, that DayZ didn't have a negative impact on the milsim side of the game.The side of the game we've been enjoying for years. We've been robbed!! Just saying.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Iceman77

[fraczek 4]

Iceman, as had been said, do you run the latest betas? Because these hide DayZ servers from the browser if you are not running DayZ mod.

[Smurf 12]

Yeah, DayZ destroyed ARMA because everyone was forced to play it. The before ever full public servers now are deserted thanks to that and the private sessions are ruined because, somehow, the zombies from DayZ managed to get into the servers and kill the milsim. :j:

I can see you're some months late in the party, these discussions already happened and proved nothing, only that some people get annoyed when see "their" franchise get raped\destroyed\out of tracks when it made success doing what it wasn't supose to do. DayZ didn't "kill" ARMA,public PvP scene (not kju) was\is almost dead for a long time, Evo\Domi got boring after so many years and the only decent way to play ARMA was and still is private sessions.

Side note: ShackTac and, I presume, UO recived A LOT new players\applications after DayZ. Is that bad?

[[frl]myke 14]

May i remind those Gentlemen about the Thread title: What is the Future of this Franchise.

Since DayZ will become a standalone title, discussing this aspect is pointless in a ArmA thread and stops right now.

[call_911 10]

But, will it just be another phenomenal, large scale war simulator over taken by zombies?

+1

Lastime I tried to play a OA game I immidiatly unistalled due 98.8% servers being that ---mode. Uninstalled ArmA2 cuz all those ----mode players r ruining ArmA2 buy hacking cheating causing havok in servers. may skip ArmA3 due to the ArmA anticheat has beencomprimised an does not work= ruining mp.

[bigshot 64]

Due to recent happenings I also find this to be a curious question that I wish had more answers (what is the future of the arma franchise)...unfortunately, at this point in time I'd assume that any related comments would be purely speculative. I am of course hoping and wishing only the very best to all involved at BIS.

[EDcase 87]

Am I missing something...?

The future of the franchise is: ARMA3

Its not even out yet and you're asking what comes next ?!??! really?

[bigshot 64]

Am I missing something...?

The future of the franchise is: ARMA3

Its not even out yet and you're asking what comes next ?!??! really?

well, we hope so but don't count your chickens before they hatch. There may be unforeseen changes to actually make it happen at this point, but again it is purely speculation at this point in time.

[EDcase 87]

Well, we all know of the political problem (kidnapping) going on in a certain country at the moment and that could understandably delay A3 but to cancel it at this stage would take a really serious situation indeed.

To OP:

I have also been a constant player of the OFP franchise since 2001 but sometimes we need a break to try other games. I'm now playing Planetside2 until ARMA3 comes out. I think there are many others that just need a break but the servers will fill up with milsim fans again when A3 is released.

Edited October 26, 2012 by EDcase

[Tonci87 163]

Thanks for the reply and in-depth discussion. We can agree to disagree, but in the end, I pray DayZ does in fact become a stand alone. DayZ was the first "big idea"? I don't think so. I could compile a list of mods that > DayZ (my opinion of course). Some of the starwars mods for OFP were better than DayZ!! And it's been ~12 years not 3 since the franchise started with Operation Flashpoint (the original Arma). There's been plenty of outstanding mods and game modes over the years besides DayZ, which frankly isn't that great in my opinion. Just because loads of people play a certain game doesn't make it "great". For me and many others who have pretty much been playing for the last decade feel the same way, it's taken over and ruined the game.

"eating and drinking and blood"... okay.. how does that make the game more realistic than my "precious milsim"? Did you forget the whole zombie part of the mod?

---------- Post added at 03:09 ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 ----------

Sure it's true. Do the math. There used to be plenty of domination,evo and warfare servers. Now you're lucky to see one or maybe two on the list (combined).The rest is DayZ. You're gonna say that DayZ didn't have a negative impact on the actual milsim part of the game? That's laughable. Shortly after DayZ came, the other servers pretty much vanished or are empty.

Don´t you get it, you don´t see all the servers anymore. The browser only shows you the servers near to your location. That´s why you think that there are less servers

[wipman 1]

Hi, the leak of (IMO) decent coops and MP life in general, was one of the main reasons that made me uninstall the ArmA2, i don't see a change coming in on the MP approach for the ArmA3, so i think that is a game that i don't gonna play; mainly again... for the MP approach, is so different from how it was on the OFP days that i really see "that spirit" very devirtuated. Let's C ya