Interested in buying Arma II

[Andrestor 1]

Hello there,

I've been scoping around Arma II for a while reading what's it about and watching videos and I'm more than certain I want to buy both the actual game and get the mod as well.

However, I told a friend of mine about my intentions and he told me not to buy it because of the huge amount of hackers both in the actual game and in the mod.

Any thoughts?

Should I buy it despite that?

Many thanks

[Gunter Severloh 4062]

Hello Welcome to BIS forums!

There are many servers that are run by good gaming communities, clans, and units, and regular public servers if you can find them, servers with the verify signatures,

and running battleye are less likely to be hacked but dont take my word for it, i dont play on public servers as I prefer coop with friends.

I'm sure some other members of the forum can better explain the situation with servers.

As for wanting the game, i would recommend you getting Arma2CO aka Combined Ops which is both Arma2 and its expansion OA.

Arma2 free being the mod you are referring too, i personally see no point on getting it if you have combined ops, its basically running a paid version of the game and a free

version of the game with less features at the same time.

If and when you do decide to buy, if i may suggest buy from BIS store and support the developer.

Hope that helps.

[Alpha-Kilo 36]

I actually thought that "the mod" stands for DayZ, not for ArmA2 free.

Andrestor, if you are talking about DayZ and you don't want to play anything else, your friend is probably right. It may make sense to follow one of the dedicated DayZ forums for details of the current situation. But I can confirm that many players quit DayZ due to hacking problems. The upcoming stand-alone game may do something about this because this version limits the possibilities to modify DayZ.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Alpha-Kilo

[Gunter Severloh 4062]

I want to buy both the actual game and get the mod

ya from what he said here i got to assume Arma2 and Arma2 free which is a mod, but makes no sense to me, but your probably right alpha-kilo, hes probably referring to Dayz.

I wouldn't know really anything about Dayz other then its a zombie survival mod.

[JetlinerX 1]

Assuming he is talking about DayZ, since I haven't heard of A2Free being a mod before (I can def. be wrong), DONT get it.

If you want it for a zombie survival package, I just flat out dont recommend it. It was a good mod when I played it, and people helped eachother, and nobody hacked, however, if you dont get screwed by the COUNTLESS hackers, you will be screwed by the insane PvP. If you want DayZ, the standalone game should be coming out very soon. Get that ;)

On the other hand, if you are looking at getting ArmA 2 for it's initial developed intentions of being a "military simulator." YES. The modding community is huge, so you wont ever run out of things to do. And the script language is easy to take a few days to learn. Giving you even more possibilities. I would not regret this next phrase in a million years, and that is... It's my favorite game/series of all time. So my conclusion is; if you are getting ArmA 2 for the mod, DayZ, stay FAR away from it. If you are getting it for it's military sim focus, then you should flip open your browser, and buy ArmA 2: Combined Operations. ONLY buy Combined Operations. That will give you the base game, and the United States Military Expansion.

Best of luck!

~Slade

Edited January 20, 2013 by JetlinerX

[St. Jimmy 272]

Well one of the key things to avoid hackers is playing in private communities/servers in both the game and the DayZ mod. There are a lot of communities that are happy to take people in just don't be afraid to ask.

Arma 2 hasn't ever have many crowded open public servers (until now DayZ mod's) but there are some Arma 2 servers that are good for beginners. Before DayZ it was rare to see hacking or script kiddos in public servers but things have changed now, so public servers that doesn't have very active admins (and even that doesn't help always) might be little no no at this point.

DayZ standalone is also coming this year so if you are not in tactical shooter/military sim then I'd recommend to wait for it. If you are interested in pure Arma also then I can recommend buying it and finding a nice community. But there might come some news about Arma 3 in very near future.

[bars91 956]

To topic starter: you ask this question here and expect what answer exactly?(besides "ZOMG Arma = perfect godlike sim buyitonlysprockitNAO!!!1")

Almost everyone here will praise this sim no matter its flaws. It's the official forums and as any forum of such kind it mainly consists of fanboys of the said product(to whom I belong as well).

Here's MY opinion:

Positive:

-this indeed is the best COMBINED TACTICS sim out there;

-this is the second best digital entertainment product after the original OFP;

-has the best modding community out there;

-devs put up a lot of work to combat bugs\flaws\hacking;

-the epic mission editor(about the only thing still keeping me from uninstalling this and playing OFP all the time);

Negative:

-Graphical effects(post processing) suck(can be disabled in settings);

-physics suck(common knowledge);

-AI suck hard(oddly enough because they are so much more complex - paradox);

-a ton of little bugs\incomplete stuff still left despite the 3 year patching marathon;

-a ton of hackers on the public servers(despite admins busting 'em all the time);

I'm lovin' this community and sim itself, but i'm also keeping myself from getting delusional and try to keep it real in regards to it's flaws.

[W0lle 1050]

Okay armazingerz, I thought you got the message by removing your post. But you're obviously on a rampage mission.

I have enough of your ignorance now, I have enough of your abusive language used here and I will not tolerate you telling people to boycot BI.

And yes, this game is not another run and gun BF clone, obviously.

Account suspended for the next 2 weeks - use the time to think about your actions.

Edited January 27, 2013 by W0lle

[connorwarman 60]

As a person that came into Arma 2 through DayZ. I can honestly tell you this is one of the best games I have ever played. The amount of options you have before you is fantastic, and is really not shown in any other gaming experience out there.

TL;DR-Yes, please buy this game.

[Vunderbar 1]

^Exactly what he said.

I bought ARMA 2 just for DayZ but the actual game itself has become the best military game for me. Definitely beats Battlefield 3 in my opinion.

Go ahead and buy. And don't you worry about the hackers, there's plenty of Private Hives servers you can ask to have access to. That helps keep the hackers out.

[chortles 263]

With regards to DayZ and the standalone, I will say this: the DayZ standalone is only the DayZ concept, at first only the Chernarus Plus "map" (terrain) and we have no idea what level of "private hive" support will exist if any, considering that the standalone will be using VAC for anti-cheat and most likely Steamworks in general. (From what I had heard, private hives were only finally sanctioned because the horse had fled the barn as far as a mix of them already happening and rampant hacking reports at the time.) If you only want to play the DayZ concept, are fine with only the one map and you'd rather a much more polished/revised experience (i.e. supposedly less clunky animations, hopefully better controls, a majorly refined inventory menu, customizable weapons and outfits) that's hopefully more secure against exploits/hacking, then get the standalone.

If you want to definitely be able to play on private hives, to be able to play on other terrains besides Chernarus (such as DayZ Namalsk, Lingor, Panthera and several more) and to be able to play "DayZ-reminiscent but variant gameplay" scenarios like DayZ Origins or

* and/or to be able to play other game types altogether (like the forementioned "military simulation") and you're willing to put up with Arma 2's issues (notice how I pointed to animations, controls, inventory, customizing and anti-cheat?)... then get Arma 2 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, separately or together as Arma 2: Combined Operations... then look on the horizon for Arma 3. ;)

* Wasteland is not a mod in the sense that DayZ, the different DayZ "map" mods and DayZ Origins are, but rather a custom mission that uses both Arma 2 and OA assets on Chernarus, so all you need is Arma 2/OA (in fact you should disable all "Expansions" except for those and ACR/BAF/PMC) and to be running the latest beta patch... just filter multiplayer servers by "Wasteland".

[iceman77 18]

Negative:

-AI suck hard(oddly enough because they are so much more complex - paradox);

-a ton of hackers on the public servers(despite admins busting 'em all the time);

Hi. Though you've already pointed it out in a sort (the paradox), show me another game where the AI isn't scripted, that out performs Arma's AI. Also, apparently only a small amount of "admins" actually know how to admin properly and use the tools available to stop/prevent hackers. Being a real admin takes dedication & knowledge. knowledge of what admin tools exist & how to use them. This includes doing the little things like setting up the mission files themselves to try and prevent hacks.. IE; certain commands that can ran on clients etc. There are already scripts like this available if one searches.

Anyhow, not saying your points aren't valid. But to a new guy it bsically sounds like "the ai are bad" & "you can't get a game in edge wise". When infact, the Ai are actually better than any other AI out there, as they actually have a brain of a sort and not scripted garbage. And if you find a decent server with a good admin then hackers aren't a problem.

[chortles 263]

And if you find a decent server with a good admin then hackers aren't a problem.

I think he's implying that this is the difficult part... or he doesn't get along with whoever it is that you're thinking of as "a good admin" for whatever reason, or their servers have excessively high ping for his taste, or any number of reasons -- it seems clear though that the knowledge it takes to "implement good admin practices" isn't widespread enough.

As for AI -- depends on your interpretation of "AI suck hard", how do you know that he didn't mean "they go prone out in the open without cover"?

[GnibGnab 1]

Hey Guys

After reading the thread my question kind of fits in here. I have Arma II, the DVD, bought it about 4 years back and just recently pulled it back out of the box and getting back into it. So now I want the add on Combined Operations. But everywhere I see that I can purchase it, it comes in a bundle. Arma II and Combined Operations, I already own Arma II. So my question is - do I have to purchase the bundle or is there a stand alone add on of Combined Operations?

In addition - if I have to purchase the bundle, do you think it best to uninstall the DVD version and run the whole thing of the bundle?

Thanks for your help eh <<<< Canadian

[chortles 263]

Hey Guys

After reading the thread my question kind of fits in here. I have Arma II, the DVD, bought it about 4 years back and just recently pulled it back out of the box and getting back into it. So now I want the add on Combined Operations. But everywhere I see that I can purchase it, it comes in a bundle. Arma II and Combined Operations, I already own Arma II. So my question is - do I have to purchase the bundle or is there a stand alone add on of Combined Operations?

In addition - if I have to purchase the bundle, do you think it best to uninstall the DVD version and run the whole thing of the bundle?

Thanks for your help eh <<<< Canadian

The cheapest route is simply to buy Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, patch Arma 2, then install OA into the Arma 2 directory (the OA installer should auto-detect your Arma 2 directory so long as you're not buying OA from Steam) and then patch OA... this is how I got my Arma 2 and OA retail discs to form a "Combined Operations" installation.

[metalcraze 290]

OA installer auto-patches ArmA2.

As for AI -- depends on your interpretation of "AI suck hard", how do you know that he didn't mean "they go prone out in the open without cover"?

That's a perfectly fine behavior. What's wrong with it?

[chrisb 196]

There are many flaws in the game, but with a game soo large, its to be expected to a certain degree.

As for AI, they are the best to be found in any game, even with their flaws. If you make missions, you can build in great ai behaviour, just a matter of personal preference as to how you would have them act. But there’s the great thing, you can choose the behaviour type, with the many ai mod’s or mixes of mod's out there.

No other game gives you as many choices as this one, or its predecessors, well worth buying..:)

[iceman77 18]

-AI suck hard(oddly enough because they are so much more complex - paradox);

As for AI -- depends on your interpretation of "AI suck hard", how do you know that he didn't mean "they go prone out in the open without cover"?

Hey Chortles. He meant that the Ai suck, because (paradox here) of how complex they are. Their not scripted like other games. IE; Some toon jumping from around a corner in COD campaign, like hogans alley back in the day :). Arma Ai actually have a brain of a sort... if you can call it that.

---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 15:42 ----------

To the OP: Definitely get Arma2:CO. Personally, if I were you, I'd forget about DayZ (the mod) briefly. You can get the game, take some time and get familiar with how to install & run mods/addons properly. Get a feel for the vanilla game & it's community. The DayZ community & Arma community differ drastically in maturity. Overall anyhow. At any rate, you'll be back here asking how to play normal arma2 because you went with some dayz exe / installer initially. There's usuaully 1 thread a day about "How can I just play normal Arma2?". Also, be very wary of unofficial DayZ installers/exes. You can visit the dayz site, to find out which ones are legit. Often times, people offer a "modded version of dayz", new islands, gear, roles etc. Only for you to get banned and/or find it's just a tool to steal your cd-key or worse.

That's my 2c :)

Edited February 12, 2013 by Iceman77

[chortles 263]

Hey Chortles. He meant that the Ai suck, because (paradox here) of how complex they are. Their not scripted like other games. IE; Some toon jumping from around a corner in COD campaign, like hogans alley back in the day :). Arma Ai actually have a brain of a sort... if you can call it that.

Whereas I interpreted it as "it's paradoxical that the AI sucks despite its complexity".

I would supplement what Iceman77 by saying that back in the day, people had to learn how to install DayZ mod manually; DayZCommander now fulfills this (and server joining) as far as DayZ, but before that we had programs such as SixLauncher and SixUpdater for doing this with "regular" Arma 2 mods as well... fortunately, "command lines" aren't the only way to install mods, you just have to know where to unzip them to.

P.S. One nice thing about Wasteland "mod" is that it's really just a custom mission for 'vanilla' Arma 2: Combined Operations -- though (perhaps counterintuitively) it requires players to manually disable DayZ, and I believe any mods/addons except Arma 2/OA/ACR/BAF/PMC?