Possible to have fun without microphone?

[BorisLozac 1]

Atm i'm getting scared off by the 'seriousness' of this game. I'm a big fan of first person shooter genre, and generally the military/special forces stuff, but i'm starting to wonder if this is actually for me.

I'm beeing told that it's almost impossible or pointless to play this game without communicating with other people, and i'm not that kind of gamer who likes to talk online, just can't be bothered, and i usually play in late hours so it makes it even more difficult.

This level of reaism and dedication only makes sense for me in the driving simulations, cause you do all the same moves, you're in the same sitting position, and you have very similiar device like in the real car. So, hard and real equals more fun, but in a shooter, i don't know.. Right now my favorite type of shooter is Battlefield series, much fun to be had and you can pop in and stay as long as you can, be it 20 minutes or 2 hours. Here, it seems you just can't pop in like that, whenever you like, you have to have a 'clan' and do all the serious stuff, which, like i said, i can only justify in a good racing simulator.

With all beeing said, can i fit in somewhere in this game?

[Nicholas 5]

I've played quite a bit of ArmA without a mic and I can still have fun. Just be sure to listen to orders if you don't have one.

[TranquilityBlue 10]

It's more than possible. I'm more of a casual online guy, and I don't play with a mic most of the time I'm on.

[Exakt785 1]

Atm i'm getting scared off by the 'seriousness' of this game. I'm a big fan of first person shooter genre, and generally the military/special forces stuff, but i'm starting to wonder if this is actually for me.

I'm beeing told that it's almost impossible or pointless to play this game without communicating with other people, and i'm not that kind of gamer who likes to talk online, just can't be bothered, and i usually play in late hours so it makes it even more difficult.

This level of reaism and dedication only makes sense for me in the driving simulations, cause you do all the same moves, you're in the same sitting position, and you have very similiar device like in the real car. So, hard and real equals more fun, but in a shooter, i don't know.. Right now my favorite type of shooter is Battlefield series, much fun to be had and you can pop in and stay as long as you can, be it 20 minutes or 2 hours. Here, it seems you just can't pop in like that, whenever you like, you have to have a 'clan' and do all the serious stuff, which, like i said, i can only justify in a good racing simulator.

With all beeing said, can i fit in somewhere in this game?

Don't worry, a lot of people play without a mike, I myself play from time to time without one and I've been a long fan of the series (since OFP). Also there will be plenty of servers with missions that you can pop in and out without a hitch and you don't need to be in a clan. I have been in a few and I have to say that they are all quite fun to play with, it is just with my job, I don't necessarily have the time to participate in ops, especially during the summer.

About the sense of realism/dedication, it is just like you, it is just that we enjoy military sims more than racing sims ;) .

[BorisLozac 1]

Cheers people, appreciated. Now I just need to hope that BF4 is a flop, cause I can't be playing two shooters at the same time :)

[comc 1]

This level of reaism and dedication only makes sense for me in the driving simulations, cause you do all the same moves, you're in the same sitting position, and you have very similiar device like in the real car. So, hard and real equals more fun, but in a shooter, i don't know.. Right now my favorite type of shooter is Battlefield series, much fun to be had and you can pop in and stay as long as you can, be it 20 minutes or 2 hours.

For the first sentence, you "do all the same moves" as in your running, tactical pace standing at different stances, and you can get the TrackIR if you want a device to further break the boundary between player and game. I've been a big fan of the Battlefield series; seems like people have no problem playing both types of games at once, but seeing as how EA has taken Battlefield 3 (and The Sims), I'm pretty sure the 4th is going to fall flat. Take a look at this video if you want to see if you'd get hooked:

.

[BorisLozac 1]

Yep saw that video before buying the game, it helped a lot in clearing some things up and hyping me. As for the realism, well I guess what i wanted to say that only in Driving simulations (cars, planes, helicopters) you actually do all the things as in the real thing, you are in the same position, sitting, you have the steering wheel, the pedals, practically the only thing missing is the G-forces and the smell.. you don't actually run around in your room in Arma, that's what i meant :)

As for BF4, yeah, they really destroyed the game and the brand with that stupid DLC policy and 'Premium' stuff..

[beatdank 1]

game can be played any way you want, just listen for orders and stick together

[Spanky 1]

The microphone just enhances the experience. For a tdm sort of match you won't really need it but for role playing its really helpful. I met these two guys on wasteland and we formed a squad. Our communication allowed us to dominate the map and have fun.

[DieAngel 0]

You can definitely have fun without a mic, the arma serie is generally much more slow paced than your average BF/CoD shooter, i have yet to see a player ignore an important message passed in text.

I think it all depends of what you are playing. Co-Op missions are perfectly fine without a mic as long as you the people you play with are nice and that your situation allows you to take cover for a few seconds. My advice would be that critical combat info should be brief and precise, use the right chat channel for the situation and if you can take the habit of giving compass headings and roughly estimated distance when you are spotting.

[chortles 263]

BorisLozac, I would think of it in the sense of "how would one play Battlefield without a microphone?" As Spanky said, if you were playing TDM for example then the importance of a mic is not that different from other shooters, but it may be more important in more complex missions, especially if you're ever in a leadership role.

As an alternative, if the mission or your route allows you to you find cover at "appropriate" times then you could resort to text chat as well, either in-game or through the Steam Overlay -- though the latter is between Steam friends or in Steam chat rooms.

[charliemilk 10]

Hi,

I regularly play on Wasteland map servers (effectively a 3 way team deathmatch of sorts). I use a mic and it makes the game a lot easier when other people are on mic too. But sometimes I meet up with another blue who does not have a mic, I simply ask that if they can hear me they nod. If they do then I can get them to give nodding yes or no visual answers to my verbal questions. It of course makes things a bit more challenging but it is still fun.

[Thanath 1]

Personally with MP games I tend to go with the mentality that I really do not wish to hear other people making gurgling sounds in their mics. That being said, in a game like this and with the right kind of people, it might work. And like someone already put it, this game is not always that fast paced and text chat is a good way to communicate. I hope no one will be looked down on just because they are not using a mic. <.<

[skadog 0]

You can always play with yourself, get some Co-Op maps with AI and go to town. The AI won't care if you have a microphone, and they wont say rude things about you on the VON. ;) The beauty of Arma is that it can be as serious or light as you like. Even if you want to play with out a mic on most servers it's not a problem, there is always text chat, and map marker to relay information if it comes to that.

[chortles 263]

Reminds me of how I played insurgency -- voice and text chat with my squad, and I'd apply map markers after any skirmishes, cache detonations or determinations that the grid area had been "cleared" with no seen caches.

[Reuben5150 2]

Atm i'm getting scared off by the 'seriousness' of this game. I'm a big fan of first person shooter genre, and generally the military/special forces stuff, but i'm starting to wonder if this is actually for me.

I'm beeing told that it's almost impossible or pointless to play this game without communicating with other people, and i'm not that kind of gamer who likes to talk online, just can't be bothered, and i usually play in late hours so it makes it even more difficult.

This level of reaism and dedication only makes sense for me in the driving simulations, cause you do all the same moves, you're in the same sitting position, and you have very similiar device like in the real car. So, hard and real equals more fun, but in a shooter, i don't know.. Right now my favorite type of shooter is Battlefield series, much fun to be had and you can pop in and stay as long as you can, be it 20 minutes or 2 hours. Here, it seems you just can't pop in like that, whenever you like, you have to have a 'clan' and do all the serious stuff, which, like i said, i can only justify in a good racing simulator.

With all beeing said, can i fit in somewhere in this game?

The best fun you can have in any military shooter is BFBC2, but Arma is a sim, expect it to be serious.

[chortles 263]

More like "Arma is a sandbox, expect it to be whatever the mission maker wants". ;) But I'll say that yes, the more complex and serious the mission seems to be, the more likely a mic will be needed, especially if you are a group leader.

[metalcraze 290]

OP, once you've played with an organized group you will not want to come back to no-mic gameplay in ArmA.

[Mac 1]

Its possible to enjoy Arma anyway you want, that's the beuty about Arma. It just doesn't lend itself to casual play. It's a million times more enjoyable when played with a like-minded group of people. I used to be a singleplayer only guy and actually, to this day, arma is the only game i play multiplayer.

[MissionCreep 12]

"Maintain radio silence everyone!", I'm at work!:)

[b00tsy 28]

Without a mike you can have fun on public servers and play in SP and mess around with the editor. You can not join clans and play on private servers without a mic, with maybe a few exceptions. And on some public servers you are not allowed to do certain stuff without a mike.

[dwaight 17]

Cheers people, appreciated. Now I just need to hope that BF4 is a flop, cause I can't be playing two shooters at the same time :)

i dont think battlefield 4 will be a flop tbh.

i guess bf4 will be a thrue sequal to battlefield 2.

[EDcase 87]

The whole point of a mic is to be able to communicate while still being mobile. It doesn't mean you have to talk all the time.

When the $h1t hits the fan you want to tell your team where the enemy are while getting to cover. Going prone and typing like mad will just get you killed.

Try it and you will never go back.

[EridanAmpora 1]

I personally am not interested in multiplayer in the Arma series, I just spend hundreds of hours making singleplayer missions in the editor. Don't need a mic for that. :)

[EDcase 87]

I personally am not interested in multiplayer in the Arma series, I just spend hundreds of hours making singleplayer missions in the editor. Don't need a mic for that. :)

Pitty,

You're missing one of the most amazing experiences of games in general and especially in ARMA... Playing WITH friends.