Picking multiplayer (coop) games

[WCG 1]

I'm new to Arma III - to all the Arma games - and to multiplayer games entirely, pretty much. But I've played around with downloaded single-player missions enough to get bored (I realize that this game is just in alpha, so no problem) and I thought I'd try multiplayer. But my experience has not been good, and I suspect I'm doing something wrong.

I look for games with a green 'ping' for me, then look for coop games with just a few people which aren't password protected. Most seem to be Wasteland, which I think is a modded game, so I skip those. And I want something relatively simple, not player vs player, where it's a struggle to figure out who's on my side. (This is a struggle enough for me!)

The first game I tried, nothing happened. I mean, NOTHING. Well, one guy was driving a vehicle far from the rest of us. I thought they were waiting around for more players, but after awhile, the server went down. OK, so I tried another. This had a few people scattered across the map doing random things. One guy near me was in a vehicle, blowing up random stuff. Being so new and so clueless, I didn't want to talk, but I listened in to conversations, and it seemed like no one really knew what to do. I'm not sure there were even enemies on that map, because everyone seemed to be doing random things by themselves.

So I tried another game and ended up at Camp Maxwell, surrounded by soldiers. Supposedly, we had to defend it from attack. Great, huh? But, eventually, I realized that they were all NPCs. There were two players somewhere else on the map, but when I asked, they didn't know what was going on, either. Certainly, there was constant talk from the NPCs, but I never saw an enemy (although I was killed once).

This morning, I tried another (but this was the Escape from Stratis coop, which I was at least slightly familiar from attempting on my own). I spawned injured, far from everyone else, but I finally caught up with them. However, there was constant - I mean CONSTANT - nonsensical orders being given. One of the other players said that the leader was a bot. I can believe it, because it never shut up. I never fired my gun and eventually gave up, mostly because of the noise, but also since I didn't have a clue what was going on.

The thing is, there are a million servers, but not very many options for me, it seems. If I rule out those with long ping times, those which are password protected, the Wasteland and other mods, the expert games, the team-based player vs player, etc., there's been very, very few games left. And this has been my experience with those. Am I missing something?

Note that I bought the game for single-player, since I don't normally play multi-player games (not since MUDs long, long ago). And I know it's still in alpha, so I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering if I'm missing something obvious. It wouldn't be the first time! :)

PS. Note that one reason I'm bored with the single-player missions is that I'm really, really bad at them - even at Recruit difficulty. I seldom get very far. And I'm never going to get very good, either. I'll improve, hopefully, but not that much. I'm pretty inept at this stuff. So if I play multiplayer, I want a game where I can just follow the group and try not to get killed too often. So far, though, I haven't found a single game to play.

[pawelkpl 29]

I can give you pass to our coop server so you can try. I`v sent PM with password.

[WCG 1]

I can give you pass to our coop server so you can try. I`v sent PM with password.

Thanks! I'll look for you.

[eggbeast 3673]

what country are you in? you can join ours to see MP in all its glory - join me on steam and say hi

[WCG 1]

what country are you in? you can join ours to see MP in all its glory - join me on steam and say hi

Thanks. I'm in the U.S. (Nebraska), so I might not be able to play on a UK server. (I seem to have trouble even with many U.S. servers.) But I'll see.

My main problem is a lack of friends who play computer games. I'm in the wrong demographic for that, I guess, because I don't know anyone locally who plays computer games - except for Solitaire and Freecell, maybe. Heh, heh. On the other hand, I'm retired, so I have plenty of time for games (not enough, though - there's never enough time for everything).

I've started to find people playing Coop games, though, so it's good. I'm learning a little more about what to look for, too, I think.

Again, thanks!

[Whateverworks 1]

Hey guys,

I just bought ARMAIII Alpha. I am not new to the Arma games been with this series since the beginning. I have mic and I am a serious gamer. I value the tactical aspect and the necessity of communications in Arma. I am looking for a server with those qualities and like minded people.

If anyone want's me in or want too know me a bit better before an invitation to a server is granted you can write me a PM. For some reason I can't make my own thread so sorry for highjacking this one sir.

//WW

[kamaradski 10]

Hi WCG,

I have read your post a few times now, and even though i'm in Europe (and so are my favorite servers and clans) and thus am not much of a real help to you from here. I do however am quite sure that with ARMA you have found the right community to attempt online multiplayer.

Please do not yet give up, and you will soon find the right group of people to play with.

Good luck,

kama

[Varanon 892]

If you want a real COOP experience (i.e. doing a real mission with other players), the best way to play is with a group of people that specifically attempts to play together. Public games are almost never like that. Clans do public nights now and the, so this is a good opportunity to find like-minded players

[WCG 1]

If you want a real COOP experience (i.e. doing a real mission with other players), the best way to play is with a group of people that specifically attempts to play together. Public games are almost never like that. Clans do public nights now and the, so this is a good opportunity to find like-minded players

Thanks. (And thanks to you, too, Kama!)

Unfortunately, that's been my experience with public coop games, so far (almost always, at least). However, I'm not just a beginner at this, I don't normally play multiplayer games at all. I play a lot of games, too, but I tend to jump from one to another.

As a beginner, I wanted to stick with coop games with just a few players in the vanilla version of Arma III. If anyone here has seen idjester's videos on YouTube, that's pretty much what I've been looking for. (And I was able to play with him once, although the ping was so bad I couldn't get re-connected later.) That seemed like a good way to get started, and I like the squad-based teamwork in those games. (Teamwork is something that's been sorely lacking in the public coop games I've tried.)

I'm a slow, rather deliberate player, who prefers to take my time. In the coop games I've tried, there's been little or no communication, characters have been strung out clear across the map, and I've struggled just to keep up with the people running from one point to another. Much of the time, I don't even know what the objective is (if it's not clearly marked on the map, at least). That's not the kind of game I want.

But I haven't wanted to make a commitment to a clan, either, since I tend not to stick with any game for long. I buy a lot of games (and I've become addicted to Kickstarter), so there's always something new I want to try. Arma III itself is not my usual kind of game, but it was just too neat to pass up. :)

So I appreciate the comments here, and the invitations. But I'm a casual kind of player and likely to stay that way. I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression, especially when clans are probably looking for people who'll stick with them. (I'm also too old to have friends who play computer games. I can see where this would be a lot of fun with friends.)

As I say, I appreciate the invitations. I'm just being cautious here, because I don't want to disappoint anyone.

[kamaradski 10]

I'm kind of with you there, as i'm too am a casual gamer. Sometimes i manage to play twice a week, however most of the time if i manage to get 1 good extended session in for the week, it's been a good week. Sometimes i dont play for a month. Real life still takes priority :)

There are however a lot of clans around that are ok with this. I used to play with the UK-based clan .:IGI:. Very casual and no pressure on how often or how long i would be able to play. Also no ultra realism or whatever, just a bunch of people playing semi serious, and having lots of mature fun along the way. This somehow sounds what you are looking for, and i'm very sure you will find something that suits you. It is already out there waiting for you to discover it.

However you need to want to want it..... and must be willing to put some effort to find the right group of people, slash, clan to play with. Accept some of the invites on this board, play with them a couple of times and stick around if you like it, if not,... just move on, that's the way it works, no hard feelings.

The reward that this game has to offer when the situation is set correctly: good server with ok ping, good group of people that play in a way to match your own, and a good mission, are much higher then what you can expect of any other game out there.

PS, as the game is normally a lot slower then for instance battlefield3 or any comparable fast action shooters, your ping is a lot less important. In ARMA anything till 150ms is still very much acceptable. where in the other shooters you want to stay below 80ms.

[WCG 1]

PS, as the game is normally a lot slower than for instance battlefield3 or any comparable fast action shooters, your ping is a lot less important. In ARMA anything till 150ms is still very much acceptable. where in the other shooters you want to stay below 80ms.

I've actually discovered that Arma III has been lying to me when it comes to 'ping.' At least, I've played a bit with the CiA - Comrades in Arms - group in Europe with no problem, even though Arma III consistently shows the ping to them as 2500. (When I connect, it turns out to be 160 or so, which has worked fine.)

The biggest problem with European-based groups, for me, is that they play in the daytime (here). In the winter, that would be fine, but I tend to be busy the rest of the year. But as a casual Arma III gamer - and a complete newbie - I've been taking it slow. I play a little bit on single-player, in order to train myself, so one good co-op session a week works well enough. For now. :)

Thanks!

Bill

[KingsCake 10]

I am running in to similar problems, this is the 1st arma game i have played since Operation Flashpoint and I am completely lost in MP...

[sproyd 2]

As Arma 3 is in Alpha with only a small amount of content its not always conducive to those getting into the series for the first time. I trained myself up on Arma 2 + expansions Single Player and I'm now very competent in the Arma 3 MultiPlayer space (although not part of a clan/group at the moment).

I would recommend getting a copy of Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead and playing through the campaign and scenarios, all of the skills and commands will port over to Arma 3 (with the exception of the G key ;) and stance adjustments) - its a very good campaign, far superior to Arma 2 basic campaign.

As to Arma 3, I think the best drop-in drop-out game mode for casual players is Wasteland. Don't write it off straight away. Its not actually a mod so you don't need to install or customize anything, just join a Wasteland server and it will automatically download it (its technically a custom mission although plays out more like a mod).

Wasteland is fairly simple

1) Choose a side - BLUFOR, OPFOR or Independent. Recommend BLUFOR/OPFOR for beginners.

2) You can communicate with your side on the side channel (press COMMA until it says SIDE) either via in-game text chat (press / type then press ENTER) or VOIP chat (hold CAPS LOCK)

3) Equip yourself - find guns, ammo and equipment in the back of vehicles, on dead players or at the GUN STORES marked on the map

4) You can then team up with other players and sub-groups to defend a base, attack enemy positions and complete randomly assigned missions

5) Its a lot of fun and you can usually join an established squad of guys and they'll help you out with arming you to the teeth. The game is fluid so if BLUFOR destroys the OPFOR base its not GAME OVER but OPFOR will randomly spawn around the place and have to regroup, rearm and reconstruct a base from scratch.

Bare in mind along with inevitable Alpha bugs, there are some frustrating Wasteland bugs too and occasional hackers killing everyone on the server so patience is key. The main bugs are with the inventory system, requiring you to drag weapons into your backpack before equipping them etc. People will help you out in SIDE or GLOBAL chat with any problems you run into.

[KingsCake 10]

Well that does help thanks for the advice!

[WCG 1]

As to Arma 3, I think the best drop-in drop-out game mode for casual players is Wasteland.

I'm not going to get Arma 2, because I have a limited amount of time. And I'd rather start to learn Arma 3 while the content isn't quite so overwhelming. (If you're lost in Arma 3, why wouldn't you be even worse off in Arma 2?) But you make a good case for Wasteland.

I didn't realize that Wasteland might be a good place to practice my skills. I've been playing single-player missions and practicing in the Editor, but Wasteland might make a nice change of pace. Thanks!

Bill

[sproyd 2]

Well one thing that Arma 2 has over Arma 3 is Training missions that drip feed the controls, commands and interface to you. I highly recommend them although you should play the Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead training as the stock Arma 2 training missions can bug at times and hence not conducive to learning because you don't know whether you did something correctly or not.

90% of it will transfer straight to Arma 3, except for stance adjustments, run/sprint, inventory system and some other minor bits and pieces. The AI commanding is identical though and that is quite complex to learn unless you have someone to teach you.

[SomeGuyWithARock 1]

That's good info, sproyd! I struggled to even like Arma for over a year (uninstalled it many times!), but Arma 3 sucked me back in. I love it now. To the OP I've played on high ping servers and gotten less lag on those than some very close to home. Not sure what causes lag in some and not others, but ping doesn't mean a whole lot so far.

[WCG 1]

Well one thing that Arma 2 has over Arma 3 is Training missions that drip feed the controls, commands and interface to you.

I see. That makes sense. But I just don't have the time for yet another game (not this time of year, at least), and I think I'm past my initial confusion about the basic controls/interface (when that would have been most useful).

Well, whether I am or not, there's just so much time in a day,... unfortunately. :)

Thanks.

[dale 11]

at the end of the day if you limit what you can play and cant play, you wont find many servers to your liking, I understand if you don't want to play PvP but currently thats the most populated scene.

Also Coop isnt developed enough yet, and the alpha still has its bugs etc, so its even more limited regarding the fact that servers crash and hackers are rampant.

If you want well thought out missions and teamwork then you will need to find either an open dedicated community, or join a clan.