Frustrating experience

[WalkerDown 1]

It started positively (enthusiasm), but it turned to be what everyone should have known from the start already: it's alpha.

Atm all my clan almost stopped to "test" it, because play ArmA3 Alpha at the moment is a very frustrating experience, and admining a server (i run two of them atm) is even more frutrsating.

BIS knows it already, but since we're here to provide our experience and suggestion, i'm going to post here (the obvious?) the reason of why we're abandoning the testing (and looking at the servers online and the number of users playing.. we're not alone):

- Lack of a dedicate server and server stability and lag: the servers are crashing here and there, sometime they last long, but most of the times it's impossible to build a serious (or even fun) gameplay;

- FPS are lower than anything acceptable: a known problem of corse, but being unable to perform the most basic operations (ie: aim!) is something that "forces" you to stop, no matter what;

- Lack of admin tools (or even a basic admin console, coz BEC is missing).

I don't care about contents (weapons, vehicles.. etc.) since they can be introduced gradually, but atm until they "fix/introduces" the above, playing this game is just a matter of launching it bcause you spent some money and you don't wanna feel to have wasted your money, but hey i get bored right after 15 minutes of gameplay (something that have never happened to me with ArmA2...).

I think the above should be the features they must concentrate on, i'm sure they're doing it already, but having an assurance with a post explaining CLEAR what they are doing (coz the SITREP are far to be clear) would inject some positivity into the community; atm i fell more like: "let's wait and hope for the best...", it doesn't look like the optimal situation.

[CptCubano 1]

I have been playing Insurgency on my clan's server with a bunch of guys for awhile. Not that many problems except when the player count hits over 8 to 10 my fps drops considerably. Some in-game admin tools would be amazing and we really need a way to actually host a dedicated server. Still not bored or frustrated yet :D

[Sandy* 10]

It started positively (enthusiasm), but it turned to be what everyone should have known from the start already: it's alpha.

Should have? They bought a game called "Arma 3: Alpha" with loads of description about it being an early test version and it wasn't obvious enough?

[papanowel 120]

It's only 3 weeks now since the Alpha came out for us. I can't believe that they are already dropping that after such a short time. Give them (devs) more time to fix and tweak the game.

[NicotinKickballovich 1]

Sounds like you haven't tried any of the Dev builds. Recently they rolled out major improvements, including fps and stability. I've been playing on a 60 player server and the fps is more than playable now. Pretty much the same as I get in the editor without absolutely nothing. (AI's etc) If you want to see improvements and "test" them, then go for the dev builds instead as "stable version of Alpha" doesn't get updated or what so ever. At least for now.

[andressergio 1]

Sounds like you haven't tried any of the Dev builds. Recently they rolled out major improvements, including fps and stability. I've been playing on a 60 player server and the fps is more than playable now. Pretty much the same as I get in the editor without absolutely nothing. (AI's etc) If you want to see improvements and "test" them, then go for the dev builds instead as "stable version of Alpha" doesn't get updated or what so ever. At least for now.

they're NOT testing Multiplayer...read here

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?151455-Horrible-Multiplayer-performance-un-DEV-servers

[simon1279 52]

Personally i've uninstalled ArmA 2 because right now for me there's just Arma 3 alpha and nothing else......

[NeMeSiS 11]

It started positively (enthusiasm), but it turned to be what everyone should have known from the start already: it's alpha.

If you cant handle an alpha, quit playing until the beta or full release. You will still have gotten the game at a discount, and don't need to bother with the most buggy period in the games development. :)

[Fuse 1]

I know it sounds cliched at this point, but alphas and true betas are usually more frustration than fun. You may just want to step away from the game for a while and let development progress before trying again. Worst case scenario you can wait until the game launches and you won't really have missed anything since the game doesn't have progression to supplement the fun like so many other titles.

I'm not trying to blow you off with that response, it's what I honestly believe. I have friends who are very interested in this game that I have specifically told not to purchase because I know they won't have fun in alpha and don't have the patience to not play it if they buy it. I'm definitely still going to tell them to buy it at some point (hopefully before the price increase), but I don't want Alpha to be their first impression.

[mmaruda 20]

If you have the hardware to run it and can tune your video settings then the Alpha is great fun - just stop using 3800 view distance as I see most people doing. Get some friends, start your own listen-server, have them join and play. The two coop missions shipped with the game are quite nice and you can make your own in the editor.

Apart from the previous dev buid which had some crazy stuttering, some AI stupidity and occasional character clipping, there isn't that many bugs which would make the game less playable than say Arma 2.

[Lucasmnunesk 2]

But the main purpose of the alpha is not to have fun, it is to look for bugs, and find what should be improved. You do that by playing and finding issues, and for an Alpha Arma 3 is really good. Just don't see it as a game yet and post on the feedback tracker what is frustrating you. For me its fun to find bugs and i don't get really frustrated because im not expecting a real polished game experience, and when i play online i do expect gamebreaking issues.

[nodunit 397]

Talking about frame rates isn't helpful unless you give your system specifications and the scenario's in which you are running, video settings are a plus.

[WCG 1]

Get some friends, start your own listen-server, have them join and play. The two coop missions shipped with the game are quite nice and you can make your own in the editor.

I think the alpha is great fun, too. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who plays computer games, other than solitaire or Freecell, so playing with some friends is not an option for me. (I'm in the wrong demographic for that.)

However, the main reason I got the alpha was so I could practice a bit. Heh, heh. This is my first Arma game, and I need a lot of practicing. But I've been amazed at how well the game has run, given that it's just in alpha. Sure, I lose sound occasionally and find other bugs, but it's certainly not as buggy as I expected. That's been my experience, at least.

[CoSm1c_gAm3r 1]

Frustrating..

I didnt like arma 2 MP because of TPP and arma 3 still uses this ridiculous TPP mode like some simple arcadeish TPP game.

So this game for now have nothing to offer except playing in MP which was in my case useless not only because TPP but also after about 10 minutes of play it always disconnected. I just giving up on it. When it will be finished I will then play single player missions only because MP is ruined for me anyway as I said because of TPP mode that others are using (in sim game lol) and all those hackers that with such ease ruined arma 2 and now arma 3 I am starting to doubt in bohemias ability to make better games with some real improvements. I expected more really not only graphical changes but some better system for cover system or gun handling. Funny that in this sim game I can rotate my character like in CS game which is as fact as I can move my mouse lol even in prone... In arma 2 it was not possible... Only 1 animation for reloading :/ so no matter if there is bullet in chamber already or not (and this is sim game?lol) Annoying permanent gun holding pose, when I wanted to turn around in doorway or narrow hallway in arma 2 then my character was not able to turn abound or was moving while I was turning my view. I see that in arma 3 it was not even touched (fixed/tweaked) :/ I dont know if I will be still participating in alpha or any bug reporting so I wanted to mention all that annoying stuff in arma3. In terms of realism feel I prefer more ghost recon advanced warfighter 1 and 2 because it feels more realistic than arma. Arma is only better at ballistics.

For now arma is frustrating experience and disappointment in terms of improvements compared to arma2.

Edited March 26, 2013 by CoSm1c_gAm3r

[twisted 127]

Personally i've uninstalled ArmA 2 because right now for me there's just Arma 3 alpha and nothing else......

Me too.