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is Arma 3 a AAA title?

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It's a very nice game, but is it considered AAA or is a game require to have a specific budget to be considered AAA?

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AAA usually means multi million dollar budget with more than one million copies sold.

No idea about development costs but according to steam spy it has more than 2.5 million copies sold.

Operation Arrowhead is closing in on 4 million copies sold.

 

Cheers

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AAA usually means multi million dollar budget with more than one million copies sold.

No idea about development costs but according to steam spy it has more than 2.5 million copies sold.

Operation Arrowhead is closing in on 4 million copies sold.

 

Cheers

And Arma 3 looks like it costs quite a bit to develop as well. Do you think it has more budget than the previous Arma's 1 and 2?

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Since BIS are still in business I guess so, heh.

 

Cheers

well they live in czech republic, 500,000 USD is like 2-3 million for them really. I can bet that the average pay for them is around 50,000 to 60,000 USD a year. its not like in america where the same person would make over 100,000 easy. the GDP is only 20,000 USD...  also they have a good work ethic besides purchasing that T72... I only wish that they would stay on track with arma and not bounce around making a number of different games in the same production span, and also for them to stop catering to the general public by making the game dumbed down for novices.  

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Considering the budget and the sales yes this is an AAA product.One can be an AAA dev without being EA or TrollSoft.

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When I see or hear the term AAA being used, I assume it refers more to the production values than how much moola it rakes in. Although that's more of a personal opinion.

 

The Arma series has steadily improved in the area of production and quality, even with the flaws. The main thing it has, which lets it carve out it's own niche is the ability to mod in a particular way. In a particular type of environment. From that point of view you could call it AAA.

 

I only wish that they would stay on track with arma and not bounce around making a number of different games in the same production span, and also for them to stop catering to the general public by making the game dumbed down for novices.

 

 

 I've spoken to quite a few people about why they opted to get into the Arma series. People who are only just trying it out for the first time. The main draw for them wasn't the milsim theme. It was the modding aspect. And the improved looks. Although they loved the idea of being able to fly, drive and wander around an open area on foot right out of the box.

 

I think more features to open the modding up to a broader range of tastes wouldn't adversely affect the hardcore milsim fans. 

 

Like with most companies, interest in what they create waxes and wanes. They've been around quite a while with a steady flow of loyal fans. But I'm not sure that a niche market is what they want forever. It's not simply about growing. Diversifying may allow them to keep the train rolling. :)

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 Super polished production with inch deep linear storyline? Yes i'd say they've arrived at AAA.

 

 As far as the hardcore mil-simmer stuff said above, nah this won't placate them yet they have little options in the 3d'esqe world except for MP-only games. The rapid, totally unexpected lotto type windfall of money that came in from Day-Z propelling Arm2 to the top of Steam for months upon months has changed the future of this series forever. What was once a small, indie type company that felt close to the community now feels like a much more bottom-line, create the playground in which hopefully another Day-Z might emerge aka the mention of dinosaurs by devs while producing Tanoa -type of company. The purely business decision (and not a sound one) to utterly dumb down the latest campaign to the point my 5 yo son can finish it is the biggest tell.

 

 That said I still do appreciate the quite massive improvements we've gotten daily in the updates from 3d editor, to weapon switching while moving, fire from vehicles, graphic shaders etc.. Its just more than a little depressing to feel that there really just isnt that much love for actually military game type improvements -the list of which would just be too long..

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I only wish that they would stay on track with arma and not bounce around making a number of different games in the same production span

Someone clearly didn't see the rest of their pre-DayZ publishing catalog... hell, I understand that Arma 3 itself started began as just such a "different game".

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 Super polished production with inch deep linear storyline? Yes i'd say they've arrived at AAA.

 

 As far as the hardcore mil-simmer stuff said above, nah this won't placate them yet they have little options in the 3d'esqe world except for MP-only games. The rapid, totally unexpected lotto type windfall of money that came in from Day-Z propelling Arm2 to the top of Steam for months upon months has changed the future of this series forever. What was once a small, indie type company that felt close to the community now feels like a much more bottom-line, create the playground in which hopefully another Day-Z might emerge aka the mention of dinosaurs by devs while producing Tanoa -type of company. The purely business decision (and not a sound one) to utterly dumb down the latest campaign to the point my 5 yo son can finish it is the biggest tell.

 

 That said I still do appreciate the quite massive improvements we've gotten daily in the updates from 3d editor, to weapon switching while moving, fire from vehicles, graphic shaders etc.. Its just more than a little depressing to feel that there really just isnt that much love for actually military game type improvements -the list of which would just be too long..

 

I agree with the sentiment but really, the assets they added with the DLCs and expansions are certainly not designed with DayZ/Altis Life in mind.

 

There is a clear move away from milsim toward a more lucrative PvP sandbox'ey market, but most of the staff still enjoy more the TvT/military gameplay, and this shows through.

 

As for whether it is AAA game...

 

BI does not have much direct gameplay connection with their users. Instead this is left to community designers. Result is a less stable, less reliable and less polished experience for players.

 

I think it could be a well done military game but the Playable Content team is just too small ;) If their Playable Content team was doubled in size for the past 2 years, I think would have benefited players perception of ArmA, though whether that would have been commercially viable decision, who knows.

 

In this day and age (since 2008 GFC really), there is some glorification of 'modders' by many game developers (BI included). In reality it is just tapping into unpaid laborers who will put hundreds and thousands of hours into designing content for free, which may or may not get used. Many of the more widely known modders have 5000+ hours on A3, some approaching 10000 hours (not counting time spent in text editor), to deliver an experience for players which BI did not feel like investing that manpower/$$$ into.

 

Basically, many studios including BI have outsourced their Playable Content team to unpaid hobbyists. A smart commercial decision, but this does reduce the games rating (AAA or whatever) due to inconsistent experience and lack of professional polish. 

 

How important is a AAA rating these days, and what does it even mean? I don't think many players care, they just want to click on a highly-populated MP server and have a good time for an hour.

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 but most of the staff still enjoy more the TvT/military gameplay, and this shows through.

 

I hesitate to disagree with this statement. Although some game assets are awesome, some others seem to miss 'military thinking' behind it in my opinion, maybe in favor of more 'cool'?

 

To be clear, I consider myself a very loosely military enthousiast who doesn't mind the fictional setting of vanilla Arma.

 

 

Some examples where I doubt that the creators tried hard enough to put in a believable military feel

 

- some of the weapon holding and reloading animation are wrong and/or look overacted

- some of the weapons and vehicles are very shiny!

- I thing the OPFOR VTOL could be more realistically designed as a believable flying military aircraft, just a little more thinking in where the thrusters are, where the thrust exhaust is going, the different component of such an aircraft like fuel tanks, wings etc.

 

- a minor thing but a huge gripe for me were the yawn animations and boot checking that your character would do, even in the middle of a battle. This weekend I spent time to learn how to make a small config mod (for the first time) just to remove these annoying idle animations.

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If we define AAA as being the top of its class, a mil sim open sandbox title, then even the most cynical detractors on these forums would have to say yes. This is simply the best mil sim open sandbox title which enjoys the most comprehensive editor that's also easy to use.

 

The title is further enhanced with the huge and talented modding community, again adding to its being at the top of any milsim list.

 

If comparing Arma 3 to other military single player titles the conversation becomes more cloudy as its competing against titles whose development dollars are devoted to presenting one level after another, usually on rails or in a small slither of landscape.

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I guess as stated its down to budget and units sold but if you consider hours played and support dedication then its a different category.

 

Its completely unique in the military sandbox genre.

I've been playing since 2001 so looking at hours played its AAAA to me ;)

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This is simply the best mil sim open sandbox title which enjoys the most comprehensive editor that's also easy to use.

If comparing Arma 3 to other military single player titles the conversation becomes more cloudy as its competing against titles whose development dollars are devoted to presenting one level after another, usually on rails or in a small slither of landscape.

 

What other stuff is out there?

Unfortunately there are no noteworthy competitors for the arma series as far as I'm concerned.

This also shows through.

 

Cheers

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