Opinion: Retain A3's depth of weapon stabilization

[Shears_tf2 5]

Hi there,

 

Let me get straight to the point:

 

I really dislike how shallow the mechanics around weapon sway are in Reforger in its current state, relative to those in ArmA 3. The glaring lack of the ability to deploy weapons, among less worrying omissions, suggests that at best this is not a high priority item for development at the moment. Overall there seems to be a tilting of the dial towards a more "arcade" style of play: in addition to not being able to deploy weapons, stamina seems to affect weapon sway much less (meaning it matters much less overall), and there is no weapon bracing against objects. 

 

I understand that you want to expand your audience to capture more casual players, but I sincerely believe that if you crucify these mechanics on the altar of attempting to make Reforger/ArmA 4 more marketable to a mass audience, your product will get lost in the sea of generic modern military shooters, because that's exactly what it will be.

 

After playing 900 hours of ArmA 3, most of which with a small but passionate community, I truly believe that meaningful stamina management and managing weapon sway is a cornerstone of this series' mechanics and a defining characteristic of what makes ArmA ArmA, (and not Battlefield, Squad, Insurgency, CoD, etc.). The interlocking systems of stamina, weapon sway, inventory load, and mechanics to mitigate weapon sway (bracing, deployment) in ArmA 3 create immense tactical depth at a more granular level than any other game series out there. So, I implore: don't get rid of this with Reforger/ArmA 4! It's one of your biggest assets!

 

I understand limiting the effect of stamina on weapon sway for newer players, and I'll be frank: as long as it's relatively accessible for people to mod and tweak weapon sway to their liking, as the community did with ArmA 3, I don't care if the vanilla systems lean a bit more towards the arcade end of the spectrum. I just think that making an ArmA game without the mechanical depth of features in core infantry gameplay that ArmA 3 had is shooting yourself in the foot. Hopefully these features are simply still in development for the new engine and I am worrying over nothing, as the much appreciated inclusions of more granular move speed and height via the scroll wheel would seem to suggest - thank you! I just had to get this feedback out there on the forums.

 

While I'm here I'd also like to give a quick shoutout to the new modding tools yall have provided - I've only really dug into the World Editor so far, but what I've seen is truly thrilling (I'm well on my way to making my first ever ArmA terrain!), so keep up the great work!

 

 

[Joshua Diener 6]

This is the first Arma game I have played and I noticed these things as well. If I book it to a position exhausted I look for spot to brace for a moment, or use a bipod, this mechanic is not available. This is just a 'test bed' right? So I'm sure reforger is pretty bare bones at the moment.  

 

I will second the opinion of No Arcade, Plenty of cods out there...

 

I'll add one more thing: I deleted cod and apex (xbox) because I don't see myself going back after getting a slight taste of Arma potential, I won't be buying MW2 either. Food for thought.

[twisted 127]

those things like weapon sway, resting, bipods etc from arma 3 are absolutely needed. they are fundamentals to any rifle shooting.

[Joshua Diener 6]

I do not see how they will not add those mechanics. It goes to show how early on reforger is and the potential that is likely.

[Kristian 47]

You guys do realize the current stamina system, weapon bracing and deployment was added to A3 years after release? It wasn't in the Early Access, it wasn't in full release. I'm sure they'll get to it, just give 'em time.

 

"Overall there seems to be a tilting of the dial towards a more "arcade" style of play" in what way?

 

This argument keeps popping up and I have no idea how or why.

 

• There is less hud than A3
• weapons are deadlier (or rather, there is no miracle armor values as in vanilla A3)
• vehicles are interactable for the first time ever
• load bearing equipment has volyme and weight restrictions
• Equipment itself is modular
• weapons are more modular (GLs can be detached, for example)
• sights are animated
• 3D scopes...
• Being able to fire shoulder fired weapons while prone

Geez the list is so long and yet people will find a reason to think that now that the game is on consoles it's somehow more "arcadey". Hecc you can even manually safe your weapon now, and it's all animated! Firemode changes and everything. Compass isn't just and overlay but an actual thing you have to look at,

map doesn't show where you are anymore by default.

 

How is Arma Reforger more arcadey than Arma 3 at release, please, elaborate cause I'm dying to hear it.

[/rant]

[Shears_tf2 5]

Quote

You guys do realize the current stamina system, weapon bracing and deployment was added to A3 years after release? It wasn't in the Early Access, it wasn't in full release. I'm sure they'll get to it, just give 'em time.

As someone who wasn't around for the early chunk of A3's lifespan, this is reassuring to hear - thank you! I just wanted to make loud and clear that these features have added a lot to my experience with A3 and as such I hope they aren't an afterthought for Reforger!

 

I don't think BI wants to or intends to make a more arcade experience either. I think there's a lot of people reacting this way simply because of the state of the gaming industry as a whole right now, where many studios get forced into terrible choices by upper management seeking to make the game more "marketable to a mass audience" in generic, meaningless ways and sabotaging the game in the process. I think some people see making ArmA available on console as a red flag for these kind of shenanigans, forgetting that, when done in a way that *doesn't* sacrifice the quality of the actual game, it's simply a good decision for everyone.

 

Re: feeling "arcade-y" - I should narrow and specify that I mean specifically the acts of moving your soldier around in the world and their accuracy even after sprinting a significant distance/being wounded have a more "arcade" tuning than I'm used to or expect from ArmA at the moment.  I'll concede that some of this is probably due to the series finally getting animations that feel smooth and fluid rather than the clunky and stiff animations I'm used to! 😄 In any case, the responses here reassure me as to the probability that mechanical depth in those specific areas will make a return - I hope sooner rather than later!