Arma II Manual ?

[galzohar 31]

Even more confounding, if ArmA II is like ArmA in this regard, Dslyecxi's Guide will surpass the manual in every regard, obviating concern for any retail value of the manual, making it a lost PR and good will opportunity to boot.

Or it would just make the manual look like a joke which is bad PR :)

[Placebo 29]

I'm curious, why BI would not allow sharing or even offer direct download of the ArmA II Manual? It's good PR in general to offer the manual for your game or product, many a software Developer does this, and most marketing and PR agencies will recommend it.

Why should we allow access to the manual by those who don't buy the game? Digital download providers should include a manual, if they don't then you need to complain to them and get that resolved, either way it's not a BIS issue, no matter what you might think.

[hoak 0]

Why should we allow access to the manual by those who don't buy the game?

Because it's a good PR and marketing tool that BI has already invested in, there's a lot of information about the game that can't easily be found anywhere else. Many who are curious about the ArmA II and unsure could have a lot of their questions easily answered by looking at the manual.

...if they don't then you need to complain to them and get that resolved, either way it's not a BIS issue, no matter what you might think.

Well any negative experience a paying Customer has with a BI product is not good for BI, especially if it's easily remedied...

:icon_neutral:

[giantsfan24 10]

Because it's a good PR and marketing tool that BI has already invested in, there's a lot of information about the game that can't easily be found anywhere else. Many who are curious about the ArmA II and unsure could have a lot of their questions easily answered by looking at the manual.

Well any negative experience a paying Customer has with a BI product is not good for BI, especially if it's easily remedied...

:icon_neutral:

I agree 100 percent. I know people who bought DCS Black Shark based on it's amazing manual. If people could get an idea of the inner workings of the game, it might entice then. But if Placebo says it's not BIS's fault, then I believe him, but it's someone's fault.

[datter 0]

I bought from Nexway and I would like a manual. I'll likely never read it, but I'd like it just the same. Complaining to Nexway won't help either, as any manual would originally come from BIS. If Nexway doesn't have an english PDF manual I can't see how they'd be expected to create one, that would be up to BIS.

[tomchick 10]

Placebo, even those of us with review copies provided by BI didn't get a manual. So in the case where BI is the digital download providers, can I complain to them here? :)

That said, I can understand why they don't provide the manual online, although it's a bit silly to figure that pirated versions of the game won't also include PDFs of the manual.

-Tom

[galzohar 31]

Actually, they usually don't, but that's simply because nobody ever bothers reading the manual anyway. I've personally never seen anyone looking for a manual for his pirated game.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

I agree with everything Placebo says. But BIS would have nothing to loose by providing it and everything to gain. So I still really don't get the current official attitude on the issue.

Even professional software does this. Example. Another one. There are even sites that specialize in providing manuals. Welcomed by most. Only a few listed on the banned list. Does BIS want to end up on the latter? Not at all what I expected given by the open nature of the game and community.

I don't care if I get a digital manual or not, as long as I get a printed one. Especially for a game like this where I already know the 'mechanics'. But it might be important for some.

I assume BIS already have masters of the manual. It would cost them nothing to make it widely available. Might even help generate sales for those unwilling to try a demo 'infected' with bad copyprotection schemes.

[frederf 0]

I don't think a detailed manual is really appropriate for ArmAII gameplay as it's going to quickly get out of date and superseded by patches and mods.

The mission maker on the other hand would really benefit from a good manual and in-game reference. ArmA lives and dies on content and the better the missions are the better the game looks. The Biki is a great start.

[kabong 1]

I assume BIS already have masters of the manual. It would cost them nothing to make it widely available.

I am 99% certain the answer to both is YES. Many pdf manuals have the registration marks for printing, as if they used the pdf as the master for producing the printed manuals. Even if they don't have a pdf, it could easily be made from the digital printing masters.

Also, if BI are so paranoid about having an electronic version of the manual out in the wild, why does the offiical BI Community wiki have the ArmA manual? (see here: http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_Manual). Weren't they concerned about the ArmA manual being out if the wild? And, the German version of ArmA 2 includes a pdf of the manual (in German, dammit).

While technically this is a publishing matter, BI could easily fix it directly for the community.

[Chomp 10]

I'm curious if the manual is a one a time read or is it something that I'll want to refer to over and over again.

Most Steam games have the manual linked to the steam game page and can be read by anyone so the arma2 manual might be "out in the wild" on the 26th.

And I have bought a few steam games just because I like what I read in the posted manual.

[AT Soldier 0]

I also bought the game from Nexway and I'm really missing the manual.

Let me also say that it's great to see a fine reviewer like Tom Chick come and visit us mortals in these forums.

It's Really great that a few reviewers out there still care about these more complex and interesting games. Most reviewers these days seem to be enjoying Pixeljunk games , mario and the grueling tactics and strategy of halo wars.

PC Gamer US even had a UK reviewer write the review for Empire Total War for them because none of them had any interest in it. It makes an old hardcore gamer like myself slightly sad.

//Niklas

Swedish 34 year old gamer

[Majormauser 0]

I'm sure most of the noise from this post is coming from people who Purchased the German version and were really not living in Germany, not pirates. But I understand BI's point ...the manual is given out by the Distributor and you should seek them out before coming down on BI.

[EricM 0]

I understand the anonyance for the Nexway customers. I bought the german download version and got the german manual, better than nothing. Though I had absolutely no manual with Arma1 Sprocket version back then.

Eventually Mr Murray's editing bible will be a lot more useful... but he's got a lot of work to do before it's done. In the meantime, the version he made for Arma 1 is still relevant for many things, you should have a look at it.

[hoak 0]

But I understand BI's point ...the manual is given out by the Distributor and you should seek them out before coming down on BI.

I think some have and that's the problem, it's small PR gaffs like this that incrementally generate negative impressions and PR that hurt sales dramatically -- and that was my selfish motive for my earlier post: I want to see ArmA II sell gang busters so we have plenty of servers and people playing in the Americas...

BI does not have what many in this part of the world would regard as a 'smooth' PR machine, in fact quite the contrary. I'm sure a lot of this is just down to language and cultural differences, and that BI is a Developer driven technology company that's heavily focused on the results of their products and believe rational thinking will prevail and people will buy the best...

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way in the marketplace, and this is the sort of thing that may seem petty in the larger context of the ArmA II project, but adds to the concatenation of bumps in the road to which is already a rough, resource limited ride to sales results...

:icon_neutral:

[tomchick 10]

Let me also say that it's great to see a fine reviewer like Tom Chick come and visit us mortals in these forums.

Ha ha, well, that's awfully kind of you. A game like ArmA 2 really does benefit from having a community like this. I didn't play a lot of ArmA and it's been a loooong time since Operation Flashpoint, so a lot of things that are going to be familiar to you guys are completely new to me. Forums are a real boon for a game this ambitious and complex.

Especially since I don't have a manual! :)

-Tom

[hoak 0]

It easy to understand BI's perspective; they're paying Publishers to deal with this who should be earning their cut... But any negative subterfuge reflects on BI; 'passing the buck' of responsibility, a scenario too familiar to Consumers who just want what they paid for, has a very negative connotation.

In some cases people just want to know more about a product then marketing copy before they spend what for many is a considerable amount for toy in todays economy. And some of us that have already spent money, and are cooling our heels waiting for the product to be delivered would enjoy a Manual to tide the wait.

The Customer is not always right, often isn't in fact, but, 'the Customer is always the Customer' and is the one paying or prospectively paying the bills. I can easily get by without a manual for a few more weeks, as I'll have one soon enough, it's just unfortunate to see People's interest in ArmA II discouraged...

:o

[Gambler 10]

Has anyone even received a response email from Nexway about the missing manual? I realize that most of us only started complaining via email on Friday and with the weekend no one was working, but I would have made this a top priority to provide some sort of statement via email or on their download site.

I'm certainly not going to pay international long distance charges just so I can sit on hold waiting for their customer support people that may or may not have any answers.

[kabong 1]

I have sent a couple of emails but no response. I even tried calling today but with the time difference, missed them as the office had closed for the day.

Perhaps someone in the EU could call them locally and find out what's happening.

[GregP 10]

I wrote to Nexway on Friday and have yet to hear anything back.

[Placebo 29]

I'm looking into this from our side as well, hopefully Nexway and whichever other digital distributors are not including a manual can get their arse into gear and include one, otherwise I'll try to see if we can somehow provide one on a person by person case on receipt of proof of ownership (or I guess we could do it by CD Key receipt or such), I cannot of course promise anything at this point, just wanted to make it clear that despite my answers previously I wasn't simply forgetting about the issue ;)

[katua 10]

btw how is the manual?. How many pages?.

I am a bit sad seeing how the industry in the last decade has been dumping down the manuals, no quality, no real content, shorts..

I remenber manuals like those:

http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/magisterrex/TheirFinestHourFull.jpg

http://198.65.10.229/DID/EF2000_NS.JPG

[kabong 1]

Placebo - thanks for not forgetting about this. If you hear anything back from BI or Nexway (like Nexway are getting off their arses) can you please post here so that we can stop the clamouring? ;)

katua - from what I have gleaned from various sources, the German version manual is something like 80 pages (which is unusually large in today's market) which suggests to me its got some meat to it and is worth clamouring for. ;)

p.s. As to the suggestion that Dyslecxi's ARMA II guide makes the manual redundant - I have now looked at the guide. It is very large (roughly 120,000 words) and full of detail. Too large for a quick read through and may be hard to remember just where to find something I had previously read. He also states that it is intended for his gaming group and other like-minded gamers, including their own ranking system, protocols, etc., rather than a recital of the instructions for play. On this basis, I don't see it as a manual replacement and am very much looking forward to Nexway resolving this by providing one.

[datter 0]

Hey Tom, fix your damned forum. There is withdrawal happening here.

[Thirdup 0]

Thanks Placebo,

There's just enough things changed between ArmA and ArmA2 that I kinda wish I had a reference (manual). Most things I've found, but some things I've lost to changes.

The lack of manual was my only little gripe with Nexway. They do claim to be an "official site" and display the BIS trade mark. So hopefully, they will resolve this (with your help).