Patch 1.03

[wooly-back-jack 10]

July 17th is now drawing to a close.

It's not that I have a show-stopping problem with ArmA 2, which I do (and absolutely zero issue with ArmA 1 in any form). I know BIS is good for it, they'll support the game they've made in spades and eventually my ArmA 2 should run as good as my ArmA 1.

It's that it's July 17th. That means almost a month has passed since I downloaded my version of ArmA 2 and have had to live with this problem. It's almost 2 months since the game itself was released. I will more then likely buy ArmA 3 when ever it comes out... only I won't be buying it on Day 1... I will more then likely wait 4-6 months for BIS to get the game working so I can play it before paying for it.

That concerns me, right now is July 17th and that means there are lots of North American players buying this game off store shelves, going home, installing the game and encountering a large amount of trouble right out of the box!. The more savvy of them are searching these forums (and others) looking for and having their first impressions affirmed without any solution or promissory note of hope that they didn't just spend $50 on a broken game they can't play. There isn't, so far, any clear indication of how long they should have to wait either...

Me? I know the fix is in the works... I've been around long enough to know how things work around here. Them? They're drawing conclusions and making presumptions about this game right now and shelving the game, going back to whatever games they came from... or waiting for (like Dragon Rising).

That's my greatest let down so far with all of this waiting the past 30 days... hoping BIS placed some priority on the importance of July 17th for us North American players establishing a thriving and healthy community right out of the gate. Not showing up on opening day with the community already on a ventilator for the last 60 days and no word from BIS on when they even intend on plugging in the defibrillator for us. I was praying BIS would have something ready... anything at all, for July 17th that at least says Hey! yes your game is broken! But all is not lost! Look, a patch is just around the corner... please don't go anywhere!

The ArmA 1 community sucked because of a slow start in getting the game up and running without troubles and combined with the natural nuances of ArmA gameplay, it turned players off to the game and they left it on a shelf. The community never energized itself and took off. People "talked" about how good and fun ArmA 1 is, but they were never exactly packing the server list and flooding the community with games were they?

I remember the reputation ArmA 1 had with NA gamers... I didn't jump into the game early on because of it. It wasn't until much later that I just happen to cross it after 14 patches were applied to it before I discovered... hey! its a fun game! Too late though... there was no buzz for the game anymore... no one but the diehards knew anything about the game or it's potential.

Now I can see it happening all over again with ArmA 2 and it makes me grit my teeth and shake clenched fists at the sky cursing gaming gods everywhere for it... the same circle of missed opportunities is making another revolution. OR please reassure me I'm wrong! (PLEASE).

"Public Relations"... "Word of Mouth"... its important! We North American gamers are a fickle breed! We are not like European Gamers who are content with pretending their game works and it is everything they need it to be! (until it actually is). We North Americans will build bandwagons out of our issues and first impressions and ride them through the streets of gamerdom like it's a crusade and continue doing so long after our issues have become moot! We champion the hobby of not playing games that fall short of our lofty expectations like its a sport more then the game itself is.

Please come out of your fortress of solitude and address your would-be masses of stalwart supporters (before we resort to chasing your monster up a windmill and then burning said windmill to the ground!)

nice post, hopefully now when people realise the problem is tenfold with North America joining the suffering something may actually get done or something said. Maybe an emergency incremental patch just to fix the CTD's, leave the 'added' stuff for a full patch.