I'm really baffled by the way people are playing the online multiplayer game.

[cadmium77 16]

You also have the mission wizard that works very well and is easy to use.

Just click on Scenarios

Double Click on My Missions

Double Click on New Mission

And the wizard guides you through the process easy as pie.

Kind Regards walker

Awesome. thank you.

[galzohar 31]

While some people are experienced with the editor (or should I say mission making, as the editor is not the problem here, but rather what you need to do outside of the editor), there simply are too few of them, which points at it being way harder than it should be. The syntax is hard to understand, the wiki for most commands isn't very detailed (not to mention finding a command that does X without knowing the command's name doesn't succeed at least 1/2 the time), and in some cases not up to date to the point of being misleading (not to mention all the empty pages I ran into when trying to learn).

PvP missions I've seen online so far:

- AAS

- Berserk

- CTF

- Charlie Foxtrot

- Warfare

CTF doesn't exactly suit the playstyle Arma 2 works well with. Berserk/AAS need some massive tuning to allow for teamwork to actually be effective to the point where it makes the effort worthwhile not to mention correct some heavy balance issues. Charlie Foxtrot is basically a slow-paced TDM. Warfare needs some massive fixing/tuning/balancing. Are all of those fun to play? Sort of, but they get boring after not-so-long playtime for those exact issues. Do I have the "play something else" option? Not really, because there isn't anything else. I'm trying to learn making my own, but if you've been following the mission making forums you'd see how much this is a slow process it is for me and many others.

Other games may not come with such editors, but at least other games come with some good missions on release, which Arma 2 has none of (there are practically 0 populated servers running official missions for a reason, and that doesn't happen in any other game I can think of).

[Emberwolf 0]

Always love watching those ghillie-suited guys leading the charge while sprinting around like jackrabbits with SMAWs.

Oh, and the only medic on the server flying around in a Harrier.

But, such is pub life in ArmA2.

[randir14 10]

Why are 90% of the servers running the same level? (the one where you start out in an airfield with a bunch of vehicles and an ammo box next to the control tower). Also what's with all the password-protected servers? There's barely any occupied servers as it is and you guys are going to put up passwords to prevent anyone else from playing? Players themselves are going to kill this game's multiplayer long before BIS fixes it. One of my favorite servers now has a password. Thanks a lot.

Edited July 26, 2009 by randir14

[igeighty 2]

Also what's with all the password-protected servers?

passworded servers keep all the empty headed nuff nuff's away. as most of them as too lazy to go and check the servers forums for a password.

I had my server open to the public from day one, although the experience was an eye opener with team killing, vehicle hogging, and rambo-ism and made us quickly password it up. I figured if I am going to pay $150 a month to host a server, it is only going to be open to people who want to bother to ask me for the password. this keeps the griefers away.

And for the greifers and nuffies, there are MANY unlocked servers out there for them to enjoy.

As for 90% of server running the same level, (domination is what you are thinking of) last check it was around 10%.

To anyone wanting the password to DROID103, send me an email :) and yes it is a domination based box when game nights are not on...

to sum up though, you have many many servers without passwords, well over 700 as i have just counted them, and of those 65 are playing a variation of domination. so thats less than 10%

[An Fiach 10]

700? I have never seen that many in the server list.

---------- Post added at 06:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------

Hi all

As I keep saying join a clan.

Kind Regards walker

Not everyone wants to join a clan just to have a decent server to play on. Look at the criteria for most of them and you will see it is pretty restrictive. If I had the money to host I would since it is hard to find a good casual gaming group that is still geared toward team work. It would be nice if the servers that will allow non clan players to join their servers to have that information more readily available so that you at least know who to ask.

[igeighty 2]

700? I have never seen that many in the server list.

taken from http://arma2.swec.se/server/list shows 666 current servers running arma2

Some nights there are many more. last night for instance there was 730.

I guess you just need to know where to look ?

[0031Veteran 10]

The Problems and Questions you describe are fully related to the mission designer, the Server and last but not least the people you play with....

If you want to play Arma2 in such a way, it is advice able not to play on the usual public servers running Berzerk, Evolution and Domination, etc.

Those are just "fun-Missions"

I’ve played Counter-strike, America`s Army, Call of Duty 4, Battlefield series and many more FPS games.

And they all have 2 things in common, they are popular games played by 9 year old as well as 50+. And they are designed by the developers and marketing team to reach a broad audience.

In general, you’ll come across 2 kinds of players. Lone wolves and clan members.

The first category consists of people who play the game the way they like it. If that means they run around like crazy headless chickens,. O well… easy targets.

The second category you’ll find will try to win a match /game / map whatever, by playing together. Often using a 3d party program like Ventrilo, Teamspeak, MSN, etc. to communicate with each other outside of the game. More then often they use public servers to “train†for real clan wars /matches.

My advice

Host your own server. (give it a name that indicates you play with tactics)

Create a clan

Create a teamspeak / vetrilo server (easy)

Create a website for your clan

Find players that think about the game the same way you do and invite them to join your clan.

Train for wars on public servers ïŠ

And challenge clans to compete with yours

For most of the games I mentioned your in the right spot at www.clanbase.com

As you can see, the public servers are solely for fun/training.

Or as a player ones told me when i tried to play with tactics:

"ROFLOL! stfu! tactics on pubs,...noob"

[{sas}stalker 10]

I get as frustrated with some of these threads as I do playing the game. Maybe its me :(

oh and that's not a dig at the OP

[An Fiach 10]

taken from http://arma2.swec.se/server/list shows 666 current servers running arma2

Some nights there are many more. last night for instance there was 730.

I guess you just need to know where to look ?

I just look in the in-game server browser, you know, where I join servers from. So clearly it has to be tracking servers that the majority of us cannot see but looking at it, 68% of servers are COOP and another 10% are CTI

[galzohar 31]

Who cares about how many servers there are when there are less players then servers? Obviously this means a lot of these servers are empty, some because they run bad missions, some because their ping is bad for the people who are awake at the moment, and some simply due to overall lack of players.

[CaptainBravo 0]

Excellent post

You know what I discovered about myself?

I am a follower! I dont want to order people round, I dont want to command a team, fly people in helicopters or any of that other stuff....yet!!

What I want is to do what I am told and be able to work in a small or large team of people together AGAINST OTHER REAL PEOPLE

This is the average mission for me on the only servers that are operating where I live:

1) Wander around a carrier for 5 mins watching other people wander round waiting for transport.

2) Get in chopper for 10 min flight.

3) whilst waiting on 10 min flight check mission orders

4) Ah surprise, there are no mission orders

5) Check various red circles on the map that look like they might hold some promise of action.

6) Try and talk with people on the boring ride to the drop off, nobody has teamspeak....

7) Get told off for carrying out a DSOT on the chopper machine gun because I am bored

8) Land at the red circle and watch as the entire group of passengers on the chopper scatter in every direction with absolutely no co-ordination.

9) Find that there are no enemies at the red circle because 2 mins before we landed it went green.

10) another 10-15 min wait for a transport to the next red circle where there seem to be no enemies either.

11) all of the above is best case scenario that the chopper we fly in does not get shot down or the pilot crashes killing everyone on board.

12) My wife comes in and tells me I have used my computer game quota up for the weekend and all that without firing a shot in anger.....

Honestly, I reckon train simulator is more exciting than this game at the moment for most of the people playing.

-------------------------------------------------

That is a funny post and I agree with it 100%! Specially that part about the wife telling you that your computer time is up! (but sweeties I have no fired a single round yet!)

[spamurai 3]

It's not a Simulator.

Simulators are not played, they run.

[frederf 0]

Correction, Spamurai, Simulations are run, Simulators are environment-user interaction loops and thus can be played.

I think the problem is that there is an "effort barrier" between current public play and proper organized play. It takes some effort to speak up, learn, lead, and follow. In my opinion the reward is well worth the effort but there is that bit of investment to get it. Good mission design will canalize players toward good practices as well as lower the effort barrier.

Leading trained troops is hard. Leading untrained troops while trying to make sure they have a good time is very hard. If the start area has 10 unlocked A-10s or if people are instaspawning in a trail of franken-army-ants from a flagpole you've really got your hands full.

My guidelines for a mission with some chance of sane play on a public server:

• Aircraft and airfields are entirely separate physically to any "main base."
  
• There exists a player slot that is dedicated to be the overall commander for the mission
  
• Assignment screen slots put all the important or specialized slots at the bottom since airheads will just click next and be assigned a normal grunt role.
  
• If at all possible, remove or limit respawns
  
• Put an end mission trigger based on casualty rate (50%) or time limit (30-60min)
  
• Don't give more equipment than is necessary
  
• Make the mission impossible for 25%, difficult for 50%, normal for 75%, and easy for 100% of slots filled.
  

[mrbiggles 10]

I play on a co-op server and the AI is a hell of a challenge. And with the Ambient Combat Module, every time we play it's something different...sometimes we get thru a mission with minimal losses, and sometimes we get our asses handed to us. I don't think people give the co-op (or the AI) enough credit, and just assume that PvP or Warfare is the best way. I myself can't play the game like that...too repetitive after only an hour or so (spawn, run around, kill/be killed, spawn, etc.)

If you can find/make a good co-op mission, it's some of the best fun you can have IMO

Why do Co-Op & PVP game modes have to exist?

Too repetitive to play against other people? So you would rather a spontaneous AI that is made to simulate a real persons actions but dont want to play agains an actual person?

Its like wanting a blow up doll over the real thing!!!

[walker 0]

Hi all

In reply to mrbiggles

It is as boring as hell slotting l33t COD player after l33t COD player, none of them seem to know the difference between concealment and cover. They run in straight lines because they are used to corridors or are easily shot in the side or back because they are used to shoe boxes and have no concept of flanking. No wonder the ArmA II AI keeps handing them their asses.

Playing in a COD corridor or shoebox is a prison for the mind; like those animals you see who are so used to being in a small cage, open ground gives them a shock. You even see them running around in circles at the spawn TKing because they cannot cope with the concept of flanking.

I spent the first 4 weeks racking up top three rankings on the leader boards there were so many numpties about. "How did you kill me I was in a bush?" you hear them say, I suppose I should have told them every time you fire there is flash, smoke and sound from a bush so of course I spray or nade you but why waste the breath. Kill them when they fire from bushes I say. A bush is concealment not cover, and firing from a bush busts concealment.

The concept of vehicles also gave them a shock, "I drive/fly to the battle?", "Why is it so far?" "Why don't we just fight here?", "Its too far away", "The AI keeps killing me" for that I read I am scarred, I have agoraphobia.

Luckily most of the L33T noob COD players seem to be slowly learning. Some of them are even playing as teams! Covering each other! It seems to take them about 4 weeks for them to get over the cover concealment hump, and stop running in COD coridor straight lines and shoebox circles.

The BF crowd at least the reality version ones are better and seem to play as teams straight away.

I played Berzerk in a T90 yesterday as the commander managed to get the gunner driver working together well. Took a few tries to get contact reporting concept down, but the gunner even managed to slot helicopter. Found a combination of contact right,left and compass worked. Must make a contact report wiki entry.

Kind Regards walker

Edited July 29, 2009 by walker

[{sas}stalker 10]

yet again, that's not an answer its just a badly veiled swipe at a community that has clearly done you wrong, did you suck badly at COD walker ?, I'm not having a go at you, I am genuinely interested in why you continue to compare apples with oranges in every one of your answers.

You may as well start on the online racing fans next if they ask about the vehicles in ARMA2 as they are used to being in a different game and on a track (lol on a track, such noobs :rolleyes:) . Its total nonsense.

Whilst I conceded that its incorrect to approach ARMA2 like COD/BF2 the reality as much as may hate to accept it, is that its not as vastly different as you would like to think. You can waffle on about cones of fire and position of gun but at the end of the day its still a man with a gun trying to kill you !. And its far far easier to kill in ARMA2 than it was in BF2 as both inf and AT simply because the guns do a more realistic amount of damage and the AT round on BF2 wasn't computer controlled, to hit something at range you had to be good at it.

On second thoughts who am I to pull you up for using these threads for COD bashing trolling, I'm new here, but at least don't try to mask a quick plug about how great you think you are at ARMA2 behind a nonsensical comparison about a group of imaginary stereotypical game players.

anyway enough of that crap, In reply to mrbiggles,

I guess people play co-op because its what they played in ARMA1 and they like it. From an admin POV its far easier to deal with 1 team only and from a command POV its far easier to control.

the only part of walkers post I agree with is that there are lots of bad players out there but it has nothing to do with COD, some are just bad and some are just idiots, Just cause you've played COD it doesn't make you bad at ARMA in any way shape of form, in fact the majority of my clan members have a BF2/COD background both competativly and pubby and of all the ones that are playing ARMA2, none are struggling

In reality all your seeing is the result of a wider gaming audience, we had exactly the same with large size BF2 servers. I cant reiterate enough, there is no connection between not knowing about flanking and TK'ing :rolleyes:

From a personal point of view I agree with you, I don't see the point of playing against the AI in its current state and always look for PvP servers (we are running a small Berserk server atm) but it really doesn't suit a low player count imho as the action is to fragmented.

I'd love to see some more persistent team v team battles where you fought over space and securing passes, zones etc etc. A beach head assault after some aircraft softening up but I cant complain about what's out there on the PvP front as I simply don't have time to learn and create missions myself as I work full time and am doing a degree, so I cant criticise something I cant contribute to.

Edited July 29, 2009 by {SAS}Stalker

[CaptainBravo 0]

To Walker:

Off topic but I had to ask .. but many of us wonder do you have any upgrade planned for CoC for arma2?? That was a great mod and hope we see it in arma2!

On Topic: Arma and COD are apples and oranges. Both have their attraction. COD has that short time rush while arma more long term planning game.

Edited July 29, 2009 by CaptainBravo

[hund 0]

Oh come on Mr. Stalker, Mr. Walker doesn't mean it so hard, so you should take it so hard. He comes across rather strongly sometimes but he means well. Getting all upset about it won't help anything.

Can't we all get along, it is just a game after all?

I am proud to say that I once played COD. I liked the campaign very much, but couldn't really wrap my head around the multiplayer (brain isn't fast enough you see). So I for one am sure that a lot of the COD scumbags are really nice people, and I'm happy to say hello to them!

Edited July 29, 2009 by Hund

[{sas}stalker 10]

Can't we all get along, it is just a game after all?

We are indeed, and we smell.

the thing is, Walker is very helpful, he does know his stuff it cant be denied and I'm sure his post count speaks volumes, he's as dedicated to the cause as it comes but and its a big but, he's got it into his head that we (the ex COD/BF2) players are hell bent on being rubbish/idiots/bigger idiots/noobs (delete as applicable).

If that element could just be toned down slightly then I would warm to him ;)

[galzohar 31]

COD has nothing to do with not wanting to take forever to get to battle. If anything it's "I've had enough of it in WoW I don't need it in Arma 2 as well".

COD has nothing to do with TKing. Well maybe a little since COD has friendly fire damage disabled, but I believe most TKs still have nothing to do with it.

When it comes to cover VS concealment, if anything, COD players should go like "wtf I couldn't kill you through that wall with my MP5?" and not "how did you kill me in that bush?" as COD has unrealistically excessive bullet penetration (though Arma 2's penetration system is pretty rubbish too).

And last but not least, comparing Arma 2 COOP to Arma 2 PvP has nothing to do with comparing Arma 2 COOP to COD.

Regarding why people play coop - most likely because COOP allows mission designers much greater freedom. They don't need to give AI a chance to win and they don't need to allow the AI to have fun. That added freedom can result in missions that PvP simply cannot provide. I still prefer PvP by a great measure, but I wouldn't turn down an occasional coop with some friends if the mission is well-designed.

[hund 0]

Mr. Galzohar, have you noticed that we seem to be battling across several threads here?

This is all getting very messy indeed.

[CaptainBravo 0]

Not sure why the conmparrisons keep being made between COD and arma?

I have played with some teams COD online and they were as highly organised as you can get. They used proper CQB tactics and most times kicked a$$! But I have also seen the rambo type with run & gun style which seems to be common.

So it is based on individuals not game. Also arma is not suitable for CQB (going upstairs to find yourself sliding though walls to outside of the bldg)

To each its strength as they say! :)

[-)rStrangelove 0]

@ threadstarter:

1. You can't expect handling 500+ units in MP with decent fps. ArmA2 is not Empire total war.

2. It's ok trying to get ppl to realize how ArmA2 'should' be played online, but don't compare them to retarded little kids if they don't want to play the game your way.

[galzohar 31]

I really don't understand how you kicked ass in COD with using proper CQB tactics. That is, unless you call strafe sprint + jump + aim and shoot + prone upon landing a "proper CQB tactic" (which it is in the COD4 PvP world). Of course this has nothing to do with Arma 2.