Preparation for multiplay

[Leijonsparf 10]

I've just bought Arma2, and I'll get around to installing it in a day or two. The main reason I bought it was for the MP, so I'll want to go about the first couple of weeks learning the game well enough to actually participate online. For that to work out well, I have a few questions.

Would the SP campaign be a good introduction to the basic concepts of the game, or is there a better way to go about it?

What kind of skills are necessary, what skills are expected, and what can I wait a bit longer before I get around to learn? Are players expected to be able to handle helicopters, tanks and other advanced weapon systems, or will I get by just knowing how to run, duck, handle an assault rifle and follow orders? If they're not generally not expected to do so, how common is it among the majority of players to actually be proficient in most aspects of the game?

What kind of players are in shortage, and what is there an excess of?

When it comes to in-game communication, it seems to me that most people prefer teamspeak over pretty much anything else, is this a correct assumption?

Finally, a question that is probably a bit harder to give a straight answer to, how much of the MP community is going to start using ACE2 in the next few months? Although being unfamiliar with the game, from what I've read during the last few days, I think I'll start using the mod sooner or later, so I'm thinking that sooner might have some nice benefits in terms of getting used to it right away, but since it's a beta release, I'm guessing it'll be a while before it's adopted on a larger scale. Also, I guess it'd make the learning curve a bit steeper in the short run. But still, do you think there will be a healthy amount of servers running the mod in a few weeks/months? And also, do I have anything to win on adopting it early on, or should I stick with the basic game until I get the hang of it?

Feel free to see this as an opportunity to lecture a new player on the dos and don'ts of being the model virtual soldier. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see what you disagree on. Note that this is a thread about personal opinions, I don't expect a definite answer on any of the points, so feel free to make rants about how it should be, rather than sticking to how it is right now. But a little of both would be useful.

[celery 8]

The fastest way to learn everything is the mission editor. The only thing that is really required in multiplayer is common sense. You're not expected to fly or drive if there is someone else to fill that role. Good pilots are rare.

[Tom_Anger 0]

When you say Mutliplayer that is still a broad statement. Are you interested in specific Multiplayer like what you see in Battlefield 2 Conquest or Capture & Hold scenerios? Are you interested in occasional Firefights like Death Match/Team Death Match? Or are you into Warfare (assuming you know what warfare mode is. Knowing your background may help us help you.

I will say this - When ACE2 has been tested and is working in great shape you will probably see a good set of servers hosting it. Some of us may host 2 servers (1 with and 1 without).

[Leijonsparf 10]

When you say Mutliplayer that is still a broad statement. Are you interested in specific Multiplayer like what you see in Battlefield 2 Conquest or Capture & Hold scenerios? Are you interested in occasional Firefights like Death Match/Team Death Match? Or are you into Warfare (assuming you know what warfare mode is. Knowing your background may help us help you.

I will say this - When ACE2 has been tested and is working in great shape you will probably see a good set of servers hosting it. Some of us may host 2 servers (1 with and 1 without).

I'm not familiar with Battlefield 2, but I played the first one a couple of times back when it was new. My background in the milsim fps genre is pretty much a bit of OFP a lot of years ago, which was appreciated, but I didn't quite have the hardware to do that very much. Now, I'll give it another go. Pretty much. Ordinarily, I'm quite into strategy, and this game seemed like a different take on pretty much the same thing. I've had my runs with a pretty wide variety of simulators as well, but my attention span seems to be limited to a few months of obsession, then "meh" once the learning curve begins flattening out. So this game feels like it could have my attention for quite a while, considering the broadness of it. But, to actually answer your question, I'm more into teamwork, strategy and combined arms than a quick adrenaline fix. Warfare seems interesting, but I'm not too familiar with the details.

The fastest way to learn everything is the mission editor. The only thing that is really required in multiplayer is common sense. You're not expected to fly or drive if there is someone else to fill that role. Good pilots are rare.

Still, if good pilots are rare, it seems piloting is a useful skill to learn.

[Taxman 10]

If your familiar with Ofp then you will fit in here, same basic knowledge is required, Arma then Arma 2 are just ofp improved (some say not) but consider this to be the true sequel to ofp, if you could fly/drive/fight in ofp, then you wont take long to settle in buddy... what type of gameplay are you interested in, CTF, Attack and Defend, C&H, DM, Coop etc ?

[Leijonsparf 10]

Familiar is kind of an overstatement, but if the game isn't that much more complicated than OFP, then I think I'll be able to learn most of the aspects beforehand. And then, perhaps, this thread was unnecessary, because then I'd be able to master a lot of the aspects pretty quickly. But it still feels useful to know how roles are usually distributed and how broad your skill set is expected to be. Although flying wasn't very hard in OFP, it might still take quite a bit of getting used to before I feel like I can qualify in doing it well. So, if I know for a fact that it's not a vital part of the game, I can just skip learning it the first thing I do if it turns out to be time consuming and bothersome. One could argue that the best way to learn such things is to try playing the game online, but I'm not really comfortable getting into something I don't have much of an idea what it's about. If I prepare as much as possible beforehand, I'll have one less thing to worry about in game, when the time comes (pretty soon).

Well, now the first two questions feel pretty much answered, there's still the question of voip apps and ACE. The last question in particular feels very relevant to my interests, is the best solution going with it from the beginning, or should I start using it at a later date, possibly when there's a stable release out? I'd like som pro's and con's here, because I obviously haven't used the mod before, and in previous versions of the game it seems pretty wide spread.