new to Arma2 (Looking to buy)

[DuckSoup 10]

I posted this on the Armaholic forums, but thought I might get better success here.

So I'll keep it short and simple. I had purchased the original ArmA and loved the game because it had a more realistic feel to it and so on...

Well I've always been a fan of games like Planet Side, and WWII Online. (WWII Specifically)

I loved the massive battles for points, coordinated air raids, tank raids, inf. raids, etc. The game was fantastic until the player numbers started to drop off.

So I'm trying to find something to hold me over, and one player had recommended that I check out Arma 2. Sure it's no MMO, but from what I gather, there is a strong player base for larger battles.

I guess before I invest 50 bones in the game, I wanted to see if maybe this is something that may meet my expectations.

How big are the server sizes? Are these persistant servers? Are they like "Capture the point" maps? I mean, my perception may be skewed because I played so much Battlefield in the day, but is the concept the same?

Are there plenty of servers to go around? Plenty of players? I'm just trying to gather some information. Vehicles widely used as well?

/Also I'd be getting the PC version.

[Flash Thunder 10]

This game seriously lacks players in the United states, as of what I saw in the past the game usually only gets to 1k players online, I myself don't play PVP anymore but I do enjoy COOP with friends and mission making.

[DuckSoup 10]

So is it a bad thing to play on servers in other locations? Has lag every been a serious issue when doing that?

[Madus_Maximus 0]

You'll want to look for a squad/clan if you want to do it properly. Most public servers don't have billions of players because most missions are done on private ones.

As far as the battles and so on go, it's limited by the power of the server and the players machines. If you had the processing power you could theoretically have 4000 v 4000 v 4000 v 4000 v 4000 players on 5 different sides with all humans, if not more. It's very hardware dependent, rather than having artificial limitations.

[Flash Thunder 10]

So is it a bad thing to play on servers in other locations? Has lag every been a serious issue when doing that?

I honestly haven't tried, theres alot of well maintained Euro servers so I would think that you wouldn't have a huge ping doing so.

theres a few good US servers but you got to catch them on the dime if you want to play a good game which is the difficult part.

[Scrub 0]

Hi Ducksoup, and welcome. Check this out for some direct info

http://arma2.swec.se/server/list

Hope it helps,

Scrub

Edit: LOL currently a 95 player 'Berzerk' going on. What a massacre.. :p

[DuckSoup 10]

Thanks for the replies folks. Yeah I'm thinking that getting into a community would be best. I've seen the Multiplayer guide, and the server list.

I think there was a clan called Zeus or something, I don't know. But I want to get into some of the larger battles is possible. It seems like I have a lot of reading to do to jump into the game. Also some mods I have to download. (ACE?)

[walker 0]

Hi DuckSoup

Public servers range from 100 players to 20 or 30. Average server size is about 30 players. Bigger public servers run at ~70 players. personal servers running from peoples homes on the broadband run about 8 players. There are generally about 10x ~50 player servers running most nights.

Many communities run locked and often hidden private servers as a method of keeping numpties out. Most of the public servers are used to recruit people for these private community servers.

There is a section of this forum that gives links to some of the communities that are recruiting.

http://forums.bistudio.com/forumdisplay.php?f=90

There are more game forms in ArmA than you can possibly think of but the most common are realistic Asymmetric and therefor unbalanced Attack and Defend (A&D). Capture The Island (CTI) both Coop and PvP. Warfare a type of Strategy Game where one general contests against another using AI under their control using the strategic interface. Automated Dynamic coops like Domination. Very large scale Coop and Coop against human controlled OPFOR using the strategic interface. There are some of the old fashioned game forms such as Death Match (DM) and Capture The Flag (CTF) catered for by niche communities. See the communities in the link above to find out.

Several communities run training as part of their recruitment and this can help you get over the steep learning curve in ArmA. The BIS wiki includes hints and tips on how to play and a search of YouTube will find several training videos created by ArmA users.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_II_Hints_and_Tips

You can also play the campaigns cooperatively, your personal server is an ideal server for such missions.

The built in editor and the best Modding tools available in any game means there is literally tons of user created content from missions to game changing MODs like ACE and second world war and Sci Fi MODS.

Along with scripting the mod tools free Moders imagination to make what ever they want.

Welcome to ArmA.

Kind Regards walker

Edited January 8, 2010 by walker

[Simpledestruction 10]

The Multiplayer can be varied, there are some really good consistent servers out there if you look or ask around, they are usually Clan run matches.

Unfortunally there are quite a few servers that are full of complete idiots that seem to be around the age of 7-10, though I havent played it for a while so these people may have left to play a more simple game such as Modern Warfare 2.

In the well run and managed matches the co-ordination is good with large Vehicle use going on (largely with Helicopters). Though if you wish to use aircraft your going to have to learn in the Mission editor before you try in a server as they usually kick those that can't fly and try (You will soon learn that a chopper crashing killing 14 marines and the crew because the pilot was a nOOB at flying is the most annoying thing ever). The well runs servers did attract a good number of good players (if no ones on then it might be because all the regs come from one part of the world, they might be asleep)

If you want to do some good offline action the Mission editor is AMAZING once you learn how to use it (and it is a steep learning curve), the campaign when I played what was the most buggest and glitchy ever but I think patch 1.04 fixed the majority of game ruining problems, with 1.05 dealing with the rest (as well as giving you an awesome new Chopper the Apache, which I've never used)

Hope this helps.

[DuckSoup 10]

So do any of you guys have any clans or communities you would recommend?

I'll be honest, I just went ahead and purchased the game on Steam, so I plan on playing solo tonight to get a feel for the game. But I would like to get with a dedicated community with good size servers.

Any recommendations? (I think I'm checking out Zeus currently)

[walker 0]

Hi DuckSoup

Zeus, Kelly's Heroes, Tactical Gamer, CIA, GOL, Charlie Foxtrot, Shack Tactical, (if they are recruiting), DAO you realy have to look at their websites and posts in the section of the forum I linked above to see where they are located and what their ethos is.

I play on Zeus so obvously I think they are good.

I suggest you make a short list of three and then test them.

Kind Regards walker

[DuckSoup 10]

Awesome thanks!

[Grizzle 0]

Since you're on Steam and if you haven't already done so, download the 1.05 patch and apply it. Check the Steam forums for info. They haven't released the Steam patch yet.