Why is this game not more popular?

[Pulverizer 1]

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Edited March 7, 2010 by Pulverizer
off-topic

[zeep 3]

ARMA2 is great but the two showstoppers for me, and the guys i play games with, is that the movement is too clunky. The animations affect it too much in first person, like when changing weapons, it feels more like a chore than something that feels natural.

That and the fact ARMA2 runs heavy. It's hard to be immersed @ 20 fps.

[Zipper5 74]

I played OFP for 5 years at 20 FPS. ;)

[zeep 3]

I played OFP for 5 years at 20 FPS. ;)

Back then that was the framerate i got in OFP too. Wasn't too happy with it then either. So i moved to Infiltration... and quake2 ;)

Some years later i could play OFP at zooommg fps.

[Zipper5 74]

I can currently play OFP at upwards of 300 FPS.

My point is that framerate is not so relevant in BIS' games as they are not the twitch games of late. They are much slower paced, as I'm sure you knew anyways. That is, unless one was to play competitive PvP matches.

I've never been annoyed at only getting up to about 40 to 60 FPS max in BIS' games. I am always annoyed when I get the same out of some mainstream FPS.

[jw custom 56]

Some years later i could play OFP at zooommg fps.

Seems like your constantly behind specs wise ;)

[Ferox 0]

For one I would like to say that I am HAPPY these games are not a mass market frenzy.. as the game would most likely change and become crap.

BIS knows they have a niche market cornered and they cater to that niche market. They are doing the right thing. 99% of gamers could not handle a game like Arma, especially the younger generation.

[avibird 1 154]

For one I would like to say that I am HAPPY these games are not a mass market frenzy.. as the game would most likely change and become crap.

BIS knows they have a niche market cornered and they cater to that niche market. They are doing the right thing. 99% of gamers could not handle a game like Arma, especially the younger generation.

Yes it's a niche market and they do cater to that market right now BUT that is the point of this topic my friends. BOHEMIA is a company and like all companies they need and want to increase market share (money/profit). If the market share is small and yes the current OFP/ARMA market is small compared to most other games this is a fact.

We all don't want the core gameplay to change in any major way but things need to change a little to bring more players to this game that is the bottom line. We don't want COD run and gun players but most players today want player vs player and somewhat better movements when in combat. Yes I know we don't want a jump button but some elements need to change.

Why are you guys so uptight about change. This game will never be a run and gun game and those players will never like or play this game but a lot of good team players that want a real tactile shooter would play if the niche would open just a little more for them and this game would be more popular with the right players. That is what this thread is about. This game should be the most played tactile shooter for any market hands down but it's not. You have to ask why and I don't want to hear because it's to hard.

[Ferox 0]

It's the most played realistic fps :)... but that's because its the ONLY realistic fps lol..

[Zipper5 74]

No, there is one other. It just really, really sucked. Really. ;)

[Ferox 0]

No, there is one other. It just really, really sucked. Really. ;)

Lol... I wouldnt even consider that to be on the same realism plane as Arma... there are games that "claim" realism.. but none delivers like Arma.

[Herbal Influence 10]

Guys, get back to the more basic gameplay, or Prof. Schwartz will make Students laugh at you:

Why less is more.

[Slyder73 10]

For one I would like to say that I am HAPPY these games are not a mass market frenzy.. as the game would most likely change and become crap.

BIS knows they have a niche market cornered and they cater to that niche market. They are doing the right thing. 99% of gamers could not handle a game like Arma, especially the younger generation.

The problem is they DON'T have a niche market cornered at all. They have a fragmented, walled up clan vs. public game where nobody can play anyone elses good server because it requires 10 year old procedure to go out and find mods, install them and hope they are the same version the server you want to join allows. Oh....but then, you get on and you cant' communicate with anyone because all the "main" servers don't use the robust ingame voice. One has to go out and find either VENT or Teamspeak and install that, and end up playing with a handful of guys who switch back and forth, you can't tell who on your channel is friendly or enemy just chatting with buddies and you have no easy control over channels.

That is why this game is dying. It becomes more fragmented each week. There are literally 2 multiplayer servers out there, and if you want to spend time playing against a computer algorithm there are a bunch more co-op servers....where you do the same thing over and over and kill AI that just walks around and stands there, might as well do Farmville on Facebook for all the excitement and variety that is.

I'd advise anyone thinking to buy this game at this point, don't. It's dying, fast. I got burned a year ago when I bought and a couple friends have been dissapointed as well. The population of players who can access servers in a given night is decreasing quickly, I think for the aforementioned reasons, lack of multiplayer, lack of ingame communication, fragmented servers where special mods or clan membership are needed and a complete lack of marketting to toll the final bell....

Great war game, never found one better! Realism and "POTENTIAL" for teamplay, never better....what it delivers....right now....nothing but dissapointment.

[Zipper5 74]

^ Troll.

The game is not dying. Taking a look at these forums should immediately tell you that. OFP even isn't dead, and it's been 9 years since it's release. The MP also isn't dead; not in ArmA II, ArmA or OFP. There are far more than 2 servers for ArmA II. It takes very little effort to download and install mods, join a clan, or use TeamSpeak/Ventrillo/Mumble. Some, like Slyder73 here, just find that hard, as do most of the modern gaming generation.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Zipper5

[ast65 10]

I only play vanilla ArmA2 and have a lot of fun in multiplayer, too.

During the week on afternoons i play C&H on Berzerk server (always around 60 - 80 people/ match), in the evening its CtF/ ArmaLeague and on weekends Coop on tour server (best teamplay ever, great immersion).

There are always enough server to choose from, even with vanilla ArmA,

so what the heck r u talkin about, Slyder 73?

[zeep 3]

^ Troll.

Come on. It's not trolling, just frustration.

Seems to me he sees it like a game that is almost what you want, but is not quite there. Plus an online experience not living up to it's full potential..

[harryohh 10]

Come on. It's not trolling, just frustration.

Seems to me he sees it like a game that is almost what you want, but is not quite there. Plus an online experience not living up to it's full potential..

I agree.If anybody dares say something negative about the game then they're "trolling".

The reason this game isn't more popular is simple.They are among the buggiest games you'll find anywhere and for a game that came out in 2009 its graphics are very outdated.

[Zipper5 74]

Someone using superlatives claiming that the game is dying, when it quite clearly isn't, or is broken, unplayable, etc. is simply trolling. One can at least form a balanced argument instead of resorting to one extreme or the other.

The graphics aren't outdated, and it is not one of the buggiest games of 2009. Again, hyperbole and superlatives. People claim ArmA II to be better looking than some of the most graphically impressive games out there. Even PC Gamer admitted that playing ArmA II on Chernarus looked better than playing Crysis or even Far Cry 2.

Sure, at release the game was buggy, but it's no where near what it was like back then. Many patches have been released, and there are many more to come, plus Operation Arrowhead. The game isn't popular not because of it's bugginess, it's graphics, it's performance issues, etc. It's not popular because 1) it's not a mainstream FPS/MMO/RPG/MMORPG/RTS/etc. and 2) there's little to no marketing for it.

[Ferox 0]

^ Troll.

The game is not dying. Taking a look at these forums should immediately tell you that. OFP even isn't dead, and it's been 9 years since it's release. The MP also isn't dead; not in ArmA II, ArmA or OFP. There are far more than 2 servers for ArmA II. It takes very little effort to download and install mods, join a clan, or use TeamSpeak/Ventrillo/Mumble. Some, like Slyder73 here, just find that hard, as do most of the modern gaming generation.

agreeed, couldn't of said it better myself.

I agree.If anybody dares say something negative about the game then they're "trolling".

The reason this game isn't more popular is simple.They are among the buggiest games you'll find anywhere and for a game that came out in 2009 its graphics are very outdated.

I disagree, it's when you say outlandish things like "there's only two mp servers" is when it goes into the realm of stupidity and trolling, I think Zipper was right on point.

Someone using superlatives claiming that the game is dying, when it quite clearly isn't, or is broken, unplayable, etc. is simply trolling. One can at least form a balanced argument instead of resorting to one extreme or the other.

The graphics aren't outdated, and it is not one of the buggiest games of 2009. Again, hyperbole and superlatives. People claim ArmA II to be better looking than some of the most graphically impressive games out there. Even PC Gamer admitted that playing ArmA II on Chernarus looked better than playing Crysis or even Far Cry 2.

Sure, at release the game was buggy, but it's no where near what it was like back then. Many patches have been released, and there are many more to come, plus Operation Arrowhead. The game isn't popular not because of it's bugginess, it's graphics, it's performance issues, etc. It's not popular because 1) it's not a mainstream FPS/MMO/RPG/MMORPG/RTS/etc. and 2) there's little to no marketing for it.

Agreed again.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Ferox

[ProfTournesol 956]

Well, it's a strange psychological behaviour to spend one's time posting on a community forum of a game : "i don't like it, i lose my time with it, blabla". You may not like, you may not wanting losing your time making it work decently on your comp, but it would be a more positive attitude to find a game you like and post on their forum how great it is :cool:

[NoRailgunner 0]

Arma2 could be more popular or lets say better if BIS would fix performance issues, AI bugs and perhaps tweak their own missions too. Now we didn't see any news on further improvements and patches. I guess that dropping some lines here in BI forum or even updating BIS devblog wouldn't be that time consuming and wrong. Just some little infos about the progress. :)

[zeep 3]

Well, it's a strange psychological behaviour to spend one's time posting on a community forum of a game : "i don't like it, i lose my time with it, blabla". You may not like, you may not wanting losing your time making it work decently on your comp, but it would be a more positive attitude to find a game you like and post on their forum how great it is :cool:

Where else would you discuss the game then? Be it shortcomings or whatever. I'd be boring to read a forum where everybody is merely posting how great something is. Remember, you need "down" in order for "up" to exist.

I would suggest the opposite, embrace critisism. Dev's certainly need it. Ofcourse there will be bashing and trolling, you can ignore that or steer those people towards a higher form of communicating. On the other hand, if someone posts his concerns or frustration don't be so quick to pull out the troll card.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Where else would you discuss the game then? Be it shortcomings or whatever. I'd be boring to read a forum where everybody is merely posting how great something is. Remember, you need "down" in order for "up" to exist.

I would suggest the opposite, embrace critisism. Dev's certainly need it. Ofcourse there will be bashing and trolling, you can ignore that or steer those people towards a higher form of communicating. On the other hand, if someone posts his concerns or frustration don't be so quick to pull out the troll card.

Nah, i agree with you, of course people (really) knowing these games have to criticize them here, that's what we all do every now and then, but those who dislike them from the beginning and spend their (no)life here bashing it should find another hobby. Or a girlfriend. Or a beer. Or an analyst. Or all of these.

[Slyder73 10]

^ Troll.

The game is not dying. Taking a look at these forums should immediately tell you that. OFP even isn't dead, and it's been 9 years since it's release. The MP also isn't dead; not in ArmA II, ArmA or OFP. There are far more than 2 servers for ArmA II. It takes very little effort to download and install mods, join a clan, or use TeamSpeak/Ventrillo/Mumble. Some, like Slyder73 here, just find that hard, as do most of the modern gaming generation.

I wouldn't call myself modern, as I've been playing these types of games before the internet, when they were board and dice lol.

Arma2 has a lot to offer, but like I said, it's falling dreadfully short.

The point is I shouldn't HAVE to find a clan to join some walled off private server and install a bunch of different parts of the game and a seperate voice just to play. It's not hard, you're right, but I'm a professional who has a day job that takes a lot of time. I get an hour a couple nights a week to play and a couple on weekends if I'm lucky at night. I'm betting there are many more realism oriented, mature game players who are turned off by the same things I am. That is a failure of the game, not of the players.

[ProfTournesol 956]

That is a failure of the game, not of the players.

Firstly, we're a lot of grown up people here with a life, wife, kids and jobs. Secondly, i fail to see why it should be the failure of the game ?