Why is this game not more popular?

[dannyb 1]

I think a major reason that ARMA 2 is not more popular is because, at least in my experience, the community seems very impatient of newbies. This is true of all games, but the serious style of the genre attracts serious people. Nothing wrong with that, but it's difficult to introduce new players to the genre when a community values experience as much as this one does. The closing of the recent DayZ thread is a pretty good example. There's an earnest, polite discussion going on as to pros and cons of the most popular mod for the ARMA engine, and somebody doesn't like it. It's off-putting, and it's an attitude fairly dominant in this community. I once tried to get friends to play ACE. I don't do that anymore.

Having said that, I agree with the accessibility factors. But if we're honest with ourselves, I think that some of that inaccessibility is actually a plus for the serious sim gamer. We take some pride in the fact that the learning curve is steep enough to keep less-serious folks away.

[Phantom Six 25]

When I first came to ARMA 2 in 2011. The community did help me out some back on the domination server when I first started playing. May not be the most in depth help, but it still wasn't enough. It took me a month until I got settle into ARMA and got all the addons in. I didn't want to join the milsim clans because I don't have the time for it. I started playing private missions with some guys because domination wasn't too much of my thing. Of course, I wasn't very good at ARMA, let just say, I was still horrible then :P . They had no patience for me, but I still wish they told me flat out why they blocked me from steam and kick me from the server. I'll just assume that, I was just a newb that time. At that point, I decided to give some mission editing a try and editing missions in ARMA became one of the things I like a lot. Eventually later on I learn to play the game, got some addons working.

I didn't started on multiplayer right away because the learning curve was too steep for me so I started with singleplayer and campaign first. I didn't started with a keyboard and mouse because of my wrist problems xD (it was alright for me with the 360 controller and keyboard layout, but after getting a trackball it was so much better).

Well, I'd help out a newb friend get into ARMA with a few easy missions at a time first. I wouldn't shoo them away in anger unless they were giving attitudes. Another thing about ARMA is that people need the patience to learn how to play the game first.

[gunso 10]

Hate newbies? Not really, having new guys in the server changes gameplay result drastically. When you are playing with 70% veterans, the game like warfare is pretty predictable. But when 80% of the players is newbies, it gives a new flavor to the game. Makes the game more prolonged and enjoyable.

[maturin 12]

Yeah, because WWII was staid and boring but Libya was dynamic and unpredictable.

[domokun 515]

Adding Betas for new players is a very bad idea. Things do get broken in betas and they would have no idea if a problem is related to the beta or ARMA itself. They already have a huge learning curve to deal with.

Personally I'm not using the Betas as I don't have time to help with bug reports and I want to wait for the awesome update all in one go ;)

Unless you've personally tested something, I'd avoid doling out advice.

Have you seen the changelog for the betas since the 1.60 patch?

Only yesterday, someone from my clan encountered an error which was corrected by the use of a beta patch.

Moreover, reporting bugs, while admirable, is not a pre-requisite to using a beta.

[gossamersolid 155]

I'd suggest using the betas.

Sometimes there are beta versions that are bad, but the solution is simple, rollback to the previous beta version.

[chuiby 1]

I think it's mainly because of the poor marketting...

[twisted 128]

I think it's mainly because of the poor marketting...

Poor marketing has played a big role. Hopeful that they really make a big noise for arma3 and capitalise fully on dayz popularity.

[Shagulon 1]

it is unpopular (in comparison) because of the bugs and clunky interface in my opinion.

I haven't managed to finish a single campaign yet, and the campaign is an absolute must for new players to learn such a complicated game. It requires huge amounts of patience.

In addition I think it is missing "a killer app", in terms of online play. there are all these toys, but there not wrapped up into something awesome yet. I tried domination, but it just seems to go on and on, I die and spawn back, grab a lift in a chopper and get back in the fight. it doesn't feel like it matters.

the popularity of dayz shows the power of online gaming. if arma 3 can come up with a PvP game type (or preferably types - we are all different) then it will take off. 90% of arma is awesome! once you have the player base you have to keep them, as you need the numbers online to keep the variety.

the PvE and coop stuff seems like it is done very well. and with such a healthy community there is almost limitless variation to download.

conclusion - sort out some great PvP options FTW.

[Giant13 1]

Combined Operations is currently the #1 top-seller on Steam. Great work BIS (and DayZ team :rolleyes:)!

[instagoat 133]

Hate newbies? Not really, having new guys in the server changes gameplay result drastically. When you are playing with 70% veterans, the game like warfare is pretty predictable. But when 80% of the players is newbies, it gives a new flavor to the game. Makes the game more prolonged and enjoyable.

The DayZ people are all newbies. And wherever you look, people are being angry at them or whining or complaining about how BIS is focusing on them only. The community doesn´t care about the fact that they´re potential new members, they´re all immediately brushed off and brandished as "casuals". Their behaviour now won´t reflect their behaviour in a years time, and people getting angry will only incite new anger from their side. If we could turn these internet arguments into energy, we´d have a perpetual motion machine going.

I´ve been seriously disappointed in the milsim arma communities behaviour towards these new people. And saying they started it is also not an excuse.

Arma as a game isn´t successful because it is not really a game, it´s a toybox for military hobbyists and programming experts. The learning curve is extremely steep, the game design is often sub-par and mission design after OFP has often been lackluster (my biggest gripe is extreme complexity, while still failing to provide adequate information flow to the player (what am I supposed to be doing, how do I get there, what is my progress), with some egregious examples in the Arrowhead and TOH campaigns. I wouldn´t even know -how- to advertise this as a game right now.

I hope Arma 3 will correct all the major problems, not so much on the feature side, but on the design and gameplay side. Because that´s where people are drawn. Not with rucksacks, realistic tracers and correct sowing-lines on shirt sleeves.

My two cents.

Edited July 25, 2012 by InstaGoat

[Lorca 10]

The DayZ people are all newbies. And wherever you look, people are being angry at them or whining or complaining about how BIS is focusing on them only. The community doesn´t care about the fact that they´re potential new members, they´re all immediately brushed off and brandished as "casuals". Their behaviour now won´t reflect their behaviour in a years time, and people getting angry will only incite new anger from their side. If we could turn these internet arguments into energy, we´d have a perpetual motion machine going.

I´ve been seriously disappointed in the milsim arma communities behaviour towards these new people. And saying they started it is also not an excuse.

You're correct. The BIS community is one of the biggest elitist communities I've seen in my experience in other forums. This community has a mile long footprint of being anti-newbie. In my early posts I was replied to by many arrogant jerks. Luckily, I love Arma 2 so much that I've put up with this "post traumatic stress disorder" community.

[ProfTournesol 956]

You're correct. The BIS community is one of the biggest elitist communities I've seen in my experience in other forums. This community has a mile long footprint of being anti-newbie. In my early posts I was replied to by many arrogant jerks. Luckily, I love Arma 2 so much that I've put up with this "post traumatic stress disorder" community.

That's hard. The community isn't that monolythic and there's a lot of very helpful members around here, not counting those who think this is more a sandbox game than anything else.

[Lorca 10]

That's hard. The community isn't that monolythic and there's a lot of very helpful members around here, not counting those who think this is more a sandbox game than anything else.

Sorry for the "hard" words but, don't worry, my words are soft compare to what they can say. Yes, there are helpful folks here as well. Maybe, that's another reason why I'm still sticking around here. One thing for sure though, despite all this, I'm ALWAYS defending/supporting BIS in other forums and, frankly, this is the only game that I support despite not liking the community as much as others.

If anybody thinks I'm lying, go to the Bethesda forums; in the off topic section. In fact, here's a reply I made to another member there(my name is Lorca there too):

http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1397955-dayz-arma-2-thread-04/

Edited July 25, 2012 by Lorca

[onlyrazor 11]

Sorry for the "hard" words but, don't worry, my words are soft compare to what they can say. Yes, there are helpful folks here as well. Maybe, that's another reason why I'm still sticking around here. One thing for sure though, despite all this, I'm ALWAYS defending BIS in other forums and, frankly, this is the only game that I defend despite not liking the community as much as others.

Could you point a couple of quotes out? I think there aren't that many pricks on these forums, or at least I don't see them that often. Might just be my selection of forums. And yeah, the community's vocal minority is a problem, I've seen some disdain towards it on other sites.

[Shagulon 1]

Guys don't beat yourselves up too much. As I said earlier, I started playing dayz, and slipped into arma 2. I spend plenty of time on the dayz forum as well as here, and there are certainly many more pricks over there. However, when something becomes as popular as dayz it is a magnet for every socially inept asshat on the net. The dayz community is so big that there are also many good players there too. Please don't generalise player bases and judge individuals on their individual merits.

You guys all seem great. I was playing project reality the other day, and I was struggling to get parachutes out of the chopper cargo at the start - NOOB ALERT. Everyone was really cool and helpful.

The arma community I would say is better than most out there. It really helps that it is a mature community.

Pat yourselves on the back, keep it up :)

[igneous01 19]

im surprised this thread is still going - the reasons have been listed as to why it is not. Does it really matter if arma becomes popular? So long as the core features of the game are in place, then I dont care what happens.

[BasileyOne 10]

generally, Arma2 aimed for hardcore players.

challenging and wide/deep gameplay, mean mature player/individual and Arma2 playerbase/installbase/online clearly show â„– of them.

for developers, popularity is always good,regardless kind of them.

cuz customers mean income and income mean resources.

2 live, 2 develop, 2 move ahead.

but you always can pick particular customer you prefer to deal with.

for example, recently DayZ boosted Arma2OA sales tremendously, but thats cause highly unwelcome side-effects, such as bunch/stream of assholes on PvE/CO/Coop/CTI/Warfare servers, inntentionally and systematically ruining gameplay, teamplay and etc.

also Arma2Free wasn't bad advertisement, but thats mainly advertisement for Arma2OA.

and thats about "customers relationship" buildup - trust, ie hardly players of vanilla Arma2 welcome consistent steam of cheaters, immediately resulted in that.

and resulted drastic measures, forced to server admins by that, such as blocking Internet sub-nets/segments, hadly welcomed too, cuz affected, sometimes inoncent ppl too.

sure its funny approach to "advertise"/push A2OA, but slightly contradict with trading regulation in EU[&had some cases in US].

so, bottom line is: its tricky to pick options - do you want to make well-sold crap ? or you want to make moderately-popular thing you be able proud about ? its up 2 you.

Edited July 26, 2012 by BasileyOne

[[frl]myke 14]

I think it is about how new players introduce themself. If there is a new player like "erm, sorry guys, i'm new and i don't know how to get that chute out of the chopper", he will surely get a completely different answer than one who is like "god damn it, what's this buggy s**t, can't take the f***ing chute, this is the worst game ever". At least that's what i observed so far. Most of the time it is down to the attitude of the new player how he is treatened.

Simply said: what goes around, comes around.

Just my 2 cents.

[Phantom Six 25]

Myke;2195121']I think it is about how new players introduce themself. If there is a new player like "erm' date=' sorry guys, i'm new and i don't know how to get that chute out of the chopper", he will surely get a completely different answer than one who is like "god damn it, what's this buggy s**t, can't take the f***ing chute, this is the worst game ever". At least that's what i observed so far. Most of the time it is down to the attitude of the new player how he is treatened.

Simply said: what goes around, comes around.

Just my 2 cents.[/quote']

^Ahhh this. The reason I was annoyed with the newbies from DayZ at times were most of them had the second attitude. Back when I first started, I just tell people "sorry, I'm new". People then help and guide me around on how to play the game properly. Now I see people whine whine and whine. It was really really bad over at the steam forums that it annoys me at times too. If people actually asked for help and have the patience to wait for help, they'll receive it, but no, they decide to curse and rage at the game because they can't handle the learning curve, therefore they start bagging the game and people retaliate against that.

[Freeborne 10]

Some games, when you just install it, it pops up with hints and tutorials as you're playing.

ARMA2 should have this by default.

i.e: You install ARMA2 Combined Operations.

Whether you play SP or MP, it will pop up hints on how to enter vehicles, how to use the gear menu, bring up the map, etc.

Experienced players can disable these hints in the options, but for new players, it would cut down on the need for them to ask basic questions like "How do I bring up the map?"

Even the HUD, after a fresh install, could have little help markers indicating what some of the things mean. These would fade after time, and stop appearing after the person has played for a certain number of minutes/hours.

[[frl]myke 14]

Some games, when you just install it, it pops up with hints and tutorials as you're playing.

ARMA2 should have this by default.

i.e: You install ARMA2 Combined Operations.

Whether you play SP or MP, it will pop up hints on how to enter vehicles, how to use the gear menu, bring up the map, etc.

Experienced players can disable these hints in the options, but for new players, it would cut down on the need for them to ask basic questions like "How do I bring up the map?"

Even the HUD, after a fresh install, could have little help markers indicating what some of the things mean. These would fade after time, and stop appearing after the person has played for a certain number of minutes/hours.

Mate, two words: tutorials & RTFM. ;)

But seriously, there the versatility of ArmA 2 will break your concept. I had people asking why they don't get the HALO or teleport option at a flagpole in a random mission. Now guess which mission was the only one they played until then.

[Rak 0]

Maybe the reason is that the online ArmA is infested with that particular mission?

[Maio 293]

TBH, nothing has changed since DayZ besides the nr. of new players joining public servers.

You still get the complete fuckwits who shoot everyone as soon as they get control of their avatars, the ones who shoot the guy in front of them after about 1-2 mins in when they see that they cant run and gun, the ones who drop of the server after you spend 5 mins explaining them what to do, the GBU magicians and of course last but not least the guy who is patient enough to walk for half an hour, follow orders, doesn't complain if he didn't get to fire a shot before he died and after all that says that he loves the game.

[Ninja_Prime 10]

DayZ has exposed Arma to the "mainstream", which can only be good for the game.

The main reason IMHO that Arma is not as popular as COD, BF3 etc., is that Arma was only really intended for PC and it's not as fast paced and easy as the aforementioned titles.

This is a simulation game and as such will only appeal to a particular type of person. I would class it more as the thinking man’s game. The interface and controls are not the most intuitive I’ve seen or used and the learning curve is very steep, unlike the other games which you can pick up in a few minutes, well the basics anyway. Arma is like mature whisky, the longer you play it the better and more likely you are to get hooked on it and stick with it. I have spoken to a lot of Arma players and a majority of them have stuck with it through all its incarnations.

If I want a quick adrenaline fix then I play more of the “mainstream†titles, but I like the editor in Arma and I have been creating my own COD like missions. Having used many different editors in the past, it’s all a question of pacing your missions.