Why is this game not more popular?

[Herbal Influence 10]

That was absolutely my intention. And maybe you see the importance of your view on time when you compare the start of this thread in Feb 2010 to the last three weeks? Nah, now, don't say nothing, please.

[avibird 1 141]

he will he can't help himself it's in his nature.

[Flametrace 1]

I'm sure this has been said many times, but... Because people don't like a challenge. They like their kiddie shooters like CoD. They want to be able to pick up the game and destroy everyone. People are just losing their want for a challenge these days, and just getting weaker because of it.

[Haviv 10]

Why is this game not more popular? I guess being #1 isn't enough? :)

[dayglow 2]

I'm sure this has been said many times, but... Because people don't like a challenge. They like their kiddie shooters like CoD. They want to be able to pick up the game and destroy everyone. People are just losing their want for a challenge these days, and just getting weaker because of it.

Do you feel better about yourself? Feel all pumped up and superior? Maybe people like COD and similar games because they enjoy the action and speed? Why does the sim community always have to pump theirselves up, I see it in flighty sims with the DCS and F4 crowd looking down their nose at 'inferior' sims. Race sim guys the same with more arcade racers.

Really its sad.

I enjoy Arma for its realism, but I also enjoy COD, MoH, etc for the holiwood action and over the top story. I don't judge someone because they like a certain style of gameplay over another. It's poisonous to the whole community.

[Tonci87 163]

Do you feel better about yourself? Feel all pumped up and superior? Maybe people like COD and similar games because they enjoy the action and speed? Why does the sim community always have to pump theirselves up, I see it in flighty sims with the DCS and F4 crowd looking down their nose at 'inferior' sims. Race sim guys the same with more arcade racers.

Really its sad.

I enjoy Arma for its realism, but I also enjoy COD, MoH, etc for the holiwood action and over the top story. I don't judge someone because they like a certain style of gameplay over another. It's poisonous to the whole community.

How long does it take to learn how to play CoD? How long does it take to learn playing Arma or even DCS? There is the reason why so many sim players look down on the CoD crowd. Sim players invested time to learn how to play the game.

[dayglow 2]

So? Why look down on people for enjoying something different? I enjoy a complex sim and tried the Ace Combat style arcade flying games and didn't really enjoy them, but that doesn't mean I look down on someone that does.

[maturin 12]

I look down on mainstream gamers only when they look down on sims.

Nothing irritates me more than gamers and gaming media types who try to pass off judgments like 'ArmA isn't fun. It's challenging and compelling, but not fun.' They can be praising the game, and highly recommending it, yet with the caveat that it doesn't qualify as 'fun.'

Bull. Fucking. Shit. ArmA is FUN. Like REALLY goddamn fun. About fifty different kinds, one for every mission concept, every mod, every community.

If you think CoD, or even its entire genre, defines some universal, monolithic concept of fun, you have to be some sort of idiot.

[celery 8]

I think sim players (and people who think they're playing a sim, hi Arma community!) are the most prejudiced demographic when it comes to games not of one's favorite gameplay type.

I mean, when you ask people why they like Arma, how many can resist bashing CoD, BF, CS or even Quake and people who play them just to get a point across? If you asked someone why he likes CoD, his first thought definitely isn't going to be what rubs him the wrong way about Arma.

[jackrabbitslim7 10]

It's the same comportment with every simulation I've played, and even between simulations the most hardcore players always make fun of the others "less serious" simulations (X-plane vs FSX). I think people like to feel superior without taking into consideration that players of COD or other arcades games are maybe more interested in others activities than gaming and don't wan't to spend too much time to learn what is just a computer game in definitive (that's why they are casuals games, you don't need to be dedicated at playing it). Some always want to convince themselves that they are right, we can even extend this behavior to others activities than simulation, don't players of BF3 makes fun of COD players ? Or the opposite.

Arma is quite fun and not that difficult to learn, I got bored of cod 4 in no time but I can understand why people like it, it's a competitive multiplayer game so it can become quite addictive (if you want to stay the best) it's totally different from arma there is nothing to compare (beside some guns) and nothing wrong with playing it.

"My choice is always the best and others are dumbs" is the basis to be an elitist fan-boy (or dumb ? Idk feel free to correct me I'm not a native English)

Edited July 2, 2012 by jackrabbitslim7

[Tonci87 163]

I think sim players (and people who think they're playing a sim, hi Arma community!) are the most prejudiced demographic when it comes to games not of one's favorite gameplay type.

I mean, when you ask people why they like Arma, how many can resist bashing CoD, BF, CS or even Quake and people who play them just to get a point across? If you asked someone why he likes CoD, his first thought definitely isn't going to be what rubs him the wrong way about Arma.

LOL

Who says that a sim can´t be fun? Anybody who claims that sims aren´t fun is kind of stupid. Arma is really FUN, DCS is fun too and so on. I simply enjoy the challenge, learning something complex and then mastering it is fun to me.

[NoRailgunner 0]

What dev is a dev who does not make a game better?

[chrisb 196]

I think sim players (and people who think they're playing a sim, hi Arma community!) are the most prejudiced demographic when it comes to games not of one's favorite gameplay type. 'snip' If you asked someone why he likes CoD, his first thought definitely isn't going to be what rubs him the wrong way about Arma.

Probably one of the truest comments on this whole forum..

[HKFlash 9]

LOL

Who says that a sim can´t be fun? Anybody who claims that sims aren´t fun is kind of stupid. Arma is really FUN, DCS is fun too and so on. I simply enjoy the challenge, learning something complex and then mastering it is fun to me.

I think Celery's point was that ARMA is not a simulator. And if you take a look at it, it isn't. This is because it is so broad, a game that wants to do everything in detail but in the end, it does not. My opinion anyway.

[ProfTournesol 956]

I think Celery's point was that ARMA is not a simulator. And if you take a look at it, it isn't. This is because it is so broad, a game that wants to do everything in detail but in the end, it does not. My opinion anyway.

In the end, it's a game.

[jblackrupert 14]

Battlefield 3 is a good example of what results when a developer reaches out to get the COD and Console crowd which they did with Bad Company 2.

A lot of the hatred comes from watching game franchises turned into complete garbage because the ADD... Waaaaa it's too hard, where is the Win button? idiots are getting their way

because developers can make games on the cheap, charge oodles of money on DLC and Pay 2 win weapons and perks.

Though there is a small but vocal crowd in Arma that think everything should be ridiculously tedious and hard. Not just the game itself but installing addons/Mods and the design of the software that supposed to make it easier should be difficult to use by default

to keep out "Stupid people".

It's the main reason I ditched Project Reality for BF2 and rarely bother with COOP in Arma. Too many of these guys

Edited July 3, 2012 by jblackrupert

[dayglow 2]

LOL

Who says that a sim can´t be fun? Anybody who claims that sims aren´t fun is kind of stupid. Arma is really FUN, DCS is fun too and so on. I simply enjoy the challenge, learning something complex and then mastering it is fun to me.

I know a lot of people who love Rise of Flight or Il-2 who can't stand DCS. They don't find the simulation of modern systems and sensors fun. How are they stupid?

[Degtyarov 1]

Terms such as 'fun' and 'boring' are completely subjective, anyway. Different people will look for different things in games in order to enjoy themselves. A game can have objective qualities, but in the end, whether or not it is enjoyable largely depends on the individual. Saying 'this game is good because it is fun' or 'this game is bad because it's boring' is a form of circular reasoning and akin to the argumentation techniques of elementary school children.

I think the most obvious reason of Arma's relative lack of popularity is that it's inaccessible. You really have to dedicate yourself to the game and learn it, and some people are just not willing to do that.

[domokun 515]

I quite agree that Arma's relative unpopularity lies with its inaccessibility.

One of it's biggest hurdles is the management of mods.

Arma would become much more accessible if mods were better integrated, e.g. activation and deactivation within the game (without having to restart the game), download and update of mods from centralised server (à la Six Updater)

Edited July 12, 2012 by domokun

[NoRailgunner 0]

Just ask yourself: is a popular game always or even automatically better than a game which isn't hyped? Is there any good reason to limit game developments just because of the popularity of other games?? Some people just don't like to learn something or get familiar with different gameplay/concepts. Some people are interested and will spend a certain time to get used to "new" game mechanics. Now how to make a game userfriendly without making it "too simple" or dumping it all down to popular kill-respawn-kill-respawn fun action? :)

[pipscouse 10]

I quite agree that Arma's relative unpopularity lying with its inaccessibility.

One of the biggest hurdles is the management of mods.

Arma would become much more accessible if mods where better inegrated, e.g. activation and deactivation within the game (without having to restart the game), download and update of mods from centralised server (à la Six Updater)

Amen brother :bounce3:

[Emberwolf 0]

It's the same comportment with every simulation I've played, and even between simulations the most hardcore players always make fun of the others "less serious" simulations (X-plane vs FSX)

The oddest thing is I've worked with pilots in real life for about a decade and my experience with them has been overwhelmingly positive. Generaly, they're a great, upbeat group of folks. They love their sport/hobby/job and it shows. Why the flight simming communities are so insanely caustic and miserable completely bewilders me.

[domokun 515]

Amen brother :bounce3:

And I'd add that, given the almost-perpetual state of beta (last official patch was 6 months ago, whereas since then BI have continued to release scores of patches), Arma also needs to introduce an in-built system for updating betas, e.g. optional auto-update.

The current system, though smart (installed parallel to the official patch) and not too difficult, is too cumbersome for most users.

Which is a dreadful shame given the substantial improvements offered by the beta patches in terms of stability, performance and features...

[EDcase 87]

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 ;)

Edited July 12, 2012 by EDcase

[MrNicklebe 1]

Arma 2 is a fantastic game but it's not for everyone, and I really don't think you know you'll enjoy it until you play it for a few hours. Videos and reviews just can't explain what the game is all about.

BIS I'm guessing didn't really have the money to be advertising it a lot back in the day and more recently I think they've lucked out with DayZ boosting popularity. In fact I think they've lucked out A LOT because of all the additional sales it will generate for Arma 3. I'm also confident that BIS won't do the traditional "ruining" that other developers love to do to their sequels. So in theory we could have a shooter that is popular and not terrible?