Why is this game not more popular?

[ProfTournesol 956]

AA2 is popular enough as far as I can see, but I wish the developers would pause for breath and fix some bugs instead of rushing to bring out new expansions and addons and stuff

With what kind of money ? Wishul thinkings don't generate incomes.

[Lauxman 10]

It can be frustrating to get into any kind of Multiplayer action in ArmA 2. The majority of the populous plays on "Domination" servers, which I don't understand why. Same process every single town-blow it to hell with artillery/aircraft move in and sweep up the squad of infantry left over, and sit around for 30 minutes looking for the 1 AI left alive in the town. No fun at all.

The really fun Co-op and player vs. player missions pretty much require you to join a clan and get access to a server to do so, with seemingly hours of coordination.

Call of Duty? You hit "Connect" and you're killing people.

There is no reason berate the "ADD/twitchshooter"-mentality of people who enjoy Call of Duty. Online FPS games have been that easy to get into a play as early as Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

If it was as easy to get into a solid game of online play in Arma 2 as it is in Call of Duty and Battlefield, Arma 2 would be very popular as well.

[HyperU2 11]

The last thing I want to deal with when having human adversaries is ARMA's cute little animation twitches, that's why I play twitchshooters for that. I love Domi, but it's up to you how you play it.

[jonneymendoza 10]

IF this game was on the console it would be a hell of a lot more popular.

I never said the graphics is what makes this game unpopular.

All i said was

I never said its graphically inept, or that it was actually better.

It 'looks' better because there is a lot more eyecandy in the game. Im not stating my own personal preference here as I do not play CoD or MoH or that type of shoot 'em up.

I play arma with 10k view distance and everything on full and get 60fps and i love the game, I will buy Arma3 and any subsequent DLCs for it, Even if i dont play the campaigns

I see. When you mean by popular, do you mean how many people actually know of the game or how many the game has sold?

[cannonouscrash 12]

I see. When you mean by popular, do you mean how many people actually know of the game or how many the game has sold?

I mean the amount of people that play it on a regular basis

[Lauxman 10]

The last thing I want to deal with when having human adversaries is ARMA's cute little animation twitches, that's why I play twitchshooters for that. I love Domi, but it's up to you how you play it.

I really can't find the appeal behind it. The AI are so easily defeated there is no challenge.

[jblackrupert 14]

I really can't find the appeal behind it. The AI are so easily defeated there is no challenge.

Domination has a 2 team version but no public servers exist or at least clearly marked so people can find them.

A lot of people like to complain about popular FPS games being generic clones of each other but it's not much different then firing up Arma and seeing nothing but 24/7 Domination.

[76 0]

IF this game was on the console it would be a hell of a lot more popular.

If this game was on console it would no longer be ArmA...

It would be something very different.

[birtuma 28]

Unfortunately is a fact that the console market is far larger than PC.

And within the PC games market 'military sims' is a very small proportion of the total....

2007

Console=$6.6 Billion

PC = $0.9 Billion

2009

Console=$19.66 Billion (including hardware sales)

PC = $0.538 Billion

That's only US, they don't play pc games...

[sickboy 13]

I really can't find the appeal behind it. The AI are so easily defeated there is no challenge.

Completely depends on how the mission is setup (groups, waypoints, orders, unit settings), if there are AI modules in use, server settings for skill and accuracy,

and also depending on how the AI and AI weapon behaviour is setup in the configs (ZEU ai skills, ACE ai skills, etc).

Of course an AI is not a Human, but there's quite some room to improve the behaviour of the AI with mission setup and addons.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Sickboy

[sw1 10]

IF this game was on the console it would be a hell of a lot more popular.

Arma 2 on a console simply would not work. The central feature of A2 is the massive game world, with independant AI who don't just spawn all over the place as the result of some bland script. All the features that make A2 so good, are crazily CPU-intensive. No console could handle it :D

That said if all consoles had quad cores, >2GB of RAM and a mean graphics card, A2 would be far more popular as a console game...

The first time I played Arma Armed Assualt I found it difficult and boring, but after a few weeks I began to get the controls, I found the editor and I discovered all the community content... :inlove: ... and I haven't stopped playing it since :D

Edited May 25, 2011 by SW1

[jonneymendoza 10]

arma 2 cant be played on a joypad unless u dumb down the controls and gameplay heavily

[wiggum2 31]

arma 2 cant be played on a joypad unless u dumb down the controls and gameplay heavily

...or just improve the controls (*uh this is a simulation we must use the hole keyboard* ) !

[jonneymendoza 10]

arma 2 would also need perks. auto aim assist. maps size of my backyard and guns withh no recoil

[.kju 3239]

OFP Elite was said to be well playable. Even vehicles and air units.

[meade95 0]

2 Reasons, really.

1. To complicated / realism for the run and gun kiddies of Console. That doesn't make it right or wrong, better or worse (but it's better! ha). Just reality.

2. CQC faults / or lack of the effiective ability to perform (a la, RVS/R6 original game).

[celery 8]

auto aim assist.

That wish has been granted already, just switch to recruit difficulty.

[76 0]

As kids get older (like all of us) they'll lose interest in quick fix fulfillment and desire more from their games... bigger worlds, more complex systems etc etc and will realize its rewards and the satisfaction gained from it.

This kinda genre is still kinda daunting to newcomers. I think because its not a full simulation focusing on one unit/vehicle but rather a sand (toy) box full of hundreds of the most detailed, accurate (in the gaming arena) and fun war toys a grown kid could ask for along with a massive fully loaded world in which to play it makes it very attractive.

ArmA will only surly grow... but it would help greatly to accommodate player vs player more than it is currently.

Edited May 27, 2011 by 76

[galzohar 31]

As kids get older (like all of us) they'll lose interest in quick fix fulfillment and desire more from their games... bigger worlds, more complex systems etc etc and will realize its rewards and the satisfaction gained from it.

As well as getting a demanding job, not to mention wife and kids, and maybe even some actual friends that don't play! Then they don't upgrade their PC and can't play even if they did want to and had the time for it, and when you tell them about this awesome game they'll go "Games? Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do? :(

[ajax420 0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CannonousCrash

IF this game was on the console it would be a hell of a lot more popular.

Please... ArmA on a console... HaHaHa, I'm not insulting here, it just seems that those who try to compare this sim to any console game just don't understand the true power and potential of the engine. There is allot going on in this sim on such a large scale that no console game can compare to it. It's like comparing a carrot to a juicy orange.

There are so many ways to play this game and I am saddened to see it go in such a Coop direction. BIS kind of shot themselves in the foot creating the smartest yet dumbest AI in the gaming/simulator world.

Check out -C5- PvP Server

in the multiplayer screen just filter for "c5"

Server Address: 64.120.22.98:2312 Cerberus5 -C5-,PvP,Arma2,OA

TeamSpeak3: 63.227.129.130:9987 No Password

[jblackrupert 14]

Bohemia already said Arma 2 has outgrown consoles and they are not willing to strip it down do make it fit and still be happy with the result.

[jonneymendoza 10]

As well as getting a demanding job, not to mention wife and kids, and maybe even some actual friends that don't play! Then they don't upgrade their PC and can't play even if they did want to and had the time for it, and when you tell them about this awesome game they'll go "Games? Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do? :(

like waste £30+ on a night out in a club or in a pub with mates?

im pretty sure a wife would prefer there husband stay at home playing games then to go to the pub/club

[160thSOAR 10]

Personally, I like the ArmA2 community the way it is. I like the fact that BI is putting their money into their actual product rather than on advertising campaigns. It makes for a better end result - and it gets rid of a lot of lower-quality people

I'm not sure if I want the community to grow enormously. So far, ArmA2 has, on average, the best community I have ever seen in any game. People are helpful to new players (no "N00B" screaming here), and are perfectly happy to answer even the stupidest questions. Even in random servers, I can usually get some level of coordination going as well.

Increasing the size of the community will undoubtedly bring in more good people, but it will also bring in more BAD people. I want to keep the CoD kiddies away from this game as much as possible.

I like the way BI is handling things. Over-marketing and all that crap really bugs me, and it tends to make for worse, but overly hyped, games. BI has found their niche group of players, and is doing a much better job for their playerbase than, say, EA.

This game is great as is. There's no need to change it.

And to some of the previous posters....

@JonnyMendoza: I'm no expert on this sort of thing...I'm not married, nor do I plan to be any time soon. But I know several families who would have a much better time of it if the father didn't go out to bars and get drunk so much. They'd be much better off if the father just stayed at home and played games instead.

@AJAX and jblack: Even the idea of ArmA2 on consoles is laughable. I mean, there's not even anywhere near enough buttons.... And the console players as a whole seem to be much more immature than PC players as a whole. (I'm talking general groups here, not trying to cast aspersions on individuals.)

@76: I got into this game through something rather similar. I played ArmA2 for a few months, then put it down for about 2 weeks. I soon realized just how much ArmA2 outclassed BFBC2. BFBC2's adrenaline rush is much less satisfactory than spending 30-40 minutes getting a sidemission base organized in the 7thCavalry Domination server. And ArmA2 has its adrenaline rush moments too! Just this afternoon I had to sneak up on a T34 to put a satchel charge on it since my squad didn't have any AT munitions left. Much more "adrenaline" type of thing than anything in BC2 or CoD.

That's it for now.

Edited May 30, 2011 by 160thSOAR

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

Can we get replies from those that have played both PC & console version of OFP 1.

Just how "dumbed" down is it?

Lacks/missing?

[76 0]

I want to keep the CoD kiddies away from this game as much as possible.

Before I become a senior admin for my old clan... I was originally banned

for placing 22 satchels around the the base in an evolution mission... so I'm

not to sure I 'can' agree with keeping them out ;)

I reckon ArmA has its own method of 'natural selection' and any from the

CoD/BF2 crowd that come and enjoy it will stay and grow, those that don't

will (after causing some small pain) will move on.

But to tell you the truth I really have no idea... anyone that does tell lies ;)

I like the way BI is handling things. Over-marketing and all that crap really bugs me, and it tends to make for worse, but overly hyped, games. BI has found their niche group of players, and is doing a much better job for their player base than, say, EA.

Agreed, getting so sick of advert-ising and its blatant lies and deceit, there

is something to be said about BI's low key approach :)