Why is this game not more popular?

[jblackrupert 14]

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

Just how "dumbed" down is it?

Lacks/missing?

OFP and Arma are very different beasts with an enormous amount of time that has passed between then release of each of them.

I can't find the post by a bohemia developer that said Arma has outgrown consoles and would end up too gutted to make them happy with the result

I thinks it was deleted along with an Arma on consoles thread.

The Console version of OFP did get positive reviews though.

You can probably find some still floating around online.

[metalcraze 290]

The differences between OFP and OFP Elite weren't that big.

OFPE had a crosshair forced into the center of the screen (because aiming with a gamepad is already hard as it is) and smaller "radius" of engagements also because view distance was locked to a minimum. It also had some missions from original campaigns changed a bit (if you are interested in knowing the difference you can check out CWR1 for AA1 which recreates OFPE campaigns on AA engine). But that's pretty much it.

However do keep in mind that even original OFP was arcade-y compared to AA1 (let alone AA2). No proper recoil, ballistics were arcadey - you could snipe enemies from a silenced rifle 300m away (and I mean M16-type rifle, not sniper rifle), ability to snipe using MG due to how uber precise it is, magical invisibility when you go prone, ability to walk and shoot targets even ~100m away, no possibility to get tired (in AA2 soldiers at least slow down - in OFP you can run for 10s and 10s of KM at max speed), when aiming through optics/ironsights you were turning almost into a floating camera, AI couldn't see anything beyond 250m etc.

Obviously many of the above faults were considerably improved by mods but still.

ArmA series has come a long way since then. Even vanilla AA2 is much much less arcadey than OFP.

[dmarkwick 261]

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

I'm guessing you're not married :D there is no "preference", only disapproval.

[jonneymendoza 10]

I'm guessing you're not married :D there is no "preference", only disapproval.

i am married lol

[Lauxman 10]

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.

Really? Not quite. I don't know if you really have played on any random servers, but every time I do and there isn't an admin present, acts of friendly fire or accidentally crashing a chopper always turn into "F***ing noob!"

If someone new has the crosshair turned off on a higher difficulty level and asks how to turn it back on, "Go back to COD!"

And God forbid if an American is on one end of these arguments and a person of different nationality is on the other end. "Shut up you fat piece of s*** American!"

There is no difference in Arma2's community than any other community online. The average number of fools is just lower because the community is that much smaller.

[Zipper5 74]

MP community does not a community make.* I think 160thSOAR was talked about the offline community as well.

*Unless you're Call of Duty, in which case, what else can you build one from? :rolleyes:

[metalcraze 290]

Public servers.

Avoid them like fire.

Whatever the game public servers are always the prime nest of garbage.

[celery 8]

Public servers.

Avoid them like fire.

Whatever the game public servers are always the prime nest of garbage.

Oh, that's a healthy attitude alright.

[76 0]

Public servers.

Avoid them like fire.

Whatever the game public servers are always the prime nest of garbage.

This... er you are part of the problem... typical closed door coop member.

Firstly, Cerberus5 is a public server and fyi mate its tard free and has been

since the beginning of armed assault (very well admin'd by capable ppl),

blood0din & HullCreatures 'Insurgency' server is public and tard free, most I

visit are ... in fact I imagine your server with all its BS rulez and pretend

army regulations to be garbage.

Secondly, it sounds like you rarely if ever visit any public servers and that

you're basing your narrow views on what you've heard and/or being told,

cause there is no way your absurd statement is coming from any credible

experience.

[160thSOAR 10]

Really? Not quite. I don't know if you really have played on any random servers, but every time I do and there isn't an admin present, acts of friendly fire or accidentally crashing a chopper always turn into "F***ing noob!"

If someone new has the crosshair turned off on a higher difficulty level and asks how to turn it back on, "Go back to COD!"

And God forbid if an American is on one end of these arguments and a person of different nationality is on the other end. "Shut up you fat piece of s*** American!"

There is no difference in Arma2's community than any other community online. The average number of fools is just lower because the community is that much smaller.

That final sentence is exactly why I don't want the community's size to balloon.

I haven't encountered many of the types of people you're talking about. Now, I have had my helicopter explode for an unexplained reason while fully loaded. I really don't know what happened, as I was landed on the ground not near any obstacles. Some people did get angry at me, but I feel it is understandable to be irritated when the pilot blows up the helicopter you're in. It wasn't my fault that that happened, but I certainly know why they're annoyed with me. Actually, most people were quite good natured about it, but that might be because I'm a server regular.

As for friendly fire and all that jazz.... I play on the 7th Cavalry Domination server almost exclusively. Friendly fire does happen, but the revive option, the Stryker Mobile Respawns, and the HALO parajump flag at base make friendly fire less of an issue. Accidental friendly fire is usually followed by an apology while the guy tries to get over to my position and revive me.

Are there tards on occasionally? YES, there are. But the 7th Cavalry have administrators available for contacting almost 24/7, which makes dealing with the guy who just shot down your Apache with a Bradley much easier. Even on TS3, I've encountered extreme rudeness. This one guy swore in about 10 consecutive sentences, insulting a kid who wasn't yet through puberty. Then he tried to accuse me of doing it when an admin came on. Bad move on his part...I've been on there daily for almost 2 weeks now. He got a permanent ban. There are people who want to mess up others' experiences, but capable admins can minimize that problem. And I haven't seen as many tards on ArmA2 as any other game.

As for the comment about Americans.... I've never encountered anyone like that yet. But I'm sure they're out there somewhere.

There are idiots around. There just aren't as many, and the non-publicized nature of the game keeps the nice person to idiot ratio high by gaming standards. That's why I like our smaller community.

As to Zipper's post, which I'm assuming is talking about the forums, modding, and all that. Yes, I mean forums and editing too. I'm clueless with computers, so I have no mods other than ACE2, which I use sparingly at best, but the BI forum community's quality wipes the floor with BFBC2's community.

[Flash Thunder 10]

Im never going to get married so no problem for me.

u jelly?

[jonneymendoza 10]

Im never going to get married so no problem for me.

u jelly?

you cant fight love ;)

[160thSOAR 10]

Actually, you can. You just almost never win.

[jonneymendoza 10]

haha innit. and once your in the zone, your screwed. U aint the boss of the relationship mate lol

[ajax420 0]

This... er you are part of the problem... typical closed door coop member.

Firstly, Cerberus5 is a public server and fyi mate its tard free and has been

since the beginning of armed assault (very well admin'd by capable ppl),

blood0din & HullCreatures 'Insurgency' server is public and tard free, most I

visit are ... in fact I imagine your server with all its BS rulez and pretend

army regulations to be garbage.

Secondly, it sounds like you rarely if ever visit any public servers and that

you're basing your narrow views on what you've heard and/or being told,

cause there is no way your absurd statement is coming from any credible

experience.

I've been a -C5- "Cerberus 5" member since Arma1 and I've been playing the titles since OFP beta. Our "PUBLIC" server is always administered very well, we have a strong core group of longtime regular players and members. We have a wonderfully diverse assortment of PvP maps and missions and some just crazy fun missions that will blow your mind (Crazy Race, Fuel Heist, Prisoner Rescue, just to name a few...). We have a dedicated TS3 server as well as having in-game voip turned on as well.

We do ban smack-tards and trouble makers for sure! After proof and a fair warning! No one shouts orders or limits your ability to fly a heli or a jet or drive a tank.you can be a lone wolf or jump into a team on TS. You want to be Rambo? Go ahead, and GOOD LUCK!

Our players are the best of the best! We have an open invite for anyone or any group to take us on!

[anthraxant 10]

This game isn't popular because twits kick you out of every game that sounds like fun.

Also, i would class myself competent at any game no matter how complicated it is, this is just a fact that i'm a quick learner, but it does take too long to get into action in this game, i only say this because i can only fly good when nobody is looking..lol....

Too long standing at a base where people just shoot you for lulz, is not my idea of fun.

Give me a game mode that if i get shot by a player in a FF incident they go to the spastic room for 30'sec while i get to play whack a mole but this time using a club hammer and their balls as a pop up target, for every target i hit is the amount of points they loose.

Sounds like fun eh?

[melmil 10]

I always feel like this game remains in the shadows because that's where it is comfortable. This game required a large degree of effort to get over the learning curve (for me playing alone, anyway) and once you understand basic gameplay principles, there's still significantly more to learn. I'm barely ending my first year of ownership for ARMA II and yet I still play on recruit difficulty. (That might just be my absolute incompetence in combat).

Although I have barely played any real multiplayer, I have played several games with my friend, and the excitement that builds is quite a thrill. In short, ARMA II is a game which affords the player complete and utter freedom, once they've hurdled the learning curve. I think the learning curve itself is all the initial player sees, and they feel that it is representative of the rest of the game. Therefore, anyone who attempts the demo initially might be inclined to reject the game, since their initial proficiency with it is sub par.

Finally, I think a large group of younger audiences lose confidence when faced with the minority of people who are openly hostile against those under the age of 16 playing ARMA II. That may contribute to me playing with a single person constantly.

So I consider the primary lack of popularity of ARMA II to be based in its reclusive nature, steep learning curve, and the seemingly harsh community. (Although after you're in the community, you realize how they actually are).

All of this was probably covered earlier, but this is my 2 cents. And I'm not fond of reading 147 pages of posts.

EDIT: Sorry for posting in this old thread. I forgot to look at the latest date. My first post too!

Edited October 4, 2011 by Melmil
Noting that I posted in a dead thread.

[Pummel 10]

It is for all the following reasons:

1) Because the original Arma 2 is not very good looking.

2) Because you need a super computer to make it run ok.

3) Because people played the single player campaign which is absolutely hopeless and then went online proclaimed to the world "Arma 2 sucks!", without even delving in to multiplayer and all the other stuff you can do.

4) Because the average modern gamer is too dumb and lazy to play a game like this. To get fun from Arma2 you need to weed through all the different modes and servers until you find the one you like, and then you need to play it long enough until you get good at it. Modern gamers much rather just get something like Call of Duty which spoon feeds you the entertainment right away.

5) Because it wasn't advertised very much.

6) Because the forum is unfriendly and the moderators are condescending, demeaning, belittling, patronizing and rude.

[bars91 956]

Well Pummel pretty much got it right but I'd rather put it like this(in order of importance):

1) Because it wasn't advertised very much,(IMHO most important in todays information filled enviroment - see BF3 ads)

2) Because you need a super computer to make *release vanilla game* run ok, (if you consider 10-15 fps ok that is)

3) BIS SP campaigns/missions are shit in every sense possible(sorry to say but true),

4) shit MP in vanilla release version,

5) Because the average modern gamer *looks for good running graphical and sound experience before anything else*

Edited October 5, 2011 by Bars91

[160thSOAR 10]

6) Because the forum is unfriendly and the moderators are condescending, demeaning, belittling, patronizing and rude.

You could have used one word instead of 4. Repetitive much?

I don't really care that ArmA2 doesn't have a larger playerbase. BIS seems to be doing fine as is, and I'm happy with things the way they are now. I do not see a need to change anything. Like that old saying says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[colosseum 34]

I could list my reasons but I'd just be repeating what everyone else has said, and I'd sound like an old geezer curmudgeon at the same time, so forget it.

I'll just say that ArmA and ArmA2 are the greatest military games ever made in my opinion.

[PrivateWolf 10]

It's just that kids like more fast-paced unrealistic bullshit these days... BF3, COD they say BF3 takes cooperation? bullshit played the beta I saw guys teabagging, being one-man army, counting killstreaks, showing off your K/D its the same shit people! BF3 gamers have been blinded seriously. I feel like I'm revolting against the people of my age. usually people at my age(13) is addicted at dumbed-down and arcadish games they just don't understand how fun it is to experience REAL teamwork

-13 year old

[wld427 1705]

I think Arma2 and OA are absolutely stellar games.

Maybee just the lack of serious marketing for it here in the US held it back.

[BL1P 35]

because most noobs dont have a good computer

they think they do until they play arma2 :)

and saying a game is shit rather than saying your pc is shit is easier

Edited October 11, 2011 by BL1P

[tk1138 10]

I know why....most people are too stupid to play this game....they lack patience they lack the ability to learn, they lack intelligence, and common sense....now lets be clear that these are not efficiencies with the game but with people and do not warrant any game changes as making the game more accessible would do a disservice to all of us, who can adapt, learn and grow....

with that said we might as well close the thread....