ARMA 2 (OA) : DLC discussion thread

[royaltyinexile 175]

[...]

Dragon Rising was , but their advertising department were pretty damned effective.

Got to disagree. Dragonmasters would never have been given the budget, nor muster the creative juices, to come up with technochicken.

http://www.arma2.com/images/stories/jac_faq/random4.jpg

That poultry likely got more unique user-installs than any fake DR video ;)

But, to get back on topic, partly the point of the BAF addon is to - aside from splitting the community ;) - bring the attention of Arrowhead, and by extension, Arma 2, to a broader audience.

[Rolexman 10]

So not only are you miss-informed, but you're a liar too? Nice...

Oh, the sun doesn't shine where you live.

Well, while I'm sure you've been reading this all along, you decided to spout your gutless, anti-social, non confrontational rant after I, seemingly, left, hoping to gain confidence with your insecure self. I hope I didn't startle you coming back in. It must be dark in the basement of your parent's house.

miss-informed is spelled misinformed.

And how am I misinformed? It is obvious that different talents have different jobs. Some people are multi talented. You wouldn't understand that though.

To lie and do harm is one thing.....

Edited August 1, 2010 by Rolexman

[ffur2007slx2_5 11]

I'll buy no matter what the DLC... as long as it is not on Steam. Please do NOT force us to use Steam. I like how my game runs and is configured now. Using Steam would be horrible in this respect for many of us.

What I would like to see as DLC is more artillery and vehicles. My preference would be older tanks, cars, and artillery so engangement distances are closer = more fun. With this option we could make new scenarios where all units are in closer confines.

What I do not want to see is just an additional side (basically reskins) ie. British soldiers etc. If I want to play Allied, I'll just load up the United States.

Actually, it seems that we will be brought to the previous time again if DLC provide us quite a lot of former weapons. I just hope all the units and new addons can be the latest and performs the same as reality, for example, the firing range should be the same with the real missiles, at least up to 20km I think. And then, I'd be appreciate if officials can create an interface like super power 2 which allows players have an overview of the whole battlefield and makes switching between FPS and interface commanding become available! That should be fantastic, so that we can play the simulation by both self-experience and commanding stragetically.

[dm 9]

It must be dark in the basement of your parent's house.

Love the maturity of your response, fits well with the rest of your posts.

As for basements, I wouldnt know. Don't live with my parents, and even if I did, their house doesnt have a basement.

miss-informed is spelled misinformed.

And how am I misinformed?

Spelling mistakes aside, based on your relentless tirrade of nonsense, one can only assume you have no idea of how BI works, thus you are misinformed.

It is obvious that different talents have different jobs.

Yes, so why complain that time spent making DLC is time wasted for fixes and improvements? Clearly it is not, since the people who make the fixes have nothing to do with the people who make the new content. (Further evidence of your level of misinformation.)

Some people are multi talented. You wouldn't understand that though

Oh noes, mr internet toughguy is calling me useless. I'm quite secure in the knowledge that not only am I good at all the things I do for my job, and that there are also very few other people on the planet with the same skill-set. It makes me feel quite confident actually.

Like I said earlier, do us all a favour and crawl back into whatever hole you came from. Damn trolls :j:

[Rolexman 10]

Got to disagree. Dragonmasters would never have been given the budget, nor muster the creative juices, to come up with technochicken.

http://www.arma2.com/images/stories/jac_faq/random4.jpg

That poultry likely got more unique user-installs than any fake DR video ;)

But, to get back on topic, partly the point of the BAF addon is to - aside from splitting the community ;) - bring the attention of Arrowhead, and by extension, Arma 2, to a broader audience.

IF they want to broaden and gain audience, by distributing content from one's country as a "join the battle and fight for your country" gaming attitude, then they should have included it with the expansion, advertised, and broadened the market. Best Buy and Gamestop are 2 ENORMOUS markets. The game is not at either one of those. Now, new, potential buyers will have to spend $10 for the content AND, at least, $40 for the requirement. Even though it is the same as $50 for one purchase, multiple purchasing is a negative aspect for, most importantly, new, potential buyers. "How much more am I going to have to spend?" attitude.

DLC will split up the online community, to a degree. No question about it. Servers will be full, at first, with the hype, but numbers will dwindle and then back to the regular vanilla requirement. Hopefully, the ones waiting for the hype to end, stick around :S

Free content splits up the community too. But, at least, when new players are already discouraged about not being able to join, better to have free DL content, than have to pay more, to meet the requirement. That is, if you want to keep them interested.

Also, this ideology is based on the numbers already in the game.

If, Arma had 100,000 people online at any given time, well, then....

But I think BIS would not be throwing out DLC to scrounge up extra $ either, hence the game is needing more NEW people and NEW purchases.

---------- Post added at 02:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 PM ----------

Love the maturity of your response, fits well with the rest of your posts.

As for basements, I wouldnt know. Don't live with my parents, and even if I did, their house doesnt have a basement.

Spelling mistakes aside, based on your relentless tirrade of nonsense, one can only assume you have no idea of how BI works, thus you are misinformed.

Yes, so why complain that time spent making DLC is time wasted for fixes and improvements? Clearly it is not, since the people who make the fixes have nothing to do with the people who make the new content. (Further evidence of your level of misinformation.)

Oh noes, mr internet toughguy is calling me useless. I'm quite secure in the knowledge that not only am I good at all the things I do for my job, and that there are also very few other people on the planet with the same skill-set. It makes me feel quite confident actually.

Like I said earlier, do us all a favour and crawl back into whatever hole you came from. Damn trolls :j:

Yep, I hit the nail on the head.

Let's not go into maturity. You are quite the hypocrite.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Rolexman

[NoRailgunner 0]

As long the DLC isnt mandatory people should use the choice of using it or not on their own. Guess that most people dont like a subscription system which forces anyone to buy stuff.

Btw. People can buy Operation Arrowhead at BestBuy and Gamestop. Next time lurk moar! ;)

[Rolexman 10]

As long the DLC isnt mandatory people should use the choice of using it or not on their own. Guess that most people dont like a subscription system which forces anyone to buy stuff.

Btw. People can buy Operation Arrowhead at BestBuy and Gamestop. Next time lurk moar! ;)

LOL on the "moar".

Really? I will look. I was just there a couple weeks ago and I didn't see it.

This is certainly good news. Hopefully, the "newbies" will take interest in reading the community forums to understand the game, rather than get frustrated and throw it on the shelf.

That's the problem with keeping the same engine too long. People expect ease of use, nowadays. I agree with many that it does need an update. It would be worth it in the long run, as the numbers would jump. I've been hoping that BIS will take that path. I know it's a lot of work. I will continue to support them, if they can improve on that and keep online numbers up.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Rolexman

[MontyVCB 0]

What do you mean by in need of an update? ArmA's gaming engine was a huge improvement over OFPs, likewise ArmA2's engine was miles ahead of ArmA's. Then you have OA. Other than the basic interface (which is defined by programming rather than the engine), and the scripts used in the mission editor I fail to see how the engine is the same.

I also see ArmA2/OA in the shops all the time where I live, so if someone wants a copy they can purchase it without an issue.

I also have no problem in finding well populated servers online too, prehaps you are not using the filter function correctly? End of the day you can't force people to buy this game, ArmA2's target audience is significantly narrower than that of CoD or BF2. If BIS really did want to make a quick buck they could of made ArmA2 a CoD clone/knockoff with monthly $15 DLC maps and bullshit gameplay, but they did'nt they decided to stick with what they know best. Becuase quite frankly there is more money in it. Your dreams of seeing hundreds of thousands of online players at once is unrealistic.

[xxbbcc 6]

This is certainly good news. Hopefully, the "newbies" will take interest in reading the community forums to understand the game, rather than get frustrated and throw it on the shelf.

That's the problem with keeping the same engine too long. People expect ease of use, nowadays. I agree with many that it does need an update. It would be worth it in the long run, as the numbers would jump. I've been hoping that BIS will take that path. I know it's a lot of work. I will continue to support them, if they can improve on that and keep online numbers up.

What do you even care? If you don't like the game and/or the paid content, don't buy it. No one forces you. If BIS is ok with the current community, it's their business. I'd much rather have a tigher group of people willing to learn how to make the game work than a bunch of idiot newbies who expect "ease of use".

In my experience people who are willing to learn the technical aspects of the game turn out to be much better players too.

[Rolexman 10]

What do you mean by in need of an update? ArmA's gaming engine was a huge improvement over OFPs, likewise ArmA2's engine was miles ahead of ArmA's. Then you have OA. Other than the basic interface (which is defined by programming rather than the engine), and the scripts used in the mission editor I fail to see how the engine is the same.

I also see ArmA2/OA in the shops all the time where I live, so if someone wants a copy they can purchase it without an issue.

I also have no problem in finding well populated servers online too, prehaps you are not using the filter function correctly? End of the day you can't force people to buy this game, ArmA2's target audience is significantly narrower than that of CoD or BF2. If BIS really did want to make a quick buck they could of made ArmA2 a CoD clone/knockoff with monthly $15 DLC maps and bullshit gameplay, but they did'nt they decided to stick with what they know best. Becuase quite frankly there is more money in it. Your dreams of seeing hundreds of thousands of online players at once is unrealistic.

I have the filter totally open. I've been playing since OFP in 2001, so I'm well experienced with this game.

It is hard to find more than 5-10 servers with more than 15-20 people at any given time, though it does occur, AND with acceptable pings (150 or less). Many of them, the same game type, which I, personally, don't care for. Domination, AAS, and berzerk mods are more my taste and I do find 1 or 2 servers up most of the time.

With the new DLC, those 1 or 2 servers could decide to require those.

The engine is from the original, although it has been enhanced to a unnoticeable degree.

I'm not complaining about my personal experience with Arma. I enjoy it immensely. I am thinking of the future of it. We all want it to go on forever, I hope.

---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------

What do you even care? If you don't like the game and/or the paid content, don't buy it. No one forces you. If BIS is ok with the current community, it's their business. I'd much rather have a tigher group of people willing to learn how to make the game work than a bunch of idiot newbies who expect "ease of use".

In my experience people who are willing to learn the technical aspects of the game turn out to be much better players too.

I agree with your second statement fully.

I do care. If I didn't care, I wouldn't post concerns. I love this game. (read above)

It's not about purchasing and supporting, which I do. It's what the DLC will do.

[Zipper5 74]

Really? I will look. I was just there a couple weeks ago and I didn't see it.

I spotted OA in the Virgin Megastore near me within the tucked away PC section (what's with Virgin and seemingly hating it's PC customers? Most of the games are from last year and they're tucked away in the back...) before I left on holiday. That's a Virgin Megastore in the middle east. If I can find it there, surely it cannot be hard to find elsewhere.

People expect ease of use, nowadays.

And that's exactly why gaming sucks so hard nowadays, for the most part. It hasn't simply become ease of use, it's become spoon-feeding and babysitting. Mainstream developers, at one point or another, seem to have had a revelation that their consumers are retarded and therefore need to be treated as such in their games. Whether or not that revelation was true at the time is irrelevant, but what is true is it has changed most "modern gamers" into minimum-brain-functioning retards incapable of the most basic of tasks beyond shooting their gun and killing their target.

This series has actually taught me basic scripting which has helped me develop basic C++ skills, it's (indirectly) taught me video editing, it's taught me 4, 6 and 8 figure grid references, it's taught me leadership techniques and has given me a very simplistic idea of what it could be like to be a real soldier, a career I am considering after finishing my A-Levels. Getting that much out of a game, and more that I can't think of off the top of my head, nowadays is considered unbelievably and almost impossibly difficult by the "modern gamer", and in turn BIS' games are the only games I've seen so far that have the possibility of teaching me such things, which refers back to mainstream developers and their views of their customers.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Zipper5

[Rolexman 10]

I spotted OA in the Virgin Megastore near me within the tucked away PC section (what's with Virgin and seemingly hating it's PC customers? Most of the games are from last year and they're tucked away in the back...) before I left on holiday. That's a Virgin Megastore in the middle east. If I can find it there, surely it cannot be hard to find elsewhere.

And that's exactly why gaming sucks so hard nowadays, for the most part. It hasn't simply become ease of use, it's become spoon-feeding and babysitting. Mainstream developers, at one point or another, seem to have had a revelation that their consumers are retarded and therefore need to be treated as such in their games. Whether or not that revelation was true at the time is irrelevant, but what is true is it has changed most "modern gamers" into minimum-brain-functioning retards incapable of the most basic of tasks beyond shooting their gun and killing their target.

This series has actually taught me basic scripting which has helped me develop basic C++ skills, it's (indirectly) taught me video editing, it's taught me 4, 6 and 8 figure grid references, it's taught me leadership techniques and has given me a very simplistic idea of what it could be like to be a real soldier, a career I am considering after finishing my A-Levels. Getting that much out of a game, and more that I can't think of off the top of my head, nowadays is considered unbelievably and almost impossibly difficult by the "modern gamer", and in turn BIS' games are the only games I've seen so far that have the possibility of teaching me such things, which refers back to mainstream developers and their views of their customers.

Agreed. I really hope consoles do not ruin the PC experience either.

On a funny, but scary side, as technology, ease of use, and Govt control is ever growing, I can not help but to imagine people being reduced to brainless blobs. Kinda like the TV brainwashed people on the Axiom spaceship in the movie "WALL-E". *clap clap* Shake! :S lol

[Devil Dogs SF 13]

I spotted OA in the Virgin Megastore near me within the tucked away PC section (what's with Virgin and seemingly hating it's PC customers? Most of the games are from last year and they're tucked away in the back...) before I left on holiday. That's a Virgin Megastore in the middle east. If I can find it there, surely it cannot be hard to find elsewhere.

And that's exactly why gaming sucks so hard nowadays, for the most part. It hasn't simply become ease of use, it's become spoon-feeding and babysitting. Mainstream developers, at one point or another, seem to have had a revelation that their consumers are retarded and therefore need to be treated as such in their games. Whether or not that revelation was true at the time is irrelevant, but what is true is it has changed most "modern gamers" into minimum-brain-functioning retards incapable of the most basic of tasks beyond shooting their gun and killing their target.

This series has actually taught me basic scripting which has helped me develop basic C++ skills, it's (indirectly) taught me video editing, it's taught me 4, 6 and 8 figure grid references, it's taught me leadership techniques and has given me a very simplistic idea of what it could be like to be a real soldier, a career I am considering after finishing my A-Levels. Getting that much out of a game, and more that I can't think of off the top of my head, nowadays is considered unbelievably and almost impossibly difficult by the "modern gamer", and in turn BIS' games are the only games I've seen so far that have the possibility of teaching me such things, which refers back to mainstream developers and their views of their customers.

Seeing as I have Xbox LIVE I can vouch that most gamers are quite retarded for the most part nowadays. Gladly, I came across Arma 2 and I'm no longer a brainless COD player, but honestly some gamers on LIVE are the dumbest fuckers I've had the dishonour of meeting. Best quote I've heard so far from what I could guess was a 13 year old on LIVE:

Shut up Devil Dogs! Modern Warfare 2 is the most realistic game out there right now! You just aren't skilled enough for it!

Then I laughed.

[r71 0]

Rogue Spear was one of the last real FPS PC games. I came from that to OFP back in 2001. All the game stores have all but killed the pc sections. :mad:

[jblackrupert 14]

Btw. People can buy Operation Arrowhead at BestBuy and Gamestop. Next time lurk moar! ;)

Not in Canada. It's almost not existent in here.

A grand total of 2 Walmarts in small places.

I've been emailing back and forth with Meridian4 and sent them a list

of stores that have now ordered it but didn't even know the game existed

until i got Merdian4 to contact them about it.

Thats Bohemia's other problem. The publishers they use aren't getting the game out there.

---------- Post added at 03:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:01 PM ----------

End of the day you can't force people to buy this game, ArmA2's target audience is significantly narrower than that of CoD or BF2.

Arma already has an answer to Battlefield. Advance and Secure and Berzerk.

a mode that takes less then an hour to learn.

Bohemia just has to spend a little time advertsing the fact that Arma

isn't all super duper hardcore simulator all the time.

There are tons of Battlefield players tired of the bunnyhopping and insta-prone running around stuff. Most just don't know AAS and Berzerk exists

or that Arma even exists.

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:10 PM ----------

I'd much rather have a tigher group of people willing to learn how to make the game work than a bunch of idiot newbies who expect "ease of use".

It's that attitude that is scaring people off.

I'm sure Dungeons and Dragons and LARPING could be a lot of fun too

but the crowd playing it is not exacty fun to be around.

Project Reality in Battlefield 2 has the same problem. Many of the people playing it and running servers are not very fun to be around.

A lot of control freaks sitting around thinking their George Patton and the fate of the free world rests on their shoulders.

All the game stores have all but killed the pc sections

We have a store in western Canada called "London Drugs" Cross between Futureshop, Pharmacy, and computer store.

it has a very healthy PC section that includes a lot of the obscure games and simulators.

I had Meridian4 contact them and they will be taking OA with Arma 2 that they already have.

If Arma and OA aren't in a large store it would be a good idea for people here to contact the publishers and get them

to at least contact the stores and see if they will take it.

Edited August 1, 2010 by jblackrupert

[Junker 0]

Seeing as I have Xbox LIVE I can vouch that most gamers are quite retarded for the most part nowadays. Gladly, I came across Arma 2 and I'm no longer a brainless COD player, but honestly some gamers on LIVE are the dumbest fuckers I've had the dishonour of meeting. Best quote I've heard so far from what I could guess was a 13 year old on LIVE:

Then I laughed.

The best one i hear is "GET A LIFE" and my come back is "If i had a life i wouldn't be playing this"

:)

[jblackrupert 14]

How exactly is improving the browser and addon system dumbing down the game?

[maddogx 13]

How exactly is improving the browser and addon system dumbing down the game?

It's not. Quite the opposite in fact.

[NoRailgunner 0]

@jblackrupert

Well BIS main job is imho to develop games, fix bugs and improve them. BIS can of course send a friendly reminder to their publishers but I doubt they can kick publishers asses. If you cant get A2+OA hardcopy in a store or from a good friend - you can get it online eg - via sprocketidea.

There are tons of Battlefield players tired of the bunnyhopping and insta-prone running around stuff. Most just don't know AAS and Berzerk exists or that Arma even exists.

So they're only waiting till someone serves them something BF'ish? Bit lazy, dont you think?

[jblackrupert 14]

So they're only waiting till someone serves them something BF'ish? Bit lazy, dont you think?

If it exists in the game why not promote it?

Arma 2 suffers from a image problem of being just a big bad scary simulator

a little more promotion of the alternative gameplay modes wouldn't hurt.

I have requested an AAS walkthrough video to be made. BIS could use

that in some of it's promotional material/Website/YouTube channel when it

finally gets made.

Patching and re-releasing the Arma 2 demo would also do wonders for fixing

Arma 2's image as a buggy mess.

[Zipper5 74]

If it exists in the game why not promote it?

It's not something that the game is sold with, therefore it doesn't make a lot of sense to put money into advertising it. It would be a different story if it was sold with OA, but that's not the case.

Patching and re-releasing the Arma 2 demo would also do wonders for fixing

Arma 2's image as a buggy mess.

People seem more concerned with MW2's MP being a buggy and unbalanced mess at the moment than Arma 2 or OA...

The "modern gamer" is not only of minimum brain function, but it is also afraid to try anything outside of the big-name, huge-budget brands, such as Call of Duty or HALO. Most people who are "popular" in the MW2 scene at the moment only own Call of Duty games, and perhaps HALO 3. It's pretty ridiculous to see how these guys confine themselves to one series. I'm a fairly hardcore BIS fan, but I also play tons of other (PC) games.

[Rolexman 10]

If it exists in the game why not promote it?

Arma 2 suffers from a image problem of being just a big bad scary simulator

a little more promotion of the alternative gameplay modes wouldn't hurt.

I have requested an AAS walkthrough video to be made. BIS could use

that in some of it's promotional material/Website/YouTube channel when it

finally gets made.

Patching and re-releasing the Arma 2 demo would also do wonders for fixing

Arma 2's image as a buggy mess.

It's better not to send out a demo at all, rather than send out a buggy one. Instant turn off.

Ease of interface is another "make or break" point. The addon system needs to be simplified. An addon database to DL and administer from "in game" would ease A LOT of people's patience. Armaholic would be a great place to have a database. Maybe another back up too. Or have it work server side.

I've had many people ask me why their weapon won't switch under the "toggle weapons" control. A name change to "fire rate/GL/grenade toggle" could easily be altered. There are some other commands that could use a name change too.

There is DM, TDM, CTF, KOTL, and others for the people who like that sort of thing.

Berzerk and AAS are great mods for the gamers with those interests. I enjoy those as an alternative to mission based. But where are they?

So much game and potential.....sigh

[TechnoTerrorist303 10]

Rolexman, if you can't find servers running the mission type you want, start one yourself.

I certainly agree with you about the demo though, while I can forgive a certain number of bugs in a pre-release demo version of a game I think there is a very good case for having a bug-free demo for Arma2/OA as this can bring more users in.

The biggest issue with getting people into the game though (and you really have to consider this) is that if there is a large influx of people then it's a high probability that many won't like the game because it's too realistic and in depth, they will tell people that it's shit which will do BIS much more harm than missing out on a few extra online gamers.

[Rolexman 10]

People seem more concerned with MW2's MP being a buggy and unbalanced mess at the moment than Arma 2 or OA...

Well, that is because they get TV time and a plethora of other networks.

It's really amazing. You can advertise a piece of crap in a box with lights flashing, sound blaring, camera circling, and something you have to have.

Millions will buy it, and when they all get it, it's just a piece of crap in a box, sitting there, immobile and stinking up the place.

The power of advertising.

Not to mention, you know Activision is greasing up the reviewers too. That business practice has been going on for decades, centuries even.

---------- Post added at 08:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------

Rolexman, if you can't find servers running the mission type you want, start one yourself.

I certainly agree with you about the demo though, while I can forgive a certain number of bugs in a pre-release demo version of a game I think there is a very good case for having a bug-free demo for Arma2/OA as this can bring more users in.

The biggest issue with getting people into the game though (and you really have to consider this) is that if there is a large influx of people then it's a high probability that many won't like the game because it's too realistic and in depth, they will tell people that it's shit which will do BIS much more harm than missing out on a few extra online gamers.

I have started up an AAS server, several times. Was successful once getting about 15 people or so. Took about an hour though.

Edited August 2, 2010 by Rolexman

[Roger Johnson 10]

The DLC looks very nice, not like shitty mappacks other companies sell...

BUT, I will (or can) only buy it if alternative payments like PayPal are an option. I dont own a credit card.