Arma2 pvp - Did this game change into a RolePlayingGame & PvE Game ?

[oxmox 73]

I just wonder what did happen to the multiplayer pvp part of the game, comming back after a while.

Just an example how several evenings/nights look like with at least 10 players online:

1. Team - beta Project Reality 78/100

2. Coop - Domination 40/40

3. Coop - roleplaying Wasteland 37/44

4. Team - City Life Roleplaying 35/100

5. Team - Zarghad Life Roleplaying 23/40

6. CTI - Warfare 20/58

7. Coop - Domination 20/30

8. Coop - Domination 17/20

9. Coop - Zombie Roleplaying

10. CTI - Warfare 13/xx

12x CTI servers (most of them without players)

1x DM server

0x CTF

12x Team (only servers with Roleplaying are filled mostly)

100x (?) Coop servers - didnt count them

What is the reason for this major change, why you see so many filled rpg servers, coop servers, if pvp than only with very limited vehicle combat ? Fix the multiplayer pvp game please, thx. There seems to be issues with it.

Edited April 6, 2012 by oxmox

[NeuroFunker 11]

lol, i might be Sherlock for you, but Project Reality is PvP only! It's usualy filled with 50-100 people. But as for me and few other friends of mine, we got bored from PR quite fast. Not everyones kind of thing. But still better then nothing.

[.kju 3240]

A2/OA never had a big player vs player community. A1 drove most people away and since the Arma was not promoted and known for good PvP.

There are countless threads about this - best to continue in those instead of starting a new one each week. :)

So head for this for example: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?131392-State-of-Multiplayer-match-types-Now-and-8-10-years-ago

PvP is still somewhat there with PR, Warfare BE, AAS (on Arma2.ru on A2 1.11) and Valhalla.

[Atkins 10]

PR was the savior angel of PvP gameplay. Try it, learn it, love it.

[grillob3 11]

PR was the savior angel of PvP gameplay. Try it, learn it, love it.

I agree %100!

[NoRailgunner 0]

PR was the savior angel of PvP gameplay.

Not these bollocks again.... out of 5 PR beta servers - 2 PR servers are only active/playing, one at time with ~80 and the other makes rarely up to the 50. Gameplay is like Zergrush - build FO's (respawn points) as fast as possible and rush'n'kill your enemy. How is it satisfying to play a match where people aren't able to "communicate" + "organize" anything other than simple attack-respawn-attack "strategy"/"tactics"? Maybe try more missions with no-respawns and players who got killed can't connect again until the current match is over? Some simple pvp missions are nice and dandy but those should be imo mixed with missions that are more challenging, crisp & spicy. Otherwise its going to be monotone and boring....

[froggyluv 2130]

Maybe try more missions with no-respawns and players who got killed can't connect again until the current match is over?

Now this is what Im talking about tho I think it's pretty hard to find enough like minded people that don't mind waiting 20 min+ to play again. Which brings me to a mastermind idea...

The I'm Dead minigame. Simply pick a preferred belief system and enjoy yourself while a PiP window keep tabs on your still earth bound brethern.

Christian: Tic Tac Toe Christ on a cross.

Bhuddist: The Abyss- Enjoy the black screen of the void for all eternity (in RL time)

Muslim: 72 (000,000) Virgins -modelled after the infamous Diablo engine, these Justin Beiber clones lusting after you will make you regret ever speaking to that radical Imam in Kabul. Run!

Atheist: God You Devil! - Similar to the multi tiered Donkey King, scale and jump your way to the top to take down God with a computer virus chip and disprove that you really are in the Afterlife. Sequel to include the signifigantly harder Stephan Hawking wheelchaired version.

[Stugwi 0]

Maybe try more missions with no-respawns and players who got killed can't connect again until the current match is over?

We have a very active community. Our servers run public coop missions over the weekend nights and there is no re-spawn. Missions can last 1 to 3+ hours so players can expect long periods of wait after death but we run a nice spectator script that keeps dead players at least involved in the mission.

Recently we switched to 30 player servers with some new missions created, this actually increased mission time some what. So we asked community if they would prefer a re-spawn option in missions? and the answer was a resounding no. The main gist of it was that it would ruin the tactics, team play and immersion which I totally agree.

On rare occasion we have played PvP against another community one life only with a time limit. Even thinking about re-spawn ruins the whole experience for me after all you only have one life :)

[grillob3 11]

Maybe try more missions with no-respawns and players who got killed can't connect again until the current match is over?

That is how i learn how to play 10 years ago! american's army and couter-strike! After rounds start nobody can join!But the problem with arma pr is that the maps are way too big for this...But i like better with no respawn!

[Mr. Charles 22]

We have a very active community. Our servers run public coop missions over the weekend nights and there is no re-spawn. Missions can last 1 to 3+ hours so players can expect long periods of wait after death but we run a nice spectator script that keeps dead players at least involved in the mission.

Recently we switched to 30 player servers with some new missions created, this actually increased mission time some what. So we asked community if they would prefer a re-spawn option in missions? and the answer was a resounding no. The main gist of it was that it would ruin the tactics, team play and immersion which I totally agree.

On rare occasion we have played PvP against another community one life only with a time limit. Even thinking about re-spawn ruins the whole experience for me after all you only have one life :)

We had several events like yours over @hx³.de and this is really the way to play ArmA. Short 30 minutes missions with 32-64 players. Throw in a 1 life team vs. team mission every once in a while and you have one of the best experiences you can have with ArmA.

(of course with ACE&ACRE ;))

[Atkins 10]

Not these bollocks again.... out of 5 PR beta servers - 2 PR servers are only active/playing, one at time with ~80 and the other makes rarely up to the 50. Gameplay is like Zergrush - build FO's (respawn points) as fast as possible and rush'n'kill your enemy. How is it satisfying to play a match where people aren't able to "communicate" + "organize" anything other than simple attack-respawn-attack "strategy"/"tactics"? Maybe try more missions with no-respawns and players who got killed can't connect again until the current match is over? Some simple pvp missions are nice and dandy but those should be imo mixed with missions that are more challenging, crisp & spicy. Otherwise its going to be monotone and boring....

I am saying that PR was the PvP savior of Arma cos without it I would not be playing in Armaverse's PvP matches atm cos there just isn't anything out there that provides the same public PvP gameplay as easily. Without PR the OPs list would be even more glum.

Still, PR provided what other Arma2 mods/servers couldn't. Solid public gameplay without any hassle with the addons nor mods. PR at it's current state might not be perfect nor suited for all but it sure is welcomed by the community as one of the PR servers is nr. 1 ranked Armaverse server. Sure would be nice if more servers were active at the same time but there isn't enough players for it clearly atm. When more players find out about the possibility of public PvP gameplay without joining some unit and without tons of addons and whatnot, the player amounts will probably rise.

About the gameplay; There is more to the game then just zergrushing. Sure it helps if you are fast and decisive but once the enemy starts countering ur moves then u have to adjust. If you just play it more, u'll find that there are several ways to approach the mod, you can do logistic, u can seek and destroy enemy FO's, defend/attack caps, defend caches, recon, tanking, anti-tanking, heli-stuff, sneaky-ninjaing etc... if one aspect gets monotone, u can approach it from an other angle. Anyway, i would not mind if there was more versatile missions but you have to consider that PR is at its infancy (second beta rls atm) and the Commander position is not even implemented but there still is a lot of teamwork, communication and organized tactics, although there could be more but that is just up to the players to create the conditions to promote more teamwork. And those 1-life missions are not suited for public PvP gameplay imo but rather for a planned events and such.

[NeuroFunker 11]

well, ofcourse it's nice to have something like PR, ive been playing it about a week with buddies, and sadly we all found it boring at end.

I can't really tell what exactly is wrong/boring, it's just overall feeling. It is really a team work mission, playing alone or with random people in a squad isn't rly that much exciting, but with people you know, it's quite fun, but like a said, after about a week we got tired.

[james2464 176]

well, ofcourse it's nice to have something like PR, ive been playing it about a week with buddies, and sadly we all found it boring at end.

I can't really tell what exactly is wrong/boring, it's just overall feeling. It is really a team work mission, playing alone or with random people in a squad isn't rly that much exciting, but with people you know, it's quite fun, but like a said, after about a week we got tired.

Nothing wrong with that.

People should also remember that the Mod is in Beta form and only v0.15, it took BF BF2 6 years to get to the AAA it is today.

Also the upcoming release of v0.20 is something to be desired, with a new Afghan CQB map and a Kunar map with micro terrain. They look incredible check it out:

http://www.realitymod.com/forum/f509-mini-updates-team/108663-20-terrains-afghan-village-0-2-f-t-federally-administred-tribal-areas.html

[froggyluv 2130]

Also the upcoming release of v0.20 is something to be desired, with a new Afghan CQB map and a Kunar map with micro terrain.

Looks fun. Weren't there some other custom maps (non -PR) made with micro terrain for Arma 2?

[tiebs 1]

Hum, as a newbee i am puzzled by this gameplay so where can i find some explanations about it...last time i just couldn't get outside the fob :(

[ck-claw 1]

Looks fun. Weren't there some other custom maps (non -PR) made with micro terrain for Arma 2?

I think most of BushLurkers latest stuff are Micro Terrains.

Some of them:-

Bush's Geotypical Microterrains - Carraigdubh, CO. Leitrim

Faffindale, North Yorkshire Dales

Afghan Valley, Ghor Province

Etah Plateau, Western Antarctica

[ratszo 17]

1.60 netcode makes pvp playable. And its only been out afew months.

PR is popular because it's a single-download public server concept. It's a great concept.

I'd love to see an ACE download along the same lines. What pvp player wouldn't play the crap out of it?

[NeuroFunker 11]

1.60 netcode makes pvp playable.

oh yes, comparing to what it is used to be before, and now. Like day and night.

[sorophx 25]

the biggest problem with PR is there's no ACE in it. never touching this PR for this reason alone

[sickboy 13]

Isn't the reason why there are many of X servers, or many of Y, amongst possibilities that there are problems preventing to enjoy the other modes,

is that people enjoy playing mentioned game modes :) Diversity/choice?

Glad to see PR boosted PvP, as PvPScene mentions, PvP has never been strong in A1/A2/OA, for several well discussed reasons.

I think the improved net-code certainly helps.

Personally I can enjoy Coop and I can imagine what people see in RPG-like or CTI modes,

but it would be definitely great to have a strong PvP community!

PR is popular because it's a single-download public server concept. It's a great concept.

I'd love to see an ACE download along the same lines. What pvp player wouldn't play the crap out of it?

True, there is not a single package official download, but separate modfolders to download, this isn't very convenient, agreed.

However that's where Six Updater steps in - when mods are hosted on SU, there's no need for single-installers,

as you only need to install SU once, start it, and hit "Install/Update and Launch the game", which takes care of everything single-installers would take care of, and far far beyond.

Current generation Six Updater is somewhat clunky - steep learning curve, though.

If a server has been enhanced for Six Updater, the experience is even smoother (and the current clunkyness of SU is then less of a problem) -

the server owner makes a sixupdater:// link available and players just need to click it to get;

- All required mods for the server

- Communication info and direct join (e.g TS3)

- MOTD to deliver info to your users outside the game

And much more ;-) http://www.six-updater.net/p/about.html and for server owners: http://www.six-projects.net/Six_Updater+CustomRepos_Setup

Lastly - ACE license allows redistribution of the modfolders any-way you like, as long as there are no (unauthorized) edits.

So anyone who feels a single 7z archive, or an installer, could top the before mentioned SU processes, then anyone is free to make such package available :-)

In my opinion people easily shout "We need better Options", but often these Options exist already, people just need to look,

perhaps not be reluctant to experiment, and you will find there are many solutions to many of the opted problems :-)

In short; Anyone can solve problems, it doesn't have to be BI, or Mod Authors ;-)

---------- Post added at 15:09 ---------- Previous post was at 14:56 ----------

Regardless, ACE is not designed to be a PvP-mod. I think balancing is often more important in PvP, and we try not to - instead the performance is tended to be tweaked as close to real-life as possible (which depends on available sources and the quality of them).

Although that doesn't mean you can't enjoy PvP with ACE, there are probably many things that could be improved to enhance PvP experience.

Perhaps someone would like to create an inventory of this and perhaps write an override mod that would make ACE better for PvP.

Also perhaps one day you could experience the PR PvP experience with more 3rd party mods, incl ACE - I could imagine that could be nice :)

Edited April 19, 2012 by Sickboy

[james2464 176]

IMO the answer to why there are many of X servers, or many of Y, amongst possibilities that there are problems preventing to enjoy the other modes, is that people enjoy playing mentioned game modes :) Diversity/choice?

True, there is not a single package download, but separate modfolders to download, this isn't very convenient, agreed.

However that's where Six Updater steps in - when mods are hosted on SU, there's no need for single-installers,

as you only need to install SU once, start it, and hit "Install/Update and Launch the game".

I don't believe it's as simple as that, ideally the SU updater needs a sexy GUI and an official incorporation into Arma 3 for their to be a successful and long lasting PVP scene, eg. Battlelog, Steam. SU would be the perfect solution for content delivery straight to the gamer.

Don't judge those services many Arma players I know started out with COD, Counter strike, the Battlefield series etc etc.

Obviously an incorporation of SU into A3 would benefit everyone. Why exclude such a brilliant piece of software? It needs to be incorporated.

Edited April 19, 2012 by James2464

[sickboy 13]

I don't believe it's as simple as that, ideally the SU updater needs a sexy GUI and a fully official incorporation into Arma 3 for their to be a successful and long lasting PVP scene, eg. Battlelog, Steam. SU would be the perfect solution for content delivery straight to the gamer.

Don't judge those services many Arma players I know started out with COD, Counter strike, the Battlefield series etc etc.

Obviously an incorporation of SU into A3 would benefit everyone. Why exclude such a brilliant piece of software? It needs to be incorporated.

Although I fully agree on how beneficial it would be to have SU or similar tech integrated or delivered with the game, in my opinion it is somewhat besides the point.

PR is neither integrated nor delivered with the game. People have to know about it, download it, install it, launch it, etc. This is the case with any mod :)

So in this regard, Six Updater is no different - People have to know about it, download it, install it, launch it, etc. :) And that's a one time thing.

But of course, for it to really hit the masses, not only should UI/UX be improved - which is scheduled for the next generation SU, but integration or delivery with game would help a lot too.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Sickboy

[james2464 176]

Although I fully agree on how beneficial it would be to have SU or similar tech integrated or delivered with the game, in my opinion it is somewhat besides the point.

PR is neither integrated nor delivered with the game. People have to know about it, download it, install it, launch it, etc. This is the case with any mod :)

So in this regard, Six Updater is no different - People have to know about it, download it, install it, launch it, etc. :) And that's a one time thing.

But of course, for it to really hit the masses, not only should UI/UX be improved - which is scheduled for the next generation SU, but integration or delivery with game would help a lot too.

It's humbling to see your modesty,

But I want to repeat, imagine Arma the series having it's own incorporated bug free seamless updating system that delivers the gamer all the community content at a simple click of the mouse and straight away there you have it, a gamer has bought Arma only to receive the value one would expect from an equivalent 10 FPS games...

I believe the experience of Arma would be so different and so immersive under something as "simple" as this! The possibilities are nearly endless.

[sickboy 13]

It's humbling to see your modesty,

But I want to repeat, imagine Arma the series having it's own incorporated bug free seamless updating system that delivers the gamer all the community content at a simple click of the mouse and straight away there you have it, a gamer has bought Arma only to receive the value one would expect from an equivalent 10 FPS games...

I believe the experience of Arma would be so different and so immersive under something as "simple" as this! The possibilities are nearly endless.

Fully agreed - it would give anyone who owns the game, easy access to the arma multiverse content - out of the box. It would be brilliant :)

[NoRailgunner 0]

Since when a downloader/launcher does change the experience and immersion of the game itself?? Are we little bit exaggerating again or just too much caffeine? ;)