Comrades in Arms Discussion Board

Thanks, guys - especially you, Variable - for getting me up and running with your Arma III play today. I'm a complete newbie with Teamspeak, I'm a complete newbie with Arma III, I'm a complete newbie with multiplayer games in general, and, of course, I'm a complete newbie here at CiA.

So I don't think I was much help today. but it was a lot of fun. (And no, it's not "coop nights" for me, since it's afternoon here in Nebraska.) I didn't think I'd be able to connect, because the ping in the game kept reading 2500, but it was only about 160 once I connected, so it worked out great.

I did have a sound problem through most of one mission. (I could hear everyone else, but they couldn't hear me.) And I was completely lost in that mission where we started as civilians, especially since it was dark and my teammates weren't identified (in one case, at least, it was just a good thing I'm such a bad shot!).

Otherwise, I just struggled to keep up and to follow orders, but I really like the way you run this game. My very limited experience with Arma III coop games on public servers left me wondering what in the heck was going on, most of the time. Here, I knew what was going on, and I knew what I was supposed to do, even if I wasn't very good at doing it. (In one mission, I took a better weapon from an enemy, but apparently didn't take any ammunition for it - though I thought I had.)

Anyway, thanks again. I don't own Arma II, but I'll definitely look for you again next Friday, or whenever you're using your Arma III server. I wouldn't expect that I'll get too much better at this stuff, but you never can tell, right?

Glad to hear you had a good time WCG. These are some great guys. I am also a newb and they have been incredibly welcoming, patient and encouraging. It is rare to find such competent, friendly, interesting and serious-yet-fun PVP-Coop folks!

I mean, even after I shot my squad leader in the back they were just like "Ah, no big deal . . ."  ;D

(04-06-2013, 02:41 AM)Anthropoid link Wrote: [ -> ]It is rare to find such competent, friendly, interesting and serious-yet-fun PVP-Coop folks!

Thanks Anthropoid, but we are not a PVP group. Only Coop.

You know, this is kind of funny, but as I was re-reading the Field Manual in Arma III, I realized that I probably could have looked around after I was dead, huh? I haven't been able to test it, but apparently I just press the spacebar to toggle a free camera?

As it was, I just listened to the rest of the mission while seeing only what was right in front of my dead eyes. Dumb, wasn't it? 

I know I'd read that before - I must have, since I'd read all of that Field Manual before - but it's hard to remember everything, even when I do know what they're talking about. Anyway, I thought I'd mention it here in case I've got it wrong. I couldn't test it in the Editor.

Bill

My second Arma 3 game with you guys was cut short when the server went down, but that's the way it goes. However, I had a few questions about that first mission we... failed disastrously at . I didn't want to ask too many questions during the game, as new as I am. (I prefer to ask just what I really need to know at the time.)

I noticed that I had no crosshair when my gun wasn't up, and that I couldn't see us - let alone the enemy - on the map. Were we playing at a higher difficulty level, then? Or were those just particular settings to that mission?

At what difficulty level do you usually play? As a newbie, I find even "regular" challenging enough, and I tend to be completely lost when I can't even see where I am on the map. But I understand that the rest of you might want more of a challenge.

Anyway, in this case, I was rather confused about what we were doing. We ran into the center of town, at which point we seemed to be surrounded by enemies. Naturally, they killed our leader first and left the useless newbie (me) for last. I must say, that was really smart thinking on behalf of the AI!

But if our mission was just to clear the town, I was wondering why we didn't start at one edge of it and move forward, clearing homes (I assume that the buildings held enemies, too?) as we went. At least then, we might have kept most enemies in front of us. But maybe we had a different mission? I did sweep through a few buildings myself, but I never found an enemy.

In fact - and I know this is funny - I never saw an enemy throughout the entire mission, not one! I was trying to follow everyone else and cover my side as best I could, but I never saw an enemy. I was the last person to die, and I'm pretty sure I was hit by someone in front of me and someone else behind me, but I never saw anyone. Funny, huh? Well, I did say that I'm a newbie.

Of course, that kind of mission - house-to-house combat in the middle of a town - might be more difficult in general. I frequently struggle to spot enemies anyway, but this time, I was exceptionally inept at it. If I have a general idea of what direction to look - or, at least, can just hunker down and cover my side - I'm,... well, still pretty bad, but maybe not that bad.

I hope to join you next Friday. Thanks!

Hey WCG,

The mission was played "Veteran" mode, a server setting, which is selected when the admin is picking the mission. on Veteran there is no virtual crosshairs, no 3rd person view and no map symbols. I guess we can keep to "Regular" difficulty in the meantime when you are playing with us if it help you learn and adjust.

About the tactic that was selected in that mission - you are perfectly right. Rushing in is usually a mistake I do when I lead lol. We were definitely better off hooking to the right and attack from the narrow part of town. Moreover, it was a huge mistake moving into the canal.

Have you thought about getting Arma 2?

(04-13-2013, 07:18 PM)Variable link Wrote: [ -> ]I guess we can keep to "Regular" difficulty in the meantime when you are playing with us if it help you learn and adjust.

No, no, play however you want. I'm a guest here, and it will all be fine with me. If the rest of you prefer 'veteran' difficulty, then don't change on my account! I'm just asking these questions for informational purposes. I suspected that it was a higher difficulty setting, but I wasn't sure. So I asked.

I will say that, as quickly as we were killed on that mission, we probably weren't up to 'veteran,' huh? Heh, heh. I know I wasn't!

Quote:About the tactic that was selected in that mission - you are perfectly right.

Again, I was asking because I'm trying to learn. As a complete newbie, I have enough problem just following orders. But afterwards, I like to think about it. I like to try to learn from it.

In fact, I've seen YouTube videos of Arma III, where the players have a quick debriefing at the end of a mission, to discuss what they did right and what they did wrong. I like that, at least in a video (in a mission, you might end up with unending debate, unless the leader was careful to keep it very brief).

Hmm,... in a similar circumstance, it might be useful to have an initial briefing, too: what we expect to find, where we can expect to encounter enemy soldiers, how we expect to tackle the mission, etc.  I know that I was unsure if we should expect the enemy to be inside homes, or just wandering the streets.

Of course, that kind of thing might slow down gameplay, too. And I suspect that you've discussed these sorts of things long ago and already found what works best for you. As a newbie, I just don't know what you've already considered and rejected (for good reason, I'm sure).

Quote:Have you thought about getting Arma 2?

No, I won't be getting Arma 2. If it were last fall, I'd really be tempted, because I have a lot more time to play games in the winter. (Of course, this past winter I played games pretty much non-stop, anyway, so I really didn't need another one!)

I get a lot busier this time of the year, especially in the daytime (which is when you play, for me). And although Arma 3 might not have much content right now, compared to Arma 2, it's still in alpha, so that's liable to change. As time goes on, I guess I'd expect more and more Arma 2 players to migrate to Arma 3.

But even if that doesn't happen, I don't think I have time for both. And as a complete newbie, I like the fact that content is limited in Arma 3. That's one of the reasons I bought it, so I could learn before it got completely overwhelming.

Frankly, I never intended to play it multiplayer. I figured I'd just do single-player missions a bit. And I do that, when I can, as a learning tool, since random co-op missions online haven't been too great. But after playing good co-op missions, like with you guys, I can see that multiplayer is far more fun. It will be hard to stick with single-player after that, I think.

Bill

If it makes you feel any better, I'm truly really happy to see new guys joining the games who don't rush ass first for the highest score. I don't know what was the case, but some times it is just someone's part to be the guy who doesn't see the action, covering the others backs from unexpected directions.


Also the fact that you did die last speaks for itself. Staying alive is always a priority in a semi-serious simulation gameplay. Of course it's nice to compare the kills after the mission, but survival of the team should always be the top priority.


Keeping that^ in mind, carefully following the communications, and doing what the leader tells you will give you a really nice experience during the coops and get a nice new group of happy fellows to play with! 


You should really reconsider buying arma 2! The main mechanics are quite similar to arma 3. And following orders and staying in formation isn't any harder in The Game 2! You really don't need to take any responsibility at all. If you want to be sure, the only time you need to shoot is when your leader has given a direction, estimate distance, and a "open fire".    I'm just trying to say that if you don't want to get the game in fear of not knowing what to do, there is really no need to fear that!  ;D

True that Bubba, and I might just add that Arma 2 will live long after Arma 3 will be fully released. OFP lived longer than Arma 1, no reason for Arma 2 to live less.

I'm still playing ARMA 2 alongside ARMA 3. I would feel stupid if I didn't considering I bought 2 copies as well . There's things in ARMA 2 that is different from ARMA 3 and then same goes for OFP (there are people who still play it today). There's some mods that won't be making a visit to ARMA 3 (CWR2). ARMA 2 will coexist alongside ARMA 3.

By the way, I assume there's no first aid modules in ARMA 3 from the looks of the medkit system or will they add that later on? If a balance between revive and no respawn there's first aid modules (though a lethal shot = you're dead anyways).

What? No CWR2?  Well.... Then I will start crying and kicking stuff if there won't be FDF mod for Arma 3 that is as good as in OFP!  ;D

(04-17-2013, 03:06 PM)Bubba link Wrote: [ -> ]What? No CWR2?  Well.... Then I will start crying and kicking stuff if there won't be FDF mod for Arma 3 that is as good as in OFP!  ;D

No CWR for Arma 3, not only did the team announce they will not port it over, they explicitly prohibit porting any of it to Arma 3.

OK, it's been awhile. Last spring, you guys were very good to me, a complete newbie to Arma 3 and to Arma in general. I appreciated it then, and I appreciate it now.

Unfortunately, I'm in the central U.S., so it's afternoon here when you play. I told you I'd like to come back in the winter, but I was just too busy during the daytime the rest of the year. Well, it snowed last night.    However, I'm already playing Arma 3 more often than I should.

Last spring, I started playing with a guy in Kansas City (my own timezone, in other words). He's 52, so just a kid, from my point of view.    We used my computer as server, but after awhile, another guy joined us. Then it just grew from there.

My friend started a website for older gamers like us (Not-Quite-Dead-Yet), then set up a TeamSpeak server, and finally an Arma 3 server. As I say, it just grew, though we're not anywhere near as big as CiA, of course. And we're a lot more casual than you are. (We do use both revive and respawn.) But I'm not picky. Sometimes we're more casual than I'd like, but I can have fun in any case. (I enjoyed your missions, too - the few I actually got to play.)

Anyway, my point is... I won't be back after all. I'm already playing more Arma 3 than I should, and the NQDY server is far closer to me (just one state over, in Colorado). Still, I wanted to thank you one more time - and to thank Variable, in particular.

Note that I do recommend you to European players of Arma 3. We actually have a few who play with us, despite the timezone difference, but usually, it's hard to make that work. So I've recommended that people check you out.

And nope, I still haven't bought Arma 2. 

Thanks again,

Bill

Arma 2 is pretty much a steal at this point and price. 80% off for combined ops $5, about $8 for complete edition, or $10 for Arma X and get the complete package. I still recommend you get it plus you can play Arma 2 content with All in Arma and get the best of both world for Arma 3 even though you play Arma 3 only. I thought it'd be nice if you want to invest in Arma 2's content which there is more of in Arma 3. It's pretty much a steal right now.

Glad to hear from you Bill! I read about you guys at NQDY on the BI forums and it made me really happy. Have fun and see you around!