ARMA 2 Communications.. - Page 5

**Inkompetent** · 09-05-2009, 02:12 PM

Because too many 'full patches' splits the community even more in 'the hunt for The One patch' than this current beta system does. Simple as that.

**sturgis** · 09-05-2009, 02:17 PM

What??
explain to me how say a patch 1.04 with the only fix in it beeing VON would split up a community???

Note i said when things are confirmed to be fixed!
If bohemia dares release a "full patch" with stuff in it that isn't fixed, i'm gonna throw a rant! wtf is the point of the beta patches then??

**Inkompetent** · 09-05-2009, 02:26 PM

Because then it might be buggy just because we don't have public beta-testing of patches, and then people stick to 1.03, and then they hotfix 1.04, but not everyone want to use that, and then all of a sudden you have 1.03 players, 1.04 players and 1.04 Hotfix players, and it'll just get worse with every patch released.

The better the chances for a stable patch that as many as possible will transfer to, the better.

**Blackdog1** · 09-05-2009, 02:30 PM

OK core issues so far...

We have had two complete server crashes in a two hour period ....

Isuspect that these were due to people connecting WITHOUT the beta patch running. So far comms seem good, but in order to truly tell if the crashes have been VON related or non-patch related....

We need to change the password on Bravo... force everyone to get the password from the "Changes to Bravo Server" thread .... to ensure ALL are running Beta before they connect.....

**sturgis** · 09-05-2009, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkompetent

Because then it might be buggy just because we don't have public beta-testing of patches, and then people stick to 1.03, and then they hotfix 1.04, but not everyone want to use that, and then all of a sudden you have 1.03 players, 1.04 players and 1.04 Hotfix players, and it'll just get worse with every patch released.

The better the chances for a stable patch that as many as possible will transfer to, the better.

errr... you don't have public beta testing of patches??
So what are the beta patches then???
Bohemia has choosen this road, guess what, you lot running the beta patches are the beta testers now... wich means that unless something gets actually fixed, it has no place in your so called "full" patches.
Hotfixes?? There is no place for these, the road choosen is the betapatches... fix it through betapatches then release whats fixed in patch 1.0x...

**Inkompetent** · 09-05-2009, 02:37 PM

Well, I understood it like you didn't want the current system of patch-testing, which leaves us with how it was in ArmA1, and the scenario I described above.

**Blackdog1** · 09-05-2009, 02:40 PM

I suspect if this proves to work well, patch 1.04 will be released VERY quickly...

However...not 100% convinced it is sorted yet...

Also everyone must ensure they are not using SLX effects as that is a server killer!

**sturgis** · 09-05-2009, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkompetent

Well, I understood it like you didn't want the current system of patch-testing, which leaves us with how it was in ArmA1, and the scenario I described above.

I have nothing against the current betapatches (i just can't be bothered beta testing them aswell next to editing and playing arma2), i just took issieu with how Dslyecxi suggested that "full" patches should only be released sporadicly while the "hardcore" (his words) concern themself with the betapatches for the good of the "grand scheme of things"

BS i say...
That is not how people perceive the course Bohemia has taken, they expect faster results now through these betapatches (if they are willing or able to run the betas themselfs is irrelavent), as they have payed money for this game and they want what they payed for.

**Inkompetent** · 09-05-2009, 03:15 PM

I personally don't relly expect patches to come any faster than before. I do expect them to be much better than in ArmA1 though, where they had to patch a patch several times just to get the patch working like it should ^^

**Blackdog1** · 09-05-2009, 03:33 PM

Sturgis....easy there fella!

**sturgis** · 09-05-2009, 03:39 PM

My apologies, i wasn't having a go at anyone

Just merely trying to explain myself since apperently i wasn't clear on the first try.

**ChiefBoatsRet** · 09-05-2009, 03:42 PM

Well I have joined the ranks as an offical beta tester now. As I stated in an earlier post, I hope beta patches will not slow a proper patch.

Fer · 09-05-2009, 04:15 PM

It's funny how emotive the patching strategy has become. Elsewhere in the world of development it's not uncommon to see a twin track approach to updates: 'frequent interim builds' and 'last stable build', with the former being aimed at activist-users (like the people here and in ST), and the latter aimed at users or organisations that are happy to trade [working

] features for stability. With ArmA2 we now have something akin to that, but without forcing us to make a choice: the slower 'official' patch track running from our main shortcuts, and the faster 'beta' patches from what is effectively a mod folder. So switching between builds is easy. Moreover, as many other posters in this thread have highlighted, the public nature of the new beta patches results in many more testing resources, which can only benefit BI's developers (and, eventually, all of us).

Stepping back, it seems easy to forget that both OFP and ArmA took a while to mature post-release, and yet both have provided this (wider) community with almost a decade of enjoyment. With its ambition and sheer scope, ArmA2 is shaping up to do much the same; it seems a worthwhile goal for us (collectively) to help BI iron out the bugs.

One other (back on topic) thought: with the current round of beta testing, would it be an idea to stop using any other mods in those tests? From a QA perspective it strikes me that using other mods at the same time introduces elements of variation that might distort the results and/or make it harder for the BI developers to reproduce the environment/steps-to-repeat.

Falcon_262 · 09-05-2009, 06:43 PM

Just a report here; I just finished a 2.5 hour stint playing on the bravo sever with the beta patch and with a fair number of people 20-30, I can report that I experienced zero issues with VON, not once did the sever crash and I did not see a higher than normal number of disconnects and reconnects. For me at least it appears that VON is back and better than ever, the new louder direct is helpful and allows coordination of a entire squad (spread over about 100m) on direct easily by the squad leader.

The only thing that would be nice would be the inclusion of a whisper mode for TvT games as during a night firefight mission we found that each side can hear each other quite well and whispering over you mic doesn't really help, however this made for some awsome gameplay and if a whisper mode isn't possible in no way would I suggest lowering the output volume on direct, it being loud is just too useful.

Anyway those are my observations I hope we can get everyone back on VON ASAP.

**LowSpeedHighDrag** · 09-05-2009, 07:42 PM

I remember only using Group chat in Arma/Ace when in TvT. Since, Directchat if the opfor was just over the hill or around the corner they could hear me talk or hear my teammates talk to me. If close enough they can even hear me on Group. I actually enjoyed the game with VON.

Looking forward to using it next time on the server.