Blackdog1

Slight semantics but:
You were not JIP you were "CIP" (crash in progress) so the former did not apply! Crash players we will always try to get back in.

The admins were not in the GAME TS channel for this very reason, so that enquiries issues with the game could be resolved, without disturbing players.

Final point, I am glad an it's a shame you missed out.

A note to all for future reference, when Admins are in-game and you come onto TS to speak with us, please PLEASE, tell us your name first before stating your enquiry/request. If we are in game, we cannot see our desktop's therefore we cannot see who is talking to to us. Also a few manners go a long way fellas "open the sever" is never going to get a good response from any of us.

However;
"Hello admins, this is "yourname" is there any chance you can unlock the server so that I may join please" will get you a server unlock in roughly 10 seconds, game instance permitting.

We do not close the server to nark people off or generally spoil their day, we simply try to keep the server as stable as possible so that all might enjoy the game for as long as possible.

Thank you for your consideration of the above.

BD1

nthamma

If you go to the mission discussion thread, Big C mentioned to me that an ideal amount of AI should be twice as much as the amount of human players playing. For example, CoOp mission that holds a total of 37 players max should ideally have 37*2=74 AI units. Check the mission discussion in the "unit counts" thread to see more detail info. (look for Big C's post down the page)

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Inkompetent

I'm sorry I could not attend, and could not warn about it. My computer had one of those "pretend that everything works but let nothing at all work" moods that it has now and then (i.e. both Skype and MSN are online, but I can't send messages to anyone, internet browsers don't work, and so on).


But still it was an interesting read, and I feel I can come with some contribution from general ArmA experience.

First and foremost on communication:
I'm 100% with Dslyexci on this one. Generally being down at squad level I find it outright impossible to use the Group VON due to all radio traffic in larger missions. Having TeamSpeak as a requirement would be good for specials. No one will have to Alt-tab or anything, because EVERYONE will be on TeamSpeak. Let every squad have one channel, and use keybinds to communicate with other squads and lead elements. That way if the SL dies, the successor of his command will already be on TS and can easily take over comms.

Secondly is the AI:
Scripts (either Dynamic AI Creator, or trigger-bound spawning) must be used if having over 200 or so AI on the map, or the server WILL be working on single-digit FPS.
To have many AI units is the big issue, but removing dead units after X minutes will do its part as well.
Cap the view distance to... say 2000m in a mission, and only let the AI spawn if people get within 2000-2500m of their location, or whatever other method you can think up to limit the number of active AI at one time in a mission.

Then we have the use of weapon crates:
For the love of god keep them out! Possibly have crates containing more of what people are already carrying, let them pack more ammunition and medical supplies and stuff should they want to, let there be explosives so that there is a choice of using them, etc.
But it becomes a complete mess when nearly everyone starts changing weapons, some not even to the role they are supposed to have, ammunition starts becoming incompatible because you have both .223 STANAG magazines, G36 mags, 20rnd M14 magazines, CAR-H mags, and so on. If people CAN'T choose weapons this organizational nightmare won't be present in specials.

Magnifying optics for the rank and file soldier:
Only use them, if the AI will fight back at that distance and react with a satisfactionary behaviour. If that's not the case, then don't let people use them. Force them into ironsights or non-magnifying optics like EOTech and Aimpoint. Having scopes making the riflemen get an extended range to 500m reduces the use of snipers and designated marksmen drastically, as well as supporting fire from medium machine guns like the M240 and PKM.
My personal opinion is that is if you NEED ACOGs not to die from enemy fire, then you have done something dramatically wrong in either the planning or the execution of the plan. It should always be fully possible to get within iron sight distance (250-300m) from the enemy - a distance where the AI does shoot back.


PS. As for admins not seeing who is speaking in TeamSpeak, TeamSpeak Overlay Beta 2 is a lot of help with that. I'm still of the opinion people should say their name to make things easier, but this'll help

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Harpo245

We shouldn't need the Teamspeak overlay. Sure it helps, but that doesn't mean people stop stating their names.

Bamboo

My understanding is TS overlay still doesn't work with Vista 64. Has that changed?

Also, i really think we need the passworded server. I don't know why it isn't liked. If someone crashes out, they can rejoin. And if someone trys to JIP we ask them to leave or kick them if they missed the start.

And I was a bit disappointed about the armor pretty much getting all the action.

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Harpo245

I'd say because of the instability, the organisers didn't know how the server would handle JIP. I'm sure the whole JIP thing will be analysed and a decision will be made.

Also, the tanks did get a lot of action. How about an event where no Armour or Air support is available? Kind of Rapid Reaction ground operation...

nthamma

I have to agree with this one. In this event, I felt more like I was playing PR rather than ACE ARMA. There was lack of RL tactics and organization within the squad. Fireteams, buddy system, assistant gunners, were not used at all and should've been used especially if the squads had around 10 group members. Group chat was used way too much. People were using group channel to speak to someone who was right next to them that had no relevant information to the other group members. But overall, pretty well organized event!

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WaterIsPoison

To be honest, I felt several issues stemmed from the mission that was selected. It was not one of the better missions I've played on the TG servers.

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Blackdog1

Just so that everyone is clear...................

That particualr mission was never designed for that many players. We had other mission choices that simply were not ready in time and therefore BigC had to scramble to make his mission ready in time and considering the time he had to do that, it worked pretty well.

That said, we will have a completely different flavour for the next event and hopefully this may appeal more to people who didnt like this particular mission.

As with every event, we learn about some things that worked and we learned about some things that did not work so well.

We aim to please, but we cannot always guarantee that the shot hits the target!!!

Harpo245

Today is Wednesday. The event was on Sunday. I don't think it's fair to dread on the problems of the past. The fact is, the mission was completed and the majority had fun, and that's all that matters.

viper1986

Gentlemen,

The entent of this thread was to post pictures and AAR's of the mission from the viewpoints of those who really have interest in telling the story. It is NOT intended to talk about how bad the comms were or how bad the mission was or how unorganized the event was. This is both rude towards the Admins who pulled it together after a long time of not hosting them. If you feel that things could have changed, then by all means start another thread, BUT do not plague this thread with things that make it hard to read through. If you have nothing to add to the AAR and just want to gripe about how bad it went for you, sorry to hear that but there is another place to post your feelings; but this is not the thread to do it in.

Thank you IGOR for a oustanding AAR, certianly looking forward to reading future AAR's.

If anyone has a footage of the mission, please post that as well as I would like to see how the mission went. I unfortunately was on vacation during the event and would like to see and read all i can about the mission.

Thanks.

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TheBigC

We do appreciate all of the feedback we have received about the event we ran last weekend. Some of you brought up some very good points, good and bad. We will definitely take that into consideration next time we run another event here.

That all being said, due to certain limitations, we had to make decisions that may have resulted in some of the game not being perfect. We understand those shortcomings, but we also knew them before we started the event. We did the best we could with the resources we have at our availability. Also some of the decisions that are made leading up to a event are usually driven from past experience over two years here at ArmA, so it is not the first time we have seen some things. But again, sometimes there are tradeoffs in life.

AAR decorum, this needs to be addressed. Do not make posts personal, if you do so, you will find a like response usually. An AAR is intended to point out the good and the bad, not simply pick a sticking point and running with it. We understand constructive criticism, which is where you try and offer solutions along with some form of negative. Simply saying you dislike or it was broke is not what I want to see. If something did not work, try and be a sport by offering help. By addressing and correcting issue, we will get way further as a community then simply having a negative attitude towards something. If you feel you must constantly comment negative opinions, I ask that you PM me personally. I do not want to see a lot of people bummed out by one sour apple. I may honestly be able to help and possibly clarify your issues.

Some things do need to be understood though. We told everyone we were going to use In- Game VOIP. It works, BI designed it that way and we even crafted the mission to take advantage of the comms channels. We also gave you every option to modify your comms channels by the scripts we have added to the menu. We will also try and continue to use in game VOIP, there is less issues with VIOP then there is with people and TeamSpeak. That is not to say we may even alternate how we run comms, but we will pick a method and stick with it for that event. We definitely owe an education on the in game comms, as well as Team Speak. But it will be next to impossible to force a standard overlay onto people that are not regulars. It will take a lot of people out of the mix who do play if we force TS.

Type of mission. Well we will definitely not please everyone on this one. No matter the mission, we will have people that prefer something else. That is not a new thing; we have always had that issue. Some people like this, some like that and some other like something totally different. That is all fine. But we make compromises to simply cater to a good portion of the gaming crowd here. But understand mission selection is also based on available missions at the time. Most of the time the missions will be exclusively played for the first time, in mass, is that event.

Leadership. Not one person here better complain ever again about leadership. I asked al 48 people and I had 1, yes only one person step up to the plate. This topic is uncalled for and is totally unsat. If you do not like the way he led, tell me and I will ensure you are the next mission commander. This is to simply see how hard it is to control about 50 people real time while things are in motion. The leader made decision on how to engage and how to move. The decisions he did not directly make, were decisions that he already delegated to his team leaders. I heard most of the comms and they were actually great. The only time there was issues with leaders is when someone else was trying to talk over them or people were screaming due to excitement.

Roles. Everyone in the mission was afforded an opportunity to pick a role. The only role that was restricted was the pilot’s role, the Commander made a decision to not use it to simply make the game more exciting. Beyond that, everyone was afforded the opportunity to pick their position, team, and weapons. So if it was not up to any liking, there is not a whole lot of people to blame on that one.

JIP/pass worded server. I respect the concerns people have on this one, but simply put- we will probably continue to do the locked server. I, nor will my admins will worry about monitoring everyone that is late to the game. You are all adults and know what time we start. I told you all there would be no late comers. We definitely went out of our way to make sure people that crashed out could come back in. I agree, we could have done a better job of announcing that to any that fell out, but we figured most grabbed us and got right back in. Also the JIP was nominal at best when we were only allowing one or two to rejoin. With a password, I cannot control who is coming and at what point. I am not going to kick them and monitor to see if the late comers are on the list or not. I actually want to play a bit too! 


Some of the other points covered:

Compass turned off- Easy fix, if we created the mission


IEDs – Saw a few comments on that, we can control it if we work on it, but in this instance it was by design.

Convoy Ops - we do need to work on that. I know we all want to see action, but get too close and we all get wacked. There should probably be 50 feet intervals at minimum for armor.

Connection Issues - That was mostly clients. The server never reached above 12% usage for bandwidth and 34% for server processing. Now there was lag due to the amount of AI/Civilians. That was due to randomness of quantities when they spawn. If we make the mission, we can definitely work on that. The smoke; that is altogether another issue. We have a hot fix for that…



I personally had a great time and look forward to continuing the Sunday Events. They are a great chance to get together and have some great fun. I look forward to seeing you all again at the next one!!

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