For those that dont know, one of the Armies requirements in the development of the game was that there would never be any US soldiers vs US soldiers depicted ANYWHERE in the game. And no one can play as a terrorist.
So you are wondering how they do the multiplayer? Well, its kindof interesting. Basically everyone plays as USA soldiers, but during multiplayer, the opposing team is viewed as terrorists on your screen. Even though they are playing as solidiers just like you are. And to them, you are represented as a terrorist as well.
But no one ever actually picks a terrorist and no Soliders actually shoot at each other.
Okay, I don’t get it. We’re complaining NOW about video games that concern war?
?
How many PC games are about war? Ten thousand? Every second game ever made? Many of the finest PC games are about war; The Battle of Britain, Red Baron, Harpoon, V For Victory, Close Combat, Aces Over The Pacific… geez, this isn’t new.
I can see being upset that the US Army spent $6 million on a game they won’t even charge for, but if you look at it in the context of the PR/recruitment budget, it’s peanuts, and probably every bit as effective as TV or print ads.
It’s pretty unambiguous that I am referring to the post, and not the thread. In fact, I did not say “thread” anywhere in my post.
I also asked if it was, I did not assert that it was. That is what I wrote above. I invite you in response to take up and defend the unbelieveable implication that the Bush Administration has put spyware in the program, or has a secret plan to move people up the “draft list”.
There is no draft list anymore because there is no draft. There’s still Selective Service, but that’s just in case: AFAIK, it would take an act of Congress to reinstitute the draft.
Also, I doubt there’s any spyware in this game for the simple reason that if there was and it became public knowledge, sales would immediately drop to near-zero. Who wants to help the military spy on them?
Firstly, my apologies. I did not mean to imply that I was defending the implication that the Bush Administration was placing spyware in the afforemention software.
Actually, upon re-reading my post, I shall re-write my response to you.
Firstly my apologies for any mistunderstanding. I did not imply that the Bush Administration was placing spyware in the afforementioned software.
You seem to have taken the wrong implication from the meaning of my question.
I simply asked meant to ask how 1 post (as stupid as it was) equated to a (and I use your own words here )
My emphasis was upon the “SDMB based” part of your comment, not the idea that your comment was in relation to.
IMO,One post does not equate to “SDMB based”.
I now invite you to show where, In my post, I was defending the idea that there is Spyware in the game.
I’ve played the game a dozen times or so and here is my take on it.
A. I’m greatly impressed by the amount of teamwork required. I’ve never seen a game that depended so heavily on it. You run away from your squad to try to be a loan gunner and your end up watching the rest of the match as a spectator real quick. You have to cover your guys and everybody covers a blind spot. Christ, there are even hand signals your character does for stop, wait, issuing attack orders, and such.
B. There is no room or patience for people who want to screw around. If you go postal, your going to get killed in short order and your team is now less 1 person to get the objectives completed. Second, if you shoot your teammates, civilians, or surrendered enemy troops, you acquire ROE (Rules of Engagment) and after so many points, you get send to Army Prison where you have to wait for a period of time before you can play again.
C. It’s very realistic. Movement is excellent where you can crouch, jump, lay prone, or even roll over and shoot while laying prone. Realistic weapons and equipment that are actually used by our forces including flashbangs, smoke grenades, frag grenades, NV googles. There is a single automatic weapon that one member of your team carries (Oh yeah, there are different team roles such as Squad Leader, FireTeam Leader, Grandier, Sniper, etc. to increase cooperation). The standard rifle has two settings, single and burst, neither of which aren’t exactly easy to use. You actually have to aim in this one, not just run and shoot.
Popularity has been high. 36 hours after release, several hundred thousand people downloaded the game according to the americasarmy.com faq and I believe a couple million had downloaded it as of yesterday or the day before (no cite on that one). Anything that drums that much publicity for the Army is good. I think they stuck gold with this tactic.
I’ve only played a little, but I’m kinda disapointed with it. They probably would have done better to just aquire an already-produced game like Ghost Recon or Operation Flashpoint, since those games have about all the realism that Army Operations does (That is, superficial realism and little more). It’s a little better in some ways, but not by much. It also seems that lone-wolf tactics, once again, are often more effective. Sure, you’ll die, but you usually take out two or more people in the process. And it also seems like people take a LOT of hits before they go down, and aren’t really affected by injury. In any case, it’s definatly not enough of a game for me to put up with the typical FPS morons that seem to gravitate to online games like this.
I’ve been waiting and hoping for an infantry sim to join the ranks of all the other sims I have, but it seems like every time a game comes up that looks promising, it falls well short. At least they’re slowly making progress…
I downloaded the game, and it has a lot of potential, but its still pretty buggy. As to the appropriateness of its release, I don’t see a problem. Its not like we don’t know that America has an Army or that they kill people. This game is no different from any other FPS that depicts warfare. And, as a recruiting tool, I’d say its at least as effective as those Army of One commercials.
I just question their target demographic. I doubt that 12-year-olds who play CS all day and say things like “Y0u w4llH4x0r f4g OMG!!!111” or pasty middle-aged game nerds are going to be of much use to the army.
And damnit, my PC won’t even run it! Damned technology curve. Looks like it’s back to console gaming for me…
has anyone ever actually played this game ? i cant get past the training part … also when i tryr it on gamespy the servers are full … any word when thel lhave their own servers ?
I’m in the same boat. I decided to try it over a month ago, did all the training missions (rating expert on the M-16 was a bitch, as was the final Ranger training parachute jump). But the damned thing locks my computer up every time I try to join a server.
Well, except for the frequent (and realistic) M16 jams. But snipng is cool, though in the latest patch they changed the name to “Advanced Marksman”, possibly in reaction to those clowns in Washington.
Ack. This is a GD thread - resurrected nonetheless. Scratch my previous inane comments.
And as long as I’m posting…
“Marksman” is an accurate term for the guy with the scoped rifle. Sniper is inaccurate by it’s army meaning.
A sniper team is a delaying element deployed generally in teams of two at the batallion level typically to slow persuing combatants in rear guard actions. They can also be used for covert scouting.
When you just give a good shot a scoped rifle and attach him to an infantry squad or platoon, ‘sharpshooter’ or ‘marksman’ is the appropriate term.