ShadowAce11

Continuation, rebuttals, etc. below. I was trying to type the above as quick as possible so I'd make it to work on time. The reason why I bring up the matter of official personnel is because new players (at least, if they were me) would be more keen on obeying the lessons taught by those you should not ignore. If a player with just a member tag or no tag at all tells a newcomer what they can and can't do, that may be received as condescending, overly strict, and rude. And if the new player is like me, they'd just pretend not to hear the advice and keep doing their thing. While it is always nice to see everybody pitching in with following the rules, I think everybody can agree that receiving a reprimand from a staff member or veteran is a better reason to follow the rules than a member or guest saying "Hey, you can't do that". This is something I mulled over for a couple hours while at work: I'd like to propose that the main Arma 3 Modded channel (the main channel that holds all channels for AWE, EU6, and A3 Custom) become password protected, with the password being added at the end of, or encoded within (this option pls), the rules (or the basic introduction). So for those of you who were here when we used ACRE, essentially that setup. This way, players are required to read the rules in-depth and get a basic understanding before even gaining access to the channel. Of course, TFAR just drags you straight in once you get on the server, but if there's some way to block that unless you have the key, that would be great. It's a fault on experienced players, too, that people don't learn as fast as they should. I hold a lot of that on my shoulders. Once you're on the server for so long, everything just becomes second nature; and suddenly anybody who doesn't know the systems, new or not, becomes this subgroup of inept players who should just leave the server and come back when they're more acquainted. The pilot I wrote about is a perfect example; rather than trying to help him through anything he might have been wondering about, I just turned my nose up and complained. And if that attitude isn't challenged, it makes the veteran more harmful to the server than the newcomer. While the following is a weak counter argument, it's a counter argument nonetheless: experienced players like me have no obligation to stalk the playerbase of the server and keep tabs on who is new, and so we don't. In the case of the pilot I described, I've only seen him on the server for a couple hours in total. In my eyes, he's completely new. But, my schedule is not aligned with his, and I may miss countless hours of him playing while I'm away or at work. To others, he might be a pro, but to me, he's just taking his first steps. And people rarely mention if they are new, so I usually default to thinking they've been on the server for a while and should be fully acquainted with the systems. When they don't return on that expectation, it's irritating. In short, I'm saying there's a massive lack of communication that leads to condescension. If that is cleared up, I would really hope the relations between specifically the veterans and newcomers will improve.

Let it be noted I fervently dislike writing things like this, but as a player and more specifically a veteran, I feel obligated to do so. Over the past couple months, I have seen a drastic decrease in organization and coherence on Enhanced due to an influx of newcomers. While, for the first couple weeks, becoming acquainted with the learning curve is to be expected, it is wholly ridiculous for this process to go on for months at a time. Additionally, with the typical process of "learning in the field" rather than through an official training night or a personal training session, vital concepts are being missed, ranging from improper radio use to failing to understand the medical system. Most importantly though, a sense of obeying the command structure is generally left out. I would highly recommend new players be required to attend a training night, or a personal session scheduled with an official Enhanced representative (mods, maybe Spartans and veterans) before being permitted to equip any roles that require a somewhat advanced knowledge of the systems in play on the server. How would this be enforced? That's a good question that I don't have an answer for. But is it becoming more and more necessary? Without a doubt, yes. I would be more than willing to volunteer any time I have to help with this process if need be. So that covers my little rant about player competence, now let's discuss a case of pilot competence that happened today (20/7/17) on the server. Names will be excluded for privacy. Most pilots are extremely good at what they do, and I applaud them for the good experiences they help foster on the server. And I do not intend for the following to apply to them. Some, however, desperately need to be dealt with. Today, a player joined while I was piloting. Including him, there were two others on the server. He took the copilot slot. I immediately warned him that he was not allowed to be there; he needed to slot to Alpha. It took up to my fourth warning before he obliged and switched. In that time I was giving him warnings, he went over to the heli maintenance, spawned a helicopter (did not know what it was at the time), hopped in, and nearly took off. Carrying the single Alpha member in my helicopter (I assume the copilot was waiting for his reslot timer to end), I dropped him off to the AO and cleared a majority of the hostiles. After being shot down by a BMP, I disconnected. After leaving the server for roughly an hour, I came back and slotted up as an Alpha member. The copilot had switched to Alpha, then back to Vortex when I left. Upon reentering the AO, the pilot flew dangerously high and used autohover for landing, resulting in a nearly-shot-down situation. Upon landing, he continued to sit there for about 10 seconds, before turning his engine off entirely to communicate with Alpha Lead. He did return to base, but not before almost getting shot down again by the BMP due to his slow speed and high flight. Having to attempt landing three times (with that BMP still on him), he repeated this process while bringing in the FSG team. While he was making his trips, I notice something: An Apache crash. That unknown helicopter he spawned was a two-seater Apache. During the time I was offline, he one-manned it, and proceeded to fly it into the AO and crash it. This was a "set up a comms tower" mission, so once Alpha and Nomad cleared the AO, he began to fly the crate in. Upon entering the vicinity, he was shot down by a BMP due to his once again linear path and slow speed. At that time, he disconnected. My point here is that: People should know the command structure, and know to obey the slotting rules. People, especially pilots and other specialty slots, should know proper conduct on the server. This is not a training server. You should know how to fly properly before touching these more advanced, modded models. ----- Once again, I would be more than willing to volunteer to help with training nights to help resolve these issues. Anything I can do to help I'm happy to. I had to put this rant/report out here, not because I wanted to, but because I felt responsible as a person who has a duty to the server and its population to obey the rules and make sure they're followed by others. The things above are beyond unacceptable, and need to be dealt with.

Is it planned to keep the factions specific to the map? The PLA would be a welcome enemy on Kerama, for example, whereas the MEC would be horribly out of place. Might help ever so slightly with immersion. I've also heard a decent amount of chatter about switching the sides every so often to avoid the exhaustion of the Brits and Freedombringers (US). Is it planned to make OPFOR-compatible map versions? Usually there's a problem because the base protection screws things up, right?

Yep.

Alright, so how's this looking?

I've been really wanting to make another more detailed and professional video, but I seriously doubt I'll be able to do that with Movie Maker; and I will not be investing in any production upgrades for a long time (Vegas would be the ideal software to have, but I am definitely not going to fork over that kind of money while I'm still planning to upgrade my hardware). So, if someone else wants to try to make a really nice video, I'd be more than happy to hand out some song recommendations, but otherwise, count me out.

Yep, unfortunately the only editing software I have is Movie Maker. Been using it for something around 6 years now, so I know it in and out. I've tried to play around with Premiere Elements 10 but it's like my computer doesn't support it or something; can never get it to work right. So yeah, you get the classic sides-are-cut-off Movie Maker screen. In regards to the footage, literally the only clips I had were that one of Moon, and the original promo trailer on the AW YT page. Had to make do with what I had; I would have used more cinematic footage if I had the option, but trying to find actual cinematic clips of AWE is next to impossible, and I wasn't going to use vanilla Arma stuff for a server promo that boasts its modpack. That, and I have too poor of a computer to record anything, and I was rushing to get this completed. Only had two and a half hours; I was nearly late to work thanks to that trailer. Edit: On another topic, I realize any advertisements we make will want to be more serious; I can see how my trailer (and my billboard) would look kind of playful and humorous. If anybody would like to present ideas on a well-rounded trailer along with some footage, I would be more than happy to experiment.

Alright, here we go then. This is the first result after two hours of work.

If this were ever to go live, permission would need to be granted for the video usage, but I'm in the works of creating an advertisement video; much like the promo ones that exist on the AW YouTube channel. It'll only be a music video, won't have any tips or help. If the response is good enough on this (once I post it), and people want me to look into making informational stuff, I can certainly do that. By the way, if anybody has any high-quality footage of gameplay on AWE I'd love to get a link to it. The more diversity I have in the video, the better it will be. PM me if you feel like sharing. Should anybody want to see a sample of my work:

Because I have nothing better to do at 1:45 AM.

Encountered visual glitch today on Taki. Not sure if the incident could be isolated to that map, or if it does the same on others. Picture is below. Rain is just specs of light (looks like fast-falling snow), mysterious black rectangles in the distance. Multiple players could see this. Once you looked away from the rectangles, the rain went back to normal. Server weather was foggy, don't know what percentage that was set to. None of the rectangles were ambient AI or part of the mission; for all I know, it could be buggy rock walls. We did not investigate.

No, I'm PTT, I've never used voice activation. Was not aware everything was PTT for now anyways.

... The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed; the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will... Oh, whoops, wrong speech. So I'm not entirely sure if I do this myself. If I do, for future reference I apologize. Usually my only comment is "get him patched up", and I am glad to give any pointers to medics who may still be shady on the advanced ACE features. Just to play devil's advocate here: when you're in the heat of battle, or are trying to advance or retreat or get clear of a mortar strike or whatever, you tend to lose track of random comments you make; especially if you're not push-to-talk. My comment above is what I say pretty subconsciously now, upon every injury I encounter. I know the medic's got it covered, and I know things will be back to status quo five minutes from that point, but I still tell the medic to heal the wounded. What I'm saying here is that people may mean no disrespect, they simply may be caught up in the moment.

Definitely looking forward to any FPS boost this reduction might bring.

@fir_nev Lel, that was merely just trying to survive. If you'll consistently be on at times like before I'll be glad to do some run-downs with you; and hopefully ones where we're not constantly getting wasted by ambience.