Don't forget we have these maps too ;)

[=VG= Acro1]

Hey bois.

I heard some comments lately about the same maps being overplayed, today someone asked "Why we almost never play Kozelsk, Soul Rebel etc?". I myself am guilty of simply forgetting that certain maps exist, so I wanna put the map numbers here again to remind everyone about the wide variety of maps that we have. We oftenly do mapvotes pretty late and then we don't have time to really think about 'all' the maps anymore, so the usual ones keep returning. Certain maps are better than others for sure, but by reading this list I kinda realised that "damn, I just forgot about the existence of Falklands, Kozelsk, Shijia etc even though I loved playing them" cuz the others come up so often. Hope it can do the same for you !
Especially since some of the popular 'challenging' maps have seemingly gotten easier, we could draw some more inspiration here to fill the gap.

Below is a chart of how often each map has been played since PR 1.6 release on May 1st, 2020.

Chart (click to enlarge)

 

Numbers

muttrah_city_2	903
kashan_desert	693
jabal	662
khamisiyah	486
pavlovsk_bay	372
ramiel	307
black_gold	266
bamyan	254
albasrah_2	237
kokan	222
kafar_halab	214
fallujah_west	206
burning_sands	191
beirut	187
qwai1	184
operation_marlin	173
assault_on_grozny	167
vadso_city	148
masirah	148
sbeneh_outskirts	140
bijar_canyons	129
carentan	124
silent_eagle	122
op_barracuda	120
kozelsk	119
saaremaa	104
operation_archer	100
operation_falcon	93
omaha_beach	79
hades_peak	79
iron_thunder	79
shijiavalley	78
gaza_2	74
shahadah	68
merville	64
iron_ridge	62
lashkar_valley	62
asad_khal	61
fools_road	61
sahel	56
karbala	54
charlies_point	54
dragon_fly	50
wanda_shan	47
route	44
musa_qala	41
korengal	39
battle_of_ia_drang	37
dovre_winter	37
ulyanovsk	35
brecourt_assault	34
the_falklands	32
tad_sae	32
operation_soul_rebel	32
goose_green	31
xiangshan	28
dovre	27
reichswald	24
operation_thunder	23
nuijamaa	20
operation_ghost_train	19
assault_on_mestia	17
hill_488	12
outpost	3
adak	1

 

Peace!

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

I see maps there I haven't even played. 

[=VG= m823us]

It's good to see that a lot of our starter maps are on the top leaderboard.  Plus it helps that we do a Muttrah Event every year.  I know one of the frustrating parts of our community is that PR overall is dropping players and it is difficult to play some of the maps on there due to this.

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Is that the old BF2 dragon fly?

[R-CON LangMaster]

hold up boys i am gonna make that adak sky rocket jump.
the thing is most of the no played maps are big game maps, and many people are needed for those usually, 80% of the time we don't have that many people neither do we have enough brain cells for that.

[=VG= Acro1]

36 minutes ago, LangMaster said:

80% of the time we don't have that many people neither do we have enough brain cells for that

True, certain maps really need a high-value playerbase but even when we get 40 players and good skillz, I've not seen any Soul Rebel, Ghost Train or Korengal, and seen Dragon Fly like once I feel like we might lose out on great rounds on fun maps

[=VG= Zeee]

Also dont help at the end of some of these you lose 10+ people during load

[=VG= Skiddles]

I for one would love greater diversity in the maps played. Seems maps are selected for asset availability meaning the map has the asset the decision makes want to play simply because they are winnable. For me, a walk through maps is not a lot of fun, just repeating the same strategy over and over again. So bring it on, lets play the harder ones!! 

[=VG= Connor]

We don't (at least not ones I know of) choose based off assets. There are so many factors that go into setting a map - Player count, player skill, new players, old players, frustrating maps that will make new players leave and way more. We don't enjoy doing easy walk in the park maps either, it's boring. For example, we tried to play Charlies Point the other day with only 20 players, because we wanted a challenge, yet we had to run next because the rest of the team was fairly new and we were being slaughtered and ended up with about 10 players left.

It just so happens that the maps that are much easier are asset heavy, unless it's an Inf layer where it generally feels very even.

TLDR; We don't pick maps because of assets, there are way more factors than that. A lot of new players leave harder maps and kills the server.

[=VG= .Blizzard.]

5 hours ago, Skiddles said:

I for one would love greater diversity in the maps played. Seems maps are selected for asset availability meaning the map has the asset the decision makes want to play simply because they are winnable. For me, a walk through maps is not a lot of fun, just repeating the same strategy over and over again. So bring it on, lets play the harder ones!! 

I said this too many times... even before the changes from 1 manning tanks to 2 man tanks... 

IT IS A VERY BAD DECISION to make this game have cooperation forced by the assets/ bot difficulty and some more other factors which I really don`t want to discuss.

People don`t want to play COOP with a bunch of randoms anymore, they give a shit about rules and everyone around them. Mics sometimes are non-existent in a game... and so where is the cooperation if they can`t transmit data in fast (typing is not nearly as fast as it takes more than 5 sec to say something like: " Tank at 200 near that T shape building..."; test it measuring time, first by typing and then saying it to see what I mean)? It isn`t 2015 when PR was still something good and fun... I for one took lately a very big break from the game and I am going to delete it soon, because it isn`t fun at all. I don`t like the "new" stuff added and the bots are even more annoying than they`ve been. I really liked the things that made this game good (planes, tanks, apcs ,IFVs and inf), but adding something and breaking it even more it is no excuse (same thing with every update for 5 f***ng years) ... It feels like pouring content just to compete with other titles which this game can`t compete against. YES IT IS FREE and I understand that, but if you want this free game at least make it enjoyable like it used to be... 

I love the community here, you guys are the BEST, but unfortunately I don`t think we can grow this community with PR ,anymore, like we used to. 

 

Maps changes are always going to be an issue as none of them are perfectly balanced as Muttrah is. And this comes from someone that really hates Muttrah :))

 

Anyway I ,overall, don`t see an issue with the assets themselves nor the overly played maps and like Connor said the issue itself is the quality of players that join our server, meaning, we don`t get too many people that want to learn about this game more and most are just consumers (play the game when bored and then switch to something else). This is why we get no mics, this is why we have issues with overreacting when trying to explain the rules, this is also why we don`t see too many choices when changing to harder maps. It is either the players choice to change maps (requests are rare), ours or none at all, we just leave PR/TS and go play something else (at least this is what I do and some other friends I have here) because we got sick of stupidity or what we call noobs ( the people I have talked above). 

 

I love the work that has been put into this "perfect" (my point of view) server, but it isn`t our fault that people are not willing to follow rules and "suck" at this game. My final point is that we don`t get too many choices when 10-30 people play on the server and most of them are so bad when it comes to cooperating (they don`t listen or are ignoring your need for help completely). 

 

 

[=VG= Acro1]

 

1 hour ago, =VG= .Blizzard. said:

People don`t want to play COOP with a bunch of randoms anymore, they give a shit about rules and everyone around them.

Lol @=VG= .Blizzard. I don't know when you last played but may have been a bad streak  I feel like these are the players one gets annoyed about the most, but let's never forget about the other side. The Skirmishers, Skitalez's, Skiddles, Spartanishes and many others who don't start with an S but are equally great teamworkers. The positive, in my experience, far outweighs the negative. Also, if a certain map becomes harder because a certain asset squad is not super competent, doesn't that just add a nice layer of depth for infantry cuz now they gotta switch tactics?

I kinda feel like Covid gave PR a slight boost in playercount, and with that came a few new but worthy players. Yeah you get the no-mic no-type peeps and asset stealers sure, but we can always take care of them. That's why we have a strong admin team. The last days whenever I played, about 20% of people I saw would classify as the bored retards that you describe. The others were always involved and helping. We had 40-player server nights where I could barely notice the stupid apples around because the 75% pop that is smart was doing some great heavy lifting and great work.

PR is not the game for bored, jump-n-dump players. If they leave, that's good in my book. I'm more concerned about good, capable players who would've stayed but are leaving because of a negative athmosphere or idiots calling them noobs. The loud-mouths should be corrected, the newbies taught. Every week I notice at least 1 new player saying 'ello guyz, I em new pleyeur, how I take wepon?' and I don't even play that much. So I think PR is not a dead game, the community is what makes it and the community is dope. Our community is dope.

Honestly to me the bots are great now. I love the smoke mechanic, I love their sniper-with-a-G3 accuracy that keeps you on your toes. Had a great round with Skirmisher's squad a few night ago and we were getting PUMMELED to hell, but that was awesome! The challenge, the jokes, the camaraderie, the teamwork. Shit, this is what makes this game beautiful. I'll gladly pass on the quick-dopamine-boost-from-winning-every-round junkies that come and go anyway. My main fear and the thing I hate most above all, is the players who make maps a routine. Cap here, go there, yell 'allahu akbar' at end screen and repeat. Fuck routine and fuck the dopamine addicts that come with it. PR has so much more, and I've seen that myself over the past days, which made this Acro a very happy Acro .

Life is good. PR is good 

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

@=VG= .Blizzard. This is nothing new!  You are where I was about 8 years ago - it happens to members who spend so many thousands of hours playing.  When chasing the dragon of that perfect match where everyone is working together, new players or those who don't cooperate so intuitively become a frustrating hinderance, like a mental block that makes one question how they ever tolerated unskilled or new players in the past.  It doesn't mean you are a bad person for not being welcoming to new players, or too impatient to lift up and train the endless waves of newcomers month after month, year after year.  It's rather some kind of feeling we all get at times where we just want the endless training of others to end at some point so we can rest assured that everyone will know how to play as expected, that the game will be so finished that no new systems or bugs need to be worked out and that changes are no longer needed, when in reality it is a journey not a destination.

Just remember:  PR COOP is a 'doorway' at VG, but COOP gaming at its finest is the actual 'building' of VG and it has many rooms - from Arma mil-sim to BMS flight-sim and all the survival and FPS and strategy games we also play with the friends we make over time here at VG.  Small crews of good friends form, play the ever-living-hell out of a particular game, and (hopefully) remain here as friends and playing other games together when bored of what is commonly most everyone's "first game" here at VG.

No worries, no need to be overly critical of those things we move on from ... managers are well aware of areas they are working on ... but it's true that after a time, players gain the optics to see things for what they are, the magic dispelled and looking up the sleeves to see all the hidden cards there.  Ignorance is bliss, but it fades.  Even within a single year, the types of players change with different influxes from one country or another, and in a sea of FTP modern PC games it is amazing that PR holds the player base it does and still hooking new players as old ones move on.  Don't spoil the magic too much for the new guys, let them have their fun as much as possible.  The battle to wrangle the players into the COOP style of communication and teamwork is an ongoing one, a battle some of your peers are still fighting here on the VG PR COOP server and requiring all the support we can give them (even if only moral).  We all keep trying to fix or improve the negatives that may appear in time through updates or patches, something that new players have patience for, but understandably our seasoned vets may become increasingly despondent and just eventually move onto other games.

Fortunately, this is exactly why we don't ONLY run Project Reality COOP at VG, having the larger goal of creating a military PC gaming themed home online for cool people around the world and not tied to the lifespan of just one PC game.

We can bring the COOP style of gaming we enjoy so much into any game we play and it makes it 1000% better every time.

[=VG= XOR]

Might you compile a second chart, but with layers as well, beats going through the gallery, thx.

[=VG= keed]

Players come and go. That's perfectly normal. Everyone has their own "good old times", either when they started or when they were most invested into the game.

Right now, there are people online that experience the game for the first time and might think "Wow, this is amazing!". They don't care about the map or the layer. They have no idea where the quad guns are. Hell, they might not even know what CAS means. They just have fun experiencing new gameplay.

Old frogs grow bitter. I've seen it many times. Happened with me too.

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Yes we need to grow this community from more than just PR and I'm pretty sure Arma is the answer but for some reason we haven't fully migrated and why the diehard PR guys don't like Arma as much as PR when Arma facilitates our type of gaming even better is curious but it is more complicated to play and takes more time to set up so I get it. I don't play PR as much but I won't ever give up on it. But it is old and we need to evolve with the gaming world too. WE all go through this is different games as we play over the years it happens but we need a common core and PR is good for that until we figure out our next moves.

 

[=VG= Connor]

3 minutes ago, =VG= BLuDKLoT said:

but for some reason we haven't fully migrated and why the diehard PR guys don't like Arma as much as PR when Arma facilitates our type of gaming even better

I think it’s because PR feels far more casual and easy to stick too and it’s something we all know very well, so it’s hard to break away from it, it also probably has something to do with the fact that Arma is very hard to run compared to PR being able to run on anything nowadays.

Although I agree, I would love to have a more diverse community, playing more Arma or Squad. Only doing events isn’t going to do that for us though unfortunately. We need the public un-modded Arma server to be something that will get players joining more! (cough, Invade and Annex), but that’s a whole different discussion

[=VG= Acro1]

Arma needs way more horsepower to run smoothly, and the performance on almost any server I've seen is laughable. I played Invade / Annex for many hours and the experience isnt the same as PR. Rubberbanding, bots that die in unconvincing ways and messed up physics at times. Flying to a point for 5 minutes, then spending another 5-10 minutes walking to your target is another moodkiller for me. I can play PR for 20 minutes or 5 hours and contribute either way, but Arma needs much more time dedication.

PR also has way snappier combat mechanics. A vehicle is hit and blows up. I shoot a guy and he either dies or is alive. Arma sometimes offs the guy 5s after I shoot him after bugging out like hell

i was really hoping that Squad would inherit the full 'glory days' spirit of PR...

[Kvsh_420]

Im glad this came up cause I've been Bitching about this to admins almost everyday the EXCUSE that the maps are too hard for new players or unskilled players comes up but there never gonna get good treating them like babies and thts why I step up and lead the noobs into the deeps of hell and often times emerges victorious and thats where apart of the problem lies, not much people  want to squad lead or train new people so admins settle for easily done maps and its become a habit for for doing THE EXACT SAME MAPS EVERYDAY instead of steping up AND GETTING SOME.

Another Excuse is that the player count will drop well let me tell u this also factors in with the fact that if the map is hard its gonna be much harder if the experience players are in assets and letting unskilled inf run around getting smacked by unforgiving bots and then coupled with the fact that the harder maps are rarely done most people don't even have a clue WTF to do adding to the frustration leading to people rage quiting.
With that said let me name some maps THAT I HAVE LEAD WITH 20 PLAYERS OR LESS AND WON:_

Korengal
gaza 
HILL 488
Barracuda alt
Vadso alt
Qwai river inf
Meserah inf
Ramaeil Inf
reichswald
assault_on_mestia
operation_archer
carentan Alt
Musa Qula
sbeneh_outskirts INF ,STD
asad_khal STD
Op. Marlin inf

I am positive there are admins that witness the amazing victories made on these maps when im leading woth low pop but if I ask for them I get the excuses mentioned above, I dont want to rant but most of the time I have dudes that dont have mics or speak english but we got through with pure determination and determination is what is lacking not unskilled players or low pop thats my two cents. I'll never agree with those excuses because i've proven it wrong way too many times and i'll be glad to prove it wrong some more if anyone wants proof, Im sure that if people are more determined to lead noobs we can get a greater playerbase the blame is within ourselves .

GET SOME