Is it time to move on? Epoch standalone or Arma3 mod?

[Cal-Dirty Weasel]

Thanks to the great work of AWOL, Axle, and the rest of the development team, Epoch has become the dominant version of DayZ. Even outpacing the original vanilla mod: Almost 2 to 1 in number of servers.

 

But, I feel that Epoch, and DayZ for that matter, may have reached their zenith. I like many other server owners have notice a distinct drop in players. There are a couple of contributing factors playing into this:

1. Arma2 is old, broken, and limiting. Now it has been replaced by Arma3, with all the improvements that come with it. No matter how many ground breaking additions the guys add to the mod, Epoch is being held back by Arma2. There is even a new "DayZ-ish" game that uses Arma3 as a base, more and more players will seek out the improvements that come with it.

2. The rise of the new gaming consoles. With the debut of the PS4 and XBone, we will see many more MMO's coming to consoles. Yes, I know that PC gaming is superior in many ways, but the ease and proliferation of these games in that format are the future.

 

I've been an early adopter and advocate for the mod, going back to being one the first server owners to have Epoch. (What was it, ver.0.996?) I remember the hosting companies telling me when I asked for Epoch that they wouldn't do it because it wouldn't last. Boy, were they wrong! As time progressed, I've was thrilled for every new update and devoted many hours to no longer just playing but also making my little server run well and ensuring that my players were happy. This then evolved into doing videos and helping others set up their own Epoch servers, but almost never playing. The thrill was fading...  I have sadly decided to end my server, and devote my resources elsewhere.

 

I think that Epoch needs to move on as well, it's just my opinion.

 

AWOL, you have put together a great product and now have great development team to go with it. Let's all take the next step together and have Epoch evolve into something greater. I for one will support you guys on any new project you decide to undertake.

 

Thank you again for all your hard work,

Cal

 

 

 

[cen]

A3 servers use quite a bit more resources than A2 servers, so you won't get the $30 budget hosters that you have with A2 and your overall server numbers will drop significantly if they move to A3.

 

See how well breaking point does on A3.

[happysan]

+1 for Arma3 mod.

[motionblurrr]

While I agree that Arma2 is dated, I wonder how many people would be happy with moving to Arma 3 that don't already own it.  I bought Arma2/Arma2:OA specifically for DayZ.  It would take a very polished mod to get me to shell out for Arma 3 since I have no intention of playing the game itself.

[Eegore]

While I agree that Arma2 is dated, I wonder how many people would be happy with moving to Arma 3 that don't already own it.  I bought Arma2/Arma2:OA specifically for DayZ.  It would take a very polished mod to get me to shell out for Arma 3 since I have no intention of playing the game itself.

 

  I think this is the issue.

 

  Tons of people can run ARMA 2 easy enough and not have to shell out a bunch of cash, but I don't think anywhere near as many are willing to spend to upgrade their hardware and such for a mod. 

[travis90]

Some servers might be losing players but I dont think its due to Arma3 much. Many of the leavers leave because how a server is run and what type of gameplay is being played/allowed.

[Richie]

There's 25% off ArmA 3 at the minute, really good game and engine.

Buy from the Official BIStudio website, requires Steam to play.

[Hummuluis]

Tried Breaking Point over the last few days, and the performance is awful. Have a decent rig, and still am forced to turn everything off or down to bare minimum. Will be interesting to see if they can squeeze more performance out of it. Atlas is just massive, and with all the buildings being enter-able and with loot plus zombies, the amount of info in the database has to be overflowing. Desync is a large issue as well.

 

I'd like to see the devs do something similar with Epoch in ARMA3, but at the same time - go with a different approach to the experience.

[FFDP]

I've owned Arma 3 since it was in Alpha. I'd rather play Arma 3. I don't care much for the standalone DayZ.

[MassAsster]

+1    Arma 3

[Crystal]

After playing Epoch, I've gone off the idea of the standalone.

 

I hope Epoch migrates to Arma3 eventually :)

[RAIDEN]

I started off with a 7 player day z vanilla vet server and then I found epoch. Since then im the same as Crystal and havent been as excited as I would have been back in the day about the standalone. Epoch is too good, I dont know how I used to play on a standard day z server.

[motionblurrr]

I started off with a 7 player day z vanilla vet server and then I found epoch. Since then im the same as Crystal and havent been as excited as I would have been back in the day about the standalone. Epoch is too good, I dont know how I used to play on a standard day z server.

 

I was starting to feel the same way, but once you have played Epoch enough, you may discover that you have everything you want/need and there is nothing else to do but PVP, which I think detracts from the soul of the post-apocalyptic style.  People should attack other players because the other player has something they want/need... but since eventually anyone can get what they want/need by selling/buying at the traders, you can end up bored and decide that you need excitement by killing other players.  Then once that starts on a server, you end up with experienced/well-equipped players griefing new players along the coast.

 

Luckily, I'm a hoarder, so there is always more safes to buy and fill up.  ;)

[vbawol]

I do not intend to compete with SA and will leave dayzepoch as is after SA is released. The plan is to make a new mod for ArmA 3 using everything we have learned from making dayzepoch. It will not be based on dayz and will be our own creation made 100% from scratch. Doing this will take some time and we are not in any rush to release anything soon. After SA is released and things die down a bit, keep your eyes and ears open for Epoch for ArmA 3.

[Firefly]

Worth bearing in mind Arma 3 features many of the broken pieces used in Arma 2. While the terrain is beautiful it is still well behind many other contemporary shooters in term of world interaction, animations and especially content. Personally I wouldn't rush into an arma 3 port any time soon as there is still much more than can be done with Arma 2.

[BetterDeadThanZed]

A3 servers use quite a bit more resources than A2 servers, so you won't get the $30 budget hosters that you have with A2 and your overall server numbers will drop significantly if they move to A3.

 

See how well breaking point does on A3.

 

Vilayer charges the same price for Arma 2 and Arma 3 servers.

[Poncho]

I am looking forward to ARMA 3 Epoch, and if all (or most) of the boxes are ticked I would love to move our server over. The fact that it will be from the ground up excites me too, though I know it will take longer I know the end product will be well worth it.

 

I know you are not planning on competing with the stand alone, but I don't think they will even be in the same category. Take wasteland for example, It is ridiculously popular and I'm pretty sure that even in the stages of Alpha there were more Wasteland servers than actual Arma servers. What you have built here is an experience which surpasses even that and I know it will be measured in your success, and popularity, with the population boom of the final ARMA 3 Epoch mod will most definitely receive on its completion, best of luck.