3 Commando Brigade

Realism. Tactics. Fun.
In equal measure. It's a tricky balance.  :-)

He is using SweetFX.

@XLA_FixedArsenal has been updated, waiting on PwS....time for Apollo to figure out what he wants to have on his whitelist  ;) 

Nothing.
You're all going ... wait for it....  COMMANDO.

Sorry, I'll get my beret.

Alright gents, make sure it stays non-personal please.
We don't want a slagging contest to start, spoiling an interesting thread with plenty of good opinions voiced.

Where do people get this idea from that you can only perform certain tactics/gameplay styles with a certain piece of equipment? Why can't you do a sneaky infiltration with standard equipment? Why does BPT need different uniforms? They don't get that in real life, so why would you need it in game? (They might get the L119 instead of the L85 but that's because of real-life properties of those weapons that aren't modelled in arma).

There are, due to the abstraction/simplifications that arma makes, only three things about equipment that matter:
1.) "Overpowered"-ness:  Certain modded items are badly configured. Ammo might be way lighter than it should be or single-use launchers might be able to do multiple shots. Certain guns have unrealistically high damge/range...etc
2.) "PID"-influence: OPFOR/CIV Uniforms, backpacks, helmets and weapons that look like or sound like OPFOR (and that doesn't just mean the faction we happen to be fighting on the current mission. We're all used to shooting CSAT/AAF/Russians in the face).
3.) Compatibility: Be it due to realistic (SCAR-H's and L85's don't use the same magazines) or unrealistic (one mod's M249 200Rnd 5.56 won't be interchangeable with another's M249 200Rnd 5.56 belt) constraints but the more diverse the choice of weapon system is the more likely you'll end up in situations where you're unable to take advantage of magazine sharing.

If you take an OP gun you're hurting other people's fun by taking away their challenge.
If you dress up in a confusing outfit, you're not just just putting your own virtual life at risk but also those of others because they'll now have to spend more time on PID'ing things which might get them killed. ("Is that russian there a friendly or is he an ene *BAM* " )
If you take a weapon system that isn't used by others you'll make things harder for your section and reduce the amount of time that your section can stay out in the field and have fun.
Btw: Even if an entire section does it the same applies, just on a troop level. Even just taking a non-standard marksman rifle can screw somebody over if e.g. two sections have incompatible marksman ammo and can therefore not balance their marksmens ammo.

This is why I want to see the equipment restricted to a small set of well-balanced, non-opfor-looking, compatible things. 
Yes the SCAR-H is a blufor item...does that mean that you should be using it on the server? Probably not (Though the jury is still out on whether or not these kind of weapons will be white-listed or not)

I've read the entire thread and can see all sides to this discussion. The 'sides' are in some cases fairly widely separated so it's not possible for everyone to be made entirely happy with whatever we do.

We'll continue to try to tread that middle ground that has made us so successful and brought many of you 'new' guys in here over the last few months. Howl, I and many other 'old-timers' have been through these discussions many times before so hope you'll respect our views and experience on what we KNOW works - combining tactical realism with a huge dollop of fun, which includes the ability to go mad once in a while when no one else minds or is doing the same; "3CB after midnight" (TM). If we over-restrict gear selection we'll lose some of that fun. Much of what is being argued over can be dealt with by peer pressure and common sense rules that we ask people to follow, along with admin action in stubborn cases.

However, there are some items of kit which are fairly clearly difficult to deal with by those trying to play 'sensibly' and frequently abused - OPFOR uniforms being a prime example - wearing them only causes PID grief as outlined by Alexander and others. OPFOR weapons probably fall into the same category due to sound recognition. I therefore intend to use Alexanders arsenal mod to remove the ability to select some of the OPFOR kit.

We'll trial it out. See how we all feel about it in practise. Decide whether there are additional things that we mostly all agree don't ever belong on the public server and make changes accordingly.

What I don't intend doing however is to try to restrict the kit available to each marine based on their role or try to force people to play in a certain way. For this we'll continue to use server guidelines (take appropriate kit for your slotted role when possible) and 3CB members spreading 'the 3CB way' to new and potential recruits. I see the public server as a place to try out, practise with and enjoy a variety of weapons, including those from our NATO partners. It's also a place where you can go solo, or as a pair, or fireteam, to find out what that's like - just don't expect rescue when it goes pear-shaped and you don't have a team around you for support. Go sub-aqua in divers kit, silenced at night with NVG's, special forces black-ops or even the occasional Tron outing. All should be allowed if the mood and time are right.

The spontaneous, well-organised, military precision of Operations that we often see on the public server is a credit to those that make it happen, and gives non-members a flavour of how amazing it would be to join and get to attend our members-only Company sized Op's, but it's not something we can or should force on people on the public server. There are just too many variables in what a bunch of random people on any given day might want to get from their play session for heavy restrictions to not suck the life out of it.

The public server is different to what we get on the private Op's and I think that mix is a good one. We shouldn't expect the experience to be exactly the same, but to complement one another, with both reflecting our core values in slightly different ways.


Disclaimer - I've written this in my capacity as public server dogsbody caretaker, but without reference to my fellow officers. If any of them strongly disagree with my viewpoint, it might suddenly change.

Just as a reminder. The fact that some stuff might be restricted doesnt have to mean you can never ever use them again on the public server. If certain situations are met, I think there is still enough room for stuff like: let's play as russians tonight. All you need in this case is a game admin on the server.

I'm broadly in agreement with this. HAving people understand why rocking with AK's when everyone else is carrying "L85's is foolish; is to me better than banning them outright.

Only kit I would ban would be thermal weapon scopes.

However protecting unknowing new players from themselves by eliminating opfor uniforms and kit seems sensible.

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Make sure to pick gen 4 NVG's. I'd recommend avoiding the std british ones as they're just too restrictive on fov and grainy as all hell.

I hate night ops as the player experience is rubbish. And very dependant on gamma and screen quality.

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