Old PR

[RayMcCooney]

Hi guys, devs and community members,

I'm writing here for the first time since a very long time and hope to get you somehow sort my thoughts

I've been playing PR since 0.5 and had a really great time over the past years. Being a squad leader and leading my squad to victory was always a challenge with a lot of pleasure. Even fighting outnumbered to the last man with bleeding tickets and hopelessly building FOB's or setting up a rally point was more enjoying than of not playing the game at all.
I remember playing with those crazy sub communities like the 10th guys over and over again, developing new strategies or getting skilled with flying the chopper through the jabal canyons. Or laying in the grass with the marksman rifle in fools road waiting for the enemy to approach.

I've been playing it a lot until 1.5 years ago, then my computer broke and I never had the chance to install BF2 on another computer. I've been busy doing other stuff, finished my thesis and forgot all about the funny evenings playing PR.

Now I stumbled upon the BF2 disc somewhere in a drawer and spent some melancholic time reviewing the last years.

I've been thinking about installing the game and PR again but decided to take a look at PRSPY in order to get a rought overview of how many players are still online. Seeing only a few servers online with like 80 players in total surprised me. When I last played the game 1.5 years ago I remember a lot of servers being full, almost as many as on the classic BF2 side. There was always a server I liked to join and got teleported into the battlefield. Now not only the community servers have gone, also only a few servers are barely filled.
I remember the time when mumble got introduced to the PR community. From that point on every server admin seemed to have the necessity to remind players to "i-kick-you-when-i-cant-detect-your-mumble-client" messages.
Even when I supported the PR community decision to introduce mumble, I couldn't ever get friends with mumble. It was too much a hassle for me and I never got it to work to only speak to squad members in a way that everybody would get what I had to say.
I missed the time I could simply hit B or V and was immediately connected to all squad leaders or the commander. I knew that since it's a BF2 feature, everyone would get the message. Even when the BF2 stock codec is bad as hell. But more than that, 3D voices only confused me Okay enough for that, I still honor the decision to use mumble in PR.

I've read another post in another forum saying that a lot of guys and communities have moved to more "modern" games (OK agreed, BF2 is not the state-of-the-art game, but I'm still a fan of old classic and working games, to which I definitily count BF2). But I couldn't really find ANY other game that would come even CLOSE to PR. The potential PR had was enourmous, but now it seems the hype flattened a bit.

Now of course you would convince me to install PR again ( ), I don't doubt it
But still I'm asking myself, where is the PR community heading to? Or what do former PR players play now?

[saXoni]

Hi Ray,

You're right, there are very few servers these days in relation to what you've been used to, but it's still worth it. Hopefully the number of players will increase when PR v1.0 is released, which should be right around the corner.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but a new version of Mumble (PRMumble 1.0) has been introduced and it makes it a lot easier for the players. Install it, run it as administrator, enter your in-game nickname and go through the audio-wizard. If you're still having problems there are a lot of people around here that can help you out.

There have been a lot of discussions about what PR has become, and what it was before. It is true that Project Reality is not the same as it used to be, due to the lack of players and a 'new generation' of players that have come to play, but this does certainly not mean you won't enjoy it. I've played this mod for a long time (not as long as you, but still quite some time), and no - it's not the same, but I'm still enjoying it and it's by far the best game/mod I've ever played.

Where is the PR community heading? It's been heading downhill for a while now, but hopefully we'll see some changes in the nearest future. I can't tell you what former PR-players play these days, but I do know that the majority of the players that you've played with are gone.

Re-install Battlefield 2 and Project Reality, take a look at PRMumble 1.0 (this is essential these days) and come back here if you need any help.

saX.

[Arc_Shielder]

Some people have told me that they will get back in force once 1.0 is released. I think there's a good chunk of the playerbase that is hibernating under the same pretext.

[Pronck]

I think that the number of people that will come back will decrease more and more if 1.0 isn't released this year. All the new games will suck them up in their huge communities.

[Souls Of Mischief]

Some people have told me that they will get back in force once 1.0 is released. I think there's a good chunk of the playerbase that is hibernating under the same pretext.

Like hibernative

[BloodyDeed]

Hey Ray,

I actually remember your name from the countless evening I've spend on the 10th server. Great to hear some words, didn't even remember you were swiss .
Definitely take a look at PR, it's in my opinion still one of the best games out there and apparently you didn't even experienced the new PRMumble 1.0. It makes things a lot easier and is nearly as simple as "just pressing" V and B.
If you need some help getting back into it, feel free to drop me a message. There are still a couple of active players around you might know from back then.

And about player numbers you might just got a bad time. During weekends and especially on sunday evenings there are usually far over 500 players online spread over a couple of servers.

[RayMcCooney]

Thanks for all the feedbacks so far and especially saXoni for encouraging me to install the game next time I'm in front of my computer . Even when not meant to be offensive, I was a little afraid to confront you with my thoughts.

I believe the version 1.0 is an interesting discussion regarding how and when gamers will return to play. However I always saw PR in a way to be complete itself. Back in '07 I even found 0.5 to be a complete different game and, in my eyes, would have been worth a "1.0" tag. Even though many changes have been done since then.
I think that many people believe that something magic happens when incrementing from 0.9 to 1.0. But in theory it willl "only" be a stable version (So the major number).

I thought a bit more about what I believe is so fantastic in PR and what distinguishes it from BF2. Not only the unique insurgency game mode or the game behaviour or the weapons. But also the very special and exclusive maps, which are sometimes really huge and requires players to plan ahead more effectively.

In my opinion these exclusive maps that now come with PR are especially something the PR community should keep exclusive and "what defines PR".

[Wicca]

Hey ray!

If you want a gamer buddy, add me to xfire: wiccasick

We can play togetha!

[BloodyDeed]

I think that many people believe that something magic happens when incrementing from 0.9 to 1.0. But in theory it willl "only" be a stable version (So the major number).

And they are right. There will be magic happening

[RayMcCooney]

Hey Ray,

I actually remember your name from the countless evening I've spend on the 10th server. Great to hear some words, didn't even remember you were swiss .
Definitely take a look at PR, it's in my opinion still one of the best games out there and apparently you didn't even experienced the new PRMumble 1.0. It makes things a lot easier and is nearly as simple as "just pressing" V and B.
If you need some help getting back into it, feel free to drop me a message. There are still a couple of active players around you might know from back then.

And about player numbers you might just got a bad time. During weekends and especially on sunday evenings there are usually far over 500 players online spread over a couple of servers.

Yes I am really from that little nice spot on Earth
Though I remember you from a few sessions, I already knew you were swiss

Thanks for the contacts, I might get in contact with all ya.
Although that will be after the weekend...

I will definitively check out mumble 1.0 as well!

[K4on]

Ray, weren't you the guy with the whispervoice?

[Mikemonster]

To be fair if you're coming back it will seem a lot quieter, vanilla BF2 was the same when I reinstalled it recently.

The '1.0' designation isn't to signify a 'complete' version either, it's just inevitable because they ran out of designations under the number 1. Currently it's 0.97. Although as mentioned I understand that there is a lot of new content arriving with 1.0.

As it was, the old mumble was very simple, and fairly easy (once installed) to use.. There was only Local and Squad Leader chat that I used (if I remember correctly).

The new Mumble is a leap forward in capability, but it's also more complex in my eyes. A side-effect of the new system is that because squad leaders can talk directly to each other without the rest of the team hearing the environment as a SL is very quiet now. I think this in itself discourages people 'bothering' other squads by sharing plans, enemy locations, etc. But some people like the lack of radio chatter no doubt (I can see why but I liked it ).

Possibly it's because of this and the fewer amount of players, but I also don't get that 'team' feeling much any more. Previously it could feel like you were a cog in an out of control machine, which was quite cool to be honest, but now I think the battlefield is quite lonely - most comms just your squad to you.

All added up I believe that PR is too complex for the people that will be installing it and playing it (them having grown tired of vBF2).

War-simmers will play Arma2, and casual gamers will play BF3/CoD. I started to play PR because I played BF2 a lot and wanted to see what the 'realism' mod was like in comparison (BF2 being very arcadey). But I don't think a lot of people play BF2 any more because of newer games. I think PR has gone a bit too far with dedicated comms, asking a LOT from squad leaders (you have to be practically professional now), combined arms complexity, incredibly specialised kits, etc. I still enjoy it, having picked it up again. I just think it's developed beyond what new players expect when they play it.

Give it a shot again! And tell us what you think!

[wuschel]

Hi,

just delurked and can't stop it: I think I played PR since 0.6, with a break now since 0.85 or so.

It is because of the complexity of PR that believe that PR is a game in it's own class, only to be matched by OPF-WGL and some ARMA mods when it comes to the potential of team play. It is some sort of filter for person that do not want or are not capable to play this game in the PR way. You don't need masses of players to have fun - quite the contrary.

Also: If my computer will handle it, I will try and give PR another go at 1.0. And I believe many other players will do so, too.

[waldov]

Yeah people are right theres a giant group of players(maybe even bigger then the current community) who are hibernating basicly. i myself took a break from PR in the search for greater games until i had a life changing realization, yeah CODs got some cool action and graphics and Red orchestras alrightish and i can play any game in the world as long as the pirate bays alive but fuck all these posers Project realitys still alive.

ever since then ive keeped playing PR hard and i think more people out there are coming back once they realise what a shambles the gaming industry's become i mean its 2012 and despite all the talk and "fancy" graphics nothing new or innovative has actually came to the gaming world. its the first time the modding community has actually bested the people who actually made the games to start with. and with time more people will start looking to the modding communities for something else and they wont have to look too far till good old PR comes into the crosshairs again.

And i dont know what this talk is about not many players on PR when im on there usually hundreds on good days you can get about 4-6 full or near full servers. so dont let your spirit waver in front of the hordes of games being shat out by activision and EA once people come to there senses more people are bound to find PR again.

[Nugiman]

PR is old, but there are always at least 2-3 full servers you can play on, on every time of the day.
In main times you have much more servers and players, so there is no need to worry about.
Just wait for 1.0

[AurianTitan]

I started PR during the late month of v0.5 then it went to v0.6. I remember playing on TexasTeamPlayers and it was a great server. Sadly, they don't exist either and neither do Tactics&Teamwork. I took a few breaks before too mainly just to take a break from gaming and concentrate on my personal life like school and etc. But there's a few servers that are normally always populated. Just hop on and we'll see ya on the battlefield!

[Heavy Death]

And they are right. There will be magic happening

See, you sound like major companies, which in the end release a mediocre product, far worse than all the cool things they promised. Im a a hard customer these days and if there really is some really really advanced stuff (nicer animations, better deviation, nicer models are not considered advanced, its just eye candy) as 3D instruments, ballistics, stuff like that, the hardcoded stuff bein un-hardcoded and so on. That is mindblowing magic.

[AfterDune]

Haters gonna hate.

[BloodyDeed]

Just wait.