...of the MAJOR differences between WWIIOL and anything else out there.  Stuff that is incredible...  but not noticable unless you know to look.

1. The 'world'.

- One map.  One server.  No zones.  No zoning.  You can literally get in a truck in Britain, catch a ride across the English Channel on a transport ship.  Disembark at Calais [or anywhere on the French coast] and proceed to drive to Koln/Dusseldorf/anywhere in Germany...   assuming you didn't run out of fuel and had enough time [a day or so...  REAL time].

- The world is a half scale map of Europe.  Currently with Belgium, and large parts of France, Germany, Holland and Britain modelled.  The rest of Europe is there...  but has no towns or roads yet.  It's being filled in 'as needed'.  Without a printed map...  it's VERY easy to get lost.

2. Viewable area.

- You can see [and shoot] for MILES.  Vision extends to about 3 miles.  Compare that to other FPS shooter games that allow you to see 300 yards if you're lucky.

3. Forums.

- The official forums are a snake pit.  There are the usual trolls, hate mongers, and outright idiots that post there along with a lot of good people.  Avoid them unless you have no choice.  The only worthwhile ones are the Community Support forums.

4. The damage system.

- No hit points.  No hit 'bubbles'.

- Each vehicle is modelled in 3D with seperate damageable componenets.  All weapons are modelled with fairly accurate ballistics, penetration, etc.

- See example below in next post.

Example 1.  Tank.

Target - Two Panzer 2's in a line side by side.

Firer - British 2 Pounder Anti-Tank gun.

- Shot fired at 800m/s

-Shot impacts Panzer2 A in 14mm left side hull at 750m/s @ 75degrees depositing 75000j energy.

- Shot penetrates side hull generating 23 pieces of spall [bits of the hull tear off and pepper interior of the tank]

- Shot impacts Gunner torso @ 720 m/s @ 60deg depositing 10000j energy.  [Gunner is blown in half]

- Shot impacts Fuel Tank @ 715m/s @ 75 deg depositing 30000j energy.  Fire check = yes.  [Shot passes through fuel tank setting Panzer on fire].

-Shot impacts Panzer2 A in 14mm right side hull at 710m/s @ 75degrees depositing 75000j energy. [Shot exits other side of tank]

- Shot penetrates side hull generating 21 pieces of spall [bits of the hull tear off and pepper anything on the other side of the tank]

-Shot impacts Panzer2 B in left front Track sprocket at 670m/s @ 50degrees depositing 110000j energy.  Track = Break [Shot impact next panzer in line, ripping the track sprocket off].

- Shot impacts Panzer2 B in 14mm Left front hull @ 350m/s @ 50deg depositing 75000j energy.

- Shot penetrates side hull, generating 36 pieces of spall [more shrapnel to shred the inside of the tank]

- Shot impacts PAnzer2 B front hull @ 20 degrees @ 110m/s.  Ricoshet = yes.  [Shot is really slow now.  Hits the inside front hull at a bad angle and basically stops...  roling around the drivers feet].

Now...  you don't SEE all this in game.  All the firer would have seen is his round hitting the first Panzer...  followed by it bursting into flames, and the second panzer losing his track.

But it is THERE.  Which is why sometimes you hit something...  and it doesn't die.  Had the round missed the crew, fuel , and ammo.  There is a chance that it could well have passed right through the tanl without any damage whatsoever...  the 'Spall' is often more damaging than the round itself...  it's like a shotgun blast from where the shot impacts.

There are some pictures of the WWIIOL damage model and of rounds and their effects in the following thread in the WWIIOL forums.  A DEV posted them with their DEBUG mode turned on so you can see what happens.  There are pictures on several of the pages int hat thread.

http://discussions.playnet.com/viewtopic.php?t=53455

Heh. Playskool forums.

It's like a soap-opera.

Kamel has posted a pretty good description.

But you really have to give it a try. And don't be afraid to be totally confused when you first drop in.

It's not like Ghost Recon where you bump into the edge of a map. There is NO EDGE!

And many many times, especially as infantry, you will be killed by something you can't really see clearly. Even with binocs.

Playskool can be pretty entertaining too...

How receptive to new player are the people in the game?

I just d/ld the free 14 day trial, and spent some time trying to find info on what the hell to do, but in the short time I played the game, I felt pretty stupid as everyone seems to have memorized the sounds of things down to where they could tell you a persons nationality by the noise they make, nevermind that everyone refers to vehicles and so forth in some form of grognard code that I don't understand.

So I was afraid to ask any questions for fear of being blasted out of my seat by some vet that's been studying WWII for 40 years or something.

-------
They panic, so... just hold them down
I could live like this
I'm closing in; hate all around
I could be like this
Hearing them; them in my head
How can they be so sweet... sweet?

No one should flame you for asking.

Always ask.  Only time people might be a bit short is if it's an intense firefight and you're asking "What key does this, what key does that?".  It's a good idea to learn the BASICS for movement etc offline or somewhere quiet first  :-)

But on the whole...  people are fairly helpful.

Tune chan 99 for training info and guidance.  There are usually [but not always] people assigned to help new people out.

Feel free to ask any question many ppl eager to help the newbee such as i'm.

When i started 1 year ago i spent a week wandering aimlessly then i started asking and all the sudden i began to understand who this game works. Now i can call my self a vet, but never forget the ppl who helped me to became as addicted as they are.

The only Hungarian squad in WWII Online

HUN HQ: http://www.wwiionline.hu

It's not movement, I took a day or two to run around in the offline trainer. Part of it is the lingo, some of which I've figured out. Like EI. for about 3 hours I was totally confused when someone would say EI doing whatever, until it clicked that it meant enemy infantry.

The rest is probably stuff I can only learn through practice like why the panzer I was shooting with an AT gun wasn't getting hurt. or How I move up in rank. I know it has something to do with completing missions, but I have no clue how missions are completed or what buildings are what, stuff like that.

-------
They panic, so... just hold them down
I could live like this
I'm closing in; hate all around
I could be like this
Hearing them; them in my head
How can they be so sweet... sweet?

Channel 99 is the newbie help channel. Tune a radio to that freq to get any help you need.

Newbie Radio Tuning..

Hit the Enter Key to open the text bar. On the left of the bar are 4 radio spaces that tune the four radios. Clck in any empty or tuned space and a second bar will open above the four. Type the frequency you want to tune to and hit the enter key. You will be tuned to that freq. You can select xmit/recv on or off or both.

ok a short help:

et: tank

ea: aircraft

eb: boat

edd: destroyer

rtb: return to base, otw: on the way,

mission:

for inf, bomber plane:

10 min

despawn near friendly flag

for tank, fighter plane:

same for inf + atleast 1 kill

AB: Armybase

Shown red on map, this is where all the depots and FB from this city get its supply. If u get all AB in a ton then the town is yours.

FB: forward base, fire base

contain 1 vech and 1 inf spawn. Only 1 FB between city. If its owned by the enemy then u have to blow it. 8 satchels on each FB building. This means 4 sapper/FB 

CP, depot:

This is used for those little Flag building and a nearby bigger darkbrown building where u can spawn in also.

I hope u can understand some of it, cause english is not my native language. :))

The only Hungarian squad in WWII Online

HUN HQ: http://www.wwiionline.hu

_______________________
Can't have my WWIIOL Sig cause making love with sheep is against the mmorpg.com rules =(

So did you find out why your shots were having no effect?

This might explain it.

http://www.users.on.net/~kamel/post/howto/howto.html

Never be afraid to ask questions. Most WWIIOL players are more than happy to help new players understand the game better. As far as the lingo goes, here's something that might help a bit.  ;)

BEF = British Expeditionary Force
RAF = Royal Air Force
FAF = French Air Force
ARFR = French Army
Axis = germans (also Italians japanese eventually )
LW = (1) Luftwaffe
LW = (2) Lone Wolf (player unaffiliated to a squad)
CC = Understood , copy ,concur, will do ,etc
rgr = roger
FB = Forward Base
CP = (1) choke point (a Town)
CP = (2) Contrary to what CRS calls it, the common use of CP is for the flag buildings, NOT towns.
Cap = (1) Capture
CAP = (2) Combat air Patrol (fighter cover)
CAS = Close Air support (Air to ground support)
Fubar = F****D up beyond all recognition
Snafu = Situation normal All F****D up
Pz = Panzer
EA = Enemy Aircraft
ET = Enemy Tank
EI = Enemy Infantry
ED = enemy Destroyer
EDD = Enemy Destroyer
EB = Enemy Fairmile or FPB
EF = Fnemy Freighter
Brg = Bearing
HE = High explosive round
AP = Armour Piercing Round
HEAT = High explosive Anti-Tank Round
HAAC = hold at all Cost
Alt = Altitude
Spd = Speed
AHC = allied High command
GHC = German High Command
666 callsign = warning player of ea on their tail.
Drag = lead EA Low to a destination (usually an FB for dispatch by AAA guns
RDP = Research and Devlopment progress
ETA = Estimated Time of arrival
ETD = Estimated time of departure
RR = Railroad
ATG = Anti Tank Gun
ATR = anti Tank Rifle
Matty = Matilda II Medium ank used by BEF
Vicky / vickers = BEF Light tank/recon vehicle.
A13 = BEF light Tank
AAA = Area anti Air / AA Guns
Flak = Flugzeugabwehrkannone Flak Guns ...(german AAA)
PAK = Panzerabwehrkannone ...(GERMAN Anti tank guns)
HT = Halftrack Sdkfz 7
MG = Macine gun
EDD = Enemy Destroyers
EFam = Enemy Fairmille (Rarely used because of threat level) Fam then usually followed later by ID. Axis)
ETT = Enemy Troop Transport
RN = Royal Navy = British Navy
Mar Nat = Marine nationale = French Navy
KM = Kreigsmarine = German Navy
FMB = Fairmile boat
RTB = Return To Base
Vis = Vision (as in 'Got vis on ET')
LOS = Line Of Sight
JU = Junkers 87 Stuka
Depot = Infantry spawn Point 3 storey bulding with roof access and multiple exits usually sighted near a flag building.
Veh spawn = at FB large camo net covered buildign from which Tanks ATGS and AA guns. Spawn in ABs currently a Brown multi doored building ...soon™™ to change
Inf spawn = at FB a raised earthen berm surrounded by barbed wire where infantry spawn from. In ABs currently a green 2 storey bulding with 2 exits.
AI = artificial Intelligence , the sythetic machine gun ATGs and AAA guns auto controlled by the Computer eg AI MG , AI AAA, AI ATG.
Winchester = Aircraft out of ammo (used on Allied side only)
Bingo Ammo = Out of ammo
Feet Wet = Aircraft Passed over coastline heading out to sea
Feet Dry = Aircraft Passed over coast line heading inland
88 = Short for the German 88mm Flak Cannon
38t = light Panzer
109 = German fighter aircraft model
110 = German Plane
111 = German Bomber Model
232 = German Scout Car
251 = Sdkfz 251 armoured half track mounting MG
2lbr = British anti-tank gun
911 = Text emergency announcement to signify that a town is in danger of being overrun


This list is far from complete, but I hope that it helps a bit.  ;)

Have Fun!

Generallieutenant Pruitt, Retired GHC
1st Lithuanian Brigade "Iron Wolves"

Yea Coldmeat, like the others have said. do not be afraid to ask questions.

I will try to find you ingame if you are on when I am and try to help you along. I remeber how daunting this game can be when you first start off. Dont let it frustrate you, it is well worth the time to learn. Before you know it you will be blasting panzer turrets sky high.

btw...is Coldmeat your ingame name?

www.Razorbacks2.com