TEK9 welcome pingU and Casshern for OFP:DR

Good Evening Everyone.

My name is Alex "pingU" Smirnoff North and I have just been recruited to run the Operation Flashpoint:Dragon Rising section as Head of Content.

Following Steven "dfb" Leunen's recent job vacancies post on the TEK9 site labelled "Heaven Media needs you!" I decided to give it a shot with an application and to my surprise was given an offer.

Here is what Steven Leunen had to say:

"Today I'm happy to announce one of the new additions to TEK9, Alex. Alex is a talented and motivated news writer and will come on board with us as Head of Content for Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising to make sure that this community has a decent home to come to and find out about their beloved game. Welcome Alex!"

So what is Operation Flashpoint:Dragon Rising?

It is the long awaited First-Person tactical shooter sequel to the 2001 hit Operation Flashpoint:Cold War Crisis. The game puts you in the shoes of a U.S Marine to fight on a fictional island called Skira (which is based on the real island of Kiska to the West of Alaska) against the People's Liberation Army in an effort to avert a full scale war between Russia and China as a result of a dispute of this island.
This game depends not on the gun-and-gun type gameplay but slow, precise manouvers that will help you defeat your opposite number. You will require your team to work together as a unit, using your head, the terrain, your weapons and any vehicles to your advantage to be victorious. Think of it as a large game of chess. You will have to use the correct moves to gain an upper hand over your enemy. The weaponry mimics the weaponry that the troops use today with ballistics coming into effect. No more Call of Duty type sniping, getting a headshot by just getting the crosshair onto the head; you will have to calculate distances, projectile movement and the player movement you are aiming for. Attack/Support helicopters can be easily locked onto and take damage from small arms fire, the same is said for Humvees and Jeeps as well as the problem of the windscreens not being totally bullet proof.

Multiplayer has 3 modes so far:

1.  Co-op: With this mode you and 3 of your friends can take on the missions together.
2.  Infiltration: This is where one team has an objective to hold whislt the other team tries to take control of it. Teams can be as large as 16v16.
3.  Annihilation: This is where you have to destroy the other team. Again, teams can be as large as 16v16.

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer for the PC has been given an advantage over the Consoles, with us allowing to have such massive numbers on the hosted server, the consoles on the other had can only have 4v4. Many of you may have also heard that there is currently no Dedicated Server support for this game at this moment. However, this raised a massive outcry by the community and the developers listened. From what rumours are floating about we are hoping that Dedicated Server support will be released and that there will be major bug fixes that the community have been speaking of. Information is due to be released this Wednesday, with the patch undergoing checks and we should have the first patch this week. Finally, for all you modders out there, this game can be modded and missions can be made. There is an in-built Mission Editor with many missions already been made as well as modifications to the game.

The Team:

As Head of Content I will be putting up an article on the game, highlighting advantages and disadvantages of the whole game, obviously the above is just a quick run-down but I will go into more detail in regards to the game and patches. Not only will I be posting articles, there will be News as well; whether it is game related or team related. I am hoping this community supports this game as it is lots of fun as well as being demanding at times. There already has been a friendly game played between professional e-sport organisations by the names of Team Dignitas and Reason Gaming. Team Dignitas won the match by 2 rounds to Reason's 1. I am hoping that there will be more teams to follow Team Dignitas and Reason Gaming that could be covered in the near future.

Last but not least I would like the Community to also welcome Mike "Casshern" Large. He will be assisting me as Content Deputy for OFP:DR, providing support as we build up the OPF:DR Community. Due to being in my 3rd and Final Year of my Economcis degree I have a lot of work to do, and exams will be tedious. When my workload will be too much Mike will gladly takeover during my absence and make sure every "nut and bolt" is working correctly, keeping the TEK9 community with the most efficient and up-to-date news and articles in regards to OPF:DR. Welcome Mike and we hope you enjoy your stay here!!

Here is what Mike had to say: "I am very grateful for TEK9 and Alex to let me help run and build up the OFP:DR community. I look forward to starting and getting to know the team as well as giving my 100% to the community".

Finally many thanks has to go our to Steven and Paul for giving me this opportunity to give back to a community that has given so much to me. I am looking forward a great deal to working with the TEK9 team as well as keeping the community "fed" with a game that is going to be huge in the future.

Many Thanks

pingU