[quote=kingkonrad]
The thing was, I would say this- realism isn't the aim, it's a cited point of reference. Task Force Hephastatus is the perfect example of this. Yes, I stole a lot of inspiration from Arma 3, and I mean, a lot (fuck, it might as well have been called a personal take on it, but hey, I thought I'd add a lot of my original content to create a semi-self created story). But I put in my own timeline, my own way of how things could work- and "Realism" in some cases, doesn't mean historical or exactly even a future path. I don't like going overboard with it- or else you'd never be able to RP it out effectively enough. And while the modern soldier is perhaps sitting away in peacetime, this is something as a writer, that we can subdivert- we aren't done with Afghanistan, and while the calm and peaceful moments are in there, nobody wants that. They want the moment when things go to shit, is frantic. And I know more than well enough what conflict is like- I am in a MilSim clan, with many former military members. They have banter. You may not understand it, but these are people who laugh in the face of death, they're really funny, they just don't give a shit sometimes about the little things, even in the worst of times. Crazy really.
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Arma 3 is realistic until you get trapped by a vengeful god inside of a rock while the AI all pinpoint you and land headshots from a couple hundred meters away. I've spent a couple hundred hours there, I would know.

Also: "And I know more than well enough what conflict is like- I am in a MilSim clan, with many former military members"

That's not even true at all, dude. I'm a cadet and I play Arma but I can admit that I know full and well that I have no fucking clue what conflict is like other than what other peoples' experiences have been. You can talk to other people about it but you cannot say that at all unless you've been in it. So everyone's going to be skewed on the concept of realism. It's just how people handle it that kills stories. Too boring or too unrealistic.

But the banter is all military people really have when they're bored. When you have nothing to do, you're going to strangle your best friend to get back the Doritos he stole (true story) or sit in the corner and watch everything go up in a fiery flame of ineptitude while talking about which actresses you want to bang (also a true story.) It's a different society.