[First Steps] 1. Questions to ask yourself

What Map do I want to play on?

Which side do I want to play?

What do each of these sides have to offer?

What kind of opposition do these sides face?

Which difficulty Preset do I want to take?

If you join a Server with the intent of becoming a Zeus, it usually is the best idea to think about it beforehand and afterwards joining on an empty public Server, so you can set it up as quickly as possible.Considering this will have the biggest impact on the game, it is the most important one. Stratis is a fairly small Map for example. Putting any tank or jet warfare on it, is not really going to happen. Even Malden is too small for Jets. Even Tanoa and Altis just pass by underneath you when you get into a Fastmover. But that's just one thought. The Map also decides which sides you can play as and which enemies you can face. For example AAF on Malden seems like a bit of a stretch or the FIA roaming Tanoa.This can also influence your Map choice, but it can be interchangeable depending on which one you prefer. If the Map is less important than the sides, you're going to lead with this question. If the Map is more important than the sides, then obviously it's the other way around.You can sort of emulate other Factions and Scenarios, but that takes a lot of effort to set up as well as some luck, with your Players as they will have to suspend their disbelief a little. For example I was once put into the Vietnam jungle emulated by Tanoa as we fought the Vietcong represented by Syndikat forces, as the US Army represented by NATO. But as I said, it's a lot to set up really, so the general idea is to use the standard Arma lore and build on it.Thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of each faction is useful to set up the entirety of the game. Suddenly giving the Syndikat for example NATO Tanks is a bit ridiculous and will most likely get called out. So thinking about their Resources and abilities, as well as mindset is important to set up an interesting narrative.Every story is only as good as it's villain. So thinking about the Opposition you will be facing and what you can reasonably take on will vary. For example it is interesting Storytelling as FIA Guerilla forces to go around this large AAF fortress with a Tank Platoon in it instead of attacking it, while en route to your AO.If you don't have any idea about the factions here's a short run down, until I have the time to make an excessive Guide about them or find one, that is suitable.– available on every Map and the Ops can range from Spec-Ops behind enemy lines, over hardcore infantry warfare to Tank and Aerial battles.– same as with NATO, although the standard Narrative of Arma 3 has to be changed a little depending on the Map, considering they were thrown out of Stratis, Altis, Malden and never actually held an official mandate on Tanoa.– available on Stratis & Altis. They are great for setting up Guerilla warfare. Depending on the timeline you can throw them against NATO, CSAT and / or the AAF. Naturally there's also the option to play them allied with NATO and still running Ops for them.– available on Stratis & Altis. They are pretty good to play for a more lax military Setting. Also checkpoints and base defence, as well as seek and destroy missions against the FIA. Depending on the timeline they can face NATO or be allied with them, while always fighting the FIA. If you really change things up you might even be able to pit them against CSAT.– available on Tanoa, Malden, Stratis and Altis. Although their main base of Operations is Tanoa, I feel you can put them as drug pushers, as well as human and weapons traffickers on each of these Maps. They're also probably the only faction I'd say would actually go against civilians. They can sort of be connected to CSAT as well as the FIA and AAF, but generally they should be used as the enemies of all.The difficulty Preset is sometimes locked on Servers, so be sure to check if it's on “(forced)” or not. If not you can choose it yourself if you got the Admin rights and set up the Mission anew, I will explain that Part with The Admin portion of this Guide in-depth. Important for now is to know the Ups and Downs with each difficulty.will generally get you an influx of many players, that just want to have a good time, as the enemy isn't too much of a challenge. The main problem with this difficulty though is that you may have to put out ridiculous amounts of enemies, just to make it a bit of a challenge the more Players come onto the Server.is generally a good idea to use as it's fairly balanced and the enemies are not too shabby. Depending on the skill of the players you have and their coordination though, you'll have to look at the Balancing though, that it still is somewhat of a fair fight.is usually what draws more experienced players in and those who seek a challenge. It can be rather unforgiving and is pretty good to set up an uphill battle. This can naturally alienate a lot of people and sometimes your Server will just stay completely empty, as there are not a lot of people that search for a Server like that, speaking from my experience.