I reinstalled Arma Gold because after reading so much about Arma online I wanted to try it again. Maybe I was in a bad mood the first time I tried it. I hated it then. But after a few minutes of trying the obstacle course today I remembered the main reason I abandoned it. No matter how I adjust the mouse sensitivity I just can't control my soldier properly. I've played more games than I care to remember and I've never struggled with movement control like I have in this game. BTW I'm playing on Windows Vista. I tried using the keyboard to turn right/left but it was even worse than the mouse.

I think I could enjoy this game if I could just control movement, but for now there's no way I can put up with it.

I did an online search and found this to be a common complaint about Arma. Maybe there is a way to configure it so the controls are usable. I hope so, I would really like to play it.

I'm just trying to guess what your problem is, but maybe you are not familiar with ArmAs special way of character control. You might notice that when you move the mouse, at first only the reticule in the center of the screen moves around. Only when you reach the edges of your screen the soldier starts turning in the given direction. Maybe that is what's giving you trouble. You can adjust this behaviour under Options -> Game Options -> Aiming deadzone. Reduce this to zero to get your standard FPS instant turn.

Yeah, many people don't seem to like the on screen aiming. Personally I like it a lot and got used to it within minutes when playing the original Operation Flashpoint (now called ARMA: Cold War Assault).

Anyway, in ARMA and ARMA2 it can be easily deactivated. The option you're looking for is probably the "floating" in the controls menu. It's a slider, just move it all the way to the left and the crosshair will always be centered, so slight mouse movement instantly turns the view and the character instead of moving the weapon around.

The aiming is still very soft though, there's a certain lag there which may still annoy you and I think there's no way to get rid of it (except maybe by using some mod or editing some files). IIRC in ARMA 2 this "softness" is much more subtle and makes the game control more easily for people who prefer classic FPS aiming.

For what it's worth, the obstacle course is the one place that really makes it stand out. The rest of the game you'll hardly notice the difference. Get past this first scenario / mission and you'll discover A) it's not a big deal, and B) there's a good game waiting beyond the stupid obstacle course.