im new to this game and everything but like alot of u who have 1.7.2.3 patch i couldnt get past the loading screen and every one that told me what to do, well... it just didnt work so i found in my C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta. a file that says setup_battleyearma2oa and setup_battleyearma2rft. so click on them and update them (by update i mean re-install or repair) and so far the game has work for me, also note when the game is launching for the first time it will take a good 15 mins to fully make ur charactor ( or my comp just sucks ) hope it helps