• Getting over it: BF3 isn't all that bad

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    Chapel
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    Published on 02-03-12 10:02 AM  Number of Views: 9165  
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    HS-bf3-pngI think it's safe to say a lot of us came from Battlefield 2.
    Battlefield 2 was a masterpiece in strategic, team based first person shooters. It really had everything I ever wanted. But, even when it first came out it was littered with bugs and problems. Most of us tend to forget it because the last patch that made a difference came out in 2006 (1.41) and then they were nice enough to throw the 1.5 patch at us in 2009.


    I think having 5 solid years with a wonderfully working BF2 has made us forget that some games ship 'unfinished'.

    When I first got Battlefield 3, I was wowed by the graphics and the control but a few things made me angry:
    Reduction in classes
    No Commander Mode
    no VOIP
    stupid Battlelog interface
    smaller squads
    The absolute WORST mini-map I've ever seen.

    After a while, I actually didn't mind about the reduction in classes. I felt like they actually did a reasonable job balancing the classes and making some work better.

    Commander mode is still a sore spot for me. I enjoyed getting my orders from a commander. I enjoyed requesting UAVs and artillery. In fact, I still think that it's BS that there's no way to call for UAVs. I understand that the user controlled MAV and Mortars are supposed to be a replacement for those things, but here's the problem:

    No VOIP. This is still inexcusable. Without VOIP, you can't ask someone on your team as a whole to work a MAV to help spot people... you can't shout to a mortar person that you need support on an objective. It's 2012... and they thought it was ok to release a team-based PC game with no VOIP!? It's just ridiculous.

    Luckily, we have Team Speak. Though without having a working OSD for Team Speak, we're relegated to using squad-only chat. It would be brilliant if there was a plugin that allowed for 'squad', 'team' and 'all' and also had a working OSD so you could tell who was talking (you know, like Battlefield 2 did in 2005...)

    But I digress... despite all these shortcomings, the game is sufficiently enjoyable. When I'm actually playing the game, I'm not really thinking about these things. I'm playing the game for what it is.

    I've noticed a distinct lack in players and I wonder what that can be attributed to. I've noticed a majority of CoD players are switching to Battlefield after another disappointing (to them) release of what some people refer to as MOTSOS or "more of the same old shit". You know... like Madden and Guitar Hero and now Call of Duty.

    I do think the majority of the gripes in this game can be handled with a simple VOIP installation with an OSD and both team and squad based voice targeting. Though it has not been even acknowledged by DICE at this point... it will be eternally frustrating.

    Despite these setbacks, I think we all need to just 'get over it' and play the game.

    Either that or agree to abandon it entirely and go back to BF2.
    This article was originally published in blog: Getting over it: BF3 isn't all that bad started by Chapel
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    Comments 14 Comments
    1. triggerhappy2005's Avatar
      triggerhappy2005 - 02-04-12, 07:18 PM
      I'll continue to play BF3 but I will never forget how I and many others were lied to about this game.

      I will never pre-order another Dice game again. They can not be taken at their word.
    1. Alundil's Avatar
      Alundil - 02-04-12, 07:49 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by triggerhappy2005 View Post
      I'll continue to play BF3 but I will never forget how I and many others were lied to about this game.

      I will never pre-order another Dice game again. They can not be taken at their word.
      +1

      Sent via highly charged bolt of electricity.
    1. HeavyG's Avatar
      HeavyG - 02-05-12, 12:33 PM
      I never got into Battlefield 2, but Battlefield 3 is just simply amazing to me. Sometimes it isn't necessarily about game play features alone. Sure there are some things that could be better, but the graphics and artwork on Battlefield 3 are something very special and are simply top of the class.

      If you don't have a rig capable of running on high or ultra, then you are likely going to shrug your shoulders at Battlefield 3 and say "I just don't get it". The game is simply beautiful and really delivers a top notch gaming experience to those that have the hardware to capture it.

      Sure, I understand that not everyone has rigs capable of playing Battlefield 3 on the desired settings, and that is okay, but you really miss out on a HUGE part of what the developers put into their product. Those that get mad at DICE for not delivering on some things, may have some valid points, but I really think that some are too harsh on their comments. Will it go down as being the best game ever? No. But Battlefield 3 is quite possibly one of the best games of this year, if not the best game of the year. Only time will tell.

      As for those that are upset about the pre-order, simply don't pre-order the games and wait for the reviews. If you don't wait for the review, then you are always going to be taking a risk.
    1. N-Ur-Face's Avatar
      N-Ur-Face - 02-05-12, 10:14 PM
      I'm still laughing at all you fools who fought with me and a few others about how this was going to be the best game ever.

      Yes, it is that bad. And this God-worthy graphics system looks nothing like real life. Yeah, the close up graphics are great but the lighting is horrible and the colors in the environments just don't look realistic at all. It's arcadish. Dirt 3 seriously looks better. The tesselation and shadowing aren't as advanced as in BF3, the colors are much closer to real.

      The gameplay was alright. Not bad, I won't lie. A little too easy to pick up on IMO. I'm not saying it was bad, gameplay wise, but it definitely lacked in comparison to the hype it had, the expectations, and BF2.
    1. Chapel's Avatar
      Chapel - 02-07-12, 12:40 PM
      I'd say my biggest problem is the unlock system... nearly all the vehicles are NEUTERED at first. Simple things like "air-to-air missiles" and countermeasures should be always unlocked for jets.
      LMGs should be standard equipment on tanks. ATGMs should be standard on IFVs.
      Missiles should be standard on AA... I shouldn't have to hurt the rest of the team because I want to upgrade my vehicle situation.
    1. Chapel's Avatar
      Chapel - 02-07-12, 12:42 PM
      and for that matter... where the hell are JDAMs for jets?
      Jets BOMB things... they don't fire rockets
    1. Alundil's Avatar
      Alundil - 02-07-12, 01:19 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Chapel View Post
      and for that matter... where the hell are JDAMs for jets?
      Jets BOMB things... they don't fire rockets
      Didn't you hear? The head guys at EA and DICE think missiles that can strike targets on the ground are bombs.

      :/
    1. Alundil's Avatar
      Alundil - 02-07-12, 01:22 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Chapel View Post
      I'd say my biggest problem is the unlock system... nearly all the vehicles are NEUTERED at first. Simple things like "air-to-air missiles" and countermeasures should be always unlocked for jets.
      LMGs should be standard equipment on tanks. ATGMs should be standard on IFVs.
      Missiles should be standard on AA... I shouldn't have to hurt the rest of the team because I want to upgrade my vehicle situation.
      Yeah - that's a valid complaint I have as well about the vehicle unlocks.

      For a person getting into piloting "late in the game" relatively speaking (as there are hundreds of pilots with all the unlocks now) even taking off and flying for a few seconds is almost impossible with no unlocks versus all unlocks regardless of pilot skill. This means that the pilots who start late and have no unlocks will score virtually no points in the aircraft and therefore earn no unlocks and the pattern repeats itself.
    1. felixdacat's Avatar
      felixdacat - 02-10-12, 10:49 AM
      I won't ever pre-order another BF game again. I like it, but not enough to justify $60. The lack of built in voice chat and commander are my two biggest beefs with it too. As far as other versions, I played BF2142 for several months and really enjoyed it.

      So, back to Counter Strike. I will pre order CS GO, though. I'm 99.99% sure I won't stop playing it after a month.
    1. Stick07's Avatar
      Stick07 - 02-11-12, 10:35 PM
      I have a few grievances as well.

      I wish it were just a little slower-paced, like BF2/2142 and less like BC2, except Rush. Rush is fine. Conquest should be just a little more drawn out. It really is ok to go ten seconds without seeing an enemy. Really.

      I wish they used a clip count instead of bullet count for your ammo. Bullet count is just stupid and arcade, and it's so lame that you can fire two bullets, reload, and only subtract two bullets instead of one entire clip. The clip count in BF2/2142 and before really added another dimension IMO... you really had to think twice about reloading your weapon. Loved it.

      VOIP, of course. It's so EFFING STUPID that there is no in-game VOIP. I wish we could figure out some way to utilize Mumble. It's a VOIP system, sort of like TS, but it allows for anyone on the team within 75m of each other to talk to each other with 3D-Positional Audio. In other words, you hear the voice of the person talking coming from the person's player on the battlefield, so you can yell at the person next to you that there's a guy at 12 o' clock, no matter which squad he's in. In addition to this, it automatically puts you on the team you're on and in your squad and lets you talk to your squad (squad-voip) just like our TS does now, but goes further by allowing all squad LEADERS on the same team to talk to each other as well. It's extremely, EXTREMELY effective in Project Reality. I cannot over-emphasize the effectiveness of Mumble.

      If we could utilize it, voip issues and team communication problems would be a thing of the past.

      -Stick07
    1. Alundil's Avatar
      Alundil - 02-13-12, 05:11 PM
      According to their site (Mumble) I don't see any support for BF3 (just downloaded it for the first time for an EVE Fleet thing).
    1. Captain Coors's Avatar
      Captain Coors - 02-15-12, 05:14 PM
      I think BF3 is the cat's meow. Been having fun with it. My only grip is air unlocks. No problem with ground vehicle unlocks since the basic ones are fast and easy to unlock and there are tons of ground vehicles to do it with, but air is harder to get into let alone unlock.
    1. Chapel's Avatar
      Chapel - 02-24-12, 04:09 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Alundil View Post
      Yeah - that's a valid complaint I have as well about the vehicle unlocks.

      For a person getting into piloting "late in the game" relatively speaking (as there are hundreds of pilots with all the unlocks now) even taking off and flying for a few seconds is almost impossible with no unlocks versus all unlocks regardless of pilot skill. This means that the pilots who start late and have no unlocks will score virtually no points in the aircraft and therefore earn no unlocks and the pattern repeats itself.
      luckily, I found a 'flight practice server' that catered to this... it only allowed 6v6 and it really helped me level up my jets... and now I'm a force to be reckoned with... (especially since I sorted out the joystick problems)

      but what's the point of proximity scanners on a jet... seriously
    1. triggerhappy2005's Avatar
      triggerhappy2005 - 02-25-12, 02:36 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Chapel View Post
      but what's the point of proximity scanners on a jet... seriously
      Proximity scanners are good for dogfighting. They let you see where the enemy is w/o using freelook.
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