Battlefield 3

[Teggy]

If you filter the server browser for friends and then join one of those, it should queue you up. At least, that's how it was working yesterday.

[Harkonis]

If you filter the server browser for friends and then join one of those, it should queue you up. At least, that's how it was working yesterday.

seems random whether it queues or just says 'sorry, it's full'

[KePoW]

My email is different for EA than for Live, and I had no problems fwiw.  Oddly I also have the gunclub gun and have yet to go to that site.

Yeah I have the gunclub gun and never went to the website either.  Just automatically unlocked for me.

I did have a EA/Origin account before BF3 came out though.

[Harkonis]

If you see me on, feel free to pop in my party to play.  don't have to wait for an invite   I might have my headset off, but I'll turn it on when you join.  All are welcome.  I might not even bitch at you if you shoot me! 

[metallicorphan]

EU Servers have been down for 3 hrs now,a few hours ago they tweeted this

The maintenance for Xbox 360 EU is complete. We are now monitoring the behaviour and outcome
2 hours ago

but i still can't get into a game.....and i feel like going off on a big rant to the battlefield tweet,just for putting that smiley face at the end...cocks

[Harkonis]

Bugger them

[Redfive]

I'll be on later this evening..plan to play for quite awhile.  Feel free to msg me or join a game.  Wonderpug sorry couldn't accept your invite..was just getting a quick round in before logging for a little bit.

[denoginizer]

I picked this up today.  I hope to be playing most of the day Sunday. 

[Harkonis]

http://www.enjin.com/bf3-signature-generator

[wonderpug]

I'm still loving this game when things click, but it feels like so much of the game is designed to minimize the things I like best about the Battlefield series. 

I love using planes and choppers, but...

• Good luck surviving long enough to unlock flares now that everyone has Stingers and air-to-air missiles unlocked
• at which point, good luck having any time to contribute to the ground battle since there is so much anti-air around and since it takes 20 seconds for the enemy aircraft to respawn

I love having a bunch of real-world weapons to use, but...

• I start without any weapon choice for each class, and
• I've played for 8.5 hours and I've only unlocked one AR, one SMG, a shotgun, and two pistols
• and it takes too @#$% long to unlock the attachments that you need to be effective enough to get the kills to unlock the attachments
• I have no incentive to try new weapons later on because it's too much of a hassle to unlock the attachments all over again
• CoD style kill-based attachment unlocks don't make sense in a game where there are so many contributory things to do besides shoot people with guns, there is potentially so much more downtime in between engagements (because of the larger maps), and when typical engagement ranges are at a distance that makes the starter iron sights such a huge disadvantage

.
I love playing the anti-vehicle role, but for whatever reason, everyone and their grandmother is playing as engineer in this game

• lack of anti-vehicle options for other classes, other than support's C4?
• lack of handy stationary anti-vehicle and anti-air emplacements?

[hepcat]

I love watching the morons who, when they don't get the vehicle they wanted...especially aircraft, will stand there and friggin' shoot at the departing object of their desire.  

Of course, I might be tempted to join them when the moron who gets the helicopter and can obviously see a bunch of us running towards him/her for a ride will lift off immediately before anyone can get to the vehicle in question.

[Harkonis]

To be fair I thought the unlocks came pretty fast.  I know I play more, but I think the biggest difference is playstyle between us Pug.  You're much more cautious and when it comes to getting the attachments it's based on kills.  Running up to a cap point and going COD on them for maximum kills is how to unlock things quickly.

You can level up just fine with a cautious and objective based playstyle (which is why you have the shotgun and pistols as your unlocks since those are for general rank).  Attachments though require kills, not time or points.

You are 100% right on the flaws of the air combat though.

There are tons of anti-vehicle stationary emplacements (tow launchers abound!).  There are however a very noticable lack in anti-air emplacements with the exception of the one useless one at each base.

Recon is the only class without a reliable anti-vehicle method.  Assault gets the noob tube which is very effective against armor.  Support gets mortars AND c4, and engineer gets mines AND rpgs.  

Overall your assessments are correct though and I think what it shows more than anything is that DICE went way too far with the concept of unlocks simply for the sake of having unlocks.  They took things that shouldn't be unlocks and made them unlocks and they made the unlocking tied to things that don't always make sense for a team based objective game.  I think I would rather have seen attachments locked by overall rank or something different with maybe some specialty unlocks like the IR scope being tied to kills.  Anything would make more sense.

It's also quite silly that vehicles have options and weapons locked until you level them up.  This is why I spent the first day whoring jets and choppers as much as possible so I could get my flares and heatseekers before people figured out how to use them on me

I think the best bet to take advantage of the way it is setup is to balance risks with caution and be more aggressive in your caps and defense.  

Also keep in mind that everyone would get more kills and thus more attachments if people would fucking spot things.  ARG!

[leo8877]

If people actually just spotted things I would be happier. 

[hepcat]

If people actually just spotted things I would be happier. 

I play on the PC but I was doing this the entire time I played on the Tehran Highway map Sunday afternoon.  I took sniper and just perched myself on a building roof where I could see the comings and goings of the enemy from a spawn camp across the map.  Since I only got 10 points per spot, it wasn't terribly lucrative, but I would also take shots at them if they were close enough.  All takes is the press of a button to spot, so I don't know why folks aren't doing it by habit at this point before firing...at least when sniping, that is.

[leo8877]

If people actually just spotted things I would be happier. 

I play on the PC but I was doing this the entire time I played on the Tehran Highway map Sunday afternoon.  I took sniper and just perched myself on a building roof where I could see the comings and goings of the enemy from a spawn camp across the map.  Since I only got 10 points per spot, it wasn't terribly lucrative, but I would also take shots at them if they were close enough.  All takes is the press of a button to spot, so I don't know why folks aren't doing it by habit at this point before firing...at least when sniping, that is.

In Bad Company 2 it wasn't an issue.  People understood that you spot the heck out of the enemies and everyone FF on them.  For some reason, almost nobody spots in this game.

[metallicorphan]

yeah i usually spot,not so much soldiers,because when i spot them i shoot at them,maybe if i see a sniper far away or someone i have no chance of getting..however,i usually always spot the enemy aircraft straight away,so as to make it easier for everyone,but mainly our aircraft to aim at them to bring them down

not sure if its a pain for other people having to go to the back button at least on the 360,but it's been that way on past BF titles so not sure why people aren't doing it even more on this title

[Harkonis]

I spend a lot of time in BF3 either flying jets/choppers or using a mortar and both of those are extremely reliant on people spotting.  I've been raging rather much as a result

[wonderpug]

To be fair I thought the unlocks came pretty fast.  I know I play more, but I think the biggest difference is playstyle between us Pug.  You're much more cautious and when it comes to getting the attachments it's based on kills.  Running up to a cap point and going COD on them for maximum kills is how to unlock things quickly.

Yeah, that's fair.  I just don't remember feeling so equipment-deprived in the Bad Company games. 

I think I may need to just switch over to Rush mode for a while to bring up my per-round kill count.  In Conquest I spend more time capturing flags than getting kills.

not sure if its a pain for other people having to go to the back button at least on the 360,but it's been that way on past BF titles so not sure why people aren't doing it even more on this title

I'm frustrated with the lack of spotting and the lack of people dropping ammo & med kits.  You'd think with how much people love filling XP bars they'd notice how many Pavlovian pop-up messages they get when they do these things.

Maybe  part of the spotting thing is due to this being the first non-bad company BF game to have the feature?  A lot of players who've never used the feature before?  Dunno.

[Harkonis]

I know you aren't a big fan, but Squad DM is amazing for quick attachment unlocks

[Harkonis]

Spotting was in BF2, and BC2, and BF:43, so it's not new either for BF or for consoles.  I don't think there is a good excuse for why not.

[Soulchilde]

All I want is a training mode for Jets and Helos.  Seems dumb to learn while trying to play in a actual match.  

Think I will change my tactics and pick one point to defend for now on.

[Harkonis]

Here was my most fun match yet:

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/battlereport/show/2670339/2/172237086/

I got hate voice messages telling me to stop my gay ass camping.  Um, it's a capture the point style objective game and I was 'camping' the point the whole time...

I rushed the objective closest to the enemy spawn early and placed a respawn beacon.  I then spawned there every time harassing and neutralizing the point every chance I could.  Capped it a few times when help showed up, but I was basically keeping most of their team busy dealing with me and my team was able to control the other two easily as a result.  Kept moving my respawn beacon and on the rare times they found it, I would cap the point, die, respawn at the point and then put another beacon down.  It was quite exciting.

At the end recap, instead of scrolling through all my ribbons, it just showed one and had a (16) next to it.  yay!

I especially like what my 'best weapon' was.  12 kills with my pistol.  Odd that the web version doesn't show vehicle usage and says 13 ribbons not 16.  I cant' figure out what causing the variances.

The Straight Pull Bolt upgrade for the bolt action sniper rifles is pretty stellar.  It basically just lets you chamber the next round without unscoping. 

so the TLDR version is 'defending one point can be both great fun and good for the team'

[jament]

I love that I can finish a round with 8 kills and 10 deaths and still be on top of the leader board because of capping flags, reviving teammates and spotting. It's great that you actually get rewarded (except for unlocks) for, y'know, working on the objective of the game.

I hate that it's so damned hard to find anyone who will use a mic or is willing to stay together as a squad or work together. It's astounding. On four different servers yesterday I tried to leave and join squads to find some guys talking or using mics and finally found one guy. We had a good time keeping each other alive and wreaking havoc on the other team. Why aren't people on the mic? Are they on party chat?  It can't be right that more people playing OTP in NHL 12 are mic'd up than those playing BF3.  Right?

[Harkonis]

I think most people are in party chats or no mic at all.  If MS would make it so you could have party chat seamlessly switch to gamechat and back it would greatly help a sense of community.  Until then it's easier to just play with friends and not listen to randoms.

[hepcat]

Here was my most fun match yet:

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/battlereport/show/2670339/2/172237086/

I got hate voice messages telling me to stop my gay ass camping.  Um, it's a capture the point style objective game and I was 'camping' the point the whole time...

 

[metallicorphan]

Spotting was in BF2, and BC2, and BF:43, so it's not new either for BF or for consoles.  I don't think there is a good excuse for why not.

to be honest,i have just been playing and the spotting would only work half the time

I know this next paragraph wont be met with love:-but i am getting bored of this game already,BFBC1 and 2 i liked much better than this,and of course BF43 i was on that for months and months,and that game only had 3 maps(4 if including the flying map),i can't even put my finger on what it is that is making me not love this


on another note:
Sold 5 million in first week

The Fastest-Selling Game in EA History Propelled by Great Reception from Critics and Player Word-of-Mouth

[drifter]

[Harkonis]

Spotting was in BF2, and BC2, and BF:43, so it's not new either for BF or for consoles.  I don't think there is a good excuse for why not.

to be honest,i have just been playing and the spotting would only work half the time

I know this next paragraph wont be met with love:-but i am getting bored of this game already,BFBC1 and 2 i liked much better than this,and of course BF43 i was on that for months and months,and that game only had 3 maps(4 if including the flying map),i can't even put my finger on what it is that is making me not love this


on another note:
Sold 5 million in first week

The Fastest-Selling Game in EA History Propelled by Great Reception from Critics and Player Word-of-Mouth

Spotting won't work if you spam the button because there is a lockout to prevent you from just mashing it to find people you can't see otherwise. 

[wonderpug]

As soon as I unlock the aerial reconnaissance drone thingie I really want to try doing a mortar + MAV combo with someone.  I'm sure the point winnings won't come out very even but if it works it'll be too fun to matter.

[Harkonis]

The MAV is pretty awesome.  Nobody hardly shoots them down and they spot EVERYTHING easily.  However the person using it gets crap for points.  It wins games, just looks bad on scoreboard.

[wonderpug]

Handy SOFLAM guide:
http://www.youtube.com/v/0oVr5uQsifo&hl

[Soulchilde]

Horrible time playing tonight. Always on the losing team. Think I am done for the evening and try again tomorrow

[wonderpug]

Nice playing with you guys again, kepow & crew.  Sorry about the no-mic (sleeping house) and the abrupt departure (server started rubberbanding bad and it was past my bedtime).

[Soulchilde]

Horrible time playing tonight. Always on the losing team. Think I am done for the evening and try again tomorrow

After a good meal I actually had a good time playing with everyone tonight. 

[leo8877]

I got an IR scope for one of the assault rifles and it feels like I'm cheating.

[wonderpug]

Yeah, the IR scopes are ridiculous.  I think the only thing keeping the entire BF population from having them equipped is just that most people haven't unlocked them yet. 

[gellar]

Yeah my IR scope has saved me and my team's ass so many times.  Often when we are defending a point I'll just setup outside of the area and IR spot everything while taking potshots.  I love the damn thing.

[Harkonis]

It simply provides too much of a contrast between the normal difficulty with target aquisition and with the IR. 

It's like the difference between building a Star Destroyer Lego kit with no instructions, to building an log cabin with Duplo blocks.

[gellar]

It simply provides too much of a contrast between the normal difficulty with target aquisition and with the IR. 

It's like the difference between building a Star Destroyer Lego kit with no instructions, to building an log cabin with Duplo blocks.

Yeah I thought it'd really only be effective in low light situations.  Not so much.  Bright sunlight?  No problem!  Targets still light up like a Christmas tree.

[TheEgoWhip]

I have had NO playtime this past week, but I totally need to hook up with GT players. So much more fun playing with decent team players.