For the Battlefield Players

[Lazybones]

I agree with KenM. EA is rapidly moving up to pass Atari (i.e. Infogrammes) to the top spot on my all-time most hated publisher list. While it is a demo, and I have already preordered the game, little petty stuff like this is just annoying.

I think there are two things at work here. The first is that when BF1942 came out, many people just played the Wake Island demo for months, instead of rushing out to buy the game at once upon release. Since computer games have a sharp initial price curve downward (at least relatively so; I usually see the first step from $50 to $40 within a few months, and the next $10 drop within the first year), they want people to buy soon after release. I'm sure being able to show high initial sales figures have something to do with it as well. By crippling the demo (Wake Island was essentially a complete game in itself), they push people to buy the final version soon after release.

Second, from what the company reps on the EA UK forums have been saying, I think that it's just a play to justify their policy of mandating official EA servers (available for a fee to those willing to host) in order to gain ranking points. Calling the removal of the timelimit a "hack" is just stupid (IMHO), bit it allows them to claim that this policy is necessary to give them control by mandating official servers in order for people to participate in the ranking system. This is also why they require official "accounts" to play online, which many people have been griping about on the forums.

I think EA just wants a bigger share of the pay-to-play market, and since FPSes aren't historically included in that category (Planetside being the exception), this is the way they are going about it; going after the dedicated server hosts who are such a big part of keeping a game alive over the long-term. Claiming that they are trying to save the public from unfair "hacks" to justify their official-servers-only policy post-release is pretty insulting to the public. Again IMHO.

 

[KenM]

I heard you can rent a ranked server from EA for something like $500.00 a month. EA says they fully support the mod community, but when someone mods something the EA does not like, EA calls it a hack.
Anyone know that if you rent a ranked server for stat tracking if you have control over the settings? Or will EA control that since it is a ranked server? Not that I have intention of getting on, just curious.

EDIT: I found out on Planet Battlefield that EA will charge $8.00 a month/ per slot for the ranked server. So if you want to have a 64 player server, thats $512.00/ month.

 

[Anime Kidd]

There also seems to be a workaround which allows the classes to acces their 'upgrade' weapons, the weapons which are unlocked in the normal game by gaining enough points. Haven't seen a server which had them unfortunately.

I've been on such a server, but there was only a single different weapon for each kit. The only real difference I saw was that the upgraded M95 sniper rifle had a longer zoom and seemed to have a bit more power to it but not enough for one-shot-one-kill everytime. The rest of the new weapons seemed to be about the same really, though I didn't use them all. Wish I could find that server again.

 

[Bobitron]

That seals it, I'm dl'ing the demo tonight.

 

[The_lurkeR]

That seals it, I'm dl'ing the demo tonight.

You should, for all our moaning and groaning about EA and the limitations of the demo, it's really a fun game

The addition of the whole 'squad' mechanic really adds a new feel. It's cool to be on 64 man server with a 32 vs. 32 chaotic battle scene, and yet you're a member of a tight 6 man squad on one side in this big battle. Talking to eachother with the built-in voice chat, and actually having fierce sustainable battles since you can pick your squad leader as your respawn point (Which makes protecting him an additional goal.)

I can't wait for the full game.

 

[KenM]

Gamespy has a review up. 5 stars.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/battlefield-2/626911p1.html

 

[Anime Kidd]

That's one of the things that I like (and hate) about BF2, the Commander's seat! I like the idea of using UAVs for scouting, calling in artillery, and dropping supplies to those in need. But as with any public server, barely anyone actually tries to play as a team. Besides that, having a few as a team is real fun. I am sure clan matches would be one helluva fun time.

 

[Lazybones]

That's one of the things that I like (and hate) about BF2, the Commander's seat! I like the idea of using UAVs for scouting, calling in artillery, and dropping supplies to those in need. But as with any public server, barely anyone actually tries to play as a team. Besides that, having a few as a team is real fun. I am sure clan matches would be one helluva fun time.

That's the brilliance of the game design, IMO. While I agree with you about team play on pubs (already evident from the demo), the game pushes you to be a team player. I've already seen close-knit squads school a group of unaffiliated players with twice their number, and then later saw some of those same n00bs in a squad, learning how to fight together. Plus, giving points to medics/support/engineers for performing their supporting roles is a great addition, allowing people to rack up high scores without firing their weapons.

Initially I'd thought that the demo map was a bit biased against the MEC, but as I played more, I saw that really the quality of the teamwork is the #1 determinant of the outcome of the battle. Thus this is another way of reinforcing team behaviors; players that refuse to work together will get owned, and owned badly. Thus those that absolutely refuse to play nice with the other kids in the sandbox will likely lose interest and move on to another game before too long.

And that too, IMHO, isn't a bad thing.

But I still hate EA.

 

[KenM]

Ok, I was playing a game with autobalance on. I get TK'ed. When I respawn, I'm on the other team so I can't choose to forgive or punish the person that TK'ed me. I can't switch back to the other team because auto balance was on. This needs to be fixed. Server admins might find an exploit.

 

[KenM]

more embarassing then death buy shock paddle is death by supply drop. I was on top of the hotel roof, my squad leader called for supplies, the supply box landed right on me, crushing me and killing me. No warning, nothing. The commander did not even get a TK for it.