MasterDex

I see this kind of thinking a lot when people are discussing modern shooters and it just blows my mind. If the designers want you to play Recon one way, they need to design it so it punishes the other ways of playing. It's not the players' fault that the game rewards them personally for not contributing to the team. The way I see it, the Recon has two roles to fill - The sniper role and the recon role. Neither role should be punished as they're both valuable roles to the team. The wookie horde problem in BC2 spawned from the ease at which snipers could get good K/Ds. This was due to the lack of sway, the accuracy over range and the lack of proper defensive measures of the teams when most of their members were selfish snipers. This was expounded by DICE's insistence on not allowing class limits on ranked servers for a long time with the threat of server closure. Thankfully over time, they changed their tune and most decent servers now have a limit on the amount of snipers that can be deployed on any one team. The >XG< server, for example, has a 3 sniper limit per team. While this creates the potential for those 3 roles to be filled with selfish snipers, I feel that as a moderation decision, it's better to instigate it than allow too many snipers to spoil the game on others. I don't feel the game really rewards selfish snipers truly but that the player mentality of "K/D ratio is everything" means they don't care that they get more points helping out their team. Certainly, DICE should have done a better job of balancing the recon class and having the sniper role require such a low skill level to do well with. They have made it more difficult for snipers to do well in BF3 however so at least they listened to the community in the end. I'm not really saying it's Call of Duty's fault for promoting the Rambo playstyle but simply that I noticed more people using that playstyle after the release of Modern Warfare and I noticed it in more than just BC2. There may be no correlation however, it may simply be that the younger generation of gamer is more inclined towards the Rambo playstyle than the older generation of gamers but it is something I noticed around that time. I agree wholeheartedly however about the game not teaching/encouraging players to play right and the same is true of many games. The problem is greater in Battlefield where there's more to learn than something like Call of Duty but even Call of Duty has its problems in that regard. I feel that a game like Battlefield would benefit greatly from a GT-style license system where a series of tests and tutorials would grant you some sort of skill ranking. If there were multiple rankings, say from Level D to Level A+, that server administrators could set as the minimum skill ranking, I feel the general quality of players and teamwork would improve. You're always going to have selfish players but I think you'd have less if they saw how better teamwork or gameplay can improve their play. The player limit is being discussed over on the EAUK forums so with any luck, DICE will spot the thread and change it.

Crysis: Trouble in Paradise Battlefield 3: The blinding Arma II: The real buggy simulator That's all I've got for now.

I knew I wasn't just imagining that! He definitely has some pervy hard-on for "Reek" stemming from his sadistic perversions and his closeness to the original Reek - who I think was the reason he became the sick fuck that he is.

I've only recently read the books so I can't begin to understand your level of disappointment with such a long wait but at the same time, I think what you want and what the story calls for are two entirely different things. Reading the books in quick succession, I really enjoyed ADwD. I get where you're coming from though. I'd love to have had more chapters about Bran and Jaime but I don't think the book was necessarily any worse for the exclusion. I really like the idea of a POV chapter from Barristan watching Dany rule. It'd certainly provide a good insight into her mental state since Barristan likely knows better than anyone of Aerys' madness. The Azor Ahai prophecy seems to be wrapped up in too nice of a bow to come completely to fruition but the power of foresight that the red priests seem to have throws doubt into that. I certainly don't think Stannis is the promised prince however. Which reminds me. I meant to comment on this in my last post but it slipped my mind. I believe Stannis is still alive, still holding out and yet to attack. I believe what happened was that Ramsey or Roose did actually capture Mance and kill the spearwives that travelled with him but Stannis never attacked. It'd be a shame if Stannis did actually attack and we were never privvy to any of the events of the siege.

I have to disagree. I've often carried a godawful team to victory on my own merit, even when facing a superior team. Teamplay certainly helps but I don't think it's important, at least not in the same way it is in Battlefield. I personally think 2142 is the crowning achievement for the BF series thus far. It was just a much more focused and balanced affair I feel, despite having its own share of problems. Yeah but where teamwork was needed, it was generally there and most could enter Rambo mode but still contribute to the team effort whereas in recent years I find more people too stubborn to change their ways. But it could just be me.

I think 2142 had the beacons right. Like you said, you had the drop pods visible for a few seconds s you could prepare for conflict - or to get smushed beneath the pod (I loved that!). Hopefully DICE will adjust it so that every spawn beacon spawns you in the air with your parachute out and if I'm not remembering a simple suggestion, I think hardcore may have the option to keep squad spawning to the squad leader, which I thought also worked well, not only in reducing the amount of instances where squadmates spawned in as you finished off some guy but also encourage squads to stay close together and protect each other. As far as Commander goes, the squad leaders will have the ability to call in artillery but UAVs will be accessible by anyone with engineers also getting a UAV and mortor unlock but this was all missing from the beta. The commander role was great but it was often misused and abused which lead to much frustration, especially when you know you could do a better job but you can't get the mutiny going. I don't think CS totally ruined the teamplay aspect as it was still important in any decent match but in CoD, teamwork really meant jack shit. A good team would win but a good player could win the round just as easily, if not easier. Maybe it's just me but it wasn't until BC2 that I noticed a serious degradation in teamplay and I don't think you can blame the game for that, at least not entirely, as I've had some fantastic matches with good teams and have found that more often than not, it's the better team that wins. Battlefield is a series that has always had its quirks and problems. I'm pretty sure the sentry-gun/shield/Titan Container exploit is STILL in 2142 and that's been there from Day 1. RDX spamming was also a major problem in that game with the lack of friendly explosive damage, many also found placing the beacons in such a way that you could control the pod and get to an otherwise unreachable point to be broken too (personally, I found it fine since it was only a select few locations where it could be done and they were all well known, it also added a greater need for vertical awareness too). The jets in BF2 could dominate far too much and the random deviation could be a real bitch, not to mention that the need for lag compensation in BF games has always caused it's fair share of problems. Yet I still can't get enough of the games. As I said in the chat, there's no other game that scratches that particular itch for me. My love for the series, coupled with my faith in DICE to put a decent effort into listening to their community means I forgive the series for many of its flaws but I can certainly see why others might not. edit: I just remembered that DICE improved the situation where new squadmates would spawn in and kill you as you finished off your buddy a bit, they did this by removing the spawn protection the newly spawned player has the moment they take any sort of action. It's not a fix but it's an improvement over the initial timed protection they had. Ultimately, I think the balance issues that BF games have always had is a problem with the type of game they have. It's an extremely delicate balance with all the options available to the player. I don't think, even after all the time I've spent with the series, that I could do much better of a job in that regard.

I probably won't have Steam running if I'm playing BF3 but if I'm not on Origin, just posting a status update here will probably be the surest way I'll see you're up for a game. The reviews are starting to roll in now. Seems generally favourable. I have to laugh at the people over on the official forums though. They're raging at IGN for giving it 9.0, calling them CoD fanboys when they gave Black Ops an 8.5. Metacritic

Yeah, I can't say I share your views on Dany's chapters either. From my perspective, it seemed Dany's chapters set her up to return to Westeros. Her last chapter is her realisation that she really was just a rash little girl and not the mother of all she deluded herself into thinking she was. She wanted to relax and play which is why she remained in Mereen but she deluded herself into thinking it was for the people. She never considered the consequences of her actions, forgot she was a Targaryen and couldn't make the tough decisions she had to. As a result, her queendom fell apart. Like a little girl, she let her heart lead her rather than her head and despite remembering and oft repeating the prophecies, she never really heeded them. Her last chapter strips her of everything but Drogon allowing her to remember who she is and what she has to do, setting her up for a return to Westeros in the next book. I enjoyed reading of Cersei, Tyrion and Jamie as well. The former chapters highlighted the downfall of the once-great Lannister family while Jamie's chapters concluded his transformation from a cocky, contemptible, incestuous sword into what many people would call a better man. Running off with Brienne wasn't all that shocking. Her absence made him realise how much he actually loved her and how little he really cared for Cersei beyond her flesh. When she appeared, running off with her seemed like the only sensible conclusion to his chapters. It'll be interesting to see what happened with Jon in the next book. Personally, I think he'll live and his stabbing will have ignited the flames between the wildlings and the knight's watch with the old racism being cast aside in favour of honour and unity. Martin has made a point of highlighting how the wildlings choose their leaders so I see them fighting for and saving Jon leaving the path to strengthening the wall in preparation for the arrival of the others open. I think Lady Stoneheart is going to be the threat from the inside as far as the others go and Jon will be forced to confront her as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Gendry, I believe will be the one to wed Dany and their marriage will heal the old wounds of the usurping while strengthening the kingdom. His low birth will allow him to be the voice of the people while Dany's dragons will allow her to be the hand.

Eloquent as usual. He's one of my favourite entertainers and that short clip sums up why - he's intelligent, down to earth and witty. Now, I'm off to watch Fry's Planet Word.On the internet, illegally, comfortably knowing that Stephan Fry wouldn't think of me as an immoral person. Thanks for that, Johnny.

Cool! It'll be Friday when I get my hands on it but I'll likely be playing it all day so just hit me up if you're looking for a few games. I haven't read much about the co-op or singleplayer as I'm in blackout mode but I hope they're good. I still haven't finished BC2's campaign however and doubt I ever will so my optimism isn't very high.

I don't think it's a bad sign. I think it's just the way EA are dealing with the launch. It's not like the practice is too uncommon, even when the games are good. I hope that's the case anyway.

Nvidia PhysX? It's very much their own exclusive thing. Havok is cross-platform though. And it's produced by an Irish company! I was wondering something the other day when watching that Arkham City Physx trailer. Can an ATI user buy one of the old Physx cards and use it to get the good physics or are those unsupported now by new Physx games?

I do have something to say - Grow the fuck up. Back on topic: The commorose will be in the Day 1 patch, which would indicate a good start as far as PC support goes. Apparently the day 1 patch is already included in the preloads but I can't find any patch notes so it's unclear what else has been changed/fixed. Who's actually planning on getting this Day 1? It'd be nice to get together for a few games and dominate as a team.

This. *sigh* Why are people so serious on the internet?

I'm all for the metric system but I find that foot and inch still have their uses. If I was measuring a floor for tiles, I'd measure in feet and get 1ft² tiles. If I'm measuring myself, I'd use Foot and inches rather than metres and centimetres. It's just recently that Ireland has moved over to using the metric system as the primary measuring system for roads. I'd also favour pounds and stone for weight. It's only recently I learned that many Americans were offended by 'niggardly'. It's clear why but it honestly never occurred to me. Personally, I prefer to use the word 'stingy' or the Irish version of 'mean' - 'maen'.

OMG! Wilt! They're from my hometown! I used to listen to them jamming in a garage the whole time. I'd be walking to the shop and on my way back I'd stop and sit on the wall in front of the garage just listening to them play! Man, I totally forgot about them. Thanks for the good memory! Keeping with the music of Kilkenny, here's some other tunes: Never really liked them myself but they got popular locally. Reko are new enough but they've done well enough for themselves in the short amount of time they've been together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrM1J5a0spY Slave Zero have gained quite a few fans throughout Europe but as far as I know, they haven't been signed yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dLA88jgwV4&feature=related And finally, The Kilkennys playing traditional Irish music to make up for the noise of Slave Zero.

I don't see your reasoning. Why would the Dreamcast be excluded if the Saturn was discounted?The reason I suggest the Saturn should be discounted was based entirely on the price discrepancy between it and the other consoles of its generation. I feel the price difference between it and the other consoles was enough to reason that it was anomalous and that the average price including the Saturn would not be very representative of the average console price. I presented the average with the Saturn excluded to show that without the anomalous price of the Saturn, the average floated around the same place as the generations before and after it. As I said in that post however, take the figures as is. I used my own criteria (prices adjusted for inflation and sticking to the major players) but feel free to calculate your own averages with your own criteria. The 3DO and the Jaguar could be added to the 5th generation and they'd raise the average quite a bit. The NeoGeo and PC-Engine would also raise the average for the 4th generation. Getting back on topic, the point of all this was that the cost of hardware hasn't drastically risen so I don't think Sony or Microsoft will have too much problem releasing next gen systems for around the same cost as the other major consoles have released in the past. They won't be paying consumer prices for their hardware and they won't be transferring all their costs onto the consumer. I think the greatest challenge Sony and Microsoft will face will be keeping temperatures down without having to release monoliths.

Regardless of your opinion on the power of the Wii, it IS a 7th generation console. Also, I don't think it's a good move to remove the 20gb PS3 or the core 360 as no matter how long they remained on the market or how many people bought them, they still represented the lowest prices for the systems upon launch in the US.

So, there's an argument to be made for inflation adjustment and I get that. I don't know what numbers to use for Voodoo 2 cards launched for a max of about $300 and Geforce 2 Cards launched at a max of about $350. There didn't used to be a $500 card like the GTX580. So if you inflation adjust that maybe it's comprable. If you want to compare console launch points we could talk about how the PS2 dropped in price from $300 down to $150 after a couple of year but the PS3 only just now hit $250 after 5 years on the market. I'm not saying it's a huge price differential but cards certainly aren't getting any cheaper. You get more performance out of today's cards but I"m just saying that if you're comparing mid range then to mid range now or high end then to high end now everything is getting more expensive. The fact about power consumption also remains so you have to factor in the huge power supplies that go with the ridiculous graphics cards now too. If you thought the power brick on the 360 was bad just you wait. So yeah, was never trying to argue that you can't get more flops for your buck these days, was only pointing out that if you're comparing what high end cards cost or even mid range cards cost across years those prices are creeping up not down. Certainly console prices have gone way up. $600 PS3 launch anyone? Sony's not keen to make that mistake again. The average price of a console on release has remained fairly similar once we account for inflation and the same is true of graphics cards. Your comment is a bit contradictory as you mention how prices have remained comparable for graphics cards but then don't make the same allowances when considering the consoles coming to the conclusion that everything is getting more expensive when in reality, prices have remained relatively constant. Adjusting for inflation and the increase in power we can get over previous generations, I believe the only conclusion you should be reaching is that everything is getting cheaper. Looking at this chart, (source), we can see that adjusted for inflation, the NES cost more than the cheapest 360 model on release and the N64 and that the Saturn cost more than the cheapest model of the PS3. The prices fluctuate but the average price of a console has remained pretty constant each generation. Let's look at the average price of the last four generations using the prices adjusted for inflation and sticking with the major players(including the current generation). 4th Generation: Mega Drive/Genesis=$306.15 SNES=293.39 Average:$299.77 5th Generation: Playstation=$393.31 N64=$254.68 Saturn=$524.41 Average=$390.80 Discounting the Saturn=$323.95 6th Generation: Xbox=$338.45 Dreamcast=$239.86 PS2=$348.08 Gamecube=$225.64 Average=$288 7th generation: (Using cheapest SKU's as previous generations didn't have multiple SKU's upon release.) Xbox 360=$299.99, PS3=$499.99 Wii=$249.99 Average: $262.50 If we discount the 5th generation as an anomaly due to the unusually high price (at the time) of the Saturn, we can see that the price of the big players has constantly floated around the $300 mark. I fully expect this coming generation to be no different. Disclaimer: All data contained within this comment should be treated as is. I didn't do the maths for that chart but I'm going off the assumption that it's correct.

That's great...but I still can't change it to MasterDex...or -MasterDex-, or _MasterDex_ and I can't use any other symbols other than hyphens and underscores. Any chance you can access EA ID records and get rid of any imposters? Oh and to make things worse, when I search for MasterDex through the 'Add Friends' interface, I get a message back telling me 'NO RESULTS WERE FOUND'. WTF?!

I think you could be right. What I see happening is Sony and Microsoft coming out with traditional consoles while OnLive and Gaikai pick up steam and other services pop up. Then I see both Microsoft and Sony setting up their own cloud-based service and imagine the generation following to mark the end of the traditional console. RE: Graphics. P4 covered it pretty well but I'd also like to add that PC graphics card prices are bloated and don't necessarily represent the actual cost to manufacture. The fastest cards on the market are as expensive as they are because the companies selling them know they can get that price for them. It's why the 8800 Ultra kept its price point for so long. It was the best card on the market and people were willing to pay the price for it. They could have sold it for cheaper but why do that when it's selling at the current price point? That's beside the point however because as Malicious said, Sony won't be sticking a PC GPU into the PS4. They'll commission (or have commissioned) one of the GPU manufacturers to make a GPU based on their requirements and they'll make a deal with the manufacturer for the price per unit (or more likely the price per 1,000 units or something). If the current generation is any indication, it'll have the power of a lower-midrange PC card of a few months before release. I can see Sony and even Microsoft looking at Steam for ideas too in regards to things like auto-patching, news feeds and cloud saves. I also see the initial machines being much better in regards to airflow and ventilation.

As far as AI is concerned, there's the possibility of better pathfinding, basic learning algorithms and better interactivity. The original F.E.A.R is a good starting point to talk about AI. The AI in that is still better than many FPS AI that has come after it so if you think of the AI in that game and then multiply the possible actions the AI can perform by a reasonable amount, you should have a rough idea of the kind of advancements that could be possible. I wouldn't say Ray tracing is going to be something big next gen but I feel confident in saying that voxels will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxaFANthouM