excaliburps

First in-game footage of BF3! Hell yeah! Looks amazing...

Has the person been deployed overseas? Ask them about geofencing, and how it affects them. Whether a military person is in Japan or Afghanistan, if they're not in the US, they can't download geofenced content. That means that map packs, like World at War, Gears of War 2 and Black Ops can't be downloaded, even from an on-base connection. Treyarch posted about how you need to download the map packs for the game sold in your region, but if you're deployed military, buying the game on-base, you still can't download DLC on base, because your IP shows your connection as originating outside of the US. Basically, a lot of the military people I've talked to (who are all in Japan), use multiplayer video games to play with their friends and family back home, and it's a great way to stay connected when friends and family are on the other side of the planet. Unfortunately, when geofenced content is released, you either have to jump through VPN hoops to download it, or go without, which can put a crimp in social gaming when everyone else has the map pack. So yeah, my ideas for talking to anyone who's been deployed overseas: - Using online gaming, and especially Party Chat in group games like COD, to socialize with friends and family back home - Geofencing and their frustrations with it I also know that depending on where you're deployed, and who you're trying to game with, multiplayer games can be difficult/impossible. Depends on a lot of different factors. Hope that helps. Hmm...A couple of good questions there. I'll try and see what I can compile later. I might be doing part 1 this weekend. Of course this all depends on if how my work will be treating me for the rest of the week. Been liking the questions I've been getting so far.

Ok. Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up. http://www.battlefield3news.com/forums/ is updated with a couple of vids. Two studio (DICE) tours A couple of interviews (from Game Informer) A quick clip of what the DICE devs see outside their studio (sent to me by DICE GM) And info from German mag GameStar that just got divulged now. Hit the jump and tell me what you think! Oh, and the devs are teasing we're going to be getting some BF3 news in a little while...

So...Seems like the Ca.kotaku site is getting killed. Or at the very least not getting updated anymore. Sigh. Might browse the new site a bit...But I doubt it. The ad rape is a little too much, no?

I'm thinking of asking something close to this "Thoughts of current gaming (COD, BFBC, MOH, etc) trends and audiences suffering from PTSD?" But it might open a can of worms that I don't want to even be a part of. I mean I told them it's going to be more about their gaming habits, the Battlefield franchise as a whole, etc. I might try and slip that in there as well. I might throw it at 'em and add in a disclaimer that if they don't want to answer it, they can have that option.

I'm looking into that NHS site. I might see if it's worth pressing F5 every few minutes for it. Yeah, I like it old-school! I normally get all my news from Twitter. Little bugger just keeps churning with news it's scary. Has Joystiq seen a massive influx of new commenters there or what? Anyone know? Joystiq's commenters remind me a lot of IGN's...Whiny kids who spam a lot! Every time I see that Kotaku page drop meter I cringe a little. I mean it's so massive a drop I don't think I've seen anything like that happen. Well, the big dot com crash had a similar feeling but on a different level.

Tell me about it! I did the huge mistake of playing on Zealot difficulty straight away! I couldn't stop saying "Fuck", "Shit" and other obscenities after I reached Chapter 10 I think. I was constantly out of ammo, med packs and I felt most of the deaths I had were very cheap... I entered the final battle with no med-pack and my weapons were a the Plasma Cutter, Line Gun and Pulse Rifle. Only the PS was maxed out. Needless to say the final boss became a chore! I spent about an hour finishing it off. I almost twitted Steve Papoutsis and told him his game was a cheap motherfucker! I beat the final boss with 1 hit remaining before I died. In short, I got lucky. Doubt I'd ever want to experience that again. On the upside I've tried Normal now and it's load easier. A little too easy in fact. How I wish there was a "Brass Balls" Trophy/Achievement for playing it on Zealot right away. Then again, that could be a major cause for broken controllers, discs and the occasional killing spree (I kid!)...

Yeah, it is a cliche, no? But one does wonder how they like it so. Repressed rage? Hmmm. Stereotypes? I think that they don't like RPGS? I seem to have read that somewhere before.

Indeed. I know you can use fraps, etc on the pc; I just mean that was the first game that shipped with the tools to render videos of your games and such, that I played. Agree with ya there. BF3 needs Battlecorder. If any game needs a recorder, this is it. I mean a chopper getting taken out by a flying car??! Where else can you see something that wild?! I've had my own "Battlefield Moments" that I wish I could record and have everyone see it. I had one where a car was driving at me. I fired an RPG at it and the car exploded and flew right by me. Missing me by inches. Awesome stuff! Felt like an action movie.

The thing is, there's just so many things I can ask. I mean I've gotten a fair number of questions already sent my way bu other people. Be it from the simple like "What games is the most realistic one you've ever played" To other, more deeper ones. No question is wrong or something. I already told the people if I could do it in segments as I think it's going to be a bit longer than I anticipated. Even without the deluge of reader questions.

Whoa! Lots of questions there. Genre they like the most is FPS. A couple of insightful questions there as well. We're mostly going to be talking about the shooter genre. As that's their "specialty" and favored genre. And there's a good chance it's going to be about Battlefield as well. As a ton of 'em play it. Of course I'll keep an open-mind about everything and see how it goes.

Oh, for anyone interested, here's a quick look at DICE HQ http://www.battlefield3news.com/forums/index.php?/page/index.html/_/misc-articles/a-quick-virtual-tour-of-dices-office-r23 The main site also has a few clips of Lars Gustavvson. One of the original DICE members and is widely regarded as one of the geniuses behind the BF franchise. Enjoy!

And this is why COD4 is still my favorite shooter to play online, of all time. I got a chance to see them at one of Quakecon's panels this summer along with Todd Howard They're incredibly down to Earth. Jason West is the kind of silly dork who will accidentally spittle on your face while he excitedly tells a story - complete with sound effects and exaggerated arm gestures. It would be hilarious to see him interacting with Bobby Kotick because he's the complete opposite of your typical corporate executive. Back to B-Field though... I feel bad because my last post seemed kind of negative. I'd like to make it clear that I really love Battlefield, the good with the bad. A few more points from the GI article: - Single player really appears to be more robust than ever before. Most of the GI article is actually about the single player. Only a sidebar interview with exec. producer Patrick Bach offers info about the multiplayer. - BF3 apparently sports even better lighting effects than previous games. Sound is also improved. DICE wants the sound to be very functional; they want you to be able to tell the difference between the sound of a tank moving directly at you as opposed to driving around you. They also hinted that it may play an important role in tracking down the location of snipers. - It looks like there will be four player classes like in BC2. - Bach said they've taken an interest in a theater mode (like in Halo and BlOps,) but it doesn't sound like they're prepared to implement it yet. - There will be some sort of co-op included in the retail copy of the game. No other specifics about that. - While the ability to go prone is back, DICE is working on ways to expose people who go prone, such as muzzle flashes and vapor traces. - And I probably should have noted this much earlier, but DICE made clear that Battlefield 3 is being made for the PC first. Furthermore: "We are letting the PC audience make use of the very expensive hardware that they just bought so they can tick all the boxes and for the 64-player fights." and "We will not deliver mod tools in the way that we delivered them for Battlefield 2." According to Bach, creating mod tools eats up a lot of resources that they don't feel free to provide right now. However, "[DICE is] still discussing how [they] handle modifications of any kind." Thanks for this. I got to read the mag scans a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have the foresight to think that there are a ton of people interested in it. I think with the customization thing, they're more concerned with the game being "cheesy" or dare I say it, "kiddy" with cocks for logos, etc. I mean I would like some customization. Things like having a different camo, character skin to show you're one of the best players. Having your sidearm in a different part of your body, etc. To be honest, I've made one logo in Black Ops and never touched it again. Same with my friends. Not saying it's a not a cool feature, but customization should be more than that I think. BF3 will run on a new Frostbite Engine. One that they'll be talking about in GDC. There's a tech-demo of it in Youtube if you're interested. Mod tools. Is always an iffy subject. They (DICE devs) want to give it, but the thing is it's very complicated to use and it could do more harm than good. Someone even asked them if it's because of DLC. Alan Kertz responded that mod tools and DLC should even be competing against each other or something to that effect. They didn't say "NO" flat out though. I'm guessing maybe a level-editor of some kind for PC maybe? They still haven't commented on BattleCorder yet. Yes. Some people think Blops is the first game to use this feature. Sigh. When they do announce it, people will go "OMG! BF3 copiz Blak Oops!11!!" or something to that effect. Which gets tiresome after a while. Heck, a lot of people don't know that level-unlockables, etc. were implemented in BF2 before any of the FPS games we have today use it as the standard.

Ohh, nice catch. People always used that when criticizing Kotaku for non-gaming stories. Now they can't use that - clever move, Kotaku, clever move. Haha! Yeah. Well, if they do post non-gaming things now people can't really complain that much...Not that it would do any good. Ohh, nice catch. People always used that when criticizing Kotaku for non-gaming stories. Now they can't use that - clever move, Kotaku, clever move. It's probably for the best. Between the shift away from commentors and comments, the redesign and some of the articles tenuous (at best)ties to gaming, seems like they have an idea of where they want to go and what they want to post...and if "The Gamer's Guide" doesn't fit, it makes sense they've gotten rid of it. :yawn: Yeah. Certainly seems that way. It's like Gawker is losing focus on what made it what it is today in the first place. A nerd-haven. I'm not blaming the Kotaku staff for the redesign as it's pretty obvious they can't control it. Not saying they're saints either though. They've been doing that for quite some time now. Well, you're right. Unofficially. So now it's officially official. Haha! Yep. A ton of people hate Luke. I guess they get banned or whatnot so you don't see their posts. Some of them seem to have their heads stuck up their asses. For me I generally am critical of someone's work. But if they're good people and whatnot, you tend to give a little more slack. With Luke? Erm...I did talk to him a couple of times. Sometimes he came off as a well enough guy, at other times a jerk with a pedestal where he can pelt stones at peons. Fahey is their resident comic guy. Crecente's the big cheese. I think more out of seniority and site tenure than anything. Bash is the Japan guy. Totilo is easily the best writer out of the bunch though. I admit I'm not that critical of their work. Kotaku's been my go to site sine way, way back. Sad to see things change. I still go to the site. But I find I'm commenting there less. Browsing stories less...

Yeah. I'll delve into that a bit. I did ask him what subjects we can't talk about. I mean I know there are a couple of things they don't want the general public to know. But at the same time, their gaming habits might show some peculiar behavior as well. Thanks! I'll be posting a link here whenever it drops. I do have some questions in mind, but I want more. Hopefully, this can be a semi-regular thing. I've seen them discuss FPS' shooters, tactics, gear, etc. And they share some very good observations that we know nothing about. From guns to belt placement, etc. Top-notch stuff.

I'll apparently have the very good chance to interview someone in the army (US) about gaming! We're still working out the kinks but both parties agreed on it. Now, what would be good questions to ask? The interview will be Battlefield/FPS-centric as that's the genre they like playing the most. So, what do you guys suggest? Please nothing scandalous, about on-going wars that they can't and won't divulge anything about. Purpose of the interview is to know more about them and why they like playing games, etc. Hit me up and help out with the questions. I'll post a link here in TAY once the interview is up online. [uPDATE]: Interview is up! Go here to read it! http://bit.ly/fWcjJd

Oh, anyone noticed they dropped "The Gamer's Guide" from the site headline?

This is in relation to deanb's banning? The jumping on Steam on was because of a lot of people getting banned because they called out Kotaku on banning Dean. The "telling everyone how to do their jobs" thing was the usual response whenever talking about Dean. I actually read some of it. Ban of Dean was a bit extreme. But some of the people did resort to name-calling and whatnot. So, after that fiasco, dean wasn't welcome anymore? He got banned all of the time or what? From what I've gathered, every time Crecente would notice him, he got banned. What? Even if he didn't post anything offensive? That's just wrong...

For anyone interested, I update battlefield3news.com with a little snippet of what a couple of devs told me, and a couple of vids. Anyone interested just hop on there and take a look. What would be a good topic? Can anyone here suggest something?

BC was the off-shoot and Battlefield is the main one. Also, SP has been confirmed to be in as well for BF3. Coop even! Hahhaa dohhhf, I messed up my abbreviations. For shame! Haha! Kinda guessed as much!

Interestingly enough, I've been visiting the site more often these days. A sense of normalcy if you will. Although it is a bit weird that I messaged Crecente twice on twitter and never got a response. He normally does. Conspiracy theorist in me says he lurks here from time to time and read one of my posts as well. Just find it weird. Ca version of the site makes it a whole lot better. Come to think of it, I doubt any of the eds want the redesign. I mean they can't be vocal about being against it because of the higher-ups, but they're not exactly jumping for joy about it either.

This is in relation to deanb's banning? The jumping on Steam on was because of a lot of people getting banned because they called out Kotaku on banning Dean. The "telling everyone how to do their jobs" thing was the usual response whenever talking about Dean. I actually read some of it. Ban of Dean was a bit extreme. But some of the people did resort to name-calling and whatnot. So, after that fiasco, dean wasn't welcome anymore? He got banned all of the time or what?

Hmmm...I think Bash, Owen is nice enough. Although some of 'em do seem a little too sure of themselves. Buy yeah. Kotaku got so big so quickly that transitioning from being second to Joystiq, to now being the top banana among sites did do more damage than good. Yep. Totilo is the best writer out of the bunch. No questions there. Thank god they don't have Tim Rogers as a regular poster. If so, I think every news post would be a bore to read.

Even so. The fact that he used a third-party site and did something because of what you said in it sounds a bit too "big brotherly" to me. Saw the site traffic for Feb. It wasn't pretty. Traffic/viewcount dropped more than half. I actually have never posted any "is this news?" or "slow news day?" comments. I mean any news is news. As for Denton, he's a tool. Albeit a rich one. But a tool nonetheless.

This is in relation to deanb's banning?