Nezacant

Yeah the BC2 browser was a cluster at launch and it wasn't fixed for a long time. Most gamers pick a server based on low ping. That browser would only show the pings for about 20 random servers out of the thousand that were active. On top of that, the "join now" button had issues as well. It wouldn't populate empty servers. We had a server for that game and the first week or two we had a constant stream of players because our ping was one of the lucky ones that displayed on browsers. At that time servers were still unstable and tend to crash randomly. We had a server crash and since then couldn't get people to connect because our server would no longer show ping. Needless to say, we weren't going to pay money for a server that players wouldn't connect to so we killed it before that issue was fixed. Now a lot of those issues were blamed on the fact that the in game server browser was tacked on due to the fact BC2 was developed for console match making and not PC server browsing. BF3 is the other way around like they were in past battlefield games. Now as for multiplayer server browsing it makes no difference really if it was in a browser or if it was in an in game client. Both connect to a central server in which you have to log into. If that server were to go down then you wouldn't be able to play multiplayer. The real question is, and GOD I hope this isn't the case, what about single player. Do we really need to connect to a central server just so we have a button that allows us to play single player? Ubisoft has been pulling this crap for a while now with PC gaming so it wouldn't surprise me if this was the case. EA isn't some high and mighty ethical gamer messiah that would say "This isn't fair." Then again, neither is Activision (Think Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2). This is an unfortunate trend in the PC gaming world. Still, we can wait a month and see how it is handled when the game is released. Maybe they will listen to the community and fix issues like not changing settings outside of the game or maybe they wont. We can only wait and hope. (I do enjoy this friendly debate though. )

Why would Origin want to attach to the steam community. Why doesn't Live Messenger attach to AIM, XFire, Yahoo, etc. I understand that it sucks the game isn't on Steam, but it doesn't feel like a game breaker. If you really want to see real time chat from steam while playing, play in a window the size of your desktop. I do this in other games that have weird launcher window that doesn't work with the steam overlay. I still don't see the problem with the battlelog other than configuration options. My point is that it wouldn't be hard for either Dice or the community to fix since client side Video/Sound options and key binds are usually stored on an easy to access ini file. This battlelog already works better than BC2's ingame server browser. This betas intention is more for server stuff than client stuff by the way. It also gave video driver programmers a chance to see potential issues. The alpha issues could actually be fixed in the retail build of the game, we just wont know until the game comes out. You can't treat this like a full on demo, it's still a beta.

Origin has a chat feature like steam I believe. It's Shift+F1. I haven't used it since everyone I've been playing with is on ventrilo so I don't know how to compare it yet. Deanb- the option to toggle crouch is actually a separate bind from the "hold down' bind. This allows you to have 2 separate key binds to do both functions. The default is Ctrl for hold down, and C for toggle. These can be changed in the key bind menu. There is a bug where you can not bind actions to mouse buttons although the menu shows that ability. I want my knife bind back. The laser blind thing is a bit much. It doesn't really give you away too bad outside during the day but you can see it very well underground. Someone asked what the PC default key was to toggle the flashlight and laser light. It's "T". Most of the reason people are running around with the light attached outside is because a lot of people haven't figured that out yet. The options while only being in game is a bit problematic. However this is a beta and it's impossible to tell if that is how it is going to be in retail. It wouldn't be hard to have a separate exe config like how it's done in Bioware RPGs and how it was done in Oblivion. If it is done only while in a game (which would be stupid), the PC gaming community would quickly remedy that with some sort of user made configuration tool which wouldn't be hard to do. So that issue doesn't concern me too much. The reflection on sniper rifle scopes is an obvious attempt to nerf what has been traditionally the "OP" class. BC2 was a snipers playground and as any other class you couldn't see them period. As a sniper now you have to rely on your own eyes and keep your gun down until you are ready to make a kill. Good players will adjust to these changes.

There is a setting to toggle crouch. I don't see any issue with the server browser. It reminds me of old school gamespy. It works better than I thought it would for a beta. They made the game very alt+tab friendly because of the browser and that I like a lot. I don't see any point to adding it to steam when it is as alt+tab friendly. I haven't had issues with the beta drivers. My clan seems to be running it fine as well. What type of issues are you having? I (respectfully) disagree with Yantelope about BF3 being BS to newcomers. BF3 awards you points for more than just killing which contributes toward your unlocks. You can use your med pack, repair tool, and ammo pack early on to blaze through some of the first levels. You don't have that in CoD which makes it harder for newcomers.

Haha that was funny! It has to be a troll. Anyone that ignorant wouldn't know how to spell correctly.

I should clarify since I agree with you on most points. I feel it was a good map to show the terrain possibilities within one map. However, it's still a rush map and like all rush maps (in BC2) they turn into a one sided snipe fest. I actually liked the underground sections better that that first outside section because getting sniped 20 times in a row gets boring after a while. I'm not a fan of Rush and hardly ever played it in BC2. I can't wait to try conquest. (Bring back Titan mode! )

Oh man. I'll never get there in time. Damn work.

So who here tried the Beta? What were your impressions? I loved it but I may be a bit bias since I've been running servers and clans in Battlefield since BF2. The pace seems to be slower. As an assault class I noticed that actions take longer to do. Actions like throwing down a med pack take a few seconds more than I'm used to and often find myself staring down the barrel of a gun while still pulling out my weapon. It takes more thought as to when it is safe to heal team members and revive allies. Although it seems slower, it feels natural which tends to be a rarity in competitive FPS. Operation Metro, the map they are using for the beta, was a great choice. As the attacking team advances it shows how drastically the terrain can change. You go from fighting in a flora and fauna filled courtyard to subway tunnels with abandoned trains, to a subway station with 2 floors connected via escalators to the final battle on a cover heavy city street. And oh yes... the new frostbite engine is amazing. (Until you somehow destroy a concrete wall with a med pack...) As this is a beta it has it's share of bugs and annoyances. Some servers start to wig out and cause people to fall through floors. Reminds me of when I played the 2142 beta and people were falling through titans. Some gun models have problems where attachments and clips will hover above or to the side of the the weapon model. And of course, server crashes. This is par for the course for a battlefield beta. A lot of these same issues were issues in the alpha as well so Dice knows about them and will fix them. People need to understand the purpose of this beta is to stress test the servers and not so much the smaller issues they already know about. Honestly, for a "beta", it is very polished. I saw someone say this was more a demo than a beta, while some of that is true to give people a small idea of what to expect from the release next month, this is still very much a beta. My biggest disappointment is that they didn't give us a taste of the vehicles in this beta like they had in the past. So if anyone want to play together later today, friend me via origin. Nezacant is my name.

Bah I knew it would have been on this forum here somewhere. It's hard to keep up as a new guy with threads going beyond 40 pages. I agree. Keep messing with your community and they will move on. Look at what happened to digg.com.

http://www.forbes.co...s-nerd-baiting/ I'm sure by now many of you have heard about the Gizmodo Article (http://imgur.com/O8qUI) where an editor went on an OKCupid date with Jon Finkel, the Magic: The Gathering world champion. In the article she thrashes him simply because of his geek hobby, and like most ignorant, poorly written Gawker articles, it received a fair amount of backlash while at the same time receiving a ton of hits. This Forbes article explains why articles like this are published, and it's all about money. It also references a nerd bait article posted by Kotaku. I figured you guys would get a kick out of this.

Ha... I keed! I'm surprised no one said Half-Life 3. That would be my choice.

Hi everyone! I'm Nez. Old school gamer here, been playing since my mom bought me my first atari 2600 when I was 4. Found out about this forum from MasterDex after a rant I had on Kotaku . I'm a big PC gamer and a big console gamer. Have all 3 consoles and I could go on all day about PCs but I'll spare everyone. Love shooters, RPGs, adventure... ok I really just like it all. Looking forward to future gaming discussions.