Battlefield: Bad Company 2

[Malakili]

Oh man, I must be a masochist. I played this game obsessively for 30 hours and sucked so bad I was screaming at the screen. Then it clicked and I learned how to play properly, and now I haven't touched the game in a week.

This is kinda how it went for me.  Well, I didn't suck , i was acutally pretty decent, but I unlocked everything you can unlock in the first week, then I barely touched the game since.  Probably part of the problem is that I have been more into RTS games lately, and Chaos Rising happened to come out just a couple weeks after this.

[Engels]

You unlocked every single weapon in one week?

[Kageru]

Yay, all my unlocks done. Now to see if the enjoyment fades since there's no new toys to get. Unlocking the VSS so I could play a more front line role helped a lot getting to the barret, but I'm still not sure it really adds much over going assault and getting a real auto-rifle.

[Malakili]

You unlocked every single weapon in one week?

Basically, it might have been 8 or 9 days, I can't remember exactly.

[Engels]

You unlocked every single weapon in one week?

Basically, it might have been 8 or 9 days, I can't remember exactly.

[Azazel]

Oh man, I must be a masochist. I played this game obsessively for 30 hours and sucked so bad I was screaming at the screen. Then it clicked and I learned how to play properly, and now I haven't touched the game in a week.

This is kinda how it went for me.  Well, I didn't suck , i was acutally pretty decent, but I unlocked everything you can unlock in the first week, then I barely touched the game since.  Probably part of the problem is that I have been more into RTS games lately, and Chaos Rising happened to come out just a couple weeks after this.

Took me 3-5 weeks probably, but yes, I haven't played since I unlocked everything. The beauty of a good BF game is usually that you can drop it, play other stuff, then come back to it anytime. I'm hoping/assuming that this one will be the same, since I can still do that with BF2. (where I'm far from having unlocked everything, with the unholy catassing required in that game). The bigger scope in something like BF2 is something I prefer, maybe it's not present in BFBC2 because consoles can't handle the larger number of players/bigger maps/etc,etc

[Astorax]

Oh man, I must be a masochist. I played this game obsessively for 30 hours and sucked so bad I was screaming at the screen. Then it clicked and I learned how to play properly, and now I haven't touched the game in a week.

This is kinda how it went for me.  Well, I didn't suck , i was acutally pretty decent, but I unlocked everything you can unlock in the first week, then I barely touched the game since.  Probably part of the problem is that I have been more into RTS games lately, and Chaos Rising happened to come out just a couple weeks after this.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it were related to the destructible terrain...There's just a lot more going on in terms of tracking collision knowing that a building wall is now dynamic in terms of being able to run through it.  I wonder if they didn't hit some boundaries performance-wise with having the destructible terrain in addition to massive numbers of players.
Took me 3-5 weeks probably, but yes, I haven't played since I unlocked everything. The beauty of a good BF game is usually that you can drop it, play other stuff, then come back to it anytime. I'm hoping/assuming that this one will be the same, since I can still do that with BF2. (where I'm far from having unlocked everything, with the unholy catassing required in that game). The bigger scope in something like BF2 is something I prefer, maybe it's not present in BFBC2 because consoles can't handle the larger number of players/bigger maps/etc,etc

[Malakili]

Well, the Bad Company line of BF games has been about smaller scale engagements from the beginning.  Its basically that franchise's answer to Modern Warfare.   I actually had high hopes for BC2, I thought it would be my FPS of choice for years to come, and maybe it still will be, but for whatever reason I haven't wanted to play that much since I unlocked everything, which leads me to believe that I was only playing for the loot treadmill to begin with (though I played the CRAP out of beta, even after I unlocked everything, and that was only the one map). 

I was also part of a competitive clan at the very beginning, which probably helped.  But I got to the point where to keep up with the best players in that clan I needed to plan even more than I already was, and I wasn't interested in that, so I ended up dropping out of the clan, and without that context I basically stopped playing all together.  Then again, I have a history of being very all or nothing in most of my hobbies, gaming or not, so this isn't all that surprising.

[Engels]

Malakili, to be honest, it sounds like you utterly burned out on it. I don't think there's a non-MMO game in existence, from Solitaire to CivIV, that will stand up to that level of sustained commitment. Some early MMOs and WoW could/can hold people that way, but I'm not sure that's an accurate way of assessing a game's staying power simply because MMOs are 'Facebook with swords', not really a game-game.

I'm not sure if I'll stick to BC2 either, but for now its taken the place of my old standby, CoD W@W. I suspect that if the company continues to provide support via bug fixes and content, like Treyarch did with W@W, then the game will live on.

[Malakili]

Malakili, to be honest, it sounds like you utterly burned out on it. I don't think there's a non-MMO game in existence, from Solitaire to CivIV, that will stand up to that level of sustained commitment. Some early MMOs and WoW could/can hold people that way, but I'm not sure that's an accurate way of assessing a game's staying power simply because MMOs are 'Facebook with swords', not really a game-game.

I'm not sure if I'll stick to BC2 either, but for now its taken the place of my old standby, CoD W@W. I suspect that if the company continues to provide support via bug fixes and content, like Treyarch did with W@W, then the game will live on.

Oh, I don't think the game is going to die, it just isn't holding my attention the way say, Team Fortress 2 did for literally a couple years solid in a row.  And I certainly played TF2 as much when it was new as I did BC2.

[Kageru]

I think that's partly the weakness of "realistic" shooters. There's so many more limitations on what is "allowed" without breaking immersion and causing whining amongst the player base. That and death tends to be sudden and more dependent on knowing the camp spots and getting the drop on the opponent. TF2 wins because it can do crazy things like aerial play (rocket jumping, scout jumps), has a lot of freedom in terms of map construction and the classes play very differently and interact in an interesting fashion.

They're both well crafted games, and I like some of the mechanics in BC2 that encourage team-play, but I think valve made a superb choice in not trying to be another military shooter. Still, I've got 90 hours out of BC2 so far which isn't bad value. But with no unlocks left the game-play does start to feel a bit samey.

[Jimbo]

Yeah after the unlocks then it is star farming...  I have noticed it is easier on hard core maps to star farm, since the basic weapon with the aimpoint and ammo upgrade are freaking deadly!  Since they are finally going to upgrade the engineer I may go play TF2 again for a bit, or go back to Battlefield Heroes for a while (they added a new map! ya!).

[Azazel]

Well, the Bad Company line of BF games has been about smaller scale engagements from the beginning.  Its basically that franchise's answer to Modern Warfare.   I actually had high hopes for BC2, I thought it would be my FPS of choice for years to come, and maybe it still will be, but for whatever reason I haven't wanted to play that much since I unlocked everything, which leads me to believe that I was only playing for the loot treadmill to begin with (though I played the CRAP out of beta, even after I unlocked everything, and that was only the one map). 

From the beginning? Modern Warfare? There's only been 2 games, and the first one was simply an attempt to spin Battlefield (2) off onto consoles, and therefore made console-friendly with smaller maps, smaller numbers of players and a SP campaign bolted on. The new one is clearly inspired a lot by MW2, but then so will the new MoH game. It's not like there's a long and involved history there.

[Engels]

This does bring up an interesting problem with these 'loot' based shooters. I find myself playing classes I'm not that excited about now (Assault and Medic) because I've maxed out sniper and engie. To be honest, I am anxious to finish the weapon unlocks on Assault and Medic so that I can go back to the fun classes (for me). This is probably stupid, and I should just go back to sniping/engie, but I am compulsive about unlocks. I'm hoping that by the time I am done with the unlocks, I'm not just disgusted by the game.

[Malakili]

Well, the Bad Company line of BF games has been about smaller scale engagements from the beginning.  Its basically that franchise's answer to Modern Warfare.   I actually had high hopes for BC2, I thought it would be my FPS of choice for years to come, and maybe it still will be, but for whatever reason I haven't wanted to play that much since I unlocked everything, which leads me to believe that I was only playing for the loot treadmill to begin with (though I played the CRAP out of beta, even after I unlocked everything, and that was only the one map). 

From the beginning? Modern Warfare? There's only been 2 games, and the first one was simply an attempt to spin Battlefield (2) off onto consoles, and therefore made console-friendly with smaller maps, smaller numbers of players and a SP campaign bolted on. The new one is clearly inspired a lot by MW2, but then so will the new MoH game. It's not like there's a long and involved history there.

My point is if the make or break feature of BF is the large scale, then BC isn't the one you should play, we are in agreement here, I don't know why you are trying to make an argument where there isn't one.

[Azazel]

Not trying to start an argument, more pointing out that with only 1 previous game in the rseries, BC2 could (in theory) have gone in any direction as far as player numbers and map sizes. To put it another way - do you think the curent onsoles could handle the physics of BF:BC2 with the team and map sizes of BF2? If not, then I don't know that we'll be seeing a "proper" BF3 anytime soon.

[Jimbo]

I understand that PS3 can handle 250 players @ once, it sounds like the xbox live limit of about 50 (which only one game had done) is the big limit factor on consoles.  Maybe when they role out a new xbox it will have better ability to handle more players at once. 

[NiX]

I understand that PS3 can handle 250 players @ once, it sounds like the xbox live limit of about 50 (which only one game had done) is the big limit factor on consoles.  Maybe when they role out a new xbox it will have better ability to handle more players at once. 

They will always trump any chance they have at a higher player limit by adding in more useless gimmicky graphics/physics.

[HaemishM]

If not, then I don't know that we'll be seeing a "proper" BF3 anytime soon.

They are actually working on BF3, which hopefully will go back to 32-64 player maps.

[Azazel]

I understand that PS3 can handle 250 players @ once, it sounds like the xbox live limit of about 50 (which only one game had done) is the big limit factor on consoles.  Maybe when they role out a new xbox it will have better ability to handle more players at once. 

Yeah, I know about MAG, but just because one dev (Sony?) can do it, doesn;t mean that anyone else can, or will. The 3rd parties always go for the median between the major consoles with maybe an extra bell or whistle for one or the other. Always been that way. Well, except for Wii versions 

They are actually working on BF3, which hopefully will go back to 32-64 player maps.

I cautiously look forward to seeing what they do..

[stu]

Earned my 5,000th kill last night.   

[Der Helm]

Dammit this game is hard. Unlocking the medpack and the defi was frustrating. Do I just suck at this game or are the higher tier weapons really that much better ?

[NiX]

Dammit this game is hard. Unlocking the medpack and the defi was frustrating. Do I just suck at this game or are the higher tier weapons really that much better ?

They really are that much better. Not to mention you get the secondary perks that make your gun even better.

[Kageru]

I still think the main difference is learning the maps, knowing to keep moving and in cover since there's *always* a horde of snipers and being able to spot movement in all the foliage. Someone who knows what they're doing can still get solid kills with the starter weapons, especially after the recent homogenization. That said hitting the new players with inferior weapons and accessories while they are still finding their feet is sort of cruel.

[Engels]

As Kageru says. 60% of the issue is learning the maps and learning player behavior in those map. The rest is not so much the new weapons, but the Magnum Ammo upgrade you get at 20 or so. Its sad, but it changes a snipe kill from 2 shot to 1 and a 1 second burst from an M60 from a winged opponent to a very much dead one.

[Strazos]

This is why I like Hardcore so much; Magnum ammo means less for some weapons in that mode, so you can try different builds.

[Pennilenko]

This is why I like Hardcore so much; Magnum ammo means less for some weapons in that mode, so you can try different builds.

[Der Helm]

Magnum Ammo upgrade

It is incredible how powerfull that Ammo is, it turned my Support Soldier from a Healbot into a killing machine. 

[Engels]

ya, now that I got me that ammo, what, between my AOE increased heals and the magnum, I'm routinely finishing at the top of the team list. Spam heal buckits and lol hedshot from 5 miles away with the MG36.

[Lounge]

My new favorite thing to do when losing a match badly is to find "Sniper Hill" (that place where the other half of my team is camping doing nothing) and start standing in front of them blocking their shots.  Hopefully I can make at least one of them have as frustrating of a game as I did.

[NiX]

My new favorite thing to do when losing a match badly is to find "Sniper Hill" (that place where the other half of my team is camping doing nothing) and start standing in front of them blocking their shots.  Hopefully I can make at least one of them have as frustrating of a game as I did.

If the server has TK, I'll mortar strike or drive a tank through the group. It's not griefing, it's negative reinforcement.

[WayAbvPar]

Patch FINALLY came out yesterday. The AN-94 fix is nice- I don't think I was killed by one more than once or twice yesterday. Seemed to maybe crank up lag a bit more than normal, but I eventually found a server that played well and had some fun. I forgot to bronze my M1 though- that apparently works now and I want to get the 'all bronze' award. Working on getting gold with the RPG-7 now- had a couple of double kills outside of vehicles, which is incredibly lucky.

[Strazos]

I have not been able to drive myself to play this lately.   

[Malakili]

I have not been able to drive myself to play this lately.   

Same with me to be honest.  I'm not sure why to be honest, I was ALL about it when it was out, and I played it like nuts.  Though I did have a chance to play last night after the patch which piqued my interest and I did have a good time with it.   For whatever reason it doesn't have the kind of draw that Team Fortress 2 did to keep engaged for a year+.   

[Jimbo]

Yeah, I've went back to playing Battlefield Heroes & CoD MW2 instead of this.