Battlefield 3

[rk47]

Welcome to the battlefield. :) But maybe the X360 is great for flying choppers according to some of my friends. Give it a try IMO, the default mouse control for jet & heli kinda stinks.

[HaemishM]

The default support SMG sucks giant monkey balls. I had a HORRIBLE series of games with that thing. Talk about kickback. I can't keep that thing level for shit. Just have to stick with it long enough to get the M249 and NEVER SEE THE LMG88 AGAIN.

[WayAbvPar]

Yeah, it takes some practice. It is actually better to fire continuously rather than burst with the LMGs...the recoil is far more controllable. After your first 5 shots or so you can usually get a feel for it and correct for the recoil pretty well. In other news, I am ~25 minutes of Sharqi time from completing all my assignments/gun unlocks from the expansion. I like a lot of the tier 2 guns.

[LK]

It is surreal to play these B2K maps and have the feelings of familiarity with them.

Karkand is the gem of the bunch. Urban maps seemed to be missing from the initial release.

I'm also annoyed how much like roaches a squad can be. In initial levels I have such a hard time finding foes, especially hiding infantry. Damavand Peak backcapping. I'm also having trouble figuring out the guns, but I haven't played that long. I guess certain guns are better?

[WayAbvPar]

They have varied rates of fire and recoil values, but I think all the guns in each class do the same damage. Just a matter of finding one you are comfortable with. Try a bunch of them, get a couple of unlocks, and see how they stack up when you use them.

[LK]

I think the bigger thing to get me to like Assault Rifles more was that I could be far more accurate if I set it to Single Shot and pop pop pop instead of the burst fire I've been using.

Co-Op's first mission is also great helicopter practice. Thank god they did public matchmaking for Co-Op missions.

[NiX]

The default support SMG sucks giant monkey balls. I had a HORRIBLE series of games with that thing. Talk about kickback. I can't keep that thing level for shit. Just have to stick with it long enough to get the M249 and NEVER SEE THE LMG88 AGAIN.

Bipod, man! I find the Urban Karkand maps are perfect for Support. Strike at Karkand is especially good on Conquest as defender. Sprint to the building towards the enemy spawn on the far right, second floor there's a window that overlooks the ridge and if you setup shop with your bipod you can get quite a few kills that way. This gets even easier with claymores as you can cover the only way in with them and replenish your own stock as guys try to get to you. You also have access to the roof from there with a perfect view of the Hotel flag and the rest of the area the enemy comes in from.

[Azazel]

So I've finally installed it and have been playing a bit over the last few days.. I dunno. I'm a bit cold on it to tell the truth. I feel like Bad Company 2 was a lot more fun, had better maps, less grind, and less spammy combat, where a less twitchy player could make up for it with intelligence, skill, and tactics. This feels almost like Call of Duty: Bigger Maps Edition, rather than a true Battlefield game. Overall shitty maps, over-reliance on infantry-only and urban sprawl, even compared to BC2. Prone doesn't exactly make up for it. The amount of weapon grind seems painful as well. Worse than BC2 and in it's own way, more painful (with so many individual and weapon-specific unlocks) than BF2 or 2142.
 

[NiX]

So I've finally installed it and have been playing a bit over the last few days.. I dunno. I'm a bit cold on it to tell the truth. I feel like Bad Company 2 was a lot more fun, had better maps, less grind, and less spammy combat, where a less twitchy player could make up for it with intelligence, skill, and tactics. This feels almost like Call of Duty: Bigger Maps Edition, rather than a true Battlefield game. Overall shitty maps, over-reliance on infantry-only and urban sprawl, even compared to BC2. Prone doesn't exactly make up for it. The amount of weapon grind seems painful as well. Worse than BC2 and in it's own way, more painful (with so many individual and weapon-specific unlocks) than BF2 or 2142.
 

I felt the same way until playing Back to Karkand. I find the urban warfare style maps go over a lot better with the way BF3 is designed. It brought me back to some of the good times in Bad Company.

Didn't see anyone reply, but is there a list somewhere of everyone who plays?

[snowwy]

So I've finally installed it and have been playing a bit over the last few days.. I dunno. I'm a bit cold on it to tell the truth. I feel like Bad Company 2 was a lot more fun, had better maps, less grind, and less spammy combat, where a less twitchy player could make up for it with intelligence, skill, and tactics. This feels almost like Call of Duty: Bigger Maps Edition, rather than a true Battlefield game. Overall shitty maps, over-reliance on infantry-only and urban sprawl, even compared to BC2. Prone doesn't exactly make up for it. The amount of weapon grind seems painful as well. Worse than BC2 and in it's own way, more painful (with so many individual and weapon-specific unlocks) than BF2 or 2142.
 

The weapon grind isn't really there. Find a gun you like and use the hell out of it. Damage is the same on all weapons in a class anyway, with some exceptions. For assault they all do the same damage, only difference is roF and recoil. Famas is hot shit right now and incredibly easy to get. For support the PKP does the most damage but has some heavy recoil. Engies are same as assault unless i'm mistaken. I hated the Scar which everyone else loves, or loved rather after it's nerf, but the A-91 suits me just fine. Love that thing. Recon, no fucking idea. Did Metro-grind to unlock T-Ugs with my trusty m1014. No way in hell am i gonna grind that class up to MAV.
And yes, stock maps suck quite a lot. B2K-maps is just bliss. Vehicles everywhere. Can't even get a Javelin fired at times before the poor schmuck in it is dead.

[Azazel]

So I've finally installed it and have been playing a bit over the last few days.. I dunno. I'm a bit cold on it to tell the truth. I feel like Bad Company 2 was a lot more fun, had better maps, less grind, and less spammy combat, where a less twitchy player could make up for it with intelligence, skill, and tactics. This feels almost like Call of Duty: Bigger Maps Edition, rather than a true Battlefield game. Overall shitty maps, over-reliance on infantry-only and urban sprawl, even compared to BC2. Prone doesn't exactly make up for it. The amount of weapon grind seems painful as well. Worse than BC2 and in it's own way, more painful (with so many individual and weapon-specific unlocks) than BF2 or 2142.
 

I felt the same way until playing Back to Karkand. I find the urban warfare style maps go over a lot better with the way BF3 is designed. It brought me back to some of the good times in Bad Company.

Didn't see anyone reply, but is there a list somewhere of everyone who plays?

I don't think we have one. Start it up!

[Azazel]

So I've finally installed it and have been playing a bit over the last few days.. I dunno. I'm a bit cold on it to tell the truth. I feel like Bad Company 2 was a lot more fun, had better maps, less grind, and less spammy combat, where a less twitchy player could make up for it with intelligence, skill, and tactics. This feels almost like Call of Duty: Bigger Maps Edition, rather than a true Battlefield game. Overall shitty maps, over-reliance on infantry-only and urban sprawl, even compared to BC2. Prone doesn't exactly make up for it. The amount of weapon grind seems painful as well. Worse than BC2 and in it's own way, more painful (with so many individual and weapon-specific unlocks) than BF2 or 2142.
 

I felt the same way until playing Back to Karkand. I find the urban warfare style maps go over a lot better with the way BF3 is designed. It brought me back to some of the good times in Bad Company.

Didn't see anyone reply, but is there a list somewhere of everyone who plays?

I don't think we have one. Start it up!

As for the weapon grind - I'm trying to get basic scopes on all the initial weapons (plus the PW ones) before I settle in to "play". That's why I'm finding it a grind, I think. 1 part "gotta catch 'em all" and the fact that you need to unlock, say, ACOG for each rifle, rather than 1 ACOG for all...

[slog]

The 870, explosive ammo, the squad explosives perk, and a 4 X scope.  Great fun.

[Nightblade]

The 870, explosive ammo, the squad explosives perk, and a 4 X scope.  Great fun.

Am I missing something? The squad explosives perk only allows you to carry more ordinance.

[Speedy Cerviche]

You know I always kind of passed on using shotguns in FPS games, but this past weekend started using the 870 on urban maps like Karkand and it's just gravy. Before I'd always do poorly on these maps, struggle for .500 k/d with my usual decent for all situations assault rifle or engineer SMG (I generally alternate classes), getting owned up close by people with burst weapons and also getting beaten at range by all the snipers or supports with MGs, not much room to operate in between, I'd often just give up and wait for a LAV or MBT to spawn so I could get away from it all.

Now with a shotgun I can play my aggressive style with confidence, running from room to room, through the alleys, capping flags, clearing rooftops and I'll have the edge over any camper I come across, getting 2:1 k/d easy. Haven't unlocked explosive rounds yet but I don't think I'd use them on those BTK maps anyways, way too many fights happening at under 6 feet range and I'd just blow myself up, but I am keen to get them and try using them on more open maps like Caspian as a medium range weapon.

[rk47]

Hm not sure what the problem is, m16a3 seems to be the most versatile. Heck, even M4 for the engineers are pretty adequate. Just switch to rocket if they hide behind cover for that extra punch. The explosion radius is quite generous in this game and more often than not will finish off woundeds pretty easy.

[Azazel]

I've been playing this a bit now, and it's got it's hooks into me. I have to disagree about the initial weapons being arse, though - I'm finding both the M27 IAR and the RPK better to use than the M249, though with less ammo capacity obviously. Similarly, I've done well with the AKS-74, M4 and M16 - though I do love my UMP at this point.

[ryanolsonx]

Is this game worth it for the xbox 360?

[Azazel]

No. Get Black Ops instead. If you have a PC, get BF3. (Advice based on MP).

[tgr]

Let me point out his Guest status.

[Azazel]

Here, let me show you to the door...

[Jimbo]

Guest or not, the past BF games were not great on Xbox, but wonderful on PC.  And CoD MW3 is great on Xbox live, and not as much fun on the PC.

[Outlawedprod]

http://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield3/comments/oua1j/warning_hackers_seem_to_be_banning_innocent/

[WayAbvPar]

Leave it to EA/DICE to fuck this up royally. Punkbuster is and has always been a steaming pile of shit. Hopefully this will drive a stake into its heart so we can get a tool that might have a prayer of working as intended.

[snowwy]

Leave it to EA/DICE to fuck this up royally. Punkbuster is and has always been a steaming pile of shit. Hopefully this will drive a stake into its heart so we can get a tool that might have a prayer of working as intended.

Are there any other anti-cheat tools out there that even does a half-decent job? VAC also gets it's fair share of bitching thanks to it's delayed ban-cycles.

[taolurker]

PunkBuster Issues Resolved

Together with the 3rd party service providers we have taken steps to remove the faulty bans, and improve the protection against future fake bans. We have determined that the root cause resulting in the server bans is not directly related to Battlefield 3, but rather related to select 3rd party services which server owners can use in conjunction with PunkBuster to protect their servers.

If you are able to log in to Battlelog, your account has not been banned by EA or DICE so there is no need to contact Customer Support.

This issue did not affect Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 players of Battlefield 3.

PunkBuster/Anti-Virus Conflicts resolved

Connectivity issues that some PC players may have experienced relating to conflicts between PunkBuster and some anti-virus software have been resolved.
An update to PunkBuster that will resolve this issue will be automatically downloaded when players login to play.
If this update is not automatically downloaded and installed, the "PBSetup" can be found, downloaded, and installed here:
evenbalance.com

[Jimbo]

I just upgraded and cleaned up my machine    Windows 7 professional, added more memory (8gigs total now), and got another hard drive.  Have had a helluva time with the ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Sonar card, but I think I screwed up the power to it, anyway, installing this as my son bought it for me for my birthday!!  Origin ID is jahayne1969 (can you change that?).  Support and Engi will probably be my fav's, damn I wish they still had squad leader and commander positions.

[Azazel]

I haven't played in about a week, but I'll add you next time I do.

[HaemishM]

Same here.

[WayAbvPar]

Jimbo- yes you can change your Origin ID. Add me as well....I haven't played for a bit (busy as fuck at work, SWTOR, and now D3 beta), but I still get a few games in now and then.

[snowwy]

So this latest patch fucked up things beyond retarded by a good margin. Just unlocked the m26 Dart underslung on a G3A3 with heavy barrel....holy shit what a murderattachment.
So, yet another great patch from DICE. They FUBARED
1) Jets are now invincible since AA-rockets can't touch them.....at all, they just explode doing no damage.
2) M26 Mass on a G3A3 with heavy barrel takes the benefits of the HB, aka less spread, more damage, and turns it into a 60 meter sniper shotgun.
3) This is a Metro-related problem, but supports ammo-boxes were supposed to re-supply grenades slower. Instead they are now instant
4) The MAA vehicles are now completely useless thanks to the AA-rocket fubar
5) MAV-elevators were fixed.......not
6) Supports RPK-lmg accidently got a 200-round mag as an attachment

etc. Thank Jeebuz we get that Close Quarter combat-pack this summer. Guess i'll play World of Warplanes Alpha til september when Armored Fury comes out. 

[jakonovski]

6) Supports RPK-lmg accidently got a 200-round mag as an attachment

Oh man, and here I thought I'd found a legitimately great weapon for my support. Back to leveling the M249 I suppose.

[Nightblade]

So this latest patch fucked up things beyond retarded by a good margin. Just unlocked the m26 Dart underslung on a G3A3 with heavy barrel....holy shit what a murderattachment.
So, yet another great patch from DICE. They FUBARED
1) Jets are now invincible since AA-rockets can't touch them.....at all, they just explode doing no damage.
2) M26 Mass on a G3A3 with heavy barrel takes the benefits of the HB, aka less spread, more damage, and turns it into a 60 meter sniper shotgun.
3) This is a Metro-related problem, but supports ammo-boxes were supposed to re-supply grenades slower. Instead they are now instant
4) The MAA vehicles are now completely useless thanks to the AA-rocket fubar
5) MAV-elevators were fixed.......not
6) Supports RPK-lmg accidently got a 200-round mag as an attachment

etc. Thank Jeebuz we get that Close Quarter combat-pack this summer. Guess i'll play World of Warplanes Alpha til september when Armored Fury comes out. 

If their current crop of close quarters map design is any indication, we're looking at a fistful of new operation metros.

[Jimbo]

I wondered why there were a ton more  M26's when playing.  I just got my PP-19 unlocked and it is great fun!  Wish I had done that first.  The regular shotguns are not as effective as they used to be, and that explains why my AA sucks lately.  If it is a big map you can get jet lock on from soflam (snipers spotting weapon) and the javelin or AA will lock on,  I think maybe from the tank spotting system too, but just having the shoulder fired AA on your engie doesn't work for squat.

I'm mixed on the urban maps.  Some like Grand Bazaar you can break out of if you are being spawn camped (tough as hell to do), but others like Operation Metro are hell to break out of if the other team has you locked down.  They need work on stacking of teams too.  Like when I'm on a server and only one side has one Colonel and the other side has like ten, it sucks.  If they make it so there is more options to manueuver but keep the close combat feel, it will be great.

[jakonovski]

I'm all over the place with this game atm, probably all because of how shitty vehicles are right now. Air power rules everything because they broke all the AA weapons, while tanks are stupid hit point based boxes instead of actually having armor and various systems that can be damaged. So I get no reward at all for getting off that perfect rpg shot in an underdog situation, but tanks' front armor is still made of paper when many things shoot at it, because it bleeds hp no matter what.

It's a great game held down by a desire to ape the big dog (horrid unlocks, but at least there's no magnum ammo) and utter laziness or incompetence in some areas (vehicles).

Also stacking, there's way too many servers that only exist to boost egos of clan douchebags.