I'm going to post about this only because I think it needs to be said.
I understand that the mainstream public needs a FPS game like the Battlefield series. I also know that it needs to be easy enough for your standard gamer to pick it up quickly and be able to perform. Obviously they know the general community wants more infantry type battles or else the infantry only option wouldn't exist. So it pretty easy to see why they went with the format they did. However there is another group of people that are saddened by this.
The modding community and all their fans are for the most part disappointed with the information received so far on BF3. While I can't speak for everyone I can only relay the general tone on forums such as the POE, FH and PR forums. A few of their concerns can be summed up very quickly.
1. The game is more arcade like than they would like. One comment that seems to very popular is, "Why is the Sniper a Core Class?". Which I have to agree with. Why does a class that has little to no significance in a large battlefield have a main slot in the classes? Why isn't the Spec Ops kit and the Sniper kit combined under the Spec Ops classification and the given the opportunity to choose either a sniper rifle, a marksman rifle or a MP5/G36C type weapon? One of the largest complaints of any hardcore teamwork type BF2 player is that there are entirely too many snipers on a team and I agree.
2. 8 Urban Middle Eastern Maps. This has been welcomed with a bit of contention due to the limited number and genre. BF2 did very well in including the PLA in the mix giving everyone a different field of operations and a different feel. The green maps breaking up the tan maps was nice. Given the current climate of the world demonstrating the PLA and the MEC as enemies of the US, GB and including Insurgents or Militias of other countries (Russia, African countries and others), makes sense. I can only assume that they will be released in expansion packs which unfortunately will be seen as DICE/EA attempting to wring more money out of their customers. While many will probably still buy the expansions they will also be thinking that perhaps that first expansion of 3 or 4 more maps should have been included in the original BF3 and not as an expansion.
3. Bugs. If there is one thing everyone complains about it's the bugs. A few were nothing more than irritations while others would completely game breaking. The memory leak bug that still plagues the BF2 engine that causes games to crash to desktop. The inabliity to spawn on a spawn location because the engine freaks out. And who can forget that infamous red/blue name tag bugs. From shot deviation to spotaneous deaths to objects flying into the air or rubberband effect. We have seen a lot and over time through something like 7 patches to 1.41 they fixed many but introduced others. If DICE wants to get on the better sides of customers in the public relations realm they will not only heavily BETA test their game but they will also release a demo of the game with a single map. They will not have a release date giving them a buffer zone in which to fix the bugs that are demonstrated when you introduce 100,000 players into a game. They can deal with the network issues, rework balance, tweak ranking numbers and fix bugs all before the game is released. For the sake of us the community I hope DICE will do this.
4. A Solid Game Engine. There are a couple of things that bring people back to the BF series time and time again. It offers the best vehicle/infantry environment in the current FPS genre. CoD4 has taken the crown away from BF2 when it comes to infantry combat graphics and smoothness. Maybe BF3 will raise that bar a little once again. Another big thing that keeps BF2 alive is it's very active and motivated modding community. There has been four or five popular mods for BF2 since it's release a couple of years ago in June 2005. It is very important that the engine is open enough and easy enough to work with that the modding communities are able to take a good engine and transform the environments and rules and models into something that DICE does not provide. BF series has always been some what arcade like to appeal to the masses. The modding community has taken the want of realism from it's members and made that dream into a reality. Limited kits based upon population. Mandatory squad teakwork. Correct operation of vehicles. Realistic operation of weapons. More strategy and tactics over longer periods of time. Maps that offer much more alternatives then the core BF maps. Models that we've always wante d to see and don't see in BF. The list goes on and on.
DICE has a lot of work ahead of them. They have tough veterans of the BF series to please and yet they have to some how introduce newer players into the realm of modern combat FPS games. To entice them away from Insurgency, CoD4 and Frontlines. But maybe part of the interest of BF2 was that it wasn't like any other game out there. That it took it's own road and made it the standard. Don't appeal to the masses by making a game like anyone else. Take the solid tenants of FPS games and incorporate them into your own but don't lose your own identity by doing so. If I could give the people at DICE a several huge main points of advice they would be...
Server Interface
Pay special attention to the MP Server interface. Make it as functional and as detailed as possible. Give players the ability to search for servers in many many different ways. Include a buddy system in which Friends can be added and clan pages can be adopted. The community had to do that through XML data and saving PIDs. Place that function in the game at a mouse click. Take what you did in BF2 and improve on it. Server interfaces do not need to be reinvented. The wheel has already been built. Just improve on it. DO NOT do what Epic did with UT3. They destroyed their server interface and their game is suffering because of it.
Multiple Game Mods
Make an Arcade mode for the general public but also make a Hardcore mode for the veterans of the game. Makes shots cause more damage, make CP take more time to capture. Give the community options in their servers to turn modes on and off. No vehicles mode. No health bar mode. No mini-map mode. No crosshairs mode. Increased damage mode. things like that. Make an easy style of gameplay for all the little pubber kiddies out there that like their games to be easy. Then make a hardcore mode for those of us that can't stand arcade pubber kiddie games and rather would have something much more challenging and fitting for our skill level and teamwork requirements. Oh and remove the Sniper kit as a core kit for Hardcore mode.
Diverse Maps
Keep the community guessing on where the next field of operations is going to be. Middle East all the time will be very boring. See where all the hote spots are in the world and building maps for those areas. Give us the future that the media doesn't like to talk about. The imitation of real life is sometimes better.
Bug Testing
Test, test and more testing. Beta huge groups of people. Demo even more people. Max those servers out. Encourge people to try and break the game. Listen closely to those people that report those bugs and attempt to ignore all the trolls that feel they need to be heard for whatever reason. It's very important that bugs are solved quickly and are kept to a minimum. Test each patch thoroughly on certain community servers that are high traffic. Allow them to beta test patches before they are released to double check them. Once they are solid then release them to the general public.
Be friendly with the Mod community
This will be the lifeblood of BF3. When people are sick and tired of the same old stuff over and over again in BF3 they will look elsewhere. If a mod community releases a good product that will keep people within the BF3 realm and may keep them interested longer and therefore actually get those expansions (which better not cost more than $10-15). Modders do amazing things with game engines and bring forward talent, motivation and caring into the gaming arena. Their dream to create something unique only helps DICE. Allow them to achieve those dreams.
That's all I have. I may not post much anymore on this forum but I still visit from time to time. Chuy if you see this, pass the knowledge along.
Cheers.
I understand that the mainstream public needs a FPS game like the Battlefield series. I also know that it needs to be easy enough for your standard gamer to pick it up quickly and be able to perform. Obviously they know the general community wants more infantry type battles or else the infantry only option wouldn't exist. So it pretty easy to see why they went with the format they did. However there is another group of people that are saddened by this.
The modding community and all their fans are for the most part disappointed with the information received so far on BF3. While I can't speak for everyone I can only relay the general tone on forums such as the POE, FH and PR forums. A few of their concerns can be summed up very quickly.
1. The game is more arcade like than they would like. One comment that seems to very popular is, "Why is the Sniper a Core Class?". Which I have to agree with. Why does a class that has little to no significance in a large battlefield have a main slot in the classes? Why isn't the Spec Ops kit and the Sniper kit combined under the Spec Ops classification and the given the opportunity to choose either a sniper rifle, a marksman rifle or a MP5/G36C type weapon? One of the largest complaints of any hardcore teamwork type BF2 player is that there are entirely too many snipers on a team and I agree.
2. 8 Urban Middle Eastern Maps. This has been welcomed with a bit of contention due to the limited number and genre. BF2 did very well in including the PLA in the mix giving everyone a different field of operations and a different feel. The green maps breaking up the tan maps was nice. Given the current climate of the world demonstrating the PLA and the MEC as enemies of the US, GB and including Insurgents or Militias of other countries (Russia, African countries and others), makes sense. I can only assume that they will be released in expansion packs which unfortunately will be seen as DICE/EA attempting to wring more money out of their customers. While many will probably still buy the expansions they will also be thinking that perhaps that first expansion of 3 or 4 more maps should have been included in the original BF3 and not as an expansion.
3. Bugs. If there is one thing everyone complains about it's the bugs. A few were nothing more than irritations while others would completely game breaking. The memory leak bug that still plagues the BF2 engine that causes games to crash to desktop. The inabliity to spawn on a spawn location because the engine freaks out. And who can forget that infamous red/blue name tag bugs. From shot deviation to spotaneous deaths to objects flying into the air or rubberband effect. We have seen a lot and over time through something like 7 patches to 1.41 they fixed many but introduced others. If DICE wants to get on the better sides of customers in the public relations realm they will not only heavily BETA test their game but they will also release a demo of the game with a single map. They will not have a release date giving them a buffer zone in which to fix the bugs that are demonstrated when you introduce 100,000 players into a game. They can deal with the network issues, rework balance, tweak ranking numbers and fix bugs all before the game is released. For the sake of us the community I hope DICE will do this.
4. A Solid Game Engine. There are a couple of things that bring people back to the BF series time and time again. It offers the best vehicle/infantry environment in the current FPS genre. CoD4 has taken the crown away from BF2 when it comes to infantry combat graphics and smoothness. Maybe BF3 will raise that bar a little once again. Another big thing that keeps BF2 alive is it's very active and motivated modding community. There has been four or five popular mods for BF2 since it's release a couple of years ago in June 2005. It is very important that the engine is open enough and easy enough to work with that the modding communities are able to take a good engine and transform the environments and rules and models into something that DICE does not provide. BF series has always been some what arcade like to appeal to the masses. The modding community has taken the want of realism from it's members and made that dream into a reality. Limited kits based upon population. Mandatory squad teakwork. Correct operation of vehicles. Realistic operation of weapons. More strategy and tactics over longer periods of time. Maps that offer much more alternatives then the core BF maps. Models that we've always wante d to see and don't see in BF. The list goes on and on.
DICE has a lot of work ahead of them. They have tough veterans of the BF series to please and yet they have to some how introduce newer players into the realm of modern combat FPS games. To entice them away from Insurgency, CoD4 and Frontlines. But maybe part of the interest of BF2 was that it wasn't like any other game out there. That it took it's own road and made it the standard. Don't appeal to the masses by making a game like anyone else. Take the solid tenants of FPS games and incorporate them into your own but don't lose your own identity by doing so. If I could give the people at DICE a several huge main points of advice they would be...
Server Interface
Pay special attention to the MP Server interface. Make it as functional and as detailed as possible. Give players the ability to search for servers in many many different ways. Include a buddy system in which Friends can be added and clan pages can be adopted. The community had to do that through XML data and saving PIDs. Place that function in the game at a mouse click. Take what you did in BF2 and improve on it. Server interfaces do not need to be reinvented. The wheel has already been built. Just improve on it. DO NOT do what Epic did with UT3. They destroyed their server interface and their game is suffering because of it.
Multiple Game Mods
Make an Arcade mode for the general public but also make a Hardcore mode for the veterans of the game. Makes shots cause more damage, make CP take more time to capture. Give the community options in their servers to turn modes on and off. No vehicles mode. No health bar mode. No mini-map mode. No crosshairs mode. Increased damage mode. things like that. Make an easy style of gameplay for all the little pubber kiddies out there that like their games to be easy. Then make a hardcore mode for those of us that can't stand arcade pubber kiddie games and rather would have something much more challenging and fitting for our skill level and teamwork requirements. Oh and remove the Sniper kit as a core kit for Hardcore mode.
Diverse Maps
Keep the community guessing on where the next field of operations is going to be. Middle East all the time will be very boring. See where all the hote spots are in the world and building maps for those areas. Give us the future that the media doesn't like to talk about. The imitation of real life is sometimes better.
Bug Testing
Test, test and more testing. Beta huge groups of people. Demo even more people. Max those servers out. Encourge people to try and break the game. Listen closely to those people that report those bugs and attempt to ignore all the trolls that feel they need to be heard for whatever reason. It's very important that bugs are solved quickly and are kept to a minimum. Test each patch thoroughly on certain community servers that are high traffic. Allow them to beta test patches before they are released to double check them. Once they are solid then release them to the general public.
Be friendly with the Mod community
This will be the lifeblood of BF3. When people are sick and tired of the same old stuff over and over again in BF3 they will look elsewhere. If a mod community releases a good product that will keep people within the BF3 realm and may keep them interested longer and therefore actually get those expansions (which better not cost more than $10-15). Modders do amazing things with game engines and bring forward talent, motivation and caring into the gaming arena. Their dream to create something unique only helps DICE. Allow them to achieve those dreams.
That's all I have. I may not post much anymore on this forum but I still visit from time to time. Chuy if you see this, pass the knowledge along.
Cheers.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis
