Battlefield 3

[APWNH]

IRNV is excellent! But I'm definitely setting my engineer to have spec ops camo when I unlock that...

I was on a 64 man 1000 ticket server last night on Tehran Highway and the teams were terribly unbalanced. Every single building was razed to the ground just outside our spawn, if I ventured out to try to get close enough to see somebody so I could shoot them, I'd get a mortar up my ass because you had to be prone to have any cover at all. You'd get spotted basically instantly out there, for the same reason.

The fight was so incredibly one sided but it was all quite realistic because you could tell that the other team knew what they were doing. They played carefully and tactically and held their ground. The defense was impenetrable. I hope they don't nerf the mortar. It's an amazing force multiplier but requires true teamwork to deploy effectively.

[Dizik]

Holy sheet! I didnt realize the IRNV was that powerful!

I'll just say this...if you're playing Operation: Metro with any scope other than the IRNV, you're an idiot. It helps out a lot in the day time too, but dark settings is where it really comes in handy. If I'm defending on Metro, I can all but hold down a corridor by myself thanks to the my TYPE 88 LMG w/IRNV scope, bipod, extended magazine, and the suppression specialization. I often find it hard to not start yelling "GET SOME!" repeatedly while mowing down the entire enemy team. The unlimited ammo doesn't hurt, either.

[njenabnit]

so when are we going to assemble an assassins squad and win games as one squad? That ace squad pin is worth like 500...

[ChronoReverse]

It's been fun playing on the pubs but the way you're incredibly gimped compared to those who've played for much longer is annoying.

I like flying in jets for instance but you start off with just guns and not even flares which makes for poor sport when the opposing team's jets have stealth, radar and fast-lock heatseekers camping your spawn. I've worked my way up to stealth but the advantage they hold is still rather disheartening sometimes.

[APWNH]

Yeah, I don't even have a job and I'm level 21 but I'm starting to notice recently that it's becoming harder and harder for me to do well. Can't imagine what it's like for someone just starting up now, or a few weeks from now.

[Dizik]

That's par for the course, as far as Battlefield goes.

[APWNH]

Play on the TR server, folks! Search on Battlelog for "Gerbil" and you'll find it!

Just had a 20k point round on caspian border and unlocked the mortar. I'm liking this server.

[Dizik]

Yeah...that was 10 straight matches that we (APWNH, njenabnit, and myself) won, and the server was full at all times!. Coupled with the fact that we earned the squad ace ribbon (500 points) at least 5 of those times, and I would say that it was a successful evening. I think Skullzer1 was lurking somewhere on the server, as well as at least two of my IRL friends. Good times were had!

[Aphasia]

It's been fun playing on the pubs but the way you're incredibly gimped compared to those who've played for much longer is annoying.

I like flying in jets for instance but you start off with just guns and not even flares which makes for poor sport when the opposing team's jets have stealth, radar and fast-lock heatseekers camping your spawn. I've worked my way up to stealth but the advantage they hold is still rather disheartening sometimes.

Go to a "practice" server or similar which starts with only a few people in and practice dogfighting and unlock at least stealh + flares + heatseekers. Then for more points, what you need to do is attack choppers, because its properly killed chopper will net you 450 points or so. 2 kills + disable + vehicle destroy + bonus. More if its a transport chopper. Go slow, pull both heatseekers when you are close enough and hope they dont have time for flares, then finish up with a quick burst. if you need another strafing run, its better to just wound it so they might think they can recover and finish off the next run, otherwise they'll just bail and loose you the kils. Also, if you can, try to work either as a pair of jets, or as a jet + aa pair, since any tail you might have you want to avoid and lead into either your friends sights, or in the AA sights so they have to break off, especially if you are a russian since the F/A-18 seems to be a bit more nimble.

Usually, I dominate the air totally unless there is another player like me with equal skill, and then its a toss-op and we will kill each other about equal times, depending on who gets the drop on the other, which is usually when he is chasing a teammate in the other jet. I still get to kill a few tanks unless they have good teamwork with stingers + AA beyond the flight. I even stopped flying with heatseekers unless theres a severaly annoying opponent in the air, because any decent main gun burst will kill any jet. With rocket pods and main gun you can take out a tank in a single strafing run if you aim properly. and without the soflan, the air to ground missile is abit enemic, but still a whole lot of fun to drop, especially on jeeps. But after just shy of 150 kills and 50K points in the jet, you kindof get the hang of it all. Sad part is all those poor people that just starting out in the jet that are trying to chase me and get to be collateral damage just so I can continue to be a hazard against tanks and choppers.

[tanker27]

While I had fun on Gerbilgeddon I am convinced that 64/64 is just way too large/ busy for me.

[kamikaziechameleon]

was on redhour and someone was spawn killing our vehicles with there air plane super lame so me and about half the server left.

[Lucky Jack Aubrey]

was on redhour and someone was spawn killing our vehicles with there air plane super lame so me and about half the server left.

I'm curious: why didn't you try to shoot him down? I'm thinking a couple of engineers with Stingers could have made life difficult for him.

More generally, what about spawn killing the enemy's vehicles: legitimate tactic or cheap stat padding?

[Airmantharp]

Spawn killing their vehicles gives you nothing if they're unmanned; otherwise, just shoot the jets down with some form of AA. Mobile AA is especially deadly to enemy aircraft, I've already maxed that thing out.

[tanker27]

More generally, what about spawn killing the enemy's vehicles: legitimate tactic or cheap stat padding?

Fracking cheap!

I can understand and Sniper or a lone soldier going behind enemy lines to flank or come from behind, but spawn killing anything is one cheap ass move. I see a lot of high ranking players resort to spawn camping and it really pisses me off.

(i do have to admit that the act of jihadding a jeep or vehicle is funny as hell every one in a while, not that I have EVER done it) (I wonder has anyone ever attempted to jihad a enemy plane???)

[tanker27]

the Shotgun......the tale of Rambo:

So I was on a server last night and we were attacking on the metro map. We got stuck on the 2nd two MCOMS. what blows my mind is that people who play support dont actually know how to play. Support isnt about point and kill its about covering lanes/corners so your guys can move up. Supressive fire is your friend! (look at my accuracy score its low, then look at the total rounds I shot and its astronomical. Tie both of those together with my kill and assist rate and I am a fracking beast!) (I was actually playing Soldier/medic this round)

Anyways we were all under cover in a tunnel and this Rambo dude with a shot gun just runs around shooting us. He had to have gotten at least 15 kills before someone took him out.

I see this tactic a lot actually and it pains me to see that it works almost every time.

[APWNH]

An enemy plane would be damn hard to get a hold of in the first place. Why would you jihadify it?

I've got to try a jihad jet sometime. Though it seems like it'd be a lot of work and really hard to pull off for just a tank kill.

I find myself "spawn camping" sometimes and it just seems like the natural progression... I've captured all the control points, what should I do? I have to camp them now, in order to be polite? Spawn camping is simply an assertion of dominance. It is supposed to be war, after all.

I do really love the support class because this game really brings out his role quite well. I find that when I set up my bipod and cover a long hallway with my MG it all works out pretty realistically. If I'm playing CS or COD some dude would stroll along and headshot me with an SMG... In battlefield, once I set up that MG that corridor is MINE. As it should be. I take my time emptying my box magazine in bursts, duck out for a second to reload, and get right back into it. It is very effective.

[kamikaziechameleon]

I'm not here to defend the merits of spawn camping/killing on a server with 8 players per team. Admin should have banned him.

[Lucky Jack Aubrey]

I'm not here to defend the merits of spawn camping/killing on a server with 8 players per team. Admin should have banned him.

But that's what I'm getting at. I admin our own server, and I'm trying to form a judgment about how I should respond to such a situation. On the one hand, I can see that bombing the daylights out of the enemy's rear area prevents reinforcements (tanks, etc) from coming up to the front lines. On the other hand, my gut feel is that it's a cheap tactic that's somehow contrary to intended gameplay.

While my initial reaction was to be repulsed by the act (I saw a similar situation on our server this weekend), I haven't yet gotten to the point where I consider it cheating or a bannable (is that a word?) offense. You seem to think otherwise, and I'd honestly appreciate reading your reasons.

[APWNH]

I think it's one of those subjective things. Abusive behavior should be dealt with. For certain things such as "spawncamping" (whether in relation to vehicles or players) it isn't clear what the limits of intended gameplay are.

[Lucky Jack Aubrey]

(i do have to admit that the act of jihadding a jeep or vehicle is funny as hell every one in a while, not that I have EVER done it) (I wonder has anyone ever attempted to jihad a enemy plane???)

Here's an interesting situation I stumbled into this weekend. On Caspian Border, I was in a jeep speeding past the gas station toward the antenna, when right in front of me appeared an enemy APC. I briefly considered a kamikaze crash - a tactic I used to enjoy in BF1942 - but hopped out at the last second. I was rewarded with the sight of the jeep shoved up under the front of the APC, and the APC angled upwards, unable to shoot at me, and attempting to back up. Unfortunately, the APC driver was cleverer than me; while I was switching to RPG, he jumped out and shot me.

[tanker27]

But that's what I'm getting at. I admin our own server, and I'm trying to form a judgment about how I should respond to such a situation. On the one hand, I can see that bombing the daylights out of the enemy's rear area prevents reinforcements (tanks, etc) from coming up to the front lines. On the other hand, my gut feel is that it's a cheap tactic that's somehow contrary to intended gameplay.

While my initial reaction was to be repulsed by the act (I saw a similar situation on our server this weekend), I haven't yet gotten to the point where I consider it cheating or a bannable (is that a word?) offense. You seem to think otherwise, and I'd honestly appreciate reading your reasons.

Its a fine line, I must agree and one to tread lightly on lest you find and always empty server. Most of my gut instinct is that if the rest of the players are calling for the kick then I say go with it. Like what happened this weekend, everyone was calling for a guy who was being a total asshat not only in his actions but in chat, he deserved it. If I had known the admin kick command I would have done it.

Here's an interesting situation I stumbled into this weekend. On Caspian Border, I was in a jeep speeding past the gas station toward the antenna, when right in front of me appeared an enemy APC. I briefly considered a kamikaze crash - a tactic I used to enjoy in BF1942 - but hopped out at the last second. I was rewarded with the sight of the jeep shoved up under the front of the APC, and the APC angled upwards, unable to shoot at me, and attempting to back up. Unfortunately, the APC driver was cleverer than me; while I was switching to RPG, he jumped out and shot me.

Sometimes I find that I am looking at a engy doing a lone repair on his vehicle. I wait till he is almost done kill him and steal the vehicle. /shrug

[Lucky Jack Aubrey]

Its a fine line, I must agree and one to tread lightly on lest you find and always empty server. Most of my gut instinct is that if the rest of the players are calling for the kick then I say go with it. Like what happened this weekend, everyone was calling for a guy who was being a total asshat not only in his actions but in chat, he deserved it. If I had known the admin kick command I would have done it.

In a situation like that, I think a temporary ban might be the answer. There is a way to do it from the in-game console, but it's somewhat of a pain, and I haven't tried it myself. It's much easier to do it from Procon. If we're going to hang onto our server for a while, you and Dizik need to have Procon. I've already activated the Procon server layer, but I haven't actually figured out how to set up admin profiles.

[tanker27]

Alright I will take a look at it and set it up. I usually jump in when it gets a lot of people on.

[kamikaziechameleon]

I'm not here to defend the merits of spawn camping/killing on a server with 8 players per team. Admin should have banned him.

But that's what I'm getting at. I admin our own server, and I'm trying to form a judgment about how I should respond to such a situation. On the one hand, I can see that bombing the daylights out of the enemy's rear area prevents reinforcements (tanks, etc) from coming up to the front lines. On the other hand, my gut feel is that it's a cheap tactic that's somehow contrary to intended gameplay.

While my initial reaction was to be repulsed by the act (I saw a similar situation on our server this weekend), I haven't yet gotten to the point where I consider it cheating or a bannable (is that a word?) offense. You seem to think otherwise, and I'd honestly appreciate reading your reasons.

Say a team is unbalanced and one team is smashing the other and then this happens how does this present good gameplay. You as admin should take action. Move the offending player to the other team do something to prevent this from happening. It just drives players off the server. A good game should be fun, that is how you maintain player counts. If spawn killing doesn't promote tons of rage quitting on your server then by all means let the spawn rape continue. I'm fine with killing people as they leave their spawn but don't allow the premature destruction of vehicles etc. This isn't a tourney but rather some people looking for a good time.

[APWNH]

Say a team is unbalanced and one team is smashing the other and then this happens how does this present good gameplay. You as admin should take action. Move the offending player to the other team do something to prevent this from happening. It just drives players off the server. A good game should be fun, that is how you maintain player counts. If spawn killing doesn't promote tons of rage quitting on your server then by all means let the spawn rape continue. I'm fine with killing people as they leave their spawn but don't allow the premature destruction of vehicles etc. This isn't a tourney but rather some people looking for a good time.

+1 for this

[Lucky Jack Aubrey]

Say a team is unbalanced and one team is smashing the other and then this happens how does this present good gameplay. You as admin should take action. Move the offending player to the other team do something to prevent this from happening. It just drives players off the server. A good game should be fun, that is how you maintain player counts. If spawn killing doesn't promote tons of rage quitting on your server then by all means let the spawn rape continue. I'm fine with killing people as they leave their spawn but don't allow the premature destruction of vehicles etc. This isn't a tourney but rather some people looking for a good time.

+1 for this

While I tend to fall on this side of the argument, a couple of things occur to me:

-- Our server has team balancing implemented - not the built-in balancing , but via a ProCon plugin. I've seen it in action, and it seems to work.

-- I still wonder why a couple of engineers didn't whip out their man-portable AAMs and shoot the guy down. That's what gives me pause here: could the aforementioned asshat's actions have been effectively countered by good gameplay? If the answer is yes, my inclination is that the admin should be hesitant to interfere. In the situation tanker27 described, I probably would have opted for either a straight-up kick or a temporary ban, because the guy was annoying everyone on the server. However, in the situation I witnessed, only a couple of people really seemed to take notice, and I elected to simply try to shoot the guy down. He was smart, and kept low and behind the cover of the landscape as much as possible (I was in the stationary AA - the mobile AA kept getting nailed), so I didn't end up getting him. While it made me mad, at the time I recall feeling that banning him would be petulant.

EDIT: Just for the record, I understand that one of my co-admins might view the same situation differently than me. If tanker had kicked, temp-banned, or perma-banned the guy he saw, I would have backed him up regardless of what I personally thought about it.

[Dizik]

Holy crap....Back to Karkand is live for PC and 360, and it's awesome.

[Glorious]

So I bought karkand, it says I have it on the BF3 feed and I have a confirmation email, but there is nowhere to download it and I can't use it.

What am I supposed to do? There aren't any links on the confirmation email, and I can't find anywhere that will let me download it.

This kind of nonsense is why I wonder why I even play games on the PC anymore.

[Dizik]

Did you buy the Limited Edition of BF3, or did you buy the standard version and Back to Karkand separate? If I'm not mistaken, Back to Karkand is currently open only to those that bought the Limited Edition.

[Glorious]

well damnit. I bought it separate. Why are they advertising it "buy now" all over the damn place if I can't even play it yet?