PC Battlefield 3 Lacks Key FPS Feature

[Iwata]

Its like they don't want my money. Seriosuly i had to get a new Grudge book because of EAs behavior this year.

Might I suggest you inscribe the Grudges into the rocks lobbed from your catapults, like all good dwarves are wont to do?

 

[Poopster]

DICE is not the only one being lazy in this situation...
Open beta is in September so why don't we try it out and see how the server browser works...

 

[kebab4you]

EDIT: For those saying "Oh, it'll be a quick load." How the hell do you know? Unless you somehow cracked or got your hands on BF3 and played it and shit, and have multiple computers from most latest generations to test, you have NO idea if it will be fast or not. SO far all we have is the "trust" on EA that it is. And from these latest moves, I dont trust that statement.

Let's just assume that it loads really fast, you know what would load even faster? If it was built into the game!

"Oh but you can just alt+tab and save the trouble of closing the game" Again, know what would be even faster? Have an built in menu.

I have no idea why people are defending this crap, this doesn't benefit the player in any god damn way.

I wasn't defending it, I was trying to get that same point across that "why build some stupid ass method that maybe a handful of users will find fast, when you can just in-build it into that game and make it fast for EVERYONE"

Nono I knew you wasn't defending it, just wanted to build on what you said :3

 

[scott91575]

Has anyone who is upset about this actually experienced it?

There is no difference in time from an in game server browser that I could tell. If the time is the same, why do you care if you leave a game to the in game server browser or to a webpage? If anything it seemed more efficient, and certainly more organized (probably do the fact they don't have to create a browser from scratch in game, which often sucks). Consoles get it because they don't have a web browser with an intuitive interface for this type of thing.

Honestly, someone please answer this. Why is quitting from a game to a an in game server browser better than one that take you to a webpage you already have up? Heck, with the browser you don't need to go through all the launch crap when you start a game. Open browser, go to bookmark, click on map and it gets you going right into a multiplayer map. Why is this worse?

It's worse for several reasons.

First, alt-tabbing in and out of full-screen apps can be a tricky business with some OS's and some systems in general. (hardware) Even if you don't have to close down BF3 to change servers, having to constantly alt-tab can lead to instabilities and crashes. Not to mention just the unnecessary inconvenience of the act.

Second, it appears that one has to launch the game from this site. They apparently aren't even putting a main menu in. You have to launch the game from the website, even for solo campaigning. This, as obviously stupid as it is, lends itself to...

...Reason number 3. What happens if you lose access to the site? I guess the idea of playing BF3 AT ALL goes out the window. Let alone giving the players the capability to LAN or even direct-connect using a known servers IP. Let's not even start on the nightmare potential mod teams will have.

I, for the life of me, can't see how people are defending this. I really can't. Explain that to me? Every week EA comes forth to dump yet another pile of bullshit on the prospective BF3 PC players, and large swaths of them are just taking it in with open arms. It's like watching Tarantino fans defending all the garbage he's made after his early work.

It's just unbelievably lazy to not only fail to integrate a server browser in to the game (one that could STILL use the Battlelog site, but just displays everything in game), but to not even have a main menu. Seriously DICE. What the hell happened to you?

[edit] I would just like to add that I sincerely hope I end up being wrong about the menu thing. Here's hoping DICE changes it's mind on that, in the very least.

I have answers for all 3.

1) Alt tab can get you out. You can also get out of the game by hitting ESC and then clicking quit. Just like any normal game. You don't have to Alt-Tab. It's just quicker.
2) If you have an issue with single player, that is an entirely different issue and not the lack of in game server browsing. I am not even sure that has been confirmed. I have not seen anything official that say you need to launch single player from a website.
3) LAN play is not even available on many games, and once again, has nothing to do with the main issue...no in game server browsing. As for losing connection, umm, an in game browser does not fix that. You still need to be connected. Connected to their server in game vs. a web browser does not resolve that. As for a known server IP, the same capability is there. I have no idea where you are getting that. It's just in a browser.

It's not lazy. It's actually kind of cool. When I first used it I thought "this is weird." Yet I quickly got used to it and it was not different than a normal game other than the fact during the load screen it's minimized (you can watch it if you want though). Once you are in it pops up to the main screen. So actually you can chat with people while waiting for the load screen if you wanted. I would bet it's also better to have a browser in a web based environment instead of creating a unique one in game.

How can I defend it? It's faster. Time how fast you can open BFBC2 and get to a load screen for a multiplayer match. Now time how quick you can go to a bookmark on your browser. On top of that, internet browsing is something that continually evolves with new stuff not designed by EA. The in game stuff is all EA. This has the liklihood of being more reliable and having more features.

Like I asked, have you used it? I have. It's not much different than an in game server browser except the fact you need to have an internet browser open. BTW...the search was much faster, but I will chalk that up to the low amount of players in alpha vs. a launched title.

 

[scott91575]

EDIT: For those saying "Oh, it'll be a quick load." How the hell do you know? Unless you somehow cracked or got your hands on BF3 and played it and shit, and have multiple computers from most latest generations to test, you have NO idea if it will be fast or not. SO far all we have is the "trust" on EA that it is. And from these latest moves, I dont trust that statement.

Let's just assume that it loads really fast, you know what would load even faster? If it was built into the game!

"Oh but you can just alt+tab and save the trouble of closing the game" Again, know what would be even faster? Have an built in menu.

I have no idea why people are defending this crap, this doesn't benefit the player in any god damn way.

I wasn't defending it, I was trying to get that same point across that "why build some stupid ass method that maybe a handful of users will find fast, when you can just in-build it into that game and make it fast for EVERYONE"

To your original point, and something that has been stated...many, many people got to play this in Alpha. It loaded plenty fast for me. No real difference to BFBC2. I have not heard any other Alpha tester complain, although I think some believed (like me) the web browser thing was only for Alpha and didn't complain much about it. Yet since this announcement I have not heard any Alpha testers say anything but positive things. Heck, this worked a million times better than the BFBC2 in game browser did during beta, and even better than the browser at launch. I would even go so far to say it's better than the current in game browser which still has issues. Yet I can't be definitive do to the lower amount of players. Yet the BFBC2 beta numbers were probably similar, and as I stated this was much better. In beta and launch the BFBC2 in game server browser was an absolute mess.

 

[Yopaz]

Who decided that this was a good idea?
I wanted to believe that Battlefield 3 would be the cod killer, but it's spending it's time not taking shots a cod, and more time shooting itself in the foot.

I think Terry and Gonad are pulling the shots on the development crew for this game...

OT: Seriously. this shouldn't be a big deal to include, it's something we like in our game, there's no issues concerning this as far as I have heard. Now let me get this straight. I can ignore the fact that I am forced to use Origin, I'm sure it wont be destroyed just because I have to run a new program. I will just turn it off when I don't need it. This however! Seriously get a grip on yourself! Do not piss off your fans before the game is released. This game could be the game of the year or the game of the decade and yet it will be remembered for all this bullshit you are pulling!

 

[GiantRedButton]

Everything is controlled through the Battlelog website, VoIP, server browser, friends list, community forums, stats...everything.

You're not making their case any better with this statement.

Eh.. Battle.net?

As long as there IS a server browser it's fine.

I hope one day every FPS will come with a browser as good as Valve's

Battle net is integrated in the game, with friends list and everything, so yeah battle net ould be a good example how to do it.
But they have gone with the route that up to now only bad free to play games have gone. which is launch via browser, some less then successfull asia grinders have allready pioneered that idea and it doesn't ad anything expect for some advertisments.

 

[Strazdas]

Brilliant. As I said before on other forums, every trailer makes me want it, every announcement makes me want to castrate the people who thought whatever the hell they've announced was a good idea.

i so totally agree with you.

 

[Kair]

The EA-devil will always find ways to screw you over. Never pre-purchase an EA-game.

 

[Griffolion]

Something tells me EA had every little bit to do with this.

I was in the Alpha and it works pretty well. I would even go far as to say I like it better than the Bad Company 2 game server. Searching is easier with 'Ctrl F' in browser, and scrolling is a lot faster. It was strange, sure, but the load times weren't any slower or faster than I remember them from BC2 (aka, waiting for the game to launch was the same in BF3 alpha as waiting for the map to load BC2). Not having an options menu in between games was annoying (and something I hope they add to the real game), but as long as you're playing in the same server, you won't ever have to tab out. Really, it's faster to quit.

Thanks. I'm in on the beta when that starts so I can make up my own mind there. But the people who've played the alpha here all seem to think it's really not as bad as people think.

 

[IKWerewolf]

There's only one way to solve this, make our own publishing company and show them how its done.

Unfortunatley EA has gotten too big with too many non gamer investors and thats the problem. If the investors were gamers and saw this they would be calling for heads to roll down the stairs.

 

[Dissentient]

Anyone who played alpha says that it's ok and everyone else butthurting and raging. Lol.

 

[mcattack92]

EA's philosophy of making road kill of their own games is getting worse. They need to learn to give players what THEY want rahter than what the MAKERS want.

Making a AAA game yet leaving out a key feature of the game is stupid. It is like watching TV with the TV stuck in another room and you have to move away from the TV to find out what else is on.

 

[Vkmies]

They seem to be fucking over all around. I would be SO mad, if the game wouldn't be SO good.

 

[SamuelT]

Oh man. Does this mean you need a constant internet connection just to play multiplayer!?

THIS GAME IS RUINED FOREVER GARBLEGARBLE.

But really guys, is this such a big deal? Having to wait for five minutes or less to find another server?

 

[joe22]

Do You people actualy READ the posts from the people that played the alpha? It works fine, and better then the browser.

My god, this community is thick.

i was in the alpha and i hated it. your point is invalid.

 

[laggyteabag]

Im a console gamer, so the fact that they are adding a server browser on Xbox/PS3 versions is great news, but it doesn't make sense to me why they are removing the server browser on PC versions...
looks like they hit cut and paste instead of copy and paste

 

[42]

It seems like EA is doing everything in their power to sabotage their own attempt to take away some of the CoD audience. Way to shoot yourself in the foot.