PC Battlefield 3 Lacks Key FPS Feature

Couch Radish

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Here's a good question to everyone's who trashing EA for this idea:

Out of all who have posted here, who exactly has used the BattleLog? I sure haven't, so have you?
 

scott91575

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Vigormortis said:
scott91575 said:
I will ask once again....have you used this? Of course the answer is no, I just like the fact you continue to make assumptions while I in fact have used it. Exiting the game and re entering was not any slower then using an in game browser.

How about this, wait to use it and then actually comment on it instead of making assumption after assumption. You will have your chance soon. If you don't like it, don't buy the game.
Funny how you arbitrarily assume I haven't used it and then expect me to take, solely on your word, that you have. The latter of which I find very hard to believe as, if you had, you'd know that you launch the game from the Battlelog site, regardless of mode. (I.E. there is no main menu for the game.)

http://www.1up.com/news/first-glimpse-battlefield-3-battlelog-system

Notice at the top the button for "Resume Campaign"? Yeah. You have to launch the single-player game from a website. That is beyond stupid. Somehow EA has managed to make an "Always On" DRM scheme even worse.

Having to close the game entirely and relaunch to join a new server isn't any slower than using an in-game browser? I almost laughed but then I realized one of two things. Either you're lying in defense of this game (as there is no way having to close and then reopen a game is not slower than just clicking on a server link in a browser), or you're playing on some God-sent machine that has a 20GHz, 20 core processor with terabytes of ram. (even then, still wouldn't be faster)

I would like to believe you. I really would. But considering the alpha had a very small number of players, yet seemingly thousands upon thousands of people on the web claim they've played it, it becomes hard to believe anyone who defends it on the basis they've experienced it.

[edit] On a side note, I love how some of these people are saying they're glad EA is doing it this way as "most" in-game server browsers are bad. As if, they assume, a server browser being on a website will somehow "magically" make it better. More likely, it'll be the exact same as any other browser, same pros and cons and same instability, but with the added annoyance of having to access it solely trough a web browser.

It could be better, but this is EA we're talking about. Somehow....I just don't see it happening.

Ivan Torres said:
Plus, no one has proof that the singleplayer will have to be accessed through Battlelog.
See link above.
I'll let you in on a little secret. When I first played the Alpha, I didn't realize you could Alt Tab out. I did what I usually did, which is exit out of the map (which in this case was a complete exit). Hate to let you know, but when I started a new game it was really fast. Pretty much as fast as BFBC2 from in game. It's not like an in game server browser lets every map load onto RAM (which would require a crap load of RAM). You can launch a game that has recently been played just as fast. It's not like I am cold booting every time.

As for single player, once again you are assuming there will not be an offline mode (either out of browser or from your browser in offline mode). You may be correct. I have still not seen any confirmation. Yet if you simply need an interface to start the game, a browser in offline mode will work just fine.
 

Vigormortis

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scott91575 said:
I'll let you in on a little secret. When I first played the Alpha, I didn't realize you could Alt Tab out. I did what I usually did, which is exit out of the map (which in this case was a complete exit). Hate to let you know, but when I started a new game it was really fast. Pretty much as fast as BFBC2 from in game. It's not like an in game server browser lets every map load onto RAM (which would require a crap load of RAM). You can launch a game that has recently been played just as fast. It's not like I am cold booting every time.

As for single player, once again you are assuming there will not be an offline mode (either out of browser or from your browser in offline mode). You may be correct. I have still not seen any confirmation. Yet if you simply need an interface to start the game, a browser in offline mode will work just fine.
So it's "real fast" because it has the map you just played pre-loaded into memory when you join another server? This is not new. Many games do this. So, I fail to see how the web browser makes this process better in that way. Besides, what if I want to play a different map? Does it have every map in the game pre-loaded? Seems that'd require a shite load of ram. Something most PC won't have. More likely, it has to load each map every time, just like normal, only it would also have to reload the engine each time. (assuming you haven't alt-tabbed, which is a shaky business) Something a game that's loaded into a menu with an in-game browser doesn't have to do.

On the topic of single-player, how do you expect people to play it offline if the game doesn't have a main menu or even a valid exe from which to launch from? So I think it's fairly safe to say that there's no playing the game offline.

Let's face, this whole thing is a clever way for EA to hide not one but two "Always Online" DRM schemes. Seeing as the player has to have Origin connected to the EA servers AND has to load the game from the Battlelog site. Yet, so many of you are defending this? Really? If this "Always On" style play in BF3 had been applied to any other game, you'd see it for what it is. And, I can almost guarantee you'd be as angry as the rest of us. I'm curious how many of you defending this BF3 crap were raging about Blizzard announcing that Diablo 3 would be "Always On"?

Either way, I'm done arguing this with you people. Even if some of you played the alpha, it being a fun game doesn't change the bullshit EA is doing to it. DICE probably made an amazing game, but EA is ruining it on the front end. So instead of defending it unilaterally, how about helping the rest of us tell off EA and show them how much disdain we have for "Always On" DRM. 'Kay?

Before I go, though, I must say....I eagerly await the day when, shortly after BF3 goes live on Battlelog, it crashes because of too much traffic trying to connect. Thus, preventing a vast majority of the people who bought it from actually playing it. The back-lash against EA will be epicly hilarious.

Or, even better, some hacker pulling a DDoS attack on Battlelog and denying thousands of players the ability to play. Oh the hilarity that will ensue on that day.

[edit] Can we please stop comparing the Battlefield 3 interface with Bad Company 2? Again, anything will look good if you compare it to a pile of shit. Saying Battlelog is "better" or "faster" than Bad Company 2's browser really doesn't add much to your argument.
 

scott91575

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Vigormortis said:
scott91575 said:
I'll let you in on a little secret. When I first played the Alpha, I didn't realize you could Alt Tab out. I did what I usually did, which is exit out of the map (which in this case was a complete exit). Hate to let you know, but when I started a new game it was really fast. Pretty much as fast as BFBC2 from in game. It's not like an in game server browser lets every map load onto RAM (which would require a crap load of RAM). You can launch a game that has recently been played just as fast. It's not like I am cold booting every time.

As for single player, once again you are assuming there will not be an offline mode (either out of browser or from your browser in offline mode). You may be correct. I have still not seen any confirmation. Yet if you simply need an interface to start the game, a browser in offline mode will work just fine.
So it's "real fast" because it has the map you just played pre-loaded into memory when you join another server? This is not new. Many games do this. So, I fail to see how the web browser makes this process better in that way. Besides, what if I want to play a different map? Does it have every map in the game pre-loaded? Seems that'd require a shite load of ram. Something most PC won't have. More likely, it has to load each map every time, just like normal, only it would also have to reload the engine each time. (assuming you haven't alt-tabbed, which is a shaky business) Something a game that's loaded into a menu with an in-game browser doesn't have to do.

On the topic of single-player, how do you expect people to play it offline if the game doesn't have a main menu or even a valid exe from which to launch from? So I think it's fairly safe to say that there's no playing the game offline.

Let's face, this whole thing is a clever way for EA to hide not one but two "Always Online" DRM schemes. Seeing as the player has to have Origin connected to the EA servers AND has to load the game from the Battlelog site. Yet, so many of you are defending this? Really? If this "Always On" style play in BF3 had been applied to any other game, you'd see it for what it is. And, I can almost guarantee you'd be as angry as the rest of us. I'm curious how many of you defending this BF3 crap were raging about Blizzard announcing that Diablo 3 would be "Always On"?

Either way, I'm done arguing this with you people. Even if some of you played the alpha, it being a fun game doesn't change the bullshit EA is doing to it. DICE probably made an amazing game, but EA is ruining it on the front end. So instead of defending it unilaterally, how about helping the rest of us tell off EA and show them how much disdain we have for "Always On" DRM. 'Kay?

Before I go, though, I must say....I eagerly await the day when, shortly after BF3 goes live on Battlelog, it crashes because of too much traffic trying to connect. Thus, preventing a vast majority of the people who bought it from actually playing it. The back-lash against EA will be epicly hilarious.

Or, even better, some hacker pulling a DDoS attack on Battlelog and denying thousands of players the ability to play. Oh the hilarity that will ensue on that day.

[edit] Can we please stop comparing the Battlefield 3 interface with Bad Company 2? Again, anything will look good if you compare it to a pile of shit. Saying Battlelog is "better" or "faster" than Bad Company 2's browser really doesn't add much to your argument.
What other game should we compare it to? Do you really expect EA to suddenly made something better? OK, it's not much different than loading TF2. Happy?

As for better, I am not stating better. I am stating it's very similar. You act like it will take 1 minute every time you change servers. Any change in starting a game, even from scratch, I couldn't notice. It's very similar to every mutiplayer I have ever played recently.

As for defending it, I haven't really ever said it was great. I am simply pointing out 1) it's not as bad as people seem to think or bad at all and 2) we don't have any confirmation about offline play. In the mean time you have panties all in a bunch without experiencing it or having definitive answers. If EA requires always online for this game, yeah, that sucks. Yet be upset at that. They could still do offline even with this interface, and in fact, it's probably the Origin requirement that makes in online. The "I must have an in game server browser because that is all I know so a web based one sucks!" argument is pretty stupid. It's a little different at first, but for the most part works just like any other server browser. All the other arguments are things EA chose not to support and not based on this decision. They could still support all the stuff people are bitching about even through this interface. The only question is how well this works for server browsing, and it works out very similar to an in game one.
 

SnipErlite

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Wait, I....wait. What. What?

What?


........No really, whaaat? The fuck is this? But..server browsers are...they're awesome! They're a staple. That's...HOW YOU FIND A SERVER YOU WANT.

Bad Company 2's was a bit clunky, but...it was a browser.

Who decided this was a good idea?
 

Ensiferum

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Yep, that's the final nail in the coffin for me. And I have to say it feels pretty damn good not giving EA my money.
 

Withard

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HOLD YOUR HORSES EVERYONE!!!!!


I sense Escapist sensationalism and scaremongering. If they HAVE done this and mentioned it in a text message or confirmed it over MSN Messenger then MAYBE there is time to be concerned.

Until I see a video of someone from EA saying EXACTLY how it works then please ignore this bloody thread.
 

Asehujiko

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Marshall Honorof said:
PC Battlefield 3 Lacks Key FPS Feature


EA thumbs its nose at the PC by restricting in-game server browsing to consoles in its upcoming shooter.

In-game server browsers have been a mainstay of PC first-person shooter games for many years, so it was only logical to expect the upcoming Battlefield 3 to use them as well. That expectation turned out to be incorrect. While the next installment in the hit Battlefield series will allow console players to seek out new games from within the game itself, PC users will be required to exit the game, find a new server with an Internet browser, and then restart it.

Alan Kertz, a game designer with Battlefield 3 developer DICE, confirmed the news earlier today via Twitter. DICE announced only yesterday that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game would get an in-game browser for multiplayer servers. According to Kertz, PC gamers will have to use the browser-based Battlelog service instead.

While Kertz stated that the game "starts up REAL fast," fan blog Battlefield3Blog points out that Battlefield 3 will be the only PC shooter in recent memory to eschew the use of an in-game browser.

When developing the same game for different consoles, it's reasonable to expect a few minor differences between versions. However, EA is risking PC gamers' ire by removing one of the features they've come to expect from almost every other FPS on the market. Both console and PC gamers can see how the in-game server vs. Battlelog debate plays out firsthand when the game arrives on October 25, 2011.

Source: Battlefield3Blog [http://bf3blog.com/2011/08/battlefield-3-pc-version-wont-have-in-game-server-browser/]


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That sounds like a poor man's Steam Overlay.
 

Amphoteric

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I love the way that a small change creates an outburst equivalent to what you'd expect from the apocolpse.
 

Ridgemo

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Vigormortis said:
tgcPheonix said:
Frostbite Engine +1
Amazing game play trailer +1
Forced to use origin -1
Forced to restart game every time you have to find a server -2

and it looked so promising ....
So I'm not the only one keeping a tally, huh? Good to know.

Mine was about the same, except that mine looked more like this:

* Promises of returning to the series roots (a la BF2) - +2
* Frostbyte 2 engine tech - +2
* Amazing trailers v1 - +1
* Talk of Origin - 0 (was indifferent. didn't really care as, at the time, we were told we didn't need it)
* Needless, obnoxious mud slinging campaign against Steam - -4
* Informed by DICE that PC version is primary build - +2
* Regardless of purchase method, must use Origin - -1/2 (not that bad, but it really is a crappy DDS with stupidly insane rules)
* Amazing trailers v2 - +1
* Realizing that the whole "we're making this for PC gamers first and foremost" line of BS was just that, BS. Especially given that the console versions still get an integrated browser and a main menu that isn't a damn website - -10

Needless to say, DICE and EA have some catching up to do to convince me it should get a positive score.
I like maths!

Enjoyed BC2 +1
New engine +1
Jam and cheese sandwich i just had +10
My "A" key is broken on my keyboard -1 for strafing left

Ohhh, and +2 for how ridiculous all this is!
 

Vigormortis

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Ridgemo said:
Vigormortis said:
tgcPheonix said:
snip
I like maths!

Enjoyed BC2 +1
New engine +1
Jam and cheese sandwich i just had +10
My "A" key is broken on my keyboard -1 for strafing left

Ohhh, and +2 for how ridiculous all this is!
Congratulations on contributing to the conversation by simply being condescending. I suppose you've never heard of "hyperbole"? Or, running with a joke?

Speaking of jokes, how humorous it is that the only people seemingly being mean or rude about this whole thing are those defending EA over it. Anyone who says something along the lines of, "This is stupid. Why are they doing this to BF3?" or "I don't want to play this game now", end up getting berated by everyone who doesn't feel the same way.

If that's how the average Battlefield 3 player is going to act, then I'm glad I've lost interest in it. It may be a better game, but I'm willing to bet it's going to be ruined by a quasi-COD type of community. Oh the irony.
 

Zeekar

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Because server browsing in BC2 worked so well (sarcasm). Seriously, see y'all in game.

I think some people just like to find as much to complain about as they can so to ease their conscience when they go and pirate the game anyway.
 

Ridgemo

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Vigormortis said:
Ridgemo said:
Vigormortis said:
tgcPheonix said:
snip
I like maths!

Enjoyed BC2 +1
New engine +1
Jam and cheese sandwich i just had +10
My "A" key is broken on my keyboard -1 for strafing left

Ohhh, and +2 for how ridiculous all this is!
Congratulations on contributing to the conversation by simply being condescending. I suppose you've never heard of "hyperbole"? Or, running with a joke?

Speaking of jokes, how humorous it is that the only people seemingly being mean or rude about this whole thing are those defending EA over it. Anyone who says something along the lines of, "This is stupid. Why are they doing this to BF3?" or "I don't want to play this game now", end up getting berated by everyone who doesn't feel the same way.

If that's how the average Battlefield 3 player is going to act, then I'm glad I've lost interest in it. It may be a better game, but I'm willing to bet it's going to be ruined by a quasi-COD type of community. Oh the irony.
Apologies for my apathy, but it just seems to be the norm on the internet. Again, the boycott episode of Jimquisition highlights it pretty well, how many people complaining are legit people actually turned off by this system, and how many is for the sake of bitching on the internet.

I used to be like them, bitching and complaining about everything that i didn't like, but then i realised, what does it matter? If something happens that i don't like, i won't buy it. The developer is far better more skilled than me, so if i don't like it i can either go out and make something better, or put up with it.

Not that it matters, people flinging their faeces is pretty much what the internet is about these days, and i honestly do find enjoyment in reading it all. Hell people could have very good points, and indeed you do. I just found it amusing the way you put numerical value into each one.

As for BF3, i will wait till it's out to decide. I havn't played it so have no idea what it will be like, so it would be wrong of me to complain. Hell, i've been avoiding Dragon Age 2 for ages, but i've just played it and personally found it better than the first.

As for me "ruining" the community, i wouldn't worry about that. I only talk to my mates on the xbox, have no intrest in the hate that is spewed out in CoD/Halo.
 

dfphetteplace

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Who the hell thought this was a good idea? EA probably wanted to make it so you have to see more ads, so they went this route.
 

Jaime_Wolf

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Meh, as long as it starts up quickly (devs have repeatedly said that it starts up very quickly), then that's not really a big deal at all.

And I like the idea of a centralised website with everything on it. It's nice when everything's in the same place.

And all of this is COMPLETELY fine if the game actually alt-tabs well (it would be nice to see game devs actually thinking about this for once).

Edit: I am once again sad about the lack of research into this and the incredibly blatant slant in the article. It would be nice if people would actually try to report gaming news honestly instead of reporting it in a way that will cause the most hype and complaining.

(Sorry for the reasonable post, you can all go back to the usual uninformed hatred of everything EA touches. Just pretend like you didn't see this.)
 

Callate

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"I'm not buying it so I don't care... Tra la la la la la laaaa...."

That said... Oy. What a foolish way to take a step backwards and insult your clientele, EA.

Or as we say nowadays, "How about that marketing strategy?" )*rimshot*(