Another BF3 Rant

Afrothunderkat · by **Afrothunderkat** on Sat Dec 10, 2011 2:51 pm

DICE said smaller maps in BF2 had more action and were more popular, citing the fact that larger maps often emptied servers. Smaller maps + more action = what players want, right? I don't think it's that simple.
More action means more points, means faster ranking and unlocking -- we all want our weapons and gadgets sooner than later; due to this players often lose sight of the game, and concentrate on grinding. Players who want to grind and aren't good enough to survive will get frustrated quickly and will have a hard time getting better because you don't get better if you keep dying before you get a chance to really play. Players that do well at grinding will have fun at it until eventually they can really start enjoying the game, at which point they'll still need to play in a crammed map where you can have a lot of points but not a lot of fun.

Making the game more action packed doesn't solve the problem, it makes the heart of the problem worse. It's not an MMORPG, it shouldn't be programming it's players to have a "play to gain" mentality. I remember when it was exciting for your team to win, and you'd play intensely to win. I want more of that, and I think other BF3 players do too, whether they realize it or not. I'd suggest finding a new kit leveling/ranking system to make sure that players aren't playing to get just to get rewards.

When people play to win, they begin playing as a team toward a common goal. You start playing using the chat more, adding friends so you can play "your way," forming clans and communities, using VOIP, getting competitive, paying attention to what your competition is doing, etc. Unfortunately, no one does any of that **** anymore because it's all about number 1, now. Screw the team, get more points, get more unlocks, and then you're "winning." Why would anyone care about whether or not your team actually wins a match in BF3? It certainly never matters to me.

To rekindle the old spirit of FPS gaming, you need to design your game upon it. EA/DICE has an awesome game in BF3, don't get me wrong, but it's not going to capture the hearts' of it's players because it hasn't set the framework for a deep community to develop. It's done the opposite; it did it a long time ago, and BF3 built upon it by shaping the game around that mistake.
Edited by Mookster - Today at 2:34 pm

Axiom · by **Axiom** on Sat Dec 10, 2011 3:48 pm

It's not the sequel to BF2 they promised, because EA pressured Dice into making something that would attrac the CoD players. End of story.

saber7 · by **saber7** on Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:02 pm

I agree Afro, but I do think the Back to Karkand will fix the first point you made about larger maps. It's not the size of the map that is the problem, it's focusing the action in the right places. Karkand's 64 player map was larger, but extremely popular due to the conquest rush mode that had both teams focusing the fight at one flag at the onset. And, it was common for the teams to grab flags on either side of the river causing the epic river battle standoff (MY FAVORITE!) Alas, there is no river in BF3's Karkand, but at least conquest rush makes a return and should help alleviate the issue. Also, once the grind players get all their unlocks they'll either leave or calm down a bit.

Also to play a little devil's advocate :evil:

I have to say playing as a cohesive squad is the epitome of the BF3 experience. Way back when SMo used to fill a squad in BF3 a regular basis, playing together as a team / squad was a blast. We seemed to lose regularly even though as a squad we did very well. It just seemed to stack up that way, not to mention a few well placed hackers on the other team (K3B04RDSM4SH3R *cough*) making the game an uphill battle. But the challenge just made the experience more rewarding because even when we were outgunned, we were still able to accomplish difficult tasks as a squad where our team would have been stuck in spawn otherwise. That's just me. I would rather lose regularly and get fewer points and enjoy the teamwork of a cohesive squad then run around solo with higher KDs and higher points and winning more medals, unlocks etc. etc. The unlocks will come in time - better to enjoy the process. :ugeek:

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