Battlefield 3: Karkand is out and awesome. Join us in Mumble- Details in OP

That_Guy

Battlefield 3 (commonly abbreviated to BF3) is a first-person shooter action video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in the USA on October 25, 2011 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360[4] and EA Mobile confirmed a port for the iOS platform. It does not support versions of Windows prior to Windows Vista. It is a direct sequel to 2005's Battlefield 2, and the eleventh installment in the Battlefield franchise. The PC release is exclusive to EA's Origin platform.

http://www.ea.com/battlefield3

SERVERS
We have 2 servers up for the Penny Arcade Community to use.

We are usually in Mumble when playing. Why don't you join us?
Download: http://mumble.sourceforge.net/
address: mbl7.gameservers.com
port: 10047

Penny Arcade: The Angry Dome

Penny Arcade: The Chamber of Understanding


PICTURES!

Gameplay Trailers!

Longer Multiplayer goodness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDDfPxF3EFE&feature=player_embedded

Multiplayer teasers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhBjBy5OOFY&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPu7-LtLKmU


Frostbite Engine trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pNOxynC1Dc


Singleplayer

Guillotine Teaser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5eLbPQt_Pk

8min single player tank trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UwOrl036_A&fmt=37

Fault Line singleplayer trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zw8SmsovJc

It looks really great. It took 6 years but we finally have a proper sequel to Battlefield 2 and it happens to look amazing. The graphics and animation are all a step above any competition and the shooty bits look fun as hell. Can't wait!

TychoCelchuuu

Every time I think about playing this game I'm always like "someone will shoot me with a handheld LAV shotgun and I haven't even unlocked pepper spray." Rank stuff is bullshit.

Zxerol

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

Every time I think about playing this game I'm always like "someone will shoot me with a handheld LAV shotgun and I haven't even unlocked pepper spray." Rank stuff is bullshit.

I just unlocked frag rounds for one of my shotguns (yeah, that long, I know). And I discovered first hand how hilarious they are. Then, a little later, a round where people rocked USAS+frag+IRNV. ALT+F4, play something less aggravating instead, like Super Meat Boy.

So much good stuff just wrapped in a goop of pure refined bullshit, that is Battlefield.

Euphoriac

Eh it's not that bad. I've barely encountered the USAS at this point, and the basic weapons do a good job for what they are.

If you're that bothered go for Hardcore servers; your weapons are almost as deadly as the unlockables.

But higher-level players in vehicles...you'd be fucked in a stand up fight.

Sonork

So i get kicked by Punkbuster every 5 min. I have manually updated both PB files and don't know what else to do. So i guess i just can't play peroid atm.

Wren

Sonork wrote:

So i get kicked by Punkbuster every 5 min. I have manually updated both PB files and don't know what else to do. So i guess i just can't play peroid atm.

got all the punkbuster services running? sometimes punkbstrB or something like that will not feel like starting on bootup

Archsorcerer

Karkand is so close.

Sonork

Wren wrote:

Sonork wrote:

So i get kicked by Punkbuster every 5 min. I have manually updated both PB files and don't know what else to do. So i guess i just can't play peroid atm.

got all the punkbuster services running? sometimes punkbstrB or something like that will not feel like starting on bootup

Yeah i got it working, downloaded the auto updater and ran it. Restarted my computer. Finally did the trick.

Taranis

Archsorcerer wrote:

Karkand is so close.

A little over a week from now right? You guys better not be too busy killing dragons to go back to kirkland with me.

Dug Danger

Archsorcerer wrote:

Karkand is so close.

It will be glorious. I hope you and the other 360 dudes will be ready to play!

Shade

Wren wrote:

Sonork wrote:

So i get kicked by Punkbuster every 5 min. I have manually updated both PB files and don't know what else to do. So i guess i just can't play peroid atm.

got all the punkbuster services running? sometimes punkbstrB or something like that will not feel like starting on bootup

see my post in the last thread around page 95.

or maybe spoiler it in the OP?

TheClap

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

Every time I think about playing this game I'm always like "someone will shoot me with a handheld LAV shotgun and I haven't even unlocked pepper spray." Rank stuff is bullshit.

If you roll around on the PA server, we're typically pretty good about not Derpsasing it up. Plus, if someone is being a douche with it you can always just yell at them on Vent.

So hard for me to not say you can just vent on Vent. Oh god what have I done!?

Taranis wrote:

Archsorcerer wrote:

Karkand is so close.

A little over a week from now right? You guys better not be too busy killing dragons to go back to kirkland with me.

Says the dude with 42+ hours spent killing dragons.

Movitz

What's the Karkand date? I can't find it because I just get hits on blogs discussing old stuff.

Jimmy Marku

Oh shit guys, my internet is ON! Games on the Dome tonight?

Delta Assault

Karkand... which BF2 map was that? I really enjoyed the one that was in the BF2 demo. The one with the aircraft carrier.

Spoit

I think that was gulf of oman. Which is in the karkand pack.

Does anyone remember what that one with the big hill in the middle with the tunnels to a constructionish site was called?

ninzorjons

The only one I recall with a construction site was Sharqi Peninsula...but I can't remember any tunnels. Regardless, I freaking LOVE that map.

Spoit

Looking at the maps, I think it was kubra dam, but I'm not sure

TheClap

If Kubra Dam is the one Im thinking of, there was a big dam splitting the map in half (well, I think there was one point behind the dam or maybe it was just the Russian spawn) and you could fly choppers/jets through the tunnel in the bottom of the dam and I think there was a capture point in the dam.

Man, they should remake that map too.

Raiden333

Welp, $30 was my bite-point. Installing now. Looking forward to shooting some faces with you fine folks.

HarshLanguage

Played a round tonight against a guy with 25 service stars for the USAS. And yes, he was exactly as silly a goose as you'd expect.

Jurgen_

Would love to shoot faces on the PA servers, but since they're both in the US, the ping looks terrible for me. What servers do the European people here prefer ?
Also about the shotguns, I don't know if it's just us Finnish folks, but I almost never see anyone use a shotgun on the Finnish servers.

Joril

Jurgen_ wrote:

Would love to shoot faces on the PA servers, but since they're both in the US, the ping looks terrible for me. What servers do the European people here prefer ?
Also about the shotguns, I don't know if it's just us Finnish folks, but I almost never see anyone use a shotgun on the Finnish servers.

I play on whatever Euro server is available. I have a few favorites but don't remember their names.
What's your name on Battlelog?

Jurgen_

VivaEmptiness, feel free to add if you or anyone else wants to.
I sometimes play on random Euro servers too, but mainly I try to keep on my favourites list.

TheExAm

Be advised, BF3 is THIRTY DOLLARS on Origin right now, over.

Jimmy Marku

Euro people add me too: Don't we have a European server and/or platoon?

Movitz

Just apply to the EU platoon and someone will let you in. There's no EU server.

Lord Yod

What is this thirty dollar madness.

Also how are helicopters vs MAA in the new patch? The notes indicate they toned down the bulldozer-like impact of the AA cannons, is it better? I've been slaying dragons for what feels like the last decade.

Bob the Insane

Having a serious problem trying to get back into BF3...

It is called the Skyrim effect...

Cabbs

Lord Yod wrote:

What is this thirty dollar madness.

Also how are helicopters vs MAA in the new patch? The notes indicate they toned down the bulldozer-like impact of the AA cannons, is it better? I've been slaying dragons for what feels like the last decade.

After hijacking the enemy MAA with a silenced pistol outside their base (caspian), I turned the guns on the attack chopper they had hovering around there. It didn't move at all until 5 seconds later when it was disabled and fell out of the sky. This happened twice. Never managed that before the patch, so no idea if that would be any different.

HarshLanguage

Things that are making me really happy to play BF3 right now:
- Starter guns are all surprisingly effective
- Almost every gun is good
- Gun unlocks, weapon/class/vehicle service stars, ribbons, and medals keep things rewarding
- Great CQ Large maps: Caspian, Firestorm, Noshahr w/32, Kharg, Tehran Highway w/32, Grand Bazaar w/32
- Battlelog is useful, fast, and reliable
- Air battles mostly separate from ground battles
- M16s and M4s with Red Dot sight look great when aiming
- Regular grenades are nicely balanced
- IR smoke is being used more, hooray!
- Tanks and IFVs are fun
- Good squad coordination is so awesome

Things that are really bugging me in BF3 right now:
- Still no solutions for one-sided stompings and spawn camping. (Come on programmers, let's see some attempt to fix the basic flaws in team FPSes!)
- If you are not using IRNV and Spec Ops Camo, you are at a disadvantage
- Spawn and die still waaaaay too frequent
- Footsteps and bullet direction sounds are missing, inaudible, or ineffective
- Explosive spam: USAS frag rounds especially, but also RPGs and less so 320s too
- Tac lights: brain-meltingly dumb design and irritatingly over-effective
- Only the starter dumbfire launchers are useful for Engineers
- Mortars are not fun
- Bipods a great idea but not well-implemented
- Still no server queues
- Squad management took one step forward, one step back in latest patch
- Bullet damage too high, not enough time for low-twitch players to react

Mr.Sunshine

If you're trying to listen for footsteps in a Battlefield game, you're doing it wrong. And I don't know how you CAN'T hear where the weapons are being fired.

HarshLanguage

Mr.Sunshine wrote:

If you're trying to listen for footsteps in a Battlefield game, you're doing it wrong. And I don't know how you CAN'T hear where the weapons are being fired.

In both cases, BF3 is a step backwards from the sound design in BC2. And listening for footsteps to find an enemy is, you know, incredibly helpful.

WolveSight

HarshLanguage wrote:

Played a round tonight against a guy with 25 service stars for the USAS. And yes, he was exactly as silly a goose as you'd expect.

I have 40 with the PKP Pacheng.
At least the LMGs rounds don't explode...

Warcry

HarshLanguage wrote:

Mr.Sunshine wrote:

If you're trying to listen for footsteps in a Battlefield game, you're doing it wrong. And I don't know how you CAN'T hear where the weapons are being fired.

In both cases, BF3 is a step backwards from the sound design in BC2. And listening for footsteps to find an enemy is, you know, incredibly helpful.

I agree with this whole heartedly. A big part of the reason I was a terror in BC2 was my surround sound system and the fantastic audio positioning in that game. I could locate the precise location of people with just their footsteps. Each gun had its own distinctive sound. You could even tell the difference between the 870, SPAS12 and the Neostead 2000 despite them all having nearly identical attributes. You could judge whether to engage an enemy or not just by listening to the gunshots. USAS 12? Fuck that noise, go for a player running around with an AR instead. The sound levels were superb, you could toss a grenade into a house and know exactly where someone was by the player AI warning teammates of the grenade. Most guns in BF3 don't even really have a particular ring to them. The .44 magnum just sounds like a burst of noise, not a defined gunshot. Probably the worst aspect of BF3's sound is that all the sound settings are so similar that there no reason to use anything but War Tapes, since it is the most clear sounding one of the lot. In BC2, War Tapes was awesome but a hindrance at the same time, since the immense bass from explosions would cancel out footsteps. What sound setting you preferred was dependent on your style of play. You can't even hear footsteps in BF3 so you can just use War Tapes all the time without ever needing to experiment.

Slimcea

HarshLanguage wrote:

Mr.Sunshine wrote:

If you're trying to listen for footsteps in a Battlefield game, you're doing it wrong. And I don't know how you CAN'T hear where the weapons are being fired.

In both cases, BF3 is a step backwards from the sound design in BC2. And listening for footsteps to find an enemy is, you know, incredibly helpful.

Typically, you can't hear footsteps above all the explosions and gunfire anyway. Some maps even have.. fake jets screaming overhead (was it Metro? Or Grand Bazaar?)

USAS frag rounds are indeed bullshit. Every other gun including the F2000, the M249 etc you tend to die if outnumbered. With the USAS however.... Couple of days ago I just watched one guy clear out 4 people at point B without breaking a sweat. He just went BAM BAM BAM and everyone went flopping around on the floor.

Dirtyboy

I'm working on my 5th star with the noob tube USAS, and personally I tend to die much more due to constant clip changes or suiciding from shooting people/objects too close. Plus if you're not support you burn through rounds quickly. At least when someone is using the USAS you have a chance to kill them, unlike mortars or MAV where the user only gets killed if they are stupid. I die way more to F2000s and LMGs than to any shotgun.

And btw, my record so far is 10 kills on one USAS extended clip...

Archsorcerer

Mulletude wrote:

Archsorcerer wrote:

Karkand is so close.

It will be glorious. I hope you and the other 360 dudes will be ready to play!

I'm just killing time with Virtua Fighter (Sarah and Pai FTW!). A little burned out thanks to some bad BF3 games lately.

That_Guy

Back to Karkand is probably not going to come out until the end of December. On Twitter and the forums they refuse to give an exact date for it. They just keep telling people it's sometime in December. Knowing DICE late Dec. is the earliest we will see it. I would no be at all surprised if it's delayed until January. I would happily wait a little bit longer if it means a more polished product. I can not fucking wait to see the destructibility.

Warcry

That_Guy wrote:

I can not fucking wait to see the destructibility.

If I knew how to lime it I would. The return of BC2 levels of destruction will be a godsend. I'll probably never go back to the vanilla maps.

Willeth

Warcry wrote:

That_Guy wrote:

I can not fucking wait to see the destructibility.

If I knew how to lime it I would. The return of BC2 levels of destruction will be a godsend. I'll probably never go back to the vanilla maps.

Hang on, didn't the Back to Karkand stuff come with the Physical Warfare pack? Or was the code that's in there just an entitlement to download the maps at a later date?