[MR_T3D]

Nothing wrong with mainly being assault, giving health and reviving guys is always nice
I'm a bit more of a support because infinite ammo+LMG=spam till you're happy
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/soldier/SideshowBob_CDN/stats/329346157/


Also, since *most* of us are on PC, let's whip up a platoon.
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/platoon/2832655241138983939/#

SHAZAAM!
If, y'know, you feel like playing with guys here whenever.

[Ravenholme]

Isn't there already an HLP Platoon...?

Edit:

Ayep - http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/platoon/2832655241104622117/listmembers/True/

[MR_T3D]

D'oh, I searched with hyphen and didn't see one.

Application sent.

[Gortef]

The Back to Karkland Add-On has been released. What are your thoughts about it?

I think they did a rather nice job with it. The maps are well ported -well Gulf was a tad confusing at first and Wake is a bit too small for the BF3 weapons (snipers mostly), but overall good job- Karkland especially is fantastic.

The new Assignments are more or less ok. I dunno if all of those are really needed since it encourages people the play their own game only, in order to accomplish something (I know I have a bad habit to do that time to times, gotta get all the unlocks...). But luckily some of the Assignments requires the player to do something supportive, like suppression fire, or arm an M-COM.

9/10 from me. Not quite a 10 because of Wake, it should have been a tad larger if possible. And if Wake is not done 120% properly, it automatically reduces one point.

[Achillion]

Loving the new maps too. As it took me a while to get to the party (bought the game a month after release), the map pack came right at the time where I learned to get around most of the vanilla maps, so there's no getting tired of maps any time soon.

Sadly though, I am swamped with work, I am STILL playing Skyward Sword whenever I get the chance and I'll be away for about 2 months starting early next year.

[IceFire]

Back to Karkand is a great addition. The maps are the real star here as they are even more destructive happy than the standard Battlefield 3 maps although I thought it might be even more destruction than we're seeing. Gortef, you're right on about Wake Island. It feels a lot smaller than it used to be although it's still a reasonably sized map. What I think is so cool about all of them is that while they are slightly reimagined for the new engine... they feel every bit as good as they used to. I love the new Gulf of Oman even more than the old one actually.... it's so familiar and yet it's slightly different too. Karkand is exactly what I was looking to see and while the dynamics are a bit different... it's just great on the whole.

That's not to mention all of the new guns we've got. I still don't have them all yet but the HK53 (very similar in appearance to the MP5), MG36 and the L85A2 are great on their own.

Biggest let down was the handling of the F-35. It's atrocious compared to the other jets. I'm hoping for a slight buff. The hover mode does nothing for it in actual combat... so I'm not sure why they made it such a lead sled.

[QuantumDelta]

You kidding?
Half-VOTL mode in turns and you will outfly any SU-35 ;s
The plane is plain overpowered :<

[Gortef]

The maps are the real star here as they are even more destructive happy than the standard Battlefield 3 maps

Oh yea Dat Destruction too. Especially on Karkland. Though Wake will always be my The Battlefield Map I'm still loving the new Karkland almost as much.

[IceFire]

You kidding?
Half-VOTL mode in turns and you will outfly any SU-35 ;s
The plane is plain overpowered :<

All I can get it to do is slow down and make myself an easier target. Overpowered is not a word I would use with the F-35 in Back to Karkand...

[QuantumDelta]

Although I've done a couple of haxy things with the VTOL while no one is looking (switch to full hover to kill two choppers (consecutive kills) more easily, and hover over a snipers nest with rocket pods to clear it out after they've virtually ruled the map for 10 minutes), you use the VTOL as an emergency brake to make sure you have a tighter turn than your opponent, you don't stop, but you drop your airspeed to about half and then you'll find you can follow their full turning arc, no matter what they do, and shoot them the entire time you're in a dogfight, you can also use it (again, while turning, don't do it while flying in a straight line) to get people off your tail in the same scenario, unless you're being attacked by multiple opponents from multiple angles and distances (which means you're probably boned regardless)... It's pretty uniquely useful on the jets x.x

[BrotherBryon]

I have it but I suck at it so far, only played a handful of matches in which I've had more kills then deaths. Any one else find that the random respawns tend to place you directly in some damn sniper's or tank's cross hairs? By far the most frustrating experience about the whole damn game short of those occasional glitches where you find yourself stuck and unable to move at all.

[Fineus]

Yes BrotherBryon, I agree.

I just got the game this Christmas (have applied to join the HLP platoon by the way, and shall be sorely upset if I'm denied )

On the subject of the game..

Well the campaign is good fun. Pretty similar stuff to Modern Warfare to be honest. I guess there's only so many modern engagements one can create lately. It really shows the engine off nicely though - the night-time-sniping level impressed me in particular. And of course the flying (although you never really got to fly...)

Multiplayer? I've got mixed feelings so far. The first couple of matches I played, I was lucky enough to be on the "constantly winning team" which made arsing about and getting a feel for the game that much easier. Everything makes sense and the conquest mode is pretty cut/paste from the original Battlefield / BF2. Nothing wrong there.
 
But this evening I played a couple of matches on the "constantly *losing* team" - that is the one which didn't have an entire clan of organised people on it. Although we made some valiant efforts, it was a pretty horrid defeat each time. As BrotherBryon said - I also found myself spawning only to get gunned down less than a second later. I guess it's hard to remove that element (it was in the previous editions as well) but since I'm new to this one, it does feel that much more unfair and irritating. Staring at the spawn screen all game is never fun.

The other thing that annoyed me was the "newb tubes". I haven't had anyone use the RPG on me yet as infantry but there was something called an M203 (I think it was) that's essentially a grenade launcher. There were quite a few people spamming it / camping etc. and it just ruined the experience to be honest. It felt like - if I sank to that level (and indeed, if I had unlocked it yet) I would be able to do the same - but where's the fun in that?

That said - overall - still good fun. I think I just need to give it more time and get used to it a bit more. Graphically, sound wise and so on - it's all excellent.

[QuantumDelta]

Play on hardcore servers, a lot of those problems go away as it's much easier to throw people out of both your spawn, and controlled points.

Also, regardless of whether you're winning or losing, having a squad of friends often helps make things much more fun.

[MR_T3D]

You kidding?
Half-VOTL mode in turns and you will outfly any SU-35 ;s
The plane is plain overpowered :<

All I can get it to do is slow down and make myself an easier target. Overpowered is not a word I would use with the F-35 in Back to Karkand...

It's a tricky trick with the F35 to dogfight.
Those that can't think it's UP
those than can think it's almost OP

I think it's a neat balance

[IceFire]

Yes BrotherBryon, I agree.

I just got the game this Christmas (have applied to join the HLP platoon by the way, and shall be sorely upset if I'm denied )

On the subject of the game..

Well the campaign is good fun. Pretty similar stuff to Modern Warfare to be honest. I guess there's only so many modern engagements one can create lately. It really shows the engine off nicely though - the night-time-sniping level impressed me in particular. And of course the flying (although you never really got to fly...)

Multiplayer? I've got mixed feelings so far. The first couple of matches I played, I was lucky enough to be on the "constantly winning team" which made arsing about and getting a feel for the game that much easier. Everything makes sense and the conquest mode is pretty cut/paste from the original Battlefield / BF2. Nothing wrong there.
 
But this evening I played a couple of matches on the "constantly *losing* team" - that is the one which didn't have an entire clan of organised people on it. Although we made some valiant efforts, it was a pretty horrid defeat each time. As BrotherBryon said - I also found myself spawning only to get gunned down less than a second later. I guess it's hard to remove that element (it was in the previous editions as well) but since I'm new to this one, it does feel that much more unfair and irritating. Staring at the spawn screen all game is never fun.

The other thing that annoyed me was the "newb tubes". I haven't had anyone use the RPG on me yet as infantry but there was something called an M203 (I think it was) that's essentially a grenade launcher. There were quite a few people spamming it / camping etc. and it just ruined the experience to be honest. It felt like - if I sank to that level (and indeed, if I had unlocked it yet) I would be able to do the same - but where's the fun in that?

That said - overall - still good fun. I think I just need to give it more time and get used to it a bit more. Graphically, sound wise and so on - it's all excellent.

What you've said highlights the best and worst of the Battlefield series

A well coordinated team with functioning squads and players working together will always dominate (not just defeat) another team full of guys just arsing around and not doing much of anything useful. Happened quite a bit in Battlefield 2 as well. I remember the Jalalabad map where sometimes the US team couldn't even get out of their spawn, so terrible was the team.

I will say that your experience with the M302 is not the same as mine. Although mercilessly noob toobed on Call of Duty MW2... in Battlefield the spaces are too big to successful be hit with any frequency from such a weapon. Unless you want to play in the alleyways on some of the maps they just aren't going to be a major issue. They are a handy tool in urban spaces and especially when trying to dislodge some campers hiding in a building (just bring down the facade ) but on the open battlefield not too much. May have been situational.

[Achillion]

I've been playing with some people I know lately and we communicate through voice-chat while playing (mumble server, like teamspeak) and it's a real game-changer. There's really no way of losing against random, non-communicating opponents when you have contact with your squadmates. Even if your coordination isn't great, just the fact there's some general plan to your movements makes the experience (and your score + chances of winning) SO MUCH BETTER.

It's incredible.
I hear the battlelog voice chat isn't too great but it's still usable if you don't have a voice-chat server.

[Scourge of Ages]

Question: With voice chat, like mumble or teamspeak, you have to set it up before-hand and you can still only chat with other people on that channel, right? Is there any function so that you can chat with everyone on your team regardless of how they have it set up, like in 2142? Is that battlelog voice chat that sort of thing, or do you still have to set it up before?

[Al-Rik]

A well coordinated team with functioning squads and players working together will always dominate (not just defeat) another team full of guys just arsing around and not doing much of anything useful. Happened quite a bit in Battlefield 2 as well. I remember the Jalalabad map where sometimes the US team couldn't even get out of their spawn, so terrible was the team.

To bad that DICE decided to throw away almost all tools that supports coordination in BF 2 and BF 2142.

Commander ? Nope
Sensible Minimap with Information like Name of the Control Points and Positions of other Squadleaders ? Nope
VOIP to the members of your Squad ? Nope
Squadleader Commrose with Orders like "Move to this place" "Place Mines" "Destroy" "Repair" ? Nope
Hell, even the Singleplayer doesn't teach you anything about playing Multiplayer. No Spotting, No Communication to the Bots via Commrose (like in BF2).

Hell, they even cut the number of Players in a Squad to 4 and didn't increase the number of squads.
So the maximum number of players in a Squad is 32 per Side. If only one of the 8 Squads is locked with 2 players and the other squads are full you can't join a squad and can't use any of the benefits.
BF 2 / BF 2142 supported 8 Squads of 6 Players, a total of 48 Players. If one Squad with 2 Players was locked you could always join an other one.

Question: With voice chat, like mumble or teamspeak, you have to set it up before-hand and you can still only chat with other people on that channel, right? Is there any function so that you can chat with everyone on your team regardless of how they have it set up, like in 2142? Is that battlelog voice chat that sort of thing, or do you still have to set it up before?

You can invite Friends from your Buddylist to the Battlelog Voice Chat (called Party) and the matchmaking system will try to put you on the same side on the same server. But it won't connect you to others in your Squad.
For example: You invite a Friend in the Party an join a Squad with 2 other players.
You can talk to your friend, but not to the other 2 players in your Squad.

[IceFire]

A well coordinated team with functioning squads and players working together will always dominate (not just defeat) another team full of guys just arsing around and not doing much of anything useful. Happened quite a bit in Battlefield 2 as well. I remember the Jalalabad map where sometimes the US team couldn't even get out of their spawn, so terrible was the team.

To bad that DICE decided to throw away almost all tools that supports coordination in BF 2 and BF 2142.

Commander ? Nope
Sensible Minimap with Information like Name of the Control Points and Positions of other Squadleaders ? Nope
VOIP to the members of your Squad ? Nope
Squadleader Commrose with Orders like "Move to this place" "Place Mines" "Destroy" "Repair" ? Nope
Hell, even the Singleplayer doesn't teach you anything about playing Multiplayer. No Spotting, No Communication to the Bots via Commrose (like in BF2).

Hell, they even cut the number of Players in a Squad to 4 and didn't increase the number of squads.
So the maximum number of players in a Squad is 32 per Side. If only one of the 8 Squads is locked with 2 players and the other squads are full you can't join a squad and can't use any of the benefits.
BF 2 / BF 2142 supported 8 Squads of 6 Players, a total of 48 Players. If one Squad with 2 Players was locked you could always join an other one.

Question: With voice chat, like mumble or teamspeak, you have to set it up before-hand and you can still only chat with other people on that channel, right? Is there any function so that you can chat with everyone on your team regardless of how they have it set up, like in 2142? Is that battlelog voice chat that sort of thing, or do you still have to set it up before?

You can invite Friends from your Buddylist to the Battlelog Voice Chat (called Party) and the matchmaking system will try to put you on the same side on the same server. But it won't connect you to others in your Squad.
For example: You invite a Friend in the Party an join a Squad with 2 other players.
You can talk to your friend, but not to the other 2 players in your Squad.

There are a couple of areas where it is lacking. DICE seems to know this as they have said that Commrose 2.0 is due in a patch coming to PC in February (that's the last word I heard).

The map is a bit difficult to work with but I've gotten used to it and I do like the squad being able to spawn on each other. When you have a coordinated team it can work out really well and I'm glad they tried this mechanic with Bad Company and brought it to Battlefield 3.

I've also heard that squads are supposedly going to be more flexible in the future as well. Why not at release I don't know. Probably they rushed things... but I would welcome more squad options. Locking squads right now is just obnoxious.

Commander was a mixed bag in BF2. Under ideal circumstances you would get someone who knew how to command, squad leaders who would accept orders and squads that worked together. More often then not you got a Commander who didn't care to do anything except drop artillery, and/or squad leaders who rejected any orders given to them, and/or squads that didn't do anything remotely related to the orders that they received. I wouldn't mind seeing Commander back... but in practice it was just a bit annoying to work with. Maybe if ever map had a bunker like object that the commander entered (to become commander) that might fix the problem of them being found.

[Scourge of Ages]

So I just recently finished the campaign. Despite being rather disjointed and overly-scripted, it was entertaining enough. The biggest thing that stood out to me though, was the ending. Apparently, whoever wrote the story has absolutely no idea what New Yorkers are like:

Spoiler:

At the end of the campaign, you're chasing the bad guy who wants to blow up New York with a pocket nuke. There's a car chase, and a crash. The douchey, foreign-looking and -sounding guy shoots your Marine buddy in the head, runs out of ammo, and proceeds to beat you half to death. All in front of a crowd of New Yorkers who've gathered at the scene of the crash.
Not one civilian gets up and sucker-punches the bad guy. It would be easy; he's out of ammo and pretty weak by then. What kind of people would just let that guy get away with it, much less New Yorkers?

Anyway. The multiplayer is completely awesome, if I haven't mentioned that yet. 64 players on Metro in a thousand-point assault game is incredible. The halls filled with smoke from the sheer amounts of explosions and gunfire (and smoke grenades). The server was aptly named, "Metro MeatGrinder".