I don't know where everyone else went. I downloaded Planetside 2 which is free to play but I have yet to join in because I'm playing it so I can join a friend. I'd say there are about 3-5 of us still playing although I rarely play with others anymore.
I know ranalin and a few others have been playing Medal of Honor Warfighter. I however won't be playing that game.
I still play occasionally? But I am kind of the opposite of Gimpy in terms of the stuff I play (that said I'd play whatever he plays if I ever saw him on when I was).
I took a pretty long break. And when I came back I was so out of touch with the meta movement/tactics that I felt totally lost playing Vanilla/B2K. Armored Kill is the thing I will very occasionally play, that or Close Quarters which runs the 3 maps that I know inside out. I don't often play CS:GO and haven't even purchased a COD since MW1, so I actually very much enjoy CQ style BF3 in my gaming rotation. I also think CQ gets too much slack, despite having been designed very well.
Bf3 is like 13 dollars or something ridiculous on Origin for PC right now.
Bf3 is like 13 dollars or something ridiculous on Origin for PC right now.
I got it. Maybe some of you guys can show me the ropes over the weekend. Wife is going to be away. 
Woo I've been asking for forever for some of the BF3 guys to go SC2, but I will also take the reverse where I can get it. :p
This game is somewhat of a ghost town on 360 depending on the day and time. A buddy and I were trying to find a Kharg Island Conquest match the other night and there were none that had more than one or two people in the server. Armored Kill and Close Quarters can be especially tough to find a consistently full server during the day.
Here's hoping Aftermath reinvigorates it. I think on consoles that Armored Kill really took the wind out of the sails of this game for many people due to the huge, sparsely populated maps and air dominance. I'll be back next week when the new maps hit but we'll see how things continue for this game.
Yea, if Close Quarters was a reach out to the console crowd, Armored Kill was more or less a love letter to the old-school PC fans of the series. That said, while I did see a lot of old-timers on the PC side detest everything CQ stood for, I never really saw any sharp decline of servers to play on in general. And I played a metric ton of CQ stuff to at least notice if there was anything like what AK did to the consoles was happening on the PC (it totally scratched the itch that I've had since MW1 which was pretty much my last game of the COD series).
That said, it just might be that BF3 is overall on a decline on the consoles. It's probably pretty difficult to compete with the annual hype/gang-busting that the COD series enjoys on the consoles.
Aftermath, based on the released previews anyway, looks like it's going to lean slight more towards the CQ style of tight areas and corners style of mapping, so it might reinvigorate things a bit on the consoles.
Overall I just hope this doesn't cause EA to push DICE to change its approach of the series to cater more to the console titles where the 'real money is at (especially given that the other shooter franchise is basically no longer among the living for EA to be meddling with).'
Hardly any of my low ping servers are running AK. Most are either TDM on Nosehair Canals, or conquest/rush on the vanilla maps. Sucks, because I could really do with some 64 player AK fun.
Overall I just hope this doesn't cause EA to push DICE to change its approach of the series to cater more to the console titles where the 'real money is at (especially given that the other shooter franchise is basically no longer among the living for EA to be meddling with).'
I think that consoles will be able to support more players next year, so hopefully it won't matter as much on player count. Only thing I can see that's a risk for BF4 would be if they're also making a 360/PS3 version along with the next gen. They probably should, but I hope that it's not holding back the main version of the game.
I don't know why I've drifted away from BF3. I've really been playing a lot more of the F2P stuff as of late (MWO, Hawken, Tribes for awhile, etc).
I'll definitely hop back in for Aftermath, though.
Yep, I am also surprised with the lack of AK and larger scale map servers. Also, the 1k ticket ones are just too long of a game for me to join with a 9 1/2 month old to watch after. Hoping Aftermath breaths some fresh air and more people/servers into the game again.
Overall I just hope this doesn't cause EA to push DICE to change its approach of the series to cater more to the console titles where the 'real money is at (especially given that the other shooter franchise is basically no longer among the living for EA to be meddling with).'
My opinion since launch last year has been that they need to find a way to increase the player-count on consoles. We don't need 64-player matches, but 32 would be a step in the right direction and 48 would be awesome. I suppose I understand why it won't work on current gen consoles but I hope the next generation will allow it.
I agree, I hope the franchise doesn't continue drifting toward COD territory. I really liked the CQ maps as a palate cleanser or as a warmup for Conquest play, but the bread and butter is in the larger vehicle maps and it always has been.
There's a new premium video for aftermath. I hope the mode is going to be as fun as the trailers makes it out to be.
EDIT:
Getting the win in Gunmaster is so awesome. I just won a round at Scrapyard by getting a nice grenade kill in the stairwell to then run to the top and wait for the opposing team to chase. A recon was first to push up the stairs but his team wasn't paying attention and I jumped down and got my knife kill right in front of 4 of his teammates.
There's a new premium video for aftermath. I hope the mode is going to be as fun as the trailers makes it out to be.
EDIT:
Getting the win in Gunmaster is so awesome. I just won a round at Scrapyard by getting a nice grenade kill in the stairwell to then run to the top and wait for the opposing team to chase. A recon was first to push up the stairs but his team wasn't paying attention and I jumped down and got my knife kill right in front of 4 of his teammates.
as much as i hate gunmaster (won it once after trying like at least 6-8 times), that story does sound pretty epic.
Aftermath looks like it's turning its attention back to the console crowd, but seems pretty fun nonetheless (then again I loved CQD too). Not to mention they'll be playable in regular modes I am sure.
Hm...this game is nearly as impenetrable on first glance as DotA 2 :/
It's not that tough.
Step 1: Get a tank
Step 2: Shoot people
Step 3: Laugh 
It's not that tough.
Step 1: Get a tank
Step 2: Shoot people
Step 3: Laugh :)
Sounds fun, but when I'm not dying 8 seconds after I spawn, I'm running around in circles not finding anyone or anything. I actually have not yet spotted an enemy unit except in kill cams. :/
Stick to servers with 32 or less.
Start out in TDM or CQD (if you have Close QUarters) to get comfy with controls.
Jump into Conquest servers running Bazaar/Metro/Seine to get an idea of how capturing works.
Big boy conquest server = Caspian. Not a bad place to either, just follow letters ABCDE in Red.
Or hop into a server with one of us and follow us around.
Rush sucks with 64, if you find one with less like 32 or below go for that.
I am online right now, send me a message i shoudl hear it.
I'd actually advise against TDM or CQD. It's too frantic for a newbie. Fine if you like COD, but if you want Battlefield, Conquest is your game. Caspian Border or Kharg Island or Operation Firestorm. Pick 32 player maps at first. And later try the 64. Personally I like 32 more as it gives me more control.
Also, watch some youtube videos. LevelCap Gaming does some great tips and explains a lot about certain weapons and tactics.
Above all else, just jump in and have fun. Don't take it too seriously at first. Give yourself time to learn and familiarise yourself with the maps. Later on you can be score whores like the rest of us... well Pikey and Me anyway The others promote "team values" and "playing the objective". Personally my objective is to blow the f*ck out of as many as the enemy as I can so that my team can "play the objective". They can't fight back if they're dead now can they? :p
I'd actually advise against TDM or CQD. It's too frantic for a newbie. Fine if you like COD, but if you want Battlefield, Conquest is your game. Caspian Border or Kharg Island or Operation Firestorm. Pick 32 player maps at first. And later try the 64. Personally I like 32 more as it gives me more control.
Also, watch some youtube videos. LevelCap Gaming does some great tips and explains a lot about certain weapons and tactics.
Above all else, just jump in and have fun. Don't take it too seriously at first. Give yourself time to learn and familiarise yourself with the maps. Later on you can be score whores like the rest of us... well Pikey and Me anyway
Don't forget Titanis. He's is a closet score whore. Sadly I think he jumped ship in lieu of 'less bad' shooters. :*(
I'd say TDM is still not too shabby provided it's not more than 24-32. It's good for getting comfy with twitch reflexes which do wind up helping. At least for getting the unlock system around anyway.
But yeah he's right. IF you can find anything around or less than 32 max servers, conquest, no matter which map, is probably the way to go. It's no SC2, it won't be long before you wrap your head around most of the game.
Hm...this game is nearly as impenetrable on first glance as DotA 2 :/
When I was getting into Battlefield Bad Company 2 (not a dissimilar game) I found it helpful to follow squad mates. You'll last longer (you can spawn on squad mates.) You'll see what they are doing and where they go and, when they get shot, you can shoot the guy who shot them.
I also seemed to die whenever I broke cover in BF3 at first but after a time, probably because I was being careful, it stopped happening. Try to look around before moving, take routes around the backs of houses or through undergrowth rather than following roads.
Also, learn to plant mines. They're almost as much fun as tanks.
I'm on 360.
I am online right now, send me a message i shoudl hear it.
I'll probably be on later tonight to give it another whirl, if you're around. Thanks for all the hints everyone. Haven't really played a non-halo/GoW shooter multiplayer in a long, long time.
I think the magic number is 3 If you can get two other GWJers and roll around in a group of 3, you can take on just about anything in multiplayer. On top of that, as long as one person stays alive you can just keep respawning on squadmates and making progress (if there is a goal)
Very nice indeed.
I think the magic number is 3
Kill. Teabag. Repeat. Are there other goals in BF3?
Luetin09 is playing on the new maps. He likes them a lot. He's going to do a run down of each map soon.
I also seemed to die whenever I broke cover in BF3 at first but after a time, probably because I was being careful, it stopped happening. Try to look around before moving, take routes around the backs of houses or through undergrowth rather than following roads.
I tried this and managed to kill three dudes. I rock.
Pikey, I tried joining some of the servers you liked but apparently the vanilla Battlefield that I got from the Origin sale doesn't come with any of the fun maps.
Higgledy wrote:I also seemed to die whenever I broke cover in BF3 at first but after a time, probably because I was being careful, it stopped happening. Try to look around before moving, take routes around the backs of houses or through undergrowth rather than following roads.
I tried this and managed to kill three dudes. I rock.
Pikey, I tried joining some of the servers you liked but apparently the vanilla Battlefield that I got from the Origin sale doesn't come with any of the fun maps.
There's 3 (almost a 4th) DLC map packs that extend teh vanilla version out. If you intend to play for awhile buying the Premium pack gives you all the DLC at a lower price.
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