Battlefield 4 for the Unwashed Console Masses

Mediocrity_Or_Death wrote:

Well I've had a few rounds on armoured kill now, and I think they have to rank as some of the worst gameplay experiences I have ever had.

I haven't played many rounds of AK yet, 2 rounds of Tank Superiority, 1 Rush and 4 or 5 rounds of Conquest. So maybe things will get better.

Tank Superiority was an omnishambles of SOFLAM and JAVELIN spam, the Rush round was dominated by the C-130 and the defenders got steamrollered.

The conquest games to me just don't work, even on a full server it feels like a ghost town. With half the entire server dicking around in aircraft above 10000 ft at any one time, and the other half rattling around on the ground. It's like playing 6v6 counterstrike on a map the size of a small town with the occasional bit of burning helicopter falling on you.

Yes part of my frustration is from playing to much Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer recently leaving what little BF3 skills I did have in tatters (turns out you can't biotic attack tanks). And yes playing these games on random public servers hasn't helped either, but the general balance of this add-on is so out of whack it's unreal.

I need some gin.

tl;dr - Armoured Kill makes me want to cry.

I don't think I'm quite as down on it as you, but I agree with the sentiment. There was a match on Bandar, I believe, where a couple of guys were in the gunship, 2 in the helicopter, a couple more in jets, and another one in the artillery sitting in spawn, and that left just a few people on the ground. I think there might have even been a scout chopper on that map. Put together it makes for some very weird gameplay. It's mostly just zipping around on a quad capping completely desolate flags while the other team caps the flag you were just at. And God forbid your vehicle gets destroyed and you have to hop out. You end up just hoofing it for 500 meters by yourself to get to the flag, which isn't any fun.

And you're right, Rush should be the bright spot here but it is utterly pointless on defense. It is constant work to keep the gunship out of the sky, then it's back before you know it. They should give it one spawn per stage, or set the timer to closer to 4 or 5 minutes. Complicating matters, the attackers also have a heavy balance of land vehicles on their side.

It doesn't really work on consoles. My buddy and I had to go back and play a few classic Rush maps to cleanse our palate after spending a couple hours on AK. I'll play it some more but, my God, what were they thinking with the map sizes on consoles with this pack? I was trying to keep an open mind as I played but there were too many moments (or sometimes long periods) of frustration.

Am I missing something, or is AK only currently available for Premium members?

AcidCat wrote:

Am I missing something, or is AK only currently available for Premium members?

That is true. Premium gets a week headstart on each DLC. The only place it's probably available for everyone is PS3, since it has a week's exclusivity on top of the Premium, so they got it last week for Premium, this week for everybody.

I bought a bunch of MS points and was primed to buy Premium last night but got distracted. Reading the above I am wondering if this is something I need to skip.

I'll wait to see what else pops up here before I make a decision.

The big maps on BFBC2 were fine on rush I thought but painful on conquest with so few people.

Shame.

Yep, played a few Conquest AK rounds last night and they were very, very big and empty. It'd be fine if you could get 64 players per map on, but with the lower numbers on console it's just frustrating. Will try some Rush and see how that goes.

Right now, the biggest offender appears to be Wind Turbine map (name escapes me). The others seem pretty reasonable. It doesn't help that I've moved to the West Coast and my Central timezone buddies are usually offline by the time I'm on.

The mountain map is great though. I love the ambushes you can get on the armor as it rolls up the passes.

Trashie wrote:

Right now, the biggest offender appears to be Wind Turbine map (name escapes me). The others seem pretty reasonable. It doesn't help that I've moved to the West Coast and my Central timezone buddies are usually offline by the time I'm on.

The mountain map is great though. I love the ambushes you can get on the armor as it rolls up the passes.

I noticed I have seen you on more recently. I am also on the west coast of the US. Unfortunately the times I have seen you the server has always been full. I will message you the next time.

I've enjoyed the little run of AK matches I just played. The maps are all gorgeous. Armoured shield sates my yearning for Harvest Day. I mostly played Rush, and mostly Rush on attack, so perhaps my sample is skewed but I thought they were fun. Somehow the clutter and buildings seemed to work better on the new maps. I kept finding places to hide and sneak more than on the original B3 maps.

I can see how it must be a shod to defend on Rush. I was parachuting in and landing on or behind the MCOMs or even on the roofs of buildings. It may be that players need to (and will) change their tactics. In Rush matches there is a tendency for all the defenders to push out leaving the defence of the MCOMs to those hardy souls like me who don't mind not racking up many points and are happier knowing some bugger is there to defend and disarm. Teams will have to get used to staying back or at least staying close enough to the MCOMs that they can help fight off paratroopers rather than relying on a 'front line' stopping most if not all attackers.

Edit: Ok I've experienced the drop ship and it's cannons in Rush. They do need to fix that.

Higgledy wrote:

I can see how it must be a shod to defend on Rush. I was parachuting in and landing on or behind the MCOMs or even on the roofs of buildings. It may be that players need to (and will) change their tactics. In Rush matches there is a tendency for all the defenders to push out leaving the defence of the MCOMs to those hardy souls like me who don't mind not racking up many points and are happier knowing some bugger is there to defend and disarm. Teams will have to get used to staying back or at least staying close enough to the MCOMs that they can help fight off paratroopers rather than relying on a 'front line' stopping most if not all attackers.

Edit: Ok I've experienced the drop ship and it's cannons in Rush. They do need to fix that.

Yeah, let me know if you can win one on defense in Rush in AK. I haven't been able to do it yet, the closest my buddy and I came was getting the attackers down to 17 tickets on the second-to-last stage of Armored Shield, where you at least get an attack chopper (though, the attackers do as well, in addition to the Gunship).

It's currently horribly unbalanced on consoles. No matter where you are, the IR gunner in the gunship WILL find you. I understand they're lengthening the respawn of it to 2 minutes at the end of next week, which is good. But there needs to be a bigger rebalance, like taking away some of the attackers tanks (3?) or their jet/chopper.

I know AK hasn't been well received on consoles, but has the previous DLC, CQ, been well received at least? Cause I am still having a blast on CQ, probably more than I do in AK on PC.

ps. The TDM maps for Armored Kill are AMAZING.

Evo wrote:

It's currently horribly unbalanced on consoles. No matter where you are, the IR gunner in the gunship WILL find you. I understand they're lengthening the respawn of it to 2 minutes at the end of next week, which is good. But there needs to be a bigger rebalance, like taking away some of the attackers tanks (3?) or their jet/chopper.

Yeah I experienced it from the defenders side last night and was getting randomly blown up by the gunship continually.

Even on CQ it isn't as much of a problem but I hate being in the middle of no where and, without sight or sound of it, suddenly being blown up by it. It feels like a random death I couldn't really have prevented by being more careful, etc.

Pikey26 wrote:

I know AK hasn't been well received on consoles, but has the previous DLC, CQ, been well received at least? Cause I am still having a blast on CQ, probably more than I do in AK on PC.

ps. The TDM maps for Armored Kill are AMAZING.

I'll try TDM. I really like the CQ maps. I love the chaotic combat but I get the feeling I'm in a minority.

Higgledy wrote:
Evo wrote:

It's currently horribly unbalanced on consoles. No matter where you are, the IR gunner in the gunship WILL find you. I understand they're lengthening the respawn of it to 2 minutes at the end of next week, which is good. But there needs to be a bigger rebalance, like taking away some of the attackers tanks (3?) or their jet/chopper.

Yeah I experienced it from the defenders side last night and was getting randomly blown up by the gunship continually.

Even on CQ it isn't as much of a problem but I hate being in the middle of no where and, without sight or sound of it, suddenly being blown up by it. It feels like a random death I couldn't really have prevented by being more careful, etc.

Pikey26 wrote:

I know AK hasn't been well received on consoles, but has the previous DLC, CQ, been well received at least? Cause I am still having a blast on CQ, probably more than I do in AK on PC.

ps. The TDM maps for Armored Kill are AMAZING.

I'll try TDM. I really like the CQ maps. I love the chaotic combat but I get the feeling I'm in a minority.

I was logging off the other day when I noticed you were just getting on. I played a couple of rounds of Gun Master and actually did very well. I love that game play, well when I do good of course. it was a good change from AK.

rrea4554 wrote:

I was logging off the other day when I noticed you were just getting on. I played a couple of rounds of Gun Master and actually did very well. I love that game play, well when I do good of course. it was a good change from AK.

If I see you on I'll zap you an invite. I've been on a 'learning to fly and fight in the jet' kick recently but I'm getting over it.

It's amazing how many times I will just be logging off from a multi-hour session and see a friend logging in at the last minute. I guess that's just how it works sometimes.

Anyone still play this on 360? I was wondering how it's doing these days. I've had an urge to MP games lately and thought of this game. I've even been getting some mileage out of BFBC2 lately, but obvious the population of people playing that game is low still.

DSGamer wrote:

Anyone still play this on 360? I was wondering how it's doing these days. I've had an urge to MP games lately and thought of this game. I've even been getting some mileage out of BFBC2 lately, but obvious the population of people playing that game is low still.

Whoo! a post!

I play from time to time. You can still get plenty of great games. There seem to be plenty of active players.

I play occasionally. It's my go-to kill some dudes time-waster. HeidShot on xBox Live, hit me up.

Was just playing last night. Plenty of servers still available and still even manage to run into some plenty pleasant squadmates (occasionally).

I will certainly hop back in at some point. BF3 is still my principal MP game...but I haven't had that much time for that lately, and I've plucked some games off the pile to play, as well.

I don't have any of the DLC. It seems like folks are playing a lot of those maps, if my friends list is any indication. Is there one that people are mostly playing these days?

Just applied for the PS3 Platoon! I'm still playing through the single player but will be online very soon.

firesloth wrote:

I will certainly hop back in at some point. BF3 is still my principal MP game...but I haven't had that much time for that lately, and I've plucked some games off the pile to play, as well.

I don't have any of the DLC. It seems like folks are playing a lot of those maps, if my friends list is any indication. Is there one that people are mostly playing these days?

Personally, I think Karkand and Aftermath are the only two worth paying for. Armored Kill had a couple of decent maps (the mountain pass one was especially fun) but they never felt optimized for the lower console player count.

I have this dream of finding a west coast server that just plays Aftermath plus Karkand, Sharqi, and that Mountain Pass map with 100% Rush maps and 200% conquest maps intermingle. There would also be ponies.

Trashie wrote:
firesloth wrote:

I will certainly hop back in at some point. BF3 is still my principal MP game...but I haven't had that much time for that lately, and I've plucked some games off the pile to play, as well.

I don't have any of the DLC. It seems like folks are playing a lot of those maps, if my friends list is any indication. Is there one that people are mostly playing these days?

Personally, I think Karkand and Aftermath are the only two worth paying for. Armored Kill had a couple of decent maps (the mountain pass one was especially fun) but they never felt optimized for the lower console player count.

I have this dream of finding a west coast server that just plays Aftermath plus Karkand, Sharqi, and that Mountain Pass map with 100% Rush maps and 200% conquest maps intermingle. There would also be ponies.

I have the Karkand DLC that came with the game. I'l look into Aftermath. It'd be fun to get back into BF2...but my skills are probably so bad by now!

DSGamer wrote:

Anyone still play this on 360? I was wondering how it's doing these days. I've had an urge to MP games lately and thought of this game. I've even been getting some mileage out of BFBC2 lately, but obvious the population of people playing that game is low still.

Friend me on 360 if you haven't already, I play a fair bit with a personal friend of mine, and occasionally Higgledy. Been on a big Rush bender lately.

Evo wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Anyone still play this on 360? I was wondering how it's doing these days. I've had an urge to MP games lately and thought of this game. I've even been getting some mileage out of BFBC2 lately, but obvious the population of people playing that game is low still.

Friend me on 360 if you haven't already, I play a fair bit with a personal friend of mine, and occasionally Higgledy. Been on a big Rush bender lately.

I must get back into playing again. I've been lured away by the Dragon Ages ,etc. Rush seems very good on Aftermath.

Higgledy wrote:

I must get back into playing again. I've been lured away by the Dragon Ages ,etc. Rush seems very good on Aftermath.

Believe it or not, it's pretty good on Armored Kill now, too, now that they've fixed the AC130. Once it gets destroyed, it doesn't respawn until another MCOM is destroyed, making defense actually playable and enjoyable. They've also removed thermal optics from the howitzer and reduced its splash damage. I've had some very good games of Rush on AK lately. Worth a try if you haven't played any since they rebalanced the Gunship.

Aftermath is decent for Rush. I find it to be a bit tough on defense because there are just so many routes to the MCOMs. It can be difficult against a coordinated team. Sometimes rounds last fewer than 5 minutes total, although I believe the AM Rush maps have one fewer stages than most others.

Give me a shout if you see me online. Rush can be very satisfying with a good squad because you do feel like you're having a big impact on the outcome of the game.

Evo wrote:

Give me a shout if you see me online. Rush can be very satisfying with a good squad because you do feel like you're having a big impact on the outcome of the game.

I will do. Rush with a squad can be enormously satisfying.

Whoa. Just saw that Aftermath is $15 equivalent in MS points. I'll be sticking with the Vanilla option I think...

Aftermath are, by far, the best maps for BF3.

lostlobster wrote:

Aftermath are, by far, the best maps for BF3.

Damn you.

firesloth wrote:
lostlobster wrote:

Aftermath are, by far, the best maps for BF3.

Damn you.

Unfortunately Lostlobster is right. Those maps give me that Battlefield Bad Company 2 feel. I'd say you could miss all the other DLC maps.

Higgledy wrote:
firesloth wrote:
lostlobster wrote:

Aftermath are, by far, the best maps for BF3.

Damn you.

Unfortunately Lostlobster is right. Those maps give me that Battlefield Bad Company 2 feel. I'd say you could miss all the other DLC maps.

Maybe with the exception of the Karkand pack, if you don't already have it. But AM is by far the best in my opinion, as well.