The All-Seeing Eye is the best game server browser.
It supports pretty much every game out there including BF 1942 and all the associated mods.
You can easily specify all kinds of filters. Ping, number of players, map, friendly-fire, dedicated servers only, etc., etc.
The buddy list is great because you can quickly see if any of your friends are online.
After using ASE for about 2 years, I finally decided to spend the 10 bucks and register it for a year. Mainly so I could have an unlimited number of people on my buddy list. And to show some support to the developers.
Definitely get
Desert Combat.
It is the most complete and highly polished mod. You can't beat flying F16's and Apaches.
Almost as many people playing DC as there are playing the original BF 1942.loo
If you are interested in a Vietnam theme,
Eve of Destruction is worth getting.
I'm also looking forward to the Forgotten Hope mod. It's supposed to be out in like a week.
It retains the WW2 theme, but adds something like 15 new maps along with tons and tons of new and newly reskinned vehicles. It looks to me like an expansion pack, but much more extensive than any of the official expansions.
Yes, BF is that good.
The reason it was such a huge hit is that it combined all the things people liked about fps games like MOH and Wolfenstein with the freedom to drive battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers, submarines, tanks, APC's, jeeps, mobile artillery, fighter planes, light bombers, heavy bombers. Plus the variety of different classes. Medics that could heal teammates. Engineers that could repair vehicles and lay landmines and explosive packs. Scouts that could call for artillery and use binoculars to give the artillery operator a camera view of the target.
So for me, it was as good as MOH but so much more fun and entertaining. Adding planes and other vehicles just gives the fps so much more variety and adds all kinds of possibilities for strategic play. Plus the conquest mode was really good and much more fun than a simple deathmatch.
EDIT: Oh, and I go by "Nerdboy" if anyone wants to look me up and take a shot at me. I'm pretty good in a Mustang or BF-109.