BF4... Should I bother?!?

[Fire&Blood]

Well that's great. I got 22 XP boosts and never used a single one (cause I didn't know how) but now that I see in-game, it says "No boosts" as if I don't have any. I even got one today and it doesn't show up.

I read some issues on forums about the XP boosts not working but they were Oct 2013 which I believe was around it was released. Kind of thought something so simple would be fixed by now.

You have to click on it and to activate boost select one from the drop down menu.

 

[duragezic]

You have to click on it and to activate boost select one from the drop down menu.

Yeah thought I was just being dumb at first but I'm pretty sure it thinks I have none. I press Esc from in-game, go to bottom-right and click but it's grayed out and nothing happens. I even watched a Youtube video on it and mine doesn't have a pulldown to select a boost.

 

[shadow9d9]

I didn't buy it since it's EA, but my brother did and regrets doing so due to the game being completely broken on release to the point of being unable to play. Don't think he's bothered with it since so not sure how playable it is, but just out of principle I wouldn't buy bf4.

It wasn't unplayable on release. It just crashed a lot.

 

[QuantumPion]

I bought BF4 + Premium when it came out, I played pretty feverishly for the first week, racking up 12 hours of gametime according to Battlelog. My impression during that first week was that this was a game I could play for a very, very long time.

For some reason I never played it again after the first week. I'm not sure why, maybe the frequent crashes and server annoyances. So I'm still sitting on 12hrs played, I think I'll pick the game up again at some point but I'm pretty much dreading the leveling up process. I can't stand doing this grind over and over, BF game after BF game.

Same here, I also shelled out $120 for the deluxe+premium preorder package. When the beta came out I was quite worried because it was pretty bad. Everyone said not to worry, it's just a beta. When the real game came out, we found out it was just as bad lol.

I think I played for a few weeks before giving up. And I never had any real problem with crashes or instability myself, I think my game only crashed maybe two or three times. What makes BF4 frustrating is hard to describe exactly, it's a combination of many factors that add up in the game just feeling overall "sloppy". From the poor netcode which makes everything seem like it has a ping of 300+ to the rangeless and directionless gun sounds combined with hardcore-low TTK...it makes killing enemies unsatisfying and getting killed instantly out of nowhere immensely aggravating.

 

[shadow9d9]

Same here, I also shelled out $120 for the deluxe+premium preorder package. When the beta came out I was quite worried because it was pretty bad. Everyone said not to worry, it's just a beta. When the real game came out, we found out it was just as bad lol.

I think I played for a few weeks before giving up. And I never had any real problem with crashes or instability myself, I think my game only crashed maybe two or three times. What makes BF4 frustrating is hard to describe exactly, it's a combination of many factors that add up in the game just feeling overall "sloppy". From the poor netcode which makes everything seem like it has a ping of 300+ to the rangeless and directionless gun sounds combined with hardcore-low TTK...it makes killing enemies unsatisfying and getting killed instantly out of nowhere immensely aggravating.

I've played 200 hours and have never experienced this "poor netcode" excuse that people keep trotting out.

 

[BrightCandle]

I've played 200 hours and have never experienced this "poor netcode" excuse that people keep trotting out.

Switch your style to defensive. Instead of attacking around a corner wait for the other guy to pop out and you'll find you loose most battles. The reason is that the game seems to have an inbuilt sizeable latency which combined with the netcode smoothing means that the attacker sees you before you see him, by up to about 200ms. That is so significant based on the time to kill that you find that attacking is the only direct combat option. Its definitely a problem.

 

[shadow9d9]

Switch your style to defensive. Instead of attacking around a corner wait for the other guy to pop out and you'll find you loose most battles. The reason is that the game seems to have an inbuilt sizeable latency which combined with the netcode smoothing means that the attacker sees you before you see him, by up to about 200ms. That is so significant based on the time to kill that you find that attacking is the only direct combat option. Its definitely a problem.

I think that it is also about alertness. If you are moving around a corner, you are expecting to find someone, and you are ready to fire. If you are waiting, you have no idea when they will pop up, and your reaction time will be delayed.

 

[DeadFred]

Well that's great. I got 22 XP boosts and never used a single one (cause I didn't know how) but now that I see in-game, it says "No boosts" as if I don't have any. I even got one today and it doesn't show up.

I read some issues on forums about the XP boosts not working but they were Oct 2013 which I believe was around it was released. Kind of thought something so simple would be fixed by now.

Well that sucks, Ive never had any boost issues. After this player appreciation month I currently have around 200 including a couple of 100% and 200% boosts. LOL

I occasionally activate a 25% boost every now and then just for giggles, but havent really bothered with them since I completed all the ranks and unlocks. Wish I could give them away to someone who actually needs them.

 

[Midwayman]

I've played 200 hours and have never experienced this "poor netcode" excuse that people keep trotting out.

Then you're not very observant frankly. I have about 200hrs too and I see issues many times each game. Usually nothing as blatant as getting killed behind cover, but plenty on one frame kills, or fights that I clearly see myself put several rounds into a person, I die and they walk away with 100 health. I just don't rage about them like some folks.

 

[Randum]

The only thing I've run into so far, the hit boxes around railings/trees I notice extend a little too far so when sniping it will hit these - anyone experience this?

Otherwise, I just recently got into sniping on that first point in metro, lot of fun if the other team is sniping too.

 

[shadow9d9]

Then you're not very observant frankly. I have about 200hrs too and I see issues many times each game. Usually nothing as blatant as getting killed behind cover, but plenty on one frame kills, or fights that I clearly see myself put several rounds into a person, I die and they walk away with 100 health. I just don't rage about them like some folks.

Maybe you didn't hit them? maybe you have a high ping on the server or you have a poor internet connection?

 

[BrightCandle]

Maybe you didn't hit them? maybe you have a high ping on the server or you have a poor internet connection?

We have categorically and proved that even when all these things are fine, with zero packet loss it still occurs. Its just the way netcode works, in an attempt to hide the latency of the server the game does things that mean the world isn't consistent and the unfortunate end result is we see a lot of oddities, including attacking being better, sniping being accurate despite the latency, it taking a lot more bullets to kill people than it ought to etc etc.

I can't believe after 200 hours you haven't noticed all the odd effects of the netcode, they happen in every game.

 

[shadow9d9]

We have categorically and proved that even when all these things are fine, with zero packet loss it still occurs. Its just the way netcode works, in an attempt to hide the latency of the server the game does things that mean the world isn't consistent and the unfortunate end result is we see a lot of oddities, including attacking being better, sniping being accurate despite the latency, it taking a lot more bullets to kill people than it ought to etc etc.

I can't believe after 200 hours you haven't noticed all the odd effects of the netcode, they happen in every game.

Can you show me this incontrovertible proof?

I do well enough that I've never seen a problem. With the scope of BF, there is bound to be occasional hiccups, but for the most part, everything is fine. I also have a FIOS connection at one of the fastest speeds...

 

[Midwayman]

Maybe you didn't hit them? maybe you have a high ping on the server or you have a poor internet connection?

My client shows hits (blood spurts and their body reacts since I'm playing HC). I normally have 30-40 ping and no packet loss. There is weirdness going on. Network smoothing is 0, so no additional latency added. Its part the 10 tick server, and part some issues with how it is resolving events on the server.

Its not a issue of the client. There are many many videos on youtube demonstrating this in detail.

 

[shadow9d9]

My client shows hits (blood spurts and their body reacts since I'm playing HC). I normally have 30-40 ping and no packet loss. There is weirdness going on. Network smoothing is 0, so no additional latency added. Its part the 10 tick server, and part some issues with how it is resolving events on the server.

Its not a issue of the client. There are many many videos on youtube demonstrating this in detail.

Sometimes I have a ping of 8 or so. Today I had ping of 50 on a server, but most were over 100. Does your target reticle light up? That is what indicates a hit, not their body's reaction. I feel that if anything, the hits are pretty generous.

Youtube videos would need to show many things, such as ping, game settings, machine specs, server location, etc. In the end, I generally find that the person that reacts first wins. When I die, it is almost always because the other person had the upper hand or my aim was off.

 

[DeadFred]

My client shows hits (blood spurts and their body reacts since I'm playing HC). I normally have 30-40 ping and no packet loss. There is weirdness going on. Network smoothing is 0, so no additional latency added. Its part the 10 tick server, and part some issues with how it is resolving events on the server.

Its not a issue of the client. There are many many videos on youtube demonstrating this in detail.

I my case setting networking smoothing to 0 was just as bad (if not worse) than having it on 50 or whatever the default was, I find the least amount of "weirdness" with mine set at 20. At zero I saw people skating around on their knees and hit registry was horrendous. If you are having issues then you may want to play with that setting a bit and see if bumping it up helps.

If I remember correctly I kept it at 0 in BF3, and while my hit registry was decent I still saw a lot of wonky stuff, the worst of it being killed behind cover, which happened A LOT! If you go back to the big BF3 thread you can find me bitching about it in many posts. BF4 has some funkiness to it, but I dont see it being any better or worse than BF3 was, or BFBC2 for that matter. It seems to just be the nature of the BF beast to me.

 

[Midwayman]

Does your target reticle light up? That is what indicates a hit, not their body's reaction. I feel that if anything, the hits are pretty generous.

You must not play hard core. You don't get the white X hit maker in HC. However the blood spurts and body reaction indicate hits. You get good at spotting it after playing HC for awhile. In any case I've had this happen at all ranges, including where it is practically impossible to miss.

 

[Midwayman]

I my case setting networking smoothing to 0 was just as bad (if not worse) than having it on 50 or whatever the default was, I find the least amount of "weirdness" with mine set at 20. At zero I saw people skating around on their knees and hit registry was horrendous. If you are having issues then you may want to play with that setting a bit and see if bumping it up helps.

If I remember correctly I kept it at 0 in BF3, and while my hit registry was decent I still saw a lot of wonky stuff, the worst of it being killed behind cover, which happened A LOT! If you go back to the big BF3 thread you can find me bitching about it in many posts. BF4 has some funkiness to it, but I dont see it being any better or worse than BF3 was, or BFBC2 for that matter. It seems to just be the nature of the BF beast to me.

Network smooth adds additional latency. All its doing is displaying what the server really thinks its doing rather than smoothing over errors. It creates a smooth gameplay experience, especially on a wonky connection. However if you have a good connection you'll find you want the least network smooth that you can stand. Smooth doesn't make the data any better, it just doesn't hide the warts.

 

[shadow9d9]

You must not play hard core. You don't get the white X hit maker in HC. However the blood spurts and body reaction indicate hits. You get good at spotting it after playing HC for awhile. In any case I've had this happen at all ranges, including where it is practically impossible to miss.

I do not. I like the radar. But, the blood spurts are different than the reticle recognition. What I am saying is that body recognition and hit recognition are NOT the same... the body recognition I believe, is client side... server side is what matters for hit detection.

Also, for example, I'm playing right now and my ping is 10, tied for lowest in the server. Most are 40+. This is a large difference. Upgrade to FIOS if you can : ).

 

[DeadFred]

Network smooth adds additional latency. All its doing is displaying what the server really thinks its doing rather than smoothing over errors. It creates a smooth gameplay experience, especially on a wonky connection. However if you have a good connection you'll find you want the least network smooth that you can stand. Smooth doesn't make the data any better, it just doesn't hide the warts.

My connection is pretty darn good, I guess just I dont care to see all the warts. LOL

Dont most online games use some sort of network smoothing or lag compensation as CoD calls it? I just dont see what all the fuss is over, unless people are having issues Im not. Im currently having a blast playing capture the flag on the new maps. Only thing is that there are very few US servers that run that game type, so I have to venture into Euro land to get my thrills.

 

[shadow9d9]

My connection is pretty darn good, I guess just I dont care to see all the warts. LOL

Dont most online games use some sort of network smoothing or lag compensation as CoD calls it? I just dont see what all the fuss is over, unless people are having issues Im not. Im currently having a blast playing capture the flag on the new maps. Only thing is that there are very few US servers that run that game type, so I have to venture into Euro land to get my thrills.

I have not had a problem finding US servers with the new maps.. maybe it is a hardcore only thing.

 

[DeadFred]

I have not had a problem finding US servers with the new maps.. maybe it is a hardcore only thing.

Right now I see 5 US servers (HC and Normal) running Capture the Flag and only 2 of those have more than 10 players. During the daytime CTF is nearly non existent other than Europe.

Plenty of the Metro conquest meatgrinders that I despise though. UGH!

 

[shadow9d9]

Right now I see 5 US servers (HC and Normal) running Capture the Flag and only 2 of those have more than 10 players. During the daytime CTF is nearly non existent other than Europe.

Plenty of the Metro conquest meatgrinders that I despise though. UGH!

My bad. Conquest uses flags, so that is what I confused it with.

 

[NoSoup4You]

After posting in this thread that I quit BF4 after the first week of release, I decided to reinstall and give it a shot. I had a total of 12hrs played, and I've already played 6 more hours in the past couple days. ^_^ Here's what I've noticed is different since the first week of release -

The crashes appear to be gone. I've had my game hang twice while the server was changing maps, however that's it. No actual crashes, no freezes, no "BF4 has stopped working"...etc. This is pretty huge considering the issues at launch.

The server browser appears to properly sort Hardcore servers for me now, this feature did not work at launch and was seriously annoying considering how much I've grown to detest "normal BF" game play.

Everyone has some seriously cool unlocks now that I didn't see during the first week, namely the incendiary and smoke grenades are just really cool and add to game play.

I have a crap load of Battlepacks, I guess Premium members get these things automatically every couple of weeks. I had something like a dozen of these to open.

Metro 2014 is just as bad as it was in BF3, and unfortunately it's also extremely popular just like in BF3. Operation Locker is far superior in my opinion for straight-up infantry action, but that map seems harder to find probably because Metro's new.

Overall I'm having a lot of fun, my first two matches I had 7 kills with 21 deaths... 😛 but I've rebounded and am now getting some really nice K D's while still aggressively taking checkpoints. 99% of my time in-game has been as Assault, so I'm looking forward to moving to some other classes as well. I haven't even tried Recon yet, and that has always been one of the funnest classes from previous BF games. The graphics in BF4 are as phenomenal as ever, playing this game on max settings is really incredible.

 

[RaulF]

My guess is titanfall on PC will be vacant in a few months...

This.