**OFFICIAL** AT Battlefield 3 FAQ and News Thread

[DeadFred]

Teamwork is preferred even in TDM, especially BF3's TDM. A team of medics that stay together and revive each other are nigh impossible to beat, throw in a couple of supports dropping ammo and you are good to go.

Ill gladly work with a team as long as it produces results, if it isnt then Im going to go rogue and do my thang regardless of the game type!

 

[moonbogg]

Teamwork is preferred even in TDM, especially BF3's TDM. A team of medics that stay together and revive each other are nigh impossible to beat, throw in a couple of supports dropping ammo and you are good to go.

Ill gladly work with a team as long as it produces results, if it isnt then Im going to go rogue and do my thang regardless of the game type!

Nope, you is wrong. Team work sucks, and here's why. Last night I was sniping in a tower and some enemy tampon string was trolling me with shock paddles. Not nice. I would kill him, but he would REAPPEAR every time. The reason? He had a cloaked squad mate who was hiding near by with some invisibility trickery going on, because I couldn't find that dude for the life of me.

 

[DeadFred]

Nope, you is wrong. Team work sucks, and here's why. Last night I was sniping in a tower and some enemy tampon string was trolling me with shock paddles. Not nice. I would kill him, but he would REAPPEAR every time. The reason? He had a cloaked squad mate who was hiding near by with some invisibility trickery going on, because I couldn't find that dude for the life of me.

ROFL

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Hello fellas
Olde schoole question: I have the PC in my sig, and the only game I play is BFBC2. I'm actually fine with this game, and not really aching for an upgrade, but I live in Japan, so the available decent playable-ping servers are almost all gone. I bought BF3 ages ago, but this hardware barely plays it. I didn't really like the BF3 games I did manage to play, but assume that's due to being new and having a laggy system. Generally everyone likes BF3 as much as the older BF games?
Anyway, Wondering the minimum hardware upgrades required to play BF3 normally? I'm guessing new RAM, CPU, MB, GPU, just not sure which ones are good. I want to spend as little as possible, as the upgrade is strictly just so I can play BF online.
There's a shopping site here I can order probably most hardware from:
http://kakaku.com/pc/
Anyway, thanks a ton

 

[Termie]

Hello fellas
Olde schoole question: I have the PC in my sig, and the only game I play is BFBC2. I'm actually fine with this game, and not really aching for an upgrade, but I live in Japan, so the available decent playable-ping servers are almost all gone. I bought BF3 ages ago, but this hardware barely plays it. I didn't really like the BF3 games I did manage to play, but assume that's due to being new and having a laggy system. Generally everyone likes BF3 as much as the older BF games?
Anyway, Wondering the minimum hardware upgrades required to play BF3 normally? I'm guessing new RAM, CPU, MB, GPU, just not sure which ones are good. I want to spend as little as possible, as the upgrade is strictly just so I can play BF online.
There's a shopping site here I can order probably most hardware from:
http://kakaku.com/pc/
Anyway, thanks a ton

I'd recommend an upgrade to an i3-2100 or similar i3 chip, on an H61 or H67 chipset. Then add 8GB of ram. That setup should cost $200. I'd start with that and see if you can then play on your 4850 at low settings. The thing that was holding you back was the cpu. No amount of lowering settings would fix that for multiplayer.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

I'd recommend an upgrade to an i3-2100 or similar i3 chip, on an H61 or H67 chipset. Then add 8GB of ram. That setup should cost $200. I'd start with that and see if you can then play on your 4850 at low settings. The thing that was holding you back was the cpu. No amount of lowering settings would fix that for multiplayer.

Thanks a lot. I checked that gear out and IIUC it'll be about $260 or so here (everything is more expensive). I'm a bit concerned about the GPU. My PC freezes or locks up routinely whenever I play BF. Usually white screen, but recently seems to lock in a kind of hibernation mode with the GPU fan going full tilt.
If I need to replace the GPU, what would be a cheap decent card for my system?
As a side, BF3 isn't going to be outdated by a "BF4" or something soon?
Thanks again!

 

[raasco]

Thanks a lot. I checked that gear out and IIUC it'll be about $260 or so here (everything is more expensive). I'm a bit concerned about the GPU. My PC freezes or locks up routinely whenever I play BF. Usually white screen, but recently seems to lock in a kind of hibernation mode with the GPU fan going full tilt.
If I need to replace the GPU, what would be a cheap decent card for my system?
As a side, BF3 isn't going to be outdated by a "BF4" or something soon?
Thanks again!

I wouldn't be surprised to see BF4 next fall. The final DLC for BF3 is going to be released in March. They've given beta access to people who pre-ordered MOH Warfighter. http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield-4

 

[TheNiceGuy]

I wouldn't be surprised to see BF4 next fall. The final DLC for BF3 is going to be released in March. They've given beta access to people who pre-ordered MOH Warfighter. http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield-4

hmmm... Do you need to buy a bunch of addon games and stuff other than the basic BF3 game I'm useing? I remember BF2 online play got quite splintered with all the seperate games. Not a big deal for you guys in the States, but finding a full server I like has sometimes been an issue here.

 

[Harabec]

Need help!

I recently bought BF3 premium edition. Problem - I have no idea wtf I'm doing.

Any site to help total newbies?

 

[Termie]

hmmm... Do you need to buy a bunch of addon games and stuff other than the basic BF3 game I'm useing? I remember BF2 online play got quite splintered with all the seperate games. Not a big deal for you guys in the States, but finding a full server I like has sometimes been an issue here.

The community has of course splintered just as it did with bf2. The good news is that a few of the base, maps are still very popular. So I would think you'd find a few servers where you are.

As for your hardware situation, it seems you have a dying video card, which is quite common with the hd4850 and 88800gt generation. Those cards generally had inadequate cooling for the heat they produced. If you just want something similar in performance, which is all I would recommend with your cpu, then get an HD7750 or gtx650, whichever is cheaper where you are. If you want an upgrade to go along with a cpu upgrade, get an hd7850, or gtx650 Ti if it's significantly cheaper.

 

[raasco]

Need help!

I recently bought BF3 premium edition. Problem - I have no idea wtf I'm doing.

Any site to help total newbies?

Youtube

 

[GullyFoyle]

2XP event in progress, for Premium members only :ninja:

PREMIUM EVENT

Double XP Event
2013-01-01 - 2013-01-07

Celebrate the new year with us by getting double XP in Battlefield 3 for the first week of January!

Start times below (the event runs for a total of 144 hours)
Los Angeles 1AM January 1
Stockholm 10AM January 1
Paris 10AM January 1
New York 4AM January 1
Tokyo 6PM January 1
Moscow 1PM January 1

 

[raasco]

OK Vulgar, beat this one. Granted it was TDM, but I was mostly using the KH2002 for a handicap. I'm pretty sure I will never get this lucky with medals again. http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/battlereport/show/52263745/1/241819068/

 

[chucky2]

Did anyone notice that tank guided shells and stingers have more range and power now? I've been flying the helicopter more to try it out. Seems like all of a sudden, I'm getting instakilled by tanks and stingers from way far away. When replay happens, I'm like, that is far away. Much further than I remember being able to stinger helis, and much further than someone in the 3rd turret could lock on so I could fire a guided.

 

[sigurros81]

The community has of course splintered just as it did with bf2. The good news is that a few of the base, maps are still very popular. So I would think you'd find a few servers where you are.

As for your hardware situation, it seems you have a dying video card, which is quite common with the hd4850 and 88800gt generation. Those cards generally had inadequate cooling for the heat they produced. If you just want something similar in performance, which is all I would recommend with your cpu, then get an HD7750 or gtx650, whichever is cheaper where you are. If you want an upgrade to go along with a cpu upgrade, get an hd7850, or gtx650 Ti if it's significantly cheaper.

I don't understand what you mean by splintered. Because there are servers that run maps of all varying types, from vanilla to all the separate DLCs. I have a whole list of servers on my favorite list that are generally full that I can jump into depending on what my mood is.

 

[Termie]

I don't understand what you mean by splintered. Because there are servers that run maps of all varying types, from vanilla to all the separate DLCs. I have a whole list of servers on my favorite list that are generally full that I can jump into depending on what my mood is.

You can certainly find servers for just about every map, but I haven't found multiple full servers running the particular maps I'm interested in on a regular basis. The total number of servers since release has almost certainly gone down, and the number of possible map rotations has increased dramatically (Vanilla, B2K, CQ, AK, AM), so of course this has taken a toll on the number of vanilla-only servers available.

 

[sigurros81]

You can certainly find servers for just about every map, but I haven't found multiple full servers running the particular maps I'm interested in on a regular basis. The total number of servers since release has almost certainly gone down, and the number of possible map rotations has increased dramatically (Vanilla, B2K, CQ, AK, AM), so of course this has taken a toll on the number of vanilla-only servers available.

So what you're saying is that because there are more maps in BF3 now, there are less servers running the old maps. Good detective work there Lou, what else you're going to enlighten us with, less people are buying iPhones because there are a lot more smartphones to choose from on the market? :awe:

 

[raasco]

I don't understand what you mean by splintered. Because there are servers that run maps of all varying types, from vanilla to all the separate DLCs. I have a whole list of servers on my favorite list that are generally full that I can jump into depending on what my mood is.

Personally, I think it's bull that you can't join a server that is currently playing a vanilla map even if it has other expansions in the rotation when you don't own anything other than the basic game. It should just kick you when it changes to a expansion pack map. It's yet another way to force people to pay for premium by giving them less server options. I own premium and this still bugs me.

 

[DeadFred]

Personally, I think it's bull that you can't join a server that is currently playing a vanilla map even if it has other expansions in the rotation when you don't own anything other than the basic game. It should just kick you when it changes to a expansion pack map. It's yet another way to force people to pay for premium by giving them less server options. I own premium and this still bugs me.

Wow, really?!?! That is beyond stupid, I have premium so I didnt know that was the case.

 

[Zenoth]

Wow, really?!?! That is beyond stupid, I have premium so I didnt know that was the case.

Is this true? Really?

I'm genuinely asking...

I'll buy my new GPU in approximately one week from now (will be either GTX 660 Ti, or 670 depending on prices when I'm ready). And from the list of new games I'm planning to buy Battlefield 3 happens to be in it. I was planning to buy the "regular" version (of course, on Origin). However, if THAT is truly the case (what is being described as people getting kicked from servers rotating vanilla maps if you don't own one of the various expansion packs for BF3) then I'm seriously considering simply not buying it at all. I do not want to pay extra for "premium" nor do I want to be punished in my on-line gaming experience for not owning it. I really, really want to know if that's true, and if it is, then is it something that can be disabled by the server owner or is it sort of "obliged" by the developer and cannot be tempered with?

Actually I have to ask, how does the server GUI looks like? If it's possible BEFORE selecting any server to clearly see that the server I would select happens to be rotating ONLY "basic" maps, then the problem isn't that big of a deal. I would simply avoid servers that do clearly rotate expansion pack-based content. The problem, however, would come in the form of not being informed per se, prior to joining a server, that the server in question could eventually rotate some map (or content) that belongs to an expansion pack only to kick me prior to the map loading, as a result of not owning that content.

Now, that would suck, big time. Because if that's the case, then I would always have to just "hope" that the "next map" that happens to load on the server I'm playing also happens to be a vanilla map that's not part of any expansion pack... otherwise I'd be kicked? That's just plain idiot, if that's the case.

 

[sigurros81]

Is this true? Really?

I'm genuinely asking...

I'll buy my new GPU in approximately one week from now (will be either GTX 660 Ti, or 670 depending on prices when I'm ready). And from the list of new games I'm planning to buy Battlefield 3 happens to be in it. I was planning to buy the "regular" version (of course, on Origin). However, if THAT is truly the case (what is being described as people getting kicked from servers rotating vanilla maps if you don't own one of the various expansion packs for BF3) then I'm seriously considering simply not buying it at all. I do not want to pay extra for "premium" nor do I want to be punished in my on-line gaming experience for not owning it.

I really, really want to know if that's true, and if it is, then is it something that can be disabled by the server owner or is it sort of "obliged" by the developer and cannot be tempered with?

I think the cost of the game and premium together is like 40 -50? Personally, I think the premium maps are way more fun than the vanilla maps, except for Close Quarters. It does suck if that is the case that EA pulls that shit but you really owe it to yourself to play Aftermath or Armoured Kill.

 

[GullyFoyle]

According to the server admin manual, unfiltered, the server browser shows all the expansions used by the server, so you can choose not to join.
If the server is on a vanilla map, and has other expansion map you don't have, you can join the server but it will warn you you might get kicked if an expansion map comes up in the rotation.
You can filter out servers with expansions you don't have from the server list.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I just wish there were actually some stock servers out there with decent rotations. instead there's this DLC ONLY or This map only, and INSTANT VEHICLE RESPAWN!

I swear people can't comprehend how broken the game becomes with instant vehicle spawns.

 

[Zenoth]

According to the server admin manual, unfiltered, the server browser shows all the expansions used by the server, so you can choose not to join.
If the server is on a vanilla map, and has other expansion map you don't have, you can join the server but it will warn you you might get kicked if an expansion map comes up in the rotation.
You can filter out servers with expansions you don't have from the server list.

Ah, ok thanks for the information, appreciated. Then it shouldn't be much of a problem for me, it's the bare minimum (being aware of what the server rotates prior to joining it). Anyway, I also just looked at the Origin's store just to see which versions of BF3 is available. So, specifically for the PC there's three options... or rather... three links, but there's really just two versions available. The first link is called Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, it costs $59.99 and can be downloaded, or a physical copy can be purchased. The second link is also called Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, also costs $59.99, can also be either downloaded or physically purchased, and also seems to have identical "premium advantages" (under the "Show More" drop down menu). But it does seem to have at least one difference, and it's the cover of the "box" in the picture. The first link's box cover has that orange band at the top, the second link's box cover doesn't.

Finally, the last link is simply and strangely just called Battlefield 3 Premium (without "Edition"), costs $49.99 and can only be downloaded. However, it seems that the "Premium" edition in question (from the last link) has one less feature when compared to both "other" Premium Editions, namely that it doesn't have the Multiplayer Head Start Kit feature. So... until now (now that I've looked at the available versions to buy) I just didn't know that - in fact - there's simply no "regular" Battlefield 3 version to buy anymore. It's either the "basic Premium" at $49.99... or... the "Premium Premium" at $59.99 (oh, excuse me, I meant "Premium Edition", proper). Now I wonder then... why is it that they do actually sell the expansion packs separately (of course still on Origin), when in fact the only PC versions you can currently buy contain them anyway? Do EA even LOOK at their own content delivery platform on a regular basis?

Anyway... I will probably buy the "regular Premium" and call it a night, since it's basically the price of a "regular" brand new game anyway and contains the packs already. If it had been $70+ then I wouldn't have considered it for even a second. I have the strange feeling however that as soon as Battlefield 4 hits the market BF3's players base will take a nose dive, and BF4's Beta is scheduled to start for Fall of this very year. I guess that gives me approximately a year or so to enjoy BF3 while it lasts before activity drops in favor of the shiny new BF4 sometime next year (I'd guess next year anyway, if not earlier... ugh).

 

[GullyFoyle]

That $50 version does not include the base game.

Buy the full premium version from Amazon, it on sale for $36!