Ranked Servers vs TG

[RandomGuy]

I've been reading some pretty disappointing stuff from BF2 interviews.

Assuming TG will not be renting a BF2 server from EA, playing on our server will not advance your rank or let you unlock the unlockables.

So what's the plan? Everyone go out and play like nuts on ranked servers for the first month so we can unlock everything, then we can play the complete game on TG?

It seems to me that EA is trying to force through this half-baked global ranking idea and its just going to hurt the community at large.

[Mateo]

Wow, that is disappointing. How critical are the "unlockables" to overall gameplay? If we are playing TDM or AAS, and not coop (assuming there is a coop mode), what will be the impact?

[Apophis]

I read an interview recently that made me feel better. It seems that private servers can unlock whatever they wish, but official ranked servers only allowed unlocked "unlockables" (hehe, I like that) if you achieved a certain rank.

IE: Private server operators will not be penalized for not running an official EA server. But they won't be able to participate in the overall player rankings for BF2.

I don't consider that a big impact, personally..

[RandomGuy]

That would be just fine if you're right Apophis. I'm a little pessimistic when it comes to EA... and with the game in full prerelease PR mode it's hard to tell exactly what they mean when they respond to interview questions.

[Vulcan]

Yeah the national BF2 rankings will be riddled with problems i'm sure, do they even have an anti cheat for launch?

[RandomGuy]

I hear they do have punkbuster for launch (for all servers I hope).

[Usarion]

Originally Posted by Apophis

I read an interview recently that made me feel better. It seems that private servers can unlock whatever they wish, but official ranked servers only allowed unlocked "unlockables" (hehe, I like that) if you achieved a certain rank.

IE: Private server operators will not be penalized for not running an official EA server. But they won't be able to participate in the overall player rankings for BF2.

I don't consider that a big impact, personally..

This is correct. Although the private servers will not participate in the official EA stats, there will be many third party stats out there. Eg. Bf Tracks etc.

Originally Posted by TG Mateo

Wow, that is disappointing. How critical are the "unlockables" to overall gameplay?

This is not known for sure, but from what I have gathered there will be 1 unlockable per class. I cannot imagine it being a uber weapon of any kind. Perhaps a item which plays a more supporting role.

I really can't imagine EA.....*COUGH* well maybe I can.....putting all those who play, and run private servers at a huge disadvantage. Hell, do they expect the whole community to go to EA and pay twice as much for one of there servers just to attain stats?? Lets hope they are exercising a little better judgement than that.

[Mateo]

For me it's not about stats. I could care less. All I want to be able to do is log on to a Tactical Gamer server and not play a crippled game. If EA does make having a BF2 server a requirement of a significant portion of the game, I guess you can put me in the not buying category. If it's good enough for Valve to let clans and sites do what they want, should be good enough for EA.

[leejo]

so if you're a stay-at-home stoner who plays 24-7 then you get to be a general. If you're a Badger who has a job and pops in once in a while to smoke all comers, you remain a private?

Hmm...

[Usarion]

Originally Posted by TG Mateo

For me it's not about stats. I could care less. All I want to be able to do is log on to a Tactical Gamer server and not play a crippled game. If EA does make having a BF2 server a requirement of a significant portion of the game, I guess you can put me in the not buying category. If it's good enough for Valve to let clans and sites do what they want, should be good enough for EA.

Like I said I don't think that a significant portion of the game will be lost, if any at all. If that ends up being the case the admin can enable all the content.

Originally Posted by leejo

so if you're a stay-at-home stoner who plays 24-7 then you get to be a general. If you're a Badger who has a job and pops in once in a while to smoke all comers, you remain a private?

LOL kinda like some other games I know Wow etc.

Lets not merge rank with stats. Besides being able to take control of commander mode, which is not as powerful as it sounds, rank will be of little consequence. As far as stats go, thats a personal thing. Some people are just stat fanatics....baseball fans. If you ever had any exposure to BF Tracks you would see that the amount of stats is really mind blowing. I personally find them interesting to look at from time to time, just to see if my gameplay is improving or not. The reality is that this game looks like it is going to be fantastic, regardless of EA's half cocked stats. Most importantly I think, is that this game is going to bring our community together for alot of fun!!!

[RandomGuy]

Check out the the latest info on this topic straight from the horse's (or in this case the jackass') mouth:

http://www.eagames.com/official/batt...yupdate_060305

It's pretty hilarious the way they try to pre-emptively taunt you into playing on their ranked servers. On the plus side, it sounds like they are enthusiastic about keeping lamers off their official servers. I give them about 30 minutes after launch until they are consumed by a swarm of "l33t d00dz" desperate to see their name in the rankings. For truly competitive teamplay I am relying on TG.

Any info about how unlockables will be handled on non-EA servers is conspicuously absent from this so-called "update". This would have been the logical time to allay the fears I expressed when I started this thread, but EA didn't do that.

[Iamevil]

I'm pretty sure i read somewhere that you can get these weapons and stuff unlocked on unoffical servers as well, and even if you cant, people are gonna bitch and then there will be a patch for it anyway

[Reaper81]

The unlockables aren't terribly critical that I've seen. The weapon upgrades were simply different weapons that will really only effect the truly skilled players. (Dev's words, not mine.)
Take the Sniper for instance, he starts with a standard 7.62 sniper rifle. (M24 or M40, they're basically the same damn thing.) His unlockable is the M82. Now, a .50 BMG is huge change from a 7.62 but in terms of gameplay it doesn't mean a whole lot. You get a better scope and a faster round. The class' role doesn't change. The .50 round out of the M82 doesn't damage vehicles. The player simply gets an upgraded ability as a reward for skill.

Sometimes, the class will be tweaked a bit. The Assault goes from a M16/M203 to a G3. Still a rifleman but now with improved direct fire capability but a diminished indirect fire capability. It still balances out.

[RandomGuy]

I still maintain that EA are asshats, despite the fact that they've published a great game.

http://www.digitalsoftware.se/ea_and...ed_servers.php

[Mateo]

Originally Posted by RandomGuy

I still maintain that EA are asshats, despite the fact that they've published a great game.

http://www.digitalsoftware.se/ea_and...ed_servers.php

No argument there. Great digital crack though.