Landorin

Hello,

Finally I got to play on the TG server and it's such a difference compared to a standard public server that I wanted to write about it.

Experience on a standard (non TG) server:
On a standard server I experienced the issues every serious player bothers with: hardly anyone following orders, no squads working with yours, teamkilling, base "raping", players turning commander just to have the "cool" title but doing nothing etc.
In addition, some maps such as "Strike at Kandahan" (and some other where it was only vehicle war, hardly anyone was walking) made the bad experience perfect, making me go back to the demo and playing "Gulf of Oman" with the few people I know who appreciate teamwork. Although it was just the demo I had a better time there since I knew the complete map as well as I had at least a few players I could teamplay with. I had a good time again and was really wondering whether I should ever go back to the full version.

A New Hope:
Then I remembered there was still a public TG server. The ping scared me away at first (browser showed 200+) but I knew the browser shows incorrect values so I gave it a try. Okay, in game it was still at 172 ms but surprisingly it almost worked as good as 90 ms or so.
When the game connected I read the small text box stating everyone has to join a squad. I thought "now that's a nice rule... the question is whether there's someone always ensuring people follow this rule". Once I was in game I was pleased to see people are somehow automatically kicked after 60 sec if they don't join a squad, that looked promising, now if just the squads played as a team (hopes went up high)...

My experience as a squad member and commander and the teamwork/communication between commander/squad:
I joined a squad and my BF2 gaming experience suddenly changed. The squad leader was actually giving orders and communicating with his members as well as executing orders from the commander. Also, most squad leaders stayed in the back so their members could respawn on them, just as I always expect it from a serious SL; he should stay a bit in the back (not always but often) to allow respawn and have a better overview of the situation while coordinating his squad. Voice was used very often by the commander and the squad leaders; a big plus for communications.
Speaking of commander: flying commanders were kicked and those who stayed on the ground usually did an excellent job, both at communicating and commanding; he didn't just send all squads to one point to attack, no, he used them tactically and often assigned different tasks to each squad. That was the best commander experience ever. I dared to take the commander job once too, and my short experience was just as good, everyone followed and asked for orders. Sadly, I forced myself to resign since it was very hard understanding voice due to increasing background noise. :/

The only thing I have criticize here is when your ears get blown away because someone has big distortions on his voip as well as talking too loud or even yelling. On a surround system (where you can't really use headphones) this can be really bothering, both for you and your girlfriend. I guess on headphones my ears would start ringing. Also, talking really really fast isn't a good way to tell people what to do unless you prefer saying it twice or more.
Luckily, this wasn't often the case. Yet I do appeal to everyone to reconfigure his mic if people notify them about the distortions as well as ensuring your mic is not too close to your mouth (that can create distortions too) - or just try to talk more quiet (no need to yell or talk really loud, remember, you're not on the phone where it's typical to raise the voice without noticing, always tell yourself to keep up a normal volume).


My experience in a squad:
Usually I play the support class and that's what I did on TG. The squad leaders often were aware of the support and machine gun potential (just as they were aware how to use all other classes efficiently) so when we had to defend a flag for example, I was placed in a good spot and I was able to kill quite a few enemy people crossing my line of sight, showing me how a efficient squad works. On public servers, they handle a machine gun just like every other gun sadly. It's also nice hearing how your squad leader adresses individual squad members by their name and commends them (in voice), that gives you a feeling that you're part of the team and that they appreciate your teamwork just as much as you appreciate theirs and that it's more than just a bunch of anonymous players who are in the same squad by coincidence (as it's the case on a non tg server usually).
Now while I experienced more good stuff (such as moving as a group instead of going alone, defending as a group, supporting each other with kits etc) I also was pleased to see how other players supported us, with squads (reinforcing our position and attacking with us together) as well as alone (I saw repair helicopters hovering above us and repairing our tank just so, we didn't even request them, that was awesome).
Also, I had very good experiences in leading squads myself. Not worth to say much, it just worked how I always wanted it to be: people following orders as well as acting smart.
One more thing that was interesting to notice: only once or twice I went back to flying a plane again (turned out to work well in the demo for me) and I was surprised there wasn't a whole group of players waiting and fighting over the planes; I guess they had the same feeling I had after a bit of flying: flying is big fun and helps the ground forces a lot but it's even more fun playing on the ground.


Game immersion / best moment:
But you know what's getting really scary and giving you a good playing immersion? Having the UAV up and seeing 10+ red dots moving to YOUR position. In such a moment I was getting some small kind of panic feeling, wanting to run away until I noticed this is a game, it's not real, I almost forgot that for a sec seriously.
Yet I knew I could rely on my team mates so I just stayed at my good spot and we often fought them back or defended our position long enough until we were reinforced (often we got wiped out, too, of course).
That clearly showed me I'm no longer playing against unorganised people, I was fighting a serious threat I couldn't take out in a simple way (and absolutely not all by myself)!
The best moment my brain made a screenshot of was on some jungle like map (with shallow water everywhere and Chinese buildings) where my squad was ordered to defend a flag:
we did have a few small encounters and fought them off. I was just about to depart (got new orders) when I move around a small house and face 6 or more enemy Chinese soldiers running up in a line toward me, about 10m away only! No need to say I died before I could pull the trigger or yell any commands. However, in that moment (I still have this picture memorized somehow), seeing all these soldiers running up, I felt like watching some Vietnam movie or so, it felt as real as it felt scary! That added a lot to the immersion of this game (I didn't know there was any until then).


Conclusion:
If you're looking for teamplay and want to play BF2 the professional way you should definitely give it a shot on the public TG server!
Remember, even a higher ping can give you a good gaming experience (see above, I play with 172 ms and it's still good).
Actually, TG is one, if not THE reason to buy this game (they don't have a demo server).


(just too bad I'm not writing for a game magazine, otherwise I'd publish this).

SurgeonS@m

Yup I found TG server during the bf2 demo and havent looked back. If nobodys playing on the TG server I actually get quit the game casue you are not gonna find a nice game on any ranked server lol.

Xink

I just read that all the way through, very well written and sums up pretty much everything i experienced when i frist started playing here at TG, you where my support guy on karkand yesterday and you did an AWSOME job, you really know how to use that support weapon to its fullest and gave some great supressive fire in the heat of battle,

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Wulfyn

Thank you Landorin, those are some really kind words there! An excellent summary of this place I think - it's why we have all stuck around

The squad kick is a custom script written by a gent called Pokerface here, who is a wiz when it comes to these things. Ummm... not much more to say. Good point about the mics, I always try and tell people if their mic is not coming through right, and I know people have done that to me. Don't feel hesitant or shy, most people appreciate the heads up.


Well done to all of TG as well for making Landorin feel about this place what we already know

(o, and I'm assuming you have, but please read the rules and SOP's, these are what helps make us the place we are).

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oldredminer

Yeah ping is a beast on its own, I usually ping TG at around 200-250ms, but I don't really mind that much as I do mind VOIP lag - VOIP being too delayed hence making any panic/insta-orders futile.
And yes, VOIP on surround drives girlfriends and pets berserk - I suggest you get some headphones and turn the surround speakers down, put your headphones on but not too loud and keep all speakers at a audible level, the speakers will help maintain the "surround" feeling even if you have headphones on - except that you will actually understand VOIP gibberish (I was the one you didn't understand yesterday when I was requesting ammo on karkand oh my poor slavic accent!).

Apart from that, it was great playing those few maps with you, good to know you'll stick around!

AntiVisual

you'll never go back my friend.

I to have begun to enjoy the support class, and if you know how to tame the firepower in that monster, you can cause some major destruction.

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Samoth

I found it very frustrating. I also have high latency, being in australia, so it can be very frustrating sometimes, but the level of tactics and organisation makes it a tough choice between an unorganized pub australian server, or the tactical goodness of tg with some lag too.

Landorin

Thanks, Xink, I tried my best on that map. I mean, I was surprised to see that one actually can last rather long on that map, on non TG servers I die in an instant usually. Only the good teamplay made this possible. But I did get shocked when the UAV was on once in a while, showing 12+ red dots moving to our position.

Wulfyn, thank you, I'll keep that in mind. Until now I wasn't sure whether people might take it the wrong way if I tell them they're too loud or distortant.

Oldredminer, I thought of such a solution yesterday, too. Now I just have to find some adapter so I can connect the surround front speakers AND the headphone to the soundcard. The MS Gamevoice hardware might allow that, I will test it out. In any case, I wouldn't want to miss surround sound anymore, despite its disadvantages.

When the server is empty (usually during my day time) I switch to some ranked server to earn some points. Yeah, I know, it usually sucks but chances are higher that you get some kind of teamplay on a ranked clan server. While playing, I always look forward for the evening time to play on the TG server. But who knows, maybe there are enough Europeans that are bored during the day too? They could gather on the same ranked server then.

If the Swat 4 server weren't private I'd give it a shot, too. I just wished I had known about TG back when I was playing OFP daily (now I only play it once in a while... although I prefer that game since it's more sim based it always ended up in a lone wolf mode ).

Marco de Pollo

The last few days I've read trough the forum with big wet eyes and dreamed of how all thees fabolous tactics and squad compositions would work. And after reading this thread i get all the answers. I've so far played public at some norwegian servers and been quite happy those few times a sqaud attack together or i get my crate after asking for one. TG servers must be heaven!
I'm gonna put my girlfriend to sleep (not permanently ) and join a squad on your public TG-server one of theese days. I just feel I need to pull myself together and get some right support-the-team-attitude before i log on. See you all soon.

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Steeple

I remember the first time I played on the TG server....it was immediately after purchasing BF2...I was really frustrated with the lack of teamwork and tactics on the pubs and I just typed "Tactical" in the search browser hoping it would come up something.....man that was a good day.

asch

To enjoy more experiences like this one, don't forget out Wed / Sat night password server nights! The password will be publicly posted in our forums for those who read our rules, SOPs & announcements.

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Landorin

Oh yeah, will try to dig up the password tonight.

Wyzcrak

I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. Thank you, Landorin.

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Darkilla: In short, NS is pretty much really fast chess. With guns. Apophis: I haven't seen anyone say that SM's are better than non-SMs. Nordbomber: This is THE first server I've seen where either side can comeback from out of seemingly nowhere with the right teamwork. en4rcment: I have NEVER experienced the type of gameplay that I have found here. Nightly I am amazed at the personalities and gaming talent. Root: Welcome to TG. Feel free to punctuate your sentences correctly. Monkerz: Its gonna take all my skills to beat those boys off in the future.

Deathdealer247

sob sob.... tears in my eyes.

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Legato895

i agree. the only time i touch pubbies is when i need to blow smoke solo as a sniper

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