Tactical Gamer - Blogs - Spears and Flames and Text Walls, Oh My! by TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/ Tactical Gamer is the PREMIERE mature online gaming community. We feature games such as PlanetSide 2, Battlefield 3, Armed Assault (ARMA2), Natural Selection 2, DayZ, and more. Our community is geared around teamwork, strategy and tactics in a mature environment. en Wed, 22 May 2013 10:03:41 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/images/styles/UndergroundStyle/misc/rss.jpg Tactical Gamer - Blogs - Spears and Flames and Text Walls, Oh My! by TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/ Warface Beta: First Impressions http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/1027-warface-beta-first-impressions.html Sun, 17 Mar 2013 05:26:56 GMT So for those of you who've heard of Warface, I just got my closed beta invite yesterday. NDA was recently lifted, so I get to spill the beans immediately after picking up the can.

Basically, Warface is being marketed as an Free to Play FPS with a micro transaction system. It's being developed by Trion Worlds on CryEngine3. What Warface wants to deliver is an in-depth cooperative mode (think Left 4 Dead meets BF3 Coop) and multiplayer in the same vein as Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. They're also trying to market it as a "social" experience through GFACE, what appears to be a social network (similar to EA/DICE's Battlelog) built specifically for Warface.

At a rough glance there's not anything out of the ordinary. CryEngine3 delivers on graphics, and in a lot of ways Warface looks similar to Medal of Honor 2010. The multiplayer provides what you would expect from a CoD competitor (in closed beta): A handful of maps, several gamemodes including Free For All, Team Deathmatch, Plant The Bomb (Haven't played, but appears to be similar to CoD's Demolition mode), and Storm (sequential conquest/domination), and four playable classes: Assault, Engineer, Medic, Sniper. The gunplay itself is respectable, and Trion seems to have set the default damage values as similar to the "Hardcore" presets of Call of Duty or Battlefield. Everything is very lethal. Assault Rifles are a little recoil heavy, but kill fast. Semi-auto snipers drop a man in two shots and feel very balanced (although in my opinion the recoil is very easy to predict and compensate for), shotguns destroy people close up, and the SMGs are very easy to control but deviate a lot at range. Again, nothing too special here. After a couple hours of multiplayer in random lobbies, I can say that Warface does a couple things right. Warface implements assist actions in Coop where you can boost a friendly onto a tall ledge, and he can then help you climb up after him. You can also toggle with E so you can stay below and boost multiple people up, then toggle back to "assist-then-climb." It makes for some interesting buddy-work if you find someone willing to communicate. Trion also has a mechanism to coerce players into staying on a specific class through a round by allowing close to instant respawns if you don't change your class, but forces you to delay 10 seconds if you pick a different class. The game also tries to present an on-the-fly weapon customization system, letting you attach and deattach optics and rail-mounted equipment in game.

Unfortunately, it appears the "meh" and the bad may outweigh the good. The skill gap is apparent between new and experienced players; which to be fair is to be expected in any game, but the gap is widened by the leveled up weapons being definite upgrades over the starting guns. As a counter example, BF3's M16A3 is a starting weapon and one of the best in the game, and CoD:MW2's FAMAS was a starting unlock and an utter beast once you got used to the burst-fire. Both of these go a long way towards giving newer players an edge while rewarding those who master these weapons, while Warface does not apparently have this. A "slide" mechanic, similar to that in CoD:Black Ops, is in the game and will unfortunately drive "dolphin-dive" haters mad. Whereas Black Ops balanced its running slide by disallowing the player from firing for the duration, Warface's slide allows you to fire your weapon with standard hipfire accuracy (which is similar to hipfire in BF and CoD titles, no surprise there) through the entire duration of the slide. It is very easy to dodge shots this way, and you're rewarded with extra points and a stat for "slide kills."

Further, Trion has elected to run the game exclusively through GFACE. This worked out pretty well for Battlelog with BF3 and MoH:Warfighter but Warface takes this a step further. Warface runs in GFACE, that is in your web browser. There is no standalone client. When you are in a lobby, the lobby and chat are run in the browser page, and then when the game loads the next round it goes to fullscreen as a separate application. It's kind of odd to describe unless you've played BF3 or MoH:Warfighter. But again, Trion takes this another step. It appears that they stream all of the necessary game files over your internet connection. Sounds, maps, textures, models, the works. How they manage this I'm not quite sure, and it's really cool to think about, but from a practical perspective it just makes for mediocre gameplay. It feels like a lazy approach and opens up the door to lag problems caused by the streaming on top of those already caused by peer to peer matchmaking. Granted the lag issues aren't too bad, but it's always less enjoyable when you get matches that have a half second delay before your shot registers.

On a side note, can you imagine the flamefest that would have erupted if BF3 -streamed- it's necessary game files instead of providing a standalone game client?

For a free game it's okay, but the streaming thing just feels inefficient and GFACE lacks the polish of Battlelog (though GFACE is in beta as well). Warface just feels like a mashup, as if it's trying to take all the good ideas from Battlefield and Medal of Honor and combine them with Call of Duty's gameplay in Crysis-like multiplayer. Everything this game presents feels like it's been done before elsewhere and better. BF3 did jumping over obstacles well with it's parkour-esque vaulting. BF3/MoH did "Facebook-for-games" well enough in Battlelog. Blacklight Retribution did a weapon customization systems leaps and bounds better than Warface (and even better than some AAA titles). The Left 4 Dead and Rainbow Six games nailed Coop FPS on the head. The gunplay isn't anything special compared to other games in the same vein, like Call of Duty 4 and Battlefield Bad Company 2.

While I can't call Warface a bad game out of hand, I don't see it being anything special. 5/10, would not recommend. ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/1027-warface-beta-first-impressions.html <![CDATA[DayZ - I'M ALIVE! Foreign Ops and running half a marathon home.]]> http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/965-dayz-im-alive-foreign-ops-running-half-marathon-home.html Mon, 09 Jul 2012 06:51:42 GMT So first things first, tonight's foreign ops raid went over really well. For those of you with access to the DayZ private forum, here's the link for some of the non-public details.

The results:
Quote Originally Posted by Zhohar View Post
Abel: 2 kills + 1 disconnect (confirmed kill)
Zho: 2 kills
Lancer: frag grenade + shots on target - possible disconnect

Friendly deaths:
- Reinhold: retreived all his gear back.
- Bronco: shot and killed.

After Bronco got killed, we had a fairly accurate location on his killer. We would have killed him and gotten Bronco his gear back but ...
A hacker threw everyone up in the air and killed them. Some of us died, some disconnected quickly enough.

All in all -- good times. Lots of gear, -retracted-, tons of fun had. New event coming up soon, thanks for coming!
The actual op went really well. The raid ended abruptly however when the server got hit by a hacker who teleported everyone outside of the map (23k to the NW of the NW edge of the map to be exact) in midair so everyone would fall to their deaths. As soon as this happened, we disconnected as quickly as possible. Orbital, Abel, and Gamer all got killed. Zhohar survived unscathed back at the AO. Kebab and I both got spawned out in the wilderness 23k outside of the map, I was completely okay, Kebab was bleeding and unconscious 30m from me, but otherwise okay.

So let's evaluate the situation. I have an M24 with 3 mags, a Bizon SD with 2 mags, a G17 with 6 mags, a coyote elite pack, a full complement of survival gear, 3 bottles of water, 1 can of beans and 2 steaks, and some other goodies. I've been alive for 10 days. Kebab is in a similar situation. We both have solid kits and a good amount of time under our belts, and some asshat has just tried to ruin it for us by teleporting us outside the map. There's a few ways we can handle this.
1. Suicide and respawn on the coast, losing all our gear.
2. Ask if any TGr's can bring a car out this far to pick us up.
3. Ask the DayZ devs to reset our spawns to the coast.
4. Run home.

I didn't want to do the first, because I don't want to lose my stuff. I've died plenty of times, and I can rekit myself fine, but I just don't want to do it. The second is impractical, as it would take a lot of fuel for someone to reach Kebab and I and then drive us back. The third is probably not an option, considering how big the player base is at this point. So that leaves the fourth, run home. Run all 23 odd kilometers of wilderness back to the edge of the map.

Challenge accepted.

Screw you Mr. Hacker. I'm not standing for this. I have a map, compass, and a GPS. I may be outside the map, but damn you I'm setting a waypoint at 000 000 and running back to playable space, and if I die in the process then so bloody well be it.

I took this screenshot at about halfway home, just as proof that we were this far out. I forgot to take one when we spawned. After 2 bottles of water and 2 steaks and about 30-60 minutes of running (I didn't keep track), Kebab and I made it back. Check the GPS for proof. Fortunately the run was quite easy for me; my keyboard has a "cruise control" button on it, so I just set it hold down my W key, and let it run me to my waypoint while I ate ice cream, read a book, and chatted in TS. I'll just say that at the end of it all, grass and trees in a video game have never been a more welcome sight. We're alive!

As for the raid itself, that was the most fun I've had laying prone under a pine tree for four hours, ever. :D Lots of good laughs and stories in between the tension and excitement of PvP action. Thanks for being there everyone! ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/965-dayz-im-alive-foreign-ops-running-half-marathon-home.html <![CDATA[DayZ - Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.]]> http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/962-dayz-sometimes-its-better-lucky-than-good.html Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:19:20 GMT 1 July 2012 - Polana, Chernarus

It started off with Peterson's discovery of a helicopter crash in Polana, in the NE region of the map. The group that assembled to raid it consisted of Peterson and LpBronco; who were first to arrive at the site, and HiTest and myself; who arrived sometime later. I had been following HiTest on a raid into Berezino earlier in the evening, and LpBronco was attempting to work his way in to join us as he had just returned from dinner. Peterson had been (I presume) attempting to scrounge basic supplies and ammo in Polana but quickly discovered there were several non-TGs in the area. Sometime soon after he saw the crash and notified us. HiTest immediately decided to run south and then west to Polana as quickly as we could. Bronco, being on the opposite side of the city from us, elected to make a beeline for Peterson's position. During the interlude of much running on our parts, Peterson kept eyes on the crash site, and managed to kill one of the players in the area who tried to investigate the helo wreckage. By my understanding, this player was very well equipped and Peterson got most of the supplies he needed as well as a new primary off of him. When HiTest and I eventually reached the crash site Bronco and Peterson had cleared most of the zombies. The crash itself was worth the trip, as the ammo box that spawned provided a cornucopia of sniper rifle ammo. There were also a couple of the more common military primaries around and an M14 CCO.

The original plan was to get in, grab as much ammo as possible, and get out. We knew the area was hot, Peterson had heard a big gunfight down in the town earlier, and we knew there were non-TGs roaming the hills. As you've probably guessed the original plan went awry, as is what usually happens with these things. We wound up aggro'ing zombies and had to fend off a wave using non-suppressed weapons. This whole time Bronco was saying, "we need to get out of here" and "we've been here too long." With all the shuffling around of primary weapons, and making space in bags, and so on, we wound up staying at the site far longer than intended.


And then out of the blue I heard Peterson ask, "Are we being shot at?"

As it turns out, we actually were being shot at.

The scene that followed reminds me of the firefight scene from The Boondock Saints, only with the neighborhood swapped out for the hills of scenic Chernarus, and the pistols replaced by AK variants and M4s.


Peterson and I were both got hit in our legs, leaving us no option but to crawl up a nearby hill to relative safety whilst Bronco and HiTest shot back from the crest of the hill. We were screwed to the wall and we knew it. Those guys had the higher ground, had us in the open, had two of us down, and probably had more accurate guns. Hell, I didn't have a clue where they were until after most of the shooting stopped. And yet somehow we all managed to get over the hill, Peterson and myself doing nothing but crawl as fast as we could and pray the enemy didn't decide to finish us off first. After getting over the ridge we somehow managed to bandage up and get morphine into the two of us with the broken legs. At this point HiTest and Bronco saw a couple of the enemy running up hill perpendicular to us, obviously trying to get higher ground and flank us. We didn't really want to get in a gunfight. We had already looted the good stuff from the helo, and none of us wanted to die either. So we ran. I won't say which way because this is a public post and I'm paranoid, but run we did. And we didn't stop running for a good long time.


We all survived, and the only thing I can rightfully attribute it to is an insane amount of luck. What I can say for sure is that DayZ has just delivered to me the tensest, most exciting moment I have yet experienced in a multiplayer game. It was a pleasure running with (literally ;) ) you three gentlemen. Tonight we cheated certain death, and I hope that we can each make a hearty profit on the virtual lives we still have. ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/962-dayz-sometimes-its-better-lucky-than-good.html Metro and Spawn Beacons - AAR 5/12/2012 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/944-metro-spawn-beacons-aar-5-12-2012.html Sun, 13 May 2012 17:30:50 GMT Date: 12 May 2012, 10/11pm-ish EDT Server: TG Battlefield 3 Server 1 Map: Operation Metro - Conquest Battlelog Round Summary (http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/battlereport/show/31714886/1/250499789/) Battlelogger.com link for when original gets auto-purged... Date: 12 May 2012, 10/11pm-ish EDT
Server: TG Battlefield 3 Server 1
Map: Operation Metro - Conquest
Battlelog Round Summary
Battlelogger.com link for when original gets auto-purged

Squad: RU Alpha Squad - n1cotine (SL), walmz537, Rockford, TheLancerMancer

Going to say straight up, this was one of the most fun rounds I've had in awhile. It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of Metro CQ, but a talkative squad makes everything more fun. The game started out like most rounds of Metro, with both sides colliding with each other in an astounding lethal clash between both teams on the Bravo flag, with M67s, 40mils, rockets, frag ammo, and bullets in general flying everywhere. Unfortunately, RU lost the initial clash for Bravo flag, and I fully expected the game to just ticket grind into a typically irritating loss. Not so. Somehow our squad managed to get down the escalators and get on to Charlie flag. We were all a bit shocked that no one on US really opposed us, though by this early point of the game the entirety of both teams were duking it out in the street at Alpha. This left us to cap Charlie and (kind of) restore ticket bleed for our team. The game went very weird from here. At one point US had Alpha, while RU held Bravo and Charlie. Alpha and Bravo flipped multiple times during the game. When tickets got down to the ~150 range we had made up the initial gap and were at a 10 point lead, but soon after we lost Charlie and the game reverted to the RU Alpha vs US Bravo Charlie standoff. N1cotine and myself managed to slip past Bravo towards the end of the match and recap Charlie, but the ticket lead was too much and RU was pinned at uncap. US won by about 100 tickets.

I've recently discovered I've been misusing spawn beacons. Before I had been keeping them near me, near the action and thus near the squad. I've been trying to take a step back of late, and hide my little satellite dish more effectively. I won't give away each spot where it was, but some clever placement of the beacon saved us from at least two squad wipes on Charlie flag throughout the game. Definitely something I'm going to be making better use of in the future.

What I could have done better: Stay alive. I had several needless deaths while we held Charlie as I was running hunter-killer within the TUGS radius with a PDW, and got overaggressive at times. Perhaps some more caution on my part could have kept us in place down in the tunnels longer.

What the squad could have done better: I don't think I can make any judgments this time on the squad, as I was running around like a squirrel on crack the entire time. Our comms were solid and we all had a good laugh, so we meshed well. I think holding Charlie was the right decision in any case.

What the enemy could have done better: Take Charlie. The US team let us hang out down there waaaayyyy longer than they should have. Eventually they pushed us hard and eventually took Charlie back, but we brought the ticket bleed back to about even before they finished us off. Still, US won handily. Well played.

I also noticed a lot of complaining from the RU team in text chat at the end of the game, mostly involving being spawn trapped in the uncap. While this is a valid concern, I'd like to point out that Charlie flag was a spawnable option and very safe at the time these complaints were being made. This was particularly frustrating as we had Bravo's back door kicked off its hinges, yet it appeared the rest of RU was too busy complaining to actually spawn on it. Just an observation. ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/944-metro-spawn-beacons-aar-5-12-2012.html Monday Nosehair Mayhem - AAR 4/23/12 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/939-monday-nosehair-mayhem-aar-4-23-12.html Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:35:50 GMT Date: 23 April 2012, 10pm-ish EDT Server: TG Monday Night Rush Map: Noshahr (Nosehair) Canals Rush - 32 player Battlelog Round Summary (http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/battlereport/show/29845592/1/250499789/) Joined Bravo squad on US side at the start of the round. Squad was led by... Date: 23 April 2012, 10pm-ish EDT
Server: TG Monday Night Rush
Map: Noshahr (Nosehair) Canals Rush - 32 player
Battlelog Round Summary

Joined Bravo squad on US side at the start of the round. Squad was led by HeymanWDFG, with Fallen, myself, and another pub who's name I can't remember. I don't recall the last guy communicating at all though. Levytheman95 joined in late in the round. Right off the bat I knew we had a solid setup. Heyman, Fallen, and I were communicating right from the start and meshed well. Heyman was constantly updating objectives and switching up tactics as the round progressed.

Started the round by riding a boat into the harbor on a strafing run of the right side before ditching the boat in the center ramp. From there heyman determined to go for Alpha MCOM. I split off into the docked barges on the water side of the warehouses to setup my spawn beacon, then moved in close to the building to setup a motion sensor. From there our team destroyed Alpha, and we managed to keep constant pressure and visual on Bravo until it fell.

Once the first set was down I got a little separated from the squad. I spawned on the beacon and was given a parachute, so I set down on the warehouse that previously housed the Alpha MCOM. Tried providing sniper cover on the back wall where several Russians were running about, but I was generally ineffective. Picked a couple kills but missed a lot of shots. (If I'd been thinking I would've brought the M98B instead of my L96, but oh well) From there I moved down to rejoin the squad at the train tracks, where almost the entire US team was pinned down by fire coming from all sides. Sometime during the chaos the Alpha MCOM was armed and destroyed. I started spawning in with various PDW's and eventually settled on the MP7 with 40 round mag, Reflex 1x, and Laser Sight. Tried placing a beacon by the far left warehouse, and held there briefly but was soon overrun. A friendly squad managed to push past me on the left but I'm not sure how far they made it in. Eventually I died and spawned back with Fallen and Heyman. Fortunately the team got some momentum up and pushed to the Charlie CQ flag platform, at which point I made a mad dash into the Connex where Bravo MCOM was housed, armed it, and got out alive to help cover it. It went down quickly, as we had at least two squads covering the MCOM by this time.

The third set of MCOMs fell very quickly. After grabbing meds and rearming, Heyman decided we were going to push on the right hand flank near the stormdrain and overpass, and attack the MCOMs from behind. Heyman and Fallen did most of the work here, as I was down to one mag in my MP7 and my gadgets were expended. I wound up sitting back by an ammo box waiting for my Beacon and TUGS to rearm. By the sound of things above me, Heyman, Fallen, and a friendly squad managed to overrun the hilltop and arm both MCOMs, driving the RU defenders back off of the high ground and into the relatively more exposed roads and plains to the east.

Once my gadgets were back up, I helped push the last defenders off of the hill. Since this half of the map has longer sight lines I figured my MP7 wasn't going to be much use, so I scrounged an Assault kit from a fallen Russian. An AK-74M with 4x scope and Heavy Barrel, with a Glock 17C sidearm. This worked beautifully, as I've been running the RU 4x scope more often recently, and the AK74M lent itself very well to my purposes as a DMR. I'd almost say it outperformed my similar SVD setup, and the medkit was absolutely necessary for the next set of objectives. For the most part I hung back on the hillside at this set and picked off enemy snipers, machine-gunners (sorry Cyco ;) ), and infantry trying to move across the open ground. My main concern though was to stay alive, and I was throwing a medpack down whenever possible. Since I could no longer place spawn beacons, I resigned myself to serving as a living spawn point if nothing else. Eventually Bravo MCOM fell and Heyman ordered us to push across the stormdrain and attack Alpha MCOM. I moved across and hung back on a grassy knoll to the south of the objective, continuing to do as I had on the hillside.

The final set was a bear. The team managed to eventually push up to the RU Base's perimeter wall, but we just were not able to get inside. Fighting here was close in and dirty. Heyman set his sights on Alpha MCOM, but despite our attempts we weren't able to get onto it for most of the round. Eventually, he and I grabbed a boat and tried to rush down the left flank canal to come up behind Alpha. He was shot, I bailed out. I was saying over my mic as I swam to the nearest ladder "This isn't going to work, they're going to shoot me" or something to that effect, but somehow I managed to climb up to a low concrete boat launch, and place my spawn beacon and TUGS without the Russians noticing. Once I was there, I told Fallen and Heyman to spawn on me quick. From there we hit the Alpha defenders from behind, armed the MCOM, and defended it until it blew up. Fallen apparently believed believed this would work right from the get go, so I guess that shows me for doubting :p

Unfortunately we couldn't break into the RU Base's perimeter, and RU bled us out on tickets. Well played by all though. Heyman, Fallen, and I were all extremely pleased with how we performed as a squad despite the outcome.

What I could have done better: Honestly I'm not sure. Beast mode some more? I could have pushed more aggressively, but honestly I think that would've been counter-productive. Picking off defenders so the other squads could move up and keeping my gadgets online seemed like my best use.

What the squad could have done better: Not sure here either. We really could have used a communicative 4th member. Overall I think we had a good mesh personality wise and I absolutely would not trade that for anything. Heyman was a solid squad leader, and I'll definitely look to play with him again.

What the enemy could have done better: Aggression. As we demonstrated in the following round, if you can beat back the initial push on the first set of MCOMs, you stand a much better chance of winning. If RU had swept us off the docks at the start, we probably would have lost. That's not to say RU wasn't aggressive. They still beat us, and they played very well. I simply believe that they had ample opportunity at the first and second set of MCOMs to push us back off the objectives and score a decisive win, sooner.

Excellent rounds in all though and a hearty GG to all!

This AAR brought to you by TG-56th Grey Ops, reminding you that you're not drinking enough scotch. ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/939-monday-nosehair-mayhem-aar-4-23-12.html AAR: BF3 Infantry Server 4/19/12 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/938-aar-bf3-infantry-server-4-19-12.html Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:28:37 GMT While I was unable to play, my mind had time to think and wander (as it sometimes does) and I thought briefly of doing some AAR blogs for BF3 or any other titles I pick up. I was mostly inspired to do this after seeing an Arma AAR blog from Athanasa, and from a series a member of the 189th did set... While I was unable to play, my mind had time to think and wander (as it sometimes does) and I thought briefly of doing some AAR blogs for BF3 or any other titles I pick up. I was mostly inspired to do this after seeing an Arma AAR blog from Athanasa, and from a series a member of the 189th did set in BF2:PR back in 2010-2011 when I first began playing at TG. Now the opportunity is presented to me, so I figure I'll try writing a few of these and see how they go.

Date: 19 April 2012 @ 9:30pm EDT
Server: TG BF3 Infantry Server
Map: Seine Crossing (CQ Small)

Started the round in a squad led by hotshot515 along with UndeadForce and LedZeppster. At the round start, hotshot suggested we try setting up a full squad of MG's in a three story building down the street from A, overlooking the bridge crossing from the US uncap. This building is lovingly known in the 56th as "The Alamo." (If you want the story to it, join us ;) ) I setup with a PKP with Bipod, Large Mag, and the Russian 3.4x scope. Hotshot ran a similar setup on the M240B, Undead ran an RPK74, and Led floated between floors for the most part. We managed to get a substantial amount of bleed from early to mid game by taking out US squads and lone wolves as they tried to run the gauntlet of fire across the bridge. A couple of US went sniper and tried to take us out, but with we managed to target and kill them each time before they could do much (thank you scope glare). Eventually US got the idea to just ignore the bridge and go for the flags to our East and either use the other bridge or just spawn in out of our line of sight. From mid to late game ScratchnSniff and several other US tried to rush the building with shotguns and LMGs, but between claymores on the stairs and liberal spraying through the elevator grille in the stairwell we managed to hold them off each time. RU walked away with a win by a solid margin.

What I could have done better: I should've switched to Assault earlier on, when they first started rushing our Alamo. Eventually I did and setup a G3 with Bipod, 6x scope, and Heavy Barrel to keep my zone covered, while having medkit and defibs to offset any losses from being stormed.

What the squad could have done better: We all fired into the enemy uncap a couple times (sorry :icon_frow ), which was definitely our bad. Hotshot killed fallen in the uncap at the end and got kicked for, with fallen dying right as I warned hotshot that his target was in uncap. I established to not shoot unless an enemy shot first or walked onto the bridge, but it was already mid round by that time.

What the enemy could have done better: Explosives. Honestly, trying to snipe us out just wasn't working. I don't think any of us died to a sniper the entire round. US spent too long beating themselves to death against us rather than adapting and moving on a flank. If the US wanted us out of the building so badly, they should've thrown 40mils and RPGs at us and blown away our cover. Something to remember for the future.


*Aside: What do you all think? Should I do more of these in the future? ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/938-aar-bf3-infantry-server-4-19-12.html Status update - New desktop parts list and what happens next http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/931-status-update-new-desktop-parts-list-what-happens-next.html Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:07:37 GMT The time is drawing close. About two months ago I realized that my laptop is no longer up to the task of playing BF3, or any other game for that matter. The past couple of months have been rather difficult for me, as I consider gaming to be an important hobby of mine and my primary stress release.... The time is drawing close. About two months ago I realized that my laptop is no longer up to the task of playing BF3, or any other game for that matter. The past couple of months have been rather difficult for me, as I consider gaming to be an important hobby of mine and my primary stress release. Due to the interplay of several real life family and financial occurrences I've held off on building the prophesied brand new desktop, and fortunately it appears the time to order the parts and build is drawing near (for real this time).

Thanks to you wonderful tech-heads in the Hardware forum, I've decided to definitely go with an Intel based build. Here's what the end build should look like. By all means, any further suggestions are very welcome.

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 448 Cores 1.25GB Video Card ($257.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Sniper ATX Mid Tower Case ($114.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS70 OEM DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $994.32
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-04 14:35 EDT-0400)
Additionally, thanks to some connections back home I've been able to obtain a pair of 15k RPM 73GB SCSI hard drives that would have been scrapped otherwise, as well as a PCI SCSI controller and the necessary cable. I'm planning to tie these two drives together in a RAID 0 array specifically for video recording, and I'll be purchasing a licence of Playclaw once I have the machine built and working.

In supplement to some video recording, I'm considering doing a series of AAR blogs once I'm back in the game. I need to see what my writing style will best lend itself to, but something will come down the pipeline soon enough ;)

In my opinion I've been away from the game for too long. It's been very frustrating to carry the title and responsibility of being a Battlefield admin while at the same time being unable to participate in the game and community I'm responsible to. Fortunately an end is in sight, I just need to wait I tiny bit longer. ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/931-status-update-new-desktop-parts-list-what-happens-next.html Better Battlelog - FF/Chrome Extension http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/896-better-battlelog-ff-chrome-extension.html Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:48:35 GMT Discovered this earlier today thanks to a thread on the Battlefield 3 Reddit.

Better Battlelog

Here's a copy of the features list. The extension is currently available for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Quote Originally Posted by Better Battlelog's Website
We permanently update and change features in BBLog.
If you have any ideas or find bugs, you can report it in our request tracker.

High Detailed and "Secret" Weapon Information
In cooperation with a very good weapon database called symthic.com we are able to serve you stunning new information about every weapon. Now you really get all available details for every weapon. Accuracy plots and charts give this feature a amazing finish.

Inline Youtube Videos
Some users wanted a more "epic-looking" forum post, platoon or profile presentation. One thing we did for you was to replace all Youtube links with the embedded player. Now you can view the videos instantly.

User Radar
Everybody hates cheaters and hackers. From now on, you can avoid them on the battlefield. We are proud to present a feature that warns you before you join a server. Mark anybody via the new "radar" button and you will see a notification above the "joining server"-button if one of your marked users is currently playing on that server. Share your list with your friends or other users to increase your possibilities to play on clean servers.
NOTE: This is your own personal radar, you have to fill the list, because this is not a global option that communicates with other cheater or ban lists.

Server Radar
Use the radar feature not only for users, but as well for servers. As in the user radar, you will be warned if you try to join a marked server.
NOTE: This is your own personal radar, you have to fill the list, because this is not a global option that communicates with other cheater or ban lists.

Known Bugs, minor Improvements
In Battlelog exist some bugs that are not fixed, though huge systems never are perfect. We fixed some minor and major bugs in Battlelog with our addon since they do get annoying sometimes. Still, it is not the focus of this addon to bug-fix Battlelog.

Contextmenu (Right-Click)
Well, every mouse should actually have a right button. Why shouldn´t we use it? In some parts of Battlelog, we added a contextmenu which improves your browsing experience especially for bblog´s own features. In the BBLog menu or by the shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + M you can highlight all areas which offer the right-click ability. More information here

BBCode Support
Most older boards and also some new ones have a BBCode support. This gives you the ability to easy format text in posts with predefined codes. Battlelog also support some bbcodes, but they give you nowhere the information how it works. We found the supported codes and integrate a easy to use interface to format your text.

Favorite Threads
This feature extends battlelog with a favorite thread list. Now you able to see on one place all you currently relevent board threads. It's very frustrating to search all the threads again and again, now you have time for more important things. Hope you enjoy it.
]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/896-better-battlelog-ff-chrome-extension.html <![CDATA[[BF3] Use Steam Overlay in Battlefield 3]]> http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/845-bf3-use-steam-overlay-battlefield-3.html Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:55:59 GMT All credit for this goes to Pasqu0 on the EA UK Forums and this post.

Since so many of us use Steam, having to shift over to Origin's community system has been a minor irritant at least, and a crime against PC gaming at the worst, depending on your personal opinion. Well fear not fellow Steam users, because here is a valid workaround! This will allow you to run the steam overlay in Battlefield 3 and Origin's overlay at the same time.

1. Go to your Steam Library and select "add a non-steam game."
2. From there browse to your Origin folder (C\Program Files (x86)\Origin\) and add Origin.exe to your steam games list.
3. From now on launch Origin from your steam games library or from a shortcut created by steam

Note: Steam will automatically display that you are in a non steam game called Origin on your friends list. If you'd like, you can right click Origin in your Steam Library and select properties. In the following menu you can rename Origin to "Battlefield 3 Limited Edition" or whatever you'd prefer.

4. You should now be able to use the Steam Overlay and the Origin Overlay while in any Origin Game. Make sure that you set the overlay key binding for Origin to something different from Steam's though.

Enjoy! ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/845-bf3-use-steam-overlay-battlefield-3.html <![CDATA[For you new TG'rs: Wearing the TG Tags.]]> http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/841-you-new-tgrs-wearing-tg-tags.html Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:06:35 GMT Recently with the launch of Battlefield 3 here at TG, and with the creation and adoption of Knyghtmare's TeamSync plugin, I have seen more new TG members and pub players connected into the TS3 server and on the forums than I have ever seen on any title.

I'm posting this out of concern for some of the newer additions from BF3. I've seen and heard of some very non-TG like behavior in TS and in game recently. I joined TG a year ago last month. I had been playing with TG members on Call of Duty 4 twice a week. Since I was between groups at the time and really enjoyed the community, or at least the Call of Duty division, I registered on the forums, read the primer and other required reading, and tagged up. I was warned a few times by CoD admins for some old habits I hadn't grown out of over the next couple of months, but ultimately that gave me a better appreciation for TG's style of play and how things operate around here. Just remember, as long as you are wearing the TG tag you are representing this community and so are held to a higher standard than otherwise. Even if you don't wear the tag, you are still bound to follow the rules and guidelines of this community if you play on our servers or participate on the forums or teamspeak.

When I joined up, this was a part of the recommended reading in the Call of Duty division. The post from Nemesis dates back to BF2 I believe. I think that these two posts give the most insight into what the tags themselves mean, and I strongly recommend that everybody, new member or old timer, take the time to read this.

Quote Originally Posted by "UnDeaD" View Post
You may see players on the servers using the |TG| tag in their name when they play on the server. Players who become regulars quickly ask: may I use the |TG| tag in my name?

Anyone who endorses and practices our playstyle and rulesets may wear the |TG| tag when playing on our or other servers! Bottom line: if you support TacticalGamer for what it is and want to show that support, the |TG| tag is a great way to do it. Many players who love it here choose not to sport the tag in their playername, and that's fine, too, if that's what you prefer. The option is there for you to take or leave.

We love it when people support this community with Supporting Memberships, but it's not required to wear the |TG| tag.

By putting on the |TG| tag, you are representing TG and our style of play - it means that you have read and understood all of the Server Rules and SOP's as well as the other REQUIRED Reading. On the game servers, players who may not be aware of our rules or code of conduct are given warnings before being kicked or banned. TG-tagged players are held to a higher standard, and will not be shown the same patience if they violate the server rules or code of conduct.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was written mainly for wearing the |TG| tag in game, but I honestly believe this applies to TG members (supporting members in particular) and in this forum.

Quote Originally Posted by Nemesis View Post
Before I start I want to say that this may get a little long. And everything I'm stating is my own opinion. If any Admins here feel that I'm out of line in what I'm saying or totally off base, please feel free to point it out to me. I've just seen a TON of new people on the server with a |TG| in their name and I've never seen most of them post. So I wanted to express my feelings about what it all means.....To me anyway. (Hell, I'm considered a New guy as well.) :)


I'm wondering how many of you know what goes into putting those |TG| tags on in addition to your Callsign? Or even just playing on the Servers for that matter? Most times, wearing Tags signifies that you've joined, or been accepted to, a Clan/Guild/Team. However, that's not really the case here. Yes, you've joined a group, but most of the rigors of a Competitive Clan don't apply here.

There's no initiation, or vote or application. There isn't a test of skill or a "Trial Period". And there's no specific set of Leaders that bestow the Tags to you after you've "earned" them. Hell, most anyone can put them on to be honest.

So, I can see how that may lead you to think that wearing the |TG| tags is easy. However, you couldn't be more wrong. Yes, putting them on is easy, but the price of wearing them and/or playing on the server the Tactical Gamer way does take a solid commitment.

And that commitment is all based on Honor and a willingness to adapt to a belief.

But before I get into that I have to wonder WHY you want to wear the Tags?

To some, it may be the certain "Status Symbol" they are looking for. Like a "Hey, look at me, I'm in |TG|! I'm da MAN!" In a sense, that view is valid, but it totally disregards everything else that is involved. Because with that "status" comes a great responsibility.

When you decide put that Tag on and/or play here you become a part of, hopefully, something better. Something closer to a family. Here it's no longer all about YOU, but about US. And your actions, good and bad, reflect on everyone that call's Tactical Gamer a home. Those actions include your conduct off the servers as well as on.

See, these Tags don't give you anything. They aren't a key to getting on the server whenever you want. They don't protect you from getting kicked. And they certainly don't make you a better person/player. Yes, there's a certain respect that people will have when they see the |TG| in your name, but it's up to you to live up to that respect. Because it was built on the backs of a lot of other players that have been here doing this for a long time.

They've built a place where the Team comes first. Where people try to play the right way. Where it's about acheiving the Goal of the Team over being the Lord of the Stats. And what's amazing about all this is that once people get a taste of it, they find that they like it. They like it a lot.

Complete strangers with nothing more in common than a server and a specific style of play find that they like it enough that they want to protect it as well as promote it. And in this on-line world that we play in, that is indeed something special.

Ok, this is where I get to the "Honor" part. Many people seem to think that all there is to playing an FPS game is how much Skill you have. They feel that skill covers up everything else and that's all it takes to make a "name" for themselves. Well skill is important but, IMO, attitude makes or breaks you. Skill can be learned, and honed. Honor, well either you have that or you don't. Especially with regards to honoring your commitment to your squad and your team.

I've seen many a great player with no Honor or with that ME first mentality, and personally, I'll take an honorable no skill newbie over a skilled jackass any day of the week. Least with that newbie, the hard part is already done.

Think about it.

Last thing, Always respect the time and effort that the Admin's put into making Tactical Gamer and it's servers go. The people that put in the time and effort to make this place what it is deserve your respect. Have a problem with something? Then voice it in a civil manner and speak how you would like to be spoken to. Yes there are going to be some bugs and glitches but that's the price you pay for having people that are constantly trying to make things better for YOU, the gamers that play here.

Just something to remember next time things get screwy serverside and some frustration sets in.

Think you can do better? Well then go run your own servers. Because, always remember, there would be NO servers/forums etc. for you to bitch about without their sacrifices.

So before you throw on that Tag or just decide to play here, remember what comes with it. It doesn't do anything more than shine a light on you. And add expectations. That when people join a squad with TG people in it they do so with the expecation of some GREAT teamplay. And of playing with a fun group of guys who believe in that style with all their hearts. Now if you can't or won't hold up your end of that, then it reflects on ALL of us that believe in this place and what it stands for. And you'd probably be better off playing someplace else.

Changes the perspective a bit doesn't it?
]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/841-you-new-tgrs-wearing-tg-tags.html First Thoughts : First Strike for CoD Black Ops http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/611-first-thoughts-first-strike-cod-black-ops.html Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:34:42 GMT My first blog post here on TG, figured I'd give this a try.

After waiting for 2 months, the First Strike maps for Call of Duty Black Ops have finally been released on the PC with a price tag of $15 and patch 1.07 has been released to all clients. I've just done some test runs and matches on each map, and so far I'm really impressed with the level designs. I'll take this map by map.

Stadium:



I have to say the level designers for this one earned their pay in terms of appearance. The textures and models used work perfectly creating a brightly colored, almost friendly environment, sans the dead bodies and flying lead of course. I played a round of this on Headquarters mode. Its a smaller map, maybe twice the size of Nuketown, but its doesn't feel small. I don't want to say that it's cluttered but there's so much stuff, so many planters and buildings that there are a lot of routes, making the map feel larger than it actually is. The second floors of the some of the buildings provide nice vantage points, but the field of view from each window or balcony is fairly limited. They seem like they'd be good spots to defend domination or demolition objectives from, but they afford little cover and are obvious enough that they are risky positions to use for long. Aside from that, the map is tight but expansive enough the easily avoid campers and has several routes to approach an objective from. I can't help but feel that this suffers from Grid's spawns though. Maybe it was just because I was playing Headquarters, but players spawned in everywhere A well made map, but perhaps too small and too hectic. When the mod tools come out I'd really love to see an expanded version of this map.


Kowloon



The first thing you notice when joining in on this map is the jumbo jet flying low overhead this rooftop arena at the start of the round. I immediately think of the Rooftop map from MW2 and even Skyline from the Day of Defeat 1.3 days. I have not played a full match on this yet because the DLC map servers are all full, but I did have a run around it in a private lobby. The elevation changes from rooftop to rooftop are handled quite well, with everything from stairs, to zip lines, to ladders, and sheet metal ramps. The map is shaped like a pyramid, with the domination B flag being at the top in the main line of transit and an open building overlooking it. The two zip lines showcased in the map previews from Treyarch are both housed in this top building, providing a fast way to get down to the lower sides of the map, but dismounting the lines at their ends is slow and a player is very exposed on the line. The map offers great close quarters fights in the narrow passages of the level, and has good sight lines for AR and Sniper users. The one problem I have with the map is the ambient noise. The fighting takes place in a thunderstorm, so there's constant thunderclaps and pouring rain, making it difficult enough to hear even without the gunshots and explosions. All in all, a solid map, and well worth recreating as a custom map once the mod tools come out. (Noticing a trend yet? :) )

Discovery



Yes, another snow map. Thankfully, Discovery seems to capture the fun and action of Array and the close-in fighting of Grid without the open spaces and crappy spawn layout of its respective cousins. I played a round of Domination and I think I like this map best out of all the maps in the game. There's an interesting feature here, as a player can take out ice bridges in a couple locations with enough explosives, limiting the traffic flow of the map. The ones I know of are on the upper side of mid (opposite from the long catwalk) and the ice bridge underneath the center metal bridge. The map has many long sight lines, making it a perfect map for a seasoned sniper or an accurate assault rifle user. The B flag in Domination has little cover, and is exposed from multiple angles to sniper fire, meaning smoke nades and 3 man runs are essential for capping B. I love this map and will definitely play it when pubbing around. An unchanged port of this is a must once the mod tools come out.


Berlin Wall



Wow. I mean Wow. The level of detail on this map is superb, to me surpassing Stadium easily. The interiors of each building are beautiful; in a blown out, gritty, wartorn way of course. I don't know where objectives are on this map, as I only got to play it on a TDM server (Bless me brothers, for I have sinned). The map is about 1.5x the size of Grid. There are two sides of the map, with only 3 openings in the wall to cross from side to side. The center between the walls is completely open, but automated turrets will kill you if you attempt to sneak through, even if you have ghost pro. The only ways I know of to blind the turrets is with Nova Gas or Smoke. Many of the buildings are open, and several have second floors, making this a hectic house to house fight on any mode. I can imagine some interesting rounds of S&D and Demolition on this map.

I don't play zombies much, so I don't have any input on the new zombies map, Ascension. Sorry.


All in all, the maps are wonderful, but they're only worth it if the people you play with have them as well. Since the TG CoD division is going to stick with the stock maps until the mod tools come out, the DLC just isn't worth the $15. Stash that money away for another game.

***EDIT: A poll is going on at this time in the CoDBO TG forum to see how many people are getting First Strike. So we may play some of these maps in events or even regularly on either of TGs 2 Black Ops servers, but nothing is certain yet. The maps are wonderful, but I don't feel that they would be worth running on ranked rotation because I fear it would fracture our player base unnecessarily. Anyone can easily play without the DLC and I think the best option is to just wait for the mod tools to come out to itch the new map cravings***


Also, patch 1.07 was released to all clients today. The biggest changes are that Ninja Pro now makes a player completely silent, except for reloads I think. If you knock a player into second chance, you will now get the kill credit and the person who finishes the SC'r off will get an assist, rather than the other way around. The headshot "ping" sound is only audible if you actually get the kill now. And, the snipers have been tweaked; specifically in that there's less scope wobble, and I think the scope in time is faster. However, when scoping in the scope will drop off and to the left or right initially before stabilizing, which works wonderfully to prevent quick-scopers while still keeping the sniper rifle an effective weapon.

Thats all for now. See you CoD players in game! ]]> TheLancerMancer http://www.tacticalgamer.com/blogs/thelancermancer/611-first-thoughts-first-strike-cod-black-ops.html