Battlefield: Bad Company 2 vs. Battlefield 2

In my initial impressions post for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (BFBC2), Esoteric Articles left a comment asking me what I thought of BC2 vs BF2:

Do you think it [BFBC2] is better or worse than Battlefield 2?

I left my initial thoughts in a reply, but I wanted to note and add to those thoughts here.

As compared to BF2, BFBC2 Pros:

• BC2 is better about vehicles. Aircraft aren't overpowered (so far) and ground vehicles aren't invincible.
• Destructible environments.
• The leveling and upgrade system is superior in BC2.
• In-game friends system.
• Squads are limited to four players in BC2 and any member can be used as a spawn point.
• Vehicle-based upgrades.
• Rush game-type (a game mode that doesn't stray too far from the traditional BF "capture the flag", but provides a focused objective-based progression map).
• Collecting dog tags for melee kills
• A move away from kills counting for the most points, allowing support players to be in the hunt for top honors each round.

As compared to BF2, BFBC2 Cons:

• The gun play feels sloppy in the BC2 beta. 
• Players can not go prone in BC2.
• Ground vehicles feel overpowered until players unlock laser tags.  This is mainly because C4 in BC2 is  a pain in the rear to use.
• Some graphic effects in BC2 are annoying (scope blur, bloom, fog/smoke, explosion bounce).  BF2 always felt very clean visually, allowing players to make sense of the madness.

Good in BOTH

• Squads
• Large, open maps
• More to do than just kill enemies, but its still really all about killing enemies.

Sucks in BOTH

• The server browser.
• Close quarters sound effects are non-existent.  I've never heard another player approaching or running around near me in BF2 or BC2. 

No More Battlefield 2 Patches

From DigitalBattle:

According to ex-DICE employees, there are no more patches planned for the bug-filled multiplayer shooter Battlefield 2. The former DICE members, who now formed their own studio, said via a forum release that patch 1.4 (released last November)was the last BF2 patch, and that all forces at DICE are focused on Battlefield 2142, which is, unfortunately, just as bug filled as its predecessor.

EA and DICE hasn’t mentioned anything about a patch ever since the last one, over six months ago. And they will probably never reveal that no further patches are planned, since that’ll take away the last hope BF2 players have. Since there most likely won’t be an announcement, this will technically remain a rumor forever, just as BF2 will technically remain a bug filled game.

No More Battlefield 2 Patches

From DigitalBattle:

According to ex-DICE employees, there are no more patches planned for the bug-filled multiplayer shooter Battlefield 2. The former DICE members, who now formed their own studio, said via a forum release that patch 1.4 (released last November)was the last BF2 patch, and that all forces at DICE are focused on Battlefield 2142, which is, unfortunately, just as bug filled as its predecessor.

EA and DICE hasn’t mentioned anything about a patch ever since the last one, over six months ago. And they will probably never reveal that no further patches are planned, since that’ll take away the last hope BF2 players have. Since there most likely won’t be an announcement, this will technically remain a rumor forever, just as BF2 will technically remain a bug filled game.

Strike at Karkand, a lesson in how to not build a Battlefield 2 map

Lesson 1: Do not start both sides within sprinting distance of each other. This rewards only those players that can load in the fastest on the first round and have the first flag capped before the majority of gamers even think about moving.

Also it is prime real estate for a campfest by tanks and APCs. No one likes dieing the second they spawn because there is ZERO cover to take against a set of camping tanks and APCs.

Pushing the bases farther apart would allow for teams to set up defenses and actually be prepared for an assault before the battle is already lost. Engineers could provide a crucial role on this map, but unfortunately by the time they could get in place to set AT mines the tank and APCs are already camping the spawns.

Lesson 2: In Battlefield 2 openess is key. You can't artificially impose boundaries with non-combat areas to bottleneck the action. I could understand if the south-east corner of the map was mountains, but it is not! It is wide open and should of been left open to prevent the bottleneck that occurs currently.

Boats and other items would of made that area a key part of the map. The MEC would have to defend both their back bases and their forward bases instead of just watching the bottleneck slaughter that occurs at the forward bases.

Lesson 3: Providing tons of buildings with no interiors to hide in is a mistake. Once again the camping issue. Tanks and APCs can have field days in the alley ways as infantry have no place to run. There is also ZERO space for infantry to surprise tanks or APCs to take them out.

Lesson 4: Maximizing fast combat situations does not make the game fun. It just promotes the whoring aspect of an already flawed ranking system. Its sad that you don't have to leave the forward spawn points to get the Gold Medal. Actually those people that actually try to cap spawn points for a win usually wind up with the fewest points. The points are whored within the forward most spawn point in the mid of the rush.

Lesson 5: Don't build in a strategic bridge over a river if you are going to just allow vehicles to drive down river 10 feet to cross without a bridge. These are the type of choke points that should be in game. That way armor whores have to get out of their vehicles and fight or fix the bridge to cross.

A Final Note: Many players play Strike at Karkand with the sole excuse that they just hate air power. These players need to get Special Forces and play on maps that are built 100% around infantry combat. Most Special Forces maps are a joy to play on and are wide open from end to end. Strike at Karkand is poorly designed and is nothing more than an excuse to whore points.

This post came out of anger because I'm sick of the map. I don't play it any longer except for a game here and there. I hate the fact that its the most overplayed map in game and that without it you can't compete for rank sufficiently. Ranks are artificially harder to achieve because of the score inflation this single map causes.

You're right and I should play the game for fun, but I like to watch my stats. Fortunately I can somewhat compete playing on the other maps and I enjoy my time. EA has done a better job with each patch to make it so you can score more points on other maps than just Strike at Karkand. Hopefully EA gets a clue and rebuilds Karkand with a more open battlefield.

Strike at Karkand, a lesson in how to not build a Battlefield 2 map

Lesson 1: Do not start both sides within sprinting distance of each other. This rewards only those players that can load in the fastest on the first round and have the first flag capped before the majority of gamers even think about moving.

Also it is prime real estate for a campfest by tanks and APCs. No one likes dieing the second they spawn because there is ZERO cover to take against a set of camping tanks and APCs.

Pushing the bases farther apart would allow for teams to set up defenses and actually be prepared for an assault before the battle is already lost. Engineers could provide a crucial role on this map, but unfortunately by the time they could get in place to set AT mines the tank and APCs are already camping the spawns.

Lesson 2: In Battlefield 2 openess is key. You can't artificially impose boundaries with non-combat areas to bottleneck the action. I could understand if the south-east corner of the map was mountains, but it is not! It is wide open and should of been left open to prevent the bottleneck that occurs currently.

Boats and other items would of made that area a key part of the map. The MEC would have to defend both their back bases and their forward bases instead of just watching the bottleneck slaughter that occurs at the forward bases.

Lesson 3: Providing tons of buildings with no interiors to hide in is a mistake. Once again the camping issue. Tanks and APCs can have field days in the alley ways as infantry have no place to run. There is also ZERO space for infantry to surprise tanks or APCs to take them out.

Lesson 4: Maximizing fast combat situations does not make the game fun. It just promotes the whoring aspect of an already flawed ranking system. Its sad that you don't have to leave the forward spawn points to get the Gold Medal. Actually those people that actually try to cap spawn points for a win usually wind up with the fewest points. The points are whored within the forward most spawn point in the mid of the rush.

Lesson 5: Don't build in a strategic bridge over a river if you are going to just allow vehicles to drive down river 10 feet to cross without a bridge. These are the type of chokepoints that should be in game. That way armor whores have to get out of their vehicles and fight or fix the bridge to cross.

A Final Note: Many players play Strike at Karkand with the sole excuse that they just hate air power. These players need to get Special Forces and play on maps that are built 100% around infantray combat. Most Special Forces maps are a joy to play on and are wide open from end to end. Strike at Karkand is poorly designed and is nothing more than an excuse to whore points.

This post came out of anger because I'm sick of the map. I don't play it any longer except for a game here and there. I hate the fact that its the most overplayed map in game and that without it you can't compete for rank sufficiently. Ranks are artificially harder to achieve because of the score inflation this single map causes.

You're right and I should play the game for fun, but I like to watch my stats. Fortunately I can somewhat compete playing on the other maps and I enjoy my time. EA has done a better job with each patch to make it so you can score more points on other maps than just Strike at Karkand. Hopefully EA gets a clue and rebuilds Karkand with a more open battlefield.

Tips for Battlefield 2 : Special Forces

I'm writing this tips for Battlefield 2 : Special Forces for all the knuckle heads out there that are still trying to play Special Forces as though it was regular BF2. Special Forces is not and will never be like regular BF2 and therefore you need to adjust your current way of thinking.

1. Squads! Squads! Squads! Joining a squad is key to success in any Special Forces game. Special Forces is grounded in the work of squads! This is a good tip for regular BF2, but is magnified 10x in the Special Forces expansion.

1a. While in a squad spawn on the squad leader! Most of the time they are setting up for a flag cap and its easier to sneak one person in than 5. Spawn and cap... makes for a great surprise.

1b. A squads success relies heavily on its combination of classes. A good rule of thumb is to always have a medic and two anti tanks. Anti tanks are always needed... a single tank will always win a stand off against a squad that has no AT. Even if you have Spec Ops you need to assume you will not have the jump on a tank. Resupply doesn't hurt, but you also need to have some decent firepower and until EA fixes the supply weapons accuracy they are not more important than a Spec Ops or Assault.

2. They added grapling hooks, zip lines, gas, and flash bangs in for a reason!

2a. Grappling hooks and zip-lines. The Special Forces maps are full of buildings and obstacles that can be bypassed. This makes it harder to defend flags, but in the end it makes the game 100% better because there isn't finite choke points to bottleneck at.

If you see your squad leader tossing up a rope be kind enough to follow. Chances are he is looking to get high to a) clear out any enemies below and b) get high enough for a zip line into the flag.

2b. Zip lines. As with grappling hooks they are keys to Special Forces. I guarantee a good squad will always be zipping into flags and you would be very amazed at how quickly the flags get capped. The key to the zip line is to deploy it and use it right away. If you hesitate at all you're never going to make it down.

2c. Flash bangs and gas. These two items can allow a squad to go into a packed spawn and remove every target before they have a chance to react. Employ with a zip-line and you can zip line into a flag covered by gas.

Flash bangs are useful, but don't get happy with them. They are tricky to throw and usually the effect is not enough to throw someones aim off that much.

Update: 29 Nov, 2009 - Edited post, corrected spelling, and applied labels.

Tips for Battlefield 2 : Special Forces

I'm writing this tips for Battlefield 2 : Special Forces for all the knuckle heads out there that are still trying to play Special Forces as though it was regular BF2. Special Forces is not and will never be like regular BF2 and therefore you need to adjust your current way of thinking.

1. Squads! Squads! Squads! Joining a squad is key to success in any Special Forces game. Special Forces is grounded in the work of squads! This is a good tip for regular BF2, but is magnified 10x in the Special Forces expansion.

1a. While in a squad spawn on the squad leader! Most of the time they are setting up for a flag cap and its easier to sneak one person in than 5. Spawn and cap... makes for a great surprise.

1b. A squads success relies heavily on its combination of classes. A good rule of thumb is to always have a medic and two anti tanks. Anti tanks are always needed... a single tank will always win a stand off against a squad that has no AT. Even if you have Spec Ops you need to assume you will not have the jump on a tank. Resupply doesn't hurt, but you also need to have some decent firepower and until EA fixes the supply weapons accuracy they are not more important than a Spec Ops or Assault.

2. They added grapling hooks, zip lines, gas, and flash bangs in for a reason!

2a. Grapling hooks and ziplines. The Special Forces maps are full of buildings and obstacles that can be bypassed. This makes it harder to defend flags, but in the end it makes the game 100% better because there isn't finite chokepoints to bottleneck at.

If you see your squad leader tossing up a rope be kind enough to follow. Chances are he is looking to get high to a) clear out any enemies below and b) get high enough for a zip line into the flag.

2b. Zip lines. As with grappling hooks they are keys to Special Forces. I guarantee a good squad will always be zipping into flags and you would be very amazed at how quickly the flags get capped. The key to the zip line is to deploy it and use it right away. If you hesitate at all you're never going to make it down.

2c. Flash bangs and gas. These two items can allow a squad to go into a packed spawn and remove every target before they have a chance to react. Employ with a zipline and you can zip line into a flag covered by gas.

Flash bangs are useful, but don't get happy with them. They are tricky to throw and usually the effect is not enough to throw someones aim off that much.

To be continued...

Battlefield 2 patch 1.2 and Armored Fury

EA is at it again today with the new Battlefield 2 patch 1.2 and the announcement of Armored Fury another booster pack. Also with the announcement they put a price tag of $9.99 on the two announced booster packs; Armored Fury and Euro Force.

Onto the 1.2 patch notes and some commentary.

• * Helicopter now carry 8 missiles rather than 14
• * TV-Guided missile now have a shorter range
• Both of these will go a long way to balancing the attack helicopters.
  

• * Hit points on all air vehicles have been reduced
• * AA missile lock on has been improved
• More nerfs to the overpowered air power. Ground pounders rejoice!
  

• * Support kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• * Sniper kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• * Anti-Tank kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• Hmmm wonder if this means they will be more accurate? I may go back to playing support and sniper now. Nothing like letting 100 bullets fly at someone two feet away and not hitting them with the support guns or the 50/50 accuracy of the sniper rifle sometimes.
  

• * "Dolphin Diving" is no longer possible
• Dolphin what?
  

• * Players can no longer jump and shoot at the same time
• And a whine hear the world round was heard the day the bunny hoppers were nerfed!
  

• * "Prone Spamming" is now fixed
• * "Sprint exploit" is now fixed
• Exploit fixes are always good!
  

• * The Sa80 weapon has been improved
• * The G3A3 weapon has been improved
• Don't even know what weapons these are... oh well.
  

• * Reload while sprinting has been enabled
• Fin a fucking lee.
  

• * Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials
• Now they didn't specify if these were the main gun or the side guns.
  

• * Damage decreased for the M134
• * Medic defibrillator paddles have been adjusted. They now reload while not in use.
• Medics rejoice... no longer pulling out the paddles and having to watch them re-reload!
  

• * Server search filters now work properly
• What??? They FINALLY fixed the server browser filter issues. I will believe it when I see it.
  

• * All mines (Claymore, Anti-vehicle, C4) can now be picked up by the same class that dropped it by using the “G” key.
• Snipers rejoice... no longer is it a "wait and see if I got a TK for using a claymore!"
  

• * Mines can no longer be destroyed with other explosives
• What you do in one patch can always be undone in the next.
  

• * Flash bang effect radius decreased
• Good... never made sense that flashbangs worked 100 feet away and through walls.
  

• * Added unlocks for Sniper and AT kits
• Say what? Interesting.
  

• * Fixed a bug in terrain rendering with night vision, whereby terrain was still dark in dark areas.
• * Fixed a bug whereby mods that are not bf2 or not xpack permutate shaders every time a level is loaded.
• * Fixed a bug whereby non-xpack mods cannot use xpack shaders.
• * Fixed bug in TV guided missiles of Havoc helicopter
• * Bug in MP7 fire rate fixed. Ammo count increased and mag count and damage decreased
• * APC Update – “Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials”. This fix was a miscommunication to the patch team. Chinese and MEC APC’s have been reverted and the LAV25 now no longer shoots through penetrable materials.
• Awww damn... hope none of you had your hopes up.
  

• * Vehicles no longer disappear when viewed from some vehicles with a HUD (e.g. Tanks).
• * Performance gain found in static mesh rendering.
• * Detonation radius from grenade launcher explosions has been reduced.
• * Grenade launcher projectiles now have a minimum time before arming.
• All the poor noob toobers spamming Strike at Karkand will quit... I mean it! I can't say much since I had a love affair with the noob toob grenade launcher for a while.

Battlefield 2 patch 1.2 and Armored Fury

EA is at it again today with the new Battlefield 2 patch 1.2 and the announcement of Armored Fury another booster pack. Also with the announcement they put a price tag of $9.99 on the two announced booster packs; Armored Fury and Euro Force.

Onto the 1.2 patch notes and some commentary.

• * Helicopter now carry 8 missiles rather than 14
• * TV-Guided missile now have a shorter range
• Both of these will go a long way to balancing the attack helicopters.
  

• * Hit points on all air vehicles have been reduced
• * AA missile lock on has been improved
• More nerfs to the overpowered air power. Ground pounders rejoice!
  

• * Support kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• * Sniper kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• * Anti-Tank kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• Hmmm wonder if this means they will be more accurate? I may go back to playing support and sniper now. Nothing like letting 100 bullets fly at someone two feet away and not hitting them with the support guns or the 50/50 accuracy of the sniper rifle sometimes.
  

• * "Dolphin Diving" is no longer possible
• Dolphin what?
  

• * Players can no longer jump and shoot at the same time
• And a whine hear the world round was heard the day the bunny hoppers were nerfed!
  

• * "Prone Spamming" is now fixed
• * "Sprint exploit" is now fixed
• Exploit fixes are always good!
  

• * The Sa80 weapon has been improved
• * The G3A3 weapon has been improved
• Don't even know what weapons these are... oh well.
  

• * Reload while sprinting has been enabled
• Fin a fucking lee.
  

• * Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials
• Now they didn't specify if these were the main gun or the side guns.
  

• * Damage decreased for the M134
• * Medic defibrillator paddles have been adjusted. They now reload while not in use.
• Medics rejoice... no longer pulling out the paddles and having to watch them re-reload!
  

• * Server search filters now work properly
• What??? They FINALLY fixed the server browser filter issues. I will believe it when I see it.
  

• * All mines (Claymore, Anti-vehicle, C4) can now be picked up by the same class that dropped it by using the “G” key.
• Snipers rejoice... no longer is it a "wait and see if I got a TK for using a claymore!"
  

• * Mines can no longer be destroyed with other explosives
• What you do in one patch can always be undone in the next.
  

• * Flash bang effect radius decreased
• Good... never made sense that flashbangs worked 100 feet away and through walls.
  

• * Added unlocks for Sniper and AT kits
• Say what? Interesting.
  

• * Fixed a bug in terrain rendering with night vision, whereby terrain was still dark in dark areas.
• * Fixed a bug whereby mods that are not bf2 or not xpack permutate shaders every time a level is loaded.
• * Fixed a bug whereby non-xpack mods cannot use xpack shaders.
• * Fixed bug in TV guided missiles of Havoc helicopter
• * Bug in MP7 fire rate fixed. Ammo count increased and mag count and damage decreased
• * APC Update – “Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials”. This fix was a miscommunication to the patch team. Chinese and MEC APC’s have been reverted and the LAV25 now no longer shoots through penetrable materials.
• Awww damn... hope none of you had your hopes up.
  

• * Vehicles no longer disappear when viewed from some vehicles with a HUD (e.g. Tanks).
• * Performance gain found in static mesh rendering.
• * Detonation radius from grenade launcher explosions has been reduced.
• * Grenade launcher projectiles now have a minimum time before arming.
• All the poor noob toobers spamming Strike at Karkand will quit... I mean it! I can't say much since I had a love affair with the noob toob grenade launcher for a while.

Battlefield 2 : Euro Force... my predictions

EA has announced that Battlefield 2 will recieve a booster pack entitled Euro Force. Here is a list of what it will bring.

3 New Maps

• * Operation Smoke Screen
• * Taraba Quarry
• * Great Wall

4 New vehicles

• * Main Battle Tank - Leopard 2A6
• * Main Battle Tank – Challenger 2
• * Fighter – Eurofighter (Typhoon T1)
• * Attack Heli – Eurocopter Tiger (Tiger HAP)

7 New Weapons

• * HK53A3
• * Famas
• * SA80 L85A2
• * SA80 L85A2 with UGL (AG-36)
• * HK21
• * Benelli M4
• * P90
• * L96A1

1 New Army

• * European Union

1 new award

• * European Union Special Service Medal

---

Now onto my predictions.

1. It is no secret the Chinese Army is the most underplayed army in BF2. For good reason; the Chinese maps are large and prone to air power raping the entire map. On top of that there is no single good map for scoring points in the Chinese map set.

So one of these new maps is going to be very (and I mean VERY) similar to Strike at Karkand. It will offer equally fast paced combat in an urban setting without the use of any air power. People will flock to this server because it will gain as many (if not more) points than Karkand does. EA probably believes this will somehow even out the balance between the armies.

2. A patch will be appearing shortly before or after the launch of Euro Force. It will make Euro Force unplayable and be removed. It will be taken back and retooled and then be released with the next big update.

3. The pack will sell well because of the new Karkand like map and EA will be convinced they can keep making money off these minor content updates. Its a good idea, but after Special Forces I don't expect too much meat with the release of each of these booster packs.

EA has failed to integrate the game play of SF and Battlefield 2 as it is which has segregated the community. I don't see this pack being that great, but give the stat boys a map to whore points on and they will pay... they will pay.

Battlefield 2 : Euro Force... my predictions

EA has announced that Battlefield 2 will recieve a booster pack entitled Euro Force. Here is a list of what it will bring.

3 New Maps

• * Operation Smoke Screen
• * Taraba Quarry
• * Great Wall

4 New vehicles

• * Main Battle Tank - Leopard 2A6
• * Main Battle Tank – Challenger 2
• * Fighter – Eurofighter (Typhoon T1)
• * Attack Heli – Eurocopter Tiger (Tiger HAP)

7 New Weapons

• * HK53A3
• * Famas
• * SA80 L85A2
• * SA80 L85A2 with UGL (AG-36)
• * HK21
• * Benelli M4
• * P90
• * L96A1

1 New Army

• * European Union

1 new award

• * European Union Special Service Medal

---

Now onto my predictions.

1. It is no secret the Chinese Army is the most underplayed army in BF2. For good reason; the Chinese maps are large and prone to air power raping the entire map. On top of that there is no single good map for scoring points in the Chinese mapset.

So one of these new maps is going to be very (and I mean VERY) similiar to Strike at Karkand. It will offer equally fast paced combat in an urban setting without the use of any airpower. People will flock to this server because it will gain as many (if not more) points than Karkand does. EA probably believes this will somehow even out the balance between the armies.

2. A patch will be appearing shortly before or after the launch of Euro Force. It will make Euro Force unplayable and be removed. It will be taken back and retooled and then be released with the next big update.

3. The pack will sell well because of the new Karkand like map and EA will be convinced they can keep making money off these minor content updates. Its a good idea, but after Special Forces I don't expect too much meat with the release of each of thes booster packs.

EA has failed to integrate the gameplay of SF and Battlefield 2 as it is which has segregated the community. I don't see this pack being that great, but give the stat boys a map to whore points on and they will pay... they will pay.

My BF2 morning!

Update: 7 October, 2009 - Removed post. It was only a picture of a winning score from a round of Battlefield 2.

My BF2 morning!

I almost fainted when I logged in this morning...

Almost 3/4 of rank 6 gained with a BELOW average week for myself. I ranked high at 263 overall, but felt I had a two day string of really bad Arathi Basin groups. Well I am now 1/4 away from getting my goal of rank 7! A little less Battlefield 2 and Day of Defeat:Source and I may just have made it to rank 7!

Grats to Blizzard for listening!

My BF2 video @ Google videos!

Checking around the net and did a search for "BF2" on Google Videos. Here is my result.

I had submitted this video a long time ago (See original post here) and for some reason I was never able to see it or get it to show on a video search. Even the link that google provided for the video did not work! So I wrote Google's free video hosting service as a broken tool.

Lo' and behold... it works. Will have to see why it took forever to display via Google Video and possibly use it for more uploads.

My BF2 video @ Google videos!

Checking around the net and did a search for "BF2" on Google Videos. Here is my result.

I had submitted this video a long time ago (See original post here) and for some reason I was never able to see it or get it to show on a video search. Even the link that google provided for the video did not work! So I wrote Google's free video hosting service as a broken tool.

Lo' and behold... it works. Will have to see why it took forever to display via Google Video and possibly use it for more uploads.

TotalBF2.com discussion thread

TotalBF2.com thread on my 1.03 commentary post. Enjoy!

Update: 6 Nov, 2006 - Updated post and applied labels.

TotalBF2.com discussion thread

TotalBF2.com thread on my 1.03 commentary post. Enjoy!

Update: 6 Nov, 2006 - Updated post and applied labels.

Battlefield 2 Patch 1.3

So what is so good about this patch? Well it fixes a lot of things... and by fix I mean changes that were needed! First and foremost the requirements for each rank have been reduced SIGNIFICANTLY! I logged in and after a few kills I was awarded three new ranks.

This allowed me to finally unlock some more weapons instead of the pansy medic weapon I had already unlocked. I can't tell you how insanely unbalanced the ranks were... it would of taken me years of gaming to get the rank that I have with the 1.03 patch. A very good change indeed!

Next you won't be running anyone over by just touching them with vehicles anymore. You actually have to hit them full force! This is great considering how ultimately lame it had been to get killed anytime a vehicle so much as grazed you.

Commanders no longer get teamkills for artillery strikes. Good for pick up games, but probably will be abused in organized matches. It still kills your own team, but no punishment.

Many improvements to the in-game server browser. Still pissed off that the server browser was released in such a crappy condition. Also the patch broke the Xfire and other server programs ability to launch into a server. There is a fix... here.

Various other changes in the patch also and the addition of a new map, Wake Island. It is a remake of the BF1942 classic map and is the first map I ever played any BF game on :) Sadly the new version seems to be getting mixed reviews. I have yet to play it much.

Overall I am happy with the patch, but still have some requests for *changes* to make the game even better.

1. Vehicle vs Infantry kills should only give the driver/shooter one point for the kill. I am sick and tired of matches where the gold/silver are just tank/aircraft whores.

2. Sniper rifles still feel horribly inaccurate 50% of the time and still are extremely weak. A shot to the chest or head area should = death.

3. Increase accuracy of support machine guns. Bullets should drop off at a shorter distance to prevent long range sniping.

4. Tanks should be easier to destroy... fewer AT rockets required.

5. Map balance... give infantry more damn places to hide so we stop getting raped by the vehicle whores.

Battlefield 2 Patch 1.3

First here are the patch notes.

Here is the link I downloaded it from using a torrent.

So what is so good about this patch? Well it fixes a lot of things... and by fix I mean changes that were needed! First and foremost the requirements for each rank have been reduced SIGNIFICANTLY! I logged in and after a few kills I was awarded three new ranks.

This allowed me to finally unlock some more weapons instead of the pansy medic weapon I had already unlocked. I can't tell you how insanely unbalanced the ranks were... it would of taken me years of gaming to get the rank that I have with the 1.03 patch. A very good change indeed!

Next you won't be running anyone over by just touching them with vehicles anymore. You actually have to hit them full force! This is great considering how ultimately lame it had been to get killed anytime a vehicle so much as grazed you.

Commanders no longer get teamkills for artillery strikes. Good for pick up games, but probably will be abused in organized matches. It still kills your own team, but no punishment.

Many improvements to the in-game server browser. Still pissed off that the server browser was released in such a crappy condition. Also the patch broke the Xfire and other server programs ability to launch into a server. There is a fix... here.

Various other changes in the patch also and the addition of a new map, Wake Island. It is a remake of the BF1942 classic map and is the first map I ever played any BF game on :) Sadly the new version seems to be getting mixed reviews. I have yet to play it much.

Overall I am happy with the patch, but still have some requests for *changes* to make the game even better.

1. Vehicle vs Infantry kills should only give the driver/shooter one point for the kill. I am sick and tired of matches where the gold/silver are just tank/aircraft whores.

2. Sniper rifles still feel horribly inaccurate 50% of the time and still are extremely weak. A shot to the chest or head area should = death.

3. Increase accuracy of support machine guns. Bullets should drop off at a shorter distance to prevent long range sniping.

4. Tanks should be easier to destroy... fewer AT rockets required.

5. Map balance... give infantry more damn places to hide so we stop getting raped by the vehicle whores.