[killeraxemannic]

Though we didn't see any multiplayer in action during our cover story visit to DICE, that didn't stop us from prying some revealing answers from executive producer Patrick Bach.

Some questions that were answered:
When I think about Battlefield 2, I always come back to the Commander position and the game within the game that arose from having Special Forces objectives. Are those returning in the proper sequel?

Since Battlefield 2 you've toyed with the amount of classes - that game had seven classes, Battlefield 1943 had only three, and Bad Company 2 had four. Do you think you've found the sweet spot?

The Bad Company 2 multiplayer maps felt more funneled, then the Vietnam expansion offered more open areas like classic Battlefield games. What approach are you adopting for Battlefield 3?

Read to find out!

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/ba...ostPageIndex=1

 

[Cubeman]

It'd be great if they give us both funneled and open maps, Maybe even a map with both involved. The thing about bad company is alot of it is acutally one way push which is kinda annoying. At least they do say they are following BF2 and Bad company was just a spin off.

 

[[nK]Sharp]

"One of the things I felt went hand-in-hand with the lack of new maps was that, anecdotally, a lot of people stopped playing around level 25 because there was no longer a carrot dangling in front of them in terms of unlockables. Why did you decide on that approach, and do you plan on altering the progression in Battlefield 3?

It falls back on what I said earlier - we were much more successful with our approach than we anticipated. We didn't think most people would hit level 22 to be honest, and especially not so fast. Our calculations on how much people would play to hit level 20, 25, 50 were completely wrong. Thought people wouldn't play that much. We're looking into the numbers of how we scale up, what we give away, how we give it away, with the understanding that some people put a lot of time into the game. There will be a lot more to unlock, not only weapons and other treats, but we have more things that you can unlock than in Bad Company 2, and we're also making sure that there is a reason for you to reach the top rank. It doesn't just end. There will be a lot of focus on persistence and how we present stuff to the player."

Reason I quit right there pretty much. I REALLY hope they do at least something similar to BF2 which took ages to rank up and unlock new things. Wish even more they did it like they first had BF2 before they patched it to make ranking easier.

 

[killeraxemannic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by [nK]Sharp "One of the things I felt went hand-in-hand with the lack of new maps was that, anecdotally, a lot of people stopped playing around level 25 because there was no longer a carrot dangling in front of them in terms of unlockables. Why did you decide on that approach, and do you plan on altering the progression in Battlefield 3? It falls back on what I said earlier - we were much more successful with our approach than we anticipated. We didn't think most people would hit level 22 to be honest, and especially not so fast. Our calculations on how much people would play to hit level 20, 25, 50 were completely wrong. Thought people wouldn't play that much. We're looking into the numbers of how we scale up, what we give away, how we give it away, with the understanding that some people put a lot of time into the game. There will be a lot more to unlock, not only weapons and other treats, but we have more things that you can unlock than in Bad Company 2, and we're also making sure that there is a reason for you to reach the top rank. It doesn't just end. There will be a lot of focus on persistence and how we present stuff to the player." Reason I quit right there pretty much. I REALLY hope they do at least something similar to BF2 which took ages to rank up and unlock new things. Wish even more they did it like they first had BF2 before they patched it to make ranking easier.

quit BC2? and yeah...... I think I hit lvl 15 on BF2 and thats where I was for 6 months lol. And I am already like 20 or something in BC2 and played a mere 50 hrs

 

[jjsoviet]

^ People just had too much time that they surpassed even DICE's expectations of players leveling up.

 

[beers]

For the love of god don't give points to players for "Enemy Infantry Spotted!", or at least make it text only...

 

[Spunkybd]

Too much reading for my little brain at this late of an hour...

 

[Higgins]

Article is from March 4, but a lot of good information.

I'm anxious to see what type of unlock/rank system they're going to implement. Hopefully they go back to real-world ranks like "Chief Gunnery Sargent" as opposed to "Corporal III" for example.

 

[killeraxemannic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Higgins Article is from March 4, but a lot of good information. I'm anxious to see what type of unlock/rank system they're going to implement. Hopefully they go back to real-world ranks like "Chief Gunnery Sargent" as opposed to "Corporal III" for example.

I saw it was slightly old too but I had never seen it posted

 

[Subby]

I was hoping that there would be commanders in BF3. I see their point in that it is not an easy position to play but I think it adds another interesting layer that makes it unique from other FPSs. I am glad to hear that squads will be bigger, I think 6 would be a good #.

 

[killeraxemannic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subby I was hoping that there would be commanders in BF3. I see their point in that it is not an easy position to play but I think it adds another interesting layer that makes it unique from other FPSs. I am glad to hear that squads will be bigger, I think 6 would be a good #.

I think getting people to play as a squad is more important than having commander mode. If they pull that off it will be a truly epic game!

 

[mjpd1983]

So happy that it will take longer to unlock things, I'm at level 46 in BC2 and while i still enjoy playing heaps, it would be nice to have things left to unlock

 

[Eugenester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by killeraxemannic I think getting people to play as a squad is more important than having commander mode. If they pull that off it will be a truly epic game!

True, I LOVE teamwork in FPS games. However, putting too much emphasis on squad-based gameplay would draw criticism from some that it's a BC2 clone. Maybe having a commander for each squad and then a commander for those leaders would work, but there needs to be a fine balance. But then again, it'll mean nothing if people aren't team players/listen to commands/abuse commander system, like in BF2. Just my

 

[WorldExclusive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beers For the love of god don't give points to players for "Enemy Infantry Spotted!", or at least make it text only...

Why not? It encourages teamwork.
Whatever that's linked to points people will do.

They're are trying to make the game more accessible.
I'm sure you can join a custom/hardcore server that doesn't allow points for that.

 

[killeraxemannic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eugenester True, I LOVE teamwork in FPS games. However, putting too much emphasis on squad-based gameplay would draw criticism from some that it's a BC2 clone. Maybe having a commander for each squad and then a commander for those leaders would work, but there needs to be a fine balance. But then again, it'll mean nothing if people aren't team players/listen to commands/abuse commander system, like in BF2. Just my

I dont see BC2 being a team based game all that much.... You can spawn on your squad but you never really do much together, at least from what I have played.

 

[BreakDown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjpd1983 So happy that it will take longer to unlock things, I'm at level 46 in BC2 and while i still enjoy playing heaps, it would be nice to have things left to unlock

i hear you, im level 42 (i believe) and i wish i had more unlocks upcoming.

on the other hand, if you have to reach such a high level to unlock every weapon lots of people will complain, because not everyone plays untill they hit level 46.

maybe they should have other type of unlocks after certain level? uniforms, skins for your weapons, etc...
things that dont matter as much as weapons themselfs, but encourage you to keep playing.

 

[HSG502]

I think going back to having 1 squad spawn (squad leader) but allowing easier communication between those leaders (like in BF2, there was a separate push to talk button for SL -> Commander) would be a way to have that "bigger" picture style of teamwork without making it too inaccessible to players.

I say this because while playing last night, I had the best rounds I have ever played going into a squad with people I don't know but the communication was there between squad members and members of another squad to do joint attacks on positions. It reminded me of my BF2

R days

 

[G. Callen]

Where do all you people find the time to rank up so quickly?

 

[Higgins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by G. Callen Where do all you people find the time to rank up so quickly?

The game has been out almost a year.

I cannot wait to play the BF3 beta. The first time i fired up the BC2 beta, there was a moment of awe and i just looked around the game and soaked up the details and the sound. BF3 is going to be a completely different animal and i am really looking forward to doing the same thing the first time i get into a BF3 server.

 

[mcrbradbury]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreakDown i hear you, im level 42 (i believe) and i wish i had more unlocks upcoming. on the other hand, if you have to reach such a high level to unlock every weapon lots of people will complain, because not everyone plays untill they hit level 46. maybe they should have other type of unlocks after certain level? uniforms, skins for your weapons, etc... things that dont matter as much as weapons themselfs, but encourage you to keep playing.

this!
I'm rank 50 and have been for ages. there not much motivation to keep going

it would be awesome if it had a sort of option for unlocks. like 2142. that was pretty cool.