The Genesis of Battlefield 2
A Chronicle of Updates
Having invested close to five hundred hours with this game, I thought it would be worthwhile to step back for a moment and examine what has kept me playing this past year. What follows is a personal recount of my experiences with BF2 and how I have seen the game change with each successive patch.
Part I - The Demo and Retail Release
Almost exactly a year ago today I was loading up the BF2 demo for the first time. Having played too much Desert Combat I distinctly remember not liking the demo on my first playthrough, possibly because I had no idea how to properly use anything. That soon came to change however; I recall trying out the squad system and joining one where the leader actually had a microphone (shock) and was verbally directing his squadmates who were actually following his orders without question. This voice dynamic was very new to me, and very cool, and reminded me of the days in which I would play Starcraft with a friend who I would talk to on the phone at the same time. That all seems so analogue now.
The day of the retail release, myself and a mate caught a bus to the local Electronics Boutique during a double free period of school to purchase said product. I actually remember being completely put off by the new maps and still favoured playing Gulf of Oman thanks to the knowledge I'd amassed of it from the demo. Then, on Daqing Oilfields, I saw an icon on the minimap for a vehicle I had not seen before. I hopped in and fired off a few rounds, and wow - these things sounded like thunder. It was then discovered that the Mobile AA was far more effective - and more fun - at killing infantry than it was at killing jets.
I still had not settled on a preferred kit, but my choice was largely influenced by my early lack of knowledge of how to kill tanks. Rocket launchers seem to make a dent, grenades even less so, and I had no idea what a TOW was. Therefore, I settled on Spec Ops, the class that can kill everything - infantry, armour, and assets. Plus his gun had a laser scope, and he had a cool hat / beret. So began my days of stalking tanks from the shadows, sprinting to place charges, and bailing behind cover before pressing a shiny red button that made a very big boom. At the time this whole dynamic, the armour equivalent of being knifed, was very new to me, and proved to be an adrenaline rush I hadn't encountered before in FPS gaming.
A tightly knit squad was formed consisting of myself; lankycheese, Squad Leader and fellow Spec Ops comrade who also provided unmatcheable armour support; unco_tomato, who knew how to fly the chopper before anyone else; Canobeans, who's assault kit and body armour put him at the forefront of every flag capture; Phil, who always made sure we were "good to go"; and occasionally TK, who's useless sniper rifle could never hit anything.
Part II - Patch 1.01 and 1.02
The first patch for BF2 was released, fixing a seemingly minor number of problems. Our 5-man squad continued to dominate each map, providing more fun than any other online game I've played. It was around this time that I received my first and second promotion, and boy did it feel rewarding. Having purchased the game at release I was one of the few Lance Corporals around, and it was interesting to see them pop up every now and again. Your extra large yellow stripe on your shoulder actually warranted greater respect from most other players, who were more than eager to join a squad and learn from you.
For my first upgrade I chose the Medic rifle, the L85A1, as it looked the coolest and had an actual scope. However my inability to actually hit anything with it put a damper on my view of the unlock system as a whole, wondering if it was really worth it. This was compounded by lankycheese's unlocking of the G36C, as he far favoured the M4's laser scope and clearer ironsights over that oddly shaped rifle.
Our squad continued to play on, more often than not coming very high in the round's end scoreboard. I learned that if I had my C4 placed and there was no chance of getting away, often it would be best to blow the charges in front of my face, taking the armour with me for the good of the team. It was around this time that Jihad Jeeps first appeared, although they mostly involved driving straight into the targeted armour and not getting away from the blast.
Then came a phenomenon that threatened to ruin the game in it's entirety - and came very close to it. The Conquest game mode may as well have been renamed to "Kill the Black Hawk", as the helicopter full of engineers would systematically cap, re-cap and re-cap again every flag on the map in 3 seconds flat, with nothing short of a direct intervention from three .50 cal's and a tank bringing it down. Every round for USMC started with a rush to the helipad, often resulting in an obscene amount of teamkills in order to whore the points. Dark times indeed. I did participate in this exploit a couple of times, but looking at the roof of a chopper and holding down the wrench button did lose it's novelty after a round.
Suddenly I began to see bonafide Corporals running around the map. I remember the sense of achievement myself and lankycheese would have whenever we took down an enemy Corporal, as though we had just killed a special "boss" character. It was here that I also realised how long it would take to achieve each successive rank, but it was a goal worth working for. When I did hit Corporal I went straight for the Spec Ops unlock, regardless of previous impressions. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship (If you're wondering how much I love the G36C, picture Nicholas Cage in Lord of War with the AK47, but substitute accordingly). The weapon was jet black, made an awesome popping noise, and could defeat a sniper in any long range dual with single shot mode. This is of course nothing in comparison to how lankycheese fared with his next unlock, the DAO-12, acquiring this as we hit Corporal around the same time. Now fully converted to the anti-tank class, lankycheese and I were an armour whore's worst nightmare, often working in tandem to hit with one rocket resulting in needing only a single C4 charge to finish them off, and any remaining infantry would recieve a hail of DAO shells to the face.
Patch 1.02 saw light in the form of a "hotfix" intended to fix severe crashing problems that many were experiencing. It would be the first of many. I was lucky enough to have never experienced a crash to that day, so the patch had minor effect. The maps were becoming more familiar, and I had taken a shine to two in particular. Operation Clean Sweep, a map that i feel is mistakenly disliked by a majority of the community, provided countless opportunities for playing mind games with the hulking death machines known as armour. I came to notice multiple routes to every flag, and would plan attacks with lankycheese accordingly, whilst unco_tomato would often soften up the area with a chopper strafing run seconds before our on-foot arrival.
It was Songhua Stalemate, however, that I feel most at home in. No one can deny that China is the greatest team to play, and this map pits them against the US War Machine in an overly colourful jungle with thick fog and intertwining rivers. The map is so well made that all flags are both easily assaulted by either armour or infantry, as well as easily defended by both. Every class and vehicle has the maximum opportunities for fun, and the map provided our squad with the opportunity to skulk through bamboo, flank opposition and fortify flags so well that they became impenetrable. Coupled with the elimination of jets and attack helicopters, two factors that are annoying unless you're the pilot, Stalemate quickly became my favourite BF2 map.
Part III - Patch 1.03
This was it, the first big change to Battlefield 2's core gameplay. I can't remember the amount of times I'd be playing and see the Black Hawk on a capping roundabout and think to myself "At least it'll be gone when 1.03 comes out." Thankfully it was. One of the major changes that forced people to rethink their play style was the need for passengers to exit vehicles in order to capture flags. In a triumphant moment, the Blackhawk would hover over a flag and it's five passengers would disembark, leaving the helicopter to be blown out of the sky by a few well placed SRAW's. It felt good to finally see that thing explode. This change also added a factor of cool to the way our closely knit squad played. After arriving in a vehicle, we would take up defensive positions that were often memorised for each flag of the map as we watched it rise. Everything felt alot less arcadey, and this was a good thing.
As a "please forgive us" gesture, EA provided us with a new map, Wake Island 2007. I have alot of fond memories of this map from Battlefield 1942, but sadly they did not translate to its sequel. To bastardise and recontextualise a Dune quote, He who controls the air, controls the map. Flags took far too long to travel too, and when you did arrive, you could be assured that a strafing run was not far off. Whenever I played as USMC we had one hell of a time trying to get even a foothold on the mainland, which by then we would be fifty tickets down. Next to possibly Kubra Dam, this is the map I have had the least amount of fun on.
A few cosmetic changes were also introduced. No longer did you need to make a new account when joining a clan, thanks to the prefix option. The map overview screen was properly scaled and no longer did half the image consist of ugly red stripes indicating the no-go zone. If only the map image itself was still not a horribly compressed file that individual buildings become indistinguishable. Being a design student this probably irritates me more than others. Capture Point names were added to the map, which at first I found very distracting. However it was a good decision, as I would no longer be heard over VOIP saying "Attack the top flag...no the other top flag...the top right flag...yeah, that one". Supply drops now had a 3D icon and were represented on the minimap, which was - to say the least - a godsend. Soldiers in your vehicle now had their names displayed on the HUD, eliminating the need for me to say "Is that you in my buggy? No the other buggy, the one going to the top flag...(etc)". The APC cannons now actually sounded like cannons, instead of oversized pellet shooters. However they now also sounded like a vacuum cleaner whenever the turret turned, so it was an odd tradeoff.
Unfortunately, EA had been listening to a majority of the players, and decided to revise the ranking system. Upon loading the patch, you were now at what was previously a ridiculously high rank, with multiple new unlocks awaiting you. At the time I wish they had not done this, as it eliminated the factor of cool upon encountering someone of a new rank, and seemed to go against the point of the game entirely. It was, however, the lesser of two evils, and casual players would have little chance of earning enough "Score" to feel like they've accomplished much. In retrospect I don't mind their decision, as I have come to overlook the ranking system entirely and instead simply want the opportunity to use my unlocks.
Having mastered (at least in my own mind) the Spec Ops class, I ventured out into alternative aspects of the game. Having retained my chopper piloting skill from Desert Combat, it translated well into BF2's attack helicopters, and I began to realise why there was a rush to claim them at the start of each round. The TV Guided Missile, which I had previously thought to be pretty useless, became the new fun toy of BF2. I have many a fond memory of playing as the chopper gunner on Dalian Plant, with unco_tomato as my ace pilot, firing TV missile after TV missile into oncoming Black Hawks. Two shots of lankycheese's come to mind also, as he guided the TV missile around the supporting pole of a crane to hit the Black Hawk from the other side, and the TV missile that went straight into an enemy jet, sending a very clear message that Chopper runs > Bombing runs.
These bombing runs, however, became the next big problem on a majority of maps. Anti-Air gun emplacements, and Mobile AA vehicles, were simply unable to hit these aircraft. There was no way to kill a jet, save for shooting it out of the sky with another one. Unfortunately our squad was unable to utilise this fighting fire with fire methodology due to our lack of joysticks. Yet we gritted our teeth and persevered, determined to continue discovering and having fun with the game. Old problems, thought to be eliminated by the patch, gave birth to new ones, the "red / blue name bug" began to appear, and grenade launchers - more commonly known amongst the community as "noob tubes" - were far too frequently the cause of death.
Part IV - Patch 1.10, 1.11, Special Forces
The aforementioned irritations decimated my faith in EA and DICE, and I became extremely skeptical about the expansion pack, Special Forces. The features sounded extremely tacky, I was not keen on learning new maps after just getting comfortable with the current ones, and I didn't support the "more unlocks for more money" methodolgy. However, everyone needed to download Patch 1.10, bringing vanilla BF2 in line with the expansion. New weapons could be picked up of fallen enemies and experimented with. Unbeknownst to me, this included flashbangs. I still remember my first time being flashed; I was stealthing my way through the enemy Uncappable on Daqing Oilfields, about to sprint and hijack their attack chopper, when suddently the screen went white and a loud ringing sound filled my speakers. This ellicted a generalised "WTF?" response from myself, as I'm sure it has from many other community members.
During this time I joined the clan Trigger Happy Reloaded (thR) and made good use of the prefix option. I made a second account (changing "thephotoshopwhore" to "ThePhotoshop") allowing me to play on GameArena servers without getting kicked for name violations. Coincidentally, lankycheese's account suffered a grievous error and he was unable to log in with it, forcing the creation of a new account and the loss of all stats, 25,000 score and all unlocks. Needless to say, we were now greatful for the ranking system's revision.
The GameArena and Internode servers were at their peak. Almost all servers were full during afternoons and weekends, and there was a great variety to satisfy anyone's personal tastes. Multiple 8v8 servers were running (which I took a real shine to), and a majority of the rest were 32 player full rotations, with 64 player being the least popular. Strangely and unfortunately, this would all change.
I learned many things during my time with thR, one of which is how to throw C4. This exploit recieved alot of flak and was complete and utter lunacy, but at the same time sadistically comical and fun to do. I had often jumped to throw C4 over ledges onto tanks just out of range, but I had never seen it used as a close combat anti-infantry weapon as it was being used now. Needless to say, many players earned their expert explosives badge during this time.
After coming into some money, I finally caved in and purchased Special Forces. I was immediately impressed with what they had done, and my faith in DICE had been restored. I began to play SF exclusively, mastering the Spec Ops zip-line and the Anti-Tank's RPG-7. The night maps were interesting and different enough to create a fresh experience, and the additions, however poorly implemented, were fun. The most fun I've had with SF is on the map Surge, holding the top level bridge against oncoming Spetznas attacks.
But, for every new addition, new and old problems and exploits arose and continued to wreck havoc with the game's fun factor.
Part V - Patch 1.2, 1.21, 1.22
Gone were the days of jumping round a corner and unloading a clip of DAO into the face of an oncoming opponent, as jumping and shooting concurrently was no longer possible. I felt this was sorely needed, and almost instantly, the amount of "bunny-hopping noob-tubers" decreased dramatically. This also eliminated the ability to throw C4, to which I had mixed reactions at the time. No longer could i throw charges over a ledge onto an oncoming vehicle; instead i was forced to play it properly and place charges manually. In retrospect I no longer mind this change, as I've managed to get C4 kills the proper way regardless.
One thing that bugged me, and still does, is the alteration of the prone command. In order to eliminate prone spamming and dolphin diving (which, prior to the patch, I had seen little to no activity of) going from standing to prone now feels alot "stickier" with a slight delay. No longer was able to run from a firefight and dramatically dive over the sandbags to safety, nor dive over the hood of an oncoming vehicle to escape death. This can be dearly forgiven for the new lethality of the AA missile emplacements.
Choppers, ye be warned. With newly reduced armour and payload, choppers were no longer as threatening as they used to be. Gone were the days of running for cover inside small buildings when the sound of whirring blades filled the air; instead, soldiers now valiantly stand their ground, heroically firing missiles at the aerial threat with the knowledge that they can now make a difference. Admittedly, I was one of these soldiers. The choppers recieved a further nerfing through the reduction of the TV missile length, eliminating "carrier raping" from the mainland. All this led me to have much more intense chopper to chopper duels with close quarters TV missile skills winning the day.
For the 3 people out there who play engineer, they were blessed with the server's ability to turn friendly fire off for land mines. Hooray! This allowed the kit to be much more fun to play (albeit less realistic) and actually warranted the placement of mines at all. This did however, have an unfortunate side effect. For a few weeks, players could win the Strike at Karkand map by simply spamming claymores at the Hotal flag and its environs, without having to worry about teamkills.
This was also the advent of the PKM. Unprecedented numbers of support kit players suddenly appeared as the beast of a gun recieved a well-loved upgrade. Unfortunately this caused due frustration for myself and a considerable other number of players, as we were seemingly one-shotted from a distance more familiar to that of a sniper rifle. Fortunately they were re-nerfed, to a degree, in 1.22, a subsequent "hotfix for a hotfix for a patch".
Another somewhat strange addition was a visible UAV circling overhead. This allowed players such as myself who favoured a stealthy approach to know, to a degree, if were were being digitally tracked. I have, on one occasion only, managed to shoot down the UAV, but it was at point blank with a Vulcan cannon. On a final note, this set of patches finally made night vision actually work properly. Huzzah!
Part VI - Patch 1.3
This was it. The community was sick and tired of the bugs, the problems, the hotfixes, the crashes, the exploits, and the general "up yours" attitude of the game creator's attention to community woes. Many players told themselves "If this patch doesn't fix the game once and for all, I'm out." After installing the patch and recieving an instant crash-to-desktop, many players kept their word and haven't been seen since.
Fortunately, Patch 1.3 presented few problems or crashes for myself. Although I did not care about the "All New!" co-op game-mode (and frankly, neither does anyone else considering how few servers are actually running it), I was intrigued by the prospect of vehicle drops. Looking past the cheesey imitation voices used to request them, I have many a time found myself in a situation that requires a long walk to get anywhere. Thankfully, vehicle drops minimise this occurance. However, the number of times a buggy has magically spawned and squashed me to death far outnumber this.
Finally, the biggest change to gameplay yet - the removal of squad hopping. No longer could myself and lankycheese say "Oh, I'm dead, just leave and join the squad then spawn on me." Instead, we had to work with an increased level of co-operation to keep whoever was the squad leader alive. As that person is usually me I feel very important. Squad leaders are no longer used by every player as additional mobile spawn points, but squads are now much tighter as they were intended.
Epilogue
There are many points of interest that I have not touched on (AA missile lock going crazy on Zatar Wetlands, the "booster packs", the server browser being the spawn of satan) but I feel this is a pretty good account of my experiences with this game. The fact that I am still playing it a year after its release is a sign that I still find it highly enjoyable. However, I sorely miss the element of discovery and achievement that the original (unpatched and brand new) game presented. However it was bound to deteriorate.
Much like Counter Strike, everyone in the game is of above average or excellent skill level now, and are more than willing to use whatever exploits to help them achieve their next kill. I am thankful for the time I had learning the game with the rest of the community, and advancing up the virtual ranks and participating in squads that actually followed orders. With Battlefield 2142 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars already on the horizon, its questionable how much life is left in this game. For me, I always get fed up with the game after a few rounds, but give it a day or two, and I'm more than keen for it all over again.
Feel free to post any additional experiences and anecodotes you feel.
A Chronicle of Updates
Having invested close to five hundred hours with this game, I thought it would be worthwhile to step back for a moment and examine what has kept me playing this past year. What follows is a personal recount of my experiences with BF2 and how I have seen the game change with each successive patch.
Part I - The Demo and Retail Release
Almost exactly a year ago today I was loading up the BF2 demo for the first time. Having played too much Desert Combat I distinctly remember not liking the demo on my first playthrough, possibly because I had no idea how to properly use anything. That soon came to change however; I recall trying out the squad system and joining one where the leader actually had a microphone (shock) and was verbally directing his squadmates who were actually following his orders without question. This voice dynamic was very new to me, and very cool, and reminded me of the days in which I would play Starcraft with a friend who I would talk to on the phone at the same time. That all seems so analogue now.
The day of the retail release, myself and a mate caught a bus to the local Electronics Boutique during a double free period of school to purchase said product. I actually remember being completely put off by the new maps and still favoured playing Gulf of Oman thanks to the knowledge I'd amassed of it from the demo. Then, on Daqing Oilfields, I saw an icon on the minimap for a vehicle I had not seen before. I hopped in and fired off a few rounds, and wow - these things sounded like thunder. It was then discovered that the Mobile AA was far more effective - and more fun - at killing infantry than it was at killing jets.
I still had not settled on a preferred kit, but my choice was largely influenced by my early lack of knowledge of how to kill tanks. Rocket launchers seem to make a dent, grenades even less so, and I had no idea what a TOW was. Therefore, I settled on Spec Ops, the class that can kill everything - infantry, armour, and assets. Plus his gun had a laser scope, and he had a cool hat / beret. So began my days of stalking tanks from the shadows, sprinting to place charges, and bailing behind cover before pressing a shiny red button that made a very big boom. At the time this whole dynamic, the armour equivalent of being knifed, was very new to me, and proved to be an adrenaline rush I hadn't encountered before in FPS gaming.
A tightly knit squad was formed consisting of myself; lankycheese, Squad Leader and fellow Spec Ops comrade who also provided unmatcheable armour support; unco_tomato, who knew how to fly the chopper before anyone else; Canobeans, who's assault kit and body armour put him at the forefront of every flag capture; Phil, who always made sure we were "good to go"; and occasionally TK, who's useless sniper rifle could never hit anything.
Part II - Patch 1.01 and 1.02
The first patch for BF2 was released, fixing a seemingly minor number of problems. Our 5-man squad continued to dominate each map, providing more fun than any other online game I've played. It was around this time that I received my first and second promotion, and boy did it feel rewarding. Having purchased the game at release I was one of the few Lance Corporals around, and it was interesting to see them pop up every now and again. Your extra large yellow stripe on your shoulder actually warranted greater respect from most other players, who were more than eager to join a squad and learn from you.
For my first upgrade I chose the Medic rifle, the L85A1, as it looked the coolest and had an actual scope. However my inability to actually hit anything with it put a damper on my view of the unlock system as a whole, wondering if it was really worth it. This was compounded by lankycheese's unlocking of the G36C, as he far favoured the M4's laser scope and clearer ironsights over that oddly shaped rifle.
Our squad continued to play on, more often than not coming very high in the round's end scoreboard. I learned that if I had my C4 placed and there was no chance of getting away, often it would be best to blow the charges in front of my face, taking the armour with me for the good of the team. It was around this time that Jihad Jeeps first appeared, although they mostly involved driving straight into the targeted armour and not getting away from the blast.
Then came a phenomenon that threatened to ruin the game in it's entirety - and came very close to it. The Conquest game mode may as well have been renamed to "Kill the Black Hawk", as the helicopter full of engineers would systematically cap, re-cap and re-cap again every flag on the map in 3 seconds flat, with nothing short of a direct intervention from three .50 cal's and a tank bringing it down. Every round for USMC started with a rush to the helipad, often resulting in an obscene amount of teamkills in order to whore the points. Dark times indeed. I did participate in this exploit a couple of times, but looking at the roof of a chopper and holding down the wrench button did lose it's novelty after a round.
Suddenly I began to see bonafide Corporals running around the map. I remember the sense of achievement myself and lankycheese would have whenever we took down an enemy Corporal, as though we had just killed a special "boss" character. It was here that I also realised how long it would take to achieve each successive rank, but it was a goal worth working for. When I did hit Corporal I went straight for the Spec Ops unlock, regardless of previous impressions. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship (If you're wondering how much I love the G36C, picture Nicholas Cage in Lord of War with the AK47, but substitute accordingly). The weapon was jet black, made an awesome popping noise, and could defeat a sniper in any long range dual with single shot mode. This is of course nothing in comparison to how lankycheese fared with his next unlock, the DAO-12, acquiring this as we hit Corporal around the same time. Now fully converted to the anti-tank class, lankycheese and I were an armour whore's worst nightmare, often working in tandem to hit with one rocket resulting in needing only a single C4 charge to finish them off, and any remaining infantry would recieve a hail of DAO shells to the face.
Patch 1.02 saw light in the form of a "hotfix" intended to fix severe crashing problems that many were experiencing. It would be the first of many. I was lucky enough to have never experienced a crash to that day, so the patch had minor effect. The maps were becoming more familiar, and I had taken a shine to two in particular. Operation Clean Sweep, a map that i feel is mistakenly disliked by a majority of the community, provided countless opportunities for playing mind games with the hulking death machines known as armour. I came to notice multiple routes to every flag, and would plan attacks with lankycheese accordingly, whilst unco_tomato would often soften up the area with a chopper strafing run seconds before our on-foot arrival.
It was Songhua Stalemate, however, that I feel most at home in. No one can deny that China is the greatest team to play, and this map pits them against the US War Machine in an overly colourful jungle with thick fog and intertwining rivers. The map is so well made that all flags are both easily assaulted by either armour or infantry, as well as easily defended by both. Every class and vehicle has the maximum opportunities for fun, and the map provided our squad with the opportunity to skulk through bamboo, flank opposition and fortify flags so well that they became impenetrable. Coupled with the elimination of jets and attack helicopters, two factors that are annoying unless you're the pilot, Stalemate quickly became my favourite BF2 map.
Part III - Patch 1.03
This was it, the first big change to Battlefield 2's core gameplay. I can't remember the amount of times I'd be playing and see the Black Hawk on a capping roundabout and think to myself "At least it'll be gone when 1.03 comes out." Thankfully it was. One of the major changes that forced people to rethink their play style was the need for passengers to exit vehicles in order to capture flags. In a triumphant moment, the Blackhawk would hover over a flag and it's five passengers would disembark, leaving the helicopter to be blown out of the sky by a few well placed SRAW's. It felt good to finally see that thing explode. This change also added a factor of cool to the way our closely knit squad played. After arriving in a vehicle, we would take up defensive positions that were often memorised for each flag of the map as we watched it rise. Everything felt alot less arcadey, and this was a good thing.
As a "please forgive us" gesture, EA provided us with a new map, Wake Island 2007. I have alot of fond memories of this map from Battlefield 1942, but sadly they did not translate to its sequel. To bastardise and recontextualise a Dune quote, He who controls the air, controls the map. Flags took far too long to travel too, and when you did arrive, you could be assured that a strafing run was not far off. Whenever I played as USMC we had one hell of a time trying to get even a foothold on the mainland, which by then we would be fifty tickets down. Next to possibly Kubra Dam, this is the map I have had the least amount of fun on.
A few cosmetic changes were also introduced. No longer did you need to make a new account when joining a clan, thanks to the prefix option. The map overview screen was properly scaled and no longer did half the image consist of ugly red stripes indicating the no-go zone. If only the map image itself was still not a horribly compressed file that individual buildings become indistinguishable. Being a design student this probably irritates me more than others. Capture Point names were added to the map, which at first I found very distracting. However it was a good decision, as I would no longer be heard over VOIP saying "Attack the top flag...no the other top flag...the top right flag...yeah, that one". Supply drops now had a 3D icon and were represented on the minimap, which was - to say the least - a godsend. Soldiers in your vehicle now had their names displayed on the HUD, eliminating the need for me to say "Is that you in my buggy? No the other buggy, the one going to the top flag...(etc)". The APC cannons now actually sounded like cannons, instead of oversized pellet shooters. However they now also sounded like a vacuum cleaner whenever the turret turned, so it was an odd tradeoff.
Unfortunately, EA had been listening to a majority of the players, and decided to revise the ranking system. Upon loading the patch, you were now at what was previously a ridiculously high rank, with multiple new unlocks awaiting you. At the time I wish they had not done this, as it eliminated the factor of cool upon encountering someone of a new rank, and seemed to go against the point of the game entirely. It was, however, the lesser of two evils, and casual players would have little chance of earning enough "Score" to feel like they've accomplished much. In retrospect I don't mind their decision, as I have come to overlook the ranking system entirely and instead simply want the opportunity to use my unlocks.
Having mastered (at least in my own mind) the Spec Ops class, I ventured out into alternative aspects of the game. Having retained my chopper piloting skill from Desert Combat, it translated well into BF2's attack helicopters, and I began to realise why there was a rush to claim them at the start of each round. The TV Guided Missile, which I had previously thought to be pretty useless, became the new fun toy of BF2. I have many a fond memory of playing as the chopper gunner on Dalian Plant, with unco_tomato as my ace pilot, firing TV missile after TV missile into oncoming Black Hawks. Two shots of lankycheese's come to mind also, as he guided the TV missile around the supporting pole of a crane to hit the Black Hawk from the other side, and the TV missile that went straight into an enemy jet, sending a very clear message that Chopper runs > Bombing runs.
These bombing runs, however, became the next big problem on a majority of maps. Anti-Air gun emplacements, and Mobile AA vehicles, were simply unable to hit these aircraft. There was no way to kill a jet, save for shooting it out of the sky with another one. Unfortunately our squad was unable to utilise this fighting fire with fire methodology due to our lack of joysticks. Yet we gritted our teeth and persevered, determined to continue discovering and having fun with the game. Old problems, thought to be eliminated by the patch, gave birth to new ones, the "red / blue name bug" began to appear, and grenade launchers - more commonly known amongst the community as "noob tubes" - were far too frequently the cause of death.
Part IV - Patch 1.10, 1.11, Special Forces
The aforementioned irritations decimated my faith in EA and DICE, and I became extremely skeptical about the expansion pack, Special Forces. The features sounded extremely tacky, I was not keen on learning new maps after just getting comfortable with the current ones, and I didn't support the "more unlocks for more money" methodolgy. However, everyone needed to download Patch 1.10, bringing vanilla BF2 in line with the expansion. New weapons could be picked up of fallen enemies and experimented with. Unbeknownst to me, this included flashbangs. I still remember my first time being flashed; I was stealthing my way through the enemy Uncappable on Daqing Oilfields, about to sprint and hijack their attack chopper, when suddently the screen went white and a loud ringing sound filled my speakers. This ellicted a generalised "WTF?" response from myself, as I'm sure it has from many other community members.
During this time I joined the clan Trigger Happy Reloaded (thR) and made good use of the prefix option. I made a second account (changing "thephotoshopwhore" to "ThePhotoshop") allowing me to play on GameArena servers without getting kicked for name violations. Coincidentally, lankycheese's account suffered a grievous error and he was unable to log in with it, forcing the creation of a new account and the loss of all stats, 25,000 score and all unlocks. Needless to say, we were now greatful for the ranking system's revision.
The GameArena and Internode servers were at their peak. Almost all servers were full during afternoons and weekends, and there was a great variety to satisfy anyone's personal tastes. Multiple 8v8 servers were running (which I took a real shine to), and a majority of the rest were 32 player full rotations, with 64 player being the least popular. Strangely and unfortunately, this would all change.
I learned many things during my time with thR, one of which is how to throw C4. This exploit recieved alot of flak and was complete and utter lunacy, but at the same time sadistically comical and fun to do. I had often jumped to throw C4 over ledges onto tanks just out of range, but I had never seen it used as a close combat anti-infantry weapon as it was being used now. Needless to say, many players earned their expert explosives badge during this time.
After coming into some money, I finally caved in and purchased Special Forces. I was immediately impressed with what they had done, and my faith in DICE had been restored. I began to play SF exclusively, mastering the Spec Ops zip-line and the Anti-Tank's RPG-7. The night maps were interesting and different enough to create a fresh experience, and the additions, however poorly implemented, were fun. The most fun I've had with SF is on the map Surge, holding the top level bridge against oncoming Spetznas attacks.
But, for every new addition, new and old problems and exploits arose and continued to wreck havoc with the game's fun factor.
Part V - Patch 1.2, 1.21, 1.22
Gone were the days of jumping round a corner and unloading a clip of DAO into the face of an oncoming opponent, as jumping and shooting concurrently was no longer possible. I felt this was sorely needed, and almost instantly, the amount of "bunny-hopping noob-tubers" decreased dramatically. This also eliminated the ability to throw C4, to which I had mixed reactions at the time. No longer could i throw charges over a ledge onto an oncoming vehicle; instead i was forced to play it properly and place charges manually. In retrospect I no longer mind this change, as I've managed to get C4 kills the proper way regardless.
One thing that bugged me, and still does, is the alteration of the prone command. In order to eliminate prone spamming and dolphin diving (which, prior to the patch, I had seen little to no activity of) going from standing to prone now feels alot "stickier" with a slight delay. No longer was able to run from a firefight and dramatically dive over the sandbags to safety, nor dive over the hood of an oncoming vehicle to escape death. This can be dearly forgiven for the new lethality of the AA missile emplacements.
Choppers, ye be warned. With newly reduced armour and payload, choppers were no longer as threatening as they used to be. Gone were the days of running for cover inside small buildings when the sound of whirring blades filled the air; instead, soldiers now valiantly stand their ground, heroically firing missiles at the aerial threat with the knowledge that they can now make a difference. Admittedly, I was one of these soldiers. The choppers recieved a further nerfing through the reduction of the TV missile length, eliminating "carrier raping" from the mainland. All this led me to have much more intense chopper to chopper duels with close quarters TV missile skills winning the day.
For the 3 people out there who play engineer, they were blessed with the server's ability to turn friendly fire off for land mines. Hooray! This allowed the kit to be much more fun to play (albeit less realistic) and actually warranted the placement of mines at all. This did however, have an unfortunate side effect. For a few weeks, players could win the Strike at Karkand map by simply spamming claymores at the Hotal flag and its environs, without having to worry about teamkills.
This was also the advent of the PKM. Unprecedented numbers of support kit players suddenly appeared as the beast of a gun recieved a well-loved upgrade. Unfortunately this caused due frustration for myself and a considerable other number of players, as we were seemingly one-shotted from a distance more familiar to that of a sniper rifle. Fortunately they were re-nerfed, to a degree, in 1.22, a subsequent "hotfix for a hotfix for a patch".
Another somewhat strange addition was a visible UAV circling overhead. This allowed players such as myself who favoured a stealthy approach to know, to a degree, if were were being digitally tracked. I have, on one occasion only, managed to shoot down the UAV, but it was at point blank with a Vulcan cannon. On a final note, this set of patches finally made night vision actually work properly. Huzzah!
Part VI - Patch 1.3
This was it. The community was sick and tired of the bugs, the problems, the hotfixes, the crashes, the exploits, and the general "up yours" attitude of the game creator's attention to community woes. Many players told themselves "If this patch doesn't fix the game once and for all, I'm out." After installing the patch and recieving an instant crash-to-desktop, many players kept their word and haven't been seen since.
Fortunately, Patch 1.3 presented few problems or crashes for myself. Although I did not care about the "All New!" co-op game-mode (and frankly, neither does anyone else considering how few servers are actually running it), I was intrigued by the prospect of vehicle drops. Looking past the cheesey imitation voices used to request them, I have many a time found myself in a situation that requires a long walk to get anywhere. Thankfully, vehicle drops minimise this occurance. However, the number of times a buggy has magically spawned and squashed me to death far outnumber this.
Finally, the biggest change to gameplay yet - the removal of squad hopping. No longer could myself and lankycheese say "Oh, I'm dead, just leave and join the squad then spawn on me." Instead, we had to work with an increased level of co-operation to keep whoever was the squad leader alive. As that person is usually me I feel very important. Squad leaders are no longer used by every player as additional mobile spawn points, but squads are now much tighter as they were intended.
Epilogue
There are many points of interest that I have not touched on (AA missile lock going crazy on Zatar Wetlands, the "booster packs", the server browser being the spawn of satan) but I feel this is a pretty good account of my experiences with this game. The fact that I am still playing it a year after its release is a sign that I still find it highly enjoyable. However, I sorely miss the element of discovery and achievement that the original (unpatched and brand new) game presented. However it was bound to deteriorate.
Much like Counter Strike, everyone in the game is of above average or excellent skill level now, and are more than willing to use whatever exploits to help them achieve their next kill. I am thankful for the time I had learning the game with the rest of the community, and advancing up the virtual ranks and participating in squads that actually followed orders. With Battlefield 2142 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars already on the horizon, its questionable how much life is left in this game. For me, I always get fed up with the game after a few rounds, but give it a day or two, and I'm more than keen for it all over again.
Feel free to post any additional experiences and anecodotes you feel.
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