I don't really know how to start this out. Disclaimer? Maybe. Foreboding statement about staying on-topic and forum etiquette? Perhaps. I think I'll just jump straight to my hypothesis and follow up with a mix of backup theory and empirical evidence as has been displayed by this community.
*clears throat*
The only way the Special Forces expansion will survive is if EA/DICE removes the statistics feature.
The addition of statistics to an arcade combat game has taken a brilliant concept of online virtual combat and reduced it to man's most primal and bothersome characteristic: competition to be "the best". Coupled with the fact that calculating statistics based on kills, useage, damage, teamkills, deaths, ribbons, medals, vehicles, etc only increases network and processor stress for a pointless facet and malady-inducing behavior. Putting all the smart speak aside, it boils down to this:
1. Statistics, though redeeming in that you are "accomplishing" something, only direct stat hungry players to ranked servers.
2. Stats promote stat padding, a quick means to getting intangible rewards to be "the best" at something before others and getting better gear before others. This is the whole "pointless competition" statment I mentioned above.
3. Calculating statistics constantly and confusingly is a waste to server processing. Why not free up some processing power to better render graphics and latency than calculating how many hours you've sat in the backseat of an APC?
From what we've been reading since retail's release, stats have been somewhat of a chest-beating competition of superiority, faster access to vastly improved weapons, and an excuse for players to completely avoid the point of combat to find a quiet corner of the map and circlejerk their way to a resupply/revive medal. Stats have been a reason for vehicle camping, base raping, and a bias to one map or another due to increase stat farming potential. How many Strike at Karkhand servers are running, anyway?
What ever happened to "I like this kit/gun/weapon because it's fun", not "I like it because it owns with no needed skill"? What happened to "I like this map because of its free flow of combat", not "I like it because I can get a badge faster"? What about "I like this vehicle because I'm proficient with it to help the team", not "I like to base rape with this because there is no challenge with it"?
Players are simply dropping the focus of team-based combat for their own personal gain. Granted, it's a right in life to be the best at whatever you want to do. But to do it at the expense of your team or for the sake of being the chief monkey of your tribe is kind of outdated and counterproductive. I am one of those players that could care less about how many times I've knifed a guy, getting the next Godlike weapon, or filling my virtual sock drawer with ribbons and medals. Does that mean everyone else should be the same? Absolutely not. But it's that kind of approach to gameplay that helps the team better. By focusing on taking and holding flag points, my team wins swiftly and effectively.
Maybe I'm a dying breed. Maybe I'm being too utopian. Maybe I'm just behind the times. Could be all three. But I'm still hell-bent on getting my team to win. Even if we win by 1 ticket, it's still a win, and the team win is far more satisfying than being at the top of the scoreboard. It's better than chugging away on a server for specific stats, not caring about the team's win. Why log in and join a server to focus strictly on using your pistol all round? It's not terribly effective, and at times it just slows down your team. I know there are players out there that join a team, form their own squad, and then go about stat farming (legitimately) regardless if the team wins or loses.
I know Special Forces cannot undo the statistics tracking, but the least EA and DICE can do in the future is admit that implementing something like this, regardless of technology's advances in processing power and bandwidth, is not conducive to a team atmosphere. What they should have done is make is so that your stats only factor in if:
1. you are in a squad and
2. your team wins.
That way players are forced to help the team, work together, and strive for excellence to be recognized and rewarded. Point farming would disappear, fixed by a patch or not. Medals and ribbons would come as pleasant surprises, not goals that should be met first and foremost over a team victory. Vehicle camping and base raping would diminish if players were forced to the front lines of combat, striving to take the necessary flags instead of sitting in a single spot and blasting anything that moves for points. It's understood that your team wins faster if you whittle away the enemy's tickets, but what if you lose a map because you were off at the uncappable base while enemy made swiss cheese of your team's efforts at flag caps?
I dunno. This rant and approach is coming to an end. Hell, I bet my login timed out as I was typing this. The point is that the concept of "lets keep track of how well you're doing" only promotes selfishness and takes away from "lets see how much of a team player you are". I think that DICE should find a way to circumnavigate the whole stat tracking process and focus more on gameplay. Why not just unlock everything and skip the ribbons and badges? If people need validation so badly, why not focus more on homework or job satisfaction?
[/rant]
*clears throat*
The only way the Special Forces expansion will survive is if EA/DICE removes the statistics feature.
The addition of statistics to an arcade combat game has taken a brilliant concept of online virtual combat and reduced it to man's most primal and bothersome characteristic: competition to be "the best". Coupled with the fact that calculating statistics based on kills, useage, damage, teamkills, deaths, ribbons, medals, vehicles, etc only increases network and processor stress for a pointless facet and malady-inducing behavior. Putting all the smart speak aside, it boils down to this:
1. Statistics, though redeeming in that you are "accomplishing" something, only direct stat hungry players to ranked servers.
2. Stats promote stat padding, a quick means to getting intangible rewards to be "the best" at something before others and getting better gear before others. This is the whole "pointless competition" statment I mentioned above.
3. Calculating statistics constantly and confusingly is a waste to server processing. Why not free up some processing power to better render graphics and latency than calculating how many hours you've sat in the backseat of an APC?
From what we've been reading since retail's release, stats have been somewhat of a chest-beating competition of superiority, faster access to vastly improved weapons, and an excuse for players to completely avoid the point of combat to find a quiet corner of the map and circlejerk their way to a resupply/revive medal. Stats have been a reason for vehicle camping, base raping, and a bias to one map or another due to increase stat farming potential. How many Strike at Karkhand servers are running, anyway?
What ever happened to "I like this kit/gun/weapon because it's fun", not "I like it because it owns with no needed skill"? What happened to "I like this map because of its free flow of combat", not "I like it because I can get a badge faster"? What about "I like this vehicle because I'm proficient with it to help the team", not "I like to base rape with this because there is no challenge with it"?
Players are simply dropping the focus of team-based combat for their own personal gain. Granted, it's a right in life to be the best at whatever you want to do. But to do it at the expense of your team or for the sake of being the chief monkey of your tribe is kind of outdated and counterproductive. I am one of those players that could care less about how many times I've knifed a guy, getting the next Godlike weapon, or filling my virtual sock drawer with ribbons and medals. Does that mean everyone else should be the same? Absolutely not. But it's that kind of approach to gameplay that helps the team better. By focusing on taking and holding flag points, my team wins swiftly and effectively.
Maybe I'm a dying breed. Maybe I'm being too utopian. Maybe I'm just behind the times. Could be all three. But I'm still hell-bent on getting my team to win. Even if we win by 1 ticket, it's still a win, and the team win is far more satisfying than being at the top of the scoreboard. It's better than chugging away on a server for specific stats, not caring about the team's win. Why log in and join a server to focus strictly on using your pistol all round? It's not terribly effective, and at times it just slows down your team. I know there are players out there that join a team, form their own squad, and then go about stat farming (legitimately) regardless if the team wins or loses.
I know Special Forces cannot undo the statistics tracking, but the least EA and DICE can do in the future is admit that implementing something like this, regardless of technology's advances in processing power and bandwidth, is not conducive to a team atmosphere. What they should have done is make is so that your stats only factor in if:
1. you are in a squad and
2. your team wins.
That way players are forced to help the team, work together, and strive for excellence to be recognized and rewarded. Point farming would disappear, fixed by a patch or not. Medals and ribbons would come as pleasant surprises, not goals that should be met first and foremost over a team victory. Vehicle camping and base raping would diminish if players were forced to the front lines of combat, striving to take the necessary flags instead of sitting in a single spot and blasting anything that moves for points. It's understood that your team wins faster if you whittle away the enemy's tickets, but what if you lose a map because you were off at the uncappable base while enemy made swiss cheese of your team's efforts at flag caps?
I dunno. This rant and approach is coming to an end. Hell, I bet my login timed out as I was typing this. The point is that the concept of "lets keep track of how well you're doing" only promotes selfishness and takes away from "lets see how much of a team player you are". I think that DICE should find a way to circumnavigate the whole stat tracking process and focus more on gameplay. Why not just unlock everything and skip the ribbons and badges? If people need validation so badly, why not focus more on homework or job satisfaction?
[/rant]
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