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Let us forget for a moment what status, if any, I may have in this community. I'm compelled to write as a gamer, a person who has spent countless hours of countless weekends enjoying the Battlefield series in all its variations.
I have been touched by Battlefield since the demo of the map Tobruk back on June 19, 2002 (that's right, 4 years ago). At the time, I was spending some time playing Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault. I was, in all respects, a casual gamer and sat in front of my PC a couple times a week, at most. Then Battlefield 1942 came along -- and my life has changed ever since.
Thus, here I am, 4 years later, reflecting upon how my life has changed in so many ways -- financially, socially, morally and even physically. And yet, here I am, playing Battlefield 2 about 4 times a week and still getting the same kick I was getting when I first played the buggy little demo in 2002.
The Good Old Days
I used to play with a clan called BHC. If anyone in this community was in the Bravery Honor Courage clan, in before and during 2002, you will know how organized and large that clan was. About 150 members strong, all ranked, organized and accounted for. We had sniper schools, recruitment training, drill sergeants, clan matches and, more importantly, tons of fun. When you joined the clan, you were organized with another group of potential recruits to go through a training exercise. You had to run through loops and turns, fire on targets in unison and stay in line. It was easy, but it was damn cool that they could organize something like those once every week to get more people involved.
Then, BF1942 came along and flipped our worlds upside down. The maps were huge, the graphics rocked, the battles seemed massive and the tactical limitations were next to none. So late tonight, while sobering up, I decided to install BF1942 and bring back some of those pleasent memories of late night goodness.
Ladies and gentlement, if you haven't done this, I highly recommend that you do. There it was, the music (da-da-dan d-d-dan da-da-dan d-d-dan), the fabulous load screens, the immersive maps, the sweet voice overs and a blast from the past.
At that time, I was reminded that graphics and snappy effects are the last thing that drew me to BF1942. It was the fact that the environment was perfectly tuned for the era and that it gave you a certain feeling that no other game could (and ever will) be able to give.
At this time I realized, BF1942 is a classic and even 4 years later, I still suggest snagging it from the bargain bin and giving it a run.
"BF2 ain't got nothin' BF1942"
The Present, In All Its Goodness -- Kinda
Which brings us to today's Battlefield: A modern war shooter that blends the attractiveness BF1942 with the war machine of today -- kinda.
In my opinion, the thing about BF1942 that attracted such worldwide attention is that nothing like has ever been done before. In retrospect, many of the veteran gamers will know that the masses will move on pretty quickly to something new. Even I, the dedicated BF1942 gamer that I was, jumped ship as soon as BF:Vietnam was released.
DICE needed something new, something fresh, something that could explode onto the "scene" as Battlefield1942 has done. They even took Trauma Studios along for the ride. Franke Delise, who last I heard is now working with THQ (the guys behind Full Spectrum Warrior), had a vision that shaped the future for the Battlefield series in many ways. With these innovations and some critical thinking, the Battlefield Stat Ranking System was born.
Amongst all of the new features, such as a brand spankin' new engine, gameplay enhancements and a massive arsenal, Battlefield 2 brought with it a way to track player progression through years of game time for each individual player.
Some people look at the stat system as the end of the Battlefield series. Some are ready to move on to new things, like the Half Life's source engine, which brings with it loads innovative mods like Insurgency, Empires (previously developed for the BF engine), and more. Others are awaiting new releases, like Armed Assault (a preface to Operation Flashpoint 2), Quake Wars and even Medieval 2: Total War.
I, in contrast, believe that so many of the guys with whom I spent nights playing Battlefield1942 are leaving has little to do with Battlefield2's inconsistencies, but with the fact that this particular genre is getting out of style for those that have spent so many years playing it.
Despite the flaws in Battlefield 2, which are quite little compared some of the other big titles, such as Doom, Battlefield 2 has been a success all around.
There are thousands upon thousands of players online every day enjoying the variety of gameplay that Battlefield 2 provides and, despite some pessimistic attitudes by some community members, DICE has been actively working on new patches and gameplay enhancements and, over time, bringing Battlefield 2 into an almost flawless game. They have also been carefully listening to the community and (at timest regretfully) implementing fixes that the majority of the community had wanted which ended up negatively affecting overall gameplay.
The fact that gamers are strongly voicing their concerns, while still playing the game day and day out, only shows that there are certain aspects of the game that DICE simply cannot deliver on due to engine limitations, time constraints and the processing power of the todays average computer.
In short, a Battlefield that reflects the war machine of today is still before its time and will hopefully be revisited in the future.
What The Future Holds
I am one of the few Battlefield veterans that still has hope for the stat system as a whole.
The stat system provides an accurate assessment of who plays what and how they play. I believe the stat system is more of a way for game developers like DICE to create accurate business models to convince game publishers like EA that certain things simply will not work, despite their "vast marketing experience".
I think that many community members will always be critical of a product when posting their opinions on a forum because such places are methods of ventilation from the frustrations of the everday "noob" or "smacktard".
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I believe that whatever DICE decides to do in the future, they will succeed.
When I come to the realisation that I have been playing Battlefield and its mods for 4 years straight without taking a breathe, I can't help but thinking...
They must have done something right.
--
And thus ends my inspirationally induced "essay". Much thanks if you read so far
Goodnight.
I have been touched by Battlefield since the demo of the map Tobruk back on June 19, 2002 (that's right, 4 years ago). At the time, I was spending some time playing Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault. I was, in all respects, a casual gamer and sat in front of my PC a couple times a week, at most. Then Battlefield 1942 came along -- and my life has changed ever since.
Thus, here I am, 4 years later, reflecting upon how my life has changed in so many ways -- financially, socially, morally and even physically. And yet, here I am, playing Battlefield 2 about 4 times a week and still getting the same kick I was getting when I first played the buggy little demo in 2002.
The Good Old Days
I used to play with a clan called BHC. If anyone in this community was in the Bravery Honor Courage clan, in before and during 2002, you will know how organized and large that clan was. About 150 members strong, all ranked, organized and accounted for. We had sniper schools, recruitment training, drill sergeants, clan matches and, more importantly, tons of fun. When you joined the clan, you were organized with another group of potential recruits to go through a training exercise. You had to run through loops and turns, fire on targets in unison and stay in line. It was easy, but it was damn cool that they could organize something like those once every week to get more people involved.
Then, BF1942 came along and flipped our worlds upside down. The maps were huge, the graphics rocked, the battles seemed massive and the tactical limitations were next to none. So late tonight, while sobering up, I decided to install BF1942 and bring back some of those pleasent memories of late night goodness.
Ladies and gentlement, if you haven't done this, I highly recommend that you do. There it was, the music (da-da-dan d-d-dan da-da-dan d-d-dan), the fabulous load screens, the immersive maps, the sweet voice overs and a blast from the past.
At that time, I was reminded that graphics and snappy effects are the last thing that drew me to BF1942. It was the fact that the environment was perfectly tuned for the era and that it gave you a certain feeling that no other game could (and ever will) be able to give.
At this time I realized, BF1942 is a classic and even 4 years later, I still suggest snagging it from the bargain bin and giving it a run.
"BF2 ain't got nothin' BF1942"
The Present, In All Its Goodness -- Kinda
Which brings us to today's Battlefield: A modern war shooter that blends the attractiveness BF1942 with the war machine of today -- kinda.
In my opinion, the thing about BF1942 that attracted such worldwide attention is that nothing like has ever been done before. In retrospect, many of the veteran gamers will know that the masses will move on pretty quickly to something new. Even I, the dedicated BF1942 gamer that I was, jumped ship as soon as BF:Vietnam was released.
DICE needed something new, something fresh, something that could explode onto the "scene" as Battlefield1942 has done. They even took Trauma Studios along for the ride. Franke Delise, who last I heard is now working with THQ (the guys behind Full Spectrum Warrior), had a vision that shaped the future for the Battlefield series in many ways. With these innovations and some critical thinking, the Battlefield Stat Ranking System was born.
Amongst all of the new features, such as a brand spankin' new engine, gameplay enhancements and a massive arsenal, Battlefield 2 brought with it a way to track player progression through years of game time for each individual player.
Some people look at the stat system as the end of the Battlefield series. Some are ready to move on to new things, like the Half Life's source engine, which brings with it loads innovative mods like Insurgency, Empires (previously developed for the BF engine), and more. Others are awaiting new releases, like Armed Assault (a preface to Operation Flashpoint 2), Quake Wars and even Medieval 2: Total War.
I, in contrast, believe that so many of the guys with whom I spent nights playing Battlefield1942 are leaving has little to do with Battlefield2's inconsistencies, but with the fact that this particular genre is getting out of style for those that have spent so many years playing it.
Despite the flaws in Battlefield 2, which are quite little compared some of the other big titles, such as Doom, Battlefield 2 has been a success all around.
There are thousands upon thousands of players online every day enjoying the variety of gameplay that Battlefield 2 provides and, despite some pessimistic attitudes by some community members, DICE has been actively working on new patches and gameplay enhancements and, over time, bringing Battlefield 2 into an almost flawless game. They have also been carefully listening to the community and (at timest regretfully) implementing fixes that the majority of the community had wanted which ended up negatively affecting overall gameplay.
The fact that gamers are strongly voicing their concerns, while still playing the game day and day out, only shows that there are certain aspects of the game that DICE simply cannot deliver on due to engine limitations, time constraints and the processing power of the todays average computer.
In short, a Battlefield that reflects the war machine of today is still before its time and will hopefully be revisited in the future.
What The Future Holds
I am one of the few Battlefield veterans that still has hope for the stat system as a whole.
The stat system provides an accurate assessment of who plays what and how they play. I believe the stat system is more of a way for game developers like DICE to create accurate business models to convince game publishers like EA that certain things simply will not work, despite their "vast marketing experience".
I think that many community members will always be critical of a product when posting their opinions on a forum because such places are methods of ventilation from the frustrations of the everday "noob" or "smacktard".
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I believe that whatever DICE decides to do in the future, they will succeed.
When I come to the realisation that I have been playing Battlefield and its mods for 4 years straight without taking a breathe, I can't help but thinking...
They must have done something right.
--
And thus ends my inspirationally induced "essay". Much thanks if you read so far
Goodnight.
and I thought it looked amazing, but just look at bf2 now.
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