Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

[Webs961]

Re: Well there's one less key the communty. Straight to Fansite Admin. What a Suprise

Your view as a beta tester is somewhat biased towards Dice and that's the major difference.

For the record, I was not given a beta key by DICE. I got my key through TGN, so I have no real "debt of gratitude" to them for the experience of playing in the beta. Beyond that, I do somewhat agree that it is a mediocre game (in the sense that it feels like it's free to play, but it isn't necessarily bad). I can't expound on that due to the NDA, so you'll have to wait and see.

I have talked to many people about this over the last couple of months and they've all said the same things, maybe we're all just grumpy old cynics but most people, whilst expressing a disinterest in BFH, are for the most part eagerly awaiting the next instalment. Some have bought a PS3 to play BFBC in the interim, so it's not like we're sitting around trolling everyone that has difference of opinions. What, you think I would come on here and make a prat of myself, talking some uniformed crap to people on a BF2 Fan site?... Don't make me laugh. I came here to express an opinion, because you certainly can't to any great degree on the BFH site.

At least you're one of the few who actually has a rationale for disliking the game -- you deserve some props for that.

Whether it is or isn't similar to team fortress 2 in game play, they've ripped off the graphical look and feel. I bet Valve are reeling at the fact that Dice/EA have plagiarised their idea.

And Valve took that style of cartoonish animation from several of Pixar's movies. Welcome to the world of idea sharing. What led me to my original comment was people's desire to characterize a game by graphics alone. Let's take Crysis as a brilliant example of this. From the moment of inception, people saw the jaw-dropping DX10 graphics and immediately jumped to the conclusion that Crysis was going to be a stunningly good game. Of course, when the game was actually released, people found a decent storyline and an absoultely crummy multiplayer experience that most people, due to lack of optimizations in the engine, could not play (this applies to single player as well).

Given that we have hardly any other information to go on apart from a few blogs gushing how good all the features are and a couple of mediocre You Tube vids and a couple of nice posters!! I have watched those games play vids with that horrible third person view. Looked clunky and badly animated if you ask me, the environments look kind of cool, but just the environments alone don't make the game.

Emphasis mine. So true. As for the third-person POV, I'm not exactly a fan either. Perhaps this is why I wasn't a fan of any of the Resident Evil games or Deadspace. I have problems aiming in 3rd person view.

I am only going on what I have seen and heard since this was announced and the community which I run with have a very different attitude towards this game. Regardless of whether you think it's fallacy or not, Clan gamers, those that compete on various ESL ladders and clan base et al. are NOT interested in the game! We actually take our FPS gaming seriously enough to wait for Dice to get Battlefield or whatever is in the pipeline.

And since the game's inception, DICE has stated this was geared to the more casual community. There are no rentable servers, and at least as far as I can tell, no real way to have clan matches, but I didn't look into it that much. I was a fairly low-ranking player as I didn't have time to play it obsessively. We'll have to wait and see if DICE says anything about clan-based play, although you're right, this game probably won't be supported by the existing ESL/CAL/TGL/whatever competition scene as that's not their niche. Of course, you'll see them flock over to BF:H the minute someone starts giving away a decent cash prize.

Battlefield has a good couple of years with load of mods behind it now and people have kept coming back just for those, Dice forget too quickly that it was the mod community that made this franchise great. If it weren't for the creator of all these mods like Project Reality, Forgotten Hope or Point of Existence, the games would have been killed off long ago.

I agree, and unless DICE can keep perpetual development of this game going, we'll see it perish very quickly. We're talking new game modes, new environments, new weapons -- the works. Without it, BF:H is doomed in the long run.

Bad Company was excellent, been playing that for months, great single player and the online conquest maps are sweet. Point being, all this great stuff and Dice go completely sideways with BFH... what they should be doing is putting some time and effort in to the franchise that made them big in the first place. Maybe they are, who knows!! Maybe all this is a smoke screen.

Perhaps. My suspicion is they took a small team out of the main-line development team for BF titles and said, "We need you to stall for a few years with this game. They're trying to come out with something so awe-inspiring that they need a bit longer than your standard 4 year development cycle to get it perfected." Even so, this only means more players in the Battlefield community, some of whom after playing BF:H will move on to the more hardcore BF titles like BF2, BC, and whatever BF3 happens to be. They make for more cannon-fodder, and all the experienced players mow them down. But, there will be those who are actually good players and will be picked up by the competitive clans, etc.

Like I said we're all waiting for something a little more involved than another cartoon shooter, it's not even about the free to play novelty because there are hundreds of free to play games... Dice/EA just decided to use it as gimmick to capture all you mugs. Now they tell you you're going to have to pay to customise you character... Whatever.

All games are gimmicks. They want your money, no matter what methods they need to use to achieve this goal. Remember, we're talking about a for-profit corporation here, not a bunch of fanboys sitting around in someone's basement developing an indie game.

We obviously have a difference of opinion. But that doesn't make my point any less valid... If they can't stick to release date and project timelines then Dice/EA should really have a good think about what they are doing because it's to the detriment of all of us.

Good; it's always good to have differences of opinion. I usually keep myself out of these kinds of discussions (Generally, someone says what I want to say later on, but that didn't happen this time around), but it's fun to take a foray into debate every once and a while.

Excuse me but where actually did I say in any of my posts that I "hate" BFH, get your facts straight! Did you actually read the post or just jump on the bandwagon after the first paragraph because Dice gave you a beta key?!

I don't hate any game, I'm just not that interested in playing BFH for all the reasons I have said. If you're looking forward to it and you've taken an active part in its development then good for you. I hope you’re truly happy with the result.

Reasonable inferences. But, if you want a clarification, here you are. Based upon your previous posts, it is reasonable to infer that you have a very strong disdain for the direction DICE has taken in developing BF:H. Generally speaking, most people who would say they are only "uninterested" in playing a title would leave it at that with only a minor explanation. If this is how you support all your positions, then I stand corrected. See also my above statement about me getting a beta key. I jump on no bandwagons. I felt the need to provide additional details regarding your position that BF:H was a TF2 knock-off.

Nobody wants to see Dice fail, they're a good studio. But just because you run a fan site does not mean your word is gospel!

Ah, you were doing well until here. Good debaters never insult their opponents; you attack your opponent's position, not him personally. To use one of your lines, "Excuse me but where actually did I say in any of my posts that I "preach the gospel of gaming", get your facts straight! Did you actually read the post or just jump on the bandwagon after the first paragraph because I mentioned some things you may not have considered?" Additionally, this is no fan site. The Total Gaming Network is a community-driven, commerically owned (MyInternetServices, LLC) news site. This, primarily, is why we don't delete posts which differ with the staff's opinions on games and events in the gaming world; we report news, not engage in acts of fanaticism by crushing opposing opinons. Relax, please.

[iQue]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

From what I have seen of it does look similar in my opinion. The games was actually announced not long after TF2 got released with the Orange box. So my concern's, I think are valid. Are Dice doing this because they think it a excellent idea and it's was the BF community wants ? or, Are Dice jumping on the TF2 popularity bandwagon ? I think a little of both, but this detracts slightly from the original ethos of the game.

Just a FYI... BFH was being planned around the release of 1942. It never became a reality until later though, but the idea of a more cartoonish BF has always been there... It's in one of the BFH developer blogs.

Whether it's a bad excuse or not is up for debate though

[savagehenry]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

Webs961 : Take this whichever way you want !! What were TGN doing giving you a beta key? I do hope that wasn't the one of the keys that was supposed to be given out in the competition last month, would seem a great shame if the competitions across the community sites were deemed to be biased and unfair because all the site admins were given prefference.

There are Thousands of gamers which have tried to get Keys, through various "Dance Monkey Dance" competitions. Didn't see Valve doing this with any of the beta's, nor Treyarch with the lastest Call of Duty. I find it all rather insulting to be honest!!

Would be great to have some sort of clarification that the keys didn't just got to friends of Dice rather that to the public as they were supposed to. Maybe some sort of proof could be offered. Like an email from James Salt at Dice or the Grand Fromage at TGN explaining that no favoratism was shown.

Reasonable inferences. But, if you want a clarification, here you are. Based upon your previous posts, it is reasonable to infer that you have a very strong disdain for the direction DICE has taken in developing BF:H. Generally speaking, most people who would say they are only "uninterested" in playing a title would leave it at that with only a minor explanation. If this is how you support all your positions, then I stand corrected. See also my above statement about me getting a beta key. I jump on no bandwagons. I felt the need to provide additional details regarding your position that BF:H was a TF2 knock-off.

Yes! This is how I support my positions. I am passionate about my gaming not only PC but PS3 as well, Generally it seems to me that there are lot of of studio's out there that are going sideways. In terms of inversting millions and millions of £/$. and Hundread of thousands of man hours producing some waste of time homogenised crap.. Most are a just churning out the same old sh!t and they only way of shifting most of them is through clever marketing and hype, Kane and Lynch, NFS Undercover and Fallout 3 to name but a few, all seemingly reskin or re-works of old engines. All milking that gaming cash cow! So it disappoints me when I start to see one of my favorite studios do the same.

I just feel that Dice/EA have taken the Mickey out of us over the last year or so. When they announced that Bad Company was going to go console only. that what flared all this off it's not just isolated to BFH. It's just bile bubbling over the surface and is by no means isolated to me...

BF2 came out in 2005, even though there has been lots content provided in terms of mods and maps, but not by dice but the ever growing community of modders and mappers that support many games these day. But having said that the technology is old now. 2142 is similar, but that game was in no way a popular as BF2. With the user base dwindling and users finding new and better games. Like you said driven by fancy graphic and directx10 the spotlight has shifted to other games

Bad Company could have injected a well deserved adrenaline shoot in the arm of the BF franchise if only it had gone multi-platform. It would have kept us more than sweet in the interim while a more ambitious project was worked on. It is possibly one of the worst decisions Dice have made thus far and to detriment of their reputation amongst their core fan base . Wouldn't it have been more beneficial to be working on true PC BF title right from the start? Dice have admitted to having three battlefield titles in production. Seems a little excessive, there isn't enough hours in the day!!

A lot of Battlefield heads are likely to have bought a Xbox or PS3 just to play BFBC I know I did and that softens the blow slightly, but as good as BFBC is, it's not BF2 and I still find myself creeping back to Mashtuur City 64 for a good old skrim. It does feels as though are long standing loyalty to the battlefield games has been taken total for granted and that Dice believe that they can stick a Battlefield logo on everything and we'll consumer it.. this undoubtedly is from the EA school of thought. EA's nasty influences have been creeping in for some time now and given the deterioration of their core franchises. It would be a shame to see Dice taken down with them. That to be truthful makes me angry.

I agree with you in a sense that Dice/EA must be working on something big and we're all looking forward to speculating what that might be (MMOFPS?) any ambitious project would obviously be more than within its rights to take as longs is needed. But if Dice said to us next week "Battlefield 3 - expect june 1st 2009" then we'd all assume that was D-Day and make appropriate preparations.

I remember when BF2 was projected for Jan 2005 and it end up coming out in June which was fine, but if you planning upgrade just so you can play the game. 6months is a long time in terms of hardware. I and many of my clan mates were caught out. Once bitten Twice shy and all that!

I was kind of hoping that there maybe a few more indignant fellows out there that might I may at least share a common ground with after, but like you say. there probably be more than happy to say "Not Interested" and move on the next thing. I tend to seize on this because I do feel that Dice has let us all down. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. although I do like to hear other points of views.. however outlandish.

[Mitch]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

I butted heads with a few of the TGN staff over previous comments I had made on this subject, so all I am going to say is you guys had to see this coming...:nod:

[Dangerdog]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

I hate Battlefield Heroes, there, I said it. I’m not trying to incite a flamewar to those that love it; I just think the direction that the people in charge of the Battlefield franchise are taking isn’t the right one, not on the PC anyway.

I know that DICE is trying desperately to find a niche where they can generate perpetual revenue through micro-transactions, remember Bad Company where they were going to have players use xbox points to buy weapons? Yeah, that didn’t go over so well. I can’t imagine anyone spending real money to buy virtual outfits for you in game avatar in Heroes either, you could force everyone’s avatar to play in neon pink underwear and you still wouldn’t get people to spend money playing dress up, oh I'm sure some might, a very small group though - is it going to pay off in spending all this time creating the infrastructure needed to get this working?

Short of pissing everyone off with making Battlefield 3 (if they’re even working on such a thing) some sort of pay-to-play scheme (seems like EA already tested these waters with Hellgate London – again people rejected the idea of attaching a monthly fee to their game.) I would think utilizing in game advertising as a better way to go, playing a flash ad between map loads or even having in game advertising in the form of stylized posters and billboards that fit the theme of the map or game.

Of course in order for the advertising to work you have to first create a game that people want to play, I really question the rationale behind making BF:Heroes what it is, does it really have to be so dumbed down? I can roll with the cartoon vibe but wouldn’t it make more sense to model the gameplay after one of the more successful games in the franchise, Battlefield 1942, thereby making it a first person shooter while applying some of the features like squads and kit drops from Battlefield 2 and 2142 etc.

DICE will do whatever DICE wants to do, maybe they’ll come out with another “hardcore” Battlefield game for the PC or maybe they’ve abandoned that segment of the PC to cultivate gamers on the console systems, I imagine they’ve pulled in a lot of people with Bad Company from the PC side, and I’ve heard rumors of Bad Company 2 already. The promise of there being one last patch for Battlefield 2 is a nice gesture but is that a sign of future support for PC Battlefield fans or the end?

:salute:

[Stev0esque]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

henry did take what i said the wrong way. all the opposition has to do is simply NOT play the game rather than discuss it. if you cant stand the heat than stay out of the kitchen (replace "heat" with something more relaxed) EA and dice are (relitively) big companys, nothing most of us say will change it. these anti BFH discussions are almost as pointless as the BF3 petition that someone tried to start.

[The_Eliminator]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

This game will end the way of FFOW imo.

There are too many good games being released at this point in time for anyone to care about BFH.

[savagehenry]

Hear no Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil !!!

henry did take what i said the wrong way. all the opposition has to do is simply NOT play the game rather than discuss it. if you cant stand the heat than stay out of the kitchen (replace "heat" with something more relaxed) EA and dice are (relitively) big companys, nothing most of us say will change it. these anti BFH discussions are almost as pointless as the BF3 petition that someone tried to start.

Of course we CAN affect change !! rather than sitting around like "Happy Consumers, sucking on Satan's big one!!", we can start a discussion, which hopefully will gather some speed through the community and maybe considering this site has been around for so long, somebody from Dice might read it or EA.

Do be so naive to think that "EA and dice ARE big companies, nothing most of us say will change it" because you do have a voice and they do take notice, just not all of the time and if they don't, you don't buy or become involved with their product.

It maybe pointless to you, but for some off us we'd like Dice/EA to start actually listening to us, as they have done in the past. All we asking for is a little professionalism. We've supported them to quite a degree over the years, now it would be nice for the loyalty to be reciprocated. Maybe by not treating us like little mushrooms would help (fed on sh!t and kept in the dark).

This isn't a suppose to be a rallying cry from Battlefield Haters, neither is it for those who think petitioning Dice for BF3 is going to help.. they've already said it's in the pipeline, that's good enough for me. Like I have said many times over, for the most part we are huge fans of the Battlefield franchise and many of it's associated mods.

But Like many many others, I see the BFH as step in the wrong direction. The internet is saturated with Free to Play FPS. So why does a popular and extremely successful commercial company feel the need to engage in such a genre? when they're already well known for a excellent series of games. Which nobody minds paying £30-40 for..

Neither has this anything to do petitioning for a new Battlefield games. it's more about Dice/EA not listen to the community.. However if the narrow minded minority of members of the community want shot down in flames, the people whom feel that they have valid arguments, won't post for fear of being attacked by the righteous few, We are only trying to affect such change for the betterment of the entire community (that means you guys to) after all we DON'T want to see Dice fail, this isn't a selfish act in the least !! We just want to see them get it right first time.

It's got nothing to do with us cooking, Dice are the chefs here, not us. We've been chewing on bread sticks and sipping water for the last 18months waiting for something to materialize. Battlefield Bad Company was just an aperitif.

[savagehenry]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

Dangerdog : Nice one mate.. I total agree with everything you said !! Good to see there are more like minded people out there. Thanks.

[Stev0esque]

Re: Hear no Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil !!!

Of course we CAN affect change !! rather than sitting around like "Happy Consumers, sucking on Satan's big one!!", we can start a discussion, which hopefully will gather some speed through the community and maybe considering this site has been around for so long, somebody from Dice might read it or EA.

why not just ignore it like everyone else? its a free game. im not saying you have to like it, or get it for that matter, you are free to your opinon, just dont ruin it for people who may want try it someday. sometimes over-discussing something just to prove a stupidly small point can really p!ss me off.

[savagehenry]

Re: Hear no Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil !!!

why not just ignore it like everyone else? its a free game. im not saying you have to like it, or get it for that matter, you are free to your opinon, just dont ruin it for people who may want try it someday. sometimes over-discussing something just to prove a stupidly small point can really p!ss me off.

I stand by everything I have said! There is no point to be proven here. that's what you keep misunderstanding, there is only a difference of a opinion, I am not trying to make you change you mind, just puting my veiws across.. If you don't like them why do you keep reading them? I keep setting them up you keep trying to knock them down. It's quite funny actually. Are you seriously suggesting that you worried that a few comments or opinions on one site, may cause the entire userbase to have second thoughts and not play it ? Don't be so naive. People will still get wraped up in the hype and the clever marketing closer to release date, so what does it matter?

Who's ruining it for anyone? If you still want to play BFH that's fine. But that doesn't mean to say other will share the same sentiment. I'm just expressing consern and an opinion? If you are too blinkered by something with a "Free to play" sticker on it.

You're going to have to pay to customise your characters and alsoit's going to be full of adverts to help them pay for it's developement. So how, is that free? If you still wanna play it after all the Dice's pissing about and that you going have to pay for you're Beret, strip polo neck, plus fours and clown shoes then thats fine, each to his own, go play it have fun. Those who've come from the serious side of the battlefield community will not be joining you.

There people myself included that would preffer to wait and see what other additions there will to the Battlefield series and there a much better games to out there to play in the interim, those with means don't need to sit a wait for everything to come to us for nothing. Why'd don't you ask Santa to bring you the orange box for christmas or an Xbox with Battlefield Bad Company.

In the interim, given that BFH isn't going to materialise for at least another couple of months or more. Start playing Team Fortress2 (Again?) which recently has been going from strength to strength. Its a much better game, it's establish, cheap, stable, looks goods (better than BFH for sure), awesome maps and graphical style, gameplay modes and plenty of weapon and achievement to collect along the way. It has no adverts, there is also packs being released for each of it character over the next couple of months. Just to give you an alternative.. I know where I'll be

If you don't like read the long posts. If they make you're head hurt, Then don't read them it not like I'm forcing you at gun point.. You won't get anywhere by getting angry at me over expressing an opinion. It's only you, my friend that suffers. It makes not a jot of difference to me. :P

[Webs961]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

Stating that any TGN staff member got their keys from a pot designated for members from EA or DICE is now and forever will be a complete falsity. Remember, these games generally do not have a "magic" number of keys total (in the sense that the key generator EA uses will only produce 25,000 keys and no more). When we go through our public relations channels to get keys for review purposes (and yes, we're obligated to play the game and write reviews, etc. when we get this sort of access), we are not using any keys which were previously slated for use in the public beta key pool. Of course, as I previously stated, those do come with obligations and are restricted to probably 3 or 4 per organization, so the staff have to fight internally about who gets what. This is how news and review sites get things like that if you have some decent level of pull (see IGN, G4TV, the main BF:H fan site, etc).

As for e-mails between news organizations and developers, those will never be released unless EA specifically approves it, and I guarantee you they won't for contest negotiations. Heck, I don't even see some of those. Some of them even get worked all the way up to Tim's (Crrrazzzy's) level and usually don't get to us until he has something to give away, and none of those ever go to the staff.

[CaptainKirk]

Re: Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta Update

I got my key through the random pool

[Stev0esque]

Re: Hear no Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil !!!

I stand by everything I have said! There is no point to be proven here. that's what you keep misunderstanding, there is only a difference of a opinion, I am not trying to make you change you mind, just puting my veiws across.. If you don't like them why do you keep reading them? I keep setting them up you keep trying to knock them down. It's quite funny actually. Are you seriously suggesting that you worried that a few comments or opinions on one site, may cause the entire userbase to have second thoughts and not play it ? Don't be so naive. People will still get wraped up in the hype and the clever marketing closer to release date, so what does it matter?

im not saying you cant express it just the OVER expressing it is kinda hard to ignore. while i say that you are quite right in quite a few respects, and it all comes to opinion. its just im someone who hates the over expression of opinion thats so bad thats it just gets in your face.

[savagehenry]

He's who shout's loudest and longest....

im not saying you cant express it just the OVER expressing it is kinda hard to ignore. while i say that you are quite right in quite a few respects, and it all comes to opinion.

However I want to express an opinion is my business kiddo!! Who are you to tell me what I can and can't say on a public discussion forum? It's a tiny bit arrogant of you, don't you think? I didn't come on here to be confrontational, but it's clear that you have, by jumping over every word I have written!

Yes it is kind of hard to ignore? Isn't that the point, to stand out from the crowd and be an individual? At least I'm try to say something constructive and different. Rather that towing the part line and castigating anyone who dares to have different ideas to you own.

its just im someone who hates the over expression of opinion thats so bad thats it just gets in your face

If you don't like the way I do things, don't read my posts. It's not my problem if you're over sensitive about long posts; if something gets "In Your Face" why do you keep sticking your face in?

Just butt out and don't read them. Perhaps that would be the most sensible rational I can think of??!! Just sounds like on this forum in paritcular, if you don't agree with the majority you're automatically castigated for having a difference of opinion! Well I'm sorry but that's not how this works!!!!

If you have anything further to say, I suggest you say it in a private message, You may want to air you dirty laundry in public, but I would rather not.