Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

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  • CptainCrunch
    I am the 1%
    • Oct 2007
    • 12976

    #1

    Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

    SgtMattBaker brought us this Battle Blog update:


    Welcome to the second installment of the Battleblog, a blog series taking you all the way to the launch of Battlefield 3 on October 25th! In this blog series, you’ll learn more about every aspect of our biggest shooter ever. This time out is a look at the classes found in multiplayer with Senior Mulitplayer Designer Alan Kertz.

    Here at DICE, we’re very proud of the team play functionality that we have become known and loved for in the Battlefield series, and we’re continuing to embrace that approach for Battlefield 3, but not without a few upgrades for the new game. In Battlefield 3, we’re making sure each of the four playable classes (Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon) are each completely capable of holding their own in combat. While they each have different specialties, each class is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

    If you’re that kind of lone wolf player who simply wants to jump in and cook some fools, that’s perfectly fine – we’re making sure each class in Battlefield 3 packs a mean punch on their own, giving you another chance to play it your way. However, we’re also hard at work fine-tuning each class and their unique team play capabilities, so squads in Battlefield 3 will be able to function tightly, giving even more reasons to team play than ever before.

    As mentioned, the four classes available in Battlefield 3 are Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon. All classes include familiar elements, but this time around, we’re tweaking things a bit, bringing something new to our online multiplayer.

    Our Assault class is still the frontline run and gun class, and considering the havoc and fallen team members someone will see while on the frontlines, the Assault soldier now has medic abilities. That’s right, all the abilities such as medkits and defibrillators typically found on the Medic class are now incorporated into Assault. It makes sense that the class on the frontline will be able to revive fallen team mates, right? Right! Remember, you can play it your way, so if you want to customize your Assault soldier more towards medic abilities or towards serious gunplay, it’s totally up to you.

    Engineers are returning in Battlefield 3, bringing back the class in charge of making repairs to the various vehicles on the battlefield. On the other hand, the Engineer is very adept at taking down vehicles as well – this class includes RPGs that can take down armored targets that can’t be destroyed by bullets alone, or even building facades that enemy combatants may be using to take cover. Add the fact that an Engineer’s arsenal includes Carbine weapons, you get an extremely versatile multiplayer class that can truly move like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

    The Support class makes its return in Battlefield 3, incorporating the ability to use light machine guns and can lay down heavy fire, allowing him to become a serious mobile weapons platform. “Support has always been about heavy infantry firepower from his LMG,” says Alan Kertz, Senior Multiplayer Designer at DICE. “It’s a role that we’ve wanted to feel different than Assault’s running and gunning.”

    This brings us to two new features in Battlefield 3: Bipods and Suppressive Fire. Bipods have a very practical use, especially for LMGs, as they provide a substantial increase in stability while laying down a base of fire. Bipods can be deployed anywhere by zooming in with your LMG when prone, or when standing/kneeling in front of suitable supports, such as a window sill. The stability created by deploying a Bipod gives players a massive boost in accuracy and recoil reduction. You’ll be able to unload an entire clip of 200 bullets from your LMG with great accuracy without even letting go of the trigger, all thanks to the Bipod.

    Suppressive Fire is a new in-game mechanic that changes how you can play the game. When you lay down fire in close vicinity to an enemy, the incoming barrage will show up as a graphical blur effect on his screen to stress him and let him know it’s not safe to pop out from behind cover. Just as importantly, this mechanic also affects his character’s in-game firing accuracy, making him less of a threat by using real world tactics. Better yet? You get team play experience points for doing so!

    “Supported shooting with Bipods and Suppressive Fire finally allows us to achieve an obvious difference between Assault and Support, since the heavy LMGs are not terribly mobile,” explains Kertz. “When deployed with a Bipod, they become an incredibly powerful force. Suppressive Fire forces the enemy to keep their head down and lets the Support gunner pin his enemies in place so teammates can flank.”

    Love him or hate him, Recon is the long range sniper class for Battlefield 3 who excels at gathering intel while on the battlefield. His sniper scope gives this class a distinct view of the battlefield, making Recon particularly suited for spotting enemies as seen in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, ensuring your entire team can see the locations of spotted members of the opposing team. “Recon traditionally has been seen as just a sniper,” Kertz said. “We wanted to change that perception, so we’ve built several completely new teamplay oriented gadgets specifically for the Recon class so he can be a team player, even if he’s sitting on the top of Wookie Mountain.” We’ll talk more about these toys and how they work in a blog post a bit further down the road.

    Even though each soldier has a default loadout, they’re there for you to completely customize, making sure you’re able to cater to your own unique style so you can play it your way. We’ll be able to talk more about unlocks, persistence and customization later in the Battleblog series, so stay tuned for more on Battlefield 3 soon


    So a little more information on the classes. They are still lined up like they were back in Battlefield 2142 with a few adjustments. What are your take on these classes and what they do? Should these changes work or should they be different from this?

    Source
    Twitter: @CptainCrunch
    Battlelog/Origin: CptainCrunch
  • Vreki
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2007
    • 4226

    #2
    Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

    I have always said that BF2142 had the optimal setup, so I am happy.
    Not much new info though. I would really like to hear about the squad mechanics, do we get the double commo-rose from BF2142 too?

    Comment

    • eradicator8
      Member
      • Dec 2006
      • 227

      #3
      So far, so good. I have not read anything that has discouraged me yet.

      Comment

      • stilla-killa
        CantGetRight
        • Aug 2005
        • 5905

        #4
        Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

        The only thing that is discouraging me right now is having to shell out a lot of money to build a new computer for this game lol.

        Comment

        • jimykx
          No, I AM your father!
          • Jan 2010
          • 6641

          #5
          so there will be no sniper wookie costume?? i mean camo? that sucks

          Comment

          • CptainCrunch
            I am the 1%
            • Oct 2007
            • 12976

            #6
            Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

            Its OK Jimy, its only one picture.

            Crunch
            Twitter: @CptainCrunch
            Battlelog/Origin: CptainCrunch

            Comment

            • Minmaster
              I DON'T PLAY CS!
              • Nov 2006
              • 4112

              #7
              Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

              no more bush monsters

              Comment

              • -Shifty-
                Member
                • Sep 2007
                • 2525

                #8
                Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

                I like this class system.

                I hope the gameplay elements encourage teamplay.

                What do you guys think of removing kills and deaths from the score all together? I thought it might be interesting to see a game that only focuses on your wins, losses, objective captures, objective attacks, objective defends, etc. What do you guys think?

                Comment

                • Vreki
                  Senior Member
                  • Oct 2007
                  • 4226

                  #9
                  Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

                  Originally posted by -Shifty-
                  What do you guys think of removing kills and deaths from the score all together? I thought it might be interesting to see a game that only focuses on your wins, losses, objective captures, objective attacks, objective defends, etc. What do you guys think?
                  I could do without them, but most people seem to want them, so....
                  However, I would like if they were given less focus by the game itself.
                  Strip them from the main endgame scoreboard, and then have an extra scoreboard showing all kind of achievements, like:
                  • Most heals
                  • Most captures
                  • Best infantry K/D (and then broken down in the four classes)
                  • Best vehicle K/D
                  • Most vehicles destroyed, again broken down in infantry, vehicle and aircraft


                  That is just a list of examples, the idea being that you could gain "respect" for other skills than spamming bombs at a spawn point.


                  Also, they should balance the rewards for kills depending on the game modes so it doesn't pay of to ignore the objective.
                  And again balance the individual gamemode so you are not forced to play TDM because it gives you 10 times the score/minute as conquest.

                  Comment

                  • SgtMattBaker
                    Member
                    • Aug 2007
                    • 1719

                    #10
                    What they really shouldn't do, and it pisses me off because I mostly play as a sniper, is a killcam ... or when you get killed and the camera points to where the shot came from, i really hate that.

                    Comment

                    • Minmaster
                      I DON'T PLAY CS!
                      • Nov 2006
                      • 4112

                      #11
                      Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

                      Originally posted by -Shifty-
                      What do you guys think of removing kills and deaths from the score all together? I thought it might be interesting to see a game that only focuses on your wins, losses, objective captures, objective attacks, objective defends, etc. What do you guys think?
                      i think they tried that for beta bc2 and decided to go back to showing K/D. i don't think it's going away, as much as this seems to be the one stat people use when measuring their fps gaming skills.

                      Comment

                      • Vreki
                        Senior Member
                        • Oct 2007
                        • 4226

                        #12
                        Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

                        Originally posted by SgtMattBaker
                        What they really shouldn't do, and it pisses me off because I mostly play as a sniper, is a killcam ... or when you get killed and the camera points to where the shot came from, i really hate that.
                        I like killcam, it keeps the game from being filled with campers,and is also a good way of detecting cheaters.

                        Comment

                        • -Shifty-
                          Member
                          • Sep 2007
                          • 2525

                          #13
                          Re: Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class

                          It has it's pros and cons.

                          When I find a good spot to cover my team from or a general area I'm shooting from I don't want people to know where I'm killing them from.

                          Killcam sucks, Battlefield has got it right, up until BC2. It was fine in BF2 and BF2142 when you just looked straight up.

                          Comment

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