Battlefield 3 Beta: Success or Fail? ~ Critical Mindset

Battlefield 3 Beta has ended yesterday. It's kinda sad for me because I enjoyed it a lot and I feel like I didn't get enough of it due to my hectic schedule this week. My only gripe with it so far is not letting us console players play on the Caspian Border Map so we can wreck havoc with jets and tanks. Other than that, I had a lot of fun and I'll secure my preorder before the weekend. This game is too badass to miss.

Not all people who played the beta enjoyed it though especially some Call of Duty fans. Some of them didn't even touch the beta at all. It's understandable. Battlefield 3 is a different game. It's a teamwork-based game, there's no such thing as deathmatch here (well there is a deathmatch mode but is still team-based). You can't just go on with your killing spree, you also have to focus on the objectives. Going solo might work at first but Rambos won't make it far. I know it's not easy to shake off something you're used to, most FPS enthusiasts started with Counter Strike or Call of Duty. So if you don't like the way this game goes then this game is not for you.

However, judging the final game based on the shortcomings of a beta phase of the game is downright ludicrous.

I'm not really surprised with DICE Community Manager Daniel Matros' reply to the backlash of harsh criticisms in their forums:

"I would love to stick around in the forums. I actually enjoy reading the posts and also sending them around our office for feedback and sometimes for a laugh or two. Some of the things that come out of this forum is just brilliant and I really do like the fact that we have a forum.

Right now, I am not in the mood to even browse in here and check out most parts of the forum.

The BETA is a privilege, not a right unless if you pre-ordered the game with MoH and Origin. We are not even obligated to send out a Beta yet we do because we want our players to experience the game. The vibe I´m getting now is just that tons of ungrateful people don´t understand how much work we are putting on this game, how many overtime hours we are doing and also how many meetings we are in to ship a game like this. It´s not just a click and point type of development.

Would like to thank many of our forum users for returning with constructive and good feedback.

To the rest of you - grow up."

Now let me tell you something, you whiny douchebag. We're very lucky that DICE released a beta version of the game. It's our chance to enjoy the game firsthand, feel it out, and discover all the goofy bugs and glitches that this version of the game might have and tell EA/DICE about it. It's understandable that COD players will compare this game with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or even the upcoming Modern Warfare 3. However, let's not jump to conclusions this early. Beta is what it is. It is an unfinished product released by the game developers to stress test their servers and at the same time take feedbacks from players in order to provide bug fixes and performance tune ups. It's always expected to have bugs and glitches and it's our responsibility to tell them what's wrong so they can make the necessary adjustments, fixes, and tune ups so we can all have a more enjoyable experience upon release. I know everyone's entitled to his own opinion. But please people, stop bitching like, "this game sucks" or "screw this game, I'll buy COD: MW3 instead" and give EA/DICE a constructive feedback. Better yet, just shut the hell up and go to your precious COD. Nobody cares.

Daniel Matros' comments were all valid. They don't owe us anything. The beta is a privilege, not a right. Back in the day, only a few select people were able to play demos and betas. We should be grateful because this means that we will get a much better BF3 upon release day. This is what Activision should be doing with their Call of Duty franchise. I mean, c'mon guys, let's keep it real. They release a new COD game year after year only to find out a lot of ridiculous bugs and overpowered BS with these games. Some of the problems they fix but when it finally gets down to business, why waste time and money to release patches that don't necessarily constitute to additional sales? So in the end, they'd be like, "nah, screw it, we got our money, we got our profit... we don't care anymore" leaving us to deal with all the BS left in the game. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the COD franchise in any way, it's still an awesome game. I'm just saying that DICE is doing something right with BF3. They are actually listening to the players' feedbacks. As a matter of fact, they've actually released a statement of what will be fixed in the game before release. The graphics will be improved as well through optional install data for console versions of BF3. Check my article here for more info.

So far, these changes sound great and as we send constructive criticism to them and they do something about it, I can safely say that the beta was a success. We end up with a polished end product that's truly enjoyable. The true winners will be us, the gamers.

And the whiners... well, seriously guys, grow up.

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