Battlefield 3 Playlists?

Hopefully this gets out before the big patch for Battlefield 3 comes out. If you're a little out of the loop, DICE just released an announcement that they are gonna deploy a really big patch for Battlefield 3 in PS3 this coming March 27, with release date for PC and Xbox360 stated as "soon". There would be a lot of changes here especially in weapons balance, vehicle and infantry balance that I didn't bother to read everything in the patch notes. I feel that DICE is changing a lot of things all at once but one thing is for sure - this patch will definitely change everything.

Now in preparation for this upcoming patch, DICE and EA servers went through maintenance last week. And guess what happened afterwards - "playlists" was implemented in the server browser. For a detailed explanation of the server browser playlists, watch the video below from dontrevivemebro:

TL;DR? When you look at the map rotation of servers, some of them feature only large maps like Wake Island, Caspian Border, and Operation Firestorm while some of them let you play only on close quarter maps like Seine Crossing and Operation Metro. The most notable change in the server browser is the alternating game modes. Some servers switch between Rush and Conquest modes every round, some switch between TDM and SQDM, while others rotate all these 4 modes. The only mode that's left out on its own is Squad Rush.

Some people liked this idea for variety. While I have no problem with this setup, apparently some people didn't like this as not everyone is accustomed to all game modes that Battlefield 3 has to offer. And while official EA servers still have those normal Conquest Mode only servers, I failed to find any Rush Mode only server. All servers that have Rush Mode also have Conquest Mode in rotation. I can't find Hardcore servers that are Conquest Mode only as well.

A lot of my comrades only like playing Rush Mode on Hardcore servers so they don't favor this change at all. I do agree with them that the map rotation kind of kills momentum because you have to change your play style every match. I'm not sure if this change is initiated due to popular demand, but I'm pretty sure that a large portion of the Battlefield community still favors Rush Mode over Conquest.

Honestly, I welcome this idea of letting you play on just selected maps depending on your choice of play style, whether you want close quarters type of combat to get more personal, or large maps with all vehicles. Rotating maps is a good addition for people who like variety but I hope DICE will include servers that are Rush mode only for people that don't like to play Conquest. I don't want this to be a reason for people to opt paying to rent a server so they can customize their own matches.

In my next article, I'll try to get into the differences between Normal and Hardcore modes. There are obvious differences of course, but I will get into more detail as to why people favor one over the other.

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Posted in: Battlefield 3,Battlefield 3 patch,Battlefield 3 playlists,hardcore mode

Playing Battlefield 3 With The Globe Superstick

I know you guys have seen this dreaded message at some point while playing Battlefield 3. It's very very frustrating especially during those clutch situations where the heat of the battle is at its greatest, grenades flying everywhere and you and your team mates are holding your own to protect the objective and then boom - you lose all the points, all the unlocks, all the kills (and deaths) that you've collected and that particular matchup is recorded as a loss. It happened to me a lot of times, and I always felt like throwing my controller out of the window in sheer frustration. 

Lag. It's a game breaking problem that most of us have experienced one way or another and it's not really something that the game devs can completely eliminate, especially if you have a wireless internet connection like myself. And it doesn't help that our ISPs here in the Philippines are subpar compared to other countries. 

When I check the server browser, I used to always get 1 bar ping on every server wherever it is. It really destroys my gameplay because there are a lot of times that I'm sure I hit the guy first, unload my clip but for some reason he manages to turn around and kill me first. There are times that I've used up a full clip of DAO-12 bullets on an enemy and he's still alive. I feel like my bullets take 5 minutes to hit the enemy sometimes and it's very frustrating. Lag also affects the VOIP, and though the poor quality of the PS3 voice chat is already identified as an issue, it becomes more apparent using a wireless connection (note: The VOIP issue has already been fixed in the recent patch). Especially during those peak hours, I can't understand what my squad mates yell at me.


In this article though, I'll teach you how to enable port forwarding on the Globe Superstick to somehow improve the online experience of Battlefield 3. It doesn't completely eliminate the lag, but it greatly minimizes lag during gameplay which in turn improves hit detection and it also lessens disconnections from my experience.  You can also apply this to other online games as well, but the ports that you need to open might be different. In that case, refer to Portforward to check the ports that you need to open in a particular game, or do a Google search. However, this doesn't guarantee that the game will be playable. Tekken 6 is absolutely unplayable online using the Globe Superstick even with the port forwarding enabled.


I must warn you though, don't even attempt to play Battlefield 3 or any online game if you can't even attain a less than 300 ms ping consistently (to check, just type ping -t google.com or any site on your command prompt). You're just gonna get frustrated even more.

The first thing you need to do is to set a static IP address on your PS3. By default, most routers assign dynamic IPs and the Superstick is no exception. It will assign an IP somewhere in the range of 192.168.0.1xx, but will start from the lowest number available, e.g. 192.168.0.101. When a static IP address is assigned to a wi-fi capable device, the router won't know that the device is using that IP address, so it might assign the same IP to another device. Thus, you need to assign a static IP address that you're sure won't be handed out to another device that connects to your Superstick, so choose a higher number to assign to your PS3. Now let's get started.

1. Turn on your PS3, connect to your Superstick through wi-fi then go to Network Settings > Settings and Connection Status List. Write down the IP address that's assigned to your PS3, subnet mask, default router, primary DNS, and secondary DNS as you'll need them later.

2. Go to Network Settings > Internet Connections Settings. Choose Custom for the setting method.

3. Next choose Wireless > Enter Manually. Don't change your SSID and security settings.
4. For IP address setting choose Manual. Now here's the part where you have to set your static IP. After choosing an IP address, just put the same values for Subnet Mask, Default Router and DNS as your settings that you took note of earlier.

5. Just choose automatic for the rest of the settings and save.
6. Ok, now time to configure port forwarding on your Superstick. Open your Superstick dashboard either through Tattoo Superstick icon on your computer or by typing http://192.168.0.1 on your browser.
7. Go to Settings > Firewall > Port Forwarding.
8. Choose Enable for Virtual Server Settings. In the IP Address field, put the static IP that you assigned to your PS3.
9. The ports that you need to configure are in this link. So basically you need to enter 8 rules all in all. Click Apply for each rule that you enter.

Now try to play Battlefield 3. Feel much better now? Again, this does not guarantee that your game will be lag or disconnection free. This is due to certain factors, one of which is the network traffic. There are weekends when I totally can't connect to any server in the server browser until midnight comes, when network traffic is very low. But when your connection allows you to connect, you will feel like you're really playing Battlefield 3.


Above all this though, my best advice to have a better online gaming experience is subscribe to a wired connection because seriously, Globe Superstick or any wireless internet out there sucks chicken ass. DSL is still the most reliable internet connection here in the Philippines.


Take note that all of this testing is with a HSDPA only connection, so given the lower ping rates and higher upload rates of HSPA+, I believe the online gaming experience is gonna change once Globe has rolled out HSPA+ to all cell sites near my place. However, I feel like the improvements of Globe to their internet services is very sluggish. The moment that my Superstick starts receiving HSPA+ signals here in my place I will put it to test immediately to my online games.


Feel free to comment about your experience with the Superstick especially in online gaming. I would love to hear from you.

If you haven't read my reviews for the Globe Tattoo Superstick yet, you can check them out here:

The Globe Tattoo Superstick Review: Device and Interface
The Globe Tattoo Superstick Review: Network Performance and Internet Experience


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Posted in: Battlefield 3,Globe Superstick,internet,video games

Battlefield 3 Patch Released for Playstation 3: IRNV got nerfed!

For those of you who missed that post in Battlelog, DICE has just rolled out a patch today for Battlefield 3 on PS3. Xbox360 players will have to wait though. It's some 750+ MB which is quite huge, and here's the complete list or what's fixed in this patch:

General fixes

• Significant improvements to the Squad Join interface, full details in this earlier blog post
• Removed FIND ME A SQUAD option
• Allow players to join empty Squads alone, thus having 1/4 Squad members
• Change order of options to LEAVE SQUAD, INV A FRIEND, SWITCH TEAM
• Disable Privacy flag when 1 man Squad
• Reset Privacy flag from Private to Public when Squad drops to 1 player
• All occupied Squads will now show up colored blue on the Squad selection screen
• Players who choose not to join Squads will also show up as Blue in the "Not in a Squad” line
• Squads that are currently empty will display as white -- if you wish to join an empty Squad, you can choose the first one marked with white text
• Added round duration and ticket summary at end of round screen
• Fixed sound for when climbing ladders
• Fixed and issue with some weapons' sounds in first person view
• Fixed a swim sound loop error
• You should no longer be able to damage a friendly vehicle when sitting in an open position
• Grenades now drop to ground if you get killed while attempting to throw it
• Spawn protection now should work in Conquest so you no longer should spawn too close to enemies
• You should no longer spawn too close to enemies in TDM and SQDM
• Fix for missing input restriction during intro movie, causing players to potentially fall and die while watching movie if moving controller (or having a controller with a bad stick zone)
• Combat areas on Kharg Island in Rush mode tweaked in order to disallow defenders to access the carrier ship after first base is taken and being able to enter the AA gun
• Fixed a problem with revived players not being able to get suppressed
• Fixed a problem with the camera when being revived in co-op
• Spotting VO now plays when spotting from MAV/EOD bot
• Fixed several issues regarding the kill card, including showing wrong weapons used for the kill
• Fixed that sometimes you would be stuck on a black screen when kicked from server
• Fixed so when a team captures two flags at the same time, the UI does not show wrong owner of the flag
• Fixed a problem where the capture progress bar was shown as friendly when the enemy was capturing
• Fixed a problem with the bipod deploy sound
• Fixed a problem that you could be spawned in with no weapons after being killed while using the EOD bot
• Fixed problems with health bars not displaying health properly when using EOD bots
• Fixed a problem with flickering name tags
• Fixed a problem where you could damage friendly helicopters
• Fixed a problem where you could get stuck in the co-op menu when attempting to join the session twice
• You should now be able to spot explosives
• You should no longer spawn in home base if your selected spawn point is disabled while waiting to spawn (e.g. if your teammate dies right before you are about to spawn)
• Damage from bullets will now continue to cause damage even after the firing user is dead
• Fixed several client crashes
• Fixed a problem where players could get stuck in the join queue
• Fixed the repair icon on the minimap
• Fixed a problem with changing camera on certain vehicles
• Fixed a problem with the grenade indicator when in guided missile mode
• Fixed a problem where the machine could hard lock when joining a public coop game
• Fixed a problem where the headset attached icon would not show up in the UI
• Fixed a problem with the falling antenna on Caspian Border. It should now more instantly kill anyone in its falling path
• Fixed a problem where tank turrets would turn too slow
• Fixed a bug on co-op mission "Exfiltration" where you could end up outside the vehicle and not being able to enter it again, thus blocking the mission
• Fixed a problem where a user can become invulnerable after being resurrected
• Fixed a problem with the M60 reload sound
• Fixed a hang in terrain streaming, causing the user to get stuck on black screen under special circumstances in single player
• Fixed a problem where the enemy would not be able to get a road kill on a user that was using the SOFLAM
• Fixed soldiers disappearing in the mortar kill cam
• Fix for Type88 and MG36 zoom in animation offset when in supported shooting mode (using bipods)


Balance changes

• Increased the damage of helicopter miniguns, AA guns, and jet cannons against infantry
• Increased the damage of helicopter miniguns against jeeps
• Reduced the physics impact of AA guns and jet cannons so players under attack from these weapons no longer should lose control
• Increased the damage of the 44 Magnum slightly
• Increased the range and minimum damage of the .357 Round from the MP412 Rex
• Increased the range of all .45cal and 9mm weapons
• Slightly increased the range of the P90 and MP7 and PDW-R
• Slightly increased the range of the 5.56mm PDW-R and decreased the minimum damage at long range
• Slightly increased the minimum range of the Mk11, SVD, and M39 EMR 7.62mm rifles
• Decreased the maximum damage and maximum range of the G3 and SCAR-H 7.62mm weapons
• Reduced the damage from FIM-92 and SA-18 IGLA missiles against aircraft
• Increased the damage and range of the 40mm BUCK rounds
• Reduced the damage .50cal weapons do against helicopters
• Updated T90 canister shell tweaks to match Abrams canister shells 


That was some huge update! Also, Demize99 also posted a Youtube video showing how the IRNV scope and SCAR-H gun were nerfed:

 
I haven't downloaded the patch yet but from judging through the video, it looks like the IRNV can't spot enemies anymore from a certain distance. The color of the soldiers also changed from orange to green. Also, there's some kind of blurring effect that was added to it when you spot moving targets. 

And yet there's still people complaining that there's no difference and it's still overpowered. Some people never get satisfied, do they? For those people who are still whining about the IRNV after the patch, please stop whining like 7-year old kids. If you can't see the difference then you're either blind or stupid. If you still think it's overpowered then you're either a fag or a retard. We should be at least thankful that DICE is willing to fix these things unlike other shooters out there that has obviously a lot of glaring flaws yet never get fixed. *cough*MW2*cough*BlackOps*cough*


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Posted in: Battlefield 3,news,video games