The True Story of Battlefield 3, the Battlefield Franchise, Its Community,

[Motoko.]

UPDATE: 27th of November 2012, post 283

UPDATE: 29th of October 2012, post 8

The True Story of Battlefield 3, the Battlefield Franchise, Its Community, and EA/DICE

Introduction

I set out with the intention of clearing the air.

You see, the Battlefield community at large is splintered. There are the veterans that have played every game and there are newcomers that have started the Battlefield franchise with Battlefield 3. There are people that obsessively tracked BF3's development from the moment it was announced and there are those that first saw it sitting on a shelf in a retail store. There are inbetweeners that played one or two games previously and those that occasionally would stumble onto the official forums, Reddit, or a YouTube channel. There's even the publisher and developers themselves and with all these differing audiences there are many different sides to the story that is Battlefield 3.

There is an untold story that few know and that story is the whole story.

That last line may seem naive, foolhardy, or even arrogant but my goal here is to tell the full story. From all sides. It is a lofty goal and I am fully aware that there is almost no doubt that I will fall short but I think it's important someone tries. There is far too much infighting among people which, at the core, want the exact same things.

My hope is not to change anyone's opinion. My hope is to simply explain the other side of the coin. To make people aware, not only of the differing opinions, but the reasons for those opinions. So that we may better understand each other.

Lots to read and continued here

[madd-hatter]

Not a bad read at all. Well written and well sourced. Lengthy but detailed.

I purchased BF3 in part because I had recently adopted PC gaming, enjoyed the competition of certain FPS titles, and I was impressed with the technology and visuals.

It's nearly impossible to argue with any of the noted criticisms. Despite only experiencing PC BF3 and PS3 BF2:BC, I understand how the BF veterans feel. However, I feel the post blames DICE a lot, and I can't help but feel that EA deserves a large share of the responsibility. This thought might be bias, as I have great disdain for EA.

No one likes their favorite franchise to be simplified in order to cater to new comers or a new audience. I immediately relate this to Blizzard's catastrophic failure with Diablo 3.

All that said, I've enjoyed my <200 hours of BF3. It certainly could have been better, and if it was, my hour count would be higher. (It should be higher, as it should be better...)

I look forward to BF4's multiplayer. I have zero interest in any modern shooter's campaign.

Current BF3 poll on battlelog:

What are you looking forward to the most in Battlefield 4?

The single player campaign - 11%

Multiplayer -89%

[Crisp]

The Bottom Line

The facts remain that Battlefield 3 is a broken, buggy game that was sold, and continues to be sold, to a neglected community based on lies, broken promises, and misleading information so much so that it is almost certainly criminal.

Yup. I'm not buying BF4.

It's a new franchise with noob friendly game play. They've just pushed their original fan base away to make money. I think all DICE care about is their precious game engine and stealing players away from CoD... which has worked.

People over at the EAUK forums had their heads screwed on, knew the real truth about DICE's new direction and what a terrible game they had made. Funny enough EA shut the forums down, I wonder why.

R.I.P. Battlefield (2002 - 2006)

[Motoko.]

Yup. I'm not buying BF4.

It's a new franchise with noob friendly game play. They've just pushed their original fan base away to make money. I think all DICE care about is their precious game engine and stealing players away from CoD... which has worked.

People over at the EAUK forums had their heads screwed on, knew the real truth about DICE's new direction and what a terrible game they had made. Funny enough EA shut the forums down, I wonder why.

R.I.P. Battlefield (2002 - 2006)

Do you happen to know where those members went?

[madd-hatter]

Do you happen to know where those members went?

A good deal of them may be playing Arma 2...

[spaceelf]

Current BF3 poll on battlelog:

I wouldn't have even known the poll was there. I doubt many SP fans do.

So asking multiplayer fans if they prefer multiplayer works huh :huh:

[Crisp]

Do you happen to know where those members went?

Well some of my BF2 friends are still playing it, still going strong since 2005, but most have fled to ArmA.

Haha...