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just got gold star for grenade launcher :p

still need 3.000 points for the m16. :D

where is the list of BC2 Players?

i've gotten a gold for nube tube, m4, m1 (just got it and LOVE IT) an-64 and knifing. I love knifing people...

and the list of players is on the first post of the thread!

So is the game good or not? I cant tell if you guys like it or hate it.

the game is great!!

only server browser a bit crappy. but their still getting fixed. with my new computer havent hade problems at all only yesterday couple of times connection to server lost.

but the game is worth buying!

So is the game good or not? I cant tell if you guys like it or hate it.

It could be a good game. However, because EA owns the servers, it's a horrible game trying to get online. Seems like the servers are down more than they are up. It's frustrating. Then again, we have come to expect this from EA. This is how their online is.

It's not a purchase for the single player. It's all about the multiplayer which is really good, when it's working.

What ****es me off is when you're a medic and when people hop in a vehicle and drive off leaving you in the dust.

I mean seriously.. WHAT THE :angry:!?!?! We're supposed to be in the front lines and you leave us in the back running up... then you :angry: that you're dying?! EXCUSE ME .. PICK US UP NEXT TIME!!

That happens to me sometimes, even with non-Medic classes. Thankfully, I usually come across smart players that wait for their teammates.

LOVE IT, but the ea servers are garbage and are still failing pretty hard.

I hear ya

the game is great!!

only server browser a bit crappy. but their still getting fixed. with my new computer havent hade problems at all only yesterday couple of times connection to server lost.

but the game is worth buying!

Sweet

It could be a good game. However, because EA owns the servers, it's a horrible game trying to get online. Seems like the servers are down more than they are up. It's frustrating. Then again, we have come to expect this from EA. This is how their online is.

It's not a purchase for the single player. It's all about the multiplayer which is really good, when it's working.

Gotcha

Thanks all.

t7ob5i.png

I've really gotta be picking some pretty good spots as a Recon if people are spawning in on my location like this... :blink: :laugh:

Oh and, yeah, I've pretty much made the Recon my class. I shot 4 helicopter pilots down today while a clan was watching for recruits... didn't mean to, but I caught their eye.. :rofl:.. They want me to play on their server more..

I've really gotta be picking some pretty good spots as a Recon if people are spawning in on my location like this... :blink: :laugh:

I got that award a few days ago. It was quite a pleasant surprise, as I didn't even realize that they had an award for that. Now I'm trying to spawn on squad members as often as possible, to help other people get it too.

Sucks to hear that people are still having server issues. I haven't had any problems for a while now, apart from the server browser being a piece of junk (extremely long refresh times and pings not showing up). I wonder what EA and DICE are going to do now, seeing how the server upgrades appear to have done little to solve the problem.

18 kills with Recon, but only 200 recon score?? I don't mean to judge you but to me it seems that you are just camping and killing enemies, not doing what your class is supposed to be doing: scan enemies for your teammates, using your motion sensors on objectives, etc :(

I'd rather see lots of recon points than your kill, it means that you are helping your team fulfilling the objectives of the game.. just my opinion, no bashing or hard feelings :)

18 kills with Recon, but only 200 recon score?? I don't mean to judge you but to me it seems that you are just camping and killing enemies, not doing what your class is supposed to be doing: scan enemies for your teammates, using your motion sensors on objectives, etc :(

I'd rather see lots of recon points than your kill, it means that you are helping your team fulfilling the objectives of the game.. just my opinion, no bashing or hard feelings :)

Was hardcore mode. -I'd rather stay ALIVE than be one dead..

HC mode turns off scanning. :)

Believe me.. every single time before I fire off a shot in normal (which I'm slowly starting to not be able to play), I hit Q.

They need to nerf the M60. I see more medics not being medics. It is very frustrating when you are dying and they wont even give you a health pack. Many just pick the medic kit to get kills. In real life, the medic would never carry a Light MG, M4 at best. They have one job and one job only, heal, but noone wants to do that, I play recon and enjoy popping that red beret, makes for a great target :)
I am a proper medic thank you :p I do a lot more reviving and handing out medpacks than I do killing. I see a body, I revive it :cool:
Was hardcore mode. -I'd rather stay ALIVE than be one dead..

HC mode turns off scanning. :)

Believe me.. every single time before I fire off a shot in normal (which I'm slowly starting to not be able to play), I hit Q.

Ah yeah, I normally play on a non-hardcore. It makes me feel useful somehow as a recon than in a hardcore mode :D

I was playing arica harbor defending the first point and I killed 6/7 guys in one shot with the tank :laugh: . There was like two squads just sitting behind a wall bunched together.

Also I am usually god-awful with recon but I was playin port valdez defending the second mcoms, and I was just camping behind a rock shamelessly and calling mortors on the hill going towards B and shamelessly getting tons of kills. because their whole team was trying to get in that way. It was a server with no killcam so it took them almost the whole match to find me :shifty:

On another note, Am I the only one who prefers the medic's XM8 LMG over the m60?

I was playing arica harbor defending the first point and I killed 6/7 guys in one shot with the tank :laugh: . There was like two squads just sitting behind a wall bunched together.

Also I am usually god-awful with recon but I was playin port valdez defending the second mcoms, and I was just camping behind a rock shamelessly and calling mortors on the hill going towards B and shamelessly getting tons of kills. because their whole team was trying to get in that way. It was a server with no killcam so it took them almost the whole match to find me :shifty:

On another note, Am I the only one who prefers the medic's XM8 LMG over the m60?

I prefer shotguns or non-class weapons when I play medic. Medics and LMG's are way over done.

I want to play so bad, I took the weekend off from gaming, played a couple rounds today but have to work the next 3 nights :( The last match I played was great. Nelson Bay can be tough as hell at night, especially as Defender. But my team was solid (squad sucked, guys kept dropping out) but everyone was spotting and I racked up tons of points just spotting. And no matter what I unlock in Assault after the XM8, I always go back to that gun. Equipped with a Red Dot or 4x and you can be either lethal or a fantastic spotter for your snipers and guys bunkered in the M-COM buildings.

How much more ammo do you get with the Bandolier upgrade? I can't decide whether or not to use that over the grenade upgrade. I also agree, the Medic LMG needs a bit of tweaking. I wouldn't say Medics solely should be responsible for healing, but definitely shouldn't be allowed to off you with a LMG from across a map.

woot finally just bought the game this morning steam at cheapest price possible (thank you US currency conversion :)) will be downloading and playing tonight.

I can agree that dropping of spec ops class for silenced light weapons probably wasn't wisest idea they had. Support class with L/MG & repair would make more sense like in bf2 and medic with normal assault rifle but ahwell this games not really going for realism in most ways lol.

woot finally just bought the game this morning steam at cheapest price possible (thank you US currency conversion :)) will be downloading and playing tonight.

I can agree that dropping of spec ops class for silenced light weapons probably wasn't wisest idea they had. Support class with L/MG & repair would make more sense like in bf2 and medic with normal assault rifle but ahwell this games not really going for realism in most ways lol.

I absolutely agree! I was so disappointed with the fact the Medics got LMG! Why on earth they decided to do that I have no idea! Even if you were to think about it logically, if you are a medic you need to be able to move as quickly as possible to get to downed players so they thought hey lets make them carry the biggest gun on the battlefield? Makes no sense. Also the fact that EVERY engineer weapon is silenced? What the f*** for? He is going to be spending most of his time in the arse of a tank why does he need a silenced weapon? That's just my short rant about guns. I can live with it though because now I am at a level where I can just use the M14 or the G3 for Medic :)

I absolutely agree! I was so disappointed with the fact the Medics got LMG! Why on earth they decided to do that I have no idea! Even if you were to think about it logically, if you are a medic you need to be able to move as quickly as possible to get to downed players so they thought hey lets make them carry the biggest gun on the battlefield? Makes no sense. Also the fact that EVERY engineer weapon is silenced? What the f*** for? He is going to be spending most of his time in the arse of a tank why does he need a silenced weapon? That's just my short rant about guns. I can live with it though because now I am at a level where I can just use the M14 or the G3 for Medic :)

So, just for conversation's sake (because I love talking about Battlefield), do you think these decisions made by DICE are why there is less squad play or is just the nature of the players playing the game? In my opinion, Assault should get the silenced guns, Engineers should get the LMG et al, and the Medic should get the assault guns (or some variation of). I think this would make squad work so much more important and prevelant. Think about it, as a Medic, you no longer are overpowered so you need your assault/recon squadmates to do the damage while you provide support (novel idea, I know). Same with Engineer.

On another note, earlier in the thread I mentioned how much I love the "noob tube" ever since BF2. Well, the shotgun add-on has taken it's place. It's such an awesome weapon for CQB. By using the nade launcher you are, effectively, diminishing your potency as assault. I know some people are great at using the nade launcher but overall the shotgun does more damage at a closer range.

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    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
    • Or... just use Bitwarden. Free, and has on-prem option as well. Works both on desktop and mobile, wherever you are. The age of local password files is over.
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    • I actually got to use one of those so called "backup codes" once. It was for a customer, I choose the backup code option, and by the grace of god, they actually hade them printed out. Imagine my surprise, when after using the backup code, Google then told use we had to enter a code they just sent to the gmail address we currently did not have access to. I was not amused, Google backup codes should be the end all get out of jail free card, because you had to have access to the account to even get them.
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