I hope that transition is going well for you. What a blessing that you're in a place in your life that you and your family are able to do this for your mother.

Squad creation / team balance worked... okay, last night. Would put yaw and me on one team and Octo on the other. Eventually figured it out but it was frustrating how much time we had to put into figuring it out even after the patch.

Using the RDS on my M4A1 and doing okay. KDR went from 1.00 to .98 which is negligible, I know, but that's part of the adjustment period. I will say that even when I played with the IRNV, I was never a camper.* Always played the objectives and many of the kills and deaths I earned were from rushing right into the objective zone. Last couple nights, I've been taken out by many more camping snipers, though, the exact campers I would have found with the IRNV before...

* The one place I do enjoy camping is the Charlie-side garage at Alpha on Seine Crossing, particularly if I'm on the Russian team. The US team keeps pouring in to try and take the objective and you can rack up so many kills there. It was even better with the IRNV because you could spot anyone who came down the small sidewalk and went prone by the flag under cover of tree brush. That's a great place to put a mine, by the way, as well as one or two in the bookstore aisles and three just around the corner in the shadows to take out any approaching tanks. Having those mines where infantry will try to hide (or spawn, if you're trying to take the objective) makes lobbing a grenade or a rocket that much more potent. I usually get taken out, eventually. Two or three guys get smart and all rush me at the same time but in the meantime, yeah, I'll camp out there.

Thinking specifically of the "tunnel" maps...not sure how much bigger you could make them. I picture 64 guys fighting over Bravo in Metro.

I enjoy that same camping spot, except not to camp. You can fire the M320 or a rocket in there and get a few lucky blind kills. There is ALWAYS people in there. The first thing I do when I approach A is launch something in there, even if you don't kill anyone, you at least get a hit indicator if somene's hiding in there. Same goes for the little nook where the van is backed into across the street.

Why wonder?

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Yeah, not sure how that would be bigger either. Maybe it's only certain maps. I know in Conquest mode, the section of the map you're playing is only about a 1/3 to 1/4 of that same map in Rush mode. Maybe they just have more objectives on the PC, and open up the other map sections that you only see in Rush mode. I can't imagine the maps are drastically different. Davamand Peak in Rush mode is a HUGE map.

Nic, Beefy, and I are planning to be on in a littel while...still not clear if we are playing BFB2 or COD, it probably depends who is on.

Good lord.

2 things I noted:

Dude posted a video of how awesome he is, but his team has more players and still lost.

Grenades fucking everywhere!!!

They also keep bunching up so instead of groups of three, four, five like we have they have groups of six, eight, ten. I wonder what kill counts are like because the number of tickets appears to be the same yet because players bunch up I'll bet double kills and the like happen more often.

his last death is something i do all the time, I get antsy for someone to get out of my way that is being careful and i push past them into a hail of gunfire...i suck

There's only 3 legitimate places for them to come up on that map, the two escalators and the stairway. Assuming 32 on the team...

I think I just missed you guys that night...when I got on, it looks like you'd all signed off 13 minutes before.

I ended up watching my new LOTR blu-rays this weekend, so I wasn't on much. Lots to catch up on from this year. Also have to get to Portal 2, Arkham City, UC3 and a few other games from early in the year. I almost bought Skyrim this weekend, but I just don't think I could make time for it.

I was trying some new stuff on Friday. Most importantly I found a way to have fun on Metro. Play as support class. I have no desire to run into those subway trenches just beyond Bravo but I'll gladly stand behind and throw ammo and C4 into one of the three passages. I had a blast not bothering to do anything particular at all. And by not doing anything in particular except pretending to be Crazy Harry I scored dead in the middle of my team. If I'd actually been active at resupplying it might have been an easy Ace the way everyone remains stationary and just unloads ammo down the stairway and escalator.



I also nabbed my second ace on Caspian Border with my new found love for the support class -- shotgun/c4 combo. I only have two total (both on Caspian) so there's something about the way everyone screws around on that map that allows me to score more points by just going back and forth between objectives. I never have a decent k/d ratio so it's all objective-based.

Suffice to say, I'm getting more into the game and can't wait for the expanded maps. I just wish I had more time to play.

Oh, I also finally found a building to destroy when I was messing around with the C4. I kept having hide-and-seek sissy fights with the same guy at Bravo on Kharg Island. I got tired of his shenanigans so I just took the whole building down. I didn't think it would work so I took a teammate down with it, but the dismantling of a building is still oh so satisfying.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that with this last upgrade they have also increased the destructibility. It feels like I see more destroyed window frames, ledges, and even buildings since then.

They definitely tweaked the destructability on some maps. While in a tank I used to always get hung up on fences and small concrete barriers and other little objects that had no business slowing down a tank. Since the patch, you can plow through those things like there not even there.

Well that's welcome news. While the new engine seemed to have more "weight" and was more realistic, the old one, where shit was just flying everywhere, was more fun.

I have no interest in a war sim, but I do love destroying some stuff. Even the ground was destructible in the last game.

Are we rolling the new maps tonight?? Taking over a server?

I'm up for playing the new maps tonight.

Chess, I was definitely getting bonked in the head with debris more than ever (and was taking damage) when a tank was blowing up the warehouse walls around me during the last set of M-COMs on Operation Firestorm Rush (equivalent of Alpha on Conquest) this week. May be a good reason to make sure someone in your squad is running Squad Flak for everybody.

Flip, Operation Métro is the one map where I play Support because yeah, I agree, that's the class that's not only going to rack up the points but it also seems to be the most helpful. I've got a few perches on Bravo where I like to go prone and take 'em out. Playing the elbow corner of the locker room with a friend aiming down the other side is a great combo and there's a little corner by the ATM, very close to the flag, that is perfect for tossing out an ammo crate, lobbing grenades down the side stairs, and wiping out anyone who comes up the forward escalators.

Toying with placing spawn beacons here and there by popping in as Recon now and then has been interesting, particularly in Operation Firestorm, Operation Métro, Grand Bazaar, and Tehran Highway. There are at least two or three great shadowy places to put them near Bravo. Only had the Operation Métro one found on a consistent basis. But when it's not found, wow, it's time to spawn and clean house. I might be exaggerating, but I'm the only person I've ever heard tell his squadmates where he put the spawn beacon so they're not surprised or avoid it. Seems like a no-brainer in terms of communication.

I mentioned my enjoyment of defending Alpha on Seine Crossing from the Charlie-side garage. I also really enjoy defending Bravo on Operation Firestorm from the highway-side warehouse (it sees a lot less foot traffic than the one with the flag in front of it) as well as Charlie on the Noshahr Canals from the back corner building (easy to run back up with some cover and take out attackers). Finding different ways to play each map in new and effective ways has helped me enjoy the game more.

With the lack of an anti-personnel rocket launcher even close to my old friend Carl Gustav, mines have quickly become my favorite piece of equipment; C4 and grenades will never be my #1 equipment so long as enemies don't get wise to my mine tricks. I've also found I have a few favorite spots to put mines that seem to almost guarantee me at least one vehicle disable / kill per round. Other players have picked up on my habit of putting mines on the back road at Grand Bazaar to anticipate the enemies bringing in tanks and IFVs in and they've been doing that, too. I just lay my mines a little farther down the road to get 'em first. Enemies have been anticipating this, though, and are driving to that spot as people are laying out mines and they get blown away so I've taken to using the side tunnels for cover, sweeping behind them to blow it up with a rocket launcher, wait for the kill cam to disappear, and lay my mines.

A few other favorite places I lay mines: right in front of the tires of the parked jeep at Delta on Kharg Island, the front and back roads to Delta on Caspian Border, both entrances to Bravo on Damavand Peak (enemies are getting smarter and skipping the immediate entrance), and right inside the Russian spawn at Seine Crossing. I'm not afraid to play the Warning Zone and I blow up tons of tanks this way and I'm the only one who does it, as far as I can tell. Never seen any other mines in that area. So basically, I just gave away my best secret to you, my friends.

Any other favorite ways to play out there? What tips do you have?

The warehouses at the objectives in Operation Firestorm are definitely more destructible. I just played this morning and blew up almost every wall with a tank. Before the patch I couldn't do any damage to those buildings and I would just get lit up from people shooting rockets through the windows. It's a welcome relief because those buildings were a campers paradise. The last few times I've played that map it's actually been fairly enjoyable.

Karkand maps are live on PSN (according to the Interwebs)

If anybody uses claymores, some excellent spots are:

On Sienne Crossing, the alley between the RU base and D. The top of the stairs is always good. Also right where it opens up to RU spawn area. This works especially well if you're playing on the RU side because it's out of bounds for US and they're usually hauling ass through that area to avoid the suicide penalty. Also, the entrances to all the buildings are good because people are usually running inside for cover, plus they're tough to see because of the light to dark transition. Now that I think of it, any high traffic areas where there are stairs are all excellent spots. (the top of the escalators at B on Operation Metro are good too, usually get 2-3 claymore kills if I start on the RU side)

And here's a tip from a tank driver to anti-tank mine lovers: best spot for mines is right when a road goes from flat to downhill. Basically any ramp type road, but you have to place it on the decline side, as close to top as possible. The gun can't aim below a certain point so a tank can't blow them up, plus you can't see them until the last second. Examples: the steep cross road(s) in the middle of Tehran Highway, the road going from RU to A on Sienne Crossing, the two dirt roads leading to C on Caspian Border. Only way for a tank to blow them up is if you're driving uphill. The downhill way, I usually have to turn around and find another way.

I tried rolling with Claymores for a bit, but I didn't seem to be getting a lot of kills and moved on to C4.

Definitely in for checking out Karkland and increased destruction...be on around 7 or 8.

Back to Karkand is available NOW!!! Currently downloading. In case anyone's wondering it's 1326 MB, so apparently the patch last week didn't include the maps. I'd expect some slow download times tonight since it coincides with the PS Store update and it's a big file and day 1 downloads always seem to take forever.

I think I'll be downloading the update overnight.

The download didn't take that long, but the install is taking a while for its size.

Mostly like the new maps...still hate this fucking game. My latest theory on why the game annoys me so much is "recoil"...fucking recoil is absurd. Thinking I'm going to just rock shotguns full time to avoid it.

Ogs and I traded dogtags, but his was better. He got me about a millisecond from C4ing meat.

Some good times in there though...Kharg was pretty fun...mostly just aggravating though.