jdpatri

Also, your repair work is phenomenal. I'm very impressed... I was impressed with myself for learning how to change the hard drive. And that's a huge step up from changing the hard drive.

chess

No, I'd say they've changed quite a bit. The Commando is probably the closest to the old classes in that he's a lot like the soldier. The new Siren doesn't phase walk but rather does a phase lock where she freezes individual enemies. The Gunzerker is as best I can tell a straight up gunner with dual wielding, which could make for elemental craziness. The Assassin is sort of a ninja, and he does something kind of like phasewalk, except that he can take damage during. The upcoming Mechromancer apparently can brainwash enemies.

I think my first solo game will be with the Assassin, and my coop character will be the Siren.

I originally played the Hunter in BL1, and while he was fun, I'll really miss playing the original Siren. Her skill trees allowed you to almost constantly be exploding in and out of phase and healing during phase, and it made her brutally powerful.

I ordered from Amazon with the $10 credit and the DLC code. I can't imagine that I'd have it before Thursday, so I'd be up for Friday night or any time Saturday or Sunday.

chess

Thank you.

It was kind of traumatic to have another PS3 die, but fortunately, I was at least able to fix it up this time.

Every now and then, I think I should have just gone X box, but Sony has a lot of really good first and second party games that I'd hate to miss.

jdpatri

Shit. The 360 has been so much worse for repair-records. I had a friend go through four 360s in under two years. Also, there isn't one 360 exclusive I couldn't have lived without. When I didn't have one, I thought I was missing out. Now that I have one... well... I can't remember the last time I turned it on.

chess

I can't remember the last time you turned your PS3 on.

(to play with us anyway)

jdpatri

Hey now.

(Tho, totally valid.)

19K

BC2 is fun at times, but honestly it's the lack of variety that doesn't keep me interested in it (and on a side note, I HATE how it plays each map twice in a row. There really is no tactical advantage from one side to the other).

There's only a handful of weapons for each class (10 maybe?) and it doesn't seem rewarding upgrading them or unlocking new ones. They all behave pretty much the same. You can stick with any one particular gun on any map for basically... ever. The maps, while different in appearance, can all be played pretty much with the exact same tactics. I like how the maps in BF3 force you to change up your game if you want to be successful.

I really wasn't a skilled vehicle guy until I played BF3. When I first started playing BC1 and BC2 I definitely stuck more with the assault and support classes with the revives. It's only when I went back to BC2 with you guys that I tried to duplicate my vehicle success... but the two games really don't compare in that regard.

Now that I think about it, I really only ever had fun playing BC2 with the DVDTalkers. Whenever I played it solo with randoms, it pretty much always sucked. I get in some pretty good games in BF3 even when I go at it alone. Base camping in nearly impossible on every map (with the exception of maybe Metro)

chess

I could give or take the back to back maps, but I disagree that there's no tactical advantage. It is a balanced game, and any disadvantages are easily overcome by a coordinated team, but there are some distinct advantages on most of the maps.

A few examples:

• Panama Canal - I like to play from the Russian side because Delta feels just a bit removed from the other bases and is easier to hold than Alpha is. Also, the exits from the American base are easy to mine.
  
• White Pass - Americans have the advantage here with Bravo and Charlie very close together but Alpha fairly far removed and right next to the US base.
  
• Arica Harbor - Big advantage for Americans. They have the high ground and Charlie is easy to hold. If the teams are even, the fight will mostly be over Alpha and Bravo.
  
• Laguna Alta - All other things being equal, the Russians will win this with easy access to Bravo.
  
• Maps that I don't see much of an advantage for either side: Oasis, Harvest Day, Nelson Bay, Atacama, Heavy Metal, Laguna Presa

I find the variety in the maps to be very solid with diffent types of foliage and different levels of verticality. I also disagree that the strategy is the same between maps. I might use the same strategy every time I play Harvest Day, it's very different from my strategy on Arica Harbor or Oasis. I also would be very happy if I could find a gun to stick with in BF3.

I think the self repairing vehicles in BF3 are kind of ridiculous, and they make the engineer kind of pointless, but I can understand why you'd like it. You're damn good in armor.

To me, this just comes down to being willing to bail from lobbies that aren't fun. I usually drop into at least 2 or 3 before settling in on one that I like, if I'm by myself.

excom101

Off topic-- but FYI, chess, I've picked up Dead Island (haven't popped it in yet) and Borderlands 2 (should arrive Friday). If you ever want to play either, just let me know.

chess

I'm not sure when I'll get back to Dead Island, but I really would LOVE to get a consistent 3 man game going in Borderlands. The way the first game scaled for multiple players increased the chaos by huge margins and improved the loot drops fairly substantially.

Whatever night is good for you and Flip, I can work with.

Or maybe we could set it up ad hoc like you guys do in NCAA.

story

I probably won't be picking up Borderlands 2 any time soon, sorry. It definitely looks cool but a $60 just isn't in the budget right now. I have some credit at a used video game store so maybe sometime down the road. Any thoughts on what a good used price will be and at what point it will be a good price (for example, the longer it's out, the cheaper the used copies would be, I'd assume, but what's the magic number combo?)?

Plus, I've got a few games to play through before I go picking up new stuff: Dead Space 2 (nabbed a clearance copy for $10 at TRU and just started - it's awesome!), Uncharted (only halfway through, will probably have to start over so I can remember how to play), and untouched single-player campaigns in Medal of Honor, Mass Effect 2 (my bro picked this up for me and I haven't opened it yet), and now, thanks to the ever-generous, ever-gracious yawmush, Black Ops (and yes, I will do my best to be on late this Thursday!).

I tried playing BFBC single player tonight and I honestly got motion sickness. The color palette, the motion, and everything seeming to be just out of focus made me dizzy enough after twenty minutes that I thought I was going to puke.

chess

I don't know that I'd ever buy BL2 used. If it follows the pattern for the original game in any way, you'll come across an opportunity to buy it at $40 new over the holidays...or you could just buy it for $50 now, assuming the $10 credit is still available. Also, by the time you get a decent used price, they'll release a Game of the Year edition or some other edition with the DLC.

My Black Ops hasn't come yet...hate that I have to unlock stuff in that game, because I likely can't be bothered to do it.

I still don't own BFBC...could never rationalize buying it with so many of the maps in BC2. I played through the BC2 single player, and it was kind of amusing here and there but was nothing compared to multiplayer, and I'm sure I'll never do it again.

19K

For Borderlands 2, I can't commit to any one specific day because I work different days every week. But I'll be picking it up first thing Tuesday and will probably be playing it for an unhealthy amount of time for the foreseeable future. If I'm not already in some type of co-op game, feel free to send an invite, or jump in... or however it works.

chess

The best thing to do is to run multiple characters.

I'll have a solo character to play through and see all of the missions from the best perspective. I'll also have a local coop character that I'll play with my son at home and probably a couple of online characters including one that I hopefully play with a few of you.

Barring that, we just have to make sure that whatever character you bring into our game is within a level of where we are.

19K

The repeating map thing is a byproduct of Rush mode since teams take turns Defending and Attacking. I think it's probably something DICE just overlooked, because it's been eliminated in BF3. You won't convince me that having a flag a little closer to a spawn, or a spawn being elevated, really makes a legitimate difference in Conquest. Once the round starts people are all over the place; running uphill, downhill and sideways... on both sides. Once you capture the first objective (which usually happens in the first few seconds) your spawn becomes irrelevant other than the fact it's where the vehicles are. It then becomes a matter of which team is better. There's no need to do it twice.

I don't know how much time you spent in vehicles in BF3, but you might be overemphasizing the auto-repair feature. It only happens on any non-critical hits. For instance, machine gun damage or single non-direct rocket hits. Any subsequent strikes, or if the initial hit is in the rear, the vehicle becomes disabled and is pretty much immobile. In the disabled state, you will actually "bleed" damage until you repair it (with a tool) back to a FULL 100%. The disable damage counts down just as fast as the auto repair counts up. In this regard vehicles are actually MORE difficult to use than in BC2. I don't recall any type of mobilization penalty in BC2, nor do you "degenerate" health. You could go all the way down to 1% health, and as long as you drive yourself out of harms way, you can repair it. In BF3, when you're disabled you're not moving anywhere so you better kill what's shooting at you. And if you only repair to 99% and try to move out, you can't. The damage will start counting down all over again. The vehicle has to be repaired with a tool to FULL health (so there's no cheating the system and repairing to 60% and letting the auto repair do the rest). Like I said, auto repair really only comes into play on the first hit. Engineers are very much a necessity. In fact, they're probably the MOST used class in BF3 since the vehicles are so pivotal.

With that said, the auto-repair really has had no impact on the success I've had in vehicles. I owe it all to the thermal imager gadget. Pretty much exactly like real life if you've seen it in action. It basically turns your cockpit view black and white. The background is grays and blacks and the targets are bright white. Very easy to spot enemies in bushes, or in windows, or way off in the distance. My K : D ratio usually goes up significantly in vehicles and it's strictly due to a much faster target acquisition on my part. No thermal imager in BC2 = me not being able to see shit

I'm really not overly concerned with winning and losing, or even being the best player. Sometimes you just face a superior team. My biggest peeve is when your base is the only thing available, and you spawn there and are immediately killed because the entire other team is in it. That just frustrates me to no end. That's not possible in BF3. Even if they have all the objectives they can't get too close to the spawn and there's always a way out. And at least I'll be alive for more than a second. A lot of players seem to drop in and out from round to round, so I can usually stick it out til the next map comes up (but going back to the repeating map thing, it suddenly becomes A LOT more difficult to bear).


Anyhow, I don't want to sound like I'm bashing BC2. It's a great game. I just think it's hard for me to get really into it again because it lacks a lot of things I really LOVE about BF3. I'm starting to get used to the weapons and I would really miss the lack of variety and options if I went back to BC2 on a regular basis.

chess

My comment about bailing wasn't really about winning or losing but more about whether you're in a squad/team that is putting up some semblance of a coordinated fight...squadmates communicating...blueberries contributing. I usually get a vibe for how it's going within the first minute and make the call on whether to stay in. And I simply won't stay in a map where my base is being camped.

I also select the map manually when going in so I don't start out cold on an inherently twitchy map. I'll usually try to avoid Nelson Bay or Arica Harbor until I'm warmed up.

story

In case you haven't all shuffled off to Pandora this week, dogowar and I are going to squad up on Friday night around 8:00pm-9:00pm CST and blow stuff up. If you haven't played with him ever or in a while, he's pretty good!

Anybody in?

chess

Odds are, yes...but I am dying to play Borderlands 2.

You would love that game.

jdpatri

Borderlands 2.... om nom.

chess

What's it gonna be Flip? Saturday?

cruzness

Hey you take that borderland talk into the thread it belongs in. Pad stats in the Warhawk thread for pete's sake.

chess

Warhawk has (sadly) run its course.

In a lot of ways, this thread (and CoD/NCAA) is just a continuation of the Warhawk thread.

shumway

I have to figure the active PS3 community here is probably one of the few reasons I stick around. Sadly it seems this site has long since run its course.

jdpatri

Friday is probably more likely for Borderlands. I don't think I'll be around on Saturday night. Plans might change because I don't keep my schedule anymore. I don't know who does... but it's not me.

chess

Mostly true here too. I remember when it was all about DVD Deals and the Otter. Now, it's just you guys and the occassional forays into Sports or TV.