Sixshot

Looks like they finally posted the changelog for their big update. Seen here: http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/11/21/multiple-fixes-and-new-squad-functionality-in-today-s-pc-patch-for-battlefield-3.aspx Some notables: * new squad management UI * fixes for Eyefinity/Surround users (finally...) * Grenades now drop to ground if killed while throwing (can you say Manual Martyrdom?) * should no longer spawn too close to enemies in TDM, SQDM, or Conquest (woopie... but I wonder what's their threshold) * "A large number of damage and range tweaks on a number of weapons to fine-tune overall balance in the game" (but that still doesn't fix the fact that the game favors vehicle warfare more than infantry play. Bleh....) * EOD Bot exploit fix * Several server crash fixes * Anti-stat padding measures taken, disallowing ranked servers to run obscure settings (wonder what obscure setting is that...) * Improved team kill kick configuration (yay~) * Support for unranked servers (rawr!) Well... they plan to deploy this in the middle of the night... two hour downtime according to them. 11P Pacific to 2A Pacific, 2A Eastern to 4A Eastern. During that timeframe, everyone will be playing Skyrim, be in Sleep Mode, or whatever...

Two sides to a coin. I've known that for a few months now and I'm still wondering just wtf happened. Here's the thing that really raises my question. GGC states that they were not given enough lead time in order to respond. So I wonder how much of a lead time did Maydax gave to the folks at GGC on the matter. I ain't gonna probe into this entire matter. Just that what I read from this particular thread really raises question(s). I doubt it's going to affect me in the end, since I do multi-streaming thanks to the PBUCON system. Like anyone would have said, if you need those additional banlist, just sign up and stream to them as well. GGC also uses PBUCON so it takes little time and effort to set up a secondary stream.

Given the hours posted, it should not be a major issue for my peeps. Most of my clanmates are either KO'd on the bed or elsewhere screwing around in Squad Deathmatch. Here's to hoping a smooth checkup on the machines.

Ah, it's been a while, peeps. I see I have missed much. But given the timestamps, not by a whole lot. Posted a tweet thanking GVD and DICE crew for helping to set all of this up. I am very surprised that all this went through. While it would have been easier to secretly hand Maydax the server files, at the very least, they were able to communicate with us in getting it all set up. My clan's planning to put up a server on launch day. I'll be sure to check back for setup instructions as I poke around with the GSP admin interface. Let the good times roll. :)

Best Weapon: Frying Pan... or the guitar... Can't go wrong by going Honky Tonk Man on the zombies. No competition? Sure they had competition. Borderlands, Left 4 Dead 2, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, just to name a few off the top of my head. The problem is too many people bought into the hype. The media pretty much brainwashed all those who wanted something new to play. And like brainless zombies running in to get slaughtered, they all rushed out to get MW2. I'm still keeping tabs on Xfire's game/play hour tracking. And each week I see the numbers go down bit by bit, little by little. Each time the weekend rolls around, it spikes up. But every time the weekend passes and the weekdays roll around, it goes into a slump. Compared that to CoD4, and you see a similar trend but with one big difference -- the numbers are consistent and the graph pattern is steady. IW says that VAC will provide a cheat-free environment. With all the cheating going around as evident from player experience, is it too much to demand for a refund for a defective product? This isn't quality product that IW is making it out to be. And how is the game balanced when certain kill streak perk will boost your kill streak far enough to reward you with the nuke? A P2P multi-player environment where anything or everything goes can go unchecked, can we really consider that balanced? And they try to get skeptics to play the game first rather than get a definitive answer? Pffft... Also... surfy mentioned: What we need is a revival of Tribes! Jetpack-totin', mortar-launching, mid-air-discing good ol' fun. If only it can be recreated down to the network code and HUD customizations...

Maybe not related but I found it pretty funny: Modern Warfare 2 hack breaks PS3 leaderboards Another bonus point for Modern WarFAIL 2! :)

Here's a more robust form for that #include line #IF (revenue > productionCost) #include "iwnet.h" #DEFINE GREED TRUE #UNDEF REPUTABLE #ELSE #include "dedicated_servers.h" #ENDIF

I just read that ArsTech article and found it to be quite a good read. I personally do not mind Steam as a service but I kinda wish that there was a better way to manage how we keep our games. I just want to be able to take a game and be able to gift it or remove the game completely from my account. Or perhaps in the case of my friend, be able to take a game that's already linked on one account (for which he has user/pass access to) and bring it over to his primary/main account. I know that there are possible and potential issues with this. But it'd sure go a long way if I can remove a game or gift a game that I no longer want on my account. On a different note... I stumbled across this:

So I was at GameStop/EBGames at the local mall today. I figure I'd put in a pre-order for Bad Company 2. The guy there immediately recognized the type of player that I am, a person who wants their dedicated servers. He mentioned that he couldn't believe they did that. And I referred him to World in Conflict, where the the idea and goal that IW wanted can be implemented still with dedicated servers in place. It does work. It can work. It really puts a smile on my face that he is a supporter of dedicated servers. Something like that really wasn't on my mind when I was there to pre-order.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/call-of-duty-6/1048834p1.html This doesn't bode well for the future of society if this keeps up. "Mr. President, the president of Iran is on line 2." "Tell him I'll call him back later after this team deathmatch round."

At least you know you'll be in a game once it's loaded. There's a guarantee on that front. :)

Man... before anyone dares to watch that video, make sure you mute it! Terrible terrible music to go w/ it. Makes me wanna listen to Cotton Eye Joe instead. So about 7 minutes of waiting and still no game. Nothing like sitting around twiddlin' yer thumbs waiting for a game to start when anyone can just jump onto a random server and get into the action right away. To IW's credit. It is easier to get into a game. What they didn't tell you is what kind: the Waiting Game. Round 1: IDLE!

Yeah I think everyone has seen that first one there. But then... think of it this way: all of this is to make the game more balanced! After all, why fight when you can spam bullets from the AC-130! Killstreak perk 1: UAV. Killstreak perk 2: AC-130 or attack chopper. Killstreak perk 3: Nuke. That's all anyone could need.

Posted via OfficialBF2142 twitter: http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-2142/854112-list-fixes-1-51-patch-please.html#post11975444 Removal of DRM Two new community maps Operation Blue Pearl Northern Strike booster pack included It's an interesting start. I never bought Northern Strike and I found it to be not worth it at the time. But now that they are including it, it'll give everyone a chance to make their profile more complete. The removal of DRM is also great, but I am starting to find that they are doing it just because the game is so old.

Not surprising that they'd be disabling CD keys from unauthorized resellers. But if the key is legit, why are they being disabled anyway? I'd take that $30 and use it for L4D2... just sayin'. :)

Yes, I'm going back to Pong. Screw all these new games... And when I'm done with that, I'll be hunting grues.

I heard about the people who don't hold true to their words and those who did end up playing the game ought to be ashamed. I refuse to bother with the game, even if was a gift or given for free. I'd rather burn the box and disc than to play a single second. I'm ready to commit to that, to never have played MW2. I've been ready ever since I have decided long ago, well before the server news broke out, to not bother with the game. But that's just me. I do enjoy a well-made game ... but one thing that always ticks me off is how some issues never get resolved or that it takes a developer years to actually start doing something about it. What ever happened to playing great games that doesn't have the greatest graphics? Can't I just walk to some dark place and be eaten by a grue?

Here's a pretty good review of the game, PC version specifically. It's a good read. http://arstechnica.c...arfare-2-pc.ars

Either that or they paid GoogleTube a good sum of money for it. Since when is showcasing a cheat in a video game considered copyright infringement? Besides, I'd rather see those videos so I'd know what to look for (you know... educational purposes).

Tho mostly unrelated, I gotta fess up. I was at the local Walmart (bleh...) and stumbled across a guy debating on getting MW2. He wanted to know if there's any reviews on the game yet. So I asked on which version he wants to know... obviously the 360. And I laid it all out, almost like a pitchman. Told him that early reviews say it's good, mentioned about the controversy about a part in single-player, mentioned same MP experience as CoD4, mentioned about the 25 kill streak nuke. He sounds quite interested in it and ended up buying it. So... yeah... I helped make a sale for MW2.

Yeah, I'll definitely get this game for hackin'. ;P And they can't kick me for it! Bwahahahaha! *ahem* That lag video... I like how the idiot says "server" instead of "host". The first thing that came to mind was "what server? There is no server!" I don't need a game where I end up playing like I have a 56k modem when I'm on a 12/2 cable connection. If I want to play like that, I'll play other games on a 56k modem!

Looks like a video edit to me to "simulate" the PC gameplay. Source material is here:

Hehe. I need to find one of those. But unfortunately, if I take a permanent marker, I may be accused of vandalism if I were to write all sorts of... "comments" on it. I'm personally tempted to make a stack of "do not buy modern warfare 2" fliers and hand 'em out to people at Best Buy on Wednesday. Either that or go inside and put them next to every place where a MW2 shelf is at. I wonder which will get the message across better.

It looks so new! *sniff-sniff* Even has that new forum smell too! I notice the sign-in page has OpenID support. I tried to login via that but it doesn't seem to be working. I put in the OpenID URL in and it tells me both username and password field must be filled. Tried it that way and I got no notifications of authorizing it on my OpenID page/site. I'm guessing that support for it is borked for the time being? Or no planned support for it? It doesn't matter for me really, but would be nice to have anyway. :)