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[raphier]

Just got a mail in from EA, thanking me for playing the beta lol.

"After such strong beginning you may continue by pre-ordering Battlefield Limited Edition."

 

[mr_nothin]

It's called marketing. They're not doing us a bloody favor out of the kindness of their heart, this is part of the marketing campaign.

Who said anything about them not benefiting from the beta??

 

[Makoto]

The fact that I can be on one team and have 4 things unlocked for my gun or be on another team and have 1 unlocked is dramatically stupid.

The the fact that the beta is on Rush is only perpetuating the stupidity. My most used class on Attackers is Assault, so I have I good amount of unlocks for the primary weapon. But since I barely touch Assault on Defenders, I'm left with some weapon without any scopes or attachments like foregrip. It's dumb and a needless grind.

 

[desu]

I still wonder if they even play tested their map before they send it to certification. I could live with some smaller and rare bugs, but especially the shooting through stones and the clipping into the ground stuff is just not acceptable...

 

[iam220]

It's called marketing. They're not doing us a bloody favor out of the kindness of their heart, this is part of the marketing campaign.

How is releasing a beta in this sate going to help with their marketing? Or is DICE delusional about the state of its own beta build?

I still wonder if they even play tested their map before they send it to certification. I could live with some smaller and rare bugs, but especially the shooting through stones and the clipping into the ground stuff is just not acceptable...

They must of missed those bugs in their internal testing or some recent piece of code introduced it, but the public beta testers found them, so now they'll fix it. No worries.

 

[tsigo]

At best they're getting information on server load and fixing some obscure edge-case bugs. While that's important and good, I doubt it outweighs the damage they're doing by giving potential buyers a horrible first impression.

 

[Wazzim]

"After such strong beginning you may continue by pre-ordering Battlefield Limited Edition."

Keep up the momentum and pre-order Battlefield 3 Limited Edition now.

I hope they will make some real 128 player maps/servers later on, the game clearly is capable of it.

 

[evlcookie]

I like how searcing oceania gives me SE, NL servers along with local aussie ones.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

He also said it's not a privilege if you pre-ordered or bought medal of honor...it then makes you entitled to play it because they now have an obligation to you. You really think they had to make this beta open? They could have just restricted it to ppl that bought MoH or just had a closed beta where they randomly chose ppl or something.

Also, DICE pre-faced the whole beta by saying that most of the problems people will see are already fixed. And do you ever check the NEWS section? They have posted things that have/will be fixed by release.
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/devblog/view/2826551895458193965/

They went on to explain what a beta was and what you should expect coming into this.

Ummm, nah it's not the same.

Meh. I don't like to argue. Last post concerning community manager's rant. One, he said that beta IS a privilege if you own MoH LE or preordered BF3. I've done both. I am privileged to play the game and provide feedback whether it sucks ass and blows a load. They could've restricted, but they didn't. It's called "marketing". It's the same marketing that made me buy MoH and the same marketing that made me preorder the game, not only at one location but multiple locations cause they're adding multiple preorder bonus.

And yes, the message is the same. You can tell someone politely to fuck off or you can tell someone how ungrateful they are for playing the beta. Boo Hoo. They've had multiple betas before so this isn't the first time they've experience such an onslaught. Every dev has a beta these days and they all go through intensively positive/negative feedback. Devs need too read through the bullshit to find the good ones and fix it, instead of telling people that it's a privilege that people "beta testing" are helping the devs in fixing the final game.

You DO realize that we are essentially helping DICE in finding the exploits in their buggy game, and ensuring the final product is good to go for the general population, right?

Oh and I have no problem with what they have with the game in terms of bugs; the problem I have is that the SERIOUS issues like being banned or account being compromised are kept away from the general audience and in a forum post. That NEWS section is useless to me if they're using it for things it shouldn't be used for i.e. Random tidbits and not NEWS.

To ensure you understand what a beta is, I'll redirect you to a NEWS section that you provided me:

So there seems to be some confusion around what a beta is. That is why I am posting this in order to clear it up .

Give it a good read

When a new game is created or updated, there are several stages in development before the product can be sold in the commercial marketplace. You might remember our Alpha Trial from July which was the first stage, in which the game is tested by software testers and gamers. A beta version is the name for the second stage of software testing.

The beta version of a software release is considered to be a preview. It has most of the standard features, but is not yet ready for wide release or sale. During this point, the studio will collect feedback from users about the product's usability — what they like and what should be changed — before the game´s wide release. A beta version of a game can be either a closed beta, which is limited to a specific group of users, or an open beta, which is available for the general public to use.


Today, most games are first released in beta version for testing.

"Testing" is the keyword here. It's not a demo, it's a beta.

Oh well... haters gonna hate, indeed.

 

[Woo-Fu]

I still wonder if they even play tested their map before they send it to certification. I could live with some smaller and rare bugs, but especially the shooting through stones and the clipping into the ground stuff is just not acceptable...

Clipping into the ground isn't actually a problem with the map itself. If you've played the beta on a lot of different servers you'll notice the degree of clipping varies from server to server, which means it is a code issue, made worse by latency or server load.

In a lab environment it is pretty safe to assume that you don't clip into the ground like crazy.

 

[skullwolfgp]

Keep up the momentum and pre-order Battlefield 3 Limited Edition now.

And by keep up the momentum they mean start over like everyone else

 

[Metalmurphy]

Clipping into the ground isn't actually a problem with the map itself. If you've played the beta on a lot of different servers you'll notice the degree of clipping varies from server to server, which means it is a code issue, made worse by latency or server load.

In a lab environment it is pretty safe to assume that you don't clip into the ground like crazy.

It's also something that almost never happened in the alpha. Something they screwed up along the way.

 

[Lostconfused]

Ugh. I like how the player with highest score is the worst battlefield player in the game. Does not throw out ammo, or med kits, does not help team mates, runs past the m-com and doesn't arm it. Just going for that sweet K/D ratio.

 

[Wazzim]

Ugh. I like how the player with highest score is the worst battlefield player in the game. Does not throw out ammo, or med kits, does not help team mates, runs past the m-com and doesn't arm it. Just going for that sweet K/D ratio.

It's just because of the Rush mode, he won't keep up in conquest.

 

[AndyD]

I had 0 clipping today and I played on US servers exclusively. While yesterday was unplayable on Eu servers because of the clipping. It seems 100% lag related.

But the flashing and the lighting through walls still happens.

 

[iam220]

I hope they will make some real 128 player maps/servers later on, the game clearly is capable of it.

I don't know ... when I joined the 128 player server, the server browser said there was 113 players in game but upon connecting it was only 40.

 

[mr_nothin]

I had 0 clipping today and I played on US servers exclusively. While yesterday was unplayable on Eu servers because of the clipping. It seems 100% lag related.

But the flashing and the lighting through walls still happens.

They sent out server side patches that fixed the clipping (disabled terrain deformation for now)

 

[desu]

Changes alot. You think you we're the ones that gonna choose what map to play? If it was up to everyone that's complaining we'd have everything on the beta. Every map, every unlock, every level, etc.

Eh yeah .... totally!

NOT!

The point is, if Caspian Border had been the official beta map (like everyone expected), probably 90%+ of the people had been happy and you would have seen far less bitching.

Instead they decided to give us Metro again, more buggy than ever before and cocktease us with passworded CP for "selected community members".

I didnt want to play another CoD clone, people expected a true Battlefield experience. This messy beta/demo just wont win over lots of people. What a missed opportunity.

Like Ive said so often now, their handling of the beta is just so bad, its unbelievable.

 

[Woo-Fu]

"Testing" is the keyword here. It's not a demo, it's a beta.

A. beta and demo are not mutually exclusive terms.
B. quibbling over semantics is pointless.

Clearly the "beta" is a marketing tool. I'd like to submit into evidence the program to get into beta early by pre-ordering or buying MoH. Arguing that there isn't a marketing/demo aspect to this in the face of that evidence is silly.

Secondly, having played both maps it is quite obvious that 64 player conquest mode needs MUCH more "testing" than 32 player rush mode. Yet we're "testing" rush mode on metro. Hmmm.

Only reason to do that is to cater to the CoD crowd your corporate overlords are drooling over. You can't doubt that is the case either after all of the marketing jabs, subtle and not-so-subtle at CoD:MW.

Call it what you want, the buggy state of the "beta" which has to go gold within in a week or two to meet its ship date is providing a very poor "demo" for console customers.

I'm confident DICE will have most of these issues fixed by the summer of 2012, at least on PC. In the meantime I find the game enjoyable enough to play even with the bugs, and even in rush mode which I don't really care for. YMMV, particularly if you're playing on console.

 

[mr_nothin]

Meh. I don't like to argue. Last post concerning community manager's rant. One, he said that beta IS a privilege if you own MoH LE or preordered BF3. I've done both. I am privileged to play the game and provide feedback whether it sucks ass and blows a load. They could've restricted, but they didn't. It's called "marketing". It's the same marketing that made me buy MoH and the same marketing that made me preorder the game, not only at one location but multiple locations cause they're adding multiple preorder bonus.

And yes, the message is the same. You can tell someone politely to fuck off or you can tell someone how ungrateful they are for playing the beta. Boo Hoo. They've had multiple betas before so this isn't the first time they've experience such an onslaught. Every dev has a beta these days and they all go through intensively positive/negative feedback. Devs need too read through the bullshit to find the good ones and fix it, instead of telling people that it's a privilege that people "beta testing" are helping the devs in fixing the final game.

You DO realize that we are essentially helping DICE in finding the exploits in their buggy game, and ensuring the final product is good to go for the general population, right?

Oh and I have no problem with what they have with the game in terms of bugs; the problem I have is that the SERIOUS issues like being banned or account being compromised are kept away from the general audience and in a forum post. That NEWS section is useless to me if they're using it for things it shouldn't be used for i.e. Random tidbits and not NEWS.

To ensure you understand what a beta is, I'll redirect you to a NEWS section that you provided me:



"Testing" is the keyword here. It's not a demo, it's a beta.

Oh well... haters gonna hate, indeed.

He didnt say that the beta is a privilege if you preordered bf3/bought moh. You're going to have to point that out to me and walk me through it because from what I'm reading, he's saying it's only a privilege if you didnt preorder/buy moh. If you did any of those 2 actions then it becomes a right and they are obligated to provide you with a beta.

I know what a beta is and I know why they released the beta to the public. Bug finding, stress testing, allow ppl to play early/marketing.

Both parties can benefit from something that is a privilege.
One example is sex

 

[desu]

Clipping into the ground isn't actually a problem with the map itself. If you've played the beta on a lot of different servers you'll notice the degree of clipping varies from server to server, which means it is a code issue, made worse by latency or server load.

In a lab environment it is pretty safe to assume that you don't clip into the ground like crazy.

Uhm, if I am not mistaken, there are points on the map where you can always clip into the ground, no matter what ping you have. And this is actually at some really obvious points ...

 

[Woo-Fu]

Ugh. I like how the player with highest score is the worst battlefield player in the game. Does not throw out ammo, or med kits, does not help team mates, runs past the m-com and doesn't arm it. Just going for that sweet K/D ratio.

You're wrong, FYI. K/D ratio is NOT how you maximize score. Dying doesn't really matter at all, except the obvious "I can't get any points while dead".

The way you maximize score is to force engagement as often as possible, which means using short to medium range weapons and running around Rambo-style. This too is not really what I'd consider battlefield gameplay. So while I agree with you that the scoring system doesn't reward battlefield-gameplay, it doesn't have anything to do with K/D ratio.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Uhm, if I am not mistaken, there are points on the map where you can always clip into the ground, no matter what ping you have. And this is actually at some really obvious points ...

Nope. I can prone all day in those spots on a 35 ping server with only a handful of players and not clip into the ground.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Ugh. I like how the player with highest score is the worst battlefield player in the game. Does not throw out ammo, or med kits, does not help team mates, runs past the m-com and doesn't arm it. Just going for that sweet K/D ratio.

Another reason why I believe the Beta build is pretty old: in the Alpha, as well as Beta, a kill is 100 points and MCOM destruction is only 200. Demize said well over a month ago that they have increased the MCOM points.

 

[mr_nothin]

Another reason why I believe the Beta build is pretty old: in the Alpha, as well as Beta, a kill is 100 points and MCOM destruction is only 200. Demize said well over a month ago that they have increased the MCOM points.

Yea, I thought about that on the 1st day of playing the BETA.
The Beta is old. There are a lot of design choices, that they've tweeted about, that havent been implemented yet.

 

[desu]

Another reason why I believe the Beta build is pretty old: in the Alpha, as well as Beta, a kill is 100 points and MCOM destruction is only 200. Demize said well over a month ago that they have increased the MCOM points.

Hmm, maybe they just didnt include it in the beta even its newer?

I really wish Dice was much clearer on this than "bla bla its an old build".

 

[iam220]

I didnt want to play another CoD clone, people expected a true Battlefield experience. This messy beta/demo just wont win over lots of people. What a missed opportunity.

Hrm, it's almost as if winning people over is not the actual point of a beta.

 

[PaleFolklore]

I really wish there was a way to change your in game name. Unless there is and I'm missing it. Is there? How do you become a squad leader? There is no option for it in the squad menu and I'd like to do it when I join a squad and there's no leader.

 

[Makoto]

How do you become a squad leader?

Hope.

Hrm, it's almost as if winning people over is not the actual point of a beta.

Then why did they put all those, "PRE-ORDER NOW!" Signs all over it?

 

[mr_nothin]

Hmm, maybe they just didnt include it in the beta even its newer?

I really wish Dice was much clearer on this than "bla bla its an old build".

I'm not sure how much clearer they need to be.

They said it's an old build of the game and there are a lot of things in the beta that they have already fixed. This was before the beta even came out.

 

[Keasar]

I really wish there was a way to change your in game name. Unless there is and I'm missing it. Is there? How do you become a squad leader? There is no option for it in the squad menu and I'd like to do it when I join a squad and there's no leader.

Seems like that the squad leader is somehow chosen automatically at random, or the guy who joins a squad first. Probably when the game is released it is the party leader that is chosen as squad leader.

By the way, anyone know how you get the smoke grenades? I miss those alot right now.

 

[Nekrono]

What exactly do you gain by being the squad leader?

I know you can mark targets to attack/defend but what else?

 

[Woo-Fu]

I really wish there was a way to change your in game name. Unless there is and I'm missing it. Is there? How do you become a squad leader? There is no option for it in the squad menu and I'd like to do it when I join a squad and there's no leader.

Can't change name in beta. In release you'll be able to run multiple soldiers, with presumably different names.

Can't choose to be squad leader, can't choose squad. The only way to do it now:

 

[DarkoMaledictus]

Changes alot. You think you we're the ones that gonna choose what map to play? If it was up to everyone that's complaining we'd have everything on the beta. Every map, every unlock, every level, etc.

The problem isn't the lack of content, its the poor choice of content. To me Metro convoys BF3 trying to copy Modern Warfare. Bcbc2 beta sold me on the game... this is turning me away.

 

[iam220]

Then why did they put all those, "PRE-ORDER NOW!" Signs all over it?

Marketing: Put some pre-order now signs in this beta, otherwise it'll be a missed opportunity.
dev: Ok.

 

[desu]

Hrm, it's almost as if winning people over is not the actual point of a beta.

I am sure you realize that tons of potential buyers are playing this, what do you win by showing them what they already get from MW3? And yeah wont even talk about the preorder this game signs everywhere ...

 

[Makoto]

Marketing: Put some pre-order now signs in this beta, otherwise it'll be a missed opportunity.
dev: Ok.

So winning people over is actually one huge point of this beta.

 

[DarkoMaledictus]

I'm not sure how much clearer they need to be.

They said it's an old build of the game and there are a lot of things in the beta that they have already fixed. This was before the beta even came out.

An old build of a beta... lol, that would be called a poor man's demo. Devs want to get their latest build to test game content, not shove some old build to the PUBLIC. Besides, game is almost going to release, this beta is just a glorified DEMO with a bunch of bugs and a poor choice of map. Marketing team fails!

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Are you now able to play with your friends in the same squad?

 

[Kintaro]

Reading through the thread while I sit here in a hospital enduring sets for a future liver transplant, I realize talk things.

1) I still just want to play my beta but I'm 12 hours away from my pc.

2) you guys take games way too seriously. :/

 

[RS4-]

Are you now able to play with your friends in the same squad?

Out of luck, yes.

Best bet it to leave squad then find one and hopefully you're on the same one.

The m1014 is horrible compared to the 870.

Where is my damn crouch toggle!

 

[MutantCyborg]

Did DICE take down all of the Caspian Border servers? I can't seem to find one now that the Beta is working kind of correctly.

Also, WTF is with this most recent patch enabling Motion Blur and making you not be able to turn it off?

 

[desu]

Yes, they said testing of CP is over.

 

[Ezduo]

This isn't true is it?

 

[desu]

Posted this earlier, DICE loves battlelog . We can only hope that his doesnt exclude squadding from ingame.

 

[iam220]

I am sure you realize that tons of potential buyers are playing this, what do you win by showing them what they already get from MW3? And yeah wont even talk about the preorder this game signs everywhere ...

You don't win anything, because that's not the point of the beta.

So winning people over is actually one huge point of this beta.

I don't follow your logic, because someone put some pre-order images it suddenly becomes marketing-focused? Why wouldn't they put those in there? Regardless what this beta was set out to accomplish it always makes business sense to put in something that says "hey guys, how about giving us some money". I mean ... it doesn't hurt. The mere inclusion of it does not suddenly shift the focus to marketing.

 

[Ezduo]

Posted this earlier, DICE loves battlelog .

How does that even work exactly? You have to set up squads before you enter the game? And if you don't you're basically stuck in whatever squad they put you in? I don't understand.

 

[desu]

You don't win anything, because that's not the point of the beta.

Uhm, those potential buyers wont really care too much if this is called beta or demo or what YOU think the point of a beta is. I mean dice even needed to make an extra post to clarify "what a beta is". Point stands, lost opportunity.

 

[Jakeh111]

Why can't I connect to any games, it just sits at Joining Server. Didn't have this issue in the alpha.

 

[Makoto]

I don't follow your logic, because someone put some pre-order images it suddenly becomes marketing-focused? Why wouldn't they put those in there? Regardless what this beta was set out to accomplish it always makes business sense to put in something that says "hey guys, how about giving us some money". I mean ... it doesn't hurt. The mere inclusion of it does not suddenly shift the focus to marketing.

The point of a beta in the eyes of EA managers is to win people over. Fixing bugs as well, yes but they want the general public to play their game and say to themselves, "Wow, this game is quite fun, I want to buy and play the full version when it comes." EA has this view because the general gaming audience looks at betas as a sneak peek of what the final game will be. This beta is as much a marketing tool being used to win people over as it is a means of finding issues and bugs for the developers. The former is especially true when the game is about to be released less than a month.