There are no unofficial servers for BF3. They're the exact same servers in fact, only now someone has to rent them for people to play.
EA DICE withdrew nearly every official server from BF3 (PS360)
- Thread starter crimsonheadGCN
- Start date
Metalmurphy
Member
You got the order backwards.
Apocryphon
Member
Couple of times now I've been "killed by admin". Not "kicked", but "killed". Probably because I shot a Javelin up their ass...
Yeah, that's butthurt Admins. Me and PS3GAF got banned from a server where we joined early but all the flags were taken and we were bleeding and took the flags and held them with our life.
Kicked my deaf ass first because they couldn't admit they were getting their asses kicked by a cripple and his team.
Butthurt admins have made the PS3 version 20x worse along with 500% ticket Rush. For those that play Babby mode that only has 3-flags so it's ZZZzzZZZZZZzZZZZzzZZZz when you cap those within the first five minutes and then base camp because the maps have no flanking routes: 500% rush is zerg-tactics the game. Defense has no chance to defend unless they basically spawn trap you and then rape your spawn points. That's it. There's no "back and forth" movement like 100% Rush.
Babby mode is just as bad: 500% Metro is one of the most awful things I have ever played (but soooooogood.gif for leveling). I full expect all servers to be Metro 24/7 500% Tickets!!!!!!!! today with the (IMO, stupid) 2x EXP weekend starting today. Because it's the fastest way to get 4,000+ EXP in a round.
Games are getting cheaper. At least the disk is.
Where the price adds up is the bullshit DLC and shitty things like this.
dragonelite
Member
I thought people knew what i mean with official server the ones popping in the server browser with DICE in their name.
Kinda like on pc where there are/were only a couple of trusted providers.
Still give me a reason to keep up a empty server that bleeds money as a company.
If i were DICE or EA i would probably do the same thing if i saw 90% of our servers are empty or could be rented.
But i would still put up back server if i saw the official servers are getting used again 90% of the time. Have to be efficient and try to not waste money.
Apocryphon
Member
360.
I've been kicked a couple of times too - which is more frustrating when you're 3/4 of the way into the match. Guess some of them are just making room for clan members and such. I suppose because they're paying for it they can do what they want...
I don't mind 200%+ tickets on the biggest maps, but the rent a server update has definitely reduced the amount of time I put in because of all the other bullshit that comes with it... like "no mortars!" or "no frag12".
Suppose pistols-only might be interesting though.
dragonelite
Member
I find dedicated servers renting a big step forward. It just takes more games to do it and people with clans or communities that want good repetition kinda like on pc. In bf3 on pc you know when you see a server with X word in it you know its a good server and no bullshit from admins or they have specific rules.
CommonSense
Banned
I have no issues finding EA servers (360) but Dice servers are even gone out of my favorites.
In case you don't know search P24 for EA's offerings.
In case you don't know search P24 for EA's offerings.
I haven't seen it in writing, but before they went offline entirely, that was how EA handled their official servers, renting them out and then reverting to official servers when no one rented them.
Surprised at the huge negative reaction. You don't need to pay anything to play (outside of an Xbox gold membership) and I find it highly unlikely that there will be a lack of of servers anytime soon. If you can't find a server with normal tickets or your preferred settings you aren't trying hard enough. Very rarely have a problem with kiddie admins either. But if you are having trouble finding a good server, do a server search for "watermelon patch" if you're on 360.
The Faceless Master
Member
hahah i joined a 500 ticket rush server once and one of the rules was "no arming the objectives until there's under 100 tickets"
yeah, i also found 0 DICE servers when i checked yesterday on Xbox 360.
The Faceless Master
Member
well, the limited edition could be found by me well into november, but the regular edition also started showing up around that time. i know people who got the game in december and bought B2K.
well, on console, all the servers are hosted in the same places with the same pings. and despite DICE's completely ridiculous server setup, when the official servers were available, people would still hunt for and find them. they weren't empty. there are tons of empty rented servers now though. i guess we shouldn't expect a for profit company to choose paying for a server vs getting paid their cut of $2 a day for a server...
Unknown One
Member
Whoa that is ridiculous. It's almost like PC gaming at times due to having server admins.
Just hilarious ... glad I am not playing the game anymore and I certainly wont buy their dlc any time soon.
Metalmurphy
Member
They are adding them.
"DICE will continue to add servers and will reserve a percentage of servers for players who prefer to connect through DICE-hosted servers."
http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/12/ea-to-add-more-dice-servers-to-battlefield-3/
MarshMellow96
Member
"Battlefield 3, anyone?"
"Okay, sure, let's party up"
*gets into game*
"Dude, why are you on the other team?"
It sounds like DICE needs to implement a more reliable way to quick match to those official servers. I think it has to be said though that official EA servers were available from the beginning on PC, but everyone flocked to the player-run servers. I think BF3 console players will soon find out that the general playerbase wants the high ticket matches and the 24/7 Operation Metro servers as evidenced by the PC. Just like the Black Ops playerbase wanted to play Nuketown the majority of the time. When you have a persistent ranking system driven by an unlock system, that's all the players are going to think about accomplishing. And for that, I feel BF3's game design is to be blamed, not the dedicated servers themselves.
This situation has made me stop playing. I was actually hoping they'd patch in the option to search for 'official' servers with normal rules since I'm sick to death of bullshit "500% Tickets CQ METRO LOL" games, but no, doesn't seem they're doing that now. Sure, I could spend 10 minutes looking and hoping for a game that fits the 'normal' settings rules, and sure, I could just join a 500% ticket game, but I want to play the game the devs intended. I don't have the patience or time to play the same map for 50 minutes until the end - I get bored after 20 minutes, which is generally how long the matches used to last. Sorry, Dice, after 122 hours - you've lost me.
Heh, that's actually 1 part of the game I actually feel that they improved. After the recent patch, it was rare that me and a friend would be on different teams. It was actually a reason I didn't play as much as I did pre-patch, but now there's new reasons I don't play as much.
Nope, just the people who want to rent a server. I just hope the renters get bored of their 500% Tickets LOL Metro matches and return to normal soon.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
On one hand people did this to themselves. They asked for rented servers so they can set up rooms their own way and play it to their liking. Once rented servers hit people bought every one that was available and thus everybody ended up playing on rented servers.
However, the vast majority of the players are not renting servers but merely just playing on those servers because that is what they are getting put into. So while it may appear rented servers are popular, it is really a small group that is actually renting them and then funnels all the rest of the players into the rented servers. That's where people take issue with it. Quick matching should still prioritize official Dice and EA servers (WITHOUT the need of filters), and then I bet you would find a lot more Official servers in use and not empty like they are now.
However, the vast majority of the players are not renting servers but merely just playing on those servers because that is what they are getting put into. So while it may appear rented servers are popular, it is really a small group that is actually renting them and then funnels all the rest of the players into the rented servers. That's where people take issue with it. Quick matching should still prioritize official Dice and EA servers (WITHOUT the need of filters), and then I bet you would find a lot more Official servers in use and not empty like they are now.
IdreamofHIME
Member
Are there any servers where the goal isn't a bazillion tickets?
All servers seem focused on just killing to level up, rather than working as teams to beat the objective. Awful.
All servers seem focused on just killing to level up, rather than working as teams to beat the objective. Awful.
thing is though that quickmatch simply puts you in game that have players in them. people who rent servers usually have a set of friends that help fill servers: and quickmatch logically puts you in those games first since playing on an empty server is boring. Official servers don't have that as a result they stay empty.
also from experience of the past BF-titles: servers with high ticket counts and only one/two maps in rotation are by far the most popular and this is the reason why most player run server work this way, those who rent servers like to fill them up. (eg: BF2 had tons of karkand only servers with no vehicles, BF 2142 focused heavily on cerbere landing / gibraltar, bad company 2 had lots of servers with very few maps in rotation a.s.o.)
the best thing to do is to take the time to add a server to your favourites if you liked its settings after playing a round, there are player run servers with vanilla settings too oh and don't use quickmatch, use the browser.
DodgyGeezerFella
Member
Precisely my problem ive had with dedicated servers for the past few years.
Games at release are an absolute blast, but slowly and surely i always find servers start blocking this n that, putting the limit on certain rules higher, server admins as bad as the 12 year olds you get on Xbox Live, and basically changing the the game i once loved into a mess.
Not that im against servers that change things up (dear lordy did i have some fun on 64 player Shipment in CoD4), i only find it to be a problem when it becomes such a hassle to find a straight forward normal ruled standard game. I just dont know why its so hard for a developer to make some kind of filter that basically doesnt show games that have deviated from the default server settings.
I beleive what Man-is-Obsolete has said, most players just go with what there given, be it quick matched into a server or picking the quickest populated server going. Given the option of a standard ruled populated game they would go with that if they could.
Anyone know what the deal is with CS:GO ? They seem to have standard ruled games you select from and it puts you in a server with those rules. Are they official servers ?
Games at release are an absolute blast, but slowly and surely i always find servers start blocking this n that, putting the limit on certain rules higher, server admins as bad as the 12 year olds you get on Xbox Live, and basically changing the the game i once loved into a mess.
Not that im against servers that change things up (dear lordy did i have some fun on 64 player Shipment in CoD4), i only find it to be a problem when it becomes such a hassle to find a straight forward normal ruled standard game. I just dont know why its so hard for a developer to make some kind of filter that basically doesnt show games that have deviated from the default server settings.
I beleive what Man-is-Obsolete has said, most players just go with what there given, be it quick matched into a server or picking the quickest populated server going. Given the option of a standard ruled populated game they would go with that if they could.
Anyone know what the deal is with CS:GO ? They seem to have standard ruled games you select from and it puts you in a server with those rules. Are they official servers ?
The Faceless Master
Member
you can't use quickmatch for a quick match because they drop you in custom games, some of which have 500% tickets. you'll have to use the search in the server browser and find official DICE servers to play on if you want ~15m games.
that's because they auto-balance to both teams when you join as a squad, so a 2-1, 2-2 or 3-1 split can easily happen if the teams were already close to even or even. i guess DICE didn't like the BC2 style wher it just put all 4 squad members onto one side and stacked the game until more people got matched to the other side...
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
I understand that, but they should have had some way to prioritize the Official servers, even if they are empty they would fill up fast with those that are quick matching, which majority of the players Quick Match.
It all raises the question of was this the plan all along? To get people to cover the cost of the servers? It certainly seems like it. I mean Bad Company 2 had private rooms and now BF3 doesn't? For What, to sell it to us later? It all seems shady, and Activision has to be looking at this and saying "Now that's not a bad idea!".
On a personal level it sucks because in the past we have heard rumors of Pay 2 Play for shooters like COD and BF and others and it is quickly becoming a reality. Tack on to that great shooters of the past like Ghost Recon, Socom, and others are trying to emulate said games and failing miserably, therefore, appealing to barely anyone.
Sad time to be a fan of online shooters, we are witnessing the downfall happen right front of us.
as I mentioned serveral times Battlefield has worked in this fashion since 2005 (Battlefield 2), you've always had to rent ranked servers from EA.
the difference to more traditional shooters like CS, Quake or TF2 is that in BF you can only rent them from EA whereas you can rent from Anyone in the other games or use your own if you have one (they all cost money though, it's just a lot cheaper). Activision and COD have the advantage that the player count and the action in the game are both small scale, so they work fine with P2P connections. This would be impossible for Battlefield.
a big reason for why you can only rent from EA are the stats and unlocks which would be more difficult in a decentralized system (not a big loss imo), they used to have "unranked servers" in BF2 and 2142 in which you could play without your rank and unlocks (those were server settings) but since Bad company 2 only ranked servers are possible.
edit: also as mentioned above, the "official settings" are very rarely the most popular ones. I have yet to see an online shooter that wasn't completely focused on a few maps or crazy settings if the players could set up their own servers
First of all: I know this has been clarified, but I will say it again. THE RENTAL SERVICE IS NOT TO PLAY, IS FOR CUSTOMIZE THE RULES. So, I'm not renting a server, I don't need it to, I play "free" (yeah, xbox live and season pass and the shit) whenever I want.
Yes, I know there are many bs servers. 500%, no sniper, no guns, no knife, no camping (actually I like no base camping)... but those who look, will find. I have three or four favorite servers, no EA/DICE that are really good.
My complaints
I think the price is high. It is like a new game every month.
Many people rent the servers so they can practice... Why not implement a shooting range and some training for vehicles? Actually, I think it would be best the second disc had a training mode and not a Campaign mode.
And last, but not least, are the filters. Actually, they are very good, but please, no filtering on ticket percentage, or looking only for official servers is annoying.
Other than that I'm having a blast with this fantastic game, fuck EA, this is a DICE masterwork...
Yes, I know there are many bs servers. 500%, no sniper, no guns, no knife, no camping (actually I like no base camping)... but those who look, will find. I have three or four favorite servers, no EA/DICE that are really good.
My complaints
I think the price is high. It is like a new game every month.
Many people rent the servers so they can practice... Why not implement a shooting range and some training for vehicles? Actually, I think it would be best the second disc had a training mode and not a Campaign mode.
And last, but not least, are the filters. Actually, they are very good, but please, no filtering on ticket percentage, or looking only for official servers is annoying.
Other than that I'm having a blast with this fantastic game, fuck EA, this is a DICE masterwork...
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
I guess for myself and many others it is frustrating because it removes a lot of the fun the game itself has. Instead of jumping into an official server with every map and rules that make sense, people now have to wade through servers that are Operation Metro 500 tickets only maps and so on. You might have the patience for it and it may have been going on for PC gamers for 7 years, but it doesn't mean it is the solution that best serves the interests of the consumer then or now.
BTW I am fine with rented servers for those that want to create their own ranked rooms with silly rules even though it defeats the purpose of having ranked rooms if they all aren't under the same rules, but I digress. However, like I said in my original post Official Servers with all the maps available and original rules should be prioritized first to accommodate the average player that wants to jump on and play the game the way it was intended. I don't get why that is such a terrible thing.
I prefer to play with (mostly) vanilla rules as well so i understand you. I guess since this has been going on from the begining in the PC space i'm used to having to "look" for a few good servers and favorite them as i find them.
If people have trouble finding games they want, the error lies with the server browser not the parctice of renting servers btw. and while DICE make exellent games their server browers haven't really been their strong point so far and bf 3 is no exeption there is still room for improvement.
the only thing i disagree with is the priorization of official rules. As i mentioned above the official settings are usually not the most popular. Even if its frustrating that's something one has to accept. Though A filter for official rules should be possible i think
The Faceless Master
Member
wow, most of the DICE Normal servers are full... the 'deathmatch action' servers aren't so full, but the others are pretty packed. DICE Infantry and DICE Hardcore servers... not so much