*Twitch*

[Softball]

*Grits teeth*

Well, it's finally out and I am itching to get it. Yes folks, I am talking about Battlefield 2. I have been playing the hell out of the demo for the last 3 or 4 days, and dammit, it's growing on me. I am running it at the highest settings and it is BEAUTIFUL!! *drool*

So, a few questions for you all. First, is anyone here going to get BF2? Second, if there is a way to make the game as realistic as possible (No labels/icons, limit respawns, etc..), would anyone be interested in starting a "serious" competing squad to go online against other "serious" competing squads? I don't know if BOD is getting BF2, but if they are and we get enough people, we could possibly hook up and have some fun.

A few things that bother me about BF2. First, labels / icons you see on the screen while playing. You can't change or adjust much in the demo, so I don't know if you can turn the labels/icon off or not. One thing about the labels, you can't see labels on the enemy until you are right up on them. In a way this is bad, because you can always see the labels/icons on the friendly side, so if you see someone and they don't have a label, you know automatically that they are not friendly. I would rather turn labels off all together.

Second, No MP COOP vs Bots. I know the lack of MP COOP will turn some people away, and yes, it's dissapointing. Let's look at it this way though, they are forcing you to play vs other real players. Why can't we compete against real people, instead of bots? If we were to seek out the more "serious" players, we would not have to worry about cheaters, bunny hoppers, etc... and we could make this work.

I am going to seriously consider getting BF2. (Might even pick it up today). Even without the MP COOP, I think it will make a great diversion from the usual games we play. Please share your thoughts or comments, and give me a reason NOT to buy this game.

[PanzerMeyer]

I'll get it if and when full bot support is added to online play. In other words, COOP mode with bots. I'm just not interested in the adversarial or "deathmatch" style of online gaming like I used to be 5 years ago.

[Hammer]

I am with Panzer...

re: BOD - even they use some gamesmanship in beating the tar out of us in JO. they learned the things that work in game, which are not necessarily realistic. i also have issues with hit points for vehicles (ala JO) but i think that is supposed to be better in BF2? but us getting our arses handed to us by BOD was not just them, we have never really practiced as a team...as we are finding in IL2/PF.

[Grifter]

Ah practicing as a team...novel idea. Ok here's my experience in that category. I was a member of the 336th Rocketeers (Virtual online Janes F-15/Fighter's Anthology Squadron) before coming on board with Wings of Fury. There were really only four core guys in the group, other people came and went with time. But the four of us formed a four ship team that was very hard to defeat. Why you ask? Because we practiced real wingman tactics every weekend and many weekday evenings. We practiced until we knew each other's movements. We worked on formation flying obsessively...why? Because BFM discipline helps develop ACM discipline and SA. As a bonus, we could "wing up" relatively quick in those sims. Wingman tactics and formation flight tactics gave us the advantage and we often beat larger forces online, both AI and real players. It is something that I think, both in the air and on the ground, we should work on. Gator and I are a good team in IL2/PF. Steel and I do ok, though sometimes I have trouble keeping up him. Communication is absolutely essential. We need to keep the radio chatter brief but up to date; that is, second to second in some cases. I think communication is where we should start first. We should go back to reading the WOF radio manual, relearn it, and employ it in air battle. Most of us are really good pilots...think of what we'd do if we worked together

[PanzerMeyer]

I agree with Grifter about the communication thing. My problem is that when I use push to talk on Ventrilo, it's often very hard to move my hand away from the joystick in order to hit the key so I can say something. And with the fast nature of flight sims, it can be quite a challenge to say something before its too late.

[Grifter]

can you say map the push to talk to a button your joy stick? wierd I know, but I knew a guy who did that.

[KODIAK]

It's nice to see the word teamwork starting to creep in a bit more when we discuss our online play style. It DOES work, we've all proven it at one time or another.
As for formation flying, no point in any form of tight formation flying - you'd end up spending too much time focussing on your lead and not looking around for bandits. This was a very hard-learned lesson for RAF Spitfire and Hurricane crews during the early days of The BoB. Loose formation stuff works just fine, and that goes for jets too.
As for a'push-to-talk', I have my shift paddle on the joystick mapped out for that, seems to work fairly comfortably.

[Hammer]

i only use ptt mapped as a button on my hotas. the only way to go. voice activation generally does not work, you get coughing, hard breathing, sometimes even noice from the speakers kick off the mike...

[PanzerMeyer]

you get coughing, hard breathing, sometimes even noice from the speakers kick off the mike...

hard breathing? Alright, who's been doing hanky panky during our online gaming sessions??

[Hammer]

i won't tell... ;) of course i always use ptt...

[KODIAK]

But, of course . . . . . .

[PanzerMeyer]

Pardon me, would you happen to have any Grey Poupon?