I missed this chance but it’d be great if you did this again in the near future. Pretty sure I could use some practice time.
I’m generally able to play after 7p CST on weekdays and most any time on weekends (of course life throws various obligations in that timeframe but in general I can play then).
I got in to multiplayer for the xbox last night. Is there only the one type of game mode, or are there other games (a la COD), such as capture the flag, free-for-all, domination, etc?
I’ll setup the private server a little later today for “playground” mode. I’ll post when it’s up.
There are 5 game modes:
So far I’ve played conquest, Rush and squad rush, all of which were great. Squad death match sounds good too, but team death match sounds super boring.
I played for the first time last night after some help from SenorBeef and the fellas.
I farted around for a few hours after they all took off in random multiplayer and played quite a few different versions.
Capture the flag, conquest, “kill everyone”. I think I saw at least those three types.
I also saw a lot of tank driving action and the end of a lot of sniper rifles.
Had a great time, but I am really excited to play with a group sometime rather than solo.
Also, I have [TOG] up right now if you see me, but can change to [SDMB] when people are on and want to team up.
TOG is www.theoldergamers.com , a gaming website I have a long affiliation with. Check it out if you are interested.
It is an age restricted gaming community that spans almost every game there is.
I don’t “mind” playing with 14 yr old douche bags, but it is nice to play with a crew that all remembers when MTV played videos.
I realized last night that my color blindness is hampering my otherwise awesome skills. 
I can’t tell my squad mates from my enemies if my enemies also have any sort of icon on them.
To me, the colors look identical. So I either end up shooting up friend inadvertently (except when it’s Beef. That’s just a natural reflex) or I don’t shoot at all thinking they are friendly.
I end up hesitating before pulling the trigger, which usually means death.
BC2 had a color blind mode, but they took out of BF3, hopefully they put it back in.
I did better towards the last squad rush mode when I started making sure I knew the names of everyone in my squad, so I didn’t shoot them.
There is an icon and a blue color for friendly, I believe.
Once spotted, there sometimes is an icon for enemies, too. Or it seemed so.
As far as hesitating goes, you just have to try and identify before firing.
I can’t even imagine the emotional / psychological strain it would cause if real lives and your own hung in the balance.
The weapon and uniform of the opposition helped me with that, but still got aced many times entering a room or crossing open areas.
Lots of great places for ambushes, but it goes both ways.
Just been messing around with assault kit, so far.
I did sort of like the sniper/stealth guy, as well.
Need to try all the classes to see which will be my focus.
No idea why so many shyed away from tanks. I was loving the tank battles, that was without a defensive gunner or engineer.
Could be a force with a decent squad.
OK guys, the playground is back on:
Server is called SDMB secondary server and the password is “cecil” (no quotes).
Excellent place to try the vehicles and your video/control settings.
Anyone care to lay out their experience with the different kits/classes in the game? Just some basic pros and cons would be nice.
I like the assault kit, but not really into healing/reviving.
Seems like support is more of a fighting class, at least from what I have seen.
What does the radio box the stealth kit is equipped with do?
That sort of stuff.
Also, is there a way to change your key bindings for multiplayer?
I don’t really like the crouch / prone layout, but I couldn’t find a way to change it.
Do you have to make changes in your campaign settings or are we stuck with what they set them as?
The radio, IIRC, let;s you set a specific spawn point, rather than having a “spawn on player X” type situation.
And thank you for the game mode replies, I’ll have to look into that since all I’ve seen is Rush.
I find that the engineer is a good all-around class. You can take out infantry with a decent rifle and the anti-tank weapon. Soon enough, you’re also able to take out aicraft. You can also heal vehicles.
Support class; Once you have a good MG, it can be quite powerful. You can resupply yourself with ammo so you’ll never run out of MG ammo.
The game moves too quickly for me to use the sniper class effectively.
Bindings: During a game, press Escape then Options and you’ll be able to change your bingins.
I think the radio allows the team to spawn at that location.
Thanks for the tips, guys.
Never have time to mess with binding keys in a game, but I guess I will try on an unpopulated server, or something.
Think I am going to take a long hard look at Engineer.
You’d think using an M1 Abrams to deforest The Caspian Border would get old, but so far it hasn’t.
Are there Bots we can employ while testing?
Unfortunately no 
I’ll probably go back and play a bit in there before tonight in case you’re on.
If it comes out on Steam I will buy it on principle of not supporting Origin.
Steam isn’t perfect but I don’t need more layers of crap between me and my games.
Damnit I want to play this game soooo bad. I’m pulling my hair out because they just hung some fiber optic cabling down the main road I live next to. No clue what business it’s for or who will be offering service.
Then I’m going to cash in for a new rig as my dual core-2G Ram- GTS 250 is probably not going to cut it.
Soon…
Very soon…
I have a thing to attend after work so probably will not be home till 9 or 10 (CST) but hope to get on then.
I am betting (I do not know) that if it is on Steam you still have to deal with Origin.
Their whole Battlelog thing is in Origin and browser based.
When I bought Batman:Arkham Asylum I got it on Steam but it still installed (and uses every time I play) Games for Windows Live (which is even worse than Origin).
Looking at the page for Batman:Arkham city on Steam you can see it also employs GFWL:
So I suspect BF3 on Steam will foist Origin on you anyway.
I would say you are right on the money, Whack-a-mole.
If they can get it to be a bit more seamless, I really wouldn’t hate the setup that badly, anyway.
Like SenorBeef and I were saying, there was a time when Steam was a giant mess that never worked.
This may get to that point, someday.
Or not.
Anyway, it would be nice to only need one browser window open to play the game. Got confusing flipping back and forth between Origin and Battlelog.
Also, Games For Windows is an abomination that needs to die a fiery death.
