I was writing this as a blog post, but I never got around to finishing it. So, it's incomplete, but there may be some useful info here.
The "last night" I'm referring to was actually a couple of weeks ago.
I realise it's incomplete, and it's pretty much one sided, as in "my opinion", so take it with a pinch of salt.
The "last night" I'm referring to was actually a couple of weeks ago.
thisgeek said:I've been playing quite a lot of Battlefield 2 lately. The game is very addictive. Last night (Friday), I only got to bed just after 1am. There is just so much that you can do to keep yourself occupied, that it's going to be a long time before the game starts boring me.
I play on our local ranked servers (when I can get a slot - the servers get quite full). You can play either on the American (USMC), Iraqi (MEC), or Chinese (PLA) teams. It's usally USMC against one of the other teams - there is no official map where you can play MEC vs PLA - I don't know why, as these are all hypothetical battles anyway.
It's quite bizarre when playing these "foreign" teams to literally talk (via Voice Over IP) to each other, and hear a very local accent say "Come on okes. Let's go grab that flag over there!" Ek sê!
You can only talk to your squad mates (if you're in a squad), and the squad leader can also talk to the commander. If you're a "lone wolf", you have no voice contact with anyone - though you can text chat (Does anyone really read that?) if you need to.
For each team, you have 7 player classes:
* Special Ops
* Sniper
* Assault
* Support
* Medic
* Engineer
* Anti-Tank
Each class has very similar capabilities, albeit different weapons, across the teams. You can view their kit loadouts here.
Each player can apply to be commander of your entire side. The highest ranking application will be accepted. If only 2 players of the same rank apply, then the player with more command experience will be accepted.
Being a commander is NOT that difficult a task, despite what people may think. The commander has some cool utilities available to him. He can see a top-down map of the battlefield, and then zoom right in to view ant-like soldiers running around on the battlefield. I must admit, it looks really cool.
Within the commander view, he has quick access to his squads for communication. He can direct the battle by commanding squads to various points, and to do various functions. The most basic of these being attack & defend.
He has the ability to launch a sattelite scan of the battlefield, which temporarily highlights enemy players as 'blips' on the map. This is only viewable to him, but it gives a nice overview of what the enemy is currently doing on the field.
As a commander, you can only do this provided your sattelite trailer is in good working order. If it has been blown up by an enemy spec ops unit, you're a bit stuffed until it can be repaired. The same is true for your artillery guns, and your UAV trailer.
EDIT - If you don't have any nearby engineers to repair your equipment, another thing you can do is to drop a supply crate nearby the damaged equipment. It will gradually repair it for you. Don't bother doing this if there are any enemies near your equipment tho, because it has the nasty side effect of being able to re-equip the enemy spec ops with more C4 to continue blowing your stuff up.
The UAV is a mobile radar that highlights the location of enemy players in specific commander-designated locations. In reality, it is a spy plane that you can designate to overfly an area for a short time. This is only available as long as your UAV trailer is undamaged.
Supply Drops dump a crate of supplies where ever you desire. The supply crates last for a short while on the battlefield, but they can a) heal, b) resupply and c) repair anything that stands next to it - even enemy players. It is really useful to drop them near tanks or mobile Anti Aircraft, so that they can survive a bit longer than usual.
Artillery strikes are the most important - and fun! - part of being a commander. It is important not to strike just anywhere. You will not make friends if you consistently "arty" your team mates. You should use your artillery ability to *help* and not _hinder_ your team.
Being a commander is NOT about getting as many points as possible. It's about helping your team to victory. *That* is the way to getting points. The commander scores points by getting an average of his team's points, and that is doubled if your team wins.
Another very important point about being a commander. **DO NOT** attempt to take part in the battle! _UNLESS_ of course, there are only a few players playing. If there are less than 16 players a side, by all means, take part in the battle and command while you can, but if there are MORE players than that, you MUST devote ALL your time to commanding. You will _not_ win friends by hogging the commander position and attempting to storm a base on a full server.
Each player can either create or join a squad. There is a maximum of 9 (I think) squads that can be created, with a total of 6 players per squad, including the squad leader. You can lock your squad so that only people you invite join it. But why be a wanker?
On a 64 player server (the largest), with 32 players per side, this is plenty, however, not all squads consist of 6 players - there are some 1 player squads, some with only 2 or 3 etc.
Not everyone chooses to join a squad, so they remain as a "lone wolf" - I'm not sure why they don't join squads - perhaps they feel shy about speaking to complete strangers? It doesn't matter really. I enjoy being a lone wolf on the odd occasion anyway.
The cool thing about a squad leader, is that he becomes a mobile spawn point. That is, when a squad member dies, he can either spawn at a captured flag - which may be far from where his squad is, or he can select his squad leader, and spawn right next to him. In some maps, where there are no permanent bases, and if there are no spawn points, and your squad leader dies, you're a bit stuffed.
EDIT - If your team has no capped flags, you will be unable to spawn on your squad leader.
The squad leader also has the ability to voice chat with the commander of the battlefield, and may request things from him. If he receives orders from the commander, he will automatically pass them on to his squad members. As a squad leader, you have a duty to follow the orders of your commander, however incompetent he may be. Whether you choose to follow his orders is your perogative.
Not to be sexist or anything, but all player characters within the game are male, despite the fact that there may be female gamers playing.
EDIT - It's a bit bizarre, when you're used to hearing predominantly male voices, to suddenly hear a female voice over VOIP.
As a squad member, it is your duty to follow orders set by your squad leader. If you join a squad and end up doing your own thing anyway, what the heck is the point? There are exceptions to this, of course. Sometimes snipers will all join a squad, as communication is vital. In that case, there isn't really any central leadership - It's just a good thing for all the snipers to be able to communicate. It's the same thing with pilots etc.
I realise it's incomplete, and it's pretty much one sided, as in "my opinion", so take it with a pinch of salt.
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