LA_MERC_Onji
January 12th, 2006, 07:50 AM
New Q&A
<p class="text">
It's that time again folks! We've gathered your questions from the <a href="http://www.totalbf2.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=231">DICE forums</a> and sent them off to <b>Armando</b> for another Q&A.</p>
<p class="text">
<b>I'm a massive fan of the BF series, I bought 1942 on on the day of release and have all the sucessive games. My question is this, battlefield is now a major franchise but where does it go from here. BF2 has brought us up to the modern day, so will Battlefield 3 be futuristic? Or will we visit or re-visit another historical theatre?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The sky’s the limit with the BF series. With every release, and even with mod creation, we see where the fans want us to go. Nothing has been carved in stone in regards to where BF goes next. The only thing I can say is that we will continue to experiment and try new things.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>As you may have already seen, there are a lot of threads in the main forum that deal with peoples feeling on airpower. It is clear from the posts that there are a lot of people that are feeling something needs to be done to tone down the effectiveness of the aircraft in the game. Most notably people feel that there is no effective counter for aircraft in the game except another aircraft (as the fixed AA sites do not work at all against planes).<br><br>My question is, what are your opinions on this area of balance, and what (if anything) is going to be done to improve air defence?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It was one of the more major concerns we had because it downgrades the experience for everyone. It was not the intention that the air vehicles be as powerful or as dominant as they currently are. We identified a few issues with the aircraft and the AA so those will be addressed in the patch. So far, the testing has shown a drastic improvement in the effectiveness of AA.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>I was wondering if a new version of the BF2Editor will be released, and if so, what kind of changes/bug fixes we can expect?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The fixes in the editor are too numerous for me to list here. I can say that a new version has been approved for release and should be in the community this week.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Will we see a Capture the Flag mod for BF2?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is something that we, in the Canada office, want to add to the game. We’re looking into the possibility of adding it, but it isn’t anything definite at this time.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Why is Dice so opposed to limiting jumping based on stanima? It's a much better way to limit "bunnyhopping" than removing the ability to jump while shooting (which impacts quite a bit of legit game play)?
I've seen it said that you guys feel that it would hinder people's ability to use jumping as a defence... but that's exactly what we want!
Jumping to make yourself a harder target is just outright silly.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> Changing an intended mechanic has greater repercussions than removing unintended mechanics. When we patch the game, we want to resolve issues and avoid introducing new ones. The resolution we’ve taken is a better solution when all factors are considered. So far, everything looks good. If it still isn’t satisfactory, we will address the issue again.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>After the SF release, and the promised Booster packs, does DICE have any plans for further releases ? Either expansions or patches.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The plan for the future, beyond the booster packs, follows the plan for the patches and booster packs to this point. It’s a dynamic plan that changes based on trends inside of Dice, EA, and in the community. At this point in time, you know what I know.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Are there any plans in "any" future patches to move the attach choppers TV missle view higher like in normal BF2 Attack Choppers. Currently it points so low that its use is limited. Or is that the purpose? I say move it higher. Make them the same.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The TV guided missiles on the attack choppers are pointed downward intentionally so as to eliminate an exploit.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Will Battlefield 2 ever have the buddy list, live chats and such as promised from day one?
How long will EA support this game and will the next patch take care of the color changing names, and the special forces lag?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The buddy lists and such are not in the plans at this time. As far as support goes, I can’t give you and answer right now because I simply do not know exactly how far reaching the plan will ultimately be. On the topic of the name color bug, we are working on it right now and making head way. On the topic of lag with Special Forces, we have asked QA to keep tabs on it so we can try and isolate any issues.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Why are you choosing to only release new content as purchasable content? Why will you not do what you have done in the past and include new maps and other content as downloadable free patches? Don't you realize this is only infuriating people, and turning the old fan base away from the game?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> There are many reasons for the shift. Obviously, it helps to offset the cost associated with the creation of the content.
The idea came about through community requests for more content that was not expansion pack content. The community is always asking for more, but more isn’t always an easy thing to deliver. This is an attempt to deliver more content without creating another expansion pack. It’s a new approach and we’re hoping it is successful.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Sometimes when you're in a squad, and somebody else needs/wants to take over the squad leader position, your only option is to all leave the squad and have the new squad leader create a new squad and re-invite everybody.
The other method is to have people leave the squad until the appropriate person is leader...but that can be a pain.
Will there ever be a way to designate a new squad leader?
e.g. The current squad leader clicks on the person's name in the squad in the squad management screen and selects 'transfer command' and voila, that new person is the squad's leader. Nobody had to leave.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> Its definitely a good idea. I can toss it at the wall and see if it sticks.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>As people have begun to collect their service ribbons, it has become apparent that BFHQ will only display 20 ribbons. Are you aware of this, and is it going to be fixed in the next patch?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It has already been addressed. If you launch Special Forces, you can toggle between the BF2 awards and SF awards. If you are playing regular BF2, there is no toggle.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>As the one of representative of Russian BF2 community I want to say that the Battlefield 2 is very popular at Russia. But many of them do not have chance to fight at virtual battles, cause of REALLY HIGH PING! Of course we won't have this trouble if we can play at ranked servers at Russia. Do we have a chance to get Russian ranked servers?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> I’ve forwarded this request to the people that can try to make it happen.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Can you give us any more details on the upcoming 'Booster Packs'?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> There is going to be a press release this week that will explain everything.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Since the attack choppers are having their armour decreased, will there be changes to where you have to hit an attack chopper to deal the most damage?
If you are going to decrease the overall armour, it would make sense to make the bulk of the chopper more armoured while leaving the tail and engine (for example) less armoured.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is an interesting idea, but it isn’t how we’ve approached the aircraft design. It will not be changing in the patch however.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Im wondering if you will fix so that players can change their account names. For example, I have had my clan tag in my main account since the release of BF2 and now my clan split up and I dont want my tag anymore. So my question is, will you make a fix so players can change their names in future patches?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is something that I’ve seen in the requests for some time. It will not be address in 1.2, but may be something we can act on in future patches.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Do you have any plans to start building a new Battlefield game to add to the series?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> Based on our success, we will definitely continue. That’s all I can say.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Is there any idea on when the next patch will be realeased? If so, what are some of the issues it will address?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It should be out near the end of January, to the beginning of February. I’ve listed the fixes before. You should be able to check this forum for the most currently list.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Is there any plans to make new urban maps with PLA vs MEC/USA? As a fan of the more built up maps I find that I almost never play as the PLA even though they are my favourite army. If it was PLA vs MEC that would be nice just for a bit of variety and it would also offer a slightly different dynamic between the armies. Anyway I would love to see some more urban maps and ones with PLA involved would be an added bonus.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is difficult for the team to take on the workload of creating Chinese city buildings. Having the Chinese play the MEC doesn’t work in the fiction of the game.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Will Singleplayer tools be available at some point?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The tools currently aren’t very user-friendly and the single player process is not very straight forward. If there is enough demand for it, then we can invest some resources into making the process more user-friendly but as it stands, there are no plans.<br>
</p>
<p class="text"><b>We'd like to thank Armando Marini from DICE for answering our questions.</b></p>
<p class="text">
It's that time again folks! We've gathered your questions from the <a href="http://www.totalbf2.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=231">DICE forums</a> and sent them off to <b>Armando</b> for another Q&A.</p>
<p class="text">
<b>I'm a massive fan of the BF series, I bought 1942 on on the day of release and have all the sucessive games. My question is this, battlefield is now a major franchise but where does it go from here. BF2 has brought us up to the modern day, so will Battlefield 3 be futuristic? Or will we visit or re-visit another historical theatre?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The sky’s the limit with the BF series. With every release, and even with mod creation, we see where the fans want us to go. Nothing has been carved in stone in regards to where BF goes next. The only thing I can say is that we will continue to experiment and try new things.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>As you may have already seen, there are a lot of threads in the main forum that deal with peoples feeling on airpower. It is clear from the posts that there are a lot of people that are feeling something needs to be done to tone down the effectiveness of the aircraft in the game. Most notably people feel that there is no effective counter for aircraft in the game except another aircraft (as the fixed AA sites do not work at all against planes).<br><br>My question is, what are your opinions on this area of balance, and what (if anything) is going to be done to improve air defence?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It was one of the more major concerns we had because it downgrades the experience for everyone. It was not the intention that the air vehicles be as powerful or as dominant as they currently are. We identified a few issues with the aircraft and the AA so those will be addressed in the patch. So far, the testing has shown a drastic improvement in the effectiveness of AA.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>I was wondering if a new version of the BF2Editor will be released, and if so, what kind of changes/bug fixes we can expect?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The fixes in the editor are too numerous for me to list here. I can say that a new version has been approved for release and should be in the community this week.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Will we see a Capture the Flag mod for BF2?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is something that we, in the Canada office, want to add to the game. We’re looking into the possibility of adding it, but it isn’t anything definite at this time.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Why is Dice so opposed to limiting jumping based on stanima? It's a much better way to limit "bunnyhopping" than removing the ability to jump while shooting (which impacts quite a bit of legit game play)?
I've seen it said that you guys feel that it would hinder people's ability to use jumping as a defence... but that's exactly what we want!
Jumping to make yourself a harder target is just outright silly.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> Changing an intended mechanic has greater repercussions than removing unintended mechanics. When we patch the game, we want to resolve issues and avoid introducing new ones. The resolution we’ve taken is a better solution when all factors are considered. So far, everything looks good. If it still isn’t satisfactory, we will address the issue again.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>After the SF release, and the promised Booster packs, does DICE have any plans for further releases ? Either expansions or patches.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The plan for the future, beyond the booster packs, follows the plan for the patches and booster packs to this point. It’s a dynamic plan that changes based on trends inside of Dice, EA, and in the community. At this point in time, you know what I know.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Are there any plans in "any" future patches to move the attach choppers TV missle view higher like in normal BF2 Attack Choppers. Currently it points so low that its use is limited. Or is that the purpose? I say move it higher. Make them the same.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The TV guided missiles on the attack choppers are pointed downward intentionally so as to eliminate an exploit.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Will Battlefield 2 ever have the buddy list, live chats and such as promised from day one?
How long will EA support this game and will the next patch take care of the color changing names, and the special forces lag?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The buddy lists and such are not in the plans at this time. As far as support goes, I can’t give you and answer right now because I simply do not know exactly how far reaching the plan will ultimately be. On the topic of the name color bug, we are working on it right now and making head way. On the topic of lag with Special Forces, we have asked QA to keep tabs on it so we can try and isolate any issues.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Why are you choosing to only release new content as purchasable content? Why will you not do what you have done in the past and include new maps and other content as downloadable free patches? Don't you realize this is only infuriating people, and turning the old fan base away from the game?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> There are many reasons for the shift. Obviously, it helps to offset the cost associated with the creation of the content.
The idea came about through community requests for more content that was not expansion pack content. The community is always asking for more, but more isn’t always an easy thing to deliver. This is an attempt to deliver more content without creating another expansion pack. It’s a new approach and we’re hoping it is successful.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Sometimes when you're in a squad, and somebody else needs/wants to take over the squad leader position, your only option is to all leave the squad and have the new squad leader create a new squad and re-invite everybody.
The other method is to have people leave the squad until the appropriate person is leader...but that can be a pain.
Will there ever be a way to designate a new squad leader?
e.g. The current squad leader clicks on the person's name in the squad in the squad management screen and selects 'transfer command' and voila, that new person is the squad's leader. Nobody had to leave.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> Its definitely a good idea. I can toss it at the wall and see if it sticks.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>As people have begun to collect their service ribbons, it has become apparent that BFHQ will only display 20 ribbons. Are you aware of this, and is it going to be fixed in the next patch?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It has already been addressed. If you launch Special Forces, you can toggle between the BF2 awards and SF awards. If you are playing regular BF2, there is no toggle.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>As the one of representative of Russian BF2 community I want to say that the Battlefield 2 is very popular at Russia. But many of them do not have chance to fight at virtual battles, cause of REALLY HIGH PING! Of course we won't have this trouble if we can play at ranked servers at Russia. Do we have a chance to get Russian ranked servers?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> I’ve forwarded this request to the people that can try to make it happen.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Can you give us any more details on the upcoming 'Booster Packs'?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> There is going to be a press release this week that will explain everything.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Since the attack choppers are having their armour decreased, will there be changes to where you have to hit an attack chopper to deal the most damage?
If you are going to decrease the overall armour, it would make sense to make the bulk of the chopper more armoured while leaving the tail and engine (for example) less armoured.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is an interesting idea, but it isn’t how we’ve approached the aircraft design. It will not be changing in the patch however.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Im wondering if you will fix so that players can change their account names. For example, I have had my clan tag in my main account since the release of BF2 and now my clan split up and I dont want my tag anymore. So my question is, will you make a fix so players can change their names in future patches?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is something that I’ve seen in the requests for some time. It will not be address in 1.2, but may be something we can act on in future patches.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Do you have any plans to start building a new Battlefield game to add to the series?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> Based on our success, we will definitely continue. That’s all I can say.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Is there any idea on when the next patch will be realeased? If so, what are some of the issues it will address?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It should be out near the end of January, to the beginning of February. I’ve listed the fixes before. You should be able to check this forum for the most currently list.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Is there any plans to make new urban maps with PLA vs MEC/USA? As a fan of the more built up maps I find that I almost never play as the PLA even though they are my favourite army. If it was PLA vs MEC that would be nice just for a bit of variety and it would also offer a slightly different dynamic between the armies. Anyway I would love to see some more urban maps and ones with PLA involved would be an added bonus.</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> It is difficult for the team to take on the workload of creating Chinese city buildings. Having the Chinese play the MEC doesn’t work in the fiction of the game.<br>
</p>
<p class="text">
<b>Will Singleplayer tools be available at some point?</b><br>
<b><br>Armando:</b> The tools currently aren’t very user-friendly and the single player process is not very straight forward. If there is enough demand for it, then we can invest some resources into making the process more user-friendly but as it stands, there are no plans.<br>
</p>
<p class="text"><b>We'd like to thank Armando Marini from DICE for answering our questions.</b></p>