In an Interview with Patrick Bach Executive Producer working on Battlefield 3 at EA DICE when asked about the single player portion of the game, he was evasive but did mention that the game's mutliplayer component allowed for gamers to ignore team-play and responsibility for others and just have a good time.

It's common knowledge that coordinated team play usually means success in online first person shooters, and that lone wolves or those who goof around are going to get killed frequently or hamper the enjoyment for those who play more seriously. Perhaps this approach will mean that younger gamers will tarnish the experiences of others and could possibly mean gamers will get fed up and move to other pastures once the honeymoon period wears off. Whilst it's true that serious gamers can join clans and team up with like-minded friends, but when the game's main online component is so broad, will this affect the way in which you play? Patrick Bach said:

"We are not only focusing on the multiplayer experience but also making sure anyone can get into the game no matter your personality or mood. Lone players like you say enjoy the Single player campaign but can also, without caring about Teamplay or responsibility for others, just have a great time in multiplayer."

Hopefully his comments are more broad, and refer to the fact that there will be non team based deathmatch modes, but considering the past games have had a heavy focus on objective based gameplay, we're not entirely sure what he means. Are you a team player or do you like to go it alone, either way BF3 should cater to all tastes, whether this will be to the game detriment or success is to be seen.

Source: msxbox-world.com

The people at the game-hacking site Artificial Aiming can't stand the anti-cheat service Punkbuster. One of their members is going on the offensive today aggressively.

One junior member says he and his anonymous hacking team are banning innocent Battlefield 3 users framing them, as they put it to show their disdain for Punkbuster, a service that PC players of the popular first-person shooter are compelled to install when they start the game. The hackers have narrowed their target to Battlefield 3 users who are playing on servers that are tied into the cheat-detecting service GGC-Stream. Artificial Aiming user anonpbspoofer boasted in a forum post yesterday:

"We are bringing back the unerring of punkbuster back for a 3rd season. We have selected ggc-stream as the target since they have the most streaming bf3 servers and makes it very easy to add fake bans. In 2011 we hit them with a mass ban wave and now were are banning real players from battlelog while ggc-stream is totally unaware. We have framed 150+ bf3 players alone."

The results are a torrent of complaints on the Battlefield forums, on Reddit and in our tips box from Battlefield 3 users who were set up with seem to be bogus bans. One user wrote on an official Battlefield forum thread entitled "Punkbuster got hacked. We got banned". He wrote:

"So it looks like the hackers/cheaters are unhappy and are now targeting innocent people?"

A Reddit user wrote:

"This is...immoral. And something NEEDS to be done about it, ASAP."

The Battlefield Twitter hasn't acknowledged a hack but did run a notice about Punkbuster errors a few hours ago:

"We are aware of this concern and are looking into it, now. Thanks for being patient."

An EA spokesperson told Kotaku they are looking into the matter. We've not heard back from Punkbuster yet. Only PC users appear to be affected, as Punkbuster is not integrated to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The anti-Punkbuster hackers very much want credit for this and want to prove they're doing the bans, so they're posting images. Here's one of a supposedly framed user:


PC shooter players often complain that Punkbuster isn't as good at stopping cheaters as it's supposed to be. If the hackers are right, it's also porous enough to have allowed some mischievous players to slip through it and start banning players who did no wrong. Some members of Artificial Aiming may be cheering on the supposed hacked bannings that were announced on their forums by user anonpbspoofer, but AA staffer Doober has posted a note, saying:

"This has nothing to do with AA. The person who posted the first link is a junior member here."

EA said:

"We are aware that some Battlefield 3 players are experiencing connection issues with PunkBuster enabled servers. This problem is limited to a small subset of players on PC and will not impact players on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. We are actively looking into the specifics of this issue and we are confident that we will have a permanent solution in place shortly. In the meantime, if a player's connectivity has been affected, we recommend that in the interim they join servers that are not running PunkBuster. There is a filter setting for this in the multiplayer server browser."

Sources: reddit.com & kotaku.com

Starting today announced DICE on the Battleblog, that players who want to expand their arsenal of dog tags in Battlefield 3 can do so via two different bundles. First, there's the aptly titled "SPECACT and Dog Tag Bundle", featuring a fistful of 10 dog tags plus a set of new multiplayer skins. These items were previosuly only available as exclusive pre-order items for Battlefield 3, and you can now buy them in the "SPECACT and Dog Tag Bundle" for $2.99/€2.99 or the equivalent in your currency.

The other bundle we are releasing today is the “Promo Bundle”. Featuring another set of 10 dog tags plus one extra multiplayer skin. This content was previously only available as promotional items for Battlefield 3 in North America. You can now get these items in this bundle, also for $2.99/€2.99. Both the “SPECACT and Dog Tag Bundle” plus the “Promo Bundle” will be available today on PlayStation 3. The SPECACT and Dog Tag Bundle is available world-wide (hits Asia on January 19), while the Promo Bundle is available everywhere but North America.


Source: BF blog

Every popular multiplayer game experiences hacking and cheating to some extent. Some games and developers are good at dealing with hackers and cheaters, while other not so much. Battlefield 3, being a very popular shooter, has been the target of game hackers and cheaters for a while now, and it's getting increasingly common to come across such individuals in a match.

A new video recently popped up showing off one of the most popular Battlefield 3 hacks, and to rub it in, the hacker went after DICE developers knifing them, and showing of his “skills”. It’s sad that some gamers have to resort to hacks to boost their ego, and it’s perhaps even sadder that this hasn’t been fixed yet.


Sources: digitalbattle.com & youtube.com

In their continued effort to minimize cheating in Battlefield 3, DICE recently banned another batch of several hundred confirmed cheaters based on your reports and our player behavior data. DICE said that they will never tolerate cheaters. Life on the battlefield can be harsh, but it should never be a case of you losing because someone is outright cheating.

DICE have always taken cheating seriously. Starting today, they will further intensify their efforts to hunt down and rid Battlefield 3 of cheaters. Stats wiping and banning this disruptive minority is the only way they will understand that they are ruining the game for others. They will do this for the millions of dedicated players out there who deserve a fair game, every game. If you believe you have been the victim of outright cheating, the best way to report your concerns is to go to Battlelog, enter the profile page of the person you suspect and click the triangle in the top right corner of his name.
That will open up a window where you can describe to us at DICE what happened. Please enter as much detail as possible, describing what specifically makes you believe this player has used unfair methods, and preferably include a link to the Battle Report for the match in question. DICE futhermore explained in the latest blog:

"These reports are then received by our analysts here at DICE who will do a deeper analysis of the situation and take appropriate action, including stats wiping and/or banning players who are confirmed as cheating. Reducing the number of cheaters is an ongoing endeavor, and one that we will never stop. Thanks for your co-operation, and see you on the battlefield!"

Source: BF blog

According to kotaku, Electronic Arts is asking a federal judge to rule that it has a First Amendment right to depict real-life military helicopters in video games such as Battlefield 3 without the permission of the aircraft's maker. The action, basically a pre-emptive lawsuit against Textron, the parent company of Bell Helicopter, comes after discussions between the two sides broke down. The suit was filed Friday in federal court for the Northern District of California.

The lawsuit says that on Dec. 21, Textron lawyers demanded that EA cease its depiction of three Bell aircraft in Battlefield 3. Electronic Arts asserts that its depiction of the three aircraft are protected by the First Amendment and the doctrine of nominative fair use. The three helicopters in question are the AH-1Z Viper, an attack helicopter; the UH-1Y, a multipurpose/transport helicopter; and the V-22 Osprey, whose distinctive tilt-rotors allow for vertical and short takeoff and landing. EA's complaint said:

"The parties have been unable to resolve their dispute. EA therefore has a reasonable and strong apprehension that it will soon face a trademark and/or trade dress action from Textron.
The Bell-manufactured helicopters depicted in Battlefield 3 are just a few of countless creative visual, audio, plot and programming elements that make up EA's expressive work, a first-person military combat simulation."

Source: kotaku.com

On the reddit forum posted Alan Kertz that he's working on a retweak of the accessories in the game currently, as he feel that the player is limited in choice due to a few accessories being the clear winners in almost all categories. While this unfortunately means nerfing those that are over used, the goal here is to focus on improving the under performing and under used attachments.

Additionally it is the intention for an unmodified weapon to offer the best balance of Recoil, Accuracy, and Stealth. Right now this is preliminary, he has already asked for feedback on different attachments, and there's several good threads here and on Battlelog that discuss the weapons. Again, He's not promising this will go live, and not promising there will be an update, He just looking for feedback and a discussion. Below you can see the future accessories that are going to be nerfed? Well that's up to the Battlefield community to decide.

Foregrip

The Foregrip is for players who who are in close combat and highly mobile fighting situations. It reduces the horizontal recoil forces that make maintaining a consistant aim on target difficult, however it makes aimed shots more difficult.

• +34% reduction in horizontal recoil (adjust based on gun)
• -20% penalty to base accuracy when aimed

Rationale: The Foregrip is quite powerful on weapons with high amounts of horizontal recoil, and is generally the goto attachment for everyone using Assault Rifles and Carbines. Currently it has no downside, which makes it a pure bonus upgrade and is a no brainer. Adjusting the foregrip on a per gun basis will prevent the foregrip from over powering some guns, and also means it doesn't need to be globally nerfed into oblivion. For example, 50% of the FAMAS's recoil is 0.3deg, while 50% of the G3A3's recoil is only 0.1deg. A global 0.1deg might work better, generally it will need to be on a per gun basis. The 20% penalty to aimed fire is about equal to a single shot fired on a Carbine.

Bipod

The Bipod is for Players who wish to setup a position and hold it against the enemy, or make long range shots effectively. When deployed recoil and dispersion are substantially reduced and scope sway is eliminated (except under suppression).

• +Reduction in horizontal and vertical recoil (% depends on gun type)
• +Reduction in dispersion (% depends on gun type/ammo type)
• -Has to be setup to get the benefit

Rationale: The Bipod is underused, has a large penalty of needing to be stationary, yet today doesn't offer enough benefits on Carbines and Assault Rifles to be worth using. A buff of the bipod for these, and perhaps even LMG weapons is likely necessary.

Suppressor

The Suppressor is for players who are mostly focused on Stealth. It uses low velocity rounds, which means better stealth at the cost of reduced range. The Suppressor adds bulk to a weapon due to its size, making firing from the hip more difficult, though a high quality Suppressor provides a small aimed accuracy bonus and reduces the muzzle rise when firing.

•+Does not appear on minimap when firing.
•+Reduces sound and visual muzzle signature
•-Reduced range for both min and max, damage stays the same.
•-50% penalty to base accuracy from the hip
•+25% bonus to base accuracy when aimed
•+10% reduced vertical recoil

Rationale: Today the Suppressor's main penalty is the slower bullet speed, the current 34% penalty to hip fire is almost ignore-able at any range you would hip fire, and with the upcoming buff to aim speed (time to accurate when aiming) the downside needs to be larger. Additionally, the damage over range is only actually applied for LMGs and ARs, removing it and replacing it with a reduced to range makes this more consistent for all weapon types and focuses it more on close range (For reference, today an AR kills with 5 rounds at 40m and drops off to 7 shots, with a suppressor this would be 25m, but beyond 25m the damage would be a flat 6 shots.) Today the Suppressor also gives a 50% bonus to aimed accuracy, which is the same as the heavy barrel, but without the additional recoil. In fact the suppressor reduces vertical recoil by 10%, an amount which is essentially negligible, but is just one more reason to use the suppressor instead of other accessories. Reducing this bonus makes sense, and allows the suppressor to offset the foregrip penalty, while not being as good as the heavy barrel. This is of course over all a nerf but hopefully a minor one to what is essentially not an overpowered, just over used/general purpose, accessory.

Heavy Barrel

The Heavy Barrel is for players who are focused on Accurate Aimed fire. It uses high velocity rounds, which means the bullet drop is reduced and the max range of the weapon is increased at the cost of an increase in auto fire dispersion. The Heavy Barrel adds bulk to a weapon due to its weight, making firing from the hip more difficult, though it gives a substantial increase in aimed accuracy bonus.

•+Increased maximum range, damage stays the same.
•-25% increased dispersion per shot
•+50% bonus to base accuracy when aimed
•-25% penalty to base accuracy from the hip

Rationale: The Heavy Barrel gets used decently often today, though I think mostly because it's available quite a bit earlier than the Suppressor for Assault Rifles and Carbines. Frankly, the penalty today to recoil, as well as a penalty to deviation, makes the aimed accuracy increase useless, especially since the Suppressor has the accuracy bonus as well. So, let's pull the recoil penalty off this baby entirely, keep the auto fire accuracy penalty to keep it focused on small bursts of accurate aimed fire, and finally, push the maximum range of the rounds out a bit. This will give the Heavy Barrel better performance in medium range by extending the 5 shots to kill window of a 556 or 545 AR from 40 to 65m. Past 65m, the damage would be the same. This is a rather large buff.

Flash Suppressor

The Flash Suppressor is for players who want some additional Stealth, without the range and accuracy penalties of a Suppressor. It works as a recoil compensator, reducing recoil, though it adds a slight bit of bulk making firing from the hip more difficult.

•+Reduces visual muzzle signature
•+20% reduced vertical recoil
•-20% penalty to base accuracy from the hip

Rationale: The Flash Suppressor is underwhelming generally. While it hides the muzzle flash it doesn't hide you on the minimap. I considered allowing it to hide on the minimap, but then it begins to just be a Suppressor without the aim bonus and range penalties. I want it to be something different. By allowing the Flash Suppressor to work as a recoil Compensator, the FS becomes a middle ground between the Suppressor and Heavy Barrel. If you're otherwise happy with the range, damage, and accuracy of your weapon, then the FS should be a nice buff to manageable recoil, without a whole lot of penalty. This is also a large buff.

Target Pointer

The Target Pointer is for players who want to run and gun from the hip. The laser is visible, making the user more visibile to other combatants and thus less Stealthy.

•-Visible Laser
•+Laser can dazzle opponents
•+33% increase in base accuracy from the hip

Rationale: The Target Pointer works well for its role, and generally feels like it doesn't need to be changed.

Source: reddit.com

A Battlefield fan named HazemHead was messing around with game files, basically decrypted data files and modified some scripts by GUI programming and encrypted back. So this is not a trick or a glitch, but a real Spectator Mode. Wich many gamers have cried out for the addition of such a mode, to help detect cheaters and the like. If this report is true, it would mean that the mode was in the game the whole time, and that DICE simply hasn't got around to activating it yet.


Sources: games.on.net & youtube.com