There was a server update on consoles, in preparation for the upcoming patch, which hopefully will come out next week. Anyway, for those of you who like playing only the large vehicle conquest maps, there are now DICE servers playing strictly these 6 maps: Oman 4 flag, Sharqi 5 flag, Wake Island, Kharg Island, Caspian Border, and Operation Firestorm. And for those of you who like playing Rush and Conquest, there are now mixed servers with both gamemodes in the map rotations. And then I think there are also mixed servers also with team deathmatch. Pretty good news imo.
Yes, on consoles. Go into server browser and find a server then press A and you should be able to see a list of the maps on that server along with the game modes.
Big patch on the PS3 today. Wake Island 5 flag conquest, option to quit during intermission, and other surprises not included in those patch notes that have been around for a while. Release date for patch on Xbox 360 and PC? "Soon."
The Battlefield Blog | Xbox 360 Patch Going Live April 3rd The time has finally come. Retake Battlefield 3!
Yay, finally nerfed that infernal USAS. That gun got insanely annoying at times with people spamming the frag rounds.
I'm looking forward to Wake Island 5 Flag Conquest Assault, the way the map is meant to be. US starts on the carrier, has more vehicles and a transport chopper I believe. Russians start with all five flags captured, but that's where the map is interesting, being on the US side and deciding which of the five bases to go after first. Oh, and how could I forget about the custom rented servers. I will keep my out out for ones playing only the large conquest maps, with increased ticket count for longer games and no 3D spotting or minimap spotting. I absolutely despise audio spotting in the game.
I have not played yet but I've read a lot about it. I've heard mixed things about this update. Mostly about how vehicles are now horribly balanced. It seems that vehicles are very fragile but taking them out isn't even worth it because they respawn incredibly fast. I've also heard that the private servers are crowding the server browser and making it difficult to find official servers. But again, I have not played yet. I think most complaints will go away in a few weeks once people get used to the changes and the new gun mechanics.
The new server renting thing is absurd. If you go through quick match you end up on some random server where the settings could be anything. I spent about 45 mins in one game of CQ on Operation Metro because the fool has set it up for 1200 tickets per team. Yes. 1200. It took forever and a day and at one point we were pinned inside the massive building for about 10 mins as they unloaded what must have been an infinite supply of frag rounds into us from the buildings opposite. Apparently they nerfed that gun? Don't think so.
I could understand the merit of those settings on say, a larger map, Operation Metro? There are too many tickets on that map anyway for Conquest IMO.
The server prices for BF3 are actually pretty damn good. It'll cost you $30-$50/month for a decent server on the PC, but on the Xbox it's ~$25/month.
Servers are now a complete mess. Eventually, you can find a few good ones to favorite, but it takes forever sorting through all the "Op Metro 24/7 500% Tickets" servers. LMGs are now useless. They just shoot marshmallows or something... And what happened to the MG36 Extended Mag? 50 rounds in a dual-drum magazine? Wtf. Vehicles are balanced, imo. Choppers still dominate, but are fairly easy to take out, and tanks require teamwork to keep up for more than a few kills. Also, jeeps have horns. Win.