BF4... Should I bother?!?

[BrightCandle]

How does he know the tick rate is 10? He says a lot of stupid things in that video that show he doesn't really understand what the tick rate is, which makes me question the figure he is talking about.

 

[darkewaffle]

How does he know the tick rate is 10? He says a lot of stupid things in that video that show he doesn't really understand what the tick rate is, which makes me question the figure he is talking about.

There have been dev responses on Reddit I believe making some mention of it, but I'd wager you are correct that the same people complaining about it have nowhere near full comprehension of the concept and the code or logic behind it. "Netcode" has become a catch-all buzzword to explain away losing, ignorance, and yes the at-times inconsistent/unexpected performance of the game.

However having played at least TF2 and CS a lot... I don't feel it's any more inconsistent than those titles; each one has funny, imperfect behavior simply because we cannot truly encompass/represent real behavior with code (yet) - there's compromises.

BF4 is a lot of fun imo and works right far more often than it works questionably. That's about all I can ask for.

 

[Midwayman]

How does he know the tick rate is 10? He says a lot of stupid things in that video that show he doesn't really understand what the tick rate is, which makes me question the figure he is talking about.

There is a guy who sniffed the traffic and the clients tick at 30hz. The server ticks at 10hz.

 

[Childs]

I think in general I preferred the maps in BF3 to BF4, but I am more of an infantry player. BF4 is better, minus the bugs, but I haven't played in a while so it may have been sorted out by now. For whatever reason, I have no desire to play anymore. If you still play BF3, you might as well get BF4, especially if its only $35. I paid like $100, and got at least 200 hours (maybe even 300..dont feel like logging into battlelog to check).

 

[Spike]

I paid a total of $180 (two copies of base and premium) and so far it has been worth it to me. I'm only at about 160 total hours between the accounts, so I have not reached my $1 per hour threshold yet, but I am getting close. Like many I experience the server bugs during the first week or so, and since have encountered a number of crashes but none have been all that bad. These days I may have a crash once every 6-10 times I play and those sessions can go as long as 10 hours each (not all mind you, I don't have that much time to play). I have experience the netcode issue but now that it was explained to me I get why it occurs and, while annoying, it's fairly minor.

To me the game is better than BF2 which I spent close to 1k hours playing between pubbing it and several tournaments. It actually feels more balanced and I like the ability to use different categories of weapons with each class while still having one category that is class specific. Sure, this means I ignore PDW's most of the time in favor of carbines, but thats just how it goes. I also like that in BF4 it feels like guns are more even in their abilities. Yes, some are clearly better than others, but overall you can use just about any weapon and do well, once you learn how to use it.

Yeah, call me a fanboy, but the game has been quite fun. FAAAR better when played with friends, but still a lot of fun even solo for me. Not even close to perfect but I can't complain, especially since I really like large servers with 64 players. Though I do run on a 100/20 fiber line so I don't tend to ever have lag issues.

 

[duragezic]

I play a round or two most nights. If you liked BF3 you will probably like BF4, but I can't comment on air power as I avoid that shit.

One of the most disappointing things to me is the lack of servers. It seemed like there was more in BF3, which I only quit playing a month ago when I got BF4. I don't care for the huge air/tank conquest maps, and there are few large rush or domination servers for BF4.

I think part of the problem is the population is segregated due to the stupid expansions. It's like I almost have to buy the expansions to have a better selection of servers.

Too bad this wasn't a month ago. For February they have been giving battlepacks daily to players. That is nice for a nub like myself who isn't level 9000 and has barely anything unlocked.

 

[meob]

There have been dev responses on Reddit I believe making some mention of it, but I'd wager you are correct that the same people complaining about it have nowhere near full comprehension of the concept and the code or logic behind it. "Netcode" has become a catch-all buzzword to explain away losing, ignorance, and yes the at-times inconsistent/unexpected performance of the game.

However having played at least TF2 and CS a lot... I don't feel it's any more inconsistent than those titles; each one has funny, imperfect behavior simply because we cannot truly encompass/represent real behavior with code (yet) - there's compromises.

BF4 is a lot of fun imo and works right far more often than it works questionably. That's about all I can ask for.

I agree with you in that I am not an expert in networking and don't know the technical details (or anything) behind the server infrastructure. I, like others, use "netcode" as a "catch-all buzzword" because how else am I going to describe how the game operates online with a single word?
I assume the "netcode" is bad or has something wrong with it when a game centered around shooting other people performs as badly as it does in shooting others.

I disagree that cs or tf2 are anywhere near as inconsistent as bf3 and 4 and honestly don't know how a reasonable person could come to that conclusion. bf3 and 4 have actual ballistic calculations whereas tf2 and cs are obviously hitscan weapons. It'd be pretty damn difficult for those games to perform worse than bf3/4.

 

[darkewaffle]

The complaints I see and hear are far more varied than just hitbox related, some of the more common ones that I've experienced in all three games would be the "he wasn't even looking at me!" or "i was completely behind that wall!" and somewhat related shit-show that is 'face to face' combat when you end up immediately on top of an enemy. Melee hit detection/"range" is spotty in all three (but by far worst in TF) and there are some map bugs peppered in at least TF and BF.

They all do some things well and some things not so well though which was more the point. BF(4) just gets nailed to the wall for it more than any other game mostly because it's published by EA.

 

[shadow9d9]

Absolutely. The built in VOIP for teamwork, commander added, and new maps make it worth it... Plus, little additions like being able to swim under water give you more options. Aircraft are also way more balanced.

 

[Remobz]

I play a round or two most nights. If you liked BF3 you will probably like BF4, but I can't comment on air power as I avoid that shit.

One of the most disappointing things to me is the lack of servers. It seemed like there was more in BF3, which I only quit playing a month ago when I got BF4. I don't care for the huge air/tank conquest maps, and there are few large rush or domination servers for BF4.

I think part of the problem is the population is segregated due to the stupid expansions. It's like I almost have to buy the expansions to have a better selection of servers.

Too bad this wasn't a month ago. For February they have been giving battlepacks daily to players. That is nice for a nub like myself who isn't level 9000 and has barely anything unlocked.

I bought BF3 premium in Jan. 2013 but have not opened it yet because I still don't have a gaming computer to handle the game. Is BF3 dead for the most part? Should I even bother installing it once I get a gaming computer?

 

[Randum]

I bought BF3 premium in Jan. 2013 but have not opened it yet because I still don't have a gaming computer to handle the game. Is BF3 dead for the most part? Should I even bother installing it once I get a gaming computer?

I don't think its dead, I know I play my Xbox 360 version from time to time and the servers are still full. I think it will shrink quickly but not sure it would be considered "dead".

The only thing you can count on from EA, not a single update/enhancement on the title, so whatever state is in now - it will stay until it dies.

 

[Remobz]

I don't think its dead, I know I play my Xbox 360 version from time to time and the servers are still full. I think it will shrink quickly but not sure it would be considered "dead".

The only thing you can count on from EA, not a single update/enhancement on the title, so whatever state is in now - it will stay until it dies.

Ok thanks. Can you imagine my frustration whenever I see my unopened BF3 game

I blame myself because I bought a game before I even owned a proper gaming pc to handle the game. I guess I screwed up on my part. Might have to just give it away for free to someone I know.

 

[QuantumPion]

I don't know squat about the technical details of netcode.

What I do know is that BF3 was fun while BF4 is frustrating shit.

 

[shadow9d9]

I don't know squat about the technical details of netcode.

What I do know is that BF3 was fun while BF4 is frustrating shit.

Frustrating why? Now that the crashes are gone, I find the game to be much easier than BF3. Hell, just being able to use VOIP to direct the other player in the tank/heli/boat makes the game 1000x less frustrating. My K/D is also waaay higher than previous BFs, which had averaged about 1.45 in each one. Most of the times it is like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Frustrating why? Now that the crashes are gone, I find the game to be much easier than BF3. Hell, just being able to use VOIP to direct the other player in the tank/heli/boat makes the game 1000x less frustrating. My K/D is also waaay higher than previous BFs, which had averaged about 1.45 in each one. Most of the times it is like shooting fish in a barrel.

I dominated in BF3. I must be getting old.

 

[shadow9d9]

I dominated in BF3. I must be getting old.

Each BF has a slightly different flow. Did you mostly use air/tanks? Did you use teamspeak?

 

[duragezic]

I bought BF3 premium in Jan. 2013 but have not opened it yet because I still don't have a gaming computer to handle the game. Is BF3 dead for the most part? Should I even bother installing it once I get a gaming computer?

No it's not dead. I'm sure there's a lot less playing than before BF4 came out, but there's enough servers to play on.

Actually I just loaded the browser, and there's still the two large Rush servers I liked to play on. I pretty much can't find such a thing in BF4. Rush is my favorite mode but I have almost not played it in BF4.

 

[shadow9d9]

No it's not dead. I'm sure there's a lot less playing than before BF4 came out, but there's enough servers to play on.

Actually I just loaded the browser, and there's still the two large Rush servers I liked to play on. I pretty much can't find such a thing in BF4. Rush is my favorite mode but I have almost not played it in BF4.

Conversely, I couldn't stand Rush in BF3 and haven't touched it in BF4.

 

[poohbear]

BF4 is stable now, its taken months after release but its finally stable. I'm not a pro gamer, i play maybe an hour a day, and for me its enjoyable. I don't notice all the minor things some people bitch about endlessly on the internet. If its on sale @ $30 then its definitely worth it, but i wouldnt pay $60 for it personally.

Also, i don't see ur point about Origin? i use Steam and Origin, Steam has actually given me more problems than Origin. just off the top of my head for Steam:

-no dpi adjustment for higher resolutions??? i'm going blind trying to read text in Steam-
-not detecting my network connection and saying im offline when i'm not
-alan wake constantly redownloading the same patch

Finally, Titanfall is also by EA for all the people recommending it, so expect the same problems on release as with all EA games.

 

[duragezic]

LOL so I just learned today that you need to activate the XP boosts. No wonder it seemed like I never got a bonus even though I should have except the weekend where everyone got double XP bonus.

Throughout February, with a near daily free Battlepack, I got about 20 XP boosts, mostly 25%, some 50%, couple 100%. And all this time I haven't used them. FAIL.

Looks like I might be able to get more quickly through the painful process of using the default Eng and Recon weapons until I unlock something decent.

 

[NoSoup4You]

I bought BF4 + Premium when it came out, I played pretty feverishly for the first week, racking up 12 hours of gametime according to Battlelog. My impression during that first week was that this was a game I could play for a very, very long time.

For some reason I never played it again after the first week. I'm not sure why, maybe the frequent crashes and server annoyances. So I'm still sitting on 12hrs played, I think I'll pick the game up again at some point but I'm pretty much dreading the leveling up process. I can't stand doing this grind over and over, BF game after BF game.

 

[TheSlamma]

LOL so I just learned today that you need to activate the XP boosts. No wonder it seemed like I never got a bonus even though I should have except the weekend where everyone got double XP bonus.

Throughout February, with a near daily free Battlepack, I got about 20 XP boosts, mostly 25%, some 50%, couple 100%. And all this time I haven't used them. FAIL.

Looks like I might be able to get more quickly through the painful process of using the default Eng and Recon weapons until I unlock something decent.

You get so many boosts you can basically stay boosted 100% of the time you play too

 

[shadow9d9]

You get so many boosts you can basically stay boosted 100% of the time you play too

And they stack with double xp weekends.

 

[TidusZ]

Thanks for most of the replies. Some were helpful.

FWIW: I was reading in the BF4 thread today and someone was saying how they just uninstalled the game today. He couldn't deal with some issues the game has. I was reading the thread thinking that it'd be a bunch of people who play the game and love it talking about it. Seeing a guy uninstall because of issues made me start this thread.



I guess $35 for this game (including one exp. pack) is still too much...

I didn't buy it since it's EA, but my brother did and regrets doing so due to the game being completely broken on release to the point of being unable to play. Don't think he's bothered with it since so not sure how playable it is, but just out of principle I wouldn't buy bf4.

 

[duragezic]

You get so many boosts you can basically stay boosted 100% of the time you play too

Well that's great. I got 22 XP boosts and never used a single one (cause I didn't know how) but now that I see in-game, it says "No boosts" as if I don't have any. I even got one today and it doesn't show up.

I read some issues on forums about the XP boosts not working but they were Oct 2013 which I believe was around it was released. Kind of thought something so simple would be fixed by now.