Battlefield 2
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The Game
Battlefield 2 is a first person shooting game by Electronic Arts that emphasizes online play and teamwork in order to complete objectives and gain points. It remains distinctive compared to most FPS games because of the extreme attention to detail and faithfulness to real life in most respects. For example, even an anti-tank troop on the ground cannot go toe-to-toe with a tank. Caution is first and foremost, just as you would expect from a human being trying to blow up a tank in real life. Many other aspects of the game follow this kind of punishing approach to combat, leading some new players to swear off the game entirely for being "cheap."
In addition to the amount of detail in the game, there are a number of elements that are unique to the Battlefield franchise that give it a particularly interesting approach. A few examples are:
- Player-Commanders and squad structure
- Points obtained for non-combat-oriented activities
- Support devices (Artillery, supply & vehicle drops, repair skill, individual health & ammo resupply packs)
Dissent Among the Ranks
As expressed before, the game takes a singular approach to the traditional FPS play type, because it is consistently reminding you that you, as a soldier, are dispensable. It is only when you work along with your squadmates and commander that you become an efficient fighting force. Alternately, what this means is that any weak link in the chain can cause a winning battle to become a losing one in a fairly small amount of time.
There are constant questions of balance coming from those who play casually, but also from those who are dedicated to the game, and each patch is cause for one group or another to claim that they've gotten the short end of the stick. With such dynamic gameplay, and such tenuous control over any given situation, it is easy to see why. As an example, the fairly recent patch 1.2 caused many dedicants of the game to swear off of it themselves, because it reduced the overall life (and therefore effectiveness) of many air vehicles, making it much easier to bring them down. However, months after the fact, many people still feel that planes remain severely overpowered. It is practically a guarantee that no two people will have the same opinion about game balance, due to varying skill levels in different kinds of combat.
One constant seems to remain. Play alone, and expect to die. Group together, communicate, and above all use common sense, and you stand a better than average chance of scattering the enemy.
The Incentives
Along with the swelling of pride in a player's chest from beating an enemy with superior numbers and firepower, there are many awards, such as upgraded weapons, ranks, badges, ribbons, and medals, that the game gives to players when they complete certain requirements. These requirements can include time spent playing, kills in a round, teamwork score (which is itself a function of many different activities), and other factors that are detailed better on the Battlefield 2 statistics and information page, UBAR (http://ubar.bf2s.com/)
The Community
Gamingforce has fairly recently formed a loose association of Battlefield 2 players of various skill level to form squads and play on various servers. Most of those involved use the utility XFire (http://www.xfire.com/) to coordinate everyone and allow people to communicate when not in-game. Though Battlefield 2 also has a Voice Over IP (VOIP) option included, the sound quality leaves something to be desired, so members have often also used either Teamspeak (http://www.goteamspeak.com/) or Ventrilo (http://www.ventrilo.com/) to help communication between squad members.
The Members
All members are listed alphabetically by forum name, and are shown with BF2 game name (including a link to profile at the UBAR site), rank, preferred class, expansions (if any), and Xfire nickname.
AniMechanic - [1MI (http://bf2s.com/player/44867686/)Gunmetal]] First Sergeant - All, excluding Spec Ops & Sniper - (Special Forces) Xfire Handle: chanic
Ayos - [TheMason (http://bf2s.com/player/58239687/)] Gunnery Sergeant - All (Special Forces, Euro Force, Armoured Fury)
Domino - [Dominu (http://bf2s.com/player/78459316/)] Staff Sergeant - Support, Sniper, Medic - (Special Forces) Xfire Handle: javasix
Free.User - [Fre_User (http://bf2s.com/player/91147045//)] - Private First Class - Special Ops, Medic - Xfire Handle: freuser
Freelance Wolf - [Fuzzy FreelanceWolf (http://bf2s.com/player/43717188/)] - Gunnery Sergeant - Support - (Special Forces, Euro Force, Armored Fury) Xfire Handle: freelancewolf
garthvadr3 - [MDK (http://bf2s.com/player/44646943/)Garthvader] - 2nd Lieutenant - Medic, Anti-Tank - (Special Forces, Euro Force)
Jinn - [WanderingJin (http://bf2s.com/player/47108620/)] - Master Sergeant - Medic - (Special Forces, Euro Force) Xfire Handle: wanderingroninjin
Kamui - [Waenn (http://bf2s.com/player/64617228/)] - Gunnery Sergeant - Support, Anti-tank, Medic - (Euro Force) Xfire Handle: kamui34
KrazyTaco - [CAD (http://bf2s.com/player/45413372/)KrazyTaco] - First Sergeant - Engineer - (Special Forces, Euro Force, Armored Fury) Xfire Handle: krazytaco
Locke - [Stoned LockeXavier (http://bf2s.com/player/69363112/) - Staff Sergeant - Medic - (Special Forces) Xfire Handle: stygarfield
Rock - [Aerith (http://bf2s.com/player/46011578/)] - Gunnery Sergeant - Medic - (Special Forces, Euro Force, Armoured Fury) Xfire Handle: hrimfaxi
SinisterX - [Phasebeta (http://bf2s.com/player/61698703/)] - Corporal - Medic, Anti-tank Xfire Handle: phasebeta
Skexis - [Skexis (http://bf2s.com/player/43876511/)] - First Sergeant - Engineer, Medic, Anti-tank - (Special Forces) Xfire Handle: skexis
Solis - [Fuzzy Solis (http://bf2s.com/player/43398094/)] - First Sergeant - Anti-Tank, Medic - (Special Forces, Armored Fury) Xfire Handle: solisinvicti
Sparhawke - [Sparhawke (http://bf2s.com/player/43514892/)] - Gunnery Sergeant - All except Sniper - (Special Forces, Euro Force) Xfire Handle: Sparhawke
StarmanDX - [AxelrodGunnarson (http://bf2s.com/player/45822135/)] - Gunnery Sergeant - Special Ops, Engineer, Support - (Euro Force, Armored Fury) Xfire Handle: axelrodgunnarson
Thalin - [Thalin (http://bf2s.com/player/20051743/)] - Gunnery Sergeant - Medic, Sniper, Special Ops - (Special Forces) Xfire Handle: thalin
XerxesTheMighty - [SoK (http://bf2s.com/player/44452994/)Xerxes] - Sergeant - Assault, Support, Medic Xfire Handle: xerxesthemighty
