BF3 DLC announced, "Close Quarters" being the first:

[Felixlynch777]

Battlefield 3: Close Quarters was announced at an EA event last night for this upcoming June, the first major paid piece of DLC for the game since last December's "Back to Karkand." The expansion includes four maps, 10 weapons and no vehicles -- it's about close quarters, after all.

There will be two more expansions for the game following the June expansion -- one called "Armored Kill," which will focus on weapons and larger maps, with new drivable vehicles. The second pack, entitled "End Game," which EA isn't sharing hardly any details on, does feature cover art with some crazy tripping lunatic holding a knife on it.

The news of this expansion couldn't come soon enough. Frustrations in the Battlefield 3 community had been bubbling into potential action, as EA maintained radio silence as long as possible about any expansion plans after the "Back to Karkand" maps launched in mid-December.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/07/battlefield-3-close-quarters-announced-for-june-two-more-packs/

I'm pretty excited, happy to see it's coming out later as I think it's too soon for DLC now. Obviously I'm more interested in Armoured Kill but this looks good as well

[Felixlynch777]

More info:


attlefield 3 will receive its second batch of premium DLC in June, DICE has announced.

Speaking at an evening event at GDC 2012, DICE developers Karl Magnus Troedsson and Patrick Bach introduced the Close Quarters pack, and teased two additional chunks of DLC: Armoured Kill and End Game.

Close Quarters will have four maps, ten additional weapons and new achievements. DICE is looking to theme all of its DLC, and the focus for Close Quarters is squarely on infantry skirmishes - Bach said that the maps were similar to Operation Metro, which he stated was one of Battlefield 3's most popular maps.

Unlike Operation Metro, however, Close Quarters will focus on vertical map design and destructible environments. Only one of the four maps, Ziba Tower, is currently being shown, taking place in an office complex with multiple floors, neatly partitioned spaces and trendy looking light fixtures.

The four Close Quarters maps provide "some of the most intense moments [Battlefield has] ever had," said Troedsson.

The two other packs, Armoured Kill and End Game, were not dated. The thematic focus of Armoured Kill will be on vehicular combat - Troedsson said one of the Armoured Kill maps was "the biggest map that DICE has ever built" - and the contents of End Game are currently being kept a complete secret.

Battlefield 3: Close Quarters – In Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, players are dropped into a frantic, infantry-only theatre of war. Frostbite 2 high definition destruction makes the environment come alive as everything from furniture to plaster gets shot to pieces. Players will feel the intensity of the world exploding around them as rubble and broken pieces pile up on the floor, while tight level design and vertical gameplay create a highly competitive environment. Battlefield 3: Close Quarters also introduces new weapons, assignments and unique dog tags to bring back to the base game.

Battlefield 3: Armored Kill – Following the tight infantry gameplay of Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, DICE will release Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that ups the ante for vehicular mayhem as only Battlefield can do. Featuring new driveable tanks, ATVs, mobile artillery and more, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill also delivers huge battlefields for an all-out vehicle assault, including the biggest map in Battlefield history.

Battlefield 3: End Game – The fourth expansion pack will ship in the winter but details remain tightly guarded.




"Bach said that the maps were similar to Operation Metro"




Some are saying it is only for 2-16 players as well, which doesn't sound fun at all. As always I'll wait and see.

[Felixlynch777]

Triple post:

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/battlefield_3/news/dice_introducing_server_rental_for_console_battlefield_3.html

That's pretty darn big news O_o. Interested if custom servers will be allowed and rental rates.

EDIT:





Not looking good..... That map is tiny and 16 players max. At least armoured kill is coming out.

[Omnirock]

close quarters..infantry only...what the fuck is this shit???

[Felixlynch777]

My sentiment exactly. I don't mind infantry themed DLC (Special Forces from BF2 comes to mind) but this is like COD mode. I'm a little sceptical about their "biggest map in BF history claim" because they already said that about BF3 .

http://n4g.com/news/742876/dice-battlefield-3-will-have-the-largest-maps-weve-ever-made

Time for Mr Bach to make his comeback:

[Biggles]

I'll just summarize what Mr. Bach essentially is trying to say here:

[omarionfire]

yea only 2-16 players is just straight up catering to the COD fanboys, it better not be so chokepoint infested like Op Metro.

Meh, prolly have my friend buy it n download it off him anyways

[Felixlynch777]

[Jammer]

What's this about 16 players max?
EDIT: Nevermind, found it.

[palto1826]

yeah the release video of the new dlc is a pipe dream also...in reality there will be no use of machine guns...all frag rounds rocket launchers and grenade launchers...the map will be garbage...would be ok if you can find servers that disallow those weapons

[RatedStinger]

I don't mean to sound optimistic(believe me, I don't look forward to this given what we see right now), but that's TDM, and you guys know that TDM basically takes one Rush base and cuts it in half. Despite this, I don't think there's any fucking way they can make Rush or CQ play properly in that clusterfuck given how that map is based off the co-op mission Hit and Run.

Oh and I get the feeling that the 3rd expansion has the best chance of featuring BC2 maps. Looking forward to the second and third one that's for sure. Now about that patch, DICE...............

[DeadCamper]

Lol, me and Val loved Hit and Run. Played it over and over.

[Felixlynch777]

I'd love some BC2 rush maps but the CQ maps can stay in BC2 (apart from maybe a larger Harvest Day) . Also it reminds me of a certain fish to charge people for maps in a game that came out 2 years ago and is still easily playable today.

I'm very interested in Armoured Kill though. I just hope they don't do the same "large maps but all the flags are within 100m of each other" problem that BF3 has.

Finally I hope they aren't going to release the patch with the DLC like they have done in the past. It needs to come out soon, BF3's post launch support has been pretty bad.

[palto1826]

i want mechs

[Felixlynch777]

^BF2142 is your friend .

[RatedStinger]

Well if I had to judge from this one video, CQC is basically catering to the CoD kids and the other three maps have to really be something to impress me. I'm also convinced that Rush and CQ will either not be in this expansion(due to the trailer's emphasis on TDM) or it'll suck donkey balls on these maps.

[DeadCamper]

Can I ask a question. According to you guys, is there a way for a game to have close quarters combat without being ZOMG COD? What's so inherently wrong about close quarters? Especially in a game like BF3 that has large scale combat as well. Why does it have to be either or? Why do I have to buy CoD if I want to play CQC maps, why can't I just keep BF3 and have the option to play both?

[RatedStinger]

*time to feed the troll*

Having a close quarters emphasis does not mean make a clusterfuck. The problem here is that's what we're likely gonna get overall. The DICE rep at GDC even said that they used Metro as a reference point for this kind of infantry combat. You do not need to make obvious clusterfucks in order to make the action constant. All it takes is good map design, something DICE isn't considering given what they used as a reference for CQC.

While CoD does not have a monopoly over the small map design, it is well known that their maps are almost always designed to be clusterfucks or have some sort of obvious chokepoint. Of course, other games have small clusterfuck maps too, but those are usually singled out while in the CoD case, the maps that are singled out are the ones that are even smaller than the expected clusterfuck(ex. Shipment, Rust, Dome, Nuketown). Hell the few maps that are somewhat large in CoD also have obvious chokepoints such as the central trench in Wasteland.

By the way, I didn't label it as DOA yet as I started off my thoughts with "If I had to judge from this one video." This expansion isn't looking too bleak if the other 3 maps bear any similarity to this one as it leads to the possibility that the whole thing is based around TDM/SDM.

[DeadCamper]

Call me a complete maniac, but I intentionally created chokepoints in some of the FC2 maps I designed, as it makes for hilarious and intense action. Not saying it's always a good thing, but if done right it makes for some good fun and you don't always have to run around for ages looking for somebody to shoot. One or two maps like that in a game is, in my opinion, a nice break from the regular gameplay.

Edit: Also, say what you want, but a lot of people seem to love Metro Conquest. I hear the same thing over and over again in-game, "You know Camper, it's frowned upon to say this, but I kinda like Op Metro...".

[Valerie]

Unlike Operation Metro, however, Close Quarters will focus on vertical map design and destructible environments. Only one of the four maps, Ziba Tower, is currently being shown, taking place in an office complex with multiple floors, neatly partitioned spaces and trendy looking light fixtures.

That actually sounds pretty fun. I really liked the Co-Op mission that was like this, as well as the Payday map with a similar layout. [Diamond Heist, I think?] That sort of setting reminds me of Die Hard, lol.

Of the problems I do have with BF3, Operation Metro isn't one of them. I kinda like that map, excluding the random deadly fire that I always seem to end up in. I get way more frustrated in that Somethingsomething Peak map... with the big tunnel cave part... Yeah. But I think any kills I've gotten with claymores have been in that one, lolololl.


EDIT:

Lol, me and Val loved Hit and Run. Played it over and over.

Exactly.

[Felixlynch777]

Specialisation is a wonderful thing. It powered the industrial revolution and gives us a standard of living our ancestors wouldn't dare dream of. But I'm getting sidetracked here. My point is that BF is successful due to specialising in certain things, namely large maps and vehicular based combat. COD4 achieved similar success by specialising in very good gun play and close quarters action. Simply put they are good at seperate things. I wouldn't expect Infinty Ward to make a good vehicular based game, the same way I don't expect DICE to do well with this expansion as they've clearly illustrated in their recent games, they don't know how to do CQC maps.


BF3 already has enough CQC as it is anyway. Players get crammed like sardines in Metro, Damavand, Seine, Bazaar, Highway and Noshahr Canals to an extent. Kind of
sad that more than half the maps in a Battlefield game weren't designed with 64 players in mind.

Brings me on to my next point. The stated player count for CQB is 16 players. I have absolutely zero interest in playing BF with 16 players. Don't even get me started on the fact that it's based around TDM. Thanks but no thanks DICE.

As for Metro, I don't know about console but yes it's true on PC is the most played map. I believe some DICE lackey used this to defend the CQB DLC. What they are knowingly ignoring is that Metro is popular due to BF3's community being by and large a bunch of stat obsessed tools and the ADD kids that BF3 bought in. What the preeviously mentioned DICE lackey failed to mention is that the next most played maps are Caspian, Firestorm and Kharg. Showing that the community still likes large maps. Funnily enough, the most endorsed proposal on the BF3 "Get satisfaction" website is a request for larger maps with 500m+ spaces between flags. Zh1nt0 even replied to it, basically stonewalling the idea and saying big mals are boring for a "major chunk of the community".

Now we move onto that is it really okay to support this DLC considering DICE's attitude/post launch support? Seems rather lulzworthy to me that they've been working on DLC instead of actually fixing the game. Where the hell is Commo-Rose 2.0? When is this "February patch" coming out (DICE's new date is Spring, which can be any time from now to June)?

And the annoying thing is that they are bundling in weapons again. Currently I have no interest in playing this but I want the guns. Considerin that the B2K Famas, G53 and L96 are my primary guns for their respective classes I don't want to miss out.


Anyway my long rant is over. I'll wait till armored kill, hopefully the flags won't be 100m apart with huge areas of wasted space like the current maps.

[Felixlynch777]

P.S typed this from my phone so forgive the typos.

[DeadCamper]

BF3 already has enough CQC as it is anyway. Players get crammed like sardines in Metro, Damavand, Seine, Bazaar, Highway and Noshahr Canals to an extent. Kind of
sad that more than half the maps in a Battlefield game weren't designed with 64 players in mind.

Remember that all my experience is from the console version, as I've said before I consider the PC and PS3 versions to be pretty much different games. Op Metro and the other maps you mention aren't nearly as sardine canny as they are on PC, in fact, you're actually relieved to finally get to shoot people.
PC and consoles should have different teams working on balancing and similar issues/features.

[Omnirock]

i had a larger response typed, but forums seemed to have eaten it, and i don`t feel like retyping it...sooo in short


a lot of what felix said and sprinkle it with some backtracking and hypocrisy

[palto1826]

Just to throw out an example of a well done close quarters map, I think oasis captured that...I don't mind the addition of these maps...but they are basically trying to make two different games into one...if there werent so many deficiencies in the larger scale maps and lack of (don't get me wrong I feel there are a good amount of larger maps but they made the capture points too close together...and less vehicles...and also I do really enjoy playing the game regardless) I wouldn't have minded the maps as much...but since medal of honor was a flop they are piggybacking off of battlefield to cater to that market instead of making a true BF game...I bet if medal of honor didn't do so poorly, BF3 would have had a different focus...just my opinion but I'm just glad to have more weapons.

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