Battlefield 4 (PS4)

[youngsyr]

That's the thing about Battlefied - there are so many things to keep you occupied, stats are just a minor footnote.

I'm a bit OCD about unlocking all the ribbons, medals and assignments. On BF3 I had them all apart from one - the Air Superiority Medal. Even my advanced level of OCD couldn't motivate me to sit through 50+ games of that garbage!

I also had 100 kills with every weapon in the game (to unlock a service star for each). It did mean I had to play some pretty bizarre tactics at times - refusing to use my assault rifle in favour of a 9mm pistol in prolonged firefights on Metro being particularly memorable!

[youngsyr]

TheHangingJudge said:

One of the great things about this game for me is there are so many stats you can almost be guaranteed to be pretty good at something. In BF3 I was top 10 in the world at one point in the Amtrac and AA tank, didn’t mean I was special, just slightly too focused and spent too much time on the game. Think snafu and pexy are fairly high up now in their specialities. This time around wanted a KDr of 2 and I am very focused on the melee assignments. Melee going okay, but long way off 2 on the Kdr.
Personally think SPM is a bit misleading, can largely be a factor of how much you play during double XP, whether you remember to use the XP boosts, and luck/skill of timing service stars correctly. I bet a lot of people don’t even know the XP boosts exist.

I still haven't worked out how the XP boosts work on a double XP event - I'm pretty sure you get double XP on your boosted score, so for a 10,000 service star you get it boosted to 20,000 and then doubled = 40,000 points?

[youngsyr]

If I'm shooting over 300m I'll use a range finder, bipod and 20x scope - this tends to only be when I've spotted 3 or 4 stationary snipers and want to take them out. I'll zero the scope too as it generally improves accuracy.

I haven't unlocked the 20x or 40x scope on the better rifles so have a lot of bullet drop over that distance with the early rifles and find it difficult to predict range accurately enough at that distance on the first shot for the headshot that's required for a one hit kill on softcore. I'm not interested in anything other than first shot headshots with this set up.

I'll sit in a tucked away spot with a motion sensor down and basically snipe away until people work out where I am from the kill cam. Then I'll switch class and stop sniping.

Closer in I'll typically take a 4x scope and straight pull bolt plus a silencer to avoid being spotted by scope glare and allow quick follow up shots on moving targets. This works better with the semi-auto DMRs than bolt actions though.


Can't wait to unlock the Magnum with a 3x scope - this was my pocket sniper rifle on BF3 and was lethal when you trapped the Russians in their base on Metro.

Edited by youngsyr on Friday 17th January 13:35

[youngsyr]

I'm working on the SRR, have about 40 kills or so with it so not far off the straight pull bolt unlock.

I think the 40x scope is way overkill for anything up to 1,000m and limits your view whilst zoomed, 20x is plenty.

[youngsyr]

HedgehogFromHell said:

youngsyr said:

I'm working on the SRR, have about 40 kills or so with it so not far off the straight pull bolt unlock.

I think the 40x scope is way overkill for anything up to 1,000m and limits your view whilst zoomed, 20x is plenty.

Even with 20x i still find i use the 14x variable, sometimes the 20x is just too close and narrow! Especially for impromptu CQ work.

I generally don't equip a scope greater than 6x unless I'm shooting over 300m away and when I do I have a motion sensor down, so I'll quite often switch to pistol and flank anyone who comes too close, which brings me on to...

..favourite pistol?

The 93R was a beast in BF3, closely followed by the Scoped Swagnum.

So far I'm liking my 3x scoped, silenced and laser sighted 1911 and am not enjoying the 93R so much. Am looking forward to unlocking the Swagnum as above.

[youngsyr]

HedgehogFromHell said:

Snipers are normally 100% for body under 50m, a lot of them drop off to 50% after then. It's like magic bullets or something

I've had a few issues with rockets recently, unguided not even reaching half the distance to their target, disappearing just before they hit or going straight through with no damage. Also I've got a major issue with the fact that the RPGs seem to launch and veer randomly off to the left intermittently... Not even under suppression.

Really - can't say I've noticed many one hit kills with sniper rifles that weren't head shots, I always thought it was head or upper chest for one hit kill with a bolt action? Perhaps I haven't been using them much under 50m?

Re the RPGs there seems to be a real range in performance the MBT seem to be smart/fire and forget, i.e. just aim it at the vehicle, pull the trigger and it will hit.

The RPG-72 is dumb, drops during flight and doesn't always fly in a straight line, but hits are supposed to do more damage (not that I've noticed).

The TOW one (not sure what it's called) seems to do quite a bit of damage (typically 30/31/32 to tanks) but I find its controls very strange.

[youngsyr]

TheHangingJudge said:

Depends who you talk to and what your personal tolerances are. Snafu/hedgehog (havoc) will tell you the game is bust but strangely still play it . I, and a number of others, would say yes there are some issues and sometimes a particular map/server can be hard going but you switch. In general the game is fantastic, just look at the time we are putting in!

Lord Howit – not heard of this before, don’t think you need an origin account to play so wouldn’t have thought that would affect?

Any thoughts from anyone on whether I should organise more of these informal matches or should I just wait till we have our server?

I think there's a "tolerance curve" too - you start out wanting to launch your controller at the wall every time someone kills you before they miraculously appear on your screen and then start to accept it along with the kills you get on other people that perhaps weren't 100% fair on them due to the "lag" issues.

It would be a much better game if every encounter was fair on both parties, but you get used to it after a few dozen hours - at least the game doesn't crash every single time on certain maps any more!

Any idea when PS4 gets second assault given that the game seems to be as "fixed" as it's going to get?

[youngsyr]

andrew_huxtable said:

Can you use more than one of the unlocks at a time. I have three sitting their and was planning to use all three when I have a good 2-3 hours to dedicate to a session

You can't "stack" the boosts, so you can only use one at a time.

You can use them during Double XP events though - and I think they double your boosted score as I'm sure I got 40,000 points for certain service stars during the last one when I had a 100% boost activated, which would be the usual 10,000 for the star +100% then the whole lot doubled.

[youngsyr]

My nickname is "youngsy" and my first initial is R, hence the username. It's perfectly normal for me being called "youngy" or "youngsy" on line.

People calling me "young seer" etc. though is a bit weird!

[youngsyr]

Oh great - it seems Battelog has lost all of my boosts I'd been storing up for the double XP weekend - around 40 in total.

[youngsyr]

lemmingjames said:

youngsyr said:

Oh great - it seems Battelog has lost all of my boosts I'd been storing up for the double XP weekend - around 40 in total.

You need to get out more

I couldn't agree more! Still, I have managed to cut down my playing time since the bad old BF3 days.

I lost entire months to that game.

[youngsyr]

Double XP is active from this morning guys!

100,000 point medic rounds on Locker ahoy!

[youngsyr]

Jasandjules said:

I am a bit put out that it's only 20 points for a revive....

Chuck down a medi kit before you revive and you'll get the healing points too.

[youngsyr]

Jasandjules said:

youngsyr said:

Jasandjules said:

I am a bit put out that it's only 20 points for a revive....

Chuck down a medi kit before you revive and you'll get the healing points too.

Not a bad plan, I tend to run a grenade launcher... Will change that.

I find the best perks (in order) for the assault class are:

1) Medi kit
2) Grenade Launcher
3) Defib

So, I'd consider ditching the defib before I'd ditch the grenade launcher, except on Locker where you can get ridiculous point hauls by reviving with medi packs down (thanks to combat medic perk) when the inevitable 64 man stand off occurs.

Reviving on the bigger maps is pointless, you'll either get shot whilst reviving, your revivee will get shot again straight away or they'll run off immediately out of the range of your medi-kit, so you only get the 20 points.

[youngsyr]

DoubleSix said:

No, some of the best guns are available right out of the box. Try the AK 5C carbine, I predict a score jump! : )

Other than that u just have to stick at it until you are the guy one shotting noobs.

The possible exception to that is the bolt action sniper rifles, the first few are garbage compared to the M98 and SRR.

[youngsyr]

Matt London said:

So what's supposed to be the best sniper rifle? After grinding the CLS to unlock them I am not far off unlocking the SRR. I haven't used the other rifles yet and just want to unlock the essentials on the best one.

Guess who the second biggest AA hoe in the London area is? It's not me, I seldom use the things.

I haven't used the M98 much yet (which was my favourite bolt action in BF3), but the SRR is as good as that was in the last game. Very little bullet drop, good bullet velocity and stopping power.

I tend to use it with the 8x and variable zoom (14x) - gives you enough zoom to hit people out to 300m on the 8x and up to 500m (or pick them out of cover) with the 14x.

[youngsyr]

With these feet said:

Is it possible to be shot through walls, rock or floors?
Numerous times on Operation Locker (I really cant get on with this one) when the soldier that kills me is highlighted its behind a wall, rock or seems to be below me. Odd. Last night I had one of those moments still in Locker, where a guy exiting a tunnel gets 6 rounds from me, yet in the time its taking me to keep shooting him he has turned, spotted me aimed and fired. Its almost like I am in the room after I appear to others.

Ive got network smoothing up quite a bit and controller speed at about 10.

I keep reading about various connection settings but then hear its all at the other end.
Still rubber banding quite badly as well though last night not so much.

You can shoot through "soft scenery" (plywood partitions, etc) if you have a powerful weapon (bolt action sniper etc), but generally no, you shouldn't be able to shoot through walls and floors.

What you saw is due to the bad "net code" in the game, which results in people killing you before they appear on the screen etc.

[youngsyr]

Matt London said:

http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/01/bf4-player-ap...

Aren't I glad that I grinded my way through pistols and grenades............ And DMR's and shotguns. This must be how the flyers felt when air superiority came out!

I genuinely don't understand the point of that - it's being sold as a thank you for putting up with the game's inadequacies, but it penalises those who have spent the most time dealing with them!

Like a lot of others, I've unlocked all the DMRs, shotguns and grenades and only have one pistol left to unlock, so I won't use the short cuts anyway.

To be fair to Dice though, what can they do to compensate those who have already unlocked everything? I guess some new weapon attachments would be nice, but would require more work and introducing new stuff when the current set up doesn't work and they're clearly struggling to fix it.

[youngsyr]

DoubleSix said:

I find the game enjoyable. It is, after all, just a game and any niggles are present for all.

Overall, the game is fun, but there are times when the "netcode" issues strike where it becomes very frustrating.

For example - I watched the round from my sniper rifle pass through my target's head twice last night without a scratch on him, only for me to then be killed by the sniper standing next to him.

It doesn't take too many incidents like that to make you want to switch the game off for good.

Edited by youngsyr on Wednesday 29th January 14:33

[youngsyr]

DoubleSix said:

youngsyr said:

DoubleSix said:

I find the game enjoyable. It is, after all, just a game and any niggles are present for all.

Overall, the game is fun, but there are times when the "netcode" issues strike where it becomes very frustrating.

For example - I watched the round from my sniper rifle pass through my target's head twice last night without a scratch on him, only for me to then be killed by the sniper standing next to him.

It doesn't take too many incidents like that to make you want to switch the game off for good.

Edited by youngsyr on Wednesday 29th January 14:33

Meh, if something like that happens I just think "weird, ah well on to the next one!!". The good moments outweigh the annoyances by 50 to 1 and of course this is still a new game and will no doubt be subject to further optimisation and revisions. We're not playing for money or anything other than a bit of light relief as far as I can tell. That's just my attitude though, I'm not saying you're wrong.

I guess I just have a lower tolerance for that sort of stuff than you (but not as low as some PHer Potty Mouths)!

In my experience the ratio of good to bad moments isn't 50:1 though, it's more like 2:1. Some games seem to run fine, most I get what seems to be lag and some are downright unplayable due "lag".

BF3 was more like 50:1 and I spent far too much time playing that game, so I probably notice the difference more than most on BF4.