Sunday, March 17, 2013

Just Talkin' - Tech Episode 3


Today's installment allows you to eavesdrop on a discussion about how rampant cheating has brought down an otherwise decent game.  What follows is too average players with hundreds of hours of experience discussing why the game no longer holds much interest.

A little background first:

When Battlefield 3 launched it was one of the most anticipated FPS's in recent history.  Building on a rabid fan base stretching back a decade, it introduced the most realistic gaming engine (Frostbite 2.0) any FPS fan had seen to that point.  It continues to be the engine for other EA titles like Medal of Honor and Need For Speed due to it's realistic physics effects and visuals.

Unfortunately along with all that progress came the hacks, exploits and the cheaters who love them.  In the Year and half that's gone by EA/Dice have made only cursory overtures to deal with cheats.  Instead, focusing on DLC, the Premium subscription and purchasable upgrades.  Game hacks are so prevalent in Battlefield 3 that it's said an average server can expect to have at least 10% of its players engaging in some manner of cheat.   Entire businesses have sprung up with their only product being game hacks for BF3 and EA/Dice have done virtually nothing to stop it.

In short EA's decided that cheats are best dealt with by the community that plays the game.  Unfortunately they've given them few tools to combat the problem.


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