[Jayer]

Battlefield 3, No Commanders, No Problem

A lot of information about Battlefield 3 has come out over the past week and a half. We went from "it's coming out in 2011" to getting a trailer, screen shots, details, confirmations, and broken rumors. We also got a couple more rumors, such as BF3's beta coming in October, this was denounced by zh1nt0. And then we learned that there might not be commander mode in Battlefield 3, which really angered the die-hard battlefield fans, especially those of Battlefield 2. EA/DICE stated that they had tried commander mode with BF:BC2, but it just didn't fit and have probably come to the same conclusion with Battlefield 3 (not confirmed.)

Despite the riots outside DICE's office for commander, there's still some definite positives in giving individual players perks and gadgets to do full fill the roles of commander. In Battlefield 2, the common problem with commanders was that they were often AFK, incompetent, or both. Of course there is a handful of good commanders, but most are like the commanders from The Pwn3d Life

The BF2 way of doing things is very, "the king has the final say." If you need supplies, a vehicle, uav, or artillery, you have to wait on the commander to give you it. But the new way of doing things that we've seen in recent FPS's is through leveling. After each level, you gain access to new gadgets and tools that allow you to send up your own UAV, drop mortar strikes, and supplies. Instead of the commander getting all the power, it's distributed, where everyone can make a difference on the Battlefield, a bit like a democracy.

EA/DICE, and many gamers have realized why commander is a cool feature, but a bit of a hold back as well for Battlefield 3. With new game play techniques, DICE can create alternatives for Battlefield 3 that will essentially make each player a commander in their own way. Not only can the features be somewhat similar, there's also no lag between commander response. Often in BF2 a request for artillery or a UAV will go unanswered, but if each person is a commander, the requests will be answered instantly in Battlefield 3.