Me and my friend had a really dumb argument about EA's marketing scheme. I'm of the belief that a publisher simply won't spend that much money marketing a game without expecting it to have some level of mass appeal, some degree of pandering to noobs. My friend thinks this will not hinder Dice at all and that they will make a hardcore game explicitly for dedicated BF players.
He was arguing that EA is marketing for the PC platform, and I was arguing no, they are not, they are marketing mainly for the console platforms.
He went on to say that all the gameplay so far has been from the PC version, that Dice doesn't play around and will make a hardcore game with the PC platform in mind first and foremost, and the console versions will be an afterthought.
I was saying that it's being touted as a "Cod killer," and for it to happen like that they'd have to do well on the console platforms. For two, I brought up the fact that neither of him or I know ANYONE in real life with a PC that can run BF3. We all love Battlefield and we're all buying it, but none of us will be buying it for PC. Bottom line is that there's an extremely small segment of the population that will pony up for a $1k machine that can run BF3 on the PC if they don't have it already. No way in hell EA is pinning their hopes and hundreds of millions of marketing dollars on the offchance that Joe Sixpack goes out and buys a super badass gaming rig.
The idea of Dice making a hardcore game is nice and all, but every instance of a game being massmarketed this way has resulted in games that are mainstream and often less edgy than their previous iterations. In BF3's case, I think they'll tone down the language a bit, probably add an aim-assist mechanic on the console versions, add in some hand-holding tutorials (admittedly, BC2 left most players out to dry on that front) for players to get a grip on ideas such as spotting or handling the vehicles. Probably keep the Recon kit easy mode so that noobs can get their snipe on. Lastly, I think there's just unfathomable pressure on developers when there's this much money invested, this much hype, and these deadlines have to be met, all factors that are detrimental to creativity in my opinion.
Like I said, really dumb argument about EA's marketing strategy and Dice's development process. I hope I'm wrong.
s on the forums freaking about this. They're thinking this is a sign that Dice/EA is essentially gonna milk us for more money by "charging" for the best weapons and equipment.
I can't really do that. 
Except when the wife and kids go away for a few days, of course, then it is like Doritos-and-Pizza-palooza. 
urchase a "premium" account which earns 50% more exp and 50% more credits per battle.Purchase a "premium" tank which is basically a way to farm credits (you use credits to buy new tanks and components)Convert XP earned in fully researched tanks to free xp used in other vehicles.Train Crew rapidly up to maximum.It's not neccessary to buy gold, but as you go up in ranks, it gets hard to not lose money in battles, so having a "premium" account is the only good use of Gold. Premium would cost $15/month, if you bought 1 month at a time, like an MMO subscription
What AR were you using? I am too lazy to even think about it or boot up the game to check. I am thinking the 1st or 2nd no?
)
-another xbox. Between the original 20gig that RRODed I bought for $399 back in 06 and the new arcade version I got for $199, that's $598.-like 6 mics. They are made cheaply and designed only to outlast their 30-day return policy. $75.-Turtle Beach headset that broke down on me. I think it was like $70.-Used Tritton AX Pro headset, $80. -Throwing in the HD PVR I use to record for kicks, used, $160. -40" ProScan LCD HDTV: $350-400? I got a good deal on this one. So I've spent $1,632 on the 360 platform alone, and that doesn't take a single game purchase or Xbox Live subscription or DLC purchase into account. Sheesh.
