Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Q&A

[rudedog]

http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/5835-2/bfbc2_logo_001.jpgThe Bad Company team posts some Q&A about the recent issues BFBC2 has been having.We have had a lot of questions about Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on all platforms about the issues some have had. Here we will answer some of the more common questions, some will help you get in game, others will give an insight to what we are working on.
This Q&A isn't a definitive list by any means and we are aware of and are working on more than these issues:

Connection issues to EA servers
EA Online has been adding more capacity to handle the high number of player connections to EA servers. This is an ongoing process but we currently have enough capacity to handle all BFBC2 connections.

Manually install PunkBuster on PC
If you are getting an error that Punkbuster hasn't installed correctly for reasons such as Windows admin permissions not allowing Punkbuster to be installed, then go to www.evenbalance.com (http://www.evenbalance.com/) and download PBSetup.exe. When prompted, point PBSetup at your BFBC2 install directory and then check for updates. A PC restart maybe needed once this is done for Windows to pick up Punkbusters location.

PunkBuster kicks with the following error message : « punkbuster kicked player 'PLAYER NAME' (for 0 minutes) ... RESTRICTION: Service Communication. »
This is a Windows Vista/Windows 7 permissions issue that affects all Punkbuster games. To solve this issue download and run PBSVC from http://www.evenbalance.com/downloads/pbsvc/pbsvc.exe

When clicking on a server to join, nothing happens.
This is fixed in a patch going out on PC today.

Server Browser bugged: All the following browser issues are things the team is currently working on improving.

Too slow This is caused by the current browser system. - A new system is being developed by the BFBC2 PC team to improve the server browser
Displaying inaccurate number of players connected on game servers - This is caused by the difference in server status between when the refresh was initiated and when the results display.
No ping displayed - This is caused by Windows admin privileges. To view ping in the server browser run BFBC2.exe with administrator privileges.

High pings even on local game servers. We're actually showing game latency instead of ping.
This is basically how far behind the client is compared to the server. We try to keep the server a small portion in front of the clients so they in most cases can use replicated data until they get the next ghost update from the server. If they get a lag spike they will start predicting the state when they run out of information, however, the basic idea is to smooth out the experience compared to everything having to be corrected when the predictions are slightly off.

After being disconnected, some people got their stats temporary reset.
The team is investigating this issue, we have no solution at this point. Please report any stat loss here: http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company-2-pc/961412-do-you-get-missing-stats.html

When people try to reconnect to their profile, the game asks for the serial number again
This has been fixed on the entitlement side hence no patch is needed. A really small number of people got affected by this.

360 accounts will be “reset” this weekend?
This is a rumour

Some players have had trouble redeeming their VIP codes
This should have cleared up now, the in game store on PS3 for Europe and Asia is coming soon.
- Source: Official Bad Company 2 (http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2010/03/15/battlefield-bad-company-2-q-amp-a.aspx) site

[Pendragon]

The very first step need to resolve a problem is to admit you have a problem!

So many company's refuse t accept that there are issues an this response is refreshing and welcomed.

Now all they have to do is fix them... and more than a few others that I can think of.

[rudedog]

Pen, a patch was almost released, see the other news thread.

While we all hate waiting, it's nice to know they are doing something.

[Pendragon]

Simple communication, tell your customers what is happening. It is a corner stone of good business practice. Particularly important with an ongoing complicated relationship.

I suppose that's it, we are thankful that for one the company in question has realised that it is complicated and it is a relationship worth building on. Something that Valve has always been good at but others, EA included have failed terribly in the past. Valve has not always been perfect or their produces free from errors but we have been more patient with them because they have talked to us. DICE's BC2 shows immense promise, game play is enormously entertaining, when it works! For it to have any future it has to work we can put up with many things but it has to work!

[rudedog]

Well said Penn.

Funny you would think IW would be talking more about MW2 and what they are doing about all the problems they have on all their platforms. I guess some developers and publishers don't get it...

I'm willing to wait as long as they keep us informed. I have a lot more patience then sitting with my thumb up my ass not knowing what the hell is going on.

[zeroy]

Agreed on the communication, they are doing a good job. On admitting the problems though im not entirely convinced - Did you guys see the all shenanigans with the Firewall stuff? DICE is actually advising to turn it off all together! just as the Router issues with CODWAW on release it was supposedly the user's equipment at fault but was later fixed in patches....

[TRTL]

- Did you guys see the all shenanigans with the Firewall stuff? DICE is actually advising to turn it off all together! just as the Router issues with CODWAW on release it was supposedly the user's equipment at fault but was later fixed in patches....

It fixed most of my guys problems they had.

[Misnomer]

I read that thread Zeroy, including where you posted in it. I think it was not really official advice so much as Baza trying to come up with a solution to help a guy out when he said to use the DMZ.

Now let's be honest here. The best way to find out if your router is the problem is to take the router out of the loop. The person is in no more danger than if they plugged directly into their modem...which is often part of a troubleshooting advice. Those of us who give this advice know to tell people that it is not a permanent solution, just a way to diagnose.

The problem was that Baza never suggested what to do once they figured out whether or not it was the router firewall. So that would be the problem. They did provide the ports to forward...though that should not be a necessary solution either. I don't see this as the thing worth repeating on every post like you do.

Yeah this is beta 2 and not really a good release. Yes there are lots of bugs. But it is highly playable and superior to most games I currently have on my harddrive. I am not going to roast them for every bit of support I think they could have done better. I think their mistake was not having a real client side beta..... now it is a matter of waiting for them to polish up the rough edges.

[soulz2003]

The only things that are bugging me, which bugged me much more in the past, are the atrocious server browser, the less frequent crashes, and auto balance. Auto balance alone can kill a server.

[zeroy]

I read that thread Zeroy, including where you posted in it. I think it was not really official advice so much as Baza trying to come up with a solution to help a guy out when he said to use the DMZ.

Tut tut, its a Sticky! Mind you everytime i do warn peeps about the bad effect turning a firewall off can have no one says anything ..... oh well.

[rudedog]

If you think we have it bad, just imagine how shitty being a trusted GSP is right now reselling servers for BFBC2......

[zeroy]

If you think we have it bad, just imagine how shitty being a trusted GSP is right now reselling servers for BFBC2......

Yes, you cant! DICE still has not give the go-ahead for sales to start again, or did they?

[woowoo]

Sales are still on hold.

[rudedog]

I hope trusted GSPs are making at least 70% margins on reselling BFBC2 servers or at least getting some type of spiff from EA/Dice......