Battlefield 3 [Read before posting] Battlefield 3: The next decade! State of the game, Population, Discord & more!

[Read before posting] Battlefield 3: The next decade! State of the game, Population, Discord & more!
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[Read before posting] Battlefield 3: The next decade! State of the game, Population, Discord & more!

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 05:30 PM PDT

Greetings everyone!

With the year 2020 in full swing, and Battlefield 3 still alive and kicking (albeit with some limitations here and there), I figured it was about time to do a refresh (or complete rewrite in this case) of my post from 2018.

While I had initially planned to get this post out at the start of the year (as the title suggests), life happened and delays ensued.

I have done my best to make adjustments as necessary, but should anything have slipped through the cracks, against all expectations, please let me know and I'll fix whatever needs fixing; my focus was on finally getting this thing out, and while I did my best to to have all I's dotted and T's crossed, mistakes do happen.

The goal of this post is to provide this community with something comprehensive and complete to address commonly asked questions, as well as giving newcomers and returners alike a starting point - or perhaps to at least curb the eternal influx of posts asking the same old question...

"^Is this^game still^alive ?!"

Be advised that while I tried my best to avoid being exceedingly verbose (lol), the nature of this post makes a certain length unavoidable. Consequently, in lieu of a tl;dr, I will be providing a table-of-contents to allow you to easily CTRL+F/CMD+F your way to whatever it is you are looking for.

Going forward, I would like this post to continue serving the people frequenting this subreddit for the foreseeable future - as such, I encourage you all to contribute should you find something to be missing or inaccurate! I will be amending and adding to it as we go forward.

Now then, without further ado...

1. State of the Game (a.k.a. 'Yes, it's still alive!' )

2. Current Population per Platform

3. Purchasing the Game & Additional Content (a.k.a. 'The What, Where, and Why' )

4. Guides, Tips, and Troubleshooting Common Issues

5. Joining the r/Battlefield3 Discord Server

6. Acknowledgments & Concluding Thoughts

1- State of the Game

Getting right to it, the question that accounts for a good 40% of the threads created on this subreddit:

Is the games still alive?

The answer is 'Yes', you can still find games on all platforms, however, individual limitations do apply depending on the platform you are on.

Note: While 'exact' player numbers can be found in Section 2, all thoughts pertaining to whether or not purchasing DLC is worth it in 2020 are discussed in Section 3.

As it stands, with Battlefield 3 fast approaching its 9th Birthday, some things have inevitably changed.

While the population is fairly healthy on most platforms, and you should be able to instantly find a game on all platforms, not all modes and maps are equally represented nowadays.

Niche modes in particular rarely see any play anymore: games of Squad Deathmatch pop up sporadically, and a Scavenger server might get some activity on rare occasions during weekends, while modes such as Squad Rush, TDM CQ, Air Superiority, or Tank Superiority are practically extinct at this point.

Again, there is some variance depending on the system you play on, however, as a rule of thumb, if something doesn't see much play on PC, it will be even less active on consoles.

Player experience is a topic worthy of consideration, particularly to newcomers or those who didn't play BF3 extensively during its heyday.

While some moved on to newer and shinier iterations within the franchise, others never left, and this experience is clearly reflected in their skill.

Though it may sometimes seem easier to shout "Hacks!" as you get melted by the same player for the umpteenth time, I'd urge you to consider the thousands of hours some have put in, as well as the understanding of maps, recoil, and spread, which they've acquired as a result.

Balance sometimes becomes an issue as it goes hand in hand with the aforementioned player experience.

While close-quarters objective and frag-focused modes (e.g. TDM, Gun Master, Domination, etc.) tend to play out in a relatively even fashion, large-scale objective-based modes, such as Conquest Large or Rush (albeit to a lesser extent) can often suffer from obvious imbalances.

As one side will often have strong players carrying the weaker ones, the other side will drown under the load of inexperienced players, as well as those who categorically refuse to learn the ropes (yes, I'm looking at you Recon/Support player sitting at the back of the map).

This issue becomes particularly flagrant when jets and choppers get added into the mix; if your team doesn't have equally competent pilots to respond (or some seriously talented ground personnel), your choices will be limited to 3 things: git gud, change server, or close your eyes until it's over and hope for better luck in the next round.

Do note that on PC server balance scripts will sometimes alleviate these imbalances by switching strong players around and distributing them evenly - not a perfect system, but it does help.

In summary, if you have ever thought about giving Battlefield 3 a try, or considered returning after a longer absence, I would encourage you to do so.

Despite some obvious traces of ageing, as well as the general roughness around the edges that has always been there, BF3 is undeniably one of the stand-out-titles of the franchise, that everyone should get their hands on at least once - it definitely offers something for everyone and every taste!

As the community turns the page on another chapter (in the form of Battlefield V), and we once again find ourselves playing the waiting game (hoping for something worthwhile this time around), now is as good a time as any to take a trip down memory lane.

2 - Current Population per Platform

As some of you might already know, the P-Stats Network shut down on Sunday, October 27th 2019.

P-Stats catered to a number of EA titles, providing their communities with a wide array of useful statistics.

In the case of Battlefield 3, and its eponymous bf3stats, this also included the current population for each system.

With bf3stats gone, we unfortunately have no accurate way of measuring the current player-base, other than manually counting players from the server list.

Anticipating the issue this would create, I decided to collect data at regular intervals from bf3stats during the week leading up to its shutdown (20th-27th Oct), both to remedy the situation as best I could, and to provide a rough baseline going forward, since the population hasn't actually fluctuated all that much over the past few years.

I expect this data to remain roughly accurate for the foreseeable future.

Note 1: All data was collected at regular intervals in British Standard Time. Evidently, this means that my findings miss out on certain timezones, for obvious reasons (despite claims to the contrary, I do sleep occasionally). If your own timezone overlaps with BST, just make the necessary adjustments; if it fails to account for your timezone, check with your local community to find out when your 'peak hours' occur.

Note 2: All numbers are presented "as is" - I've condensed things to give you the most information possible in as little space as possible. Changes happen so I cannot give any guarantees. Some annotations have been provided for further clarity.

Note 3: Both Xbox and PS3 have seen the deactivation of the official DICE servers for the EAST US region. Make of that whatever you will; there are still official servers around, and the number of community servers has been stable for a long time.

PC	Average	Peak
Week	976	1070
Weekend	1354	2029

Prime-time during late afternoon/early evening; sharp drop after midnight; low-population (~350 people) late night (~3am).

PlayStation3	Average	Peak
Week	734	828
Weekend	981	1215

Prime-time during late afternoon/early evening; slow drop after midnight; low-population (~500 people) late night (~3am).

Xbox	Average	Peak
Week	429	595
Weekend	583	752

Prime-time during evening/late night; slow drop after 2am; low- but consistent population (~400 people) late night (~3am).

3 - Purchasing the Game & Additional Content

Game editions, Premium Pass, and DLC are a regular subject of discussion, as newcomers and returners alike wonder what is worth it and what is not.

To answer this, we have to once again look at each platform individually.

Note that prices seem to roughly be a 1:1 conversion in most major currencies (i.e. Euro, USD, GBP...), regardless of what platform you play on (e.g. €19.99 -> $19.99 -> £17.99).

PC ...

...where variety is the spice of life.

Your first option(s), right from EA themselves via Origin or Steam, comes in at €19.99 for the Standard Edition, and €39.99 for the Premium Edition - this drops to €4.99 and €9.99 respectively while on sale. Additionally, EA also sells the Premium Pass by itself for €29.99. Needless to say that most people will hold out for a sale to get the game at its discounted price.

That being said, if you don't want to wait, there are other (and often cheaper) options!

Your first alternative can be found over at isthereanydeal, which will show you past and current prices, as well as general tendencies, from all 'authorised' online marketplaces (remember to select your country in the top left corner to get offers in your respective currency).
The second alternative, if you are feeling a little more adventurous, is another platform for both NA and EU folks. Here you will find listings from companies we generally referred to as "grey market" key sellers. Though these places will invariably provide you with the cheapest deals, and while many members within the community have successfully purchased from these sellers, we cannot personally vouch for them. We suggest you do your own research here, and as always, exercise common sense.

All of the stores above offer Standard Edition, Premium Edition, Premium Pass, and individual DLC.

Should you buy the Premium Pass/DLC on PC?

As you might've guessed from section 1 and 2, having access to all of the DLC maps will significantly improve your experience with the game in 2020. While some maps may not always be available, and some modes hardly ever see any activity, there is still plenty of fun to be had, and it sure beats being stuck with the Standard Edition and its excessive amount of 24/7 Noshahr TDM servers.

Alternatively, you could buy the DLC individually, if you only wanted one or two, but given the current prices, my recommendation would be getting the Premium Pass, or the Premium Edition right from the get go.

PS3 ...

...where the going is sometimes good.

One of the biggest limiting factors for (prospective) PS3 players is the lack of options as far as points of sale go.

With the nature of the console ecosystem, all prices are entirely dictated by Sony (and EA to an extent), that is, unless you decide to get a used or sealed ¹ physical copy, either locally or from your preferred online marketplace.

While the prices for physical copies obviously vary heavily, depending on the place of purchase and condition, Sony itself is rather immovable in its pricing policy.

As such, the PlayStation Store offers the Standard Edition at €19.99, the Premium Pass at an additional €19.99, individual DLC at €14.99 each, while the (all-in-one) Premium Edition is being offered at a questionable €49.99...

Should you buy the Premium Pass/DLC on PS3?

The answer to this question will depend on your own perception of value, or your willingness to spend vis-à-vis DLC servers, or the lack thereof.

While a significant contingent of the community (possibly the majority) has a Premium account, few members among the aforementioned community seem to be willing to rent a DLC server in 2020.

As a result, the server browser on PS3 will primarily offer a good selection of base-game maps and modes, and less than a handful of DLC servers, running an even smaller variety of DLC content.

It goes without saying that this shortage of Premium content servers also has a significant impact on the value proposition as a whole, as only a limited portion of the content offered by said Edition or Pass can realistically be unlocked at this point in time.

Should you buy Premium? Again, I suggest taking a look at the content you can expect to access, as well as your own financial inclinations to make that decision - though it might be worth mentioning that we have seen players in our Discord rent servers together, to play specific content, or complete specific assignments.

You'll have to decide.

Xbox ...

...where you're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Xbox players are stuck in a somewhat unfortunate position.

As another case of being locked into a closed ecosystem, with no alternatives in sight, you are very much at the mercy of EA and Microsoft's Marketplace.

While the Standard Edition has been available at discounted rates on many occasions, or even given away for free as part of the Games with Gold program (or misc. special occasions), the Premium Edition, Premium Pass or individual DLC rarely budge as far as prices go - with the former usually sitting at a staggering €47.99, while the individual DLC is priced at €14.39 a pop.

As a result, people usually pick up a used copy or buy the Basic Edition on sale, which has created a self-perpetuating cycle characterised by a distinct lack of DLC maps and modes.

Your only alternative to the Xbox Marketplace, not unlike PS3, will be trying to find a physical copy either locally or online ^2.

Should you buy the Premium Pass/DLC on Xbox?

On rare occasions in the past, console game keys sometimes made their way onto the grey market sites mentioned in the PC section above.

With this no longer being the case for Battlefield 3, the prices on Premium content are now entirely dictated by Microsoft (and EA), which, in conjunction with discounts and giveaways of the base game, seems to have led a large portion of the Xbox player-base to stick with the Standard Edition and call it a day.

While the Premium Edition does not only consist of the maps and modes included therein, your ability to obtain the weapons and dog tags tied to Premium assignments is heavily limited by the scarcity of servers running Premium maps and modes, the latter obviously being a can-of-worms of its own since, assignments aside, you will never get to play all of the maps you've paid for.

Much like PS3 players, you will ultimately have to decide for yourself whether or not the feasible assignments justify the higher price tag. With that said, unless you have a dedicated circle of friends, who have all decided to pick up the Premium Edition, and are willing to rent a DLC server, you would be well advised to give the Premium content a pass.

Then again, you could always be the change you want to see, or try and get a group of regulars together and share the cost of a server!

Once more, you'll have to decide.

^1,2 -When purchasing a physical copy of the Premium Edition, we recommend that both PS3 and Xbox players get a sealed copy to ensure that the product key has not been redeemed. Buyers of the Standard Edition do not need to worry about this, as the Online Pass can be downloaded for free from PSN/Xbox Marketplace - a pre-owned copy of the game will therefore suffice.

4 - Guides, Tips, and Troubleshooting Common Issues

While I'm sure that returning players won't need much help to feel right back at home in no time, I am not ignorant to the fact that Battlefield 3 is still attracting new players to this day.

With Battlefield V having recently witnessed a rather unceremonious (yet not unexpected) end to its lifecycle, I fully expect this trend to continue, and since a little knowledge never hurt anyone, here are a few things to get you going:

For the complete newcomers (or those who feel they need a refresher) I would like to direct your attention to our Noob Resource Guide, collated once upon a time by u/ Skitrel, this thread contains a variety of guides and explanations ranging from how to control a specific vehicle, all the way to guidelines and pointers on how to play your preferred class efficiently.

Note: While the majority of the content in the Noob Resource Guide is still applicable today, some links may not have stood the test of time. As a result, I will be going through them one-by-one in the near future, collecting, removing, and replacing as applicable, and will then revise this section so that you may access all relevant information from within this megathread, rather than having to click away into a different post.

For those looking for the ultimate resource, containing all the data you could ever need to figure out how to utilise any weapon in the game to its full potential, meet Sym.gg Game Science. Here you will find an all-encompassing combination of general information, weapon charts, and weapon comparisons to educate yourself on recoil, spread, range, attachments, and whatever else you might need to figure out what weapon to use for the task at hand. As a bonus, the forum archive also features a number of posts, saved from the old symthic forum, including discussions on attachments, suppression, zoom levels, and more!

Moving on, while most of you will probably be able to dive into the game right away, some unfortunate souls might find themselves stuck between technology of yesteryear, and common mistakes which they unknowingly stepped into...

So here are a few of the most common issues we come across on here and the Discord.

Again, I will adjust this section as required over time - also, if your problem is not in the list, do try the search function!

PC- A lot of minor errors seem to harken back to overlays, most notably the Origin and Discord overlays. The most prominent one here being the inability to use your mouse after loading into a game. To solve this, turn off both overlays. Note: As of late, I no longer experience any issues with the Discord overlay turned on, however, since I haven't had the time for more extensive testing or checking in with others, the recommendation to disable both still stands.
PC- (If you are new to Battlefield 3) Yes, it is launched through the Battlelog website pretty much regardless of what you are trying to do. You may disregard any outdated info you might find about plugins from old forum posts - instead, ensure that plugin-less launching is enabled, and for best results use Chrome or Firefox. Battlelog will occasionally throw strange errors at you, preventing you from connecting to specific servers, attempting to close the game even though it is already closed, or even claiming that you need to activate your game. In most cases these can be ignored and you should just try logging out, closing your browser, then try again. If this doesn't solve the issue, restart Origin and your browser. If the problem persists try a different browser or contact support.
PC- Most PunkBuster issues can be solved by a standalone reinstallation and updating of the anticheat itself - you do not have to reinstall the game, despite claims to the contrary. Only in very specific cases (e.g. if something went wrong during the installation process) would it be advisable to reinstall the entire game.
PC/PS3/Xbox- Do not use the Quick Match/Play button - it will not yield the result one might expect from its nomenclature.
PS3/Xbox- If your soldier isn't showing up properly on Battlelog, or if you are having issues accessing the multiplayer component of the game, make sure your PSN/Gamertag is linked with your EA/Origin account. In addition, please note that both your EA/Origin account and your PSN/Xbox account need to be using the same email address - if the emails differ, you can contact support to help you fix this issue.
PS3/Xbox- If your server browser comes up with limited or no results, make sure to untick the 'South America' option in your filters, as this old bug messes with the server list (This may or may not apply to PS3, but I couldn't get confirmation on the subject).
Xbox- If your server browser shows limited results (mostly empty servers), make sure that your console is set to accept 'User Generated Content'; Community rented BF3 servers often contain custom banners on console, Xbox seems to consider the imagery in those banners as user generated content, and will consequently hide these servers unless you allow them to be displayed.

5 - Joining the r/Battlefield3 Discord Server

Now that you're hopefully (back) in the game...

Yes! As you might've already noticed in the sidebar, r/Battlefield3 has had its own Discord server for quite some time now, and we have recently surpassed the 1000 member mark!

Catering to all players, across all platforms, we try our best to provide a centralised meeting point for everyone.

We all know the feeling when playing older games: with a lower population than during its heyday, with players spread out across various platforms, and with no real community hub, comes the creeping suspicion that the game might be "ded"...

This is what we try to remedy with the Discord; bring all of the immovable BF3 fans together under one roof.

Whether you are looking to talk about the game, banter, find out about game servers we can vouch for, or squad up with others (no matter your level of experience), we try to make room for a little bit of everything...

And who knows, maybe you'll make some new friends in the process!

Please do remember however, that as with most ageing communities, you will get out of the server exactly what you put in!

Being pro-active in your approach is very much appreciated and will net you the best results, while the lazy, and "drive-by posters" (i.e. those who leave one message, expect others to do the work, then never check back when that fails), will probably not benefit much from the server.

So, if this sounds like what you are looking for, just click right here!

6 - Acknowledgments & Concluding Thoughts

I hope that, whether you are reading this tomorrow or in X years, I was able to provide you with some help or knowledge on this game that so many of us still appreciate today.

If this thread managed to answer your question(s), or shed some light on something you had your doubts about, then it has achieved its goal - if not, or should you still have any questions, I'm almost always available and happy to help via Discord, Twitter, or DM on here.

Also, I would like a moment to personally thank...

u/dhrishajb, u/Mind-Fr34k, and Switcher on Discord, without whom I couldn't have put the PS3 purchasing section together -

u/drekislove for the trust, feedback, and advice, but mostly for enduring my spam on Discord -

u/IncarnateStrike for the work he's put in over at symthic/sym.gg and for bringing back all the good BF3 info -

u/falconbox, whose css was the groundwork and foundation to build our visual refresh on, and without which I probably would've spent weeks fiddling around to put things together myself - rest in peace buddy -

...as well as all the redditors, content creators, and community members in general who have provided all of us with knowledge and entertainment over the past 9 years!

For now, I hope that we can all continue to keep this game as lively as it still is, be it through the content that some of us produce, the game servers some of you provide for us to play on, or perhaps even through Venice Unleashed, or a Remaster in the future.

In the meantime, thank you for reading, take it easy, take care, and...

See you on the Battlefield!

submitted by /u/LordHijinx
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Loadout: Conquest Kiasar Railroad AKS-74U 6x Scope+Heavy Barrel

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 02:26 PM PDT

submitted by /u/R8outof8M8
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Oh Yess ��❤️

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 12:09 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Vaji1996
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Is anyone able to help unlock the Xbow on PC?

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 09:08 PM PDT

Scavenger servers are empty

submitted by /u/imgstd
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Operation 925 gameplay video!

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 10:51 AM PDT

submitted by /u/OldSchoolGuy_
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Stuck at joining server

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 12:23 PM PDT

Hey guys, I recently picked up the premium version of bf3 on steam and every time I go to join a server the battlelog banner at the bottom of the screen gets stuck on the joining server step. I have already tried reinstalling the game, and launching the game from origin before I try to join a server but none of this ends up working and I've been stuck like this for an hour. Any help is appreciated, I hope I'm not the only one with this problem.

submitted by /u/Nominoid
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Is BF3 still active on PC?

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 03:13 PM PDT

I am from the US and play on east coast, is it still populated on pc

submitted by /u/yuhhhhhhhhhh2
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STEEL BEAST | Battlefield 3 Steam Gameplay (2020) Rush - Caspian Border

Posted: 15 Jun 2020 06:00 AM PDT