[Xfire] Xfyre: Hi all

[Xfire] Xfyre: We're about to get started now

[Xfire] Xfyre: We'd like to welcome Ben to Xfire, and thank him for being here this evening :)

[Xfire] Xfyre: Ben is a producer for Battlefield 2 with EA, which I'm sure you all know

[EA] DieFledermaus: Thanks for having me on behalf of EA and DICE

[Xfire] Xfyre: With that...let's get rolling!

[Xfire] Xfyre: Anthrazit asks....what's the estimated timeline for the release of the 1.03 patch, and what might be changing in it?

[EA] DieFledermaus: Well, we've previously announced end of August as a goal for 1.03...but as with all things software that's more of an estimate than a promise, I think

[EA] DieFledermaus: As to feature changes, we're looking at browser improvements, server feature additions, tk changes, UI improvements where possible

[EA] DieFledermaus: a lot of little things that will add up to a lot at the end of the day in terms of making the game that much more fun and easier to get into a play

[EA] DieFledermaus: we don't really want to talk specifics as a lot of this involves trying things and seeing if they "stick to the wall"

[EA] DieFledermaus: so to speak

[Xfire] Xfyre: Ben: Will EA ever offer an "unofficial" and "official" Ranking system, so the public will be able to host ranked "unofficial" servers that keep the points separate from the official system?

[EA] DieFledermaus: Actually, we are looking at a number of things we can do in this arena

[EA] DieFledermaus: The main Ranked service will probably remain as it is, locked to a small # of partners who will run these servers alongside EA as we are doing now

[EA] DieFledermaus: at the same time, the python logging is moddable so that you could route the stats to a different web site or collect them specifically for a mod, or something similar

[EA] DieFledermaus: we're still looking at how to enable this for the community and don't have an estimate on release, however

[Xfire] Caracturus: qoose asks How long do you get to play BF2? yourself?

[EA] DieFledermaus: I try to play at least an hour every day, to be out there in the community...familiar with the community issues, monitoring stats tracking timing etc

[EA] DieFledermaus: it makes it much easier to be responsive to community issues that way, though the folks in the community who have my MSN addy do a good job of keeping me abreast as well :D

[Xfire] Caracturus: [MERC]Zorz asks: Will the special forces expansion pack have ranked servers also and will the stats combine with the regular bf2 stats?

[EA] DieFledermaus: Yes, our intention is to have Xpack 1 be part of the Stats and Tracking system, but I don't believe we've announced any details around how SF stats will work with core stats

[EA] DieFledermaus: so I'll have to say "no comment" on that part for now

[Xfire] Caracturus: kathunx asks: Where is the rewind function for Battlefield Recorder? Why hasn't it been added?

[EA] DieFledermaus: So, the battlerecorder actually works by replaying a log file and it was never built to interpolate game actions backwards

[EA] DieFledermaus: so it wouldn't have the first clue how to do that properly currently

[EA] DieFledermaus: That said, we've had a lot of feedback on desired improvements for Battle Recorder (like rewind) from the community and we're evaluating all of it for updates

[Xfire] Xfyre: 7echnique asks...Is there a way to change your name? If not now, in the future?

[EA] DieFledermaus: There is currently no way to change your BF2 profile name

[EA] DieFledermaus: This is an issue that has been requested by a huge portion of the community, so DICE is evaluating it for an update

[EA] DieFledermaus: but I can't speak with any certainty right now when it will be solved

[Xfire] Xfyre: Pazicles asks: How do you deal with ideas from the mod community and how would one communicate them to you?

[EA] DieFledermaus: That depends on what you mean by "ideas"

[EA] DieFledermaus: we work very closely with many mod teams in trying to assist them in getting rolling...for example, we have some temporary Editor forums up that have been graciously donated by a community team (bfeditor.gotfrag.com) until the official ones are live, and our Mod Support Coordinator is there daily assisting and providing nmeeded documentation

[EA] DieFledermaus: that said, we're hands off when it comes to the actual IP being generated by these Mods

[EA] DieFledermaus: And to answer a question about map editors that I saw in the other window, since its on this topic, its out and available for download and is part of the overall Editor

[EA] DieFledermaus: check out battlefield2.ea.com for the download links

[Xfire] Xfyre: Several people have asked...staying on the mod topic, are there any plans to support mods on ranked servers?

[EA] DieFledermaus: So we aren't announcing any concrete plans at the moment for that, and we've often said that its probably not going to happen ...but we have some ideas for things we could do with mods and Ranked play that we may talk about down the road

[EA] DieFledermaus: stay tuned :)

[Xfire] Caracturus: Bl!ZZ4rD asks: Is it planed to add an Anti-Air class?

[EA] DieFledermaus: There are no plans at this time to add an additional kit focused on anti-air...I think we feel we can deal with the current community issues surrounding aircraft with other fixes

[EA] DieFledermaus: we meaning DICE

[Xfire] Xfyre: m4z3z asks: What is your role as a producer on Battlefield 2?

[EA] DieFledermaus: So my role on Battlefield 2 was as Assistant Producer, with specific tasks centered around the Editor, community as well as multiple roles on the core game

[EA] DieFledermaus: an assistant producer in EA Partners is helping an outside development team navigate EA process and also assisting the development team (in this case DICE) in any way they can otherwise

[EA] DieFledermaus: including feedback on how weapons/vehicles etc are shaping up at various points

[EA] DieFledermaus: its a lot of project management

[Xfire] Caracturus: Mr.Pickles asks: Will there be other types of games, like Capture the flag?

[EA] DieFledermaus: we don't have any plans at the moment to add modes to the core game or Special Forces....that said, I've been working with the Editor team to get CTF included for mod teams to play with in their mods, and there is a lot of work being done in the community (mostly through python) to build all new game modes

[EA] DieFledermaus: I'm especially excited to see what the community comes up with

[EA] DieFledermaus: I want to see "Hunted" mode, 63 against one poor bugger

[EA] DieFledermaus: ;)

[Xfire] Caracturus: kimber=2u= asks : Will you change the gamefilter? It could be nice to have a "search player" function?

[EA] DieFledermaus: I'm not aware of any current work to add a friends list, but I do know that server favorites are in progress for 1.03

[Xfire] Caracturus: =CC=fidod@00set asks: Do you think/wish that BF2 will be part of the biggest international LAN competitions such as the CPL World Tour, Acon or WCG ?

[EA] DieFledermaus: I think it would be outstanding to get Battlefield 2 into more competitions, whether regional or international...though I think its a challenge for anything other than the 16-player size maps, which are admittedly vehicle-light

[EA] DieFledermaus: I think we have some funcitonality that needs to be built to get there though, such as BFTV

[EA] DieFledermaus: I can't comment on whether those will make an update or not yet

[Xfire] Caracturus: ©Evil Pie*' asks': Why is it that you get killed so easily by moving vehicles, and the weight and speed of vehicles does not affect the amount of damage inflicted?

[EA] DieFledermaus: our goal was to make it extremely satisfying to run enemies over with the vehicles

[EA] DieFledermaus: because honestly that was one of my favorite things about BF1942, and I don't think I'm alone here

[EA] DieFledermaus: that said, it is obviously a little hyper, and we're looking at ways to address in 1.03

[Xfire] Caracturus: hlboy132 asks : Are any parts of the BF2 maps based and copied on real cities and places in real life?

 

[EA] DieFledermaus: A lot of the architecture in the levels are based on reference from real locations, but we didn't model any of them specifically on known locales

[EA] DieFledermaus: like you'll never be walking around in Riyadh or anything and go "oh Mashtuur, cool"

[Xfire] Caracturus: =SeD=LiVEWiRE asks : what point system will you have for spec forces to destroy UAV, RADAR, ALTILARY

[EA] DieFledermaus: The current plan is to reward the Special Ops guy for blowing up Commander toys

[EA] DieFledermaus: I haven't seen it in a build yet, but I would imagine that it will be similar to an assist, one team point

[Xfire] Caracturus: Pilot_51 asks : Since they were bought for a reason, what did Trauma Studios (the creators of Desert Combat) do in the development of BF2?

[EA] DieFledermaus: Trauma Studios wasn't as an entity working directly on BF2 at any given time (as I understand).

[EA] DieFledermaus: They were working on a separate project for most of the time, though they did contribute some prototyping and individual efforts to various portions of BF2 at different times

[Xfire] Caracturus: Elvis [26thMEU] asks : Is the CLAN HQ being worked on? Or is it tottaly cancelled? and will the nickname changes/clan tags be added in the coming patch?

[EA] DieFledermaus: ClanHQ will probably not be added to BF2, though we are seeking to create as much of this functionality as we can outside the game with a partner vendor

[EA] DieFledermaus: can't comment on specifics at the time, or give a concrete timeline

[EA] DieFledermaus: as to name changes/clan tags, like I said, there is a clear desire here and DICE is aware

[EA] DieFledermaus: we'll see what happens :)

[Xfire] Caracturus: Mr.Pickles asks : Will the teams in maps be diffrent. by that meaning, it is always US vs another team. I was thinking of MEC vs china?

[EA] DieFledermaus: I'm not aware of any plans for mixing things up like this in core BF2 maps, but you should see some interesting teams in the SF expansion

[EA] DieFledermaus: and of course, any mapper can make a MEC v. China map in the Editor as far as I know

[Xfire] Caracturus: shintsu asks : Is EA/DICE ever going to fix the major balancing issues? It takes far too many shots from the LAV (and its Chinese and MEC counterparts), the Gattling Gun on the Blackhawk, and the Linebacker to kill a mere soldier

[EA] DieFledermaus: we've received a lot of feedback from the community on apparent balance issues, so we're evaluating these updates, sure

[EA] DieFledermaus: i can't really speak to specifics right now, because a lot of it is "tweak, test, tweak, test"

[Xfire] Caracturus: [MERC]Zorz asks : In specialforces expansion will there be any features as in say having a sas team and navy seals team working together against another 2 teams or one team in the map?

[EA] DieFledermaus: There are no plans to have more than two sides fighting each other in Special Forces, no

[Xfire] Caracturus: #ci.VertigO asks : What will the maps be like in bf2: special forces, will they be small urban maps or will they have large maps.

[EA] DieFledermaus: just like the core game, there are a mix of urban (smaller) environments with at least one larger map that I have seen

[EA] DieFledermaus: That said, I haven't spent as much time with SF as I'd like, as I've been working with DICE to get the Editor out

[EA] DieFledermaus: so my perceptions could be off

[Xfire] Caracturus: -:SOE:-Plumridge asks : Are the PS2 and Xbox BF2 version, got anything different or better or worse then what PC has?

[EA] DieFledermaus: The main thing about Battlefield 2 Modern Combat (the console title) aside from being a completely separate product, is that it has a more involved take on single player, with some very interesting features

[EA] DieFledermaus: Overall I wouldn't call it better or worse (I quite enjoy the multiplayer sides of both the PC and console titles)...DICE has executed on Modern Combat with the same high level of quality

[EA] DieFledermaus: as on PC

[Xfire] Caracturus: ronula asks: Are there any plans to be able to change your players Clothing type,ethnicity etc?

[EA] DieFledermaus: No, there aren't any plans that I am aware of to add a player model tweak feature

[Xfire] Xfyre: From xeno121: Any plans for more European servers?

[EA] DieFledermaus: yes, we're working to add another 10000 player slots for Ranked play quite hard, actually

[EA] DieFledermaus: my understanding is that we're making good progress on that and you should see the results soon

[Xfire] Xfyre: Okay....we're going with the last question guys :)

[Xfire] Caracturus: [MERC]Zorz asks : What do you think will be the most fun part of the special forces expansion pack?

[EA] DieFledermaus: I like using some of the new toys to sneak up on snipers who aren't expecting someone to come up from behins

[EA] DieFledermaus: shock paddle time!

[EA] DieFledermaus: thanks everybody

[Xfire] Xfyre: Thanks much Ben!

[EA] DieFledermaus: great questions!