I have been thinking about renting a server for the launch.  I remember how difficult it is the first month of the servers getting slammed, and thought it might be more fun just to rent a server instead of paying for VIP slots for some.

Prices aren't too bad for a 64-player server, but would anyone be interested in pitching in for one?

ID-Sure I pitch in. Now we need moar people. You know you want to... 

I like Red Orchestra 2 too much to even think about another game. Please post the IP if you guys end up buying one. Steam Christmas Sale might just change my mind. 

sean- 2 problems you got there, one BF3 aint going on steam unless Valve and EA make up (time will tell though). BF3 christmas sale when BF3 is probably EA's biggest launch of the year and only like what 2 months at full price after launch for christmas sales doesn't seem likely (my jaw will drop if they do that...) They will probably want to milk it for 6-9 months before sales will pop up.

Good to hear that RO2 is fun, first thing I'm loading up when my pc is up and running again.

Honestly, after playing RO2 my need for a new shooter has been quenched. I still want BF3. But with the headache that is Origin, their EULA shenanigans, the $60 price tag, all their marketing hype, the lamest beta offering ever.....I can wait. I really can. Release is going to be a trainwreck anyways.

I'm really glad RO2 came along, because until it I was mostly satisfied with what I saw of BF3. Now, it's starting to look a lot like BC2.5. Which is ok I guess, I had my fun in BC2. But terrain destruction, jets and the visuals are the reasons I want BF3 at this point.....because it's value as a war simulation is almost null. It's a fun modern run and gunner. But I'm to the point where games need to start being smart again for me to really care, and they need to at least try to be simulations on some level. It's why I can't play CoD anymore. Red jelly on my screen and visual effects from an artillery strike do not a simulation make.

That is bad news. I guess I'll wait to get BF3 until next summer.

I agree.  

But I actually have a hard time even explaining why I love RO2 so much..... I mean it still has performance issues, still has many little bugs, graphically isn't all HDR-hollywood/contrast-saturated (which some folks love) but its "grit" is something I've sorely missed in all the recent shooters I've played (BC2, COD, MOH 2010). 

RO2 has the ability to create real intensity through the lack of constant action.   Let me explain.  When you're stalking an enemy in RO2 and you hear the crack of a rifle shot in the distance and just your own breathing for a few seconds......or you're prone and crawling around hiding from a tank.......creeping around in an objective area with nothing but a bolt-action rifle knowing you have only that 1 single shot should you encounter an enemy.........the crazy intense vertical map design etc. etc.......that's where RO2 really shines for me.

Eventhough I pretty much hate EA these days (mostly for how they screwed their community with MOH 2010) I was actually excited for BF3.  But just like Nenjin I'm less and less enthusiastic about BF3 these days largely for the reasons mentioned above.  

That and the fact that JETS DON'T FLY/DOGFIGHT AT 10 MILES PER HOUR!.   Seriously EA......a jet flying CAS (combat air support) would be in and out of those MP MAPS within seconds.   To make JETS realistic for BF3 within the size of those maps the pilot would have to do little else but constantly turn, bleeding off ENERGY (yes I do have my real pilot's license ) thereby making his plane nothing more than a large target and totally ineffective within the realm of "combat".  Now I know BF3 is not supposed to be "realistic".....but damn......that's just TOO ARCADEY even for me!  

I'm going to rant here in a way I couldn't over at the TWI forums without getting rep-assassinated.

Right now I feel like the biggest problem RO2 has is 1/3rd of its players are stodgy, uncompromising retro-gamers who want only thing one: a pure WWII military sim. They want absolutely no "game" in it.

And to me, RO:OST sucked. It was a game filled with tons of great ideas, trapped in this clunky, wooden frame. It exaggerated anything it could for the sake of making it feel "real." It was a game I couldn't get into, particularly because the clunkiness combined with ye olde timey weapon handling and a bunch of veterans who had done nothing but squat on the game for 4 years...all came together to make an experience that just sucked. When RO:Ost didn't do it for me, I simply said so. I didn't flame Tripwire or declare that realism sucks, and in fact it just made me more eager to see what TWI could do with money, time and experience on their hands.

RO2 is what I've wanted from TWI since I played RO:OST. It's fluid. It's updated with all the conventions that are undeniably good in FPS (mantling, cover mechanics, squad communication tools....) It still has most of their core ideals in it, particularly the tanking.

And it's recalling so many things from older games that I loved and that EA/Activision/everyone else won't do anymore. We have a commander again, we have shifting objectives and maps that change shape. We've got real objectives and counter-objectives...and the battlefield feels like it has a pulse. There's battlelines, you can see people coordinating to achieve something more than a simple flank. So many things that have been killed off in the process of making shoe box-sized maps and TDM as the first priority because consoles dominate the market sales right now.

Add to all that all the things I DO like that I can understand RO1 vets don't. I like stats. I like unlocks. They're not the reason I play a game, but they enhance my experience. To the RO vets, it's a mortal sin, compounded by things like day 1 unlocks.

Where TWI has really screwed themselves is they made promises to those guys about everything; the rarity of weapons. The amount of sway. This that and the other thing. I think TWI honestly believes they kept their promise. To the RO vets, they've lied through their teeth and continue to lie.

Then again, RO vets remember RO:Ost as almost perfect, basically only needing graphics and a few extra mechanics to keep them faithful for another 10 years or whatever. Instead they got a hell of a lot more than they bargained for, it's not a hardcore realism obsessed simulation and they're angry about it. They're so angry they've played probably 20 hours or less of the game. Meanwhile, the people that dig it have already clocked close to 100 hours including playing from beta.

I really just wish their "true and loyal fans" would put their forum accounts where their mouths are, and GTFO. I respect most gamers' right to squat on the title of their choice like unhappy trolls, but the RO vets are fucking absurd and getting more absurd every day they stay on the forums and repeat the same tired ass complaints. They still act like this is THEIR game, not EVERYONE'S game. They insult the very devs they used to worship, filling threads with vitriol and insults that border on pure trolling. (I don't care how much you don't like a game, questioning the dev's intelligence or basic ability is fucking trolling, even if it's TRUE) To them, having 6 more sub-machineguns per map, and 3 more rare German assault rifles available, shatters game balance. It's totally broken, will only be saved by gutting everything they don't like, and that's that. There is no "rest of the game", it's 100% defined by these problems.

Personally, RO2 is a better blend of arcade-y FPS and realism FPS than anything I've played in a while. Most review sites agree that it's hitting some sweet, untapped middle ground between the two, and we all like it, and would love it if it had released polished to a mirror shine. If the hardcore simulation/realism crowd doesn't like it, and the masses of modern casual shooters don't get it, GREAT! There has always been a middle ground of people who were sick with the polarization of the genre and this game feels like I'm coming home to the BEST days of Battlefield 2, Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory and others. When arcade and realistic weren't completely opposed to each other and could co-exist in the same game in great fashion.

For everyone here, who was present for Elemental's release and Stardock's fall from many people's graces....take Red Orchestra 2 as another warning about dev veneration if you still don't get it. They're not gods. They're not physical extensions of your gaming soul. They're people and they're not going to single handedly save the industry, OR you. They're never going to develop a game that is perfect, FOR YOU, and they're never going to stop changing their ideas, their opinions and the kind of games they make. They will over-estimate, over-promise, and under-deliver.

If anyone wants to have a dev they like but also a dev they don't blame for everything.....quit expecting the world of them, and play what they offer you....and stop holding out hope the game you continue to imagine in your head. Judge what they're offering you, and if you don't like, say so like an adult, and move on.

Nenjin,  I couldn't have said it better myself.

Being an RO:OST vet (I clocked several hundred hours in that game) I can however tell you that not all RO vets feel the same.  I for one am totally onboard with the new middle-ground RO2 is trying to occupy.  What the delusional RO vets call "fence sitting" I call evolution.  Just about everything about RO2 is to love and respect as advancement......well except for the horrible as shit launch.  There are so many innovative things that RO2 does and so many areas where it improved upon RO1 (including as you mentioned areas where RO1 was arbitrarily "realistic" without actually being realistic) it's too bad the community is so vile.

I also know what you mean about being character assassinated on the TWI forums.  Before/during the launch I dared to open my mouth in protest against the DEVS and holy hell was unleashed in my direction.  I even got an official warning with some kind of "infraction" for daring to speak my mind.  These days I try to pull my punches on the TWI forums but you know me.......not likely going to keep my mouth shut.  hehe 

That is very interesting. I feel much the same about RO2 reaching a brilliant middle ground. Let's face it, the kick-back from RO1 was so ridiculously unrealistic. The only problem I have with the new version is that my SV-40 started at level 25 as did a few other guns. Kind of makes it too easy to shoot. I think a hard reset of the XP should be done, but no one seems to agree. The thing would be to add a little more kick to every gun, but that my friend s a slippery slope!

So, who's playing the beta?

I'm in the process of reinstalling everything I have... (no more parts breaking please!) so hopefully sometime tonight I will jump on. Been watching lots of videos though to see how things are, looks good.

I'm hoping to get onto the beta this weekend Island Dog. For the last two years the only battlefield game I played was Battlefield 2: Project Reality Mod. I haven't played the Bad Company games as they were simply too small on the map size compared to Project Reality so ... we'll see.

*shrugs* I've got Diablo 3 rolling around too so. We'll see.

I got 3 quick rounds in. First one we got camped and other two I was just getting into my grove. It was fun. Maxed the game out and it looks good (i like the animations except the same one with your hand going out when you die).

Anyone wants to party up later tonight (Eastern Time) Hawawaa is always Hawawaa. Just going through some downloads and wrapping up some homework.

Myself and some other fine people will be hosting a Battlefield 3 server come launch day, so if you're looking to play with people in the Sins modding community and probably some other exciting people, we'll have just the spot. 

I'll post the details when I have em, but its a 64 slot ranked server in Chicago.