Commander Mode on Unranked Servers

[mrBLUE9]

I posted on the battlelog forums to see if we can get an answer from one of the devs. In any case they are probably rolling out more server updates in the near future, so we should keep a close eye on those to see if it's fixed by then.

[Róka]

Both unranked and private servers can have passwords and all/no unlocks. The difference, according to the EA rep and one of the symthic admins that I spoke to, is that private servers won't show the players inside the server or any information about the round progress.

Wait, so are you saying on private servers we can have both all unlocks and commander mode? Round progress doesn't matter as much if we can spectate/stream/have ts3 members just ask about the progress.
It's still Commander Mode that's the issue, then.

Spoiler: show

EDIT: If the campaign starts before options are "fixed"/customizable to GC settings, I vote for Commander Mode over unlocks. The game is in its start anyways and you can argue that some people who might not have the same skill level get "better" things because they simply have more time, but we'll be able to level up during the battleday and you need to get used to the feel to each unlock.

Just a refresh-er on server settings:
Official - default settings on official servers be it Hardcore or Normal + Commander.
Ranked - customized settings (i.e. respawn times, health %, etc.) on official servers + Commander.
Unranked - unofficial servers with customized settings (all unlocks, password-able, no Commander with all unlocks).
Private - Unranked - server browser information + Commander.

[Ash2Dust]

A lot of pent up agro.

This is important info to test.

BF4 balance is heavily influenced by unlocks in all classes. Cant see us running a locked ranked server. It'd be a turkey shoot for the unlock people.

[matsif]

can you even lock a ranked server? traditionally to have a locked server you would have to have it unranked anyways. I'm no guru on what server settings are allowed but in every past BF game the server would have to be unranked to allow a password on it anyways.

bumped mrBLUE's post on BL forums as well.

[Ash2Dust]

Dice has rewritten what common words/server modes are from BF3 creating confusion.

I have read the server docs R7 but they are unreliable. Procon is very on top of implementing any rcon command that actually works.

Only actually joining a server will tell us what we can and cant do.
Joker, have you tried to set a private or unranked server to all unlocks and the join as a commander? Also, is the faction setting working yet?

Also, how can we see progress of any server. I might be blind, but in battlelog, I haven't been able to see whos playing on a server or what the score it.

[Róka]

can you even lock a ranked server? traditionally to have a locked server you would have to have it unranked anyways. I'm no guru on what server settings are allowed but in every past BF game the server would have to be unranked to allow a password on it anyways.

bumped mrBLUE's post on BL forums as well.

Same: http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/fo ... 038320/10/

[Ash2Dust]

Does setting our server to password and all unlocks remove the Join as Commander option in battlelog? When I join from battlelog, I have a rank over 10. Unless the join commander button pops me in and then the game assigns me -1 and then kicks me for not having enough rank...
I know, I'm reaching here.

Also, the procon BF4 thread usually gives decent insight as an admin on whats broken.
https://forum.myrcon.com/showthread.php ... orum-noob)

[zorplex]

For what it's worth, I would actually prefer playing a campaign as ranked. Having all unlocks is necessary for a purely competitive/even playing field. But for something a bit more casual/less intense, playing ranked without all unlocks could be just as interesting and rather refreshing, especially for a game that is so new.

DICE addressed some of the biggest concerns with vehicles not having fundamental unlocks like flares or what have you. Most armor/air should be adequately equipped to start out and it doesn't take long to unlock most of those unlocks anyway. The only real drawback is infantry missing certain equipment that is necessary for staying competitive and filling certain roles. I could see this being a big concern for a purely competitive scene, but for something more fun, I don't see it as an inherent problem.

[expandas]

Sorry Roka, I meant that private servers also have the "all unlocks --> no commander" / "no unlocks --> commander" thing going on.

Here are the results of my testing on a server owned by Mandizzy, a friend of mine from Taste of Chaos gaming. He was nice enough to let me toy with one of his servers and do some testing. The server was configured through Procon and the web admin panel.

General configuration info:
These are the server types: Official, Ranked, Unranked or Private
These are the unlock types: "all", "common" or "stats"
There does not appear to be a discernible difference between "common" and "all" unlocks
Joining as commander via Battlelog instead of through the in-game menu makes no difference
A ranked server can not be password-protected, even if manually configured with one
Factions can be manually configured by changing an integer value
The order of the integers will affect the side of the map each faction starts from
There is a 4th faction setting that is present but not functional at the moment
Setting both factions to the same integer value does not appear to work

Faction info:
1 - Russia
2 - China
3 - United States
4 - ???

Ex. Siege of Shanghai:
1, 2 --> RU on CN side, CN on CN side
2, 1 --> CN on US side, RU on CN side
2, 3 --> server crashes
3, 2 --> US on US side, CN on CN side
4, x --> server crashes
x, 4 --> server crashes

Security info for private servers:
Punkbuster is turned on by default but can be turned off manually
Fairfight is turned off by default and cannot be changed manually
Private servers are not required to have passwords despite the padlock symbol on the server description

Unlock info for private servers:
Private & "all" unlocks - all guns/attachments/emblems available; commander mode is inaccessible, saying "Rank 10 required to play as commander."
Private & "common" unlocks - all guns/attachments/emblems available; commander mode is inaccessible, saying "Rank 10 required to play as commander."
Private & "stats" unlocks - only the guns/attachments/emblems that you have unlocked through ranked play is available; commander mode is accessible, presumably only to players that have reached rank 10 through ranked play

Security info for unranked servers:
Punkbuster is turned off by default but can be turned on manually
Fairfight is turned off by default and cannot be changed manually
Unranked servers can be assigned passwords if needed

Unlock info for unranked servers:
Unranked & "all" unlocks - all guns/attachments/emblems available; commander mode is inaccessible, saying "Rank 10 required to play as commander."
Unranked & "common" unlocks - all guns/attachments/emblems available; commander mode is inaccessible, saying "Rank 10 required to play as commander."
Unranked & "stats" unlocks - only the guns/attachments/emblems that you have unlocked through ranked play is available; commander mode is accessible, presumably only to players that have reached rank 10 through ranked play

[Ash2Dust]

Thanks Expandas, good info of testing current server release.

I'm assuming you did this in Conquest Mode as some modes don't allow Commander.

Good feedback on the factions var and nice to see that you specified the map tested on.

Something in the back of my mind about unlocks in BF3. Common was based on DLC or some such. While All was everything. Could be completely off base, but I seemed to remember it as a never used feature.

[Róka]

In that case, like zorplex said, I'd go with the Private & "stats" or Unranked & "stats" i.e. Commander Mode over all unlocks.

[Bock]

[Jokerle]

These are the unlock types: "all", "common" or "stats"

'common' unlocks would exclude the DLC weapons.


edit: I posted in my GSPs forum. The admins there are really helpful.

[Ash2Dust]

While we all enjoy competition, remember GC has members that only play here for the teamwork and not ranking.

[undrt0w]

In the documentation for vars.unlockMode there are 2 additional options: list, blacklist. So there is hope DICE is actually still working on this. The vars.unlockMode was only added after the 4ths(?) server patch, they took it out for some reason

Could this mean that there could be a possible list of allowed weapons that you would be able to make and still use commander? Or am I imagining too much?

I am for the option that allows you to lock the server and also use Commander mode. I don't mind not having all the unlocks...hopefully at some point we will all get them.

But, shouldn't we make a reddit post as well. You know, try to bring more attention to the problem. Honestly, for me this is a pretty dumb thing. I can't believe none at DICE thought that ppl would like to have servers with all unlocks and Commander mode on.