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Janne and I may be friends, but we are in different groups when it comes to playing games. He is part of the The Enclave; a team of friendly people that play Battlefield 2 together. I am a member of Lock and Load. We are a small clan. A clan is a group of people that share the same interests and do things together when possible. The difference between our two groups is that his is a team that plays a single game. We are a clan that spans many games.

I kind of feel bad for doing this, but Lock and Load {LaL} is indeed looking for more members! It is unfortunate, but we aren't nearly what we used to be. There was a time when we dominated Vietcong Fist Alpha and Battlefield: Vietnam, but we have since dwindled in number. People go about their lives and their interests change. It's unfortunate, but inevitable. It's a shame for the rest of us. A few of us play Battlefield 2 these days, but not many. Only a handful play Battlefield 2142. We are a dying breed.

If any of you that might stumble upon this blog and play games like Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Vietcong Fist Alpha, Vietcong 2, Battlefield: Vietnam, or Counter Strike: Source, please venture over to http://z4.invisionfree.com/Lock_and_Load/index.php We are a clan based structure, meaning if you join us, you will begin your life as a {LaL}Pvt. (name). Our generals run the show and the forum.

You can find me in the forum as {LaL}Lt. Medic or in-game as [LaL]MedicByChoice (BF2) and [LaL]Patch_1-3 (BF2142). (The latter name was a joke about patch 1.3 for Battlefied 2 that many claimed ruined their machines due to bugs.)

Anyway, that's all there is about that. It would be great to get some more people in the clan to get some action going in games. I believe you must be 18 or older to apply. That's a rule in place to weed out the immature and make sure no little kiddies stumble upon something questionable in the forum and cry to mommy about it. We're a good group, but get rowdy sometimes.

Moving on. As you can see up top, I got myself a new header. My brother made me that picture and I do say it blends in quite well. I like the red, so I gave him the exact RGB (red-green-blue) number for it and had him incorporate it in the picture he was making. I turned out quite well, I think! Thank you to my brother.

I cleaned up my room yesterday and it actually looks quite presentable. I have a floor! And carpet! I had forgotten the color of my carpet. It turns out it's gray. Maybe if I vacuum, I'll find it's actually white. Nah.

I washed my car today. Bad mistake as it is horribly hot outside, but the end result is a pretty car. I guess that 's a good deal, right? Sunburn for a clean car?

Here she is!

I may or may not go swimming now. I haven't decided. It might be nice since I'm so hot right now. We shall see!

I shall write again soon. Today? Tomorrow? Next week? Who knows?

Battlefield 2 Rules

Okay, I've wanted to do this forever. After hundreds and hundreds of hours of playing Battlefield 2 (and 2142 for that matter), many things have come to my attention that need to be addressed. Hopefully people who read this blog will actually pay attention.

The single most important rule of BF2 and 2142 is that it's a TEAM game. You are part of an army. Not an army of one. You are not Solid Snake trying to infiltrate a stronghold and stop the terrorists from using their nukes. You are one soldier out of many in an army with a single goal. Keep that in mind. If you decide you don't want to join a squad, that's fine, but you are still part of a team and need to do something productive, rather than run around and teamkill your own guys.

Rule 1: Join a squad. It makes life so much easier. You can coordinate attacks and make unified strikes against opposing flags. It's much better to take on a flag with 6 guys than trying to do it alone. The same holds true for BF2142. You might have better weapons, but so does your enemy.

Rule 2: If you are a loner and don't want to join a squad, that's okay, AS LONG AS YOU ARE PRODUCTIVE! If you want to play as a sniper, fine, but don't sit in one spot where no one else is. Be productive. Set claymore traps. Capture a flag via stealthy movement. In BF2142, the same rule applies. If you are the recon class and have the Camo Upgrade, use it! Capture a bloody flag while the rest of your team is engaging the bulk of the enemy.

Rule 3: If you join a squad, follow your orders. Don't sit there and spam "Negative!", "No way, man!", and "No can do!" every time your squad leader gives out an order. If you are going to do that, leave the squad. We don't want you in the squad. Don't be an idiot.

Rule 4: Revive your teammates. I grow sick and tired of getting critically wounded, calling for the medic that's standing a foot away, and then having him run off and ignore me. That is a gross neglect of your duties and just bad teamwork. Revive and heal your teammates! If a medic dies nearby, grab his kit and revive him! I experienced that a lot a couple nights ago when I played with Janne. He, too, is guilty of this. When I died, no one would revive me. Ever. And there quite a few medics on the team. Now, granted, there is a little more leeway on 2142 in this matter. Because the Assault and Medic classes are combined into one, not all assault soldiers are carrying the defibrillator on their person. Since you can select and customize your own kit in 2142, a lot of people go mostly assault or mostly medic.

Rule 5: Don't be a smacktard about vehicles. They are there for EVERYONE on your team to use. If someone beats you in a race to the tank, let him have it. Don't whine about it on team chat. Don't teamkill the guy. Wait for the tank to respawn or take another vehicle. Often times there are more than one tank in the general vicinity, especially in your main base. For people that get the tank or vehicle, don't be an idiot and just gun your engine and leave your teammates behind. Pick people up. And for the love of all that is good in this world, watch where you're going! Don't run over people! (Unless they are purposely trying to stop you because you beat them to the tank. In that case, have at it.) In BF2142, mechs are the vehicle of choice. Don't be an idiot about it. Don't teamkill people to get it. That just encourages people to teamkill YOU. The more we kill each other, the more the enemy doesn't have to.

Rule 6: Pilots, watch your bloody map. If you see an area you want to hit and it's full of blue dots, DON'T ATTACK IT! I grow very weary of getting teamkilled by my own jets. Pay attention or get out of the jet! For new pilots, learn to fly in single player before you decide to try your hand with a fully loaded blackhawk helicopter. People get mad when you crash mere seconds after takeoff. Another thing, let people know if you are going to bail. Press Q and select the "Bail Out!" option. People get very mad if the pilot jumps ship over the water and the chopper goes plunging down into the sea. Not cool. 2142: Don't fly transports if you can't fly.

Rule 7: Probably one of the most important rules of both games (or all BF games for that matter), don't punish your teammates for teamkills that aren't their fault! I'm sorry, but 95% of all teamkills come because the person that got killed is an idiot. If you run out in the middle of the street and get run over by a tank. That's your own fault. You have a map. You know where the tanks are and if they are moving. Don't punish the tank driver because you're a noob.

If you see a support class laying down cover fire, don't run in front of him! If you HAVE to get by him, bloody jump over him. Don't get cut down and then punish him for the teamkill. It's your own fault, idiot. If you get crushed by a helicopter that's trying to land and pick people up, it's your own fault. It's not a matter of they can't fly, it's a matter of your an idiot and didn't get out of the way or didn't press and hold the E button to enter the helicopter before it landed on you.

There are so many instances of idiots punishing people for teamkills that were purely accident on the part of the killer. Accident for them, idiocy by you. Don't be a smacktard. Forgive tk's unless someone comes up to you, points his gun, and pulls the trigger. Then it's okay to punish for the teamkill.

Rule 8: This one kind of ties into the last rule. If you see someone set down C4 (or RDX in 2142) packs to set a trap for the enemy. MOVE! Don't just stand there and try to hold down the area. All you are doing is effectively ruining the whole point of setting the explosives in the first place! That's just being selfish and a noob. I've come to the point where if I set C4/RDX and you stand there, I WILL blow you up if the enemy comes. Punish if you want, but it's your own fault.

Rule 9: Rank means nothing. It doesn't give you the right to call people noobs. In fact, most times those of much lower ranks are less noobs than those with higher ranks. It's probably 98% of Lieutenants and higher that are the biggest noobs in the game. They have this superiority complex. They are the ones that TK for vehicles, punish for accidental tk's that were their own fault, and spawn rape the enemy. They are the ones that ignore your orders and generally cause havoc and doom for your team. Don't be a noob. And don't call other's noobs. Chances are, they are better than you are.

Those are just a few rules I think people need to read and pay attention to. It makes gaming so much more fun for everyone when people pay attention and don't act like retards.

Battlefield greatness!

Last night was quite fun. I finally got a chance to play with Janne for the first time in over a year. He sent me an email yesterday asking me if I wanted to join him and his group of friends for a few games of Battlefield 2. I accepted the offer as soon as I got the email, of course! What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than crushing your foes and teaching them who's boss?

For those that don't know what Battlefield 2 is, it's a capture the flag style video game. Two armies (in this case, the US and the MEC - Mid Eastern Coalition) fight each other to gain and keep control of flags spread out across the battlefield. It's a really fun game because you can pick from 7 classes. Support, Engineer, Sniper, Medic, Assault, Recon, and Anti-Tank. I normally play as a medic. It's pretty fun and you can usually rack up a ton of points. They have a great machine gun and can heal themselves if they aren't cut down in the initial firefight.

Anyway, I did quite well last night, posting scores of 203, 78, and 158 in three rounds respectively. Those are very good for BF2. It's pretty amazing for me, too, since I hadn't played the game in quite some time and thought I would be a lot rustier than I was. Of course, having a good team helped, even though most of them didn't understand the concept of reviving wounded teammates. Oh well. Some people are like that. Run and gun, leave every man behind. I normally run out into the middle of a street to revive a teammate even if it means I get killed in the process. It's an easy 2 points and there's always the chance you and the man you saved can escape.

I love the game. Nothing better than modern combat between the US and those heathen terrorists. Of course, half the time you're playing as the terrorists. Or communists. I like the maps where you play against the Chinese army. More color in the maps. Everything isn't just brown and yellow.

Anyway, that was last night. It was a blast and I hope to do it again quite soon. I took a screenshot of the game last night, but I lost it as I forgot to paste it immediately into MS Paint. I made the mistake of forgetting I took the shot, then copying and pasting something else, then remembering the screenshot. Poor me. Poor you! Now you can't enjoy my greatness!

Bye for now. And remember, always lead running terrorists.