Australia: 3 Bar or 4 Bar?

 Aside from West US servers, the other playable server for me would be the Australian server, but it's 4 bar ping since August has recently dropped back to 3, means it now has 200+ms ping again, which equals distant servers like South/East US.

Wondering why, I did a quick investigation:

 First I did a traceroute test to identify the route it takes for signals to travel to Australia from where I live

 Node 1 is ,of course, my wifi router. from node 2-6 it's my ISP. and then comes the tricky part, from 7-9 it shows these nodes are hosted by ntt.net.

 And who's NTT? well it's one of the leading ISPs from "Japan". Wait a second, aren't we connecting to Australia? what the hell does Japan has to do in this?

 I looked into the connections between TW, JP and AUS, turned out it's like this:

 The red line in the picture is one of the submarine cable system between Japan, Guam, and Australia, called "Australia-Japan Cable", or AJC. So apparently my signals are forwarded in Japan before sending to Australia.

 Other routes can be seen in the pic, too. On the west coast of Australia there are two other lines called JASURAUS and Sea-Me-We 3. They are shorter in length but have less bandwidth compared to AJC (1,000Gbs). So it's understandable that my ISP chose AJC for connections to Australia, even though it makes a detour.

 But the problem doesn't lie in AJC, for 12,700km it takes only 125msm which is remarkable. It's the connection between my country Taiwan, and Japan.

 As you can see in the traceroute chart, signal travels to Japan already takes up 90ms.. which should be no more than 50ms (30ms if my ISP isn't this !@#$). The possible cause would be that the bandwidth limit to NTT in Japan is too low so it's constantly in traffic jam...

 This is the reason why I don't play on Japan server much. But sadly same sh*t is now happening on Aus server too....

 "Tragic" is the only word I can think of to describe our internet connectivity....

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I Used to Believe in Suppression

 DICE introduced a new game mechanism called "suppression effect" in BF3. What it does is when you are fired upon, your vision goes blur, and your accuracy drops magnificently, even if you're aiming right at your target.

 The purpose is to force you to find cover and play more tactically - same as in real combats which is to prevent enemy targets from operating. So basically I supported DICE's take on suppression effect at first, but later I regretted and turned against it.


Suppressive Fire in real life

 Let's take a look at suppressive fire in real firefight:

Soldier under fire, via Darrod Peters

 Like you see in the picture above, when suppressed, a soldier would feel great pressure both physically an psychologically, and thus instinctively tries to keep head down and take cover, making he/she temporarily incapable to engage.

 It's usually used on close quarter combat to suppress enemy fireteam, with favorably deployed machine guns, or sniper fire (DMR). And also often used by vehicles to create landing zone, secure rendezvous area.. etc.

 I'm not a strategist but it's clear that a well placed suppressive fire would gain your team great tactical advantages.




Suppression Effect in BF3

 When suppressed, the time and space for one to operate will decreased, and the fear of death would rise. DICE tried to mimic this by blurring your vision, and adding RBS (Random Bullet Spread) by large amount - basically you are still able to aim if you manage to deal with the blur, but your bullets would most likely miss the target.

 Below are the main reasons why this doesn't work as DICE expected:

1) Guns and bullets have no feelings, they don't get suppressed nor feel the fear of death, but DICE just made them do with increased RBS, while soldier - whose movement and capability should be affected instead, can still aim perfectly.

Normal shooting

RBS based suppression

Soldier movement based suppression

 Some may argue the increased RBS is equal to degrading soldier's abilities like aiming. But I'd have to say no, as I've seen too many cases that a soldier gets suppressed and gets behind cover, yet the enemy runs up while the poor fellow, though have already found cover, have terrible RBS to defend him/herself...
Possible Solution
 A. Make soldier's capability affected, not the weapon's performance
 B. Remove suppression effect


2) Ironically soldier's movement gets affected when his/her rifle is deployed on bipod, causing gun to sway, even though bipod is there to help gun's stability in the first place. Plus the RBS and blur, using bipod becomes worse than without it.
Possible Solution
 A. Weapon on bipod should not sway, make soldier keep head down or dodge instead
 B. Remove suppression effect


3) When in sudden encounters with enemy soldier, especially in CQC, it's more of a fight or die matter than fight or flight, as you don't really have time to run away and take cover but to focus and down your opponent ASAP. But with the suppression effect in bound, the one who fire first, no matter by luckily spotting you first, has faster connection, or better reflex, can put the opponent in great disadvantage. This can be done more efficiently with aim assist.

When in sudden CQC encounter, it's about Fight or Die

In BF3, it means automatically panic

 And if you have laggy connection like me, it's going to be worse.
Possible Solution - I don't know LOL remove it maybe?




Suppression Effect in other games

 Not many shooter games out there have suppression effect, but it worths a look at the two below

ERM, a realistic mod of Call of Duty: World at War

It has a similar effect to BF3's blurry vision, but only take effects for a minimal amount of time, and it utilizes sound of bullets passing by which further adds tension, the ballistics seems to remain unchanged.

Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm

(4:26, 5:30, 6:20)

It's a lot more saturated than BF3, and it gives Banzai chargers more stamina and suppresses the US marines within certain radius. Unsure if ballistics is affected.

The ideal suppression approach for BF4?

 I'm not saying it's the only way to go, but for me the best way to create tactical gameplay, is to NOT focus on suppression, but other game mechanics like bullet damage, solider movements, map design.. etc, but if we have to have suppression in this game then I'd say make it blur only and nothing more (edit: or use bullet's pass-by sound as a que to add tension), or if possible make soldier instinctively dodge, keep head down, avoid coming fire, but not adding RBS to the guns.

 But for now, and maybe whole BF3 lifespan, it's always gonna be there, so we all have to deal with it, unfortunately.

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The Mystery of M16A3

The Love, the Hate, the M16A3

 I know, I know, I have same feeling whenever seeing this in game too.

"What a scrub!"

 The M16A3 became so infamous in BF3 after USAS-12 and FAMAS got nerfed. But it's indeed an amazing gun that handles almost every situation. It's fast, accurate, and easy to use, to a degree that even Russian assaults spam it too.

 But sadly there are not much love for the A4 variant, as in shooter games full auto is usually more favored than burst fire. Maybe that's why DICE made A3 the default rifle for US assault.



The real M16A3

 In the early 90s, Colt, the manufacturer of M16, came up with a full auto version of M16A2, officially named M16A2E3. After testing in Navy Seals operations, it was then assigned to Navy Seabee (CB, Construction Battalion), however marine corps and army never issued M16A2E3.

 Its name was never publicly announced and only mentioned in combat handbooks. Thus some soldiers would mistake it as a M16A2 modified to full auto, which is technically true. 

Excerpt from Seabee Combat Handbook, Vol.1

Navy sailors practicing on M16A2E3 (March 6, 2012), from #PACOM@flikcr

So the M16A3 in BF3 is M16A2E3 actually?

 Not quite if we compare the M16A3 from BF3 and M16A2E3:

 The first thing to notice is the upper receiver. The BF3's A3 has a flat top with rail ready for scopes, or a removable handle stock if you prefer iron sight, while A2E3 has a fixed handle identical to the one on M16A2.

 Next thing is the handguard. The BF3's A3 features a KAC M5 Rail Attachment System, known as tactical rail in game, which only came with later M16A4 models, while A2E3 has the classic ribbed handguard from M16A2.

 The only thing they share is the lower receiver, which is identical to M16 and M16A1, hence the capability of full auto fire, unlike M16A2's 3 round burst.

Colt's M16A3 - RO 901

 Beside the M16A2E3, there was at the same time another project from Colt aimed to upgrade M16, called M16A2E4, which the upper receiver was swapped out with Picatinny rail (flat top) to provide better platform for advanced optics. It was expected by the company to be officially M16A3.

 But in the end the military chose M4 carbine over it as the new standard issue rifle, so the project needed to go foreign for sales. Colt then made it into two models - one full auto, called RO 901, and a burst version called RO905, and then began to export them to countries like Israel. The RO 901 was further given the name they wished it could be but failed to - M16A3.

RO 901, with removable head stock

 Later in Iraq and Afghanistan War, the military began to realize that M4 wasn't capable enough due to its short effective range. The long abandoned M16A2E4, then came into consideration again. After a long debate, marines agreed to replace most of its M4 with M16A2E4, which had already been further upgraded with additional KAC M5 rail and officially named M16A4. 

 The RO 901 then later got recategorized under M16A4 family as its full auto version for foreign market. Many believe Colt did this to prevent confusions from M16A2E3.

Model # on Colt's site, the RO945 is M16A4

FN's M16A3

 Although Colt came out with the idea of M16A2E3, FN Herstal, the famous Belgian manufacturer, won some of the contracts of production, too. So when a Navy got his new M16, it could be made by either Colt or FN. Beside quality, the main difference between products from the two factories is the rollmark.

 On Colt's M16A2E3, it would be printed "M16A2E3":

M16A2E3 by Colt, excerpted from Black Rifle II: M16 into the 21st Century

 The FN's M16A2E3 on other hand, would have simply "M16A3". which further implies that M16A2E3 was made to be M16A3:

M16A2E3 by FN, from www.ar15.com

So many A3 out there

 There are in total 3 M16A3s that have been rumored for years. One is the real M16A2E3 used by navy, sometimes called M16A3 if made by FN, another is RO 901 from Colt which is actually part of M16A2E4 family, and the other is the imaginary A3 that appeared in many films and video games, which is, well, nonexistent.

The M16A3 in BF3

 The most possible reason why DICE created a fake A3 in BF3 could be that they were confused by Colt's RO 901 and mistook it as the real M16A3. They probably knew that marines don't use A3 though, just put it there because Russian have full auto rifle by default so they needed a equivalent.

So the best M16 goes to..

 Actually they are all fundamentally the same rifle. As a fairly matured design, M16 aren't that much different between generations.

 The only exception is M16A2, as it's vastly redesigned over orignal M16 & M16A1 to make it able to use a new type of round, and some ergonomic and safety issues were solved too. After that, most variants were just either swapping out upper or lower receivers and little parts, like M16A2E3 adopted lower receiver from M16/A1 for full auto; or adding rail systems for newer gadgets, like M16A4.

 But still, the best M16 goes to the imaginary M16A3 in BF3... 

YOU @#$ SCRUBS LOL

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Beautiful Real Locations of BF3 Maps: Part 2

Nowshahr Canal

 The port city of Nowshahr is quite different to the industrial facilities in BF3. It's a developed town with more than 40 thousands residents, and a famous domestic resort in Iran for its natural beauty of green mountains, Caspian sea. It is also home to an Iranian football (soccer) club, too.

 from arminj@deviantart

from www.skyscrapercity.com

Grand Bazaar

 Many cities in the Middle East have bazaars as their traditional marketplaces, and the one in Tehran has withstood more than 400 years of history of the city. Although the main finance and economic activities have moved to north of the city, it is still an important place for commerce to take place, especially for traditional goods like carpet, jewelry, spices, which attract tourists all over the world to visit.

from sipo@flickr

from kamshots@flickr

Tehran Highway

 According to MAV coordinates, the highway in game is based on Azazdegan Expressway, part of the highway systems in Tehran.

from eddy.aminus3.com

from www.tabnak.ir

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The Next Iconic Rifle of Russia?

There seems to be this trend in the community that AN-94 is for the pros and skilled, AEK-971 is for scrubs and is inaccurate at distance. And AK74M, oh well...  nobody gives a damn about it at all...

 But the fact is, AK74M is the main service rifle in Russia... not AN, so I couldn't resist but to do a little research.. :p


Project Abakan

 The birth of these rifles dates back to 1980s, when Soviet realized the newly adopted AK74, although improved in recoil over AKM, still lacked accuracy at long burst and full auto, which had been proven in the 1979 Afghanistan War where troops had to fire quick while moving against guerrillas.

 So they demanded a new standard rifle that is more accurate, but still reliable as AK74. A contest called Project Abakan was then held. The rifles that made it to the finals included the prototypes of AN-94, AEK-971.

 The result, AEK prototype didn't stand out, and AN was picked as the winner for its single shot accuracy. But instead of making it the new standard, the Russian decided that AK74M would be what soldiers have in their hands.



AK74M

 As mentioned above, AK74M, the modernized version of AK74, became the general issue rifle in Russia. The logic behind was quite simple - Rather than adopting a new type of rifle, retraining troops to adapt, it's more economic and efficient to just improve the original. So you get to use AK74M in BF3 as Russian assault by default, not AN-94.

AN-94

 Though had won in the contest, and given the name Abakan, AN-94 never replaced AK74M, and only a limited amount have served in Russian military, mainly Spetsnaz, rest are security related, like police SWAT, GRU agency units.

 The main reason is because of its structural complexity for the rifle to perform accurate 2 round bursts, which not only makes maintenance a tough job, but also makes it expensive to build.

 Another reason being, aside from its accuracy at 2 shot bursts, it still can't outperform AK74 at full-auto and long burst, not to say it's harder to operate when doing so, making it more special units oriented.

AEK-971

  After Abakan, AEK was taken to revision and got simplified, and began to produce in small batches in the 90s. It didn't compete with other prototypes in Abakan in regards of safety and accuracy. So one of the later modifications was to tone down its hyper-fast rate of fire from 1,500rpm to 800-900, and replace its muzzle brake for safety reason.

 The result was a new rifle that outperforms AN-94 at full auto and long burst, and competes at short bursts. It's light yet accurate with very little recoil, thanks to the balanced action, and is much cheaper to build and maintain. It has been adopted by some police forces, but never got into military.

 In 2006, the company decided to leave military market for civilian, all related packages were passed on to another factory. Since then the production has stopped, as there are no orders large enough to afford a new production line.



So AK74M's Won, Now What?

 Though it remains as the standard rifle in Russian Army today, AK74M didn't improve much from the orignal AK74 in terms of accuracy. The NATO designs from the same period, such as AR15 family (M16), although have higher recoil and less durability, have already proven to be much more accurate and efficient for modern combat, to a degree that even rifles like AN-94 can't compete when it comes to general accuracy.

 So the story hasn't ended. Russian military still needs a better rifle to balance out from those of the western designs such as FN SCAR, ACR. 

 This time, old competitors like AEK, AN, and other outclassed like AL-7, now AK-107, will all show up again. Also, new competitors like AK-12, the latest revision of AK74M, will be on the guest list too.



The Next Iconic Rifle

 Even though AK74M will be there for at least another 10 years in Russian army, we should see more and more troops equipped with new types of weapons in near future.

AK-12, with NATO like rails

 The most possible winner, in my opinion, would be the AK-12, it's not about performance though, but more about cost-effectiveness. Just like how AK74M won among all awesome rivals above, AK12 being its successor, descendent of the AK family, would be most likely to stand out.

 The next possible winner would be AEK-971/AK-107, as they're both all round rifles and are accurate at full auto / long burst with little recoil.

 The AN-94, though with amazing short burst ability, would have a hard time to win, just like it did in Project Abakan. And its short burst ability isn't much needed in todays conflicts, as with the DMR's role becoming more and more important, assault rifles would have to depend more on long burst and full auto.




But still in BF3, AN-94 owns :)

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Granata!! Granata!!

Have you ever wondered in this game, why you, a patriotic Russian Soldier, have to throw an American M67 hand grenade? Well, I have.

So what would it look like if we replace all the possible US gadgets with true Russian made counterparts? Let's check it out!

	US	RU
Hand Grenade	M67	RGO
Under-barrel Grenade Launcher	M320	GP-30
Under-Barrel Shotgun	M26 MASS	None.. :(
Bayonet (Knife)	M9 Bayonet United Cutlery M48 (ACB-90)	Izhmash 6H5 Bayonet Spetsnaz Machete (Used by Dima in campaign)
Soulder-Launch Weapon	SMAW FIM-92 FGM-148	RPG-7V2 9K38 9K123
Anti-Tank Mine	M15	TM89
EOD Bot	Foster-Miller Talon EOD	Vezdekhod-TM3
Plastic Explosive	C-4	PVV-5A
Anti-Personnel Mine	M18A1	MON-50
Infantry Mortar	M224 (60mm)	2B14 (82mm)
Unattended Ground Sensor	T-UGS	Polus ST RS-U
Micro UAV	Honeywell RQ-16A	ZALA 421-21
Range Finder	SOFLAM PEQ-1C	1D26

I didn't think I'd find Russian equivalents to some of the gadgets, but I did lol. Russian people really impressed me here :)

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