Couple BF2 noob questions

[ICEMAN133]

Ok, so i finally thought i'd install this on the weekend after hearing so much about it, and having it sit on my shelf for about 6 months (pc trouble >_>).

(great game btw)

Anyways, first off, is there any patches i should DL? as mentioned, my copy is ~6 months old, so i'd have imagined there are some patches/hotfixes i should have DL'd, but nothing has occured automtically, as im used to in CSS/oW etc, so im unsure if theres any extras i need (having said that, i have played online, and i would have thought that i wouldnt be able to do so without the latest version)?

Secondly, servers? I'm used to CSS/DoD listing hundreds if not thousands of servers, yet when i search on BF2, i seem to get a meagre amount at best, of which the majority have a ping of 500+ I think i've actually only found 5 or 6 'playable' servers. Is this game dying out, or am i doing something wrong :S

Also, unlocks. I want to get awards/unlocks etc, but when i refresh the server list, so far i have only come across one ranked server, and that had a ping of 800 or so. I feel kinda cheesed off that my playtime/kills/stats etc arent being recorded :\


for the record, no, im not using silly filters, just the standard has users playing / is not password protected / is not full.

punkbuster is ticked

and though i can't see it making any difference, i opted not to install that gamespy arcade rubbish


Any help is appreciated

 

[ICEMAN133]

ahh, thanks for the reply

re: IO - i think i played on one of those servers the other day. By the name i'd imagine thats no vehicles, but i'm sure there were....

anyways, have to say, the jets (though hard as nails to control ><), and the oil fields map are already two of the best gaming moments i've had in quite a while

 

[ICEMAN133]

aye, i've found certain classes to suit my playstyle a lot more than others

special ops is just awesome

the only one i have any 'gripes' with at all in fact, is, as mentioned, the sniper - 8 shots per kill, no thanks

also, unlocks;

on some servers i seem to have 2 guns available per class, even though having played on no ranked servers, i can't possibly have unlocked them myself - im assuming this is default?

and how do i know which is the better of the two? :S i know i can have a look at the possible unlocks somewhere from the menu.

i just seem to be going with whatever looks more futuristic atm

 

[ICEMAN133]

Just thought of something else that had been bothering me.

With CS/Steam, you chose your acc. name, then a seperate player name, which you can change whenever you fancy.

Am i right in thinking in BF2, once i have my Acc. name, my awards/rank etc are all tied to that name and i will always be seen by said name in-game? if so, i should probably try and come up with something at least semi-decent before i start playing on ranked servers

And regarding that, if someone chose to join a clan, would that then mean that they'd have to create a new account to have the clan tags on their name, and therefore loose all medals/awards/unlocks etc?

 

[ICEMAN133]

i didnt realise the stats were so detailed

i'm liking the 1:4 K ratio, and the 21 death streak


im semi-embarassed to actually start now, gonna have to suffer some appalling stats