New patch today...and it might just ruin the game

[[AK]Squidly]

I don't see a problem. You want it for free, then put in the time to earn it through exp.
You don't mind paying, then pay for it and get it up front.

The problem as I see it is when a game charges a higher fee for early adopters and then drops the intro fee for late arrivals. Freemium works if it's free from the start.

[[AK]Hylander]

BF3 wasn't free at the start, and it's not 'freemium'. You had no choice to purchase all the content until now. That's the recent change they've added. Yeah, you could order early and get a free gun or uniform, etc - but you couldn't just pay and buy all the content and weapons like you can now.

[[AK]The Beast]

I have to say, I might have been wrong about this. And here's why I have hope that I was: people who bought the game early probably aren't going to spend MORE money to level up their kits when, in most cases, they'd only buy a few unlocks. And I just don't see that many new buyers coming in now, when there's Skyrim, and Mass Effect 3, and other hotter new releases out there, certainly not enough to flood the servers with buck privates raining mortars obliviously from the sky.

[[AK]Sonic Boom]

...buck privates raining mortars obliviously from the sky.

That's me!

So far my best score has been manning a Phalanx on the back of an aircraft carrier and hosing the shore...

Finally have some time, so I'll be on this weekend trying to get better. I did buy Karkand so I can at least have some idea of the maps while I'm trying to learn the game.

[[AK]The Beast]

AA guns/LAVs are the best way to recapture the "feel". Assault and medic are by far the easiest classes to get started with.