This June will see me make a big personal gaming decision. I have been a fairly committed FPS gamer for some time now - I started off playing the original Soldier of Fortune, before moving over to the bigger beast that was Battlefield 1942 and eventually Battlefield Vietnam (for shame I know, but I had some good times playing it). However, with the end of the last big BF:V tournament (www.worldtournament.net) where my team finished a credible =5th, I decided to go back to a former love of mine - MMORPGs. I started off by dabbling in EverQuest 2, before eventually moving to World of Warcraft. With my character now practically level 60 and my guild, Legions of Valhalla (www.lov-wow.com) consistently farming one of the higher dungeons regularly with plans to 40 man raid, I am now hesistantly expecting the release of BF2. Choices, choices.

BF:V, at best, was a shambles. I enjoyed played at a high level, with talented players, but I yearned for the map balance of BF1942. EA have always managed to break things in both games, but at least I always the fundamental game design in BF1942 was solid. Indeed, the fact that BF1942 is still probably more played today is testament to its dominance over its Battlefield 1½ "sequel", BF:V. BF1942 also had an exceptionally strong community for a long time, and was blessed with some very talented teams. I still look back fondly to games I had played vs. the -LCD- dream team. Perhaps we can see a return of those players from the past.

I always foresaw the release of BF2 as "the next big thing". I always hope, and still do, that it could unite three communities - BF1942, BF:V and Desert Combat (a mod for BF1942 which is basically BF2 using the old engine). I suppose you could also add a few other teams from other games too, similar to what I first saw in BF:V. I simply hope that BF2 will keep BF1942 "traditionalists" happy - I am sure DvO could wax lyrical about the finer points of what made BF1942 good, but I was never that picky about shooting people. I keep hearing people talk about the "feel" of the infantry play - I suppose that is all down to the stability of the engine, the netcode and map design. A whole number of issues come in to play there. I pray for balance and good design - a hope that is probably echoed throughout everyone who played BF1942 competively. Although I initially hoped BF2 would "go pro" to an extent (I don't think it will, but that is another story), I now simply hope for a return of the big teams, the old school and just lots of gg's.

My choice between BF2 and WoW is a premature one - I have no idea whether BF2 will be any good yet. However, I always like to know what I'm doing in advance - already, I am slapping slack Swedish people to tell me what their plans are. WoW is great fun, and currently has little committment. I could stop if I wanted to. Honest. Ok, perhaps that is currently a big fat lie. However, I still don't know if I want to be once again tied down to the crazy time needed to train and play a Battlefield series game. I see a lot of WoW players who love FPSs moving back into BF2. I think it currently has enough hype and draw to do that.

Lets hope that EA can get it spot on, first time. Third time lucky?