Well DICE/EA dropped a bombshell today with the announcement of three new DLC's coming out this year.  The first, "Close Quarters" will be an infantry Only expansion that will have new game modes plus all the destructible environments you are used to seeing in BF3.  The second, "Armored Kill"  will be vehicle focused and will have the largest battlefield map ever released.  The third,"End Game" which will be released at the end of year has been kept very secretive.

Here is what we know about Close Quarters: There will be four maps.  Gameplay footage on youtube.com showcases "Ziba Tower", a multi-level building full of office spaces, hallways, and stairwells.  There will be no vehicles.  It will be a fully "HD destructible" environment and all maps will be indoor style maps like Operation Metro.  There will be multiple new game modes not previously seen in BF3.  It is rumored to be limited to 16 players.  There is no confirmation of this from DICE.  Close Quarters will be released in June.

Here's what we know about Armored Kill: There will be more vehicles introduced including ATV's, mobile artillery, and drivable tanks.  It is rumored that BF2 style multi-seat bombers will also be added.  It will have the largest map ever released in battlefield.   It is scheduled to be released this fall.

There is still no information on when the patch will be released but with the announcement of the DLC's I am sure it will be released a couple weeks to a month ahead of Close Quarters.  More info will be released on March 13th.  Hopefully we'll hear about more patch updates and maybe get a glimpse at more maps.  We'll keep you posted on any rumors or news that we hear about.

3/8/2012 update

Inside sources confirm that the large patch originally scheduled for February will be released prior to "Close Quaters" and will add the items support needed for the upcoming patches.

DICE has announced that it will be starting a new weekly Battlefield 3 blog, which will preview upcoming changes currently in the works.
“Come back next week for our brand new “Inside DICE” blog series, featuring regular updates to our fans on the latest news, content plans, updates and upgrades we have planned for Battlefield 3,” the developer posted on the Battlefield 3 blog.

Good on them.  After tons of criticism from the community followed by the threat of a "BF3 blackout day" from Battlefieldo.com DICE got their heads out of their collective asses and will now provide us a weekly BF3 update.  I think this a good move on their part and hopefully the impatience exhibited by a lot of the community will be put to rest.  Hopefully we'll have more news to pass about more additions to the patch next week.  See you on the battlefield.

I know a lot of people have been wondering and asking about where to find the lastest weapons tweaks that will be implemented with the upcoming patch.  Demize99 is giving quantitative data to www.symthic.com so users can see the upcoming changes and how they will affect a weapon or attachment.  The easiest way to see where a change has been made is by noting the orange up or down arrow by the value.  Demize is making a conscious effort to send any updates he has via his twitter to symthic.com so the community is given the most recent data.  As far as map tweaks and bug fixes there is no official list that has published as of yet.  Just some rumors/hints from developers.  I'll keep you posted as I find new information.

Whenever I go onto the Battlelog or EA forums all I see is a bunch of hate and negative comments toward BF3 and it's developers, DICE.  I'm not saying the game doesn't have it's issues, the posters make it out like the game is total rubbish.  Well let me tell you one thing.  You're wrong, very wrong.  Just as a disclaimer, I love the Call of Duty series and think that the original Modern Warfare is probably the best FPS game I've ever played.  I also think that Black Ops is also a quality shooter.

I've been getting a little bored with BF3 and while it's fun still to play with my Walking Dead Army brothers and sisters it would be nice to try something else for a bit.  So when Infinity Ward and Steam announced that Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer would be free this weekend for PC users I jumped at the opportunity.  Once I got the game downloaded and installed I jumped in on a regular TDM match.  When the game started I literally thought to myself, "This feels like I'm stepping back 5 years".  The game graphics are such a letdown.  Much like it was when America's Army 3 came out.  Plus, the game just ran horribly.  Not sure if it was an issue with my rig or if the game is just terribly designed.  I was baffled being that I can play BF3 is medium/high settings with a 45 FPS average.  Regardless I had to turn my graphic settings down to get playable frame rates.  Once I got playable frame rates I did ok for a level 1.  But the whole time all I could think was just how bad the game was.  It's the same argument that PC players had with MW2.  No dedicated servers, one dimensional game play, antiquated graphics, horrible sound effects, player movement/physics, and no team work.  I didn't expect much when I started downloading the game but this is almost criminal.  How can anyone pay $60 bucks for this rubbish?  I was thoroughly disgusted after 2 rounds even going 18-4 on the last round and being 2nd on the team being an level 2.

So, if you think BF3 is horrible take a moment this weekend to install MW3 and play it for a bit.  You'll come to realize very quickly just how fortunate we are to have a game like Battlefield 3.  There is no comparison.  It trumps Modern Warfare 3 in every category.  While Battlefield 3 has balance tweaks that need to be made and bugs to iron out it's a game that gives you almost everything you could ask for, modern graphics, realistic sound, team oriented game play, destructible environments, and a feel that you are actually on the battlefield. There's nothing that could be done to fix Modern Warfare 3 other than to delete it from your hard drive in anticipation for the upcoming patch that DICE will be releasing soon.  Infinity Ward, take notes from Treyarch.  They have the upper hand on designing Call of Duty games.