# Playing with friends - Almost impossible or am I just being retarded? (PS3) **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042 "2013-11-07T16:51:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/dc4da7/32.png) [@imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/imposterbru)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/1 "2013-11-07T16:51:36Z")
Hi, I’m playing BF4 on PS3 and I’m finding it impossible to get a game with friends. I’ve tried various things; - Join Quick-match, friends try join through ‘battlelog’ section at the right. Nearly every time the server is full (or I assume so, they get a message stating so, or that ‘There are no commander slots free’) What’s weird is there always seems to actually be a commander slot or free player slots when looking at the player listing in game. - We’ve tried using the server browser. Now this has several times wound me up so much I’ve turned my console off before getting into a game. First off, the filters don’t seem to work properly, at least the player number ones? I’ve tried every combination of filters and the only way I can see of guaranteeing a game is to filter by “EMPTY” only and then wait _hoping_ the server fills? If I choose _any_ other option I get a full screen listing of 24/24 servers. Sometimes if I scroll ALL the way to the bottom, which takes ages, there are some that are 20/24 or 13/24 or whatever. sometimes when I go to join these, it tells me the server is full (presumably it filled as I was scrolling). Sometimes it lets me in, but when my freinds try join me they get the same messages as before. We have managed to get in together a few times but usually at around 2am UK time which is not ideal mid week to say the least!! I’m not a massive gamer to the point I follow all the updates from devs and all the forums etc for games - does anyone know if either I’m just being retarded and haven’t noticed a ‘pre-game squad-up’ option like BF3 used to have, or if EA have addressed these issues and said if they will be sorted down the line? Thanks! Edit - Thanks for all the advice guys, managed to get in a good few games tonight so it seems all your tips work 😃 Much appreciated!!! ---
**Author:** ![IamDurandal](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/c37758/32.png) [@IamDurandal](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/IamDurandal)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/2 "2013-11-07T17:12:37Z")
I’m on ps3 too, have you tried joining a friend though battelog by using the select button? I agree the filters are completely broken. ---
**Author:** ![tha\_dood](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tha\_dood](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/tha_dood)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/3 "2013-11-07T17:16:36Z")
No, this really is one of the most broken things in the game. The server browser is completely useless, and because you can’t squad up at the main menu there’s no way to get into a quick match with your friends either since it puts you in the most full server it can find. What I do with my friends is just join an empty game and wait for it to fill up. If you have at least 4 people, the game will start and you can farm some points from objectives for a while while you wait. ---
**Author:** ![imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/dc4da7/32.png) [@imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/imposterbru)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/4 "2013-11-07T18:08:29Z")
I literally just found this trick straight after making this post! Thanks for making me feel better though, at least I know it’s not just me! There’s three of us, so it’s a bit annoying in that we can’t just fool around / farm until more people join, but as people seemed to join fairly quickly it’ll do until another one of our friends gets the game. Has EA said anything about a upcoming patch sorting the filter issues? One extra thing I’ve just noticed is that occasionally the game locks up my PS3. This is much more worrying and though at first I thought it was just my PS3 on it’s way out, but a few mins ago all three of our PS3’s just locked up at the _exact_ same moment mid game. I find it hard to believe it’s a coincidence as none of us have experienced lock ups with any other games so far. Any reports of this happening? It’s worrying as the PS3 has to go through it’s self-check phase after resetting and this could be damaging the internal HDD. ---
**Author:** ![imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/dc4da7/32.png) [@imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/imposterbru)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/5 "2013-11-07T18:16:18Z")
Yea, I’ve tried that, the server they are in is always full within seconds of them getting in, unless they join a completely empty server. It’s a _little_ frustrating to say the least! ---
**Author:** ![tha\_dood](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tha\_dood](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/tha_dood)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/6 "2013-11-07T18:54:27Z")
I wouldn’t know much about that last part because I play on 360, sorry. For us, the major problem is that the game just crashes our Xbox on Dawnbreaker and Hainan Resort loading screens about 50% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![\_S8M\_DJeasyline](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/_/82dd89/32.png) [@\_S8M\_DJeasyline](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/_S8M_DJeasyline)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/7 "2013-11-07T23:52:38Z")
Here’s how I’ve been managing to get 1-4 friends into a squad on the same server. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll get all 5 together in the same squad, but it should get everyone onto the same team at least and you can switch teams on the next map if you got separated, and if it’s only 2 or 3 of you this should work every time. First off, avoid using the quick game option as there is no way to ensure that you will be joining a server in your region. This is important to minimize the network issues we are experiencing. Even in BF3 it was best to play on servers in your region to reduce ping. Find out what region the friends you will be joining are playing in. Before joining a server decide amongst your squad who will select and join the server first and make sure everyone joins your game as soon as the option becomes available. Best way to do this is to have everyone waiting in the Battlelog ‘Friends’ menu with the person they will be joining highlighted in advance so as soon as they see their status change once they’ve joined into the server everyone can quickly hit the ‘Join Game’ button. Next, go to the server browser and open up the ‘Edit Filter’ menu. Check off whatever game modes/maps you like. In the ‘Free Slots’ menu select the ‘1-15’ option ONLY. Select whatever ‘Preset’ you like. Finally, select The ‘Region’ or regions you and your friends are in. If you’re all East then select ‘East’ only. If you guys are spread out across the country then select ‘West’ as well. (Note: if you select ‘Ranked’ only under ‘Server Type’ it might help ensure everyone gets in as only ‘Official’ servers allow people to quickly join from the Quick Match option which fills up servers fast.) Once your filter is set, go back to the browser and QUICKLY scroll down to the appropriate server for how many people will be joining you. No need to check server settings or look for a map you prefer, you’ve already set those options in the filter. The important thing here is to get to into a server as fast as possible. By the time it takes to scroll down to a server with 15 people playing, its likely filled up with more players. For example, if we have a full squad of 5, I will scroll down as fast as possible (Fix you filter dice, if I’ve selected 1-15 only, why do full servers show?) to get to a server that has 15 players in it. You might all join into the same server with more people but I have found 15 to be our best bet. (If you only have 1 or 2 friends with you a server with 17-19 players should be fine). Make sure everyone is paying attention, with their Battlelog menu up and joins in on you immediately once you’re in. If you don’t all make it onto the same team just wait as the new auto-join option will move a player into the squad his friends are playing with automatically. Hope this helps, it’s been working for us! Let me know if you have any questions or something above isn’t clear to you. See you on the Battlefield… ---
**Author:** ![imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/dc4da7/32.png) [@imposterbru](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/imposterbru)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/8 "2013-11-08T00:08:20Z")
Thanks, all good tips, much appreciated! 🙂 I already do a lot of that, I’m in Europe so I select that, and I select game type etc before bringing the server list up. I considered using ranked, but when I selected ‘Ranked’ under the filters only hardcore servers came up. I’ll be happy playing them, but _after_ I’ve learnt the maps a little :] > (Fix you filter dice, if I’ve selected 1-15 only, why do full servers show?) I think this is the crux of the problem right here tbh! 🙂 If it was only showing servers with free slots, we might have more of a chance. By the time we’ve scrolled past the full servers, the player numbers shown are no longer accurate 😕 ---
**Author:** ![\_S8M\_DJeasyline](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/_/82dd89/32.png) [@\_S8M\_DJeasyline](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/_S8M_DJeasyline)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/9 "2013-11-08T01:48:47Z")
> By the time we’ve scrolled past the full servers, the player numbers shown are no longer accurate 😕 Exactly. That’s why i get down to a 15 player server ASAP ---
**Author:** ![Real-Terminal](https://battlefieldforum.co/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Real-Terminal](https://battlefieldforum.co/u/Real-Terminal)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://battlefieldforum.co/t/playing-with-friends-almost-impossible-or-am-i-just-being-retarded-ps3/110042/10 "2013-11-09T01:04:55Z")
I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I’m looking for some friends to play with, I just moved to PS3 and have no one. My tag is RealTerminal if anyone is interested, and I live in Australia just so you get an idea of my connection.