I can put up with artillery strikes, jets and LGM's, helis, tanks and baserape without a problem. But IO players who complain of maps not being designed for them or wanting vehicles without mounted machine guns?!?! Now thats a different story (and a joke).
Even though IO is now "legal" in BF2, I still think that it should be unranked only, since the core of the entire game has been taken out. The part of the game that makes it fun, exciting and challenging and takes it above every other 'shoot em up' game out there. Its what the Battlefield series is all about, combining vehicles and infantry into one big battle.
And they have the nerve to complain of Jalalalalabad being too open and large between the US spawn and the city.
Well guess what, this game was designed around infantry and vehicle battles. IO only came into being with patch 1.4, more than a year after BF2's release. No map in the game was designed purely for Infantry battles (except maybe 16size Gator...because its all inside the ship) and Jalalabad is no exception.
Thinking about it, there is a definite division in this game between vehicle and infantry users. "Vehicle Whores and IO sluts"
In my own experience, a lot of low ranks dont use vehicles, whether it be a tank, heli or an FAV. It's almost as if they frown upon it - even if the map is Dragon Valley or FuShe with 10v10....vehicles in use everywhere on a massive map, except for those Sergeants, Corporals and Privates who prefer to run everywhere with their AT kit. Ive seen that happen a good few times on various maps and just have to laugh every time.
Earlier, on Mass Destruction, Hellogoodsir aka Phrozenbot and myself were using the HIND all round and kicking pretty much everyones ass, with me as gunner. Ended up with about 50 odd kills thanks to his great piloting...mostly from TV's.
Anyway, some Sergeant or Corporal just said "fucking heli whores, bet you cant even kill with a pistol". Bear in mind that he was talking to a Lt.Col and Captain and that this was a round of about 8v8, so everyone had a vehicle of some kind.
After the round finished, the server went to Iron Gator 16size. Needless to say, he got his ass handed to him by Bot and myself, Engineer with an S12K and Assault with a G3 respectively. He got killed by a knife, pistol, shotgun and assault rifle...and some tbagging to rub it in - across both rounds.
Then he just whined on about "you suck", "IO is better" (which is exactly what Gator 16player size is anyway....)
Ironically, hes just appeared as a new victim on my growing list