Trying to decide between this and COD BLOPS, just wanted to know if there was still a decent sized community, and how does it work if you don't want to buy the dlc?

Thousands of people are still playing this.
 
I don't have the DLC at all, and I just browse the lobby looking for servers. I have yet to join one that plays the DLC, so maybe there's a seperate lobby? That's my guess.

sweet. 

Yep, playing it on PS3 and there are always games up. So no worries there.

i play this almost every weekend, i actually enjoy it more than BLOPS (i actually last more than 30s in this game! im not super good at fps' but manage to go on respectable kill streaks on Bad Company) and there are always lots of people on there playing, squad deathmatch at least, thats what i always play.

On the pc there is a good number of people in fact we have a steam group for it . 
 
Here

Community's rolling strong. On the PC there's no shortage of servers and players.

Yeah, plenty of people are playing it. 

And if you don't buy the DLC, the game works exactly as it did before the DLC was released. So don't worry about that.

" @GravityProof:  I played a lot of BC2 on 360, and then bought it on this holiday on Steam. 

 
Apparently, there are a lot of hacks on the PC version right now, but I can't really confirm because I haven't played any shooters in a month or so. 
 
As far as Black Ops goes, I played a lot of it on the 360, getting to 10th prestige the last time I played. While I love that game, especially in comparison to Modern Warfare 2, which was filled with bugs, it is probably my favorite Call of Duty as far as balancing goes, and Treyarch seems to be reacting to the community fairly well. However, having played Call of Duty among other first person shooters for years, I have acquired the necessary skills required to play the game successfully; the amount of time that it took me to get to that point, though, is surprisingly staggering. 
 
Playing Bad Company 2 with friends is one of my best multi-player experiences in the last few years, and I find that playing that with friends feels much more rewarding than Call of Duty. Many Call of Duty players that I play against have no idea what they're doing, and if I was having that much trouble with the game, I would probably drop it for another that's not so connection-dependent and time-consuming.
 
It would be helpful to know what system you were planning on purchasing the games on, as the experiences are much different when it comes to PC or console, although both are enjoyable.

"

on the xbox its pretty much full games all the time, even on the vanilla battlefield, vietnam is doing pretty well too.

This remains one of the best shooters ever, imo. Love playing BC2 online whenever I get the chance. The map sizes are just so big it makes for a true war experience, something I personally enjoy.

i dont know about the X360, but on the PC is still mad popular

" This remains one of the best shooters ever, imo. Love playing BC2 online whenever I get the chance. The map sizes are just so big it makes for a true war experience, something I personally enjoy. "

I just stopped playing it (picked up Fifa 11 again), but yeah there were tons of people playing every game mode. Pretty much got into games instantly.

There's a lot on PC.

played earlier today, got into a game with no problem. 360, btw

i began to play this game again cause i completely maxed out the medic class a few months back.  i decided to play again to upgrade all the other classes, including the sniping class

No. No one is. It's completely empty.

Best multiplayer shooter on console. Get.

" This remains one of the best shooters ever, imo. Love playing BC2 online whenever I get the chance. The map sizes are just so big it makes for a true war experience, something I personally enjoy. "

Man, the fact that such a question needs to be asked, and that for an increasing number of people games are becoming nothing but throwaway week-long binges depresses me.

Has anyone else noticed a horrendous amount of lag while playing this? I recently started playing again, bought the DLC, and have been experience crazy teleporting all over the whole place.

" Has anyone else noticed a horrendous amount of lag while playing this? I recently started playing again, bought the DLC, and have been experience crazy teleporting all over the whole place. "

" Best multiplayer shooter on console. Get. "

On PC servers are still packed, not sure about consoles as I don't play those versions. 

Uh, as far as the Xbox 360 goes, yes. Pleeenty of people are still active in the community.  
Joining a game takes a half a second. And sure, joining a squad sometimes is mad irritating. Or simply when teams are unbalanced.  
I'm speakin' for the 360 y'all. So, don't get it twisted. It's still active, absolutely.  

Played yesterday on 360, and just played this morning on pc. The community is still extremely active on both. It will most likely ramp up a bit in anticipation for BF3.

I have Black Ops and I somewhat like it, but frankly I'd go with Bad Company 2 if I were you.

Yeah there are a lot of players across all systems still, very popular.

I might pick this up today to get ready for BF3

I've been playing this for a year casually, the maps have really worn out their interest Especially when you always play them twice in a row :/

Timestamps don't exist.

Still playing it on occasion. Everytime we fire it up we always comment on just how damn good and fun it is. BFBC2 is my competitive FPS benchmark. I hope BF3 decimates this benchmark or I will be very sad indeed.

Haven't played this in months but after an epic losing streak in League of Legends, decided to pick it up again.

I was never the best player, but it turns out I really suck now. Still fun though.

@AndyMP said:

This remains one of the best shooters ever, imo. Love playing BC2 online whenever I get the chance. The map sizes are just so big it makes for a true war experience, something I personally enjoy.

Most definitely. You can't beat the realism of BC2. If you wanna stay in the playground with your super soakers, play BLOPS. You want a real man's war? Play Battlefield. haha

Not bashing BLOPS or the CoD franchise, they are great. I personally prefer all of the Battlefield games though, and even 2 weeks away from BF3 being released, rooms are still full on BC2. I love it.