The Latest Casual Game Mode Ignites Intense Debates Over AI Players, Experience Points, and Wait Times
Over the weekend, the game developers introduced a fresh game mode called Relaxed Breakthrough. In essence, this option mirrors the standard Breakthrough format but features a few notable changes:
- Every squad has just 8 human participants, with the rest filled by AI-controlled opponents.
- Activities done by real players award full XP, while bot actions offer lower rewards.
- Just a pair of maps are available: Siege of Cairo and Empire State map.
- Features like Dogtags, accolades, and stat tracking are disabled.
So essentially, this mode lives up to its title: it's a casual version of Breakthrough. On the surface, one could assume there's nothing wrong, since it gives more options for gamers seeking different ways to have fun with the game. However, gaming history have taught us anything, it is that not everyone will be happy. In other words, many Battlefield 6 players are mad.
Community Responses: Anger to Support
"People want real players. Don't repeat the errors of your rivals," states a response to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking idea," says a different user. Meanwhile, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user remarks, "I have no idea where we are going with this game," and another details all the issues they believe to be broken in Battlefield 6: "Fix bugs, fix drone glitch, correct rocket mechanics, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We don't need this bot mode."
On the other hand, for every complaint, some gamers explaining how much they're enjoying the recent addition. "It's enjoyable to warm up, human participants prevent it from being a complete grind but it's quite laid-back," reads one Reddit comment. "This subreddit doesn't understand that there are gamers who actually go outside and don't play this game all the time. Let them strike a balance," states a different comment. A response on Twitter clarifies that as they're "a battledad with busy schedules, this is great for me," and someone else praises the mode for "avoiding intense competition."
Valid Concerns and Player Feedback
Despite the support, players have valid points to complain about the new mode. A few folks have highlighted that it will make wait times more extended for different playlists due to the sheer number of options currently available. Similarly, some areas already encounter mostly bots in the existing playlists. It also seems a little backwards that the mode won't start without a required amount of real players, even though it focuses mostly on fighting AI opponents.
Lastly, a major complaints is that Battlefield Portal was meant to provide complete rewards, even against bots, but that got canned when they attempted to eliminate XP farming from the mode. Thus Casual Breakthrough feels like the community meeting them halfway, according to forum feedback. Another describes this mode as the devs "dropping the ball significantly, I had great enjoyment in the first couple of days, why did they feel the need to adjust it?"
Future Prospects: Adjustments Occur?
Should the development team has demonstrated something so far with Battlefield 6, it is that they're listening and acting on player input. Tasks that were overly hard got fixed very quickly, as did the required Redsec challenges. It is likely that, if their data shows this new playlist is underperforming to their expectations, they will not hesitate to change it again.