Battlefield 6's Casual Playlist Ignites Heated Discussions Regarding Bots, XP Rewards, and Wait Times
Recently, the game developers introduced a new playlist titled Relaxed Breakthrough. To put it simply, this option resembles the standard Breakthrough setup but features several notable changes:
- Every squad has only eight human participants, with the remaining made up of 32 bots.
- Activities performed by real players award complete experience points, while bot actions provide reduced XP.
- Just a pair of locations are available: Cairo Siege and Empire State map.
- Elements like Player tags, achievements, and career stat updates have been turned off.
In short, this mode delivers on its title: it's a casual take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, as it gives additional choices for gamers looking for alternative methods to enjoy the title. However, if video games have taught us anything, it's that you can't please everyone. Which is to say, a lot of Battlefield 6 fans are upset.
Player Reactions: From Fury to Support
"Gamers prefer human opponents. Avoid making the mistakes of your competitors," states one reply to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking idea," comments a different user. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user remarks, "I have no idea where we are headed with this game," and someone else details all the issues they consider to be problematic in the game: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We don't need this bot mode."
However, amid the criticism, there are players explaining how much they're liking the new mode. "It's very fun to warm up, human participants prevent it from being a total farmfest but it's quite laid-back," says a forum post. "This subreddit doesn't understand that there are players who have lives and can't play this game 24/7. Allow them to strike a balance," states another. A response via social media explains that as they're "a parent gamer with limited time, this is perfect for me," and someone else praises the mode for "avoiding intense competition."
Constructive Concerns and Player Input
All that said, there are valid points to criticize the new mode. Some users have pointed out that it could increase wait times more extended for other modes due to the large amount of playlists currently available. On a similar note, certain regions already encounter AI-filled matches in the existing playlists. Additionally, it appears somewhat counterintuitive that the mode does not begin without a required amount of real players, even though it primarily centers on fighting AI opponents.
Lastly, a major grievances is that Battlefield Portal was meant to provide complete rewards, including AI matches, but that got canned when they tried to eliminate bot farms from the system. So this new playlist seems like the community meeting them halfway, according to a Reddit comment. A different user labels this mode as the devs "dropping the ball significantly, I experienced great enjoyment in the initial release, what prompted them to change it?"
Looking Ahead: Adjustments Be Made?
If Battlefield Studios has proven anything so far with the latest installment, it is that they're listening and acting on player input. Assignments that were overly hard got fixed rapidly, just like the specific battle pass objectives. Chances are that, if their data shows this recent mode is underperforming to their standards, they won't be shy to change it again.