Which maps presently provide a poor opening experience because of the location of the Base Spawn?
Hourglass and Breakaway. The really annoying part is seeing vehicle drivers pull away from the main group of infantry in an almost empty vehicle, without stopping to pick anyone up. It would be cool if there was a way to allow players to spawn into vehicles regardless of squad in the beginning seconds of a match. Also it would be fantastic if there were more trucks/atv available at spawn for people who don't make it into a vehicle.
Which maps are making it harder to get back into the fight in an all cap scenario?
In a spawn-trap scenario, the main problem is that it feels more rewarding to try and get kills than to spend the time circling around the back of the fight to cap a back objective. There's just too many players on the map at once to imagine successfully capping a point at the back of the map. It used to be do-able when maybe 3 or 4 players would show up as soon as you start capping, but now 10 players show up and that's too much.
How do you feel about the current balance between Infantry and Vehicles in Breakthrough?
I think one of the main problems is the vehicle call-in category system. It needs to be reworks so that one team can't have many multiple boltes (technically a "transport" vehicle). There needs to be better definition of what is a "transport" vehicle, and vehicles in that category need to have much more limited anti-infantry capability while also being more plentiful. The current selection of "transport" vehicles and their weapons make them feel more like they're purpose-specific for infantry farming, rather than transporting multiple infantry players around the map. This reduces the incentive for drivers to pick up multiple infantry players as they drive, which further feeds back into infantry having difficulty traversing the map (no one will pick me up I have to run from A to B instead!)
Have you played 64 player Breakthrough, and do you feel that this is the better way to experience the mode?
64 player is much better. I think 128 is do-able but needs to be reworked to prevent players bunching up. I think one idea for 128 player breakthrough would be to take away air-dropping vehicles completely, and instead make side objectives that would, say, open a gate or lower a roadblock, allowing tanks to roll into a certain area of the map that they couldn't access. BF5 had some objectives at airfields that allowed a team a better selection of planes. Creating useful but non-essential goals at different parts of the map would help diffuse players and vehicles into these side areas, instead of having everyone bunch up.
On which maps and Flags do you see the most immediate need for more line of sight blockers?
Kaleidoscope C. (Maybe create an underground parking structure or an elevated train station?! Expand that tunnel area in the middle) Hourglass A1. Breakaway C and D. Manifest is the only one that doesn't need more sight-blockers near objectives.
Do you have specific areas on maps that currently stand out to you as lacking cover?
Im using the Conquest 128 maps for objective names. Kaleidoscope C, Renewal between A, B and the center. Renewal between D and E. Breakaway between B and everything. Hourglass between B and I think D. Orbital between E and D. Any area where an elevator lets out on the top floor. (Orbital B is fun because of how there are a few stories of building at the top to play through and so many ways to access the helipad.)
Do you have thoughts on how we can better define traveling paths between objectives to keep combat focused?
I think the main objective should be to limit large, open areas. Adding buildings, like an elevated train station at Kaleidoscope C or a parking structure. Make buildings less boxy and more integrated with the map. For instance the sewer entrance at the D objective on Renewal is a great choice. Manifest is another good example of how it's possible to get to the top of the cranes and glide across the map. It's always nice to make cost-benefit choices of possible running into an LMG camper in the sewer entrance, or being exposed to snipers on the cranes. It would also be great if ATVs and pickup trucks were more plentiful across all maps. Hangar 21 from BF4 was a great map where although it was extremely open, it was easy to find a snowmobile.
Propaganda from BF4 was a great map in how it integrated tanks and infantry together. Infantry on the sides of the map would be mostly safe from tanks, but there was a large center area where tanks can fight and as an infantry player it's always a risk running through there. But the point is, it's a long area, not a wide area and infantry can run across the narrow area and be exposed for maybe 15 seconds.
It's okay to have infantry exposed to vehicles but it needs to be in bite-sized intervals of 10 or 15 seconds running cover-to-cover, not a minute and a half through a field. Things like covered walkways would help too.
Do you see improvement opportunities to make it easier to understand how to get from one objective to the next?
Again, the problem isn't understanding how to get from A to B, it's having to do that cost-benefit analysis of it being worth it to traverse the space.
DICE Team
