BF where to from here now that Activision COD games will be Gamepass

Question

As the title suggests...Wondering what the plan is for the Franchise now that theyve butchered its reputation whilst also in a sea of free competition titles like Fortnight and Warzone?Add in the back catalogue of Call of Dutys going up on GamePass.Add in that BF2042 has gone free to play on GamePass and PS Plus.BF2042 is clawing back numbers with Free Weekends and GamePass but its essentially valueless in the Season Pass stakes.It was delivered with only 6 maps of 128 player and alienated those they had in Portal by keeping experience/progression and weapons separate. They were 32 v 32 scale maps which competed with the 128 main focus.Its safe to say 128 hasnt worked. Its safe to say filling with bots hasnt worked. Its safe to say with shortages in console hardware due covid that it limited the amount of uptake and seperated xbox live BF communities playing different game versions.A new BF on new console generation has always been a highlight - this one has failed even though its ambitions were worthy.The change to Season Pass has been a huge failure even though the right move (moving away from Map pack DLC) as it gives everyone paying the season pass service access to all the content.&nbsp;It failed because there wasnt enough content to launch. It failed because it alienated its Portal. Neither the main or Portal have had the content to satisfy the customers or keep the dedicated engaged.&nbsp;Took 12 months to give a new season map &amp; unlocks. Then they reworked the 6 maps they had. Each season has had 1 map.&nbsp;Its not enough, too slow in delivering. As a result theres no value in paying for a new season at all. In fact most bf2042 players be thinking they deserve/better be free.And now the games value is zero. Its free.&nbsp;So where to? Im guessing theyll continue to support with another 1 or 2 maps over next 12 months&nbsp;But the reality is its dead. They arent going to resurrect any value or credibility as good as they polish it.&nbsp;So how do you resurrect the franchise moving forward?The only way is through bringing back your history in Seasonal Deliveries but the content has to be numerous each time.You need 15 maps at launch and around +10 with every paid seasonal pass growing the game.&nbsp;A greatest hits BF that appeals to all youve lost. Youve got the assets already. Need to drown the fans with content through the life of the game to create value. I dont see how else to recover the lost rep.&nbsp;To launch 6 maps is obscene and each season 1 map is a crime. Early on it was determined that bf2042 was dead as theres no way it takes this long for a sum total of 11 or 12 maps?&nbsp;It has to be a BF greatest hits...i cant see any other way back in

atfgunr · Answer

@TheSalt I agree with a lot of what you said, but I’ll challenge you on DLCs. I 100% think the DLC model is superior. If I’d known that Live Service would mean 1 map per season I’d have had to reconsider getting into it. I’ve played since 1942. The mod community then added a lot of content. The DLCs were consistent and reliable content. I was happy to pay $15 for 4-5 maps and new weapons. It was steady and reliable. I know what I was getting. I was shocked we got season 6 and nothing else is promised. They aren’t obligated to do anything else. Live service doesn’t make any promises. Yes DLC divides the players into haves and have nots, and guess what? I never had an issue finding a match in vanilla maps or DLC. Servers ran those maps. Clans supported those maps for both groups. Live service, no browsers, crappy servers etc all contributed to killing of clan play in 2042. EA did this to themselves. BF3 and 4 were huge as they gave us what we want, now it’s what they want and it’s underwhelming. So yes to DLCs imo.

ospazx · Answer

BF2042 has always been "free" with GamePass (Xbox) since it's release.

A greatest hits BF that appeals to all youve lost. Youve got the assets already.

This is a common assumption... "you have the maps already". Well, those old maps may not be in a format that is compatible with the development environment they used for 2042. I am not saying that are NOT compatible, but I'm saying there is a good chance they are not. To add those old maps, the entire map may need to be reconstructed.

Development environments are always moving forward. A game developed 4 years ago is probably using a different environment than a game developed today. And different developement environments means that older things may have been depreciated.

Today's programmers are not the same as my age programmers. I started with computers back in the last couple years of the 1970. I learnt down to Machine Code/Assembler level coding. I learnt all about hardware. Newer, younger, programmers are probably not learning down to how the computer actual works. So it may sound "simple to reformat the maps", but from what I've experienced, today's programmers are not the type to get down to that level. No, they use a map creator.

ospazx · Answer

@TheSaltAlso...Add in the back catalogue of Call of Dutys going up on GamePass.We don't know this will happen.&nbsp; Nothing I have read has said that MS will be bringing the back-catalog&nbsp;to GP.&nbsp; &nbsp;They don't even have their own franchises back catalog available in GP.&nbsp; &nbsp;Take Forza (+ Horizon) for example.&nbsp;&nbsp;

thesalt · Answer

@OSpazX&nbsp;wrote:BF2042 has always been "free" with GamePass (Xbox) since it's release.A greatest hits BF that appeals to all youve lost. Youve got the assets already.&nbsp;This is a common assumption... "you have the maps already".&nbsp; Well, those old maps may not be in a format that is compatible with the development environment they used for 2042.&nbsp; I am not saying that are NOT compatible, but I'm saying there is a good chance they are not.&nbsp; To add those old maps, the entire map may need to be reconstructed.Development environments are always moving forward.&nbsp; A game developed 4 years ago is probably using a different environment than a game developed today.&nbsp; And different developement environments means that older things may have been depreciated.&nbsp;Today's programmers are not the same as my age programmers.&nbsp; I started with computers back in the last couple years of the 1970. I learnt down to Machine Code/Assembler level coding. I learnt all about hardware.&nbsp; Newer, younger, programmers are probably not learning down to how the computer actual works.&nbsp; So it may sound "simple to reformat the maps", but from what I've experienced, today's programmers are not the type to get down to that level.&nbsp; No, they use a map creator.Yeah i understand they may need to be ported or rebuilt but its the "value" they hold that is everything.This BF was promoted as its longest, most expensive development effort 4+ yrs that drew on multiple DICE departments and even borrowed teams from other EA projects to deliver a completely new and exciting BF title that will be the bench mark of next gen hardware. It was flagged as BF3.5 in that it drew on BF3 and BF4 builds and sat somewhere in between.Portal at first look had a number of maps and a choice on whether you wanted BFBC2, BF3, BF2042 weapons and equipment, settings. I played the BF3 settings and it was very close feel to that game. The M16 felt near identical that i was super impressed with how much effort/care was put into this. The fact that they nerfed the M16 dmg, ttk and bullet spread when they brought it into the BF2042 assault list makes me question what went wrong? By wrong im not talking why they nerfed as obviously to balance within the current 2042 weapons, but what went wrong that they dropped Portal and any development they had planned there completely?Clearly they had bf2042 level, unlocks etc as its own experience. Portal had user servers so exp farms were a risk to the main BF2042 progression system.BF2042 was the focus, 64 v 64 player counts was the new standard and with it came new challenges. They tried sectors with multiple flags required to control the sector really didnt impact or benefit for controlling. They were spread a long way apart and so on demand Humvee and Hovercrafts drops were everywhere. I appreciate the scale of the assets they can build at this scale but the gameplay doesnt feel right. The maps were very open, there was lots of running to get caught out traversing and lots of imbalances at the flags. I appreciate they didnt want 35 enemies clumped up, that you couldnt move at all and so scale, width does a pretty good job of spreading the extra 32 players per side around the map. Yet it does have a reduced action feel when you compare to 32 v 32 maps flag proximity and shorter frontline engagements.&nbsp;These were issues that they moved quickly to rebalance ie patches, updates and eventually map reworks and increased point to point cover inclusions.&nbsp;Unfortunately for most after its problematic launch it was too late. The damage was done. The game got canned and became a punching bag whenever DICE made any promos, operator stories, patch notes or upcoming features on social media. The player counts were decimated.&nbsp;Where I struggle, and the reason behind my post is that the game is dead. I still think its the best shooter in the market but its hard to like and stay engaged.Why?&nbsp;Because they delivered this biggest most expensive BF with only 7 x 128 player maps. Thats asking for trouble. Only Orbital and Manifest Played ok/were enjoyable. The other 5 were too big with huge areas not played.&nbsp;There should be at least 15 maps minimal at launch to keep fans engaged for the first 12mths with the 2nd year delivering at least 10 more maps. Over a 2yr cycle (DICES previous development cycle) there should be 25 maps. First year boom, 2nd year boom. Thats a premium product. Not the $159 AUD I paid for 7 maps.2 years later they have delivered 2 x 128 player maps and 2 x 64 player maps as added content. Each knew season is 1 map. Thats not how Season work on a paid game. Free game like Fortnight or Apex sure but not a AAA title.They deserve the hate. Its lazy and arrogant.&nbsp;

thesalt · Answer

Continued...It doesnt matter how great the game is if you have the same 7 maps for 2yrs. Further it is at odds with their own boasts about longest dev time, most expensive BF ever implying they were going all out.Why would they invest so much building the framework to crunch out 128 player, 60fps, 4k resolution next gen Battlefield and only have 7 maps at launch with a planned delivery of continual Seasonal content that brings grand total of 9 after 2yrs.&nbsp;Surely they had 15 maps planned from the get go? Surely theyve been at this long enough that they know the 2nd year deliverables in new content is just as important to have planned out. Wheres the upgrade incentive to Premium or Season 2 pass? Thats what they should have to create and hold engagement.Considering the dev time and investment boasts and how they believed they were delivering an all out BF experience that was an all DICE hands on deck how did they settle for so little content as their best BF ever?They dont have great/alot of destructible environments, they took out water, theres no levelution, and the weather effects are poor. They were advertised as Natural Catastrophes Tornado, Rockslide, Volcanic explosion, yet weve only seen the Tornado &amp; Sandstorm. Compared to previous BFs the weather is very poor, doesnt last long, less atmospheric/dynamic. It seems Catastrophes have been canned completely. Thats not love. Its *.When you think of all the advantages BF was able to offer with the new Frostbite engine over the years Destructible Environments, Weather, Levelution, that no other franchise could handle that have been totally wiped out - how then can they say prior to launch this was their biggest all out, total DICE project theyve ever undertaken?&nbsp;

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BF where to from here now that Activision COD games will be Gamepass

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