I don't think that without offline support for the bots the game will actually be playable at launch.
No company sizes their servers for peak user numbers, and the hype for the game is huge.
Without offline support I strongly believe a lot of people that purchase the game will be locked out and completely unable to play the game for days to weeks (depending on how long the initial wave of players lasts).
I can't recall the last time the launch of an "always online" title went smoothly.
I for one will not be purchasing it until offline support for the bots is confirmed. I was actually thinking of pre-ordering, the only thing holding me back was that I lacked confirmation of offline support. Good thing I waited, I don't like refunding games.
@Strelok_1284You make some great points. As much as fans point to BF4 as the last great BF title and are playing it again, BF4 launched with completely broken servers. No one could access the game, and it was months before I could play without rubber banding.
Honestly, my concern over the general poor state of online play is growing. Hackers and terrible ping times are plaguing all online games. Even Planetside 2 is having issues with hackers basically replacing bases in game with piles of scrap. Most of the hacking is going on in PC of course, but the server quality across the board has been terrible this year, especially EA's games.
I think if this title was in development longer, we would have an offline bot mode.
The idea that gamers only cared about playing online was a media hype myth from the start. All the evidence of the past few years shows completely opposite, including in EA's own titles like Jedi Fallen Order and Battlefront 2. Even Blizzard recognized it and is putting a story campaign plus PvE modes into Overwatch 2.
It's hard to believe DICE would just ignore all that evidence this time around.
@ArchAngeL-PCX It was a huge letdown for me to find out the we don't have true offline bots.
Initially when they announced bots I was really hyped, we've been asking for so long and they finally return in BF2042. I was honestly expecting the same approach as in Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront 2 both being 100% playable offline with bots. Battlefront 2 got a lot of hate because of loot boxes but having bots that are fully playable offline was so good. I'm not that into Star Wars but it was fun for a limited time. My hope was that the bots would soon be featured in Battlefield.
I was sure they would port them to Battlefield V and I was again disappointed.
Maybe they'll listen and introduce offline support for BF2042.. but I'm not hoping for much at this point. ☹️
If they do add offline support I'll be sure to buy the game, if not then definitely no. Like I've said, I've been burned too many times already.
