Issues with BF6 That Need to Change to Make It Feel More Battlefield

I have a big interest in game design and have been thinking more about how to fix BF6’s problems. I won’t cover balancing, cheaters, netcode, or bugs/exploits, because those are more changable issues. What I want to focus on here are the core design decisions that affect gameplay and maps.

TL;DR

BF6 feels too fast, chaotic, and small despite the maps being similar to older ones. The main problems:

• Suppression is useless.
• Passive regen makes medic part of support irrelevant.
• Reloading is too fast.
• Autospotting is way too aggressive.
• Spawn timers are too short.
• Rush mode has poor defender advantage and too many lanes and too few people.
• Recon has no place in a squad.
• Maps have too many lanes and no consistent frontlines.

Fixes: Bring back meaningful suppression, slow passive regen, make reloads slightly longer, tone down autospotting, increase spawn timers, redesign Rush with defender advantages, give Recon better squad-focused tools, and simplify map lanes to allow for frontlines.

Gameplay

Gameplay feels too fast. Movement is actually slower than in BF3/BF4, yet the game still feels faster overall. I think this comes from both map design and gameplay systems, which in turn makes the maps feel smaller.

1. Suppression

Suppression is close to useless. There’s no need to use cover since you can always return fire. I don’t want BF6 to turn into a milsim, but there should be a negative effect to getting shot at — something that makes you relocate or take cover.

2. Passive Regen

Passive regen makes healing from support borderline irrelevant because you heal so much on your own. This should be heavily reduced to promote more squadplay and teamwork. It would also fix the issue of supports rarely using their bags, since people would actually need them.

3. Reloading

Reloading is just too fast. Current speeds don’t give you an opportunity to punish an enemy who is reloading, because it’s over almost instantly. There should be a little more time built into reloads so timing and awareness actually matter in gunfights.

4. Autospotting

Autospotting is far too aggressive. The best fix would be to limit auto-spotting to 25 meters (or even less) and only ping the last location you saw the enemy. That way, if someone runs through dust or smoke, they actually have a chance to escape or take cover. This would help reduce the “get one kill, then instantly die” feeling.

5. Spawn Timer

Currently, the spawn timer is around 6–10 seconds. That’s too short. It makes lives feel disposable and creates a spawn → kill → die → repeat loop. The timer should be longer so each life feels more valuable.

6. Rush Mode

Rush is supposed to be tactical with medium to large-scale battles. In BF6, it feels like a small, chaotic fight. Defenders don’t have much of an advantage because there are too many lanes for attackers to come from. Adding more players wouldn’t fix this — the lanes themselves need to be cut down and structured so defenders can actually hold positions.

7. Recon

With the spawn beacon being moved to Assault, Recon has almost no reason to stick with their squad. From what I’ve seen of the leaked BF LABS build, Recon’s gadgets aren’t very squad-oriented either. This needs to change so Recon has a real role within a squad, instead of just being the solo sniper guy.

I also think TUGS shouldn’t be Recon’s signature gadget — PLD might be a better fit. It’s more team-focused and works better with Recon’s two playstyles: infiltration and marksman. The risk is that it could make vehicles miserable if not balanced carefully, since it could deny them completely.

Maps

The maps feel small. Looking at their actual size, they shouldn’t feel any smaller than older maps, but they do.

I believe this comes from two things: fast gameplay (as mentioned above) and too many lanes. If you compare BF6 maps to older ones, you’ll see a clear difference. Older maps had simpler, more defined designs with fewer main routes. BF6 maps are overly complicated with tons of flanking opportunities.

This creates the feeling that there’s no consistent frontline, just endless circle-chasing in Conquest. It doesn’t feel like you’re fighting a war, it feels like you’re just running around trying to chase the enemies tail.