A List of Whys, after 4 months
Battlefield 6 was released four months ago. You learned from the mistakes made during the development of BF2042. You took the community's feedback seriously in many areas and delivered a decent game at launch. Many players encountered problems at launch and trusted that they would be fixed soon. Some were fixed. Now, four months later, I have a few questions about issues that have not been fixed in any way.
(in no particular order)
Why is it after 4 month:
- … that the problem keeps cropping up where the mouse pointer disappears in the spawn/map menu and you can only select the spawn point using the arrow keys on the keyboard? And why is selecting spawn points still so difficult, fidgety and error-prone (especially with moving spawns such as helicopters and spawns that are very close together)? Why is there an auto spawn mechanic, wenn the selected player, you clicked to spawn on dies? Often you find yourself spawning somewhere far away where you didn't want to spawn. In older Battlefield games, the UI/UX for this was much better, and it's really no rocket science to design something like this properly in an AAA title.
- … that the TOW (stationary and tank-mounted) is far too easy to control, meaning that helicopters in particular lose their usefulness on the battlefield because they can be shot down far too easily? Combat helicopters, which traditionally play an important role in Battlefield gameplay, are virtually useless and largely harmless in BF6 because they are shot down within a very short time und without any required skill. Hardly anyone plays Stinger because everyone knows that helicopters will be shot down easily with TOWs. What used to be a special, rare moment when you shot down a helicopter with a TOW has become a standard situation in the game.
- … that there is only one map so far (Operation Firestorm) that allows for an immersive large scale battle with an excellent balance between infantry and vehicle/aircraft combat? Why is this one map a (albeit good) copy of a map already known from the Battlefield series and no unique, new BF6 map with these qualities? (Mirak Valley and Liberation Peak are too small. Apart from the boring, flat run-off areas at Mirak Valley, these are acceptable maps that also offer variety, but ultimately they remain small maps and it is still weird that these maps have jets.)
- … that another map that promises large-scale battles (Golmud Railway) is going to be another remake rather than a unique BF6 map? I haven't played BF1, but perhaps the same question applies to Contaminated (coming in Season 2).
- … that many players rightly criticize the maps' run-off areas (for ground combat but also for aircraft) for being too narrow, without anything being done about it?
- … that there is still no natively integrated test arena that allows new players to learn how vehicles and aircrafts behave and how to control them? Why, after four months, do we still have to put up with these tests having to take place in ranked games? Yes, you can use test arenas from Portal, but how many new players know this or go to the trouble of doing so?
- … that anti-aircraft defenses at the bases are still so weak that spawn camping aircraft and helicopters is super easy. In previous Battlefield games, the enemy base was off-limits for attacks for good reason, so that the enemy team could take off and attack in the first place. The automatic anti-aircraft defenses are still a joke, and it would be so easy to fix it.
- … that there are still weapon skins that look like you bought the weapon from a jeweler who is a big Valorant fan? What is the idea behind gold appliqués on models of military weapons?
- … that it is still possible to block the spawn of vehicles, especially helicopters/airplanes, by having players stand on the spawn Point of the vehicle?
- … that shots hit the ground even though you are aiming just above the edge of the ground? (This usually happens when you are lying behind an elevation in the Terrain or a stone as a sniper and aiming over the edge from there. There is no way to predict when a shot will hit the ground or when it will reach its target, unless you aim unnecessarily high over the edge behind which you are hiding.
- … that hits land in the deployable cover even though you are shooting at the enemy behind the cover, aiming slightly above the Edge of the cover?
- … that it still often happens that, despite very good ping on your own side and on the opponents side, you get hit when you run around a corner and are already behind cover?
- … that incendiary grenades thrown from a prone position over a cover (for example, a rock behind which you are hiding) do not reach their target but land directly in front of you, burning yourself. The problem arose with some early update after the release, and as far as I know, it still exists.
- … that the advantages of non-silenced attachments are still so minor that no one really accepts the disadvantage of appearing on the map when shooting. Everyone who has unlocked a silencer uses it on almost every weapon. This is Battlefield, not Splinter Cell or Hitman.
- … that the jets' onboard cannons are still too powerful, even though they have already been nerfed?
- … that the view you get after being killed still doesn't work reliably, and the indicator for the opponent who killed you is repeatedly outside the displayed image section.
- … that helicopters are still not repaired at helicopter landing pads, which means that the repair station at the airfield has to be used, leading to frequent collisions with jets and thus making no sense at all?
Don't get me wrong. BF6 is a really decent game, but it's issues like these that separate a decent game from an outstanding one. Players' patience is wearing thin when it comes to these and similar essential issues. Most of these are well known since the release of BF6.
New weapons, new skins, or any limited-time game modes won't help anyone as long as there are essential problems that aren't being fixed.
To other players: Feel free to add further long known issues that I didn't mention (I do not mean short term bugs)