[Serious Concerns/Issues] Matchmaking in Specific Regions (Too Many Bots)
I'm a Japanese player. I'm playing BF6 on PS5.
This has already been discussed in forums and elsewhere, but the following matchmaking issue is occurring in Japan.
*Please excuse any strange translations due to the Google translation.
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■1. The Issue
- When starting a match from the matchmaking (quick match) in the BF6 main menu, the majority of the participating player slots (around 50-80%) are filled with bots, resulting in a match with very few human players.
*On weekdays, the slots are only filled with human players during a very limited time, from around 9 PM to 12 AM.
*This issue appears to occur not only during cross-playoffs, but also on PC.
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■2. What is the Problem?
- Battlefield's "large-scale battles," with up to 64 human players, are a major attraction as a product and one of the reasons it's worth purchasing.
*This is a major attraction and motivation for purchase that other games lack.
- As mentioned in "1.", BF6's matching environment in Japan largely fails to realize the product's essential value: "large-scale battles with human players."
- As a result, players are unable to experience the original gameplay they expected from this franchise, and its essential value is diminished.
- Players purchased the game as a 64-player PvP game, not as a PvE game against bots. If they wanted a PvE game, they would purchase another game with a more optimal game design.
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■3. What Happens as a Result
- If they don't experience the original gameplay they expected, they will perceive it as pointless to spend time on the game, or find it boring, and many players will quit and abandon the game.
- The game will be perceived as having a low active user base, or as being in a state of sparse population. This will create a bad reputation.
- This vicious cycle is highly likely to lead to an early and more accelerated decline in active users. It is also highly likely that the number of new players will decrease.
*As a result of this vicious cycle, there may be fewer players even during the specific time periods mentioned in "1.", potentially leading to more matches filled with bots.
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■4. Speculation on why this matchmaking situation occurs
*As a premise, BF6 has sold tens of thousands of copies in Japan, even on PS5, so there are likely enough active users to fill the 64-player slots for multiple matches at this point.
- There may be a fundamental problem with the system design and structure of the home screen matchmaking (quick match).
∟ Multiple small-player matches are being created in a jumble, and it doesn't seem like the system is designed to encourage active users to participate in the same matches.
- There may be too many game modes, which is spreading players out.
- "Cross-on" is the default setting for consoles, and changing this setting to "on/off" further spreads console users out.
- Taking the above into consideration, I surmise that the system and overall structure fundamentally encourage player dispersion, resulting in matches with an excessive number of bots in certain regions. (This is purely my own speculation.)
*Some may argue that using the community (portal) server browser would solve the problem, but since the majority of players typically search for matches from the main menu, I believe the navigation system is lacking.
Also, the feasibility of players gathering on a community (portal) through self-help is uncertain, and I personally believe that a native navigation system designed for the game would be more reliable.
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■5. What do you want?
- Quite simply, we want to consistently provide a "large-scale battle with up to 64 human players" experience for Battlefield titles.
*We believe this is a shared desire not only in Japan, but also in other regions where the same issue is occurring.
*In Battlefield versions prior to BFV, these issues were never experienced or bothered in the first place.
*We hope that active players will gather in the same matches, even late at night, early in the morning, or during the day on weekdays, to create as large a battle situation as possible. (In this case, it's unavoidable that a small number of bots will be mixed in.)
*I'm not saying we want bots to be eliminated; my intention is to provide a "large-scale battle with up to 64 human players" gaming experience whenever possible.
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■6. Personal proposals (feasibility not considered)
- When using matchmaking (quick match) in the main menu, display a server browser with the official rules for that mode instead of starting matchmaking.
*In this case, even if the server browser function of the community (portal) is utilized and integrated, it will still be in place as a guide.
- Game modes with low participation rates will be removed from the main menu and integrated into game modes exclusive to the community (portal).
*I'm aware that this will be controversial, so I'd appreciate it if you could kindly overlook it if it bothers you.
- Set "cross-off" as the default setting for consoles, and enable cross-play between other consoles. (Add an option or system that prevents players from being matched with PC players.)
*While my desire to play only with console players is largely a personal preference, I believe there are many players worldwide who share this opinion.
- In any case, I believe that if there was a server browser with official matches like the one available before BFV, all of the matching issues I mentioned would be resolved and this would be the most desirable option.
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■Additional Note
I have been playing the Battlefield franchise since the second game, and it was one of my favorites.
However, I am very disappointed that the issues mentioned above have arisen in BF6, making it difficult to enjoy the intended gaming experience.
If the issues I mentioned are not resolved in some way and certain regions are forced to accept this situation, I personally believe that the Battlefield franchise will have become a product that does not provide the intended gaming experience and does not meet my needs. Therefore, I will probably stop purchasing the next game and beyond.
(As a consumer, it would be more worthwhile to spend my time and money on other products that provide the gaming experience I desire.)
