Went back and played BF4; some of BF6's changes make the game a lot less fun
I recently played a few sessions of BF4 with friends after being disappointed with the state BF6 is in right now. I wanted to give some feedback highlighting the things that immediately jumped out to me as way more fun in the older game, because I think there's a lot to learn. BF6 obviously beats out 4 in visuals, destruction (minus levolution), drag to revive, squad revives, etc., but there are some major misses that I don't think need to be misses in BF6. In particular I think many changes in BF6 are done to solve an "issue" in prior titles, but end up creating an overall more frustrating experience. Please see below:
- Spawning in BF4 is EASY!! Spawning in BF6 feels like pulling teeth. I have to fight with the game literally every time I want to spawn on a squadmate in BF6, in BF4 I can do it relatively easily every time. I think the BF6 changes were made to eliminate "spawn on squadmate and die" scenarios, but that's something that happens maybe once or twice a match in BF4, and in exchange I have to fight with BF6 to spawn LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE TIME I DIE. That is not a good tradeoff. I am infinitely more frustrated by having to spam-click on a teammate who is "In Combat" in BF6 a dozen times a match than I am when I spawn on a teammate and die in BF4, especially because I could probably tell that was a risky spawn in the first place thanks to the spawn camera. Part of this is BF6 marking you as "In Combat" even if nobody is shooting at you (it counts if you're shooting/a claymore you placed goes off), and part of it is that the "In Combat" state doesn't disappear quick enough. This is issue number 1 for me. I was having so much more fun in BF4 because of this specifically. Also I have a list of names on the spawn screen I can click on instead of trying to hover over nameless triangles that vacuum my cursor to them constantly!
- Ohhhhh my god turning the MBT/IFV turret feels sooooooo good in BF4. It's so slow in BF6. I understand wanting to balance the tank in this way, but it isn't fun at all. Limit the turret speed, sure, but it's way too low right now, feels just unfun to use.
- Canister Shell is a real attachment in BF4? It's so fun. My favorite attachment for tanks in that game. Super satisfying
- Crossing open areas/longer range engagements are a lot less frustrating in older games because of increased spread forcing players to burst more. There really isn't any other way to say it, higher spread (which you can control) means players have to slow their firerate at longer ranges, which means TTD is longer at mid-long range. BF4's spread might be a bit too high on certain weapons, but BF6's feels too low. If BF6 is going to keep its current spread, harsher damage falloff across the board would make these ranges less frustrating. This will become MORE apparent as larger maps are added.
- CQB battles are night and day in BF4 compared to BF6. In BF4 I almost ALWAYS have the chance to at least fight back in a CQB engagement. I feel like my CQB gunfights are won or lost based on my accuracy and weapon choice, where in BF6 I feel like they're decided before one player has a chance to respond, due to hyper fast TTK and probably netcode issues as well.
- The repair tool not being broken overpowered means tank engagements in BF4 are decided based on positioning, cover utilization, angle modifiers, etc. and not just "who has more engineers?" Tank engagements in BF6 are boring and frustrating. They can last for minutes at a time at the beginning of the match because neither tank can damage the other because the repair tool is overpowered and stacks with multiple engineers dramatically. Later on, the "constantly immobilize tanks" engineer perk makes tank engagements similarly frustrating, as it literally removes the ability for a tank to win an engagement by outmaneuvering their opponent. In only half a dozen games in BF4 I already had tank battles where I won 2v1 due to tricky driving and good cover-utilization. In BF6, if either of those tanks had one (1) repairman, I would have lost 100% of the time and they'd be at full health. Or I would've been immobilized instantly and lost with nothing I can do. That sucks. To be clear, the Repair Tool in BF4 is still good, I let my friend stay alive through at least 1 or 2 situations he wouldn't have without it, but it wasn't an auto-win like it is in BF6. Please nerf the **bleep** out of the repair tool and the training perks regarding it and constant immobilization.
- This one I don't expect to ever change, but there's something to be said for a system where you can't hold E to wait for a revive. In BF6 I find myself constantly frustrated by medics that I KNOW are nearby who just aren't getting me. In BF4, the game doesn't tell me they're there, so I'm much less frustrated! This mechanic is necessary if you're going to allow people to wait for a revive, but it's also frustrating. Similarly I can't ruin the pacing of a match by laying on the ground for 30 seconds in BF4. When I die, I'm back in the action in ~10 seconds or less, every time. Hell, every single comment section or feedback channel I've seen in BF6 mentions frustration as a medic with people giving up right as you're about to revive them, that literally can't happen in BF4 unless they alt + F4. It also feels mentally stressful to have to accept my death every time I die in BF6, like there is a negative psychological reaction to me giving up when maybe someone could have gotten me, even if it's unlikely. Giving the player more agency is not always a good thing. This dramatically worsened my experience in BF6, and unfortunately I think the average player is probably not aware enough of the downsides to realize that it's making their experience more frustrating and stressful as well. I've seen tons of clips online of people raging, getting frustrated, and complaining about not getting revived after sitting on the ground for 30s. Allowing them to do this is NOT MAKING THEIR EXPERIENCE BETTER. Though this mechanic is probably a Pandora's Box situation, it's too late and people who don't understand their own psychology will push back at any removal. Maybe a reduction in the time people can lie on the ground would do wonders.
- Longer-range vehicle engagements are not super frustrating! If I get in the tank on E on Firestorm in BF6, I can consistently be hit by tons of RPGs from hundred of meters away, while moving. In BF4, the velocity is so much lower and drop is more pronounced that that exact same distance on the same map is less vulnerable to nonsense RPG shots from other flags. I know the RPG was tuned a bit recently, but keep in mind that it isn't just air vehicles that suffer from speedy RPGs/TOWs, it makes larger maps worse as well because it's hard to cross large distances at all and heightens frustration at dying from tiny dots you might not be able to see.
- People are spotted on the map more consistently after being spotted in BF4, this is a good thing! It is EASIER to spot people in BF4, in BF6 I'll be trying to spot someone, looking directly at them, and it won't work, constantly. When I spot someone in BF4, I know I can tell my buddy to look at the map and the enemy will be there. They also linger on the map a moment longer after firing, which is good, allows for more informed engagements for both parties.
- There aren't mines literally everywhere! Driving transport vehicles is a thing you can do! Mines are wayyyy too common in BF6, it's frustrating. Why would I ever get in a buggy on Iberian Offensive? The streets are narrow and every engineer can run mines with no downside. Make them hold fewer at least, please.
- Speaking of transport vehicles, the transport heli is like a real thing. It doesn't die to small arms fire! The miniguns can look forward and up and down! It's laughable in BF6.
- Laser Designation is still good on large maps in BF4, but not super obnoxious. I can constantly lase people leaving their base in BF6 and they'll be designated like the entire time they're flying. Something needs to give in BF6, lower range, longer lock-on time, shorter lingering duration, something.
- HMGs on vehicles aren't instant death in BF4. They 2-shot out to a ridiculous range in BF6, for some reason.
- The HUD tells me what weapon/item got the kill in bf4! This is something that sucks when watching someone else play, if they get a kill with a weapon I don't recognize, I have no idea what that weapon's called in BF6.
- I can see my "Ribbons" at the end of a match! This is something my friend mentioned, it's nice to be able to see all the "feats" you had in the match at the end of it. I did a round sniping in BF4, and it was cool to see all the headshot ribbons and be like yeah! I did do that!
- I can see the names of players in my vehicle in BF4! If I want them to do something or tell them nice shot, I can address them.
Thanks and I hope this feedback is useful, I focused on things that make the general gameplay of BF6 less fun, hopefully some of this is addressed so I can move on to BF6 more in the future.