Support NeoGAF

[Starfield]

or is it too far gone.

Releasing a broken and unfinished Battlefield game is something we know since Battlefield 3 atleast, however this time around its not even the bugs and performance problems that is making this new installment a chore to play. This time the very fundamentals of the game itself are completely broken. From the game forcing you to play as so called "specialists" with the abundance of normal classes to boring map design, "hero shooter" vibes where people who play good don't get appreciated bc "everyone's a winner"....its just a mess.

Can DICE really fix this game this time around?

My own opinion is that its really too far gone this time, they will never make changes to their hero shooter styled gameplay imo.

What do you think?

 

[SLB1904]

Nope

 

[SatansReverence]

My money is on EA pulling another anthem

 

[funkygunther]

the stripping of almost anything that encourages squad play is going to hurt it for sure

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

No. The next installment is already doomed. The franchise is dead, deal with it.

 

[tusharngf]

I think we have entered into an era where if you mess up the launch of the game you cant be redeemed. Remember PUBG was hotshot on PC and sold over 50 million copies. But they lost it when the bugs were never fixed plus constant cheaters from china. The game has lost its launch mojo now. They are going free to play now in order to keep it alive. Same goes for cyberpunk even if they fix it, still many people are never going to buy it again.

 

[Aion002]

They probably can... But they also probably aren't allowed to.

EA just sucks.

 

[Shmunter]

They have nothing to lose to keep patching and evolving it. Indeed, I’m sure that was the plan all along; game is quintessential service model - only thing missing is the f2p part.

 

[Codiox]

nope

 

[winjer]

Probably not.

 

[prinz_valium]

No

 

[Luipadre]

Yes, it already got a lot better since launch

 

[LeftThumbstick]

The game itself could be fixed, but it’s popularity and what fans think of it? Probably not.

The initial launch is the most critical point of a games lifespan, if it doesn’t come out the gate with high praise then it will be seen as mediocre and not much will give it any meaningful boost.

Most devs don’t seem to understand this however and think they can just release in any state and patch it later. That’s all well and good that you can patch it, but what they can’t patch is their fans. Word of mouth is powerful in this industry and it can make or break a game dev / console manufacturer.

 

[Fake]

No. There is no singleplayer this time to backup.

 

[Quixz]

Free weekends will save the game!

 

[MetalSlug]

I tried the free trial yesterday and the graphics seemed worse than Battlefield 3 released 10 years ago. Also, most importantly it just didn't seem fun. I ended up uninstalling it shortly after.

I'm glad I never pre-ordered or bought it shortly after launch. I was sort of yo-yoing on the fence about buying.

 

[GladiusFrog]

No, and unfortunately I think this is the end of the road for the series.

The last true DICE Battlefield was Battlefield 1, What we have here is just a shell of what once was.

Now all we can do is hope some new dev team creates a product to fill the void and capture the quality, atmosphere and gameplay that DICE use to masterfully deliver.

EA is its own worst enemy. And I am absolutely bitter about how they handled DICE and other incredibly talented studios.

 

[SJRB]

This game was doomed from the start, with its terrible development history and catastrophic design decisions mandated by a clueless management from a studio where talent and veteran alike have bailed out on making it a mere shell of its former self, riding on the credentials of a development team long gone.

 

[RafterXL]

Nope.

There's literally nothing in BF2042 that is superior to the last game. You can get away with unfinished releases when there is a core worth polishing but that's not the case here. Like if EA could erase peoples memories and release BFV all over again tomorrow people would, rightfully, think it's the 2021 game and BF2042 was the 2018 game, because on top of backwards gameplay, grouping, communication, etc. the game also looks significantly worse.

That hype trailer for 2042 might be the most egregious bait and switch in modern gaming. What we got vs what we expected is some Fyre Festival type shit.

 

[Concern]

This was their best effort making a game without sp. Meaning they only had to focus on mp and look at what we got.

They probably get it right after about 6 months of patches but don't expect heroes to disappear.

 

[Guilhermegrg]

Nope. Dead in the water. I will give it until March/April for them to announce it going f2p or just dropping all or most related development for good à lá Anthem.

 

[ParaSeoul]

Battlefield is still a pretty big name,people forget how big a deal those can be. Just look at Fallout 76.

 

[Yamisan]

Only if they do mass refunds like Cyberpunk =\

 

[Saber]

I think in terms of gameplay, in theory it could be fixed. But that would require maturity to acknowledge dumb ideas and putrit mechanics.

But overall, nothing saves it because the game went beyond broken and failed promisses.

 

[MightySquirrel]

Obviously. But specialists was a horrendous idea. It really helps vets dominate even more. Give it 6 or so months and once the bugs are squashed player count will multiply.

 

[Sybrix]

The fact it has a free weekend less that a month after release speaks volumes about how bad a state this game is in

 

[Haggard]

The technical issues are mostly fixed already. Way faster than this has happened for any other BF before I might add.

The game is tons of fun with friends but due to the design choice with specialists teamplay with randoms has become absolutely nonexistent.... Which incidentally makes a single organized squad downright broken op btw.
The maps though.... Definitely the worst in the series.
If they add some better maps, overhaul the squad system and bring the scoreboard back this could still become not only a very good game but a very good battlefield game.
Portal also has amazing potential beyond what it already does

 

[NinjaBoiX]

The fact it has a free weekend less that a month after release speaks volumes about how bad a state this game is in

“Please be excited.”

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I guess there are two questions here

1. Can the game be saved?

Yes, any game can be saved but this will require reworking of major design decisions such as specialists. It will also require significant changes to map design since they are mostly bad and there’s just too much downtime for a Battlefield game in my opinion.

2. Will it be saved?

Im not sure to be honest. EA don’t have a good track record outside of Battlefront 2 when it comes to reworking a game and making it good. However, with completely new management EA might shift some budget towards it. DICE may well just double down on the bad design choices and try to make them better.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I’ve been pretty vocal about how much I dislike the game but deep down I’m rooting for it to get better. I honestly want a good BF game but I’m not overly confident that this will be it.

 

[GreatnessRD]

Game can definitely be saved...

From further embarrassment

By putting a bullet in its dome and cutting their losses. Also, Fuck EA.

 

[Hestar69]

Yes..It's happened with the last few BF games aswell...They fuck it up at launch and in a few months the game gets better and more enjoyable.I have fun playing with friends,but man there is so much wrong with the game atm.

 

[Paasei]

Nobody liked specialists and uninteresting characters that seemingly enjoy their time shooting enemies in a fiction of WW3. What a fucking cartoon.

 

[Putonahappyface]

With each passing week my optimism dwindles that bf2042 can be turned around. With the many features that the Battlefield community has grown to love and expect with each release now removed, I would be surprised if there are many populated server's by next summer.

 

[Javthusiast]

Can't even give us a proper score board.

 

[Urban]

Nope . It flopped because it can’t hold any players.

i think the time of full price MP only games are over

Edit: Just look a the viewercount on Twitch. Its currently on 2792 Viewers. Even the Streamers ditched the game

 

[Thedtrain]

I don’t know. I play a few nights a week with 2 of my buddies and we hit the “this isn’t really fun” wall this past week. Ready to move on.

 

[Revolutionary]

Probably not. It's broken on a fundamental level, and would require a complete redesign. 128 players sounded like an awesome upgrade on paper but it's proven to be a mistake for Battlefield, because the map design has suffered greatly for it. They're the worst maps I've ever seen in a BF game by a longshot.

 

[Black_Stride]

If Battlefield 1 could be saved.
I believe this game can be saved.

By the time the game gets its first major content drop and/or hits EA Play it needs to be near completely sorted.
That influx of players will stick with it if when they jump in at that time the game is actually worth while.

As is right now a couple serverside patches arent going to be doing much.


Im so disappointed in DICE, I was really looking forward to Battlefield 2042, the product they gave us just isnt up to snuff.

 

[McHuj]

Yes..It's happened with the last few BF games aswell...They fuck it up at launch and in a few months the game gets better and more enjoyable.I have fun playing with friends,but man there is so much wrong with the game atm.

not really, the other games were broken because of bugs, underneath were good games.

with bf2042, you have technical bugs and a poorly designed game. If they fix the bugs you’re still going to be stuck with a boring game that has some absolutely terrible design decisions that no one wanted

EA could fix this if they wanted to be pretty much Dice would have to spend another year on it.

They’re first content update will tell us a lot.

 

[GC_DALBEN]

I hope they fix it, but im bored, im back to bf4.

 

[Marvel]

It's dead Jim

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

When BF works its quite fun it just doesn't work enough times for me

 

[Flutta]

Saved as in people will still play it then yes. Will it gain back all the players it lost after they fix their broken product prob not.

 

[Amiga]

Actually love this game. It's a different BF for sure. even though I'm bad at twitch shooting I can still help change momentum in a 120 player match using tactical tools and timely decision making. a pair of good squads can be decisive, acting like a vanguard. If enough of the other players follow their lead it leads to winning.

What this game needs is better communication tools. I play cross platform and it's much better than PS only. PC players are constantly using text communication.

 

[Decontamination Silo]

You have to go out of your way to fuck up a BF game and they poured all their effort into just that. It gets said by everyone but I guess still bears repeating: just make new maps and basic QOL features to BC2. Leveloution has nothing on simple destructible environments. The simple joy of noob tubing a sniper hole for example. The feeling when you unlock the AN-94. The biggest for me as controller player on PC was the ability to contribute to your team as an engineer or medic with non kill scoring. Many times I could make it to top 5 on my team without even getting 10 kills. Just tactfully placed ammo, med kits and repairs etc.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Honestly, with titles we've seen in the past that failed or were failing, and came back. I think it shows us that they could come back. But WILL they? I don't think the game is nearly as bad as the majority does, but it does need help. Only time will tell.

 

[BLAUcopter]

Actually love this game. It's a different BF for sure. even though I'm bad at twitch shooting I can still help change momentum in a 120 player match using tactical tools and timely decision making. a pair of good squads can be decisive, acting like a vanguard. If enough of the other players follow their lead it leads to winning.

What this game needs is better communication tools. I play cross platform and it's much better than PS only. PC players are constantly using text communication.

You can use text comms. Just press start and pull the right trigger.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

More unlocks.
More modes.
More maps.

Game will be fine.

 

[nightmare-slain]

it might improve but only a small number of players will stick around. it's the same shite all the time with Battlefield. releases in a shit state then gets updates that make it what it should've been at launch but by then nobody cares and EA are ready to stick the next game down your throat.

 

[Ebidramon]

No.

This is even worse than CP2077.