Battlefield 2042

[Malania]

Are you insinuating BF1 doesn't look good?

Frontlines and breakthrough were both excellent additions. I really like the fortification system added in V too.

No, I meant that BF1 was the only BF game that broke away from the mold that BF games has become in it's numbered sequels.

It played exactly like them in terms of being a modern shooter and not trench warfare, but the change of setting was refreshing.

[Edge-]

https://www.ea.com/en-gb/games/battl...update-notes-3

New patch dropped with weekly missions, they grant XP and if you do all 3 you get some exclusive cosmetic thingy.

Bunch of Portal updates and additions.

Supposedly a lot of UI improvements in-game, including returning markers for things like folks with low ammo and giving better indicators of who needs revives/who can revive.

Bunch of map changes.

Full notes in the link, it's a pretty long list and it's too early for me to go through.

[Easo]

Battlefield 2042 has fallen to somewhere in the 20ties regarding player stats on Steam. That's... not really great considering how recent the release was for a purely MP game.

[Edge-]

Battlefield 2042 has fallen to somewhere in the 20ties regarding player stats on Steam. That's... not really great considering how recent the release was for a purely MP game.

I'm not counting EGS, but I imagine that, like myself, a lot of us picked it up through Origin so that's splitting playerbase numbers up quite a bit.

[Ausr]

Wonder if the new Bot combat behavior/map improvement has anything to do with one spot on Kaleidoscope for farming attachments where you can sit relatively safe and just farm. I'd recommend farming your favorite weapons just in case.

[EyelessCrow]

The ghost drone is already a drain on team resources by having 10+ ghosts just laying on their bellies, now they will move faster and hack vehicles further away...great. People hadn't realized how strong that hack is, have fun being near permalocked out of weapons and countermeasures in vehicles. Sure that one tank is stopped by the swarm, meanwhile the enemy is just walking over us. I say this as a full on hypocrite since I've t1'd ghost lol.

I don't understand the point about them being easier to see "we have added lights" they already have red and green lights. It's shooting them that's the problem. Even at close range they have like a pixel hitbox.

Some QOL changes for sure but this update feels pretty stupid to me, doesn't really adress core issues to the game. I guess no fixes until after the first of the year.

[Easo]

I'm not counting EGS, but I imagine that, like myself, a lot of us picked it up through Origin so that's splitting playerbase numbers up quite a bit.

Steam is still the king of game stores and the place to go looking for game stats (not counting exclusives, of course). But yes, everything should be counted together.
Still, imho, way too love for a game of this caliber/franchise.

[Edge-]

Oh man, we getting a fuckin santa skin for the holidays.

It seems they're embracing the more cartoony elements of BF. I swear, this is both a game that's pretty peak Battlefield but also the least Battlefield game they've made.

[Dadwen]

Vince Zampella, the head of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment, is now in charge of the Battlefield franchise.
https://www.engadget.com/ea-battlefi...180315432.html

The COD the original Infinity Ward did were the best IMO so maybe this might be a good thing (I've played most of the original ones, have not played this (2042) yet but the reviews have been so so.

[Edge-]

Vince Zampella, the head of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment, is now in charge of the Battlefield franchise.
https://www.engadget.com/ea-battlefi...180315432.html

The COD the original Infinity Ward did were the best IMO so maybe this might be a good thing (I've played most of the original ones, have not played this (2042) yet but the reviews have been so so.

So they've got him running Respawn (Apex + whatever else they're working on) and now the BF franchise? That's...silly, though I'm not sure how much control he did/didn't have over the current BF since he was previously only in charge of DICE LA.

I have a lot of confidence in him, titles under his leadership have largely been bangers no matter where he is. Doubt he'll have any immediate impact on the game/franchise, but hopefully he can course correct 2042 a bit in the coming year. It's just a bit...tonally off, especially seeing santa in the game, kek.

- - - Updated - - -

And apparently the patch broke horizontal mouse movement on PC, with a few supposed workarounds that don't seem to be totally consistent. Man, what a shitshow.

I really hope things improve under Vince. I'll repeat that I still enjoy the game (hopefully the patch fixed the issue where my SVK would reset attachments each time I played, which was SUPER annoying), but it's definitely inconsistent and uneven as hell and tonally all over the place.

Like the tornadoes and stuff. Occasionally they're cool and I dig the chaos they can wreak but so far my experience with them has been...extremely underwhelming. They're not very dynamic and they just kinda move through and then leave.

Some of the maps need some serious changes though. The high buildings are cool and all, but they're an absolute nightmare to fight around. Trying to assault them feels unfairly punishing. Combined with a lot of maps having HUGE open field areas with little cover that you sometimes have to hoof it across and pray that you won't get casually mowed down in. Not to mention the lack of actual destructability, you can blow off walls but whole buildings remain standing and you can still find cover in corners and whatnot.

I love the 128 players in a lot of ways, it generally feels like a big battle and as chaotic as it should be. But I also get the complaints around how "meaningless" it often makes individual players, where wiping a full squad has minimal impact compared to if it was just 64 players in a map. I feel like that decision and the technical limitations around it are a big cause of the related design issues. Kinda wish they either abandoned last-gen if that's the limiting factor, because if it's engine limitations that's another problem or simply a design decision that has played out extremely poorly and had a lot of unintended consequences.

Edit: Apparently 64 player modes are coming, I think in the later December patch. Curious to see how the maps feel with half the current players in them.

[Zenfoldor]

I don't really like Battlefield, follow Battlefield, like the genre at all, ect. So starting from that point, my understanding is they are putting in Vince Zampella to run Battlefield and resetting the franchise(in essence) because this entry has been exceptionally disappointing, correct?

If so, Battlefield must mean more to EA than their other franchises, and they went into panic mode when it flopped? Just a guess. I'm asking.

I'd rather he be working on stuff I like to play, but I gotta say gratz to Battlefield fans. EA are running heavy triage on the IP, so I bet it gets a lot better now. It must be their bread and butter.

[Edge-]

I don't really like Battlefield, follow Battlefield, like the genre at all, ect. So starting from that point, my understanding is they are putting in Vince Zampella to run Battlefield and resetting the franchise(in essence) because this entry has been exceptionally disappointing, correct?

If so, Battlefield must mean more to EA than their other franchises, and they went into panic mode when it flopped? Just a guess. I'm asking.

I'd rather he be working on stuff I like to play, but I gotta say gratz to Battlefield fans. EA are running heavy triage on the IP, so I bet it gets a lot better now. It must be their bread and butter.

Not quite.

Vince is now in charge of the franchise, but it sounds like they want to build a "connected universe" around 2042 somehow. DICE working on the core game, Ripple on "new experiences", and another studio on "Narrative" that's run by a former Halo dev.

I honestly don't know how much of this plays into the poor reception of 2042, the previous lead for 2042 departed recently for another job (I believe) so he needed a replacement anyways. Seems like EA are taking the same approach that Ubi announced earlier for AC - with a connected universe of games tied to a central "experience".

BF has always meant an immense amount to EA, it's a core franchise for them in the same way that CoD is a core franchise for Activision or AC is for Ubi. Not to mention DICE essentially being their tech-focused studio that developed, maintains, and expands the Frostbyte engine they use across just about every game (though is not mandatory).

He's still running Respawn though, so Apex and whatever else they're working on right now are under his leadership. I worry about him doing both roles, since they're functionally both full time jobs that one person is doing. Though Vince has a spectacular history so I trust he'll do good work, I just worry about him not sleeping and shit.

We'll see how the improvements are though. So far it's been a bit of a mixed bag, just like the game at launch. I don't think they can ever fully "redeem" the game, too many of the issues are fairly structural or would require them to literally remake maps from scratch, and they're still playing catch-up in adding systems and features that have long existed in the BF games but were not included in 2042.

I imagine it's not doing super well for EA given that they haven't put out any announcements bragging about sales, but we don't know how good/bad it did so can't say how much is "damage control" vs. just normal post-launch operations. We'll find out more on their next earnings call, at least.

[Ausr]

By the way, the grinding spot still works and you earn full xp now. I may have gained 128k xp grinding the GVT-45-70, which I don't recommend unless you like reloading it. A lot.

[Edge-]

By the way, the grinding spot still works and you earn full xp now. I may have gained 128k xp grinding the GVT-45-70, which I don't recommend unless you like reloading it. A lot.

Wait, you can get weapon progression/XP from farming bots? >.>

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/BattlefieldComm/...wl78hvYPw&s=19

Thread on the skins.

TLDR: This isn't actually planned for this year apparently, it's data for next year. They just are making a lot of assets early so they're ready to go since the art team needs to stay busy. It's also likely for Portal only.

Just weapon skins coming for now.

[willtron]

Not quite.

Vince is now in charge of the franchise, but it sounds like they want to build a "connected universe" around 2042 somehow. DICE working on the core game, Ripple on "new experiences", and another studio on "Narrative" that's run by a former Halo dev.

Bascially, they're gonna milk the fuck out of it and dilute the entire franchise. I don't see any of this as good news, the cynic in me is trying to work out why and how this is bad.

I honestly don't know how much of this plays into the poor reception of 2042, the previous lead for 2042 departed recently for another job (I believe) so he needed a replacement anyways. Seems like EA are taking the same approach that Ubi announced earlier for AC - with a connected universe of games tied to a central "experience".

None of it does, if you think this is them reacting to the poor reception you're sorely mistaken. This kind of stuff is planend months in advance, especially senior people stepping down. This is just PR timing to make it look like they're reacting.

BF has never been about narrative or experience, so the fact they're saying this has me even more worried - they're totally out of touch with the core of the game.

BF has always meant an immense amount to EA, it's a core franchise for them in the same way that CoD is a core franchise for Activision or AC is for Ubi. Not to mention DICE essentially being their tech-focused studio that developed, maintains, and expands the Frostbyte engine they use across just about every game (though is not mandatory).

It has in terms in $$$ and share price, nothing else. They don't care about the game, DICE Sweden don't even care about it, they haven't put out a working game in years without some other studio having to step up to fix it... looking at you BF4.

Frostbite is notoriously buggy and shit to work with. There are bugs in the game that were present in BF3. Even DICE can't fix their own crappy engine and it took them months just to make a shitty tornado that doesn't actually do anything.

He's still running Respawn though, so Apex and whatever else they're working on right now are under his leadership. I worry about him doing both roles, since they're functionally both full time jobs that one person is doing. Though Vince has a spectacular history so I trust he'll do good work, I just worry about him not sleeping and shit.

Apex isn't my thing so I won't shit on it as I don't know much, but just remember this is the same studio that let Titanfall die for this, because it was so much more profitable. TF2 was a fantastic game that suffered from middle child syndrome when it was released.

We'll see how the improvements are though. So far it's been a bit of a mixed bag, just like the game at launch. I don't think they can ever fully "redeem" the game, too many of the issues are fairly structural or would require them to literally remake maps from scratch, and they're still playing catch-up in adding systems and features that have long existed in the BF games but were not included in 2042.

What's needed to redeem it is actually very simple, it's just not easy.

a) make specialists class specific and bring the class system back.
b) make maps smaller and more detailed with actual flow and cover, and actually play tested.

then a myriad of small things like remove the god awful voice lines, the long match intros, re-enable full xp on portal with bots (after they promised that would be a thing, lol at people who believed them after all their lies on BFV)

I imagine it's not doing super well for EA given that they haven't put out any announcements bragging about sales, but we don't know how good/bad it did so can't say how much is "damage control" vs. just normal post-launch operations. We'll find out more on their next earnings call, at least.

Stock is down from 145 on Nov 12 (early access) to 122 rn, that tells you all you need to know.

[Ausr]

Wait, you can get weapon progression/XP from farming bots? >.>

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/BattlefieldComm/...wl78hvYPw&s=19

Thread on the skins.

TLDR: This isn't actually planned for this year apparently, it's data for next year. They just are making a lot of assets early so they're ready to go since the art team needs to stay busy. It's also likely for Portal only.

Just weapon skins coming for now.

Use Angel for the ammo refill, pick your weapon, enjoy grinding.

So when you enter the building, do it from the southwest side and use those elevators, use smoke grenades (have them prepped to throw before the door opens) because there will be 20-25 AI almost right on top of you, run immediately to the left and drown a ledge. Go to the spot in the video and have fun shooting. I would recommend lying down as opposed to standing up since the AI can shoot you standing up, but the camera will be a little janky since you're on different levels of the ground. I would also recommend not dropping the enemy numbers below 10 (you'll always see 1-# since you're in the flag capture area since your team will come up and kill some). Matches can take between 20-30 minutes.

XP was capped and for some reason, they must've removed the cap and I've gotten a couple levels doing 3 weapons. You will reach Mastery 12-14 for said weapon with about 450-550 kills.

[Edge-]

Bascially, they're gonna milk the fuck out of it and dilute the entire franchise. I don't see any of this as good news, the cynic in me is trying to work out why and how this is bad.

Maybe but not really? Building "connected universe" games is all the rage now, just like Ubi is doing with AC. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that, and if it leads to say, the "core" 2042 experience (once it's good) being the hub, and them being able to release stand-alone campaigns or other multiplayer modes etc. that all connect to the core game, that's not bad.

And with Vince in charge of the franchise now, I'm far more optimistic. Vice is a real G.

None of it does, if you think this is them reacting to the poor reception you're sorely mistaken. This kind of stuff is planend months in advance, especially senior people stepping down. This is just PR timing to make it look like they're reacting.

Agreed with the former, disagree with the last bit. It's not "PR timing" since there's no way this was planned to be announced now or anything. It's just coincidental timing. This ain't even really "good PR".

BF has never been about narrative or experience, so the fact they're saying this has me even more worried - they're totally out of touch with the core of the game.

At its core, no. But it has a long history of having campaigns, which are noticeably missing from this version of the game, which also depressingly has a smaller multiplayer offering than other BF games that had the campaigns.

I actually really liked the BF1/V campaigns, and if they can have a separate team working on good narrative experiences for the near-future dystopia I'm here for it. There's a lot of really cool/interesting/fun stuff they can do with that without impacting the core MP experience.

It has in terms in $$$ and share price, nothing else. They don't care about the game, DICE Sweden don't even care about it, they haven't put out a working game in years without some other studio having to step up to fix it... looking at you BF4.

Yeah...the value of any IP is why it's valuable. They have no inherent value on their own, only their ability to be a revenue-generating property.

Frostbite is notoriously buggy and shit to work with. There are bugs in the game that were present in BF3. Even DICE can't fix their own crappy engine and it took them months just to make a shitty tornado that doesn't actually do anything.

It's got good and bad things about it, no engine is perfect. But it still seems like a largely solid engine, outside of maybe garbage dev tools (though most of that IIRC comes from BioWare, who struggled with the engine). That it's used across Madden, NFS, and all kinds of other games is actually pretty impressive and versatile.

Apex isn't my thing so I won't shit on it as I don't know much, but just remember this is the same studio that let Titanfall die for this, because it was so much more profitable. TF2 was a fantastic game that suffered from middle child syndrome when it was released.

You say this as if Respawn...

A) Wants to make another TF game right now (they may not)
B) Has 100% control over every game they make and what budgets are (they don't, no studio under a publisher does, see EA rejecting DICE's Battlefront 3 pitch)
C) Could control EA sending TF2 out to die sandwiched between BF 1 and CoD...whatever it was that year.

EA took it out back and shanked it with the release timing, I agree. But I don't put that on Vince, I put that on EA.

a) make specialists class specific and bring the class system back.

Hard disagree on this. I know it's a big departure, but honestly I think moving away from the class system and adding a ton more flexibility for players is a step forward for the franchise. There's definitely some balancing that needs to be done around it, but I love being able to keep my medic loadout but dynamically change between AA/ground rockets depending on what's going on at a given moment, for example.

b) make maps smaller and more detailed with actual flow and cover, and actually play tested.

Agree, though I imagine that the "detail" isn't possible given the 128 players eating up a lot of hardware budget. Apparently the 64 player maps in Rush are pretty popular right now, so maybe that's a route they go down...if they decide to make it permanent (which it bloody should be).

then a myriad of small things like remove the god awful voice lines, the long match intros, re-enable full xp on portal with bots (after they promised that would be a thing, lol at people who believed them after all their lies on BFV)

Voice lines are garbage, agreed.
Match intros seem more like hidden loading screens than anything else, though if they can shorten it, please.
They did that...and then apparently disabled it a few hours later as folks again quickly figured out how to exploit the shit outta it.

Stock is down from 145 on Nov 12 (early access) to 122 rn, that tells you all you need to know.

Yeah, it's been bouncing around quite a bit throughout the year, though this is the lowest dip (and it's going back up). They were in the mid-120's for much of March and some of April, bounced back up, went back down again in September, went back up. I don't see it continuing to dip right now unless something new and significantly bad happens.

Edit: Watching the Angry Joe review for giggles, not taking it remotely seriously (though I agree with him on a lot in the video so far).

https://youtu.be/ihsRc27QVco?t=2690

WARNING LOUD AND AWFUL AUDIO

Holy shit I forgot how bad the soundtrack is. I turned it off because it straight up sounds like my computer was breaking. I genuinely don't get how such an awful collection of cacophonous sounds was assembled, listened to, and approved for release. This is quite possibly the worst soundtrack I've ever heard in my life, and it kills me how awful it is when you compare it to the average/good soundtracks in previous games, especially BF1/V.

I guess there's a video of the audio team working on it and...yeah, it's exactly what you think. Them bashing a lot of random shit and running violin bows on large pieces of pipe to make deeply unpleasant noises.

Edit 2: Welp, guess they couldn't be bothered to shit out a second patch on PC (since there's no console cert process to go through) to fix the aiming issue, and I can't be bothered to try the handful of workarounds.

I have a very love/hate relationship with this game, right now it's leaning a lot more towards hate with this kind of bullshit : |

[Tenjen]

Angry Joe's critique video of battlefield 2042 is an hour and a half long without any filler? Damn thats going to be a tear down.

[Edge-]

Angry Joe's critique video of battlefield 2042 is an hour and a half long without any filler? Damn thats going to be a tear down.

I'm about an hour into it and they're just getting to portal. First like, 45 minutes is them talking about the main game, next 15 is a brief trip to hellfire or whatever the "not BR" mode is, and they're just starting on portal now.

A lot of it covers issues that have been addressed (like not being able to res players if their pinky toe was colliding with any geometry and the pre-nerf hovercraft and the endless "persistence data could not be found"). He's still a bit over the top, but that's kinda his schtick, and surprisingly I don't think he's even that over the top about 2042 from what I've heard.

I was going to listen to the rest while I played a round or two, but I guess that's not happening until they fix whatever the hell bug they introduced that fucked PC's/mouse users.

[Easo]

So Edge about that player count - it is down by 70% since the launch. EA stocks - 18%
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/83110...nch/index.html

Yeah, they really need changes and we can see some big ones are being done, at least organisation wise.