Developer DICE still has some damage control to do, especially given that they are still trying to sweep up Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s mess. Understandably, this has caused bred and air of skepticism surrounding the upcoming Battlefield 5. In a recent Reddit AMA, Producer for Engagement & Core Gameplay at DICE Ryan McArthur addressed of the concerns from changes they’ve made to small details about live service for the game called Tides of War.
In the AMA, McArthur answered some questions regarding the recent Battlefield 5 Closed Alpha. Class kit switching, the new fortification system, and Tides of War were brought up by a few different users as potential problematic points. When prompted about the removal of kit switching (the ability to pick up new kits during battle), McArthur explained the change while opening it up to future tweaking.
“With the focus BFV is placing on building your own soldiers, weapons, vehicles with the Company and customizing how the play and look, we found it better to let players keep the play styles they have built,” he said. “Since your soldiers are more than kits in BFV we want players to be able to keep the progression choices they have made.”
Players also expressed concerns over the new fortification system that allows players to build helpful objects on the battlefield. Redditor MEOW_MAM expressed concern over players just building for experience points while user DigTw0Grav3s stated that the community didn’t see much value in the system as a whole. McArthur defended its inclusion while saying that players will naturally build more to help their team and, “PTFO,” (Play the F***ing Objective).
“I think with anything new players will have a learning curve to find out where these features fit into their play,” he said. “With the fortifications I think these are one of the most powerful new features in the BFV and once our players start to use them more they will see how these can change the game.”
Tides of War, Battlefield 5‘s ever-changing live service, was also briefly mentioned. McArthur said the team will share their roadmap soon and he “understand the community’s cautious optimism here and are working to share this soon.” According to him, players will be “very happy” with the service.
“We are not going to stop making the great content the players have loved, but we are going to deliver it in a different way, while also evolving and changing game play, so you can constantly have different experiences and challenges,” he said. “It is the best thing I get to work [on].”
