[2020] Fall Update Patch Notes Discussion

Original Post — Direct link

https://forums.battlefield.com/en-us/discussion/205136/battlefield-v-fall-update/

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by kidmenot

There are a few things that are unclear, I would love it if either u/PartWelsh or /u/braddock512 could clarify:

will the Community Games stay up for some time even when the server empties? Or will they keep being shut down as soon as the last player leaves? From the patch notes it sounds like the latter is true, but I would like to have a confirmation. In my opinion they should be shut down only after at least 24 or 48 hours without any round being played, otherwise we will always be dependent on the server owner to be there and start the server.

is there the possibility to give admin powers to a user other than the one who created the server? This would be useful.

it seems like we can't manually move players, is that the case? If it is, too bad, because that would help with A) the lack of a balancer and B) to put a stop to pub stomping.

apparently some sort of team balancer was close to being ready, it just needed a few kinks ironed out. Is that coming at some point? I can't find any mention of it in the patch notes, please don't tell me this game is going to die without even an attempt at it. As of late I have to hop servers 5 or 6 times in a row in order to find a somewhat balanced match where one side isn't getting absolutely steamrolled.

When the servers empty - the server shuts down. You can save your config and stand it back up next time you play. We won't feature empty servers in Battlefield V, we'll only feature populated ones.
Not a feature for Community Games - agreed it would be useful, but we asked ourselves what best suits the design we have for the feature. As is the case with the above, we largely anticipate the servers to be active whilst the admin is present.
Correct, Manual Move isn't a feature.
We're still exploring it. We won't feature it in the Update notes if it's not going to be a change when the update goes live. When the status of this changes, I'll let folks know for sure. Still an area we're keen to develop improvements for.

Thanks for the questions.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by MartianGeneral

That's an insanely good list of Community Games features! While this might just be nothing more than a goodbye gift for BFV, please let this be a day 1 feature for BF2021 instead of again going over a year of commotion and petitions to bring this feature back. Community servers are the heart of Battlefield and the boost in longevity and server variety is definitely worth the effort.

I'm looking forward to WITP Breakthrough matches with air vehicles disabled!

EDIT - In this update, will we have the option to downscale the modes so that stuff like CQ/Rush/BT/FL, etc are playable together on 32p servers?

On your question -

No. It would require redesigning all of our maps on a Map level vs. a System Level. That's a really big undertaking when you factor in the number of maps and potential mode combinations, and we've got our eyes on the future right now.

Pleased to hear that the rest of the features sound great to you otherwise - looking forward to hearing more from you when you've gotten hands on with it!

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by Exyyp

Can we also play Grind?

No. Grind Maps won't feature in the rotations for Community Games. Grind Maps are built differently to other Modes and so we couldn't separate them from Conquest Mode without rebuilding them entirely.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

You'll see them in game tomorrow.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by Benno14c

I still have a question about the community games update, it'd be great to get an answer from u/PartWelsh or u/braddock512 if possible.

A couple months ago, there have been questions regarding changing the ingame-weather in the update. Since there could still be small things or changes not mentioned in the update notes, I'd like to ask whether or not having a game run different weather options all game is a possibility with the new update?

We did look into it, but we have that flag set as an option operating at a much higher level than just Community Games. We couldn't separate it out down to the individual Server level without reworking that entire code base.

It won't feature in a future update, I have good confidence in noting that today - just wanted you to know that we didn't take it off the table without good cause.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by JimmysGolfCart

Will War in the Pacific be featured permanently, or will it rotate out at a later date?

Expectation is that it's staying. It's not solely in for a Weekly Mission.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by faddn

u/PartWelsh

What about the cheaters you promised to do something about? I've reported many range cheaters with video evidence, stats evidence... But nothing happens. They play for 6 months and someone even longer. I reported one back in March, but he is still playing... I've even talked to some of these cheaters and they admit to cheating, the reason is apparently that everyone does it (not really, they claim good players including myself is cheating, so that is why they do it). All work you do against cheaters today, will benefit the next game as well, why not start someplace? Give some in the community some trust? Give some trusted people higher priority?

I can only continue to share the same answer to yourself, and for others to see. Please report the users profile via Origin. Our in game flow will allow you to navigate to the profile through the steps listed in the article below, assuming that you have the Origin In Game Overlay enabled.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/report-players-for-cheating-abuse-and-harassment/

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

There are more Cosmetics being released in the Armory, and The Company as part of this update.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

I don't have any images to post, but you'll again see more of these in The Company tomorrow, and with subsequent Armory updates over the coming weeks.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by FirstRanger18

Did he say tha?

Elsewhere I have stated that.

To confirm, its not a feature.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by qlimaxmito

/u/PartWelsh

Fixed a bug where German tanks were not available during pre-round when playing Conquest on Provence.

Does this mean we'll finally be able to use vehicles in pre-round?

Changed the Quickplay options to restore ‘War in the Pacific’ back into the Matchmaking Pools. We have removed 'Rush, Frontlines, and Domination' from the Quickplay options.

Why remove the "Rush, Frontlines and Domination" playlist? I suspect to know the reason but I'd like an official comment on the matter.

It wasn't being utilised.

The expansion of Community Games allows for better discovery via Server Name and Descriptions and so it encouraged us to yield the space back to a Quickmatch option that we know would be used.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by therealown

Will we be able to create community servers based on gamemodes like airborne and final stand? Thank you u/partwelsh

We haven't expanded the existing selection of Modes that you'll be able to choose from.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by AuroraSpectre

Hey, I'm just happy they managed to unf**k the draw distance on American planes. Now, at least, I'll have the chance to see that Night Fighter before being sent to kingdom come by an unending barrage of rockets. Thanks, /u/PartWelsh!

A frustrating issue that we're pleased to see resolved.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by qlimaxmito

It wasn't being utilised.

Please quantify "being utilised", because on PC I'm seeing 200-300 concurrent players on that playlist at peak time, while—for example—Outpost only gets half as many players, yet it's staying.

to yield the space back to a Quickmatch option

Currently there are 7 playlists available in the game: Strategic Conquest, Tactical Conquest, Outpost, Breakthrough, "Rush, Frontlines & Domination", Team Deathmatch and Grand Operations.

"Rush, Frontlines & Domination" is being replaced by War in the Pacific, remove 1, add 1, that's still 7. One would think this means the limit is 7, yet last year there was a period where we had 8 concurrent playlists. For example in May 2019 we had Breakthrough, Conquest, Domination, Frontlines, Grand Operations, Squad Conquest, Tank Battles and Team Deathmatch running simultaneously, that's 8 in total.

Please help me understand because the math doesn't add up for me.

Less people use that Quickmatch Option of Rush, Frontlines & Domination (or play on those servers via the Server Browser) than play Firestorm. This playlist was the absolute least utilised compared to any other Quickmatch option in the game, by a long shot.

I can't, and won't discuss player counts, or specific numbers - that's not my place. I will volunteer that your numbers don't align to ours.

I can say that I sat down with the teams when they were making the decision and reviewed it fully expecting that it going away would be a disappointment to someone, somewhere.

We conducted the fairest possible review we could and determined that the best thing to do for all players would be to change the offerings, and encourage folks to otherwise make use of Community Games to play the modes.

Each of the 3 modes sharing one single playlist created a common behaviour where servers were more likely to empty out as folks jumped out of the rotation as the playlist progressed from mode to mode. We know that there are folks who enjoy playing each of the modes, but Quickmatch did not prove to be a viable option to sustaining all 3 concurrently in spite of that.

War in the Pacific offers up a better option in terms of player experience for more players, so our decision was to proceed with that.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by DJ_Rhoomba

u/PartWelsh

I'm going to be unrelated here, and ask:

As a Star Trek fan, how do you like ST: Discovery, and is it worth getting a subscription service to watch it? I'm dying for some Sci-Fi this month.

Winner of Off Topic Question of the Week.

I adore Discovery. I've been a Trek fan my whole life and I recognise how much it's divided folks who have grown up with Trek but I love it.

I think it's Production Values are second to none in Sci-Fi TV (I rate it above Mando) and I've really enjoyed the cast and the stories that they've told so far.

I understand why some folks don't enjoy it. It's unashamedly a modern TV Series, with less Monster of the Week action, and more depth to characters (vs. past behaviours where the characters were used as devices to play out a parable). Many have said to me that they struggle to connect with the shows lead character - you're used to the lead being the Captain, and the authority, whereas Burnham isn't placed in that role, so your primary lens into the world is different.

In terms of is it worth it? That's always relative to you and your needs. I personally advocate for switching your Entertainment Subscriptions off when you don't intend to use them.

When Mandolorian finishes, subscribe to disney+ for a month and then cancel it - binge the whole lot. If you've never watched Discovery, there's 3 seasons on Netflix (EU), with the 4th still airing. When you're ready, sub, binge, turn it off - no use paying for services if you don't have the funds or the time. At ten quid or so for a month, I think its an absolute steal to sub for 30 days and smash out Discovery. Great show.

over 3 years ago - /u/PartWelsh - Direct link

Originally posted by qlimaxmito

Thank you for the answer.

What about the upper limit of Quickmatch options available at any given time, can you comment on that? I've dug up some old screenshots of the Advanced Search menu to double-check and they do in fact show official servers running 8 different playlists at the time.

I can't add any new information to it. I'll volunteer that it's evidently not a technical limitation. It's a conscious design choice on our part that we're confident is correct and proper for the game.

over 3 years ago - /u/Braddock512 - Direct link

Originally posted by copetherope8

u/braddock512 u/partwelsh what are we doing about this 2 year old trial player bug? I haven't gotten to play a single match yet you know, and EA support hasn't fixed anything

What is the case number for when you contacted EA Help?

over 3 years ago - /u/Braddock512 - Direct link