The Latest Casual Playlist Ignites Heated Debates Over Bots, Experience Points, and Queue Times

Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios launched a new playlist called Relaxed Breakthrough. To put it simply, this mode resembles the standard Breakthrough format but features a few key changes:

  • Each team has only 8 human participants, with the remaining filled by 32 bots.
  • Activities performed by real players award complete experience points, while bot actions offer reduced XP.
  • Just a pair of maps can be played: Cairo Siege and Empire State.
  • Elements like Player tags, achievements, and stat tracking have been turned off.

So essentially, the playlist lives up to its name: it offers a casual take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, since it gives more options for players looking for alternative methods to enjoy the game. However, gaming history have taught us anything, it is that not everyone will be happy. Which is to say, many BF6 fans are mad.

Community Responses: Anger to Praise

"People want human opponents. Don't repeat the errors of your competitors," states a response to the mode reveal. "Truly disappointing concept," comments a different user. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user notes, "It's unclear where we are headed with this game," while another lists all the issues they consider to be problematic in Battlefield 6: "Resolve glitches, fix drone glitch, correct rocket mechanics, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We don't need this AI-heavy playlist."

On the other hand, for every complaint, there are players sharing how much they're liking the recent addition. "It's very fun to practice, real players prevent it from being a complete grind but it's very relaxed," reads a forum post. "This subreddit fails to see that there are gamers who have lives and don't play this title all the time. Allow them to find a middle ground," adds another. One reply via social media explains that as they're "a battledad with limited time, this is great for me," while another applauds the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Constructive Concerns and Community Input

Despite the support, players have constructive reasons to complain about the new mode. A few folks have highlighted that it will make queue times more extended for other modes due to the large amount of options currently available. Similarly, certain regions already encounter AI-filled matches in the existing playlists. Additionally, it appears a little backwards that the mode won't start without a minimum number of human gamers, despite it primarily centers on fighting AI opponents.

Lastly, one of the biggest complaints is that a previous feature was meant to offer complete rewards, including AI matches, but that got canned when they tried to eliminate XP farming from the mode. Thus this new playlist feels like the player base meeting them halfway, as per a Reddit comment. A different user describes this addition as the devs "dropping the ball so hard, I had great enjoyment in the first couple of days, what prompted them to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Adjustments Occur?

Should Battlefield Studios has demonstrated something to date with the latest installment, it is that they're listening and acting on player input. Tasks that were overly hard were adjusted rapidly, just like the required Redsec challenges. It is likely that, if their data indicates this recent mode isn't performing to their standards, they will not hesitate to make further modifications.

Ashley Peters
Ashley Peters

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos, specializing in slot machine mechanics and player strategies.