Many of you already know that the first week of Battlefield 4 has been rough. There has been a lot of different issues from lagging to client crashes. BF4 has been released for 1 week and 1 day as of this writing, November 6th, 2013.
Most of the issues have been:
- Server crashes
- Client crashes
- Rubber banding
- Net-Code/Lag issues
- Loss of unlocked items
As you can see, it is a number of problems and these are not all the little bugs, just the main ones that seem to be affecting everyone. There are also little bugs throughout the game. One bug I think is really strange is that a silenced QBU-88 will, in fact, disable all audio for everyone in a server. The only fix at this time is to exit and re-enter that server. That is a pretty big bug for sure and I have to say, one of the strangest.
Hopefully some of you that know me by now, or this blog, and may be thinking, “Yeah, we know all this, but what is the catch with you writing this Crunch?” and you would be correct that I have a more sinister agenda at hand here. Well, maybe not sinister nor an agenda, but that sounds good!
I follow a number of people on twitter and visit a number of Battlefield communities as well as do some lurking (reading forums without having a presence there) and have seen post after post about how terrible BF4 is and how it is an utter failure and how DICE has failed. Battlefield is ruined and that this is the worst launch of ANY game ever in the history of games. This is coming not just from the average Joe, but fans of the series with very large followers and YouTube channels as well.
You also know how I do respect the opinions of others and everyone is entitled to them….. that is until the opinions are taken as fact. THIS is where this blog comes in. I understand peoples frustrations and even I have experienced all the issues that I listed above. The problem is that all this talk is being blown a bit out of proportion and I am going to go over what I have seen and the actual truth behind it.
It is TRUE that the list above is occurring and that the first week of release has been rough and frustrating for many, including myself. In fact, so much so, that I am going to reset my stats in a week or two to see how I am really playing as everything I am doing now is tainted by these issues. There is no denying that the first days of Battlefield 4 have been “bumpy” to put it kindly.
With that said, I am going to go over a few statements that I see over and over again and show how they are incorrect. Some may think I am a “fanboy” that is just trying to defend my game. You can think what you will, but I encourage you to look these over and decide if I am really being biased or putting a more realistic approach to the problem.
Here we go:
The beta was better than the release.
So having only one map and limited everything is better than the full game with the issues at hand? Again, a statement of frustration that the beta played better than the final released game. The problem with comparing the beta with the final release is;
1. The beta was a few revisions back from the current game files and we were not playing the close to release game. Yeah that sucks, but that is how it is. There were a lot of code changes and updates that we never truly got to test.
2. The beta was semi-controlled. It wasn’t anyone throughout the entire world connecting. It was specific servers with specific code in specific regions with specific settings with specific game modes and rules being tested. DICE mentioned many times it was a stress test on existing infrastructure. It is as close to “real world” as it was going to get, but the final product was still in a controlled environment at DICE HQ. Like it or not, right or wrong, that is how it is.
3. Because of code changing while the beta was going on, it could not be “real world” tested. So because of this, bugs would go unchecked. New bugs and issues were added to the game without very thorough testing. These problems were going to happen.
4. The beta was not everything. Not everything was tested.
I have done a lot of beta testing over the years and I can tell you that is how it has been for Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, and even the 2142 Northern Strike expansion pack. I was there for all of them as a beta tester and the same issues occurred and more things were discovered after testing.
DICE is not listening to us or doing anything about all these problems.
This statement is the most false statement I have seen. This is simply a knee-jerk statement to lash out at something out of anger for the issues going on.
As of this writing there has been a day one patch, two Battlelog updates, and seven server updates. DICE is currently working on an eighth server patch and another client patch is being done and is releasing very soon. Each patch has fixed a number of issues and stabilizes the game a bit more each time. All that in 1 week 1 day of release. D-Day plus 8.
Does that sound like nothing is being done? Sure, it is not being fixed fast enough. I get that. The thing is that no one is being ignored and the game is huge and fixing issues is not something that is done with a simple line fix. Problems take time to isolate, find the cause, find the code, fix the code, test the code, release the fix. I’m not a programmer and even I get that it takes time.
Not to mention all the tweets and posts about updates being done to fix the issues. We, as a consumer, are in the loop of the issues. We just have to look and see that DICE is communicating with us.
This is the worst Battlefield ever!
I can tell you, and some of you may remember, that 2142 had a LOT of problems on release. We are talking server crashes, glitches, map issues, parachute problems, and tons of lag. Titan mode was so laggy that DICE actually told server renters to disable titan movement until it gets fixed. It took about a month or so to work out all the issues and a little longer to make Titan mode functional again. That was, and still is, the worst Battlefield Day 1 experience I ever had. It was also my most favorite Battlefield game.
Battlefield 3 had a lot of issues with “disconnected with the server because something went wrong.” For months hundreds of posts were brought up about this issue and many could not get in. I was the 1% (sarcasm) that had no problems with connecting and playing.
Bad Company 2 suffered a lot of lag problems with servers. Here is a video of one of my experiences: BC2 Lag Video
The only Battlefield game I did not have an issue with was 1942 and that was because I came to the series late. By then there were several patches and some DLC and, for me, the game ran very well.
Battlefield 4 is completely un-playable.
Really? Completely? I have had no issues joining servers and playing rounds. No problems with my clan-mates joining with me and playing. I shoot. I kill. I die. I capture. I drive/fly/swim. I play the game. Yes, there are server crashes. Yes, there are lag/netcode problems. Yes there are client crashes. For me and the 12 to 15 people I play with, that is not every time and entirely consistent. The game is NOT completely un-playable. It’s frustrating and can be very tiring at times. Not every server is crashing and not everything is getting reset every time. This is a statement of frustration and I totally understand it, but all the servers and people on Battlelog at this moment (you can check for yourself) tell me that the game is being played. Now I know that may not be what people mean when this statement is said, but as I said, these opinions are not fact.
Now it is a fact if you cannot access the game or the game is constantly crashing, like during the first weeks of Battlefield 3. There were all types of connection lost issues as well as Battlelog crashes that many had. The above statement is only true if you CANNOT access the game to play. You can either play it or you cannot. So maybe for some it is, but for most using this statement they are referring to all the issues in the list above and their frustration.
The game can be frustrating and perhaps for some unstable. There are too many people playing and doing a lot of other things to say it is completely un-playable.
Battlefield 4 was rushed out the door!
Yes, that is true. Deadlines were made and ironed out, like any business, and Battlefield 4 was rushed out the door. You have to keep moving forward. Billions of dollars are at stake in this very tight and competitive gaming industry.
People say how games should not be released until they work, but we all know that if that was the case we would have no games to play.
CoD:Ghosts is better!
I’m just going to put this and this here and move on. If you like CoD and want to play it then you should.
Final Thoughts
So I think by now you all got the point. Yeah, Battlefield 4 has a lot of issues. It was rushed out and there are now patches and fixes and all this happening to get the game going better. It is just like the last six or seven mainstream games I have purchased in the last several years. It is the nature of the beast. We don’t have to like it, but there are better ways to accomplish getting the games fixed than just jumping on the bashing bandwagon. No, we shouldn’t have to keep beta testing after release and need all these patches, but there are only three things we can do about it; wait a few weeks to a month for the game after release, post information about what is wrong and how to get it fixed, or complain and say “whoa is me!”. All require patience
If it really was this bad as many say, they should have exercised their Origin Guarantee, but most have not. The deadline has past and most, if not everyone, still have the game. Why? Because they know things will get ironed out. It wont be perfect, but it will be a lot better and it is not as worse as many think it is now.
With that said, YouTuber Luetin made a very nice video summing up a lot of this as well:
https://youtu.be/jE8Gzco97Xk?list=UU8RfCCzWsMgNspTI-GTFenQ
So it is not the end of the world and there just has to be patience on all this. No EA shouldn’t have rushed it. You have a right to be mad and gripe and complain, but soon it just falls on deaf ears and if you are just complaining and not providing real feedback, your just white noise.
Oh, and I will say it now; Battlefront 3 / Battlefield 5 / Bad Company 3 is going to have a lot of bugs and issues on release.
Crunch Time 