The Latest Casual Playlist Sparks Intense Debates Regarding Bots, Experience Points, and Queue Times

Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios launched a new playlist called Relaxed Breakthrough. In essence, this option mirrors the standard Breakthrough format but features several notable changes:

  • Each team includes only eight human participants, with the rest made up of AI-controlled opponents.
  • Actions done by human gamers award complete experience points, while AI activities offer lower rewards.
  • Only two maps are available: Siege of Cairo and Empire State map.
  • Features like Player tags, accolades, and stat tracking have been turned off.

So essentially, the playlist lives up to its name: it offers a casual version of Breakthrough. On the surface, one could assume it's a good idea, as it provides additional choices for players seeking alternative ways to have fun with the game. But, if video games has shown one thing, it's that not everyone will be happy. Which is to say, a lot of BF6 players are upset.

Community Reactions: From Fury to Praise

"People want real players. Avoid making the errors of your competitors," states one reply to the mode reveal. "Absolutely shocking concept," comments a different user. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, a player notes, "I have no idea where we are headed with this title," and someone else lists everything they consider to be problematic in Battlefield 6: "Resolve glitches, fix drone glitch, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, improve hit detection. We don't need this bot mode."

However, for every complaint, there are players sharing how much they're liking the recent addition. "It's very fun to warm up, human participants keep it from being a complete grind but it's quite laid-back," reads one Reddit comment. "This subreddit doesn't understand that there are gamers who have lives and don't play this game all the time. Allow them to find a middle ground," states a different comment. A response on Twitter clarifies that as they're "a battledad with limited time, this is great for me," and another praises the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Constructive Criticisms and Community Input

All that said, players have constructive reasons to criticize Casual Breakthrough. Some users have highlighted that it could increase wait times more extended for other modes because of the sheer number of playlists currently available. Similarly, some areas often face AI-filled matches in the current modes. Additionally, it appears a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a minimum number of real players, even though it primarily centers on combat against bots.

Finally, a major complaints is that a previous feature was meant to offer full XP, even against bots, but that got canned when they tried to remove bot farms from the mode. Thus this new playlist feels like the community compromising in the middle, as per a Reddit comment. A different user labels this mode as the developers "making a mistake so hard, I had so much fun in the initial release, why did they feel the need to change it?"

Future Prospects: Will Changes Be Made?

If the development team has demonstrated something so far with the latest installment, it is that they're paying attention and acting on feedback. Assignments that were overly hard were adjusted rapidly, just like the specific battle pass objectives. Chances are that, should analytics shows this new playlist is underperforming to their standards, they will not hesitate to change it again.

Joel Benson
Joel Benson

A certified personal trainer and wellness coach with over a decade of experience in helping individuals achieve their fitness goals.