The Latest Relaxed Playlist Ignites Intense Discussions Over Bots, XP Rewards, and Wait Times
Recently, Battlefield Studios launched a new game mode called Relaxed Breakthrough. In essence, this mode resembles the standard Breakthrough setup but features a few notable adjustments:
- Each team has only eight real players, with the remaining made up of AI-controlled opponents.
- Actions performed by real players award full XP, while bot actions provide lower rewards.
- Just a pair of maps are available: Siege of Cairo and Empire State map.
- Features like Dogtags, accolades, and stat tracking are disabled.
In short, this mode delivers on its name: it's a laid-back take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, since it provides additional choices for players seeking different methods to enjoy the title. But, if video games has shown one thing, it is that not everyone will be happy. Which is to say, many Battlefield 6 players are mad.
Player Reactions: From Fury to Praise
"People want real players. Avoid making the mistakes of your competitors," reads one reply to the official announcement. "Truly disappointing concept," comments another. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, a player notes, "I have no idea where we are headed with this title," and another lists everything they believe to be problematic in Battlefield 6: "Fix bugs, fix drone glitch, correct rocket mechanics, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We do not require this AI-heavy playlist."
On the other hand, amid the criticism, some gamers sharing how much they're enjoying the new mode. "It's very fun to warm up, real players keep it from being a total farmfest but it's quite laid-back," reads a forum post. "The community doesn't understand that there are gamers who have lives and don't play this title 24/7. Allow them to find a middle ground," adds a different comment. A response on Twitter explains that as they're "a battledad with limited time, this is perfect for me," while another praises the mode for "avoiding intense competition."
Valid Concerns and Community Feedback
Despite the support, there are valid points to criticize Casual Breakthrough. Some users have highlighted that it will make queue times more extended for other modes because of the large amount of options currently available. On a similar note, some areas already encounter mostly bots in the existing playlists. It also seems a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a minimum number of human gamers, even though it primarily centers on fighting AI opponents.
Finally, a major grievances is that a previous feature was meant to provide complete rewards, including AI matches, but that got canned when they attempted to eliminate XP farming from the mode. Thus Casual Breakthrough feels like the player base compromising halfway, according to forum feedback. A different user labels this addition as the devs "making a mistake significantly, I experienced so much fun in the initial release, why did they feel the need to change it?"
Future Prospects: Will Changes Be Made?
Should the development team has proven anything to date with the latest installment, it's that they're listening and acting on player input. Tasks being too difficult got fixed very quickly, as did the specific battle pass objectives. Chances are that, if their data shows this recent mode isn't performing to their expectations, they won't be shy to change it again.