In a detailed blog post, EA explains how existing maps will be changed. In addition, new maps are likely to be smaller.
Twitter and co. are getting increasingly quiet about Battlefield 2042, which is struggling with constantly declining player numbers and has had to postpone important updates several times. But EA emphasises that they do not want to give up – among other things with the much criticised map design.
A detailed blog post explains which problems have been recognised and which solutions are currently being worked on. In addition, there is already a small preview of upcoming maps that are not supposed to repeat the same mistakes. For many disappointed fans, this probably comes too late:
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How the maps will be improved
EA identifies the following five main problems with the maps that are of particular concern to the community:
- The walking distances on the maps are too long
- With 128 players, there is often too much chaos
- Too much open terrain leads to frustrating long range kills
- Paths to targets are unclear
- Too little coverage between objectives
Concrete solutions to some of these problems are already planned, but EA is explicitly asking for more ideas from you, the players. You can submit them here: The link will take you to the (Feedback collection from EA).
What measures are planned?
* Walking distances: By moving spawn points in the base and flags some too long distances shall be shortened. Overall, you should spend more time fighting than jogging.
* Breakthrough: EA is loudly thinking about reducing the player count from 128 to 64 to make things less chaotic and intense. Another possibility is to provide fewer vehicles. They had good experiences with the 64-player mode before Christmas and are now waiting for the feedback of the players.
* Cover: So far you are easy prey for snipers in many areas because there is nowhere to hide. Often even several flanks are completely open at once. In contrast, EA wants to place more cover – also so that fights at medium and short range become more important.
These concept images show what the announced overhaul could look like:
However, you should be prepared for a longer wait until the changes appear in the game. (The post) states:
The plans we’re presenting here will take some time to develop, so we want to be transparent with you that not all of these proposed changes will be implemented on all maps at the same time. (…) We are starting with the maps that are most in need of an overhaul. Our current focus is on improvements for Kaleidoscope, both in Conquest and Breakthrough.
The changes to the city map will be implemented during Season 1. According to current plans, this will start in the summer of 2022
What about future maps?
According to EA, they want to avoid the aforementioned mistakes with new maps. An important lesson is that larger maps do not necessarily mean more fun. Therefore, upcoming maps should be more compact than the launch areas. Fundamental design decisions such as the layout of the maps and the number of available aircraft and vehicles are also to be reconsidered.
There should then be further official news at the end of March after player feedback has been assessed. Community Lead Freeman, the author of the post, writes that. They are “grateful to the fans for their support after the launch”.
In case you are wondering where the announced scoreboard update is: The patch has been postponed again. At least there are more details about the content.
