Battlefield 5 reverses TTK change that turned players into bullet sponges
Dicing with death.
We've had a couple of major u-turns in the last few weeks: first it was Epic's faux-pas with a fancy (but very overpowered) sword, and now it's all about Battlefield 5, as DICE has reversed its unpopular TTK (Time to Kill) balance change introduced to the game last week.
Following analysis showing the "wider player base was dying too fast", DICE initially chose to alter Battlefield 5's TTK values. This was supposed to lengthen the time it takes to kill other players, which (in theory) would make it easier for newbies to improve by giving them longer lives on the battlefield.
Problem is, veteran players liked the existing TTK values and felt the changes tipped the scales too far in the other direction. "This is brutal," said Reddit user Ireland 914, after realising the Gewehr 43 would soon require four out of its 10 shots in a clip to earn a kill. "Landing three shots at mid-range with a rifle should be enough. It already took skill to do that."
DICE seemed to have already acknowledged the veteran players' concerns when it created a new server playlist called Conquest Core, which retained the "original TTK values". But this led to concern the Conquest Core playlist would split the player base - something which has been an issue in past Battlefield games, where the premium pass divided players between different maps. DICE tried to solve this by announcing "Core" versions of every single playlist in the game.
Finally DICE, in the face of community discontent, announced the reversal of the TTK changes.
"Our intent with the TTK changes was to see if we could evolve the Battlefield V experience and make it more enjoyable for new players, whilst also making sure the Battlefield vets have a choice with a more 'core' experience suiting their preferred playstyle", DICE's letter to the community reads.
"Clearly we didn't get it right."
The server-side update, which is rolling out today, will remove the Conquest Core playlist, and none of the additional core versions of the playlists will ever see the light of day.
Despite the dodgy balance changes, Battlefield players are generally pleased DICE has listened to their concerns. There's definitely something to be said for communicating with the community and owning up to your mistakes - and I'm just glad our spray n' prayers have been answered.