So this past week, Respawn Entertainment released Titanfall's first piece of DLC. Three all-new maps for ten bucks. FPS players are no stranger to overpriced map packs offering "more variety" to their experience, and while I could go on at length about how map-packs used to be community-generated content, and ways for developers to support players, and their game, instead of scummy sales tactics and cash grabs, I'll let that go by the wayside so that I can bitch about what I came to bitch about.
Released alongside the "Expedition" DLC was an update for Titanfall that had more than its fair share of bugs, that are currently being hotfixed and worked on. What wasn't a bug is this: Capture the Flag and Pilot Hunter game modes have been REMOVED as options when selecting "Play Multiplayer".
Respawn cites these modes as "not being widely used on PC" and having "overlong wait times to find other users, and it was making for a poor experience". (If you're so inclined, you can read the rest of that blog post here.)
I'm sorry, WHAT? Respawn has effectively declared that, instead of offering support for a group of players that enjoys a specific game mode, they'd rather alienate them entirely. "You like this mode? It's too bad there aren't more of you. Run along now and go play garden-variety deathmatch while we condemn your funhouse for demolition."
Long wait times can be a "negative experience", especially if you're queue'd up solo. But you know what I find makes for an even more negative experience? Not being able to play a fucking mode that you personally enjoyed. I'm pretty pissed at Respawn for this ignorant, hasty, and insulting decision. It seems that taking care of their players means only the ones that they deem worthy.
By now, I'm sure you're thinking "Latency, if you're so smart, what would you have done?" (Maybe you're not, but I was.) If the issue here is that not enough people are playing these game modes, the solution shouldn't be to remove them entirely, but incentivise them. Give players a reward for playing the game in a different manner, or a way other than what they're accustomed to. On one hand, you'd probably find more players flock to the underused game modes, and on the other, you'd be rewarding players for sticking by their favorites instead of forcing them out into Attrition, and Hardpoint (and Last Titan Standing, which I'm not quite sure why that's still around).
I recall CliffyB once making a statement about achievements, in that they should encourage players to play the game differently than they normally would, and reward them for doing so. That pretty accurately sums up my feelings about this whole issue. Giving people a reason to explore the content that's there, instead of removing it, would create a better experience for all players, instead of just the majority that enjoy a select few of the games modes.
Unfortunately, there's no real way for me to boycott the patch, or revert to a previous version, and even if I could, it wouldn't be supported by the game's servers anyways. Guess the joke's on me as I won't be playing Titanfall, a game that I actually enjoy, until someone pulls their head out of their ass and figures out how to treat their customers well.
For now, I'll go back to playing Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, a GOOD game, with GOOD patches, that REWARDS players.
-Latency
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