Battlefield 6 (BF6) - Winter Charms and the Little Things

Rocking around the Battlefield Christmas Tree sporting the winter tree charm and the Freedom sticker. Yeah, it's true. For me, the little things really are what gives life a kick in the right direction.

There are those who complain about the unlocks and free gifts available in Battlefield 6 and I don't really understand where they are coming from. What do these people truly want? What do they expect? Do they want a free t-shirt or maybe a brand new car? How about a cookie and some milk? I suppose maybe I don't know what motivates people, but I think these things are a fun addition to the game.

In any case, keep the charms and stickers coming! I dig 'em.

Take care and have fun out there! --Pilchuck

#BF6 #Battlefield6 #Battlefield

Battlefield 6 (BF6) - The Winter Offensive Final Unlock

Say hello to my little friend the Nomad CX-12 climbing axe!

Today's rounds of Battlefield 6 were extremely enjoyable. I did not run into any crashes, disconnects, or visual glitches. Everything ran smoothly and the all of the players seemed to be acting in PTFO mode. It was truly enjoyable. 

And, finally, I was able to unlock the much desired climbing axe that was the final unlock of the Winter Offensive event. It took a lot of grinding to get there, especially considering the problems that were encountered after the event content and it's related patches were released. Things appear to have settled down now and today was a great day for playing. 

Thanks go out to the Battlefield developers for whatever fixes they have applied to both the client and server software. Since there didn't appear to be a download for today, I can only assume that maybe some backend server work has been completed. It is also possible that things just lined up nicely and there were no updates over the past 24 hours. I don't know and probably do not need to know. The good news is that I had a great time playing today. 

Take care and have fun out there!
--Pilchuck

Battlefield 6 (BF6) - Hotfix 1.1.3.1 Bugs Still Crawling

There are definitely some wicked bugs crawling around in the Battlefield 6 code base. Prior to Hotfix 1.1.3.1, I did not experience the frame stuttering that many other players had reported. After that hotfix was applied, I now get some stuttering for a brief time just after a respawn. 

A handful of other new problems have struck my experience since the Battlefield team applied this hotfix on top of the 1.1.3.0 patch/update. For instance, the Recon class has hands that are invisible. You can see them partially if you wear the right gloves. There is also a glitch during the respawn screen when playing Gauntlet where the Squad "Place" list shows multiple entries for the same squads. It appears to be an overlay issue where the list is displayed on top of another attempt to display the list. See the photos for an examples. 

I should note here that I had the Battlefield built-in FPS overlay active. You can see this in the image to the right. Another player on X mentioned that his experience improved after turning off performance overlays like those from Battlefield, Steam, and Afterburner. I have yet to give that a try and will report back at a later time.

The real showstopper, however, is that 2 out of 3 of the matches of Gauntlet that I tried to play today ended up crashing. The system kicked me all the way back to the Steam application. First, the Battlefield interface lagged. Then it then froze. And finally, it terminated my instance with extreme prejudice. This experience renders the game unplayable.

Update: Not sure if it is just a coincidence, but I turned off Battlefield's built-in performance overlay and no longer experienced crashes nor any dropped connections. Was able to play 4 or 5 Gauntlet matches followed by at least a few regular multiplayer games.

This recent set of impactful problems really disappoints me as a long time Battlefield player. I don't know what is going on within the organization but something needs to change. The team, and I DO include management in this, needs to look toward the concept of "Continuous Improvement" and not just shipping something that they think will work. I do not want to condemn anyone because I know that developing complex software is difficult. But, something needs to change. 

I will commend the team on their transparency and openness regarding the problems that players are earnestly reporting. It must be difficult for the team to face this situation. Nobody wants things to be in this current state. We all just want to enjoy the fruits, so to speak. 

Here's to a better future for the franchise. I truly hope the current problems can be remedied soon. I really like Battlefield 6 otherwise. When everything works, it is a great game. I thoroughly enjoyed playing multiplayer for hours and hours before these latest patches/updates introduced the current instability. 

As always, take care and have fun out there.
--Pilchuck

Battlefield 6 (BF6) - Hotfix 1.1.3.1 is Live on Steam Today

The latest patch (Update 1.1.3.1) for Battlefield 6 is now live on Steam. This one targets the following concerns:

Click this link for the official statement

• Micro Stuttering
• Firing Range
• Main Menu Display

While these fixes address the issues seen by those on PC, the developers state that they are working towards December 15th for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the EA app hotfix. Stay tuned!

I am currently downloading the roughly 217MB hotfix and sipping coffee. While this patch is claimed to address the issues listed above, I was playing late last night and the menu system was working normally for me. There was probably a server side patch that enabled the menus to work again prior to today's patch. Glad to see a client side update to address some of the other issues. There was still a problem with oversized hitboxes in the firing range last night. Hoping that today's hotfix takes care of that one as well. 

Well folks... It looks like my download is complete and I am ready to jump in and see how things play today. Comment below if you've had issues with the game and note whether this latest hotfix has impacted your experience. 

Take care and have fun out there!"
-Pilchuck

Battlefield 6 (BF6) - REDESEC Elite Series Postponed

Mistakes were made... 

The REDSEC Elite Series has been postponed. 

The Elite Tournament was supposed to be the Battlefield team's big show to let everyone know that Battlefield is a serious player in the world of esports. 

Likely resulting from the software problems that were encountered with the "Winter Offensive" content and the patches that had been released just one day prior to the tournament, the Battlefield REDSEC Elite Series has been postponed. 

The development team states that the disruption was "due to an unforeseen technical issue that impacted the integrity of the competition" and they will provide updates after the start of the new year. It is unknown, by me at this time, whether the technical issue to which they refer was part of the December 8 "Winter Offensive" update or if there was something more.

The developers have released an official statement (see link below) with a sincere apology to the contestants and everyone who was interested in the game series. Their statement says they will provide updates to the situation "in the new year." ...so, it sounds like the problem might not be immediately fixable. If they don't already have it figured out, it's probably best not to rush things at this point. It's time to step back, regroup, replan, and redeploy.

I commend the developers on their transparency and wish the development team the best. Let's hope that the problems are easily remedied and we can all get back to having a good time very soon.

Link to the Battlefield developer's official statement: 
https://x.com/Battlefield/status/1998882936569905156

Take care and have fun out there!

--Pilchuck

Battlefield 6 (BF6) - The Offense of the Winter Offensive

Example of Good Comms from Devs

Battlefield 6 was running solid and providing awesome gaming fun after an initial patch to the new weapon mechanics was released shortly after launch to address a few problems with precision and recoil. The team even dropped welcomed new content with the "California Resistance" package and provided entertaining new challenges with cool rewards as part of the Red Bull Challenge event. This was all delivered with great success as part of the promised content drops for this season. Everything was great and people were raving online about this new version of Battlefield. Some folks were even saying, "Battlefield is Back!"

Then, on December 8th, they dropped the latest patches and some new content that had been promised. This new package was called "Winter Offensive." 

Oh, my... everything felt like it had fallen apart and many people declared that DICE/EA had destroyed the game with so many new bugs and glitches. Some players found the new problems to have rendered the game unplayable. The menu system, for example, was so scrogged that you would most often need to exit and restart the entire game if you wished to get a new match going. Many fans also reported frame stuttering and other broken mechanics. Myself, I ran into "invisible hands" and a thermal scope that showed nothing but a big black circle. 

Example of "Invisible Hands" Glitch

People are rightly angry. But, I'm not so bothered by the surprises. I just find it hard to believe that the team decided to release this build. There seems to be no explanation for why they didn't know the menu was so badly broken. It wasn't an isolated or rare occurrence. It was not limited to a fringe set of players with "barely in spec" equipment. I can understand (maybe) that they missed some of the other bugs... maybe... but the menu issues are quite prominent and can't be missed. 

It was a large download. Seems like probably every dev changed some code. I can't help but wonder if some coders had "great ideas" to improve their code and just checked it in without good reason. It would be interesting to know if the development team performs requirements tracking along with integration, regression, and robustness testing. Are the reports being reviewed? Are people feeling the heat in the office after this release? I wouldn't like to see anyone get into serious trouble, however. After all, everyone makes mistakes. Yet, clear communication of expectations and a process review seem due. The process is supposed to help catch the mistakes that will inevitably occur.

Did I mention that people are angry? Hah! The Battlefield internet is blowing up. Reddit folks are losing their minds.

It is understandably difficult to believe that AAA game devs would allow something like this to happen in 2025. In any case, I wish them the best and hope that the problems are easily remedied and we can all get back to having some fun on the Battlefield.

Take care and have fun out there!

--Pilchuck

Battlefield 6 (BF6) - Bloom and Recoil

BATTLEFIELD 6 - Weapon Bloom and Recoil Issue 

After a long time without playing any FPS games, I was having difficulty with weapons and aiming in the new Battlefield 6. Naturally, I assumed that I was very rusty and really needed to "get in there" and get accustomed to the controls, game mechanics, and the mindset that it takes to get good. 

Long story short, after a very successful beta, it turns out that the Battlefield team slipstreamed in an entirely new weapon system just prior to the official product launch. After the Battlefield internets exploded with complaints and video clips to back up the assertions, the BF6 team acknowledged that there was a bug within both the projectile dispersion mechanics and the recoil handling system. Naturally, this raises some questions regarding how well these new systems are tested before being included within the officially released builds. 

The good news is that they fixed the problem quickly and I'm actually glad that it happened. The aiming issues caused me me to pay more attention to weapon handling and the impact of attachments. I spent more time than ever testing attachments and practicing aim within the in-game firing range. 

But, still... it seems very odd to change a foundational system AFTER the beta and just before the official release. More testing would have been the best move. They could have delivered the updated mechanics at a later time. I realize this isn't safety critical software, but a gaming company's reputation should be considered critical to that company's bottom line. 

Anyway, try out the new Battlefield 6. You can download the free-to-play Battlefield REDSEC today and get started for no cost. You might just like it. Take care and have fun out there. 

--Pilchuck