By Michael Nichols, Courier Staff Writer
In recent months, the Battlefield 1 community has become increasingly divided over the Rent-a-Server concept. In October 2016, EA, the company that runs Battlefield 1 servers, announced a disputed and impactful change to the game, which affected many players. In this article, the Courier presents its opinions about several quotes from the controversial “Rent a Server” announcement.
- “The ‘Rent-a-Server Program’ […] will allow players to set up their own private and public Battlefield 1 servers, with control of different gameplay options to map rotations.”
Opinion: This is a normal development that almost all recent first person shooter multiplayer games have, so there’s nothing wrong with that.
- “In the past, servers were handled by third-party companies – now, EA is providing them directly. We think this will benefit you in several ways.”
Opinion: This could possibly help some people, but it means that players will have to pay way more and go through EA’s support, which many people already have complaints about.
- “First off, we will be able to secure the quality of the actual hardware.”
Opinion: I have heard from other people that they have had a better quality experience with the servers before EA took over. Personally, I and the friends I talked to think that third-party company should not sell things they have not made. “
- “Since the servers come from the same provider, it will give everyone the same uniform experience.”
Opinion: What exactly is the “same uniform experience” in a game that contains a progression system and DLC’s that are not free? I do not know how you can say that when there are so many more things that make this game not a uniform experience.
- “Furthermore, if you have questions or need help, you will be able to reach out to EA Support directly instead of third party support.”
Opinion: I have asked multiple Battlefield gamers, and they all say that EA is almost always giving them a bad experience. EA has a bad reputation of handling its customers without care, and sometimes even ignoring the requests.
- “On a rented server, players will be able to customize gameplay aspects like server name, map rotation, game mode, various gameplay settings, and more.”
Opinion: This is a normal development that most multiplayer games have; there is nothing wrong with this.
- “We might restrict number of game modes available at launch and gradually enable them based on feedback and other circumstances, but you can expect that we’ll keep adding customization options and UI design throughout 2016.”
Opinion: This sort of strikes me as weird: why would you gradually let the people who paid you money take control over the servers, when most people who do not join because of the gamemode will either do something different or keep it as it is? This is something that people are smart enough to deal with themselves– just give us the modes and all the maps. Also, if you have a “same uniform experience”, then people could have the unjust power to kick others out of there server they paid for.
In conclusion: EA’s new Rent-A-Server concept reeks of greed. It provides an unfair experience to different types of gamers, and destroys the overall balance in the game.
