DICE’s Alan Kertz Explains Goals For Battlefield 4 Multiplayer

Battlefield 4 has been getting a steady stream of bug fixes, tweaks, and weapon balances for the past month. Turns out that there’s another goal behind all of this, aside from simply fixing the issues that were present in Battlefield 4 before. On an Ask DICE post, lead gameplay designer Alan Kertz revealed the goal behind these tweaks, and what DICE wants for the multiplayer.

It’s basically all about balance. Every weapon, item, and vehicle should have a useful role, strengths and weaknesses, etc. DICE doesn’t want one specific thing to be overpowered and the other be too weak. The tweaks are ensuring that all of the tools and weapons used have their own pros and cons, which leads to effective, balanced gameplay that makes the multiplayer comparable to, say, an intricate rock-paper-scissors match.

“Each item has a counter tactic, a fundamental weakness and a fundamental strength. Essentially, it comes down to one really big game of rock-paper-scissor: tank, infantry, airplane, boat, helicopter, sniper, and so on,” Kertz said. He explained that DICE is examining their own intentions for these items, and comparing them to the community’s intentions for them, because sometimes there are differences.

To make a long story short, the goal is making the multiplayer more balanced so that no one weapon is more useful in all situations. Fair play, all around.