Articles by Anthony McGlynn

Technology

Battlefield 6 devs are waging war on XP farms because they've "made it harder" to find "experiences Portal was created for," but they know some feel "farming servers are necessary"

The war between Battlefield 6 and XP farming continues, as EA and Battlefield Studios have issued more updates to curb the use of bots in Portal. These come as a number of restrictions were rolled out to mitigate PvE farms through custom servers. Soon after launch, Battlefield 6 players encountered frustratingly slow progression in the FPS, to the point they started making workarounds. A popular solution has been using Portal servers to create bot-heavy maps where certain settings allowed for participants to sponge up XP without having to crawl along in regular play. This isn't ideal, and both progression and Portal are getting touched up to make up for it. After putting up guardrails for bot servers, including XP caps, two more changes were made today to continue downplaying PvE versus PvP, though with the acknowledgment many playing consider "farming servers are necessary due to the difficulty of challenges or issues affecting them." The latter is something the devs intend to address, as they're "actively working on updates for challenges and will share details as progress is made in this area." Meanwhile, verified servers – marked as such in the search – give full XP if they don’t have 'Bot Backfill' on, while rewards from Custom Experiences are still reduced overall. "This keeps creative freedom and allows you to express yourself within Portal while maintaining progression balance," a post from the official Battlefield Comms Twitter account states. It's stated that the heavy use of bots on Portal is antithetical to the desired purpose of people browsing different spins on what Battlefield 6 can offer. "We believe the best Battlefield moments happen when players connect and compete in shared, player-driven experiences. The kind of experiences that capture the unpredictability, teamwork, and intense moments that define Battlefield," the post reads. "These servers have made it harder for players to discover the kinds of experiences Portal was created for. We have organized a series of changes to emphasize our commitment to highlighting the player community and making this a space where you can celebrate creativity, find unique experiences, play with friends, and build communities." The reaction is mixed in responses, as players are still concerned about people who can only check in on a limited schedule. "Give portal servers weapon XP, assignment progress, and zero account XP. This maintains your preference on progression, while allowing a 40 y/o with wife and two kids to unlock class badges and weapon attachments," reads one popular reply. Finding a balance that suits all parties is a work in progress, as the devs reckon with keeping one of the most popular games of the year stable. We'll keep you informed.

Technology

Borderlands 4's Halloween event is being torn apart by disappointed players who call it a "huge step down" and one of the "worst" content drops in the looter shooter series

It's Halloween, the most wonderful time of year, filled with horror movies, pumpkin carving, and spooky events across many of our favorite games. Borderlands 4 is getting in on the fun, carrying on the series tradition of seasonal treats, except this year's offerings feel more trick than treat. Getting into the scary spirit is something Borderlands has done since the second installment, where the TK Baha's Bloody Harvest DLC brought a new area, missions, and, of course, some lovely loot. The equivalent in the third, Bloody Harvest, was free and had Vault Hunters bustin' ghosts while dealing with undead enemies in search of four legendary weapons. Borderlands 4 has the Horrors of Kairos, another free addition, but despite the low price of nothing, it's not going down well. The offerings are smaller than usual, with an environmental blood rain effect rather than an actually fresh area, and only two legendary weapons. The execution is lackluster, as the red storm is restricted to a single corner of the map, and players have been voicing their discontent. "I know it's free and free is good, but this isn't it," Borderlands content creator JoltzDude139 says on Twitter. "Driving circles for 20 minutes just to get one rift bubble and not get a new drop feels bad. It's a Knoxx DLC driving simulator." Feedback is much the same across the board. "I know it's just a mini-event but compared to what we had in Borderlands 3 it's a huge step down," Moxsy, another video creator, posts. "BL3 added a new unique area, unique boss, and new loot and anointments. This event is over in two seconds, no unique enemies and underwhelming loot." Borderlands modder and dataminer EpicNNG is even more emphatic. "I legitimately think it may be a top five worst content drop of all time in this franchise," they state on Twitter. "Free or not, it does not give it a pass on criticism. Legit what else have they released that is worse than this event?" Credit where it's due, Gearbox's work here is horrifying, just not in the way the team would like. Horrors of Kairos runs until November 6, if you dare.