Frustrated by the radio silence surrounding Battlefield 2042, many fans are directing their anger at the developers. A fatal mistake, says a producer from DICE and takes his colleagues in defence.
Shooter fans all over the world are waiting for a sign of life from Battlefield 2042 and the impatience is growing: A graphic is circulating on Reddit that is supposed to prove the sparse marketing in comparison with Battlefield 5. On Youtube, Battlefield expert Flakfire comments that the lack of communication has become a real problem.
After the release postponement, the helplessness is now turning into anger in many places: the developers are being accused of incompetence and lies in the social media – often coupled with insults and in an aggressive tone.
Community manager Adam Freeman from DICE, for example, is currently being targeted and personally attacked in several Reddit threads. He had previously emphasised that new information on the beta would be provided in September.
Now Battlefield producer Ben Walke has stepped into the breach and explained in a detailed post why such attacks on individual developers and the community manager are not only wrong, but also misplaced. The colleagues from MP1st.com have recorded the complete statement
“Time is the only thing that helps “
In it, he explains that the job of a community manager is far more difficult and complex than generally assumed. You can’t “just throw out a tweet”, but always have to deal with other departments such as marketing, translation, customer support, platform operators or the art department. And sometimes it just takes patience, says Walke:
Community is one of many cogs in the machine and cannot be turned alone. Everything has to mesh in order to move forward. If some of the cogs are just faltering, then you’re also stuck. You just have to wait it out, no matter how much lubricant you use. Time is then the only thing that helps.
According to Walke, community work often depends on other departments. As a link between development and fans, that can also be frustrating:
I used to joke that a community manager’s job is a bit like a weather forecaster. You do your best with the available info and predict 22 degrees tomorrow, but then it’s 21 degrees and people call you a liar.
Walke points out that in the end it’s always people who feel the frustration and anger “that they absolutely don’t deserve.” In the current situation, he says, each of them is simply giving everything to make the players happy.
Incidentally, the Youtuber Flakfire comes to a similar conclusion: “I don’t mean any harm to any of the developers. I know they are sacrificing themselves right now to get the game ready for release with the extra month. So if you happen to talk to developers on social media, give them encouragement. “
