Battlefield 4 Executive Producer Kicked from Own Game by Server Admin

A Battlefield 4 server admin noticed that DICE’s Patrick Bach was playing on their server and kicked him with the message “FIX THE GAME”.

[xHeavYx]

I wonder if it was a joke, otherwise that admin can say goodbye to his privileges.

[Saints94]

Not when he's paying for it.

[MWong]

Agreed and that was a perfect message to give Mr. Bach. FIX THE GAME with all this free time you have on your hands.

[redwin]

Love it. Do it again and let him have it. This is why DRM is so scary, if you buy a mediocre product and it's not fixed, you don't have the "right" to resell it.

[UltimateMaster]

He gets kicked out and he gets a message "Fix the Game".
Yeah, I'm guessing he'd better do it or else EA and Dice might loose a lot of money and reputation over these issues.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

How exactly is it broken?

Serious question, I was planning to get the game early next year as more friends will probably get that than Killzone which I already own.

Also, despite Killzone being a great game, is not exactly my kind of multiplayer shooter... And quite frankly nor is Battlefield, what I really want is tactical shooters, but at least BF3 was good enough on hardcore.

[Fluke_Skywalker]

@bishop It's buggier than frog shit on all platforms. The actual game is great when you actually get to play it but there are so many bugs that it just makes it more annoying than fun just now.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol yea right. I'm not saying I'm siding with anyone, but he paid for the game AND the server. That was his decision. You can certainly lose your privilages for abusing admin rights. And perhaps Bach was playing the game to look for active bugs. Isn't that logical?

[Elwenil]

@bishop-br,

I can't speak for the other platforms but I can tell you how it's broken on PS4. Upon release, you could not play any Conquest mode and there were modes like Air Superiority and Capture the Flag listed that were not available. The Server Browser still lists endless numbers of empty servers and only rarely shows any that have players in them that you can join. There is no way for you to "squad up" with friends and join a game together. You can join a game your friends are on if there is room but it's a gamble on which side you are on. I have read that there is programming in place to allow players to join their friends in game and I have seen evidence of this on a few occasions but it's worthless if your friend joins a game and is put in a squad or team that is full and you can't join them. We had this issue with BF3 and I can't quite understand why they dropped the ball on this with BF4 when they knew it is important to the players. To invite another player to your game is a clumsy mess involving the main PS4 menu or going through Battlelog. Any Conquest map can crash but some seem more prone to it like Zavod 311, Siege of Shanghai, Operation Locker, Flood Zone and Dawnbreaker. These maps also suffer from a large amount of random lag spikes. Golmud Railway and Lancang Dam suffer from really bad audio issues that either intermittently wipe out all sound, the sound of vehicles, your own weapons, comms or any combination. It's not unusual to die in a vehicle because you never heard the lock on alarm of an incoming missile or rocket so you have to pay a lot of attention to the visual warnings, which are not 100% clear on the type of threat until it's too late. I've also experienced lag and odd things like driving a tank down an open paved road that slows down randomly which is usually accompanied by the sound of crashing metal like you are driving through a fence or light pole but there is nothing there. I have found that I can have enough XP to gain a level at the end of a match with the "bonus XP" we are getting as an apology and then when I join the next map, I'm still a couple thousand points from the level and I'm set back to the previous level. I gain it again in the first few minutes, but it's still disappointing. Then there are the usual issues with Battlefield since they came to consoles like the fact that bullets com out of your enemy's eyes and not their gun to they can shoot you with only their head peaking over a rock but while you can only see their head and are scoring hits by the hit indicator, you are not getting headshots and are not killing them. Cont...

[Elwenil]

Continued from above...

Add all of that to the arrogance of EA saying they are not aware of any issues, the fact that you cannot directly contact EA or DICE with these issues and are at the mercy of their help forums and their overzealous moderators and just the infuriating fact that we paid our money for a broken product that they keep telling us to "be patient" when in any other industry there would already be lawsuits out the wazoo and all of this starts getting more than a little annoying.

The first thing they need to do is admit that they released an unfinished and broken product. Then they need to stop all the DLC and add-on crap and our all their resources into fixing the game on all platforms until the game is stable and operating as intended. If steps are not taken and they continue with their current arrogant stance, I encourage everyone who bought BF4, in the US at least, to contact the Better Business Bureau and your Attorney General and file complaints against EA. I assume people in other countries may have similar things in place for consumer complaints and I encourage you to take whatever steps you can as well. We were sold a unicorn that turned out to be a pig with a horn stuck on it and we deserve better. This BS should not be "expected" and it's disgusting that people consider this normal in this industry and people actually make excuses for it.

[TekoIie]

@UltimateMaster

Damage is done. This was really the last screw up I was willing to put up with from EA. I won't be buying any future entries for this franchise.

Experiencing the ridiculous level of problems with this game just burnt the series out for me :/

[YoungKingDoran]

@Elwenil
I hope you're qualified to be an architect.
Cause if that wall comes down, people gonna die.
But seriously, I want you on my debating team.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

@Elwenil

Wow, I had no idea it was this bad, some of my friends already got the game and said it was unstable but playable, but doesn't seen like that... I'm definetelly not buying it unless they fix. Thank you!

@Off-topic

I'm usually not bothered by disagrees, but WTF just happened? Is everyone disagreeing with me asking a question? Or is it about Killzone?

If it's over my friends not getting Killzone, well I agree, their lost... If it's over not being my kind of multiplayer, it wasn't a dig at Killzone, not at all, I simply wanted BF for hardcore mode, a makeshift solution 'till H-Hour releases (Early 2015 I believe) or a new Socom is announced (but after Zipper was shut down I'm not holding my breath).

And yes, I know I'll get even more disagrees if I complain about them.

[eclectified]

It makes me glad I never pursued programming or game development. When my work day is over, nobody expects me to go work some more beyond my shift.

[TheLeapist]

Be gone with your logic and reason! It's not wanted here.

[PurpHerbison]

Sometimes I wonder how many of these people complaining are actually sh*tty workers themselves.

[SephirothX21]

It doesn't work like that. Programmers are not hanging on a string. The hours may be long but a programmer does not have to work extra hours to fix bugs unless they are given prior notice well in advance or it is explicitly stated in their contract. I know this because I am a programmer who has worked on big commercial projects that required a lot of periodic bug-fixing updates and enhancements.

[itBourne]

Thank you lol, I was going to say the same thing, he doesnt need to spend every waking moment. Also if he is playing the game how is that a bad thing? If they do not play themselves they may as well be some suit, who makes all the decisions, yet doesnt know what the hell they are doing.

[lawgone]

I don't know what job you have but if I complete a project and it's all f'ed up I am expected to fix it immediately. Then again, I'm salaried. But even being hourly doesn't mean you can release half a$$ed stuff and say "oh well, my shift is over." If you do you may not have a job pretty soon.

[eclectified]

@Lawgone
I'm sorry if I struck a nerve with you. I didn't mean to imply that he (or anyone) should be okay with a poor launch. You're right! If someones work is garbage they should be dealt with accordingly.
Also, I certainly recognize that some jobs don't have set hours. Hell, I've seen leadership in previous jobs work upwards of 80 hours per week, and that sucks!

All I meant is that I have the luxury(if you want to call it that) of having a job where I'm not expected to worry about deadlines or launches in the way a programmer or developer would. Very seldom do I have to stay late. In fact, my employer doesn't want me to stay late as it usually means OT, but you can bet your rump that if I do, it's to ensure the job is done proper. :)

[TopDudeMan]

That is brilliant!

[DarthZoolu]

@xHeavyx On PC many people rent their own servers so they can set the rules and games the way they want. A dice employee can't just say "no more admin power for you" because who ever pays for the server has control over that.

[StoutBEER]

Hoooooly shit! LOL I love Bach man, one of my favorite game designers... but this shit is freakin hilarious! XD

[Soc5]

It was a fake account, not really him, but its good that this gets out and gets noticed. Stop shipping unfinished games! Lots of games have issues but this is beyond that.

[Neonridr]

lol, that's too funny.

[Saints94]

HAHAHAH!

[Majin-vegeta]

Hahahah serves him right.

[OhhWerd]

BUY THAT MAN A BEER!

[deadie]

:D

[Ripsta7th]

Are other PS4 owners still experiencing issues with BF4? Mine has been working perfect since the last update

[Aleithian]

Yeah, I still get vehicle audio cutout and the C-error. SP seems to be fine though.

And this is the best thing I'll read all day. Way to go server admin!

[crazysammy]

Ive had this since day 1 on PC as well, still isn't fixed. We laugh about it now when it happens.

[okmrman]

you dont play multiplayer dont you

[mikegeezy69]

you don't english well do you?

[SolidStoner]

are you a teacher?

who cares.. I think more that half of people here cant speak proper English.. including me..

not because Im stupid.. its only 3d language I use daily..

just be happy we can understand each other!! ;)

[KnottaTroll]

Huh?? ^^

[Consoldtobots]

double negatives are painful to read. at least you don't see Americans mangling other languages.

[Ripsta7th]

@Replies- oh ok thans for replies explaining, im gaming on ps4 and maybe twice a day i get loss of audio but is not game breaking. Really for plauers that havvent been able to enjoy bf4

[Alsybub]

It was the same on BF3. Often had audio cutting out.

[Salooh]

Few small problems but nothing that would make me angry :P

I'm a patience player lol

[dillhole]

I've played about the first 2 hours of the campaign twice now and I just had my saved game data disappear for the 3rd time. Fuck that.

[powerplayer25]

Yeah, I'm still having that issue too. Getting tired of replaying the first few missions.

[RE_L_MAYER]

Whaat? Nevermind that game kicks you out randomly, the sound wont work half of the time but now when I start the game it wont even load main menu.i called it battlefield 3.5 for a good reason I guess

[suc915]

Oh u mean the one that got postponed?

[JetsFool3500]

Mines working perfect only thing wrong is I get audio cutouts on lancang & golmud. My bf4 only crashed once in the last week

[DeadMansHand]

See, then its not working perfectly. If your audio cuts out on multiple maps and you still experience a crash then the game is broken. Just for the fact that people say, "hey I only lost connection twice today and almost half the maps have sound! Sweet!", means battlefield players are so beaten down that a semi running mess is a success.

[JetsFool3500]

Not Really because it only happens on conquest & I hardly play that & crashing is nothing new to me because it happens to all games not just battlefield

[mochachino]

I vote him gaming person of the year.

[torchic]

LOL that's hilarious! what a great man ahahaha

[MrPerfect813]

Anyone want to get give me a suggestion of which game to get into COD or BF4, just learning the ins and outs of multiplayer FPS aka NOOB lol

[HeavenlySnipes]

You can learn how to play either game if you stick with it

COD is obviously easier to get a hang of but it gets old really fast

[MrPerfect813]

Thanks, if it gets old fast, then I will lean BF4's way

[OhhWerd]

BF has more variety, more things to do to support your team.

CoD is basically running in circles spraying rounds...

[MrPerfect813]

Thanks, variety sounds like a good thing...hopefully they get some fixes in by the time i pick it up in a few days or so

[csreynolds]

CoD: Ghosts is very accessible but gameplay can get repetitive, and connection/lag plays a big part in how well you do in gunfights. Loadouts rely on perks. 6v6 matches (or 9v9 on next gen), and panders to the lone wolf mentality. The online community can be pretty poisonous, generally.

BF4 has a learning curve, but relies more on skill - thus winning feels more satisfying. No individual perks, but playing cooperatively can earn you various squad bonuses. 12v12 matches (or 32v32 on next gen), and embraces teamwork. A less venomous online community (from my own experience). Multiplayer also features vehicles (tanks, choppers, jets etc.)

I've played Call of Duty since 2007 and Battlefield since 2010, but after CoD: Ghosts (which I thought was rubbish) I moved over to Battlefield for good. Really enjoying it.

[XboxPS]

Battlefield 4 has 32 on next-gen?
I thought that It has 64.

[Phoenix76]

@XboxPS - 32 vs 32 = 64. Although the game does go up to 66 with 2 people as Battle Commanders.

[LiQuiZoN]

Killzone
Prettier
No crashes
Excellent gunplay
Free
DLC maps for life of product (6 maps)

Bf4 is garbage and cod is well...cod. I'm sure you've been there done that before

[BlackTar187]

i disagree on KZ having excellent gun play.

[LiQuiZoN]

Double post :(

[lawgone]

If you're new to FPSs I'd recommend COD. There is less to learn. Plus it works. It may get old to some but it's also very replayable. Just my opinion.

[KAEM7]

go destiny ;)

[iceman1346]

lololololololololololololol

[CapsLocke]

News of the year! To the front page, quick!

[DiLeCtioN]

I like Battlefield 4 but these servers are horrible. In my opinion they are not dedicated they feel more like host advantage.

[Alsybub]

Do EA still insist on using their own servers on XBL? I would imagine that they do.

[dethpuck]

The game is a mess and should have been delayed. It's quite embarrassing really

[AllroundGamer]

serves him right, now someone should hack the credit cards of all the DICE employees and lock them down till they fix the netcode and all the bugs :) (looks like the executive producer is running here on N4G and disagreeing... :D )

[Hakoom]

Fix the game indeed...
they ruined bf really..
i would of given him the midle finger too lol

[ELCUCO]

Well played http://i.imgur.com/EucIfYY....

[MasterCornholio]

Well done.

:)

[Ninjamonkey82]

Should have banned his ass.

[LukeTVNow]

Anyone else bothered by the comment in the article that says it's a fake account?

[ManaByte]

It's not. He even had the gold DICE dog tag. He removed it once this blew up.

[Ducky]

It is a fake.

... but why fact check when you can get hits?

[Hartsy]

I hope it was him, I really wanna find the person who did it and hi5 them!!

[jacksjus]

How do they know that he wasn't playing to get a grasp on what was wrong to begin with? just a thought.

[WeAreLegion]

My thoughts, exactly. Maybe he wanted some community feedback in the form of playing with them. They could literally point to issues right in front of him.

[wannabe gamer]

that wasnt really bach, fake account name that will prob be gone soon thanks to this lol

[Phoenix76]

I can understand the hostility towards DICE, yet at the same time I can't. DICE are pretty much paid and funded by EA, but yet, it's EA whom get to decide when a game gets released, even if its ready or not because they are out to please the shareholders whom keep them afloat. Whilst DICE are the one's left to deal with finishing off unfinished products after they have been released, and we the consumer put blame mostly at their feet, instead of the publisher's.
I find this kinda odd really.

[lawgone]

I put the blame mostly at EA's feet.

[BattleTorn]

"why'd you kick me? I'm a producer of this game ;/"

"go fix your game then"

[RE_L_MAYER]

3.5 not 4

[SaffronCurse]

I really hope they fix these bugs soon. When the game works, it works really well. I could play for hours in Conquest if the game actually worked!

[sovietsoldier]

mean while at dice.....

[DERKADER]

Releasing on XB360,PS3,XBONE,PS4,PC(DX11 and Mantle)and iOS/Andriod companion apps= unfinished games. They are spreading themselves to thin.

[Miskonius]

This is fake, the person that was kicked was not not Patrick Bach

http://battlelog.battlefiel...

[Improv]

That is so god damn stupid. What did the moron admin think he was doing? They play real time with other people to get actual feedback with the debuggers they run on their machines.

What a tard.

[GAMExxOVER]

He got his feedback, what is the problem.

[GAMExxOVER]

Tired of all the bugs and crashes, I have removed this game from my PC for good. No more BF games in the future for me. Ill put my money into companies that deserve it.

[rashada07]

When I first read this I had just started playing BF4 a couple days before and was indifferent about this incident. This afternoon I went to start up more of the single player campaign just to find out my save had been somehow corrupted/erased/disappeared.. . I am hoping they get this fixed soon and "Go rebellious admin, get 'em!" lol

[urwifeminder]

Hacked to pieces on pc seen a guy get 87 kills no deaths lol just quit worst Battlefield I have ever played looks nice though.

[saber00005]

I love BF4... But I definitely found this rather funny. heh

[Maxor]

EA have been releasing BF series with major launch day bugs for years. This shouldn't be news to anyone.

[STEWIE_PLAY_PS4]

Might I doubt.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

good.

( & I was in the trenches of the internet, preaching BF back in the day.)

[8BitSoul]

I have to say, personally, I haven't experienced nearly as many bugs and problems as people have reported. Granted, i did just start playing it this friday when it launched on PS4 here in europe, so there might have been fixes and updates since it's US release. The only real problem I've been having is the lack of servers online. I have no problem joining a quick match, but I prefer hardcore, and most of the time, there's only 4-5 hardcore servers online at the same time. I payed for a product, so i EXPECT them to fix this down the line, preferably yesterday!

Wasn't there an update scheduled for release this week?

[Mr7Beans]

Fake account, but still funny though.

[Drenchk101]

Not to mention the fact that it consistently deletes your saved campaign data.

[Symonator]

this is totally FAKE.

[SharnOfTheDEAD]

Im gutted just got premium. . Cant get in any china rising games and its crashed in each game I've played. Regret spending my money now :(

[WitWolfy]

I concur... Takes ages to get into a server plagued by aimbots and cheaters and the game isnt even 7 months old yet.. What a disappointment!!!

thought punkbuster was suppose to block all of that crap!!!

[worldwidegaming]

Its too late guys! They have your money already and of course just like the sun rising on a daily basis you guys will buy it again. They know this and they will keep feeding you half a assed product. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for us. I am sure the programmers are bullied into agreeing with management about how READY a product is. Games these days are all in beta and we are the PAYING beta players.