Titanfall Dev Gives Lots of Details on 6 vs 6 Player Count: “a TON of Debate” About it at Respawn

The unveiling of the six versus six player count of Titanfall caused quite a stir between the fanbase, and developers are sparing no effort to defend the design choice. One of Respawn Interactive’s devs took upon himself to address the rather difficult crowd of NeoGaf sharing a large amount of details on what caused the decision and on why it’s better for the game.

[iamnsuperman]

"The point is that adding more players to a finely designed game doesn’t instantly make it better."

Yet they are adding bots. I guess the bots could be used to direct the game. They need to come out (sooner rather than later) and explain exact what the bots do and what role the play. At the moment the explanation for the inclusion of the AI is quite contradicting and very vague

[TomShoe]

Eh...it feels too much like "Combat Training" in Black Ops II for me to be very confident in this 6v6 right now.

Are the bots supposed to play like actual players, with good skill and a fairly even K/D? Or do they act like grunts, where their only purpose is to keep the action going, like in LoL? I'm guessing it's the latter, to make sure everyone gets good K/Ds so no one feels "bad" at the game. But the good players should always rise to the top, that's the point of a competitive multiplayer shooter. A guy shouldn't be at the top of the leaderboard slaying bots all game.

[Wizard_King]

As if you guys haven't figured it out yet?

the whole 6 v 6 thing is because they are releasing this on the Xbox 360 as well as the One and PC. This game being on the 360 has gimped it because the 360 can not handle any bigger maps or more players.

If this game where exclusive to PC and next gen then things would be looking much better.

Of course this game was going to be gimped, it has to fit on the lowest common denominator.

[Wizard_King]

SO I'm wrong and it has nothing to do with the 360 at all right?

Its juts that the Xbox one is a weak piece of crap hey? It couldn't possibly handle this game.

/s

SMH....

Stay ignorant fanboys N4G and please never change

[Philoctetes]

Not sure why people are disagreeing with Wizard_King. This thing is obviously gimped thanks to being a cross-gen title. If it was current-gen-only it could probably handle more players, but the 360 is holding it back.

[Volkama]

Wizard you're getting disagrees because it is currently common practice for FPS games to have a different playercount on the old gen versions (see COD and Battlefield).

The 360 version is a port being handled externally to Respawn. We don't have any idea if/how it is different to the One/PC versions yet, you what you have stated as obvious fact is actually just speculative.

[kiz2694]

@Wizard King

So BF4 on Ps4/X1 was gimped by current gen versions? Nope. Double over better graphics and nearly 3x the amount of player count.

[Eonjay]

Umm... just give people chance to set up the game options they want. Is there only one game mode? Come on, this should not be an issue.

[maniacmayhem]

Wizard King you're wrong because a different team is developing a different version of Titanfall for the 360. Respawn hasn't even touched the game for the 360.

[P0werVR]

The game is going to be epic. I hope they have chain executions on the AI. And hope the AI uses teh Cloud Computing for a more MP immersion with great story and action. WOW innovative things on the rise.

[UnHoly_One]

The reason people are disagreeing about cross-gen being a reason for this are disagreeing because that is stupid nonsense. The machine running it has nothing to do with the player count. It's a design choice.

The Last of Us multiplayer was what, 4v4? 5v5? I can't remember. Battlefield 3 on the PS3 was 16v16, right? They were on the same console, why weren't they the same?

[NewMonday]

Titanfall is looking like a rushed game to save a panicked MS

it is obvious the game needs time to balance the MP but EA are doing another butchering job to appease MS.

[jayswolo]

they aren't bots. They are AI teammates. Footsoldiers. About a dozen per team. And then are may be NPCs who control their own titans. People also ignore the fact that Titans have an auto pilot, so that means there can be 12 active titans, a ton of AI soldiers, and 12 players all at once.

[NewMonday]

any non human is a bot, pure and simple.

[dcbronco]

@jayswolo

Others aren't thinking outside the box. If you can have some control over both the Titan and two (normally)NPCs, they would be better than claymores and bouncing betties at watching your back. Plus if they use a AI system like Forza to help them learn to react more human like it should be nice in the beginning and get better with time.

[jimbobwahey]

Yeah, it's a contradiction. They make excuses for keeping the playercount low but then need to pad the game out with bots to make up for the lack of players.

A big budget supposedly AAA FPS multiplayer game in 2014 with only 6v6 is quite frankly pathetic. Then again there's been reports that they've been struggling hitting 720p 60fps on Xbox One, so they've obviously had to lower the player count because of that and are dropping excuses now to justify it.

Weak.

[Jawgasim]

I don't know if you take it really hard from behind by Sony or if you just like to be indifferent but it's been confirmed that 6v6 is also on the PC version. Are you trying to pretend that most PCs struggle with 720p and 60fps?
It's not a hardware thing, obviously, it's just a weird decision the developers made. Give it a try and then go back to banging your other console.

#PlayGamesNotBrands

[Wizard_King]

I am not a fan of the Xbox one at all but I can say that the reason this game is having issues is much the same as BF4.

To many platforms at once, they never should have developed this game for the Xbox 360 at all, it should have been pure next gen.

Xbox 360 = 512MB RAM
Xbox One = 8096MB RAM

its easy to see they want the game to be the same on both platforms, thus gimping it for next gen owners.

even the whole bit about the cloud controlled bots shows that the cloud is just making up the gap in what the 360 can't do and the One can do. If this was just on Xbox one we wouldn't see any bots just human players.

[Jawgasim]

You can call me a fan if you want, I've owned every console since the Nintendo 64. I play good games not brands.
I own both the PS4 and the Xbone, I enjoy them both and am happy to have both of them.

I singled you out as a PS fanboy because of your continuous vexation towards Xbox products.

Just for your information, I've encountered games on both platforms that struggle to maintain 60fps so I don't think its just an Xbox thing.

Anyway, you enjoy being restricted to one console and pretending you're a real gamer. Real gamers play games not companies. Embrace everything.

[jimbobwahey]

Hate to break it to you Jawgasim since you're obviously really clutching to the impression that I'm a PS4 owner, but I'm not restricted to any one platform at all, I just don't buy junk and will criticize stuff that's bad :)

If your only reaction to somebody criticizing your precious videogames is to whine and cry about them being PS4 owners, then that reflects worse on you for being a fanboy, not anyone else :D

[Jawgasim]

I'm not complaining about you owning a PlayStation, that would be hypocritical of me, I'm just saying that it's childish and slightly naive to complain about a console and game you don't own and haven't played.

If I hated PlayStation owners I would be a self-hating gamer. I'm quite the opposite, I enjoy the friends I have on PSN and we have a great time playing amazing games together.

You say you criticize bad stuff, but I'm sure if you look hard enough at any product that you can find problems with them. I can name flaws with the Wii U, Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.. I can also name a lot of great things about each console.

How can you enjoy everything if you only have one console? You're going to miss out on so many amazing games.

[k3rn3ll]

Yet everyone is clamoring over evve and that doesn't have a high player count

EDIT: EVOLVE *** SORRY ON PHONE AND ITS EARLY

[Marcuskac2]

Honestly, what did you expect from these people, they worked on Call of Duty (Infinity Ward) so they pretty much mastered the art of scamming people and milking as much money from a game.I was never really hyped for this game.

[Gazondaily]

I'm not bothered by the player count at all. Trust me, when you play it, it's just intense.

There is so much going on that it can be quite overwhelming. All I remember from my playthrough is shrapnel, metal and gliding through rooftops lol.

The small player count doesn't take away from the game. Wait for March to see why.

[christocolus]

Totally agree. All those who played it had so many great things to say about the experience they had. Its going to be an amazing game and i cant wait to get my hands on it.

Those who dont like 6 vs 6 can wait for the sequel and stop downplaying this cos like it or not this game is going to be huge.

[UnHoly_One]

No reason to believe the sequel will change much.

Gears of war went from 4v4 to 5v5, but never higher.

[devwan]

In hindsight is was probably not the best idea to give out the 6v6 information without fleshing out how the game will work and what part the other elements will play.

They say all publicity is good publicity, but I'm not so sure, titanfall has been hyped into the stratosphere already, there's only one way to go from there. Brought it on themselves. Hopefully their game lives up to it and doesn't only appeal to a limited amount of multiplayer FPS fans.

[oof46]

Yes. I think people are thinking that there will be AI piloting Titans and filling out open slots, but, from what I've seen on youtube, that is not the case. The AI work like the creeps in DOTA 2 or they are just general grunts for players to shoot at.

But Respawn should have CLEARLY explained this before revealing 6 vs 6.

[B-radical]

They dont want you to call the A.I bots......apparently there different

[jimbobwahey]

They don't like people calling the titans mechs either.

Everybody knows that they're mechs though, just like everybody knows the game is populated with bots, which are AI anyways. Trying to differentiate between bots and AI is utterly moronic of Respawn, they're the same freakin' thing.

[UnHoly_One]

They aren't the same thing if they behave differently.

"Bots" run around the map and attempt to play like a real player.

These "AI" are not like the Titan pilots that you play as, and aren't going to just run around willy nilly trying to make you think they are a human. They are going to fulfill specific roles. Like taking defensive positions around an objective, for instance.

At a barebones minimum definition of "bot", you could say they are the same, yes, but I think they have a very valid reason for referring to them differently.

[pompombrum]

Agreed...I don't mind 6v6 being the maximum number of players.. in fact I'd argue I prefer small arena style gameplay. However, the inclusion of bots has me very worried and is something I'm instantly put off by.

[quaneylfc]

It is definitely the Sony fans trying to console(get it?) themselves because they don't have it. that's what Fanboyism is, people hating things they don't have so they can feel better. since when was 6v6 bad? it's from the creators of COD and no one knows how big the maps are. it's funny because no one is thinking of Titanfall 2 because they think it will have more players, it won't because that would contradict the reason of "it's more fun with 6v6."

If you are a simpleton you can complain about it being Titanfail and it is shit but the AI is obviously making a difference, not only to the "mental" playing style of the game but to the expectations of a Multiplayer game. this for me is accomplished by DICE with battlefield, whenever I can get into a game on my own (I hate playing Multiplayer games on my own.) I don't think of it as Multiplayer as much as an open world game that is easier to play. Titanfall will be the same, you will go into each game relaxed like you are starting a single player level instead of thinking of all of the "real" players coming to get you.

to all the Fanboy arseholes trying to ruin it for me: I get it and i can get the game, you can't for both- YOU DON'T GET THE POINT OF AI AND YOU CANNOT GET THE GAME...so stop voicing your incredibly naive opinions, ta

[Fishy Fingers]

So your saying this is good because it allows you to play a MP game but under the impression it could be SP?

Each to their own, but I play multiplayer to experience the thrill of testing myself against other players. Bots/AI are fine for training or single player sessions, but the satisfaction comes from killing other gamers. At least for me.

Regardless I'll be playing day one, I just hope there is an easy way to differentiate between gamer and AI.

[N4OGs]

6vs6 is bad when its the maximum player count on a war game with mechs. I want D-Day storming the beach of normandy type battles in a game like this.
6vs6 is just for high end competitive play only. Like when you see people winning money at tournaments. because the lower player count requires everyone on the team to just be as skilled as you otherwise your whole team gonna get killed over and over and rage quit. or you will be to good and killing the same 6 people over and over. Thats how it is in any low player count game i played. I either kill the same few people over and over untill they dont want to play the game anymore because im to good or the other way around.

In bigger player count games like warhawk, battlefield, killzone etc you will see less people quit and more people have a shot at least getting one kill because they arent getting focused on and hunted down. bigger player games allow for continuos play no waiting for people to respawn, if you are really good at the game and are owning people left and right its still fun because theres so many people coming at you you feel like John Rambo.

why you want these small jason bourne type battles when you can have bigger better john rambo epic matches.

To many people keep wanting that small squad 6vs 6 gameplay because they cant handle or cut it in big player matches because to much going on for them. I on the other hand shine even brighter. Rambo style surviving and killing people.

I dont want basketball size matches. I want foootball style sized matches you see which sport is better? the ones with the bigger player count both football and american foootball aka soccer have the largest player counts and are the 2 best sports in the world. the more the better its always been this way unless you cant handle it.

[quaneylfc]

I'm not saying that i think of it as a single player game. I'm saying that you can play this game with a relaxed head on your shoulders compared to fast paced mp games like cod. I feel more relaxed when I play battlefield; i used to like the challenge of pure Multiplayer but now i can't be bothered. I'm too old and too rich for it.

[Volkama]

The bots are not intended to replace players, they are grunts that supposedly serve a strategic purpose (you can kill them or "data knife" convert them to your cause). They will also make bad* players feel like they're more than a punching bag.

I am quite curious about the AI, as it's seemingly a quite big feature but we know very little about it so far. I don't really see that they "need to come out (sooner rather than later)" though, what they need to do is get the end result right.

[gamer2013]

I'm thinking that Respawn are using Azure to beef up the AI in the same way that Turn 10 is. If that's the case then i'm very intrigued.

[solar]

And now I don't care about Titanfall anymore

[ambientFLIER]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[malokevi]

Good enough for me. The explanation is thorough and well thought out. I'm happy with it. So long as it feels like there's a lot going on, I'll be pleased. Can't wait to give it a go!

What a great dev team, addressing concerns so quickly like that. Kudos to Respawn.

edit:

"Its also why we took an extremely early pre-alpha build of the game to events like Gamescom, PAX, etc. to let normal dudes hands-on time with the game. There’s no amount of polished marketing that can replace playing the actual game."

=0 pre-alpha?!?! Holy smokes batman! The type of game you can't truly appreciate until you play... it's little comments like those that keeps my excitement piqued for this game. *drools everywhere*

[VENOMACR1227]

Last I checked, Gears of War sold pretty well and has only 5v5 multiplayer (I think that's right). Battlefield has 64, so now that's the standard? I remember the original Forza only had like 8 player online. Now it's like 16. Does that make it any better? No because now you have 16 cars smashing their way into a turn. More doesn't mean better. Let's actually play the game before everyone rips it to shreds. Don't forget, you can put the Titan in autopilot mode, so thats 12 human's and 12 Titan's potentially on the battlefield. 24 total characters on the map, that's not bad. And it wouldn't be much fun to walk around in a Titan and blow up within 15 seconds because there are 13 other Titan's walking around.

[MestreRothN4G]

This point is indeed confusing, but in the end, the idea is to direct the gameplay, the focus on the battles, maybe lead the players a bit.

Actually, this can work as a very much needed GUIDE for multiplayer matches, leading players towards the objectives, screwing those respawn killers, random players or campers.

I don't think I'll like Titanfall, much more because I'm not much into gaming on PC, but these guys are doing a great PR job by addressing this issue while the discussion is hot.

Props to them for the guts and intelligence.

-

PS:
He indeed acts a little bit naively, as when he writes: "Ask yourselves, why do you want more players?"
The answers is basically "not COD-small maps".

[iceman06]

I agree. To your point about why people want more players? It's pretty easy to answer. When they revealed the game, it looked like there would be more players. People envisioned these large scaled battles being played out on large maps with them being human controlled. I don't think that anyone thought that many of those would be AI or bots. So, people were "let down". Now, this isn't to say that the game won't work or will suck because the player count is "low". It's really saying that people's expectations, following what they saw, weren't met.

[wcas]

The X1 is limiting what they can do with the game. Plain and simple.

[bennissimo]

Like your opinion is limiting the potential enjoyment you get from gaming.

[bennissimo]

The bots are cannon fodder that amplify the pace of the game.

When you play it, you'll understand.

[TradingWarStories]

Don't get why people are making a big deal out of it, nobody on this forum has played it, so I guess we should hold out on the prejudices.

Also having played Last of US 4 v 4 MP I couldn't care less if it was 2 v 2 as long as the experience is good.

[kratoz1209]

Still 6v6 is a bit of a joke for a game like this..

but i will wait, Uncharteds MP was amazing and that was only 5v5

[amiga-man]

Though 6x6 sounds disapointing, in fact is disapointing to many, if done right it might work, one things for sure though this game is not selling itself very well, if it turns out to be 6x6 and 720p as expected it is hardly coming across as a full on next gen title.

[VENOMACR1227]

720 won't stop people from buying it. With all the stuff blowing up and going on around you, you won't have time to stare at a tree branch and go "well, that would look more clear in 1080." People need to let go of the resolution and focus on the gameplay itself. I'd rather have a game that runs at 60fps and 720 then 1080 and 30fps. But that's a personal opinion. I guess some people just want a game to be pretty but play and run like crap.

[amiga-man]

Whats wrong with wanting a game that plays and runs great with the best looking visuals?

your selling yourself short my friend.

[princejb134]

But that's uncharted. Uncharted doesn't have big robots especially since the gameplay trailers we seen showed more than 6vs6
But who knows it could work. We'll just have to wait for the game to be released

[B-radical]

Trailers showed more then 12 mechs on screen at once?

[N4OGs]

uncharted is not a war game though and had maps that fit the style of play because of the cover system, the climbing and jumping and stuff you can do in the game. the arenas are smaller to so you can always run into people. The minute you bring super jumping,mechs, big maps and areas into the fold the game has to support more players especially a war game thats MP only.

uncharted had a full on single player and the mp was extra. same with the last of us. Those games were slower speed duck and cover and sneak type games.
war games are not that.

[EffectO]

More like,

Caused the stir among concerned trolls and websites hitting for clicks.

[Kevlar009]

I think it's sad games need to have the highest of everything to be worthy. A game can't just be fun, it has to have 60 fps, 1080p, PC level graphics and 32v32 multiplayer (at least for an FPS).

I played TitanFall at PAX and I did not notice the smaller player pool. Quite frankly I couldn't tell the difference between AI and player on my initial run, and I didn't really care. Playing this game on a big HD TV and headphones was an amazing experience

TitanFall is all about having fun, what's wrong with that?

[deepio]

Agreed. Look's like it wasn't decision taken lightly and seems to be based on a sweet spot for the fun factor.

[N4OGs]

More people have fun playing in bigger matches or co-op. less fun is the smaller matches especially for people who arent good at shooters and what not because like i said you have no chance of getting a kill with such low player counts unless you have some skills. everyone can just focus on you for an easy kill in a lower player count game. in bigger matches they cant focus on you and you can sneak around and get a few kills in. Even in bigger matches the better players still shine. You would always see me in the top 3 in warhawk.

but bigger matches allow for the not so good people to contribute and have fun to communicating with the many people on your team having a good time talking and laughing and planning stuff.

This game will not do well or have a long lasting player base with such a low player count ike that with no single player.

every other game that has low player count has a single player or co-op.

[Zichu]

To most people, fun is a bad thing. Everyone is turning into some elitist who thinks games need to have the best everything to be considered good. They most likely won't get games that gets less than an 8/10 in reviews.

True gamers are being outnumbered by casuals, dudebros and elitists who think they know better, but they don't. The developers know better, this is what they are paid to do, they have most likely tested this game with more than 6v6 and it probably wasn't right. Too many Titans, most likely. Why else would they keep the PC version at 6v6 as well??

[TomShoe]

It's not that the game isn't fun. It's just that this is a little disappointing given how strong the hype is for the game.

This is the game that is supposed to kill Call of Duty.

This is the game that is supposed to revive the FPS genre and save the Xbox One.

This is the game that is supposed to show off the true power of the Xbox on the "cloud" we've heard so much about.

Basically, there is a LOT riding on this game, and we all need it to do well if we expect a sequel and less CoD Domination.

It's not getting off to a great start.

[Zichu]

Who has said that it's supposed to be the CoD killer, the FPS reviver? Pretty sure the internet are hyping up this game way too much. It looks like an amazing game and I am excited for it, but I don't expect it to be a CoD killer.

People need to seriously relax, calm down and not blow everything out of proportion. Stop having high hopes for so many different games, because even the slightest change or direction a game goes that you don't agree with suddenly puts you off the game completely.

I'm not directly talking about you, just people in general.

[raWfodog]

I agree with you that people usually hype a particular game up so much that when it falls slightly short of their expectations, they immediately start hating on it. Not just for this game but for games in general.

I also have many games that I'm really excited for like Destiny and The Division but I try to keep my overall expectations low to avoid potential disappointment.

[tommygunzII]

An old saying in sports is that a coach or general manager “who listens to the fans ends up sitting with them.” Fans are important, but the coach or general manager has the best knowledge of the team and gets paid for that specialized knowledge.

Best thing to do in my opinion is to just ignore them. Once you engage the fans they expect to be heard and that usually leads to problems.

[DanielGearSolid]

So now it's a bad thing to enjoy large scale battles?

Different ppl like different things, and they could've easily giving the gamer the option for higher or lower player counts.

[CrossingEden]

No it's not a bad thing to enjoy large scale battles, but it IS a bad thing to rag on an unreleased game for not have 256 players.

[green]

Key word "enjoy". What is the point of large scale battles if they are not enjoyable? Would you rather have a smaller scale battle that was perfectly balanced and enjoyable than a large scale one that has poos balancing and ends up being horrible?

[Kevlar009]

It's not bad to have a lot of people. But there are people who think having only 6v6 makes it less of a game, which isn't necessarily true. It's easy as an observer to say "more is better" or "6v6 is too low" but unless you are the one actually developing the game such statements are to an extent unfounded.

Once people start playing the game most of them won't care or even notice. Does having only 6v6 ruin the fun of getting 13+ friends on a single game? Yes. But in the end game balance and enjoyment is what really matters.

One comparison we can make here is games that are single player-only versus games that have both single and multiplayer. Just like how a game doesn't need multiplayer to be worthy of $60 or high scores Titanfall doesn't need 16 on 16 to be a quality game.

I'm going to be honest here for a moment. I scoffed at the idea of Titanfall being only multiplayer. I thought games needed to have singleplayer campaigns, if they didn't the Dev was just being lazy or took the easy route , because in my mind creating a strong story and characters was more difficult than making multiplayer.

Playing the game at PAX truly opened my eyes. The work put into pacing, control fluidity, in-game commentary that simulated single player, and pure excitement too me by surprise. A game can live on "just" multiplayer provided it's as memorable and made with as much hard work as a single player experience. Titanfall can live with "just" 6v6.

[DanielGearSolid]

Ppl arent ragging on 6vs6 battles because its 6vs6, they're ragging on that being the maximum amount...

Zampella said it could be higher, so why not let gamers decide wats more fun?

[jukins]

@DanielGearSolid "Zampella said it could be higher, so why not let gamers decide wats more fun?"

Because when gamers decide we end up with Call of duty and its imitators released on an annual basis.

[DanielGearSolid]

@Junkins

So many things wrong with this comment...

First of all the game already controls like Call of Duty

Second, give me an example of gamers "deciding" they want a Call Of Duty clone... Stop making claims speaking for gamers as a whole when you have no clue...

Third dont "gamers" include you? Or are you some ascended omni-gamer with superior gaming intelligence?

Fourth Why is it wrong for Gamers to like COD style games now? Ppl are entitled to their own opinions

[maniacmayhem]

It's not bad to like large scale battle with high player count but as the developer has said and what we should understand is THIS IS NOT THAT GAME for higher player count.

"Vince is right - we tried a huge amount of playercounts (all the way down to 1v1 and up quite high) and designed the maps, gameplay mechanics, and entire experience around which played best. If anyone wants to chase the numbers game, perhaps we're not the experience they're after? I dunno."

If you want a game with huge players running around and hardly any team work then play BF4 and that should be the end of that. But to sit here and rag on Titanfall without even playing it is plain stupid.

Everyone who has played this game has praised and said it is fun as all get out. Not once did anyone complain about 6 on 6.

Now you can try and say that the people playing didn't know it was only 6 on 6 and if so that means the game is an even bigger fun-beast because of that aspect alone.

[bjmartynhak]

Thanks you,

I wanted to write the same comment.

60 fps
1080p
32v32

What else? Second screen? multiplayer & single player? Social stuff?

Gaming discussion in becoming a matter of numbers and checklists.. it's sad

[Volkama]

These soldiers had damn well better have 12 fingers. This is next gen!

[Moncole]

Why wold anyone want social stuff in their games?

[JackISbacK]

man 6vs6 is realy low but if it is due to desigh decision and want the quality at the top then its a no problem for me i've played this game at pax and it feels dam great even with 6vs ,even i was'nt realising its 6vs6 ,sony fanboy are raging war on this site ,but when i played it was really enjoyable ,i can live with it forever and can play it for long time this is waht the role every game must play and i think it served very well when i played and it feels magical and great,probably those minutes were the best time in gaming and i cant wait to get it home.

[snake_eater]

It's a shame they went with ea on this one and excluding ps4 and steam is completely unacceptable.

[mhunterjr]

Let them design an balance the game the way they see fit. Just arbitrarily upping the player count won't instantly make any game better.

I'm not sure what the player count was at the various conventions, but everyone seems to have had a ton of fun... Yet here we go again, people bitching over numbers instead of the game itself.

[MonChiChi]

Will still give PC version a try. Player count is low and I do enjoy big maps with a decent size of players, but some games had low counts and did just fine. Imo people just jumped the gun claiming this to be GOTY. We can only blame ourselves for people being upset about this news due to the hype we gave.

I am sure the devs know what they are doing and I am sure it will be just fine.

[Einhert]

Bots are absolutely no replacement for players,

If it is a majority bots with story based objectives then how are they going to keep the maps/missions fresh?

Are the bots not going to do the same thing every time you play that mission? If they have tried to add scripts for them to move like actual players then that will fail.

And why not harness the power of the PC? Why can it not have bigger maps with more players if the limiting factor is indeed hardware? If it is I am so sick of game development being held back by constraints.

Also I do love all the people commenting on these articles with snide remarks about how "people think they are game designers"....NO we are not but we can recognise a bad decision, developers even the best can make horrible decisions.

[annus]

Why do you think 'scripts' to act as players is bad? They would be collecting so much data from each user, and then processing it, they could literally make AI that you can't even tell the difference between AI or not.

And they have stated it's a design decision, they tried less, they tried more, and they found 6v6 to be the sweet spot so they designed their maps based on that.

[Einhert]

First off it is NOT AI, It is just scripts running around, Artificial Intelligence is a way off.

Scripted bots will not compare to human players, and you are talking out of your annus if you think that they can replicate player behaviour and that in itself is a contradiction, WHY would you want to replicate player behaviour when you can just have players?

The decision has no sense and no basis. They call it game design, I am going to call it failing with inferior hardware.

Like a guy above me said it is a contradiction, they reduce the player number then pad the game with bots to make up for the lack of players.

[annus]

I'd recommend you go learn what you are talking about before you try and have a discussion on it.

AI uses some form of scripting, otherwise it doesn't know what the hell it is meant to do with it's choices and what it has learned. And the whole point of the 'cloud' is to generate that AI and be able to dynamically change it, to LEARN (spoilers: that's AI).

And it sure isn't a hardware problem. They are still rendering the same amount onscreen, they still have to use the CPU for the ai to figure out where to go and what to do, so how is it any different? Unless of course you are implying that Respawn don't have the servers to handle more than 12 players, in which case you are kidding yourself.

And yet again I will say it, it's been said that bot's do not play the same role as players.

[jukins]

Bots may not be a replacement for players but having more players isnt always a good thing. More often than not in team based multiplayer the higher the player count the more likely it is you'll have people doing there own thing not worried about team play at all. I think we should honestly all stop and wait for the game to actually come out give it a chance then rave or rag on it then.

Also not sure why you can't fathom this being a design decision and are calling out "inferior hardware". I mean if it was that they could just scale it per platform like EA does with battlefield on pc vs consoles.

[monkeyDzoro]

The problem here isn't that it's 6vs6. The problem is given the hype, the scale of this game and the fact it's multiplayer ONLY, we would have expected it to be at least 12vs12. Moreover, And the game introduced those big Titans, which means bigger space for them to move around.
People say "it's all about fun"... yeah. Well 24 players on a map is way funnier than 6vs6 because the more people there are, the more action there is. It could be messy at times but very very funny.

[N4OGs]

I agree larger player counts is more fun. Lower player count is for competition and brings on stress and such for everyone. A bad player in a 16vs16 wont ruin the game but one in 6vs6 seals your fate.

the bigger the player count the more of a chance for everyone to contribute and have fun.

The smaller the player count the more it benefits the top 1% because they now have less threats to deal with in battle. and by top 1% i mean the dudes who take games way to seriously and competitvely and start using measuring sticks and such and tapping stuff to there tv screens to get kills on people.
those type of people in 6vs6 will ruin the game. in 16vs16 you cant ruin the game and people wont be quitting or disconnecting to where its 2 vs 5 and such.

[jetlian]

I want to see all 12 titans at once in a hugh clash! its gonna be badass. No amount of hate is gonna stop this game.

bet this out sells IF:SS

[1lawrence]

Not the next version remember infamous is ps4 exclusive titanfall is on 360 xbox1 pc so on three platforms overall it Better sell more but I bet xbox 1 version won't sell better than infamous 4 ps4

[jetlian]

doesn't matter how it gets done fact is demand is there. if people really want it they'll get it. infamous is a 1-2 million seller.

ps4 4.2 million sles should all be hardcore gamers. therefore it should sell to the same 1-2 the previous games sold

edit: seems this article was reopened

[Akira2020]

I too played this game briefly at PAX (they only gave us 15 minutes). It seemed very fast paced and death came all the time. I had a hard time enjoying the game because of all the commotion that was going on. I think too many people were quick to rule this game the best next gen game coming out.

Though I really love the team at Respawn, I think too many people (especially gaming sites) jumped the gun by praising this game as the best next gen shooter by only playing it for about 15 minutes.

I thought the 6v6 was just for our demo purposes....wow, didn't think it was going to be the final multiplayer number.

[jetlian]

59 comments from a 2011 account oh k! if your going to troll atleast be consistant. 1st you claimed you died to fast then your complain you thought 6v6 was only for the demo.

i guess you want it 4v4 lol

[Akira2020]

When did I post that "I" died fast? And when is it trolling to post ones' experience with a game?

.....sheesh, 100,000 sperm and you were the fastest?

[jetlian]

"i too played this game briefly at PAX (they only gave us 15 minutes). It seemed very fast paced and death came all the time"

all the time seems fast to me or your saying you suck with only 6 players. either way 6 seem like more than you could handle.

[jukins]

I was surprise at the "low" player count but now that Im thinking about it if the bots are designed in such a way to make sure the game is played a certain way it could still end up being a good game.

For example battlefield 4 has a high player count but how often are all those players working together. often times I find that squad leaders are not setting objectives, squadmates are spread across 5 different capture points no healing or ammo replenishment. I know i'll get some disagrees because this is sony land (even though I'm primarily a playstation gamer) but I think the 6vs6 with well designed AI could actually help the game flow.

[aaronobst]

I don't see the problem here The Last of Us and Uncharted have similar player counts and their MP is a blast.

[barb_wire]

But those games aren't centered around giant mechs blasting each other to bits.

[1lawrence]

There slow pace games Titan fall don't move like socom last of us etc

[iceman06]

The comparisons between games like Gears, The Last Of Us, and Uncharted are way off base. None of those games present a bombastic, huge scaled battle. Even the maps in those games were smaller and more intimate. Titanfall, from the presentation and gameplay trailers, seemed to show large scaled assaults with infantry and titans. Players were all over the place. Now, we see that many of those players are AI scripts and there are 6 players per team. It's a natural response to feel a bit let down. That being said, it's the developers choice. They are creating THEIR vision of the game. It's up to gamers to either trust that the devs know what they are doing...or just forgo the purchase. Either way, the game seems promising enough to warrant a try.

[Sven Benoit]

Looks like we are playing the numbers game AGAIN.... SMFH....

[moujahed]

I do recall saying this game will disappoint a lot of ppl

[cyclindk]

If it isn't a hardware limitation, or their own limitation, put in a Mode with higher player count, what could it hurt to at least give people an option?

If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out...

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Then people will complain about balancing. It's just not as easy as pushing a number up.

[lonewolfjedi]

well this whats happens when your game is wayyyy overhyped. we still don't know the purpose of the bots or how many of them in game.

[gedden7]

OK sorry I don't want to play a 6 v 6 game. End of story. This game will fail SUCH THE DISAPPOINTMENT...

[hankmoody]

Ten to one, you don't even have an XB1. Twenty to one, you WANT this game to fail for no reason that makes any sense.

[gedden7]

Umm i do have a xbone...

[BattleTorn]

I will be buying Titanfall either way.

But 6v6 is disappointing, in todays standards.

[SLUG]

i be getting the game too but to me its a risk if its not good to play with these ai i would be sad of the game

[TrueJerseyDevil]

10v10 would be the best In my opinion

[gedden7]

At the very lest it should have been 10 v 10

[drsfinest72]

love how people judge without playing the game

[GiantEnemyCrab]

was going to say the same thing. These people need to play it, the game is epic! Never did I think it needed more players or action on the screen. I trust these developers to make the best decisions for their game.

[BattleTorn]

Or.. could it be that they know more people will have more fun whilst not realizing half the players that they're 'owning' are bots....

[gedden7]

Umm we all judge without playing. What do we do when we see good looking trailer for any game before its released??? Get your game up..

[hankmoody]

And yet, even with all this clear explaining of their intentions, more than half of you aren't going to bother taking in what they're saying and will continue to focus on what isn't important here, i.e. resolution, player count, etc.

6v6 isn't a dealbreaker, at least not for me. If it is, find another game to play, it's that simple. At least play the game before you judge.

[AutoCad]

By fans being mad they mean PEOPLE who dont plan on buying an xbox1 right?

[Goldenarmz]

The amount of idiots on N4G is mind boggling, how can ANYBODY say the game isnt fun when no one has actually played the game. Can you guys just sit back and wait for the actual game to be released?? I mean really?? Why try to sound smart when you have no clue WTF you are talking about? I mean DAMN

[BattleTorn]

I don't see many people claim 6v6 is "no fun"

it's just not very impressive.

[SharnOfTheDEAD]

Thing is it's 6v6 with padding, giving you the illusion that you're in an epic battle by using bots as padding. People say Gears 4v4 was brilliant but thats down to map size, that wouldn't work on a map size of on BF4s paracel storm.... Titanfalls maps arent exactly small either, from how I look at it, its a 6v6 competative horde mode where 70% of your kills will be BOTS. That doesn't sound exciting to me.

[SpideySpeakz]

Powa of the cloud by butt. The Bone's 'exclusives' are a complete joke. This 6v6 is due to the Bone's hardware limitations. The Bone has become the new Wii U. Pathetic.

[ambientFLIER]

Yes...except it's 6 on 6 on the Xbox 360 too, and that system is several times less powerful, so wouldn't THAT system be the limiting factor, if anything? Nice trolling. Hopefully N4G changes the bubble system to where idiots like you can lose ALL bubbles for a period of time.

[BattleTorn]

Was the internal debate over whether they can manage to do more than 6v6 and if not whether they can get by with such a low count?

[Callediceman]

Question. Does anyone know what version people where playing during e3 and the other events? was it 6 v 6? Anyone who played have any insight on this?

[The_Truth_24_7]

8v8 will be DLC.

[SLUG]

i just no that the ai better be very good in this game if not i would be sad for a 6vs6 game

[wcas]

Respawn would not launch their new flagship title and limit it to what the 360 can do. It is being nerfed and limited to 6v6 because of what the X1 can't do. Respawn can thank EA who made a deal behind Respawns back for that. TF exclusive to X1, 360 and PC. There have already been rumors circulating of Respawns issues with X1. That is why MS is updating drivers to try and squeeze what they can out of the X1 to help.lol

[DomceM]

ahhh this game is on xbox 360 too?

Ok now we know why 6v6. Lol.

[jacksjus]

So if they made the games for themselves then why did they allow the name COD to get tied to this game? Why question what works for the people you are marketing it towards? Did you ask the people? Last I checked COD was making a billion dollars per release so no it's not a broken system no matter the few that complain about it because numbers don't lie. Notice people who complain about COD and BF4 actually own it. Activision and EA has already won.

If they want to suggest that everyone at least tries it before judging it, how about releasing a free demo version to be played on XBox prior to asking for $60? Doubt they will in fear that it will hurt the sells.

These guys are cocky as Hell but I wish them the best. I hope TF is a game changer because these guys will have miserable careers moving forward if otherwise.

[SLUG]

well said
i hope the ai is really good in this game last time i played a good ai game was on the ps3 Section 8 it was the best ai so far

[Ch1d0r1]

lawl 6vs6? In feet, how big are these maps? Hopefully the PC version is less limited.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Day one purchase.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

720p
mediocre graphics
6vs6
This game is not next gen in the slightest.

[CrowbaitBob]

Well, if what the devs say is true then this would have been 6v6 even if it were a PS4 exclusive. In that alternate reality I'd expect much the same reaction from the N4G community. Wait, no I wouldn't.

[MoveTheGlow]

I'm just glad they released more details instead of just being confrontational about it. That's exactly what they needed to do after that kinda dumb rant about "Don't judge it until you play it" they posted on GAF while leaking very sparse news about it and basically saying "Trust me, it's going to be good." Honestly, I wish studios were more forthcoming on their own about this stuff early on - maybe that's not how you get 1% more day-one purchases, but it builds trust.

"A driving mantra for this game, as cheesy as it sounds, is what we dubbed MLLM. Minute to Learn, Lifetime to Master. Like Chess, or Go. Players quickly feel like they can get in and have fun. Thats not the “hard” part to accomplish with this. The hard part is, after 5, 10, 20, 100 hours – what is the player learning? Are they feeling like they have the ability to increase their skill at the game, or have they hit a ceiling? Are their wins and losses based on something they have control over, or is it purely luck/chance? Higher than 6v6 was really fast ruining this goal."

THAT makes sense. I wish more restraint were imposed on designers like this, and I hope the game stands up to that design choice.

My PC will be waiting. Not one of those boxes or bones.

[Simco876]

So many haters lol, just move on from the game if 6v6 is too low for you.

[tommygunzII]

The just need to stick with mushroom management concerning the fans, anything else can be toxic in my opinion.

[Thomaticus]

6v6 is fine for certain games, but this game made me feel like there were going to be larger battles with a mech or two plus soldiers on foot. If it's 6v6 then it's 2 mechs and leavig 5v5 on foot. You can't totally judge the game, because it may work out fine. Having this information now with no gameplay to prove that this 6v6 number works just sounds so boring. It should be 6v6v6, or 10v10 sounds better. I just want this game to come out quick so they can make the true next gen sequel.