DICE recently employed a new Community Manager, 'zh1nt0', who came onboard and immediately declared his competitive experiences and aspirations for the Battlefield series. With an approachable style and daily updates via Twitter, the Battlefield Blog and the EA Forums, his appointment has been met with a positive response from all sections of the community.

However, many players still felt that there had to be some solid support for competitive gameplay in the near future to retain the majority of players wishing to take Battlefield to that next level. With ESL already rejecting the game for EMS due to lack of competitive support, some tough questions needed to be answered.

With that in mind, Martin 'nKM' Bowman brings you an exclusive interview with the new DICE Community Manager regarding competitive Bad Company 2:

Hi Daniel, thanks for agreeing to talk to me about competitive BFBC2.

Congratulations on your new job as the Battlefield Community Manager at DICE. How are you settling in on your new role and what are your first impressions of the tasks at hand?

My role at DICE is officially called “Community Manager”. This is a very broad term that includes all aspects of interacting with the community in one way or another. It could be from developing projects from information gathered from the community to posting on forums and interacting with the players. I’m settling in really good. DICE is a very large company with over 200 employees in the very heart of Stockholm.

A lot of the Battlefield Community members have asked find out more about you as you’ve mentioned you’re an active competitive gamer. Would you like to tell me a little bit about your background in competition and how you ended up applying for the role?

Well, I started playing actively when I was in middle school. I mainly focused on RPG games but as Q3 was released I was locked on FPS. Shortly after Q3, UT also caught my attention so I played both of these games for a while and still do sometimes. I later began playing the Battlefield games which were BF 1942, BFV, BF2 and also Bad Company 2. What really appealed to me was the multiplayer mode which was absolutely immense. That is also why i decided to compete in the different games in different leagues.

I actually studied to be a social science teacher, and later moved on to Public Relations and also Customer Relations. I felt the Community Manager role would fit me since I know these games by heart and I also have large plans for the BF Community in whole. It's all about having love for the game and the Community.

Many BC2 players are intrigued to see a competitive player in a position of responsibility at DICE. What’s your experience on a competitive eSports level and what’s your initial impression of how BC2 performs in that respect? We saw that you were recently in the finals of a tournament on the PS3?

First of all, my experience in competitive E-sports has always been a good one. Seeing as there used to be only a few countries always winning the same ladders, cups or tournaments over and over again, I find it very pleasing that new countries are competing at the same level. Ukraine, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and Estonia are a few countries that have developed into really good teams that I think can give anyone a run for their money.

I actually missed the final that I was supposed to play in. I was lured away by my friends to a cabin on the countryside which I despised from the first sight of it. I returned on Sunday with at least 40 mosquito bites and two ticks on my left leg just to see that the finals had already been played.

Bad Company 2 has suffered through lack of competitive functionality. Proper competitive support would revitalise the community, but is it too late for Bad Company 2?

Thanks for that info - Let’s get down to the business of competitive BC2 on PC.

I have recently given you a summary of all the feedback I’ve gathered from competitive gamers, many of whom are largely unimpressed with the lack of functionality and ‘console-like’ bugs which are hampering game play and turning away Battlefield veterans from the franchise.

Many players are disillusioned with DICE and are really looking for the new Community Manager to re-kindle the relationship between the competitive players and the developers. What message would you like to send out to all the Battlefield fans and competitive organisations who are already giving up on the Battlefield series due to a lack of support?

We are sorry that not all competitive gaming options made it into BC2 like we had in previous Battlefield titles. We however bare this in mind and really do evaluate all information sent to us via any branch of the community. The competitive scene is important to DICE and we are currently reviewing all input we are receiving. We also listen to the non competitive community.

There’s a general consensus that BC2 has been de-prioritized in favour of other DICE projects like MOH, with rumours that there is just one programmer working on patches. Many players are unhappy that Associate Producer Gordon Van Dyke stated that Bad Company 2 would have the largest post-release support team DICE has ever had in Battlefield, however the opposite seems to be the case.

Can you tell us how many people are actively working on BC2 at the moment and what priorities they are working towards at this stage of development?

There is a team called Operation which deals with Bad Company 2 after it was released. We are a dedicated team that work with the patches, community updates and other things related to the game. There are many different priorities such as technical issues, community managing but also to see how Bad Company 2 develops as a game and how it is received after the release. The Medal of Honor team is a separate team and are not connected to the BF team. Also, BC2 is a highly prioritized game at DICE.

You will no doubt know that the latest BC2 patch for PC has been fraught with numerous delays that have upset the community and led to the idea that DICE is not concerned with post-release support. Can you tell us where you stand on this?

Is there anything you can tell us about the frequency and direction of future support for this game as many of my peers have told me that they would happily pay a subscription or fee in return for proper competitive support in this game and future games from DICE?

Well, everyone at the office is working very hard to get the patches out in time. I am actually stunned by the level of dedication towards the game and the community. We must not forget that most of the people working at DICE play Battlefield on a regular basis. Post-release support for DICE is high priority and the support for all BF games are important.

Now that that’s cleared up – let’s talk about the competitive aspects of the game itself.

As a player, you will surely be aware of the lack of functionality that most FPS players in many games expect as a standard, including the likes of an end of round scoreboard, round timers, server-side admin functions and other major features to support the competitive game. Many Bad Company 2 players come from BF2 and BF2142 and are accustomed to a certain level of functionality.

Can you tell us if you plan to introduce a scoreboard to the PC version of Bad Company 2 which includes a ticket score, and whether DICE is open to feedback on what kind of support competitive players need server-side (on unranked servers)? I’m referring to basic requirement including a round timer, map restart function and other customizable global variables such as time limits, spawn delay/time, and limitations for kits – can you give a comment on these? Similar variables are standard in other games including Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142 which allowed leagues and ladders to iron out competitive rulesets, so can we expect to see similar features in BC2?

Well, some of the features were added into the latest R8 Patch. As I mentioned previously DICE reviews all feedback from the Community no matter what part of the Community the requests are coming from.

There are some minor but frustrating game play bugs which seriously affect competitive play, namely revive protection and the knife auto-aim. The revive protection seriously affects the balancing in matches, as the poor game mechanics facilitate a scenario where groups of medics are virtually ‘god-like’ as there’s no way to defend against them in any game mode in the game. The knife auto-aim is not considered necessary in competition play and generally people believe it is an ‘easy kill’.

Could DICE consider making these features server-side switches to keep the balancing that DICE has worked on, whilst still allowing the competitive gamers to flourish without being hindered by game play that is considered ‘flawed’ in eSports?

The revive protection is something we are investigating. We however don't have any plans on removing the knife auto-aim.

Another important feature that we miss from earlier Battlefield titles which is used extensively in other games is a 1st and 3rd person spectator mode (freecam), which essentially gives server admins and potential audiences the chance to watch live matches as they are played, facilitate game play monitoring for anti-cheat purposes and the ability for movie fans to create their own movies.

There’s strong support from gamers from the entire BC2 community to help develop and bring the game to the masses, and this functionality by itself would add a whole new layer and provide an opportunity for the competitive community to really push forward with BC2 as an eSports title. Where does DICE stand in reference to this, considering that it is built-in to many of their competitors’ games and Bad Company 2 has the potential to be such a interesting spectacle for gamers everywhere?

DICE has looked at the possibility of adding spectator mode in the game. This has however been set aside since the spectators take up spots on the server which could be used by active players.

Recently, the largest eSports organisation in Europe, ESL, confirmed that they would not be able to support Bad Company 2 as a competitive game as, amongst other reasons, there is no demo recording function. We are aware that there is the idea that server-side demo recording would cause performance issues server-side and detract from the overall experience whilst playing the game, but it is well known that other well-known games do full support demo recording client-side.

Competitive gaming on any game will always be seriously hampered without demo recording due to the great opportunities to crack down on cheaters in the game and the fact that it is a pre-requisite for any eSports title to be taken seriously. Bearing in mind that many players would pay for proper competitive support, what can you tell us about demo recording in BC2 and would DICE agree to explore any solutions hand-in-hand with the Battlefield community?

Battlerecorder is something we would like to add to Frostbite in the future. I am very eager to work with the competitive community and will review the input as much as I can.

Bad Company 2 players want to take the game to major events such as Dreamhack in the future - but it is reliant on support from developers to make it possible.

One thing that has been pointed out before is that competitive gaming is not a focus post-release for DICE in BC2 as it was not a focus during development. Many competitive gamers would like to change that and would like representatives of their community to have the chance to give their input at an early stage in development so that when a new DICE game is released, it possesses the basic mechanics that allows the competitive gaming community to fully support the game.

Although always a minority due blockbuster-style aggressive advertising campaigns that go with big publishers like EA, would you agree that competitive support as a whole has the potential to enhance the longevity and reputation of any new release and help develop a loyal fan base (see S2 Games, Valve and Splash Damage) to which both DICE and their customers can benefit from?

Of course competitive support is always important. E-sporting has been a part of the gaming galaxy ever since the early releases of Quake and UT and has gradually escalated to more enhanced games, larger leagues and a whole different market than there was let’s say 10 years ago.

The competitive aspects of the game need to be taken into consideration because it also helps the game to stay alive and be playable as the years go by.

In the future we are looking to invite community representatives and E-sports representatives to the office to discuss and vent their opinions which I think is a very good idea and supports the very essence of community communication. I will also gladly do interviews with the E-sport community. Let us also remember that changes take a while but I intend to keep this matter close at heart while I work as a Community Manager.

Everyone wants to smash through Strike at Karkand taking out buildings with tanks in full Frostbite glory! Do you have any thoughts on BF3 for the PC? Will it be the ultimate Battlefield game for the veterans?

I have no information about BF3.

Finally, thank you for taking the time to talk with me to answer some of the most pressing questions from competitive gamers. It is very much appreciated and a long time coming for some of our most patient players!

Could I maybe ask you to tell us what DICE would like the PC community to do to help develop Battlefield and push it as far as possible? Could we arrange community meetings, or potential meet-ups between Devs and Community Reps which could strengthen our relationship and help make Battlefield the most successful brand of FPS games of this decade?

Keep playing the game, and supporting the community with your ideas. I am currently working on some plans for the community and I would like to point to the fact that interviews such as these are a great way for the community and for DICE to give out information.

I have been with the BF community for years and have also seen all the creative solutions you guys come up with for the game. Everything from modifications, competitions and how to setup competitive games by using what you have in-game. What I would like to say is that there are a lot of people within the community who are creative and keep the different communities updated out of own free will which is very helpful. Without the help from community officials, members and forum posters news would spread very slowly.

So where do we go from here?

Well, that's a pretty hard question to answer now that we have had an official response on the main issues that affect competitive gaming in Bad Company 2.

My gut feeling is that the responses received are not particularly positive for the competitive community, and they will be met with a certain level of frustration. I see nothing in these response that could really help retain the competitive Battlefield gamers who feel they've been seconded in favour of 'public gamers' since the features they relied upon to play fairly and easily at the likes of ESL and Clanbase are now gone.

At this point in time, Bad Company 2 simply does not have enough competition support for it to last long term in the same way that games such as Call Of Duty 4 and Counter Strike have done. The lack of competitive support has already caused a big drop in activity and hype from its release. After 3 months of patches and bug-fixes, the game has not progressed enough from a competitive point of view to attract any new competitive players, and the remaining players like myself are quickly coming to the conclusion that we have a choice to make on whether we try to play through the frustrations and bugs knowing we will not be accepted into EMS at ESL and knowing we cannot play LAN events in the true sense of the word.

Many of our players are coming to the conclusion that they backed the wrong horse, again.

I am personally disappointed to see that DICE still cannot give us any solid responses on whether we are going to see competitive support. Their responses are too vague and not compelling enough to keeps gamers from moving elsewhere, and this is what is truly a shame for the Battlefield scene. For example, the decision to set aside spectator mode as it takes up slots on the server is a no brainer - teams will buy servers of 18 slots to meet the needs for 8v8 + 2 spectators for broadcasting or streaming purposes, or for admins to monitor gameplay. I really cannot see anyone having an issue with this, considering the potential benefits it could have for the competitive scene. Why it has been left out for this arbitrary reason up to now, I am not able to say.

There are some good things to take from the interview - we finally have a point of contact who is willing to take onboard the competitive aspirations of the community, and we have seen that zh1nt0 is at least making an effort to keep an eye on the competitive gaming scene. He is motivated, approachable and passionate about the PC gamers as well as the console players. This is something that was always missing from previous BF series games, and it's definitely something to be positive about for the future. We have also managed to open up a dialogue with the devs, and DICE insist they are listening to what we have to say so who knows, maybe they will pull through at some point for the competitive players.

My worry is, and one that I know many of my peers share, is that there isn't going to be anything like the support from the community as there was in the last couple of months. The hype is gone. Other developers are bringing out new games in the next few months that are much more promising for competitive gaming, and many of our players are coming to the conclusion that they backed the wrong horse, again. DICE has not focused on competitive functionality during development and three months down the line there is not yet any confirmed news on features actually being added for the benefit of competitive gaming. For this reason, the scene will shrink from one full of promise and carrying momentum to one that is stagnant, lacking a focus and consisting of a majority of disgruntled players who have become used to adapting to the games flaws while they wait for the next competitive game to come along, at which point they will drop out of Battlefield completely.

Maybe I am wrong, and I do encourage the community to comment on this article and let DICE know thier feelings in a useful way, as I did ask zh1nt0 to take stock of the feedback he receives.

It's an unfortunate time for Battlefield, and I genuinely think that this scene is not going to last beyond the iSeries in August unless plans are confirmed very soon for competitive support. It's a matter of too little, too late; unless DICE make some sort of announcement for competitive players in the next few weeks