DICE has a lengthy blog in their ‘The Road to Battlefield 4’ series, with the studio explaining they wanted to make sure players had ”goals to aspire to at the end game”.
They’ve mixed the long-term with the short, as earlier ranks are loaded with rewards but the highest echelons of rank carry hidden gems too. Ribbons for everybody!
”We know our fans can spend literally hundreds of hours on the Battlefield. With Battlefield 4, we want to make sure players have goals to aspire to at the end game, while at the same time rewarding players at earlier ranks as well. Ribbons are the quick fixes, whether you’re a veteran or a newcomer to the series,” explains the DICE blog.
”You typically can get one or more of these in a single round if you perform well. They can be awarded for anything from repairing vehicles, capturing flags, or reviving team mates. There are 45 unique Ribbons in the game, and you can earn each of them an infinite number of times.”
Ranks are where the brags are, from 0 to 100. ”Rank is strictly a number that shows your dedication to the game, and each Rank has five sub-ranks denoted by Roman numerals – similar to the system used by the U.S. Marines. So at Rank 16 you’ll hit “Sergeant”, with Rank 20 being “Sergeant V” and Rank 21 bringing a new title (“Staff Sergeant”).”
How does Battlefield 4 measure ranks? ”Your Rank is directly tied to your accumulated score throughout your multiplayer career, and is a way to represent the sum total you’ve accomplished so far. A very skilled player will rank up faster than an average player, but it also comes down to sheer time that you have dedicated to the Battlefield,” they explain.
”Even if you hit the Colonel 100 Rank milestone, there are still new items to collect – we’re adding high-end Assignments that are only attemptable by high-rank characters, with unique rewards that let your friends know they’re dealing with one of the few elite veterans in the community.” End-game content eh?
The DICE team have ”cleaned up a few quirks from Battlefield 3 while adding to the overall scope of the entire system. There’s never been more to do and more to discover, and it’s never been easier to understand how to earn everything there is to collect in the game.” The lengthy blog goes into significant detail on the new career system.
One significant change in this new world order of rank progression is that ”kill assist counts as kill.”
Did you just hear a pin drop? ”If you get a few shots in on an enemy but can’t manage the kill, you’ll still get awarded the kill if that enemy is later eliminated. The thought here is that if you’re contributing to your team you should be rewarded accordingly, since team play is at the core of Battlefield.” No more ‘kill stealing’ is DICE’s thought.
Battlefield 4 releases on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 October 29th.
