PUBG Players Have Some Issues With the First Event Mode

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds recently introduced a new series of limited-time events to help diversify the playlists, and with the new feature kicking off this weekend, players have some gripes with the first event.

These rotating events were announced just days ago when the PUBG team said that they’d be introducing the Event Mode to the battle royale game, a rotating series of game modes that come with unique rules.

“We are very excited to announce a new system coming to PUBG – the Event Mode,” the PUBG team said on Steam. “You can think of the Event Mode as a periodically changing preset Custom Game where we will be trying new things and experimenting with different game parameters.”

The post went on to explain that the first featured event would be taking place this weekend with the event mode offering the possibility of forming eight-player squads, but soon after players started hopping into the new feature, they began pointing out some ways that the mode could be improved.

Third-Person Perspective Only

News of the either-players squad game mode was shared on Twitter soon after it was announced with a tweet that detailed the expanded squad numbers and the higher drop rate for assault rifles. However, players that hopped into the event mode without reading the link may have been disappointed to find that the mode only offers a third-person perspective.

To be fair, the link to the Steam post did explain towards the end that the mode would only offer such a mode.

“Please keep in mind that the first iteration will only feature TPP on Erangel to ensure effective matchmaking,” the Steam post cautioned.

But judging from players’ comments so far, it’s clear that some were aware of the detail and are just disappointed at the lack of a first-person perspective. Outside of the TPP complaint, players had an even greater problem with the limitations of the eight-player squad possibilities.

Four-Player Squad + Four Randoms

An even larger issue than the TPP restriction that players have taken with the game mode is that eight-person squads aren’t made up of yourself and seven friends. Instead, they’re composed of yourself, three friends, and four random players.

There’s always the chance that players would be paired up with another squad which would offer two coherent groups working towards the same goal, but it’s still noticeably different from playing with a full squad of eight players. That detail wasn’t mentioned in the body of the Steam post, but those who played the game mode on the test servers may have already been aware of the fact. Others, however, weren’t up to speed on how the eight-person squads would work and were disappointed to learn of the restrictions.

Low Battle Points Winnings

from discussion This weekend only: Eight-Player Squads. Double Assault Rifle Drop Rates. The first PUBG Event Mode is now available on Live Servers. (until Mar 25 7PM PDT / Mar 26 4AM CEST / Mar 26 11AM KST.).

In additions to the restrictions that were put on the mode, some players also weren’t pleased to see their Battle Point earnings at the end of the match depending on where they placed.

The Reddit user above commented in a thread in the PUBG subreddit about the event mode and lamented the amount of BP that was earned for placing fourth. By earning just 16 BP, it’s a much smaller reward than players would usually get from playing the default game modes regardless of whether they queue for a solo or squad game.

It was also pointed out that however fun the game modes might be, if the reward offered isn’t attractive enough, it may be hard to keep players interested. But even with a lower reward, there’s still one group of players who have no problem scraping up what BP they can: Cheaters.

Cheaters, Cheaters, Cheaters

This problem isn’t as one that’s exclusive to the event mode so much as it is a PUBG issue overall, but cheaters are still causing quite a problem for the new event mode.

Looking to other games with rotating game modes as examples, these limited-time events are often used by players to catch a break from the typical game modes. Fortnite is the most comparable example at the moment that comes to mind with its recent Blitz mode, though other games like Overwatch offer similar events. But when these take-a-breather modes are plagued with cheaters, it just sucks the fun out of them.

Replying to the PUBG Twitter accounts’ notification about the game mode, a user summed up some of the main problems while highlighting the cheater epidemic. PUBG has been cracking down on cheaters, but they’re still finding their way into the event mode.

This is the first event mode that PUBG has offered, so while it may have some issues, these players’ complaints should serve as helpful feedback for future changes. Whether that feedback will be implemented or not will be seen in the next event mode or sometime in between the events.