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A patch for the PC version of Borderlands is dropping on September 9th which will add Steamworks support to the game. However, behind the scenes, the patch is doing much more. Included in the patch is a new feedback system called “B-Test,” which will feed information about every player’s gameplay experience back to Gearbox, the developers of Borderlands. In their panel at PAX, the Borderlands team, along with Gearbox president Randy Pitchford, went into detail about the new system. Specifically, B-Test will allow Gearbox to see which pieces of the game are ignored and which pieces are enjoyed. For example, Borderlands uses a procedural gun generation system, and B-Test can let Gearbox know “which guns suck.” This way there will be fewer throwaway guns that just take up space in your inventory. This also means that they can add better guns if one gun type is lagging behind. So if, say, Sniper Rifles are being used more than SMGs, the dev team can add more powerful SMGs to the game. 
Steamworks integration in Borderlands is a nice plus too. By Angelo M. D’Argenio |