Battlefield 3 will not be getting colour changing option following DICE backtrack

This is a small story but it captures something of the disquiet in parts of the Battlefield community. DICE have refused to release mod tools for Battlefield 3 saying they would unbalance the game for others. Then some canny Battlefield players went and modded the game anyway, making a night time mode and a true colour mode. This alteration angered DICE, and they said they'd ban players caught playing altered game states. Then all seemed peachy: because the mod offered no competitive advantage or disadvantage, a DICE employee said the developer was releasing a patch that would allow you to disable the colour filters in the console.

Which brings us to now: the same developer, Mikael Kalms, has written on the Mordor HQ forums that:

"After discussing this further with my colleagues, we have decided to not implement this feature. This is the studio’s take on this matter, and I support this decision:

"As a studio, it is extremely important for us at DICE to have a unique identity in our games, not only from a gameplay perspective, but visually as well. While we appreciate that some players might want a slightly different look to the game, we are proud of the visual identity of Battlefield 3 and do not wish to change it."

I apologize for getting anybody’s hopes up, and if you have any further questions on this subject, I will refer back to the above statement."

So, completely reversing their position.

Of course, Battlefield is DICE's game, it's absolutely theirs to do with what they want. The issue arises with the constant teasing back and forth between them and the community. The modding community want to break open Battlefield and glory on what they can do with it, DICE seem undecided, torn between offering freedom and locking it down.

Today they've opted for locking it down.