"GET OUT OF THE DAMN PILOT'S SEAT YOU GIT!"

How many times have you uttered these words while playing Battlefield 3, either over the voice chat or in the text box - in full caps, naturally? Well I've logged quite a few hours in BF3, and being the somewhat temperamental gamer I am, I must admit the rage has overtaken me once or twice. Sadly, Battlefield 3 had no segments for flying helicopters in the singleplayer, and since there was no LAN support to be found anywhere (because LAN play and modding are dying trends, right, Dice?) the only way for players to practice, was on the online battlefields with other players. While some might be patient and let you crash and burn a few times before you get the ropes of flying about, most are not so patient. Most will take every little cubic nanometer of rage they have inside them and let it out in your face for the rest of the match, for not knowing what you're doing. Ah, the internet.

Well, Dice apparently just realised that hating the players for the game's problems is not how you as a developer maintain an active and happy playerbase. In a recent interview with IGN, creative director Lars Gustavsson had this to say:

"we've added a test range, which allows you to try out all the hardware ahead of time so that if you want to learn to fly a helicopter you can get in there and you can find the settings that work best for you. And then start doing some stunt flights just to feel safe before you go out and get the responsibility of a bunch of other people sitting in your helicopter, so I truly hope that this will help people feel more safe about trying out the whole battlefield."

It's great to hear, but it's a tad odd that it took them this long to figure out how frustrating it is for experienced players to sit in a helo piloted by a rookie, and how scary it is to BE that rookie pilot. But at least now, it's here. So if you want to test out just how steep a hill each tank can climb up, or if it's possible to do a loop with a helo without crashing it into the ground, you can do that now, without risking the safety of other players and their blood pressure, Battlefield 4 will have it. Huzzah!