So yeah about Battlefront 2.....

[xMobilemux]

It's quite the sh*tstorm isn't it?

It's actually kind of entertaining to watch!

Especially when other well respected companies are taking subtle jabs at it:

Still haven't bought an EA game since Mass Effect 3 and have no intention of doing so ever again.

What are your thoughts on this whole fiasco?

 

[Lain]

It's a PR disaster is what is.

Despite their attempts at salvaging the situation, I forsee EA losing quite some sales over this.

 

[Sparda's rejected son]

I don't understand the whole issue but aren't people mad because certain characters aren't available from the get go? Meaning they have to play the game in order to unlock said character? If that is the problem then... WHAT? :laugh:
That is like me saying "Oh Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 sucks because it doesn't have SSB Son Goku available from the start so I am mad." Why can't folks just unlock the characters they want by playing the game?

 

[Lain]

I don't understand the whole issue but aren't people mad because certain characters aren't available from the get go? Meaning they have to play the game in order to unlock said character? If that is the problem then... WHAT? :laugh:
That is like me saying "Oh Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 sucks because it doesn't have SSB Son Goku available from the start so I am mad." Why can't folks just unlock the characters they want by playing the game?

There was an (at the time anyway) extremely high amount of in game currency needed to unlock all of the characters unless you buy them using real world cash. Someone calculated that based on the average time of each match and the credits gained, in order to unlock all the characters you'd need to spend 170 hours playing the game without spending a single credit prior. Of course simply using real world cash instead negates that but you already spent like $80 just buying the physical game so it's wack yo.

TL;DR EA screwed up trying to create a unlockable character system and now are trying to salvage it.

 

[WolfOD64]

I remember seeing the first news of EA economizing on their newly-acquired Star Wars license back in 2014 or so, and how they were going to "revitalize" the Battlefront series. Keep in mind---SW BF2 from 2005 is my favorite multiplayer shooter ever, so believe me when I say that I couldn't be more excited. Then, the details emerged, and I was already seeing the horrible signs: OT Trilogy maps and units only, no campaign, no Instant Action or Galactic Conquest, no classes, no proper space battles...and people aped at me, telling me that I was being "too much of a purist", and that the game was going to blow the original Battlefront games out of the water. Fast-forward to 2015, and the game turned out to be the EXACT turd I thought it was going to be.

And when this game announced, the EXACT same thing happened. "Oh, you're just being a contrarian prick, Wolf!" "Give the game a chance before you bash it!" "EA's learned from their mistakes!" "You're going to be alone, unsatisfied, and left out with your crotchety old BF2 game from 2005 while the rest of us are playing the DEFINITIVE Star Wars shooter!"

...hundreds of lootboxes, Star Cards, headlines, Reddit downvotes, and cancelled pre-orders later, it would appear I still have the last laugh.

 

[Demi-fiend]

it would appear I still have the last laugh.

Which is all that matters in the end.

Close, but no cigar! Hahaha!

 

[Dark Drakan]

I'm glad people have had enough of this lootbox bull already in games as it was already getting out of hand and being shoehorned into all the major releases. Gamers need to take a stand and either not buy the games with them in or outright refuse to spend a single penny on ANY microtransactions in any of the titles with them in.

EA have had a nightmare & it's all their own fault for their own greed & I hope the whole fiasco gives them the slap in the face they truly need to wake them up from thinking this is an acceptable way to conduct business. I do feel sorry for the actual development studios that get caught up in their recent disasters though as it is normally them that pays the price for EA essentially forcing them to put these mechanics in their games & change their core ideas & values.

Jim Sterling sums up my feelings well...

 

[xMobilemux]

WE WIN!!!!

For now.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Good PR stunt by EA to deflect the negative media but some vague details about 'tweaking progression' before re-adding them at later date doesnt fill me with confidence. They had already lowered the rewards given for completing the campaign after they lowered the cost of some of the hero units so they give with one hand but take away with the other. I bet by removing the micro transactions at this crucial revenue gaining launch window will negativity impact the DLC and free content at a later date as they will have to claw that money lost back somewhere.

​

 

[Innsmouth]

I'm glad people are in arms about Star Wars 2, but I would like if people don't forget Warner with Shadow of War and Ubisoft with Assasin's Creed Origins.

 

[Lain]

I am a little disappointed in the number of people I've seen defending EA.

"You can't buy a new game these days and not be expected to make additional purchases."
Was an actual response someone said to me, completely straight faced.

 

[Dark Drakan]

"You can't buy a new game these days and not be expected to make additional purchases."

Ive got no problem paying for additional content and DLC if its substantial (Witcher 3 for example) and if the original game is feature compete at launch. I dont want parts of the game cut out to sell to me at a later date and I dont want to pay full price for a game then have to spend additional cash to access content that should be available in that purchase. Neither do I want an in game economy that has progression tailored around a slow grind to push you into paying extra to avoid a needlessly lengthy grind like would normally be found in a free to play mobile game.

 

[DDutchguy]

One of the main arguments that defend these practices is that it’s necessary because game development has become so expensive. While I get the sentiment (hell I even used the argument myself in some cases), the fact that this is EA aka the biggest game publisher in the world besides maybe Activision, and the fact that this is Star Wars nullifies this argument.

It’s Star Wars. It’s going to sell, microtransactions or not. The addition of these pay to win elements can’t be excused by the need to make back development costs or salaries, because they would 100% make their money back with a title like this. No, it’s just here so they can make more money.

I think Jim Sterling said it nicely in his Year of the Loot Box video, that this all comes down to shareholders. If EA makes a ton of profit then their shareholders will be happy, people who couldn’t care less about the consumers of Battlefront 2 because they themselves probably don’t care at all about video games. This ‘turning players into payers’ practice is just stupid and at this point it’s pretty clear that they care more about money than whether the consumers like it or not. That just feels so machine-like to me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some EA executive is thinking “Oh man I almost forgot, our consumers are human beings.”

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

One of the main arguments that defend these practices is that it’s necessaey because game development has become so expensive. While I get the sentiment (hell I even used the argument myself in some cases), the fact that this is EA aka the biggest game publisher in the world besides maybe Activision, and the fact that this is Star Wars nullifies this argument.

It’s Star Wars. It’s going to sell, microtransactions or not. The addition of these pay to win elements can’t be excused by the need to make back development costs or salaries, because they would 100% make their money back with a title like this. No, it’s just here so they can make more money.

I think Jim Steeling said it nicely in his Year of the Loot Box video, that this all comes down to shareholders. If EA makes a ton of profit then their shareholders will be happy, people who couldn’t care less about the consumers of Battlefront 2 because they themselves probably don’t care at all about video games. This ‘turning players into payers’ practice is just stupid and at this point it’s pretty clear that they care more about money than whether the consumers like it or not. That just feels so machine-like to me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some EA executive is thinking “Oh man I almost forgot, our consumers are human beings.”

I like to think that EA's execs are actually all just Vex-like machines conducting experiments on humanity's reactions to their ****ty business practices. It makes me feel less angry as a whole.

 

[xMobilemux]

http://archive.is/he6Hr#selection-509.33-509.240

Ouch!

 

[WolfOD64]

http://archive.is/he6Hr#selection-509.33-509.240

Ouch!

>Tfw even the smallest chance of EA losing the Star Wars license exists

​

Who do I have to kill to make this happen. Literally, just tell me who.

 

[WolfOD64]

http://www.pcgamer.com/us-legislator-calls-out-eas-predatory-practices-in-star-wars-battlefront-2/

^LOL.

 

[Goldsickle]

I think they tried banning loot boxes before but the definition of "gambling" can vary from region to region.