EA Star Wars: Battlefront II

[KillerMcQueen]

Anyone think this could be a big moment for the whole industry? Gamers have been complaining about this **** for a few years now. But this is Star Wars, it's gone mainstream.

I hope so, this kind of underhanded BS has no place in gaming, and microtransactions have no place in non-FtP game period, they just couldn't stop themselves from having some sort of ridiculous drawback in the game could they? No season pass/paid DLC was great news, having a singleplayer campaign was great news, launching with more maps and game modes than its predecessor was great news, all three eras was great news, they could've just left it there and had a great Battlefront game, but no, they had to screw it up.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

I would love for this to be an eye opener for a lot of gamers, but i highly doubt it because there will always be folks that regurgitate the industry myth that they have to offset the increase in development costs somehow despite triple A game development being easier and more cost effective than its ever been in the past. Not to mention that these companies barely pay any actual taxes on any of their profits via various loopholes (YouTuber Super Bunnyhop has a really interesting video on this)

 

[terry78]

Everytime somebody says people need to protest with their wallets and whatever, the outcome is always the same. Lot of lip service but they ultimately can't live without their respective vices.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

Everytime somebody says people need to protest with their wallets and whatever, the outcome is always the same. Lot of lip service but they ultimately can't live without their respective vices.

For the most part I agree, but we have seen some breakthroughs. The Deus Ex franchise is on indefinite hiatus because folks called out Squeenix's ******** and the game underperformed. On the EA side, Mass Effect is essentially dead as well. Baby steps are being made.

 

[jmc]

I'll they had to do follow Overwatch's model. That's the hilarious part of all this, had all of this **** just been cosmetic, the majority of players would not care.

In this case I don’t think it would have been that simple. They would have had to get approval from Lucas Film for every single cosmetic item they created.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

In this case I don’t think it would have been that simple. They would have had to get approval from Lucas Film for every single cosmetic item they created.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this game already have cosmetic items in addition to the gameplay breaking stuff so wouldn't be they have already had to do that?

 

[AnneFan]

It's still bull **** regardless of a price drop. Supporting these practices does nothing but hurt the industry long term.

Agree. I was interested in the game but I'm not getting it now.

 

[jmc]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this game already have cosmetic items in addition to the gameplay breaking stuff so wouldn't be they have already had to do that?

There probably isn't the level of cosmetic material as there is in other games because of all the red tape from Lucasfilm. I know from personal experience having worked on a Star Wars product a few years ago that Lucasfilm are fickle as hell. Now imagine you have to do that for hundreds of weapons, costumes, hairstyle, accessories, characters, vehicle, etc, it would be a nightmare to continue to update. All that customisation has to be approved. Other games have ownership over all their content so they can create as much cosmetic stuff as they want and release whenever they want. EA is licensing the Star Wars brand so everything has to get the ok from Lucasfilm first.

 

[Havok83]

Almost every year EA gets voted worst company in America and its become a running joke. 2017 may be the year they've rightfully earned it

 

[Nathan]

EA: “People Need to be Patient” on Star Wars Battlefront II Microtransactions; Talks Live Services

They’ll also continue to try build live services on existing games. Jorgensen keeps track of server utilization, and Battlefield 4 is still one of the most played games, consistently in the top-ten despite being four years old. He feels that if EA “had a live service on it, they could keep people engaged, give them even more to play with, and they’d also most likely be able to monetize them over time.”

EA, I think it's best if you stop talking now.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

There probably isn't the level of cosmetic material as there is in other games because of all the red tape from Lucasfilm. I know from personal experience having worked on a Star Wars product a few years ago that Lucasfilm are fickle as hell. Now imagine you have to do that for hundreds of weapons, costumes, hairstyle, accessories, characters, vehicle, etc, it would be a nightmare to continue to update. All that customisation has to be approved. Other games have ownership over all their content so they can create as much cosmetic stuff as they want and release whenever they want. EA is licensing the Star Wars brand so everything has to get the ok from Lucasfilm first.

Fair enough, but there isn't as much of this stuff in Overwatch as you would think. They handle things seasonally so if they simply adapted what Overwatch does exactly, they would the time for the approval process in between seasons. If they did something like Injustice 2, I could see that being a licencing nightmare. There's no real excuse for this game to exist in the state it's in. I also wouldn't be surprised if the game was fully Free to Play by the middle of next year.

 

[SilverBatarangs]

I hope so, this kind of underhanded BS has no place in gaming, and microtransactions have no place in non-FtP game period, they just couldn't stop themselves from having some sort of ridiculous drawback in the game could they? No season pass/paid DLC was great news, having a singleplayer campaign was great news, launching with more maps and game modes than its predecessor was great news, all three eras was great news, they could've just left it there and had a great Battlefront game, but no, they had to screw it up.

Agreed! It really is like they went out of their way to ruin the experience.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

EA, I think it's best if you stop talking now.

He said that out loud...

 

[Iceman]

For the most part I agree, but we have seen some breakthroughs. The Deus Ex franchise is on indefinite hiatus because folks called out Squeenix's ******** and the game underperformed. On the EA side, Mass Effect is essentially dead as well. Baby steps are being made.

ME’s death had nothing to do with microtransactions though.

What happened with Deus Ex?

 

[BrollySupersj]

Ya know...I feel that if people "speak with their wallets", as in not buying the game in an effort to take a stand against microtransactions and loot boxes, the publishers of the game will interpret that as no interest in the IP, and vice versa. Whereas people buy the game, but do not partake in microtransactions or loot boxes, the publisher see the game as a success, and just keep going.

I feel like there is no winning against this, and there is not a single meaningful thing we can do.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

ME’s death had nothing to do with microtransactions though.

What happened with Deus Ex?

The entire augment your pre-order scandal, and the asinine multiplayer and the Micro transaction nonsense that's also littered in that games single player. Fans were incredibly vocal about it and it the game underperformed. The franchise was put on indefinite hiatus and the team was moved on to a Marvel game. The studio head left as well.

Mass Effect's death is directly related to how poorly that game was received critically and commercially. Fans spoke with their wallets. Bioware is probably next on the chopping block given EA's track record.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Ya know...I feel that if people "speak with their wallets", as in not buying the game in an effort to take a stand against microtransactions and loot boxes, the publishers of the game will interpret that as no interest in the IP, and vice versa. Whereas people buy the game, but do not partake in microtransactions or loot boxes, the publisher see the game as a success, and just keep going.

I feel like there is no winning against this, and there is not a single meaningful thing we can do.

I don't see all the controversy actually effecting Battlefront 2 much, I think it's safe to say the vast majority of people that say they're cancelling their pre-order or not buying it are just gonna end up buying it anyways, and they know it. Sometimes people follow through with their words on smaller franchises, but this is Star Wars, EA knows that a s***load of people are gonna buy it, micro-transactions or not. I'm not gonna spend money on their micro-transactions, but I know I'm not going to cancel my pre-order either. There's nothing we can do about it, other than hope the properties eventually find their way to companies that actually care about gamers more than they do about micro-transactions and loot boxes.

The entire augment your pre-order scandal, and the asinine multiplayer and the Micro transaction nonsense that's also littered in that games single player. Fans were incredibly vocal about it and it the game underperformed. The franchise was put on indefinite hiatus and the team was moved on to a Marvel game. The studio head left as well.

Mass Effect's death is directly related to how poorly that game was received critically and commercially. Fans spoke with their wallets. Bioware is probably next on the chopping block given EA's track record.

This sort of ties into the comment above yours, the company's response wasn't to do anything to appease the gamers, or to make the next game not have those problems, their solution was to just stop the franchise, which is not even remotely what gamers want to happen. Fans spoke with their wallets, and the result was them getting screwed by having their franchises killed while the microtransactions lived on in other games.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

I don't see all the controversy actually effecting Battlefront 2 much either, I think it's safe to say the vast majority of people that say they're cancelling their pre-order or not buying it are just gonna end up buying it anyways, and they know it. Sometimes people follow through with their words on smaller franchises, but this is Star Wars, EA knows that a s***load of people are gonna buy it, micro-transactions or not. I'm not gonna spend money on their micro-transactions, but I know I'm not going to cancel my pre-order either. There's nothing we can do about it, other than hope the properties eventually find their way to companies that actually care about gamers.

I don't buy the "it doesn't matter because we've already lost " argument. You have direct control over how all of this turns out by simply not buying the game or picking it up used if just have to have it. The only thing EA is actually going to listen to is diminishing returns. The fact that they're even addressing it all means they're scared on some level.

I don't see all the controversy actually effecting Battlefront 2 much, I think it's safe to say the vast majority of people that say they're cancelling their pre-order or not buying it are just gonna end up buying it anyways, and they know it. Sometimes people follow through with their words on smaller franchises, but this is Star Wars, EA knows that a s***load of people are gonna buy it, micro-transactions or not. I'm not gonna spend money on their micro-transactions, but I know I'm not going to cancel my pre-order either. There's nothing we can do about it, other than hope the properties eventually find their way to companies that actually care about gamers more than they do about micro-transactions and loot boxes.



This sort of ties into the comment above yours, the company's response wasn't to do anything to appease the gamers, or to make the next game not have those problems, their solution was to just stop the franchise, which is not even remotely what gamers want to happen. Fans spoke with their wallets, and the result was them getting screwed by having their franchises killed while the microtransactions lived on in other games.

These properties don't stay dead. Battlefront and Deus Ex have died before. If you want this stuff to stop, there will always be casualties on some level. I would rather these franchises die than be exploited the way have been recently.

 

[zenith16]

EA, I think it's best if you stop talking now.

yep

• 
• EA’s Response To Star Wars Battlefront II Issues Has Become ..2 days ago |
  It seems like Star Wars gamers aren’t happy with the way EA’s dealing with the complaints players are having with Star Wars Battlefront II. The Star Wars…Read More.
  

It seems like Star Wars gamers aren’t happy with the way EA’s dealing with the complaints players are having with Star Wars Battlefront II.
The Star Wars Battlefront sequel is scheduled to release this Friday, but EA Access gamers who’ve been able to try out the game’s free trial since November 9 have been finding trouble with unlocking heroes, discovering that it could take up to two days to unlock a single hero in the game.
Sure certain heroes unlock themselves automatically and gamers can try out heroes in Star Wars Battlefront II’s offline Arcade Mode, players have found out that they have to spend in-game credits to gain access to more than half the roster of the game’s characters.
To gain in-game credits, gamers have to constantly play the game and while it’s better than the micro-transactions in Star Wars Battlefront, EA’s response towards the issue posted onReddithas been doing so well.
Here’s what EA wrote on the site:
Hey all,
Apologies for not being more active these past weeks leading up to launch – as you know things get really hectic and you tend to spend whatever spare freetime you have recovering. I really regret not being here on the subreddit at the start of the early access. Hopefully some of these replies will bring some clarity and hope.
Performance during games will affect the amount of credits you get at the end of a match.
Matchmaking will take into account not only player skill, but also total gametime and rarity of star cards. This means that you will be matchmade with players with an average performance similar to you and (to the largest extent possible) not against players who are much better than you, whether by having higher rarity cards or by showing higher skill.
Heroes that are locked at launch will only be unlocked with credits, not crystals. The heroes, similar to the locked weapons for Troopers, are sidegrades instead of upgrades (Darth Vader should be on similar power level as Darth Maul, etc). The goal is to keep you playing for a long time and have something cool to look forward to as you earn credits.
Speaking of earning credits, we’re constantly evaluating and tweaking the earn rates versus the cost of crates and heroes. The current rates were based on open beta data, but you should expect us to constantly evolve these numbers as we hit launch and onwards. There will also be more milestones that award credits and crafting parts available, as well as star cards only unlockable through those milestones. If all you want to do is play and grind towards your next unlock that will be fully possible and we’ll continue to tweak the numbers until the requirements feel fun and achievable.
Working on a game with a live economy and without a premium content lineup is a new challenge for us at DICE. We had one progression system in the closed alpha and heard your
Your continous [sic] feedback as you play the game is absolutely invaluable and I encourage you to keep sending it our way. There is really no reason to “rebel” against us – we want this game to be as great and enjoyable as it can be – we’re reading all your feedback and working as fast as we can to adjust the game to your liking.
The dev team will be around Battlefront II for a long time. I sincerely hope you’ll be here with us!
Thanks,
Dennis
While the letter is lengthy and detailed, it hasn’t properly assured fans about their concerns in the least, and no one Is really taking the cheeky request for fans not to “rebel” that seriously. A lot of fans have been answering on Reddit with a lot of anger and disdain, downvoting EA’s post on Reddit. Guess the publisher has to think of things to change.
Star Wars Battlefront II releases this Friday, November 17.

more recently

• 
  Blizzard Bashes EA’s Pay-Win-Scheme Amid Star Wars Battlefront II...9 hours ago |
  
  Star Wars Battlefront II is scheduled to launch later this week, but EA DICE is having trouble dealing with the outrage surrounding its money-making scheme within the Read more …

Spoiler

Star Wars Battlefront II is scheduled to launch later this week, but EA DICE is having trouble dealing with the outrage surrounding its money-making scheme within the game. There’s been a lot of contention surrounding the publisher’s pay-to-win mechanic in the highly anticipated Star Wars first-person shooter game, and EA’s decision to slash down the unlockable characters credit costs have been met with even more anger and disappointment.
Seeing how the outrage over EA’s tactics, Blizzard decided to throw out some sharp jabs at the publisher. The StarCraft Twitter account has been busy firing shots at EA’s methods of monetization, posting some cutting tweets in reference to the entire circus surrounding Star Wars Battlefront II.
While the StarCraft account tries to feign innocence by simply pointing out “the number of hours it takes to earn the full StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Campaign” and the “number of hours before you can play ANY Co-op Commander in Star Craft II,” anyone following the whole Star Wars Battlefront II controversy can understand what Blizzard’s talking about.
The developer then hits the nail with its little tidbit “Number of pay-to-win mechanics in Star Craft II: 0 and Free to Play – Now Live!”

StarCraft ?@StarCraft

Number of hours it takes to earn the full StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Campaign: 0​

3:36 PM - Nov 14, 2017

• 231231 Replies
• 2,2302,230 Retweets
• 7,5997,599 likes

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14 Nov
StarCraft ?@StarCraft

Number of hours it takes to earn the full StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Campaign: 0​

​

StarCraft ?@StarCraft

Number of hours before you can play ANY Co-op Commander in StarCraft II: 0​

3:36 PM - Nov 14, 2017

• 8282 Replies
• 983983 Retweets
• 3,6403,640 likes

​

Twitter Ads info and privacy

​

14 Nov
StarCraft ?@StarCraft

Replying to @StarCraft

Number of hours before you can play ANY Co-op Commander in StarCraft II: 0​

​

StarCraft ?@StarCraft

Number of pay-to-win mechanics in StarCraft II: 0

Free to Play - Now Live! pic.***********/a02OYUCYZU​

3:37 PM - Nov 14, 2017

• 276276 Replies
• 3,3953,395 Retweets
• 8,1398,139 likes

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Blizzard, being owned by Activision, has always had some rivalry with EA, and at this point, it seems like the EA’s having a hard time turning things around with the Star Wars gaming community.
Star Wars: Battlefront II releases on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC this Friday, November 17.

source:Epicstream.com

Ya know...I feel that if people "speak with their wallets", as in not buying the game in an effort to take a stand against microtransactions and loot boxes, the publishers of the game will interpret that as no interest in the IP, and vice versa. Whereas people buy the game, but do not partake in microtransactions or loot boxes, the publisher see the game as a success, and just keep going.

I feel like there is no winning against this, and there is not a single meaningful thing we can do.

Your correct they are always interpreting thing in the opposite direction from what the fan base of costomer want un less they are actu7lly listen to those fan in direct talks or people are tell thing via a certin mean of communication. it'srare when publisher get the message capcom is one that doesn't get the clear message at times . looking at resident evil post Re4 .

even though there were place on the web and gamer news outlet's /shows of which other meant where in the west they said litterally the horror need's to say in the game series . RE 4 keapt the horror .


yet 5 happened and capcom still misinterpreted that message from the west it seems til this day. and are still lost . even people keep reapting to them. they only get the message partially. it's really weird. or they do get it and they don't want to do what they know what they should be done.


We'll just have to see where this goes.

 

[Nathan]

Battlefront 2, Overwatch Being Investigation By Gambling Authority In Belgium

 

[Iceman]

The entire augment your pre-order scandal, and the asinine multiplayer and the Micro transaction nonsense that's also littered in that games single player. Fans were incredibly vocal about it and it the game underperformed. The franchise was put on indefinite hiatus and the team was moved on to a Marvel game. The studio head left as well.

Mass Effect's death is directly related to how poorly that game was received critically and commercially. Fans spoke with their wallets. Bioware is probably next on the chopping block given EA's track record.

Oh right, thanks.

 

[Iceman]

I don't buy the "it doesn't matter because we've already lost " argument. You have direct control over how all of this turns out by simply not buying the game or picking it up used if just have to have it. The only thing EA is actually going to listen to is diminishing returns. The fact that they're even addressing it all means they're scared on some level.



These properties don't stay dead. Battlefront and Deus Ex have died before. If you want this stuff to stop, there will always be casualties on some level. I would rather these franchises die than be exploited the way have been recently.

I kind of get what you're saying but if I get a game that's amazing and has microtransactions I want to reward whoever made the game for making it so good and I can still avoid the microtransactions while doing so. If we're talking about MTs that ruin the single player then yes, I wouldn't buy.

 

[SilverBatarangs]

Well, I pre-ordered this last night.
I plan to play after watching Justice League tonight.

 

[jmc]

EA caved. In game purchases are history. Viva la revolution!

https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/16/ea-star-wars-battlefront-ii-crystal-purchases/?sr_source=Twitter

 

[Sithborg]

I suspect, someone much higher up, did not like the idea of their franchise being involved in an investigation of promoting gambling to minors. Even ignoring the ton of bad press it was generating on its own.