Nothing that the developers said helped their case

Nov 16, 2017 06:13 GMT  ·  By

Electronic Arts and Dice are trying to patch things up with the community following the controversy regarding the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II and its monetization scheme.

After it was revealed that Star Wars Battlefront II players will have to spend at least 40 hours playing the game just to open one of the main characters, such as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader, the community simply exploded.

The fact that Electronic Arts grossly downplayed the situation by saying that the grind for the characters is there so that it provides a feeling of accomplishment to users only made it worse, and now the company can pride itself with their own accomplishment. They now have the most downvoted comment on Reddit and that’s no small feat.

The discussion regarding the credit system and the loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront II arrived at a very bad time for the company because they are preparing for a November 17 launch, and many users have already canceled their preorders, reportedly.

We’re looking at it

Fixing the relationship with the community by organizing a Reddit AMA can be a good idea and a bad one at the same time. It’s good that they seem to be aware of what’s happening, but they know they are going to get destroyed in the process.

The biggest problem with this kind of AMA is that the company and developers can’t and won’t provide the numbers that the community is asking for. They say that the progression was dictated by the data gathered from existing players, and it was not financially motivated, but they don’t provide any kind of official numbers.

Star Wars Battlefront 2
Star Wars Battlefront 2

Someone made a calculation and figured out that in order to unlock all of the game’s content, without paying anything, a players would need to play about 180 days continuously. Or they could simply spend about $2000 and get the same result.

Electronic Arts says that the calculation is far off and their numbers show a much faster progression, but they failed to show any kind of data supporting what they are saying.

“We've seen the speculation about how long it takes players to earn things - but our averages based on the Play First trial are much faster than what's out there. But as more players come in, that could change. We're committed to making progression a fun experience for all of our players. Nothing should feel unattainable and if it does, we'll do what it takes to make sure it's both fun and achievable. As we update and expand Arcade mode, we'll be working towards making sure that players can continue to progress without daily limits.”

Without offering precise numbers and just by saying that "we’re taking a closer look", the company is not going to fix its relationship with community.

It’s not all about progression

The rate of progression to unlock an already available character is not the only problem. The community is also talking about the end of round rewards, matchmaking, and a ton of other issues.

Star Wars Battlefront 2
Star Wars Battlefront 2

One of the most upvoted comments in the AMA comes from a user and it didn’t get a response from Electronic Arts, but it’s still worth noting. Reddit user Jimquisition writes:

“Do you not feel loot box design is inherently predatory by nature? They exploit addiction and encourage at least the simulated feel of gambling, despite the lack of legal definition. Is this not a concern for the industry going forward?”

“What exactly prompted you to take Battlefront II on a path that was inevitably going to be slammed as a “pay to win” experience, did you not feel it was particularly insulting to try and make so much money from this game after the first Battlefront was admittedly rushed and incomplete?”

“They say games are too expensive to make and that’s why they need season passes, DLC, deluxe editions, microtransactions, and loot boxes (to say nothing of merchandise, tax breaks, and sponsorship deals). Can you honestly tell me that a Star Wars game was too expensive to make? That you couldn’t have made a Star Wars game, as in a game about Star Wars, and that it would not conceivably sell enough to make its money back without all these additional monetization strategies? Should you be in this business if you cannot affordably conduct business?”

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