What do you think?
Too little, too late. Damage is already done.
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The crystals, which I assume is the in-game currency, is not for sale right now but will be in the future.
"The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date."
However, this is a small positive change that is better than nothing. To counterbalance the uplifting news, I cannot believe how much protest + one disatrous Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit + Twitter jabs by Blizzard are needed to come to this change that is figuratively a band aid on a broken limb.
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It was the above AND the massive amount of pre-order refunds that EA has been having to give out due to customer disgust. It's no longer a viable option once it hits them in the wallet.
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didn't even plan to play it so it's the same for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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I'll probably not play too, but the point is: if we allow them to continue with this bullshit microtransactions, we'll open doors to other publishers to do the same thing. There is a lot of greedy publishers wanting to make more money, but they still care about their reputation, if we remain silent, they will wake up and fuck lots of games.
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they can sell their games for $299.99 with $9.99 microtransactions to set graphic options, i still won't buy them and i think that's the best thing customers can do when they don't agree with something. ^^
people should learn to vote with their wallets instead of ranting. it will reach a point companies will understand certain practices aren't welcomed by their customers.
this announcement ea/dice made is nothing but a delay for the same stuff they wanted to introduce on day 1. people will eat their lies and buy the game at full price, then cry like raging madmen when they realize they got "scammed".
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It is also funny they do this because the new Need For Speed is also plagued with an awful freemium model, bet they will remain silent about that one and leave it as it is.
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Which shows you that EA executives are doing this only as a PR move and not a change of mind. They are just wanting to "reset" the news about Battlefront and wait for the masses to calm down.
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Need for Speed used to be big too. They have ruined the legacy that Underground and Hot Pursuit (the original ones) left behind. RIP.
Hopefully Disney takes back the licensing after this shitstorm passes by.
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Yeah that wasn't bad, a pretty fun arcade experience. I remember the high speed drifting along the seaside routes were very enjoyable. The micro-transaction stuff was basically a couple of DLC packs for vehicles, so not too bad either.
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Sure did, still kinda is but its getting tarnished and frowned up more and more yearly, definetly ruined. Hot Pursuit 2, 3, MW, Carbon, ruined. Mmhm, hopefuly piece of shit Disney takes it back, tired of seeing these scum getting away with fucking up like what, 4 star wars games now?
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Well, i wasn't buying out of principle.
Now i might reconsider... still i would only buy on sale anyway and im pennyless so theres plenty of time to see how things will shape up.
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Don't be fooled, EA is retreating but they haven't been beaten yet
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Now i might reconsider
Don't.Its what corporate command wants you to do.
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Dont be naive, this is EA were talking about. Must i remind you they killed Visceral recently?
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Don't. If you really want it, just wait for a sale or something.
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Ok guys but heres the thing: EA isn't a guy or thing with nefarious plans or a conscience.
Its big companny with many investors. No single EA employee is laughing maddly at all the cash, juts trying to do the best they can at their work according to orders. The investors may be smiling, not the employees.
Now the only thing they hear is money.
Just recently a study found no correlation between the backlash and sales- so the concerned who talk with their money aren't that expressive or are way lower then the eager buyers.
Then EA concedes to the backlash...
If nothing reflects from that- only lower income from not selling any microtransaction- then whats the message?
What does it tell or mean to the investor who couldn't care less?
On the other hand if change shows on sales numbers then that sends another message.
Now if those opposing will never buy no matter what changes on the basis of 'they're evil' then we confirm their prospects; Why would they catter or care for those who aren't customers and won't be?
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PUBG is next. Oh wait, their player base don´t care about microtransactions.
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You need to remember that PUBG didn't have microtransactions from the beggining. Many of their playerbase are from those times. With BF2 was different, since it was an utter shit show from the start and of course, the Star Wars name is big enough.
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heh.. "yeah we're listening, so we're going to remove those microtransactions... until we feel we've made enough sales and the complaints have died down, and then OH BOY WE'RE GONNA BRING 'EM BACK BIGGER AND HARDER... AND YOURE GONNA BUY THEM. YOURE GONNA COMPLAIN BUT YOURE GONNA BUY THEM BECAUSE YOURE SUCKERS HAHAHHA"
in short, EA and people who buy ea games, deserve each other... and between greed and stupidity, id say stupidity was the greater sin.
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You should change "pulls off" to "removes" or "puts off", pull off means succeed/get away with, i.e. nothing like what you meant.
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I screenshotted that post in the hour or so before it was deleted and it was at minus 455k.
Absolute assholes. They're still trying to spin it. No "Hey guys, yeah we got greedy and we fucked up. We played you for idiots and you called us on it." Nooo. Just more fluff. More stalling. They'll try again later.
These asshole corporates need to go extinct.
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Honeslty I'm more annoyed about the grind than I am the lootboxes. Lootboxes aren't new and I expect then in triple a games. but to tac on a farming reassembling f2p games in a full priced retail is fucking ridiculous.
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And guess why the lootboxes are there. Because of the grind. Buy loot boxes to reduce the grind! Or wait! Dont if youre a smart person or you will end up with shit like these guys did = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NqjplfSiLo
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Lol what? Lootboxes exist because it's semi gambling which is addictive so they make a lot of money preying on customers that way. Lootboxes and microtransancion have been a staple of gaming for a while, it's just a thing most companies add to make nore more. The grind is there because of the lootboxes, so you'll be enticed to pay them to get what you want in a reasonable amount of time.
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EA is run by corporate sharks who have no emotional investment in their customers. There are plenty of alternatives for my gaming dollar, so I don't feel I'm missing anything except unwanted drama.
P.S.("Pulls off" == "succeeds without being caught," so you should probably change that to "takes down.")
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Not only for customers, but for their own devs, their just meat to them, serve it or throw it away like Visceral was thrown away.
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There's too many great games out there for me to bother with these scams.
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Just until the smoke clears. they have to much money wrapped up in this title for it to fail. Once the player base gets to where they want it, then all hell with break loose.....again
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From what i've seen it's buggy as hell game even without any microshitactions . So yeah. EA can go f themselves.
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Jim Sterlings jimimpresions showed alot of bugs, yes.
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For me it boils down to how slow did they deem "too slow"? 20 hours per unlock with 50 unlocks? Sure that would be too slow, but 2 hours per character and 10-15 characters? Maybe not. I really don't know what the numbers are like but it can't be worse than many other games, say LoL. Sure that is a F2P game compared to a full price game but then look at DOOM, do you start with the BFG? Nope, you have to progress through the game to unlock it.
I find the optional pay to progress system a bit silly; hey buy our game and then pay us even more money so you don't have the play it... How would that even work as an advertisement?
Its not for me, but as long as its an option and not almost forced upon us due to completely insane grinds I don't mind if its available for others.
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The numbers I've seen in various news reports indicate it'd take around 4000 hours, or in other words:
Half a year non-stop playing to unlock everything. Where non-stop means no breaks to eat, sleep, or visit the bathroom/shower
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Ouch, that seems quite excessive. Only way that would be acceptable is if they had a metric ton of stuff to unlock and you get to chose your unlocks...
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I've been watching this dumpster fire from afar, having largely stopped playing AAA games.
It's refreshing seeing a change, though I'm doubtful it'll end up being meaningful.
What I'm most interested in is the uptick of commissions in different governments kind of catching wise to lootboxes randomization as gambling - I think it absolutely is gambling and should be regulated as such.
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What's not on Steam and doesn't cost less than $10, doesn't bother me.
As they said, they will bring microtransactions back, so there's no victory over that, just smokescreen.
Lootboxes are gambling and should be regulated by the goverments. Fuck them.
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Game didn't interest me either but I am curious, do you consider buying anything with a random chance a form of gambling and should be regulated?
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Anything purchased with real money apart from initial cost of the game. Even booster packs from stuff like Hearthstone.
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EA now 'You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war'
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The smokescreen is strong in this one.We all know that they will bring them back the moment the heat shows signs of dying down.
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No doubt about it. They already showed what they think of their customers with that "decrease" in cost to buy heroes. It's clear they think people are complete morons.
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We wouldn't have won in Normandy without those little boxes.
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Translation: "The game's pre-order numbers were so abysmal that we decided to pretend the 80-dollar purchase will be the only required investment. But boy howdy, once you guys realise that it takes 1000 hours in this version to unlock things, you will WANT to pay money to get the shortcuts."
Refined translation after filtering out the noise: "Guys, you are eating the same shit up with a mouthful in CoD: WWII, yet when we try to do the exact same system, you act like as if it is the bane of video gaming. Double standards much, you dumb little brain-dead CoD kiddie fucks?"
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For now.
After a vocal and negative response from players, which included the most downvoted comment in Reddit's history, game publisher Electronic Arts and developer DICE announced that they're removing microtransactions from Star War Battlefront II. Oskar Gabrielson, general manager at the game's developer DICE, said that microtransactions will return to Battlefront II, but only after DICE has made changes to the game.
Specifically, the company is removing the ability to purchase Crystals, the in-game currency players could buy with real money to unlock new weapons, characters, and abilities. Importantly, players couldn't directly buy the items they wanted. Instead, players used Crystals to get loot boxes, which contain a random assortment of items.
Players could always unlock these items by simply playing the game, but the rate at which they could unlock them without paying real money was deemed too slow by the player community and many reviewers (including us at Motherboard).
"We hear loud and clear, so we're turning off all in-game purchases," Oskar Gabrielson, general manager at the game's developer DICE said in an announcement. "We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning. This means the option to purchase Crystals in the game is now offline, and all progression will be earned through gameplay. The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we've made changes to the game."
The change comes the night before the game's wide release on Friday, November 17, and a week-long public relations nightmare for one of the biggest games from one of the biggest game publishers in the world. Before its wide release, EA allowed members of its EA Access program to play the game early, where they got a first good look at Battlefront II's progression system.
The reaction to it was so negative that EA quickly announced it would reduce the time it takes to unlock playable heroes like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker by 75 percent. That didn't appease players, who raged on in the Battlefront subreddit and on Twitter. As the games site Gamasutra reported, the random, slot machine-like nature of the loot boxes even prompted Belgian Gaming Commission to investigate whether it qualifies as gambling.
Source
What do you think?
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