Uodated - Want to progress in SW:BFII? You'd better be ready to spend money

[Master Disaster]

Video source so nothing to quote however Angry Joe just did an assessment of battlefronts progression system and once again the gaming industry finds a way to rape our wallets with their bullshit.

 

Are you ready for this one? Multiplayer progression in SW:BFII is 100% dependant on the loot crate system. Yep, you literally cannot progress in the game without depending on the RNG BS of loot crates.

 

Allow me to explain, each team has 4 classes and each class has multiple weapons available. For BFII unlocking new weapons and attachments for weapons is locked behind scrap, not in game currency but scrap. In game currency is used to buy loot boxes, scrap comes out of boxes.

 

Every single player receives the exact same amount of in game currency per game, there is zero difference between first place & last place (the amount seems to depend on what game mode you're playing) so in game loot boxes are unlocked at the same rate for all players however scrap can only be gotten in lots of 10 or 20 by way of loot box drops and it's totally RNG on whether you get any scrap at all.

 

Weapons cost 600 scrap each and attachments cost 100 scrap each.

 

See the problem here? Unlocks used to be tied to level progression but now your level means nothing. You can be a level 100 and still have only the first gun or you can be a level 0 whose spent money on crates and unlocked everything in the game before he's even started.

 

You're 100% dependant on the games RNG loot box system as to whether you get to unlock better guns. Angry Joe also theorises this system will be the same for other stuff too like grenades and equipment upgrades though that's not in the beta.

 

 

Once again we're here, as AJ puts it, a full priced AAA game which uses an exact replica of a F2P games progression system.

 

Pretty much every single AAA games that's released this quarter has been filled with this BS.

 

Please stop buying these games, vote with your wallets.

 

EDIT

 

In the interest of fairness it seems like this situation might not be as bad as we think, EA has responded today and addressed some of our concerns. They assure fans that progression in the main game is tied to level, star cards will have a minimum level requirement before they can be equipped as will upgrading heroes and abilities and loot boxes will contain much more stuff than in the beta including guns, attachments, skins and other cosmetic items too.

 

Essentially a player can still buy a load of stuff but they'll need to play to a certain level before they can use any of it.

 

Who knows if this is a change made because of the backlash or the plan all along but either way its a positive. Still not enough for me to buy it though.

[Rune]

That's fuckin stupid.

[desertcomputer]

Personally I would just play single player and uninstall it. I will probably use my friends account to play it. 

[3rrant]

EA, what else?

[KuJoe]

So you can either spend more or not spend money? I like those options! 

[christianled59]

No way. Surely you unlock cards with progression as normal. I figured the crates were an extra thing? I don't support microtransactions regardless, but I highly doubt you don't unlock cards through standard progression.

[,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,]

lol not buying. i cant support this

[Carclis]

Remember the days when people could buy only the games that they liked and had good practices in place? Oh wait we still can. Guess I'm not buying this game 

[desertcomputer]

4 minutes ago, Carclis said:

Remember the days when people could buy only the games that they liked and had good practices in place? Oh wait we still can. Guess I'm not buying this game 

I remember the day when it was just local coop/vs where there won't any micro transaction of it sort and all limited items require you achieve something to be unlocked. 

[MegaDave91]

That's ok; the beta is a bore-fest to begin with.

[Bouzoo]

And I had such hopes for this game. 

[Master Disaster]

17 minutes ago, christianled59 said:

No way. Surely you unlock cards with progression as normal. I figured the crates were an extra thing? I don't support microtransactions regardless, but I highly doubt you don't unlock cards through standard progression.

You can only unlock scrap cards by the RNG loot box system, that's it.

[christianled59]

Just now, Master Disaster said:

You can only unlock scrap cards by the RNG loot box system, that's it.

That's bullshit.

[JoostinOnline]

This is as bad as what Nintendo has been doing with amiibo.  For those who don't know, you have to buy amiibo (and a reader if necessary) to unlock content that already exists in the game.  For example, with Metroid: Samus Returns, you need to spend well over $100 (it can be over $200, because of amiibo scalpers) just to unlock the concept art, highest difficulty, and music.  Everything is already coded in.

[RollinLower]

19 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

This is as bad as what Nintendo has been doing with amiibo.  For those who don't know, you have to buy amiibo (and a reader if necessary) to unlock content that already exists in the game.  For example, with Metroid: Samus Returns, you need to spend well over $100 (it can be over $200, because of amiibo scalpers) just to unlock the concept art, highest difficulty, and music.  Everything is already coded in.

well, that's pretty much what they have been doing with 'deluxe editions' for years now isn't it? for things like the OST and concept art you always had to buy a special edition that included them for 100+

there are some exceptions to this rule ofcourse. like The Witcher 3.

[Mihle]

Was not going to get the game anyways, but this is total idiocy.

[Atmos]

52 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

So you can either spend more or not spend money? I like those options! 

Not quite.

Not spending money would then, by his basic calculations require you to spend literally thousands of hours to simply unlock a few guns for each of the 4 classes. 12 gun, just 12. And for it you would be spending 3000+ hours playing with their current system as seen in the beta. That's just entirely unreasonable, 100% deplorable, and absolutely should not be tolerated in a full price, $60 game; simply because they're allowing you to play on dlc maps for free.

[JoostinOnline]

4 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

well, that's pretty much what they have been doing with 'deluxe editions' for years now isn't it? for things like the OST and concept art you always had to buy a special edition that included them for 100+

there are some exceptions to this rule ofcourse. like The Witcher 3.

There is a difference there.  With DE's, they had to produce physical extras that cost them money.  What Nintendo has been doing is building the whole game, then only letting you access part of it unless you give them more money.  It's like if you buy a safe, get home, and receive an email from the manufacturer that you have to pay extra for the combination.

[KuJoe]

2 minutes ago, Atmos said:

Not quite.

Not spending money would then, by his basic calculations require you to spend literally thousands of hours to simply unlock a few guns for each of the 4 classes. 12 gun, just 12. And for it you would be spending 3000+ hours playing with their current system as seen in the beta. That's just entirely unreasonable, 100% deplorable, and absolutely should not be tolerated in a full price, $60 game; simply because they're allowing you to play on dlc maps for free.

I'd be interested to see EA's response and if those numbers are true.

[Atmos]

2 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

I'd be interested to see EA's response and if those numbers are true.

if the full release game follows the same system, or even a similar system to the beta (its an ea game, so let's be honest its just a content cut build nearly identical to release) then those numbers should be pretty accurate.

so don't expect miles where only inches remain.

[KuJoe]

Just now, Atmos said:

if the full release game follows the same system, or even a similar system to the beta (its an ea game, so let's be honest its just a content cut build nearly identical to release) then those numbers should be pretty accurate.

so don't expect miles where only inches remain.

Wait, so the game isn't even released yet?

[Atmos]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Wait, so the game isn't even released yet?

No, the pre-release beta just wrapped up.

Since this is an EA/dice beta you can expect the game to undergo some basic balancing on weapon/vehicle stats, but nothing much more than that when the full thing drops. 

The build we were seeing was in all respects, a content cut down launch build more to test their own servers and build hype than actually beta test the game.

[KuJoe]

Just now, Atmos said:

No, the pre-release beta just wrapped up.

Since this is an EA/dice beta you can expect the game to undergo some basic balancing on weapon/vehicle stats, but nothing much more than that when the full thing drops. 

The build we were seeing was in all respects, a content cut down launch build more to test their own servers and build hype than actually beta test the game.

That's smart on their part, but getting mad at a game before it's release doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

[Atmos]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

That's smart on their part, but getting mad at a game before it's release doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

To expect significant change is to expect too much.

If you don't understand why people are getting so upset that the just a beta would feature such a broken and abusive system, then frankly you don't understand what an EA/dice beta is, and has been. If we also fail to voice this kind of concern to the degree that it warrants, then EA may make no changes however minor, at all.

[KuJoe]

Just now, Atmos said:

To expect significant change is to expect too much.

If you don't understand why people are getting so upset that the just a beta would feature such a broken and abusive system, then frankly you don't understand what an EA/dice beta is, and has been. If we also fail to voice this kind of concern to the degree that it warrants, then EA may make no changes however minor, at all.

Voicing your opinion is fine, but it won't do anything with a company like EA. Vote with your wallet, if a lot of people still purchase the game then they are telling EA they are fine with their business practices and thus EA won't care about the few people who aren't paying them.