Hours Before Launch, EA strips Micro-Transactions From ‘Star Wars: Battlefront II’

DooKey

DooKey

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Just hours before the full launch of Battlefront II, Electronic Arts has announced that they’re removing in-game micro-transactions entirely from the title for the time being as they look to rethink their pricing strategy. I believe big brother Disney might have had something to do with this since EA was making the Star Wars franchise look very greedy. Sometimes it helps for gamers to be vocal about stuff and this was one of those times.

What drove EA to take micro-transactions out of one of the company’s biggest releases this year? A backlash that was rippling through the online gaming community on gaming platforms, social media and forums. Though EA emphasized the full removal of in-game purchases was temporary, it’s clear that the community is volatile and will react negatively to changes it doesn’t see as satisfactory.
 
Hopefully other companies will follow suit. They add features like this because they say they will make more money, but they won't make anything if people don't buy the game to begin with. Now, if we could only get people to do the same thing with pre-ordering, maybe we would have better day one releases as well!
 
Goddamn greedy bastards, good thing they dropped it. You don't wanna piss off a bunch of star wars gamers.
 
They will put it back just as soon as the current hubub dies down; this is too much of a moneymaker to die.

Disney seems to have placed a serious bitchslap, however. :) (Well deserved Bitchslap, IMHO.)
 
Don't Fuck with the Mouse's Money.

Also EA will bring the MT's back as soon as the current bruhaha blows over.
 
Pringle said:
Yeah, the whole "vote with your wallet" horse has been beaten to death already.
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It's even better when you really haven't bought any of these games with shitty practices and it just keeps getting worse. "Vote with your wallet" people are naive. For every person making an informed decision, there are 100 buying it because it has an explosion on the cover.
 
Honestly, things like this will probably be the norm (not just for Battlefront 2, but all games) for the future unless the government gets involved and bans things like loot boxes. But I don't see that happening any time soon.
 
sounds like theyll put it back once initial sales are made, so ill pass

stopped doing the pre order thing a while ago,
 
Well, no I don't believe EA, but this might put me back on the buy list. I won't pick it up for $60, but yea, a sale, leaning towards it.
 
As we approach the worldwide launch, it's clear that you petulant children are threatening our bottom line. We've heard that you caught us giving players unfair advantages for profit. And we've heard that this is overshadowing an otherwise "potentially okay" game.

This was our intention all along. Sorry we got caught.

We begrudgingly hear you, so we're turning off all in-game purchases. We will now spend more time scheming, profiteering, balancing, and finding ways to market gambling to children. This means that the option to purchase crystals in the game is now offline, and all progression will be earned (temporarily) only through gameplay. The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we've waited for all your refund periods to expire. Once you've all forgotten how horrible we are, we will surreptitiously re-enable our original marketing plan.
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/fixed
 
So I guess they going to up the credits need to unlock stuff back to 60k and make it hard to obtain the credits. People will bitch and EA will be like see you wanted MT removed! Then add it back in again.
 
The damage is already done - the pre buyers were able to get the good stuff - so now you have day one folks walking into pvp where the game is lopsided...again. TOR where the empire side got all the good gear through a broken raid system
 
uh.. i 100% believe the community did nothing...

it is reported that disney's ceo had a phone call with ea's ceo a couple of hours before launch... I think that is what made turn them turn off MT's. Just beware, they said it was only temporary...
 
hesho said:
uh.. i 100% believe the community did nothing...

it is reported that disney's ceo had a phone call with ea's ceo a couple of hours before launch... I think that is what made turn them turn off MT's. Just beware, they said it was only temporary...
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Link
 
im sure it has NOTHING to do with the imminent launch of the new star wars movie...

LOL

i can easily see the micro transactions coming back after the movie releases here in a couple weeks and initial movie sales are tallied
 
Pringle said:
Link
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Link that it is temporary? Right in the article. "The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we’ve made changes to the game."

Translation: After everyone buys it for Christmas.
 
Pringle said:
Link
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https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/16/...actions-go-offline-until-ea-can-make-changes/

1st paragraph about disney having a phone call..


and just beware of this quote right from ea's statement..

We hear you loud and clear, so we’re turning off all in-game purchases. We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning. This means that 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. We’ll share more details as we work through this.
 
Yeah, I think I'll hold off on a purchase until they've decided what they're going to do with the microtransactions. I'd still have cancelled my preorder if I'd been dumb enough to attempt such a thing. lol
 
Troz said:
Link that it is temporary? Right in the article. "The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we’ve made changes to the game."

Translation: After everyone buys it for Christmas.
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Link pertaining to the CEO comment.

hesho said:
https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/16/...actions-go-offline-until-ea-can-make-changes/

1st paragraph about disney having a phone call..
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Never heard of Venturebeat, and they're un-named 'sources', but every publication seems to be piggybacking off of it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
tetris42 said:
It's even better when you really haven't bought any of these games with shitty practices and it just keeps getting worse. "Vote with your wallet" people are naive. For every person making an informed decision, there are 100 buying it because it has an explosion on the cover.
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Sounds like someone needs to start a game studio to make responsibly developed, craft video games for the discerning gamer. :sneaky:
 
britjh22 said:
Sounds like someone needs to start a game studio to make responsibly developed, craft video games for the discerning gamer. :sneaky:
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W7FsXza.jpg
 
EA has evolved until it's sole focus is now capitalizing on the psychology of addiction. EA knows that the world is full of addicts, and they can make more money than a drug dealer ever did without risking a second of jail time.

They are a marketing company which lacks the soul of a game developer, or even a gamer. Imo, the BF2 situation is nowhere near as out of control as the current Madden 18 situation. Over there we have a community loaded with addicted sports gamblers who can't stop enabling EA.

Last year the pack odds were so bad in Madden that the community started a boycott movement under the meme, "Little Jimmy".

EA responded by improving the odds but this season they are worse than last year. If you even mention reviving the Little Jimmy movement at Reddit you get a stream of addicts and carefree wealthy people who cup EA's balls and explain how you want something for free. It reminds me of the children of alcoholics.

Imo, EA is running a gambling operation which is no different than a lottery or casino gambling. Unlike a lottery or casino, EA does not divulge the odds. I feel as though this is wrong, and I feel as though America should have consumer protection legislation which forces them to post odds. Other nations have passed regulations which require disclosure of odds. Otherwise, who's to say they can't manipulate the odds in real time?

This open letter was posted on Reddit by a 19year old who is addicted to gambling.

 
"Temporary removal" is the take-away you should have from this statement. As soon as the outrage dies down, and the holidays roll around with everyone buying the game, EA will stick these right back in the game, possibly not making any changes at all.
 
and the call went out: "Remember the Andromeda Syndrome"
 
Motley said:
Goddamn greedy bastards, good thing they dropped it. You don't wanna piss off a bunch of star wars gamers.
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Dropped it for now. My guess is that it'll return after the initial sales period is over and the game starts to go on sale.
 
As much as I love Star Wars I hope this game burns EA right in the wallet. It probably won't happen, but I can always wish. The game itself could be wonderful, spectacular, amazeballs!!! But it has left a bitter taste in my mouth. They are sorry but not sorry. Just a sad day for gaming yet again.
 
There is a simple model already quite available for multiplayer games:
Restrict micro transaction purchases to aesthetics that have no impact on gameplay.

Of course you have to assume your client base aren't pieces of shit before considering such a strategy.
That's where EA needs to shift their mindset.
 
So they eliminated the ability to buy loot boxes with real money, but all those people who did pay $$ in the 5 day early trial and the 3 day early pre-orders are still raping face with fully upgraded starfighters that you can't out run or out turn.
 
I have zero issues with the way Bungle handles microtransactions; they are only for cosmetic items, nothing that affects game balance and nothing that can't be earned through normal RNG. I'm sure they make plenty of money, too.
 
Disney's ceo probably told them to drop it til after the new movie leaves theaters. EA sure doesn't care about the bad press but I am sure Disney is and that's why EA got the call.
 
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