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Armenius
Extremely [H]
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2014
- Messages
- 37,109
Shortly prior to the release of the much-maligned Star Wars Battlefront II, an EA representative on Reddit tried to address the concerns players had with the time sink required in the game to unlock new characters that included the predatory real money microtransaction system to reduce that time. Needless to say, the community was not pleased with the response. The incident was so notorious that it got widespread news coverage, the pressure from which probably was part of the reason why EA and DICE revamped the gameplay systems in the last hour prior to release.
The original comment, which received more than 680,000 downvotes:
The original comment, which received more than 680,000 downvotes:
The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes.
As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we're looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we'll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.
We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.
Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can.
Extreme Tech breaks down the full context on how this happened and why this was a turning point in the discussion surrounding loot box mechanics, which EA later infamously referred to as "surprise mechanics." The discussion surrounding "surprise mechanics" is ongoing with the attention of national governments, and 2K has not helped the industry's cause with its recent release of NBA 2K20 where you literally gamble for the game currency VC.As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we're looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we'll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.
We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.
Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can.
