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Battlefront 2 PS4 scores 0.9 on Metacritic


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The reason heroes and villains no longer take 40 hours to acquire is because of the community outrage. EA was trying to see how strongly they could impose microtransactions on this game and without any backlash you would have been paying for a game that locked content behind a huge grind. Right now it may be easy to buy these games riddled with microtransactions and completely avoid them, but the time will come where it won't be so easy to avoid and people need to start understanding that. 

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I'm torn on whether this form of reviewbombing as a means of protest is a good or a bad thing. On one hand it further shrinks the already questionable reliability of user reviews but on the other hand it is probably the most effective method available if you want to get your point across. Not that it's going to have any impact of more than say 10% on Battlefronts actual sales though.

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you see, microtransactions/loot boxes are good when they're nonintrusive in the gameplay mechanics/gameplay of the game. What EA did was basically make the online portion of the game (which is like 50-60% of the game) pay to win. I doubt the reviews are going to impact sales as most who're going to buy it are probably star wars fanboys/girls or people who are unaware of the shit that went down.  What we have to wait and see is the aftermath of the aftermath, i.e how many refunds and how much the player count drops across all platforms.

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5 hours ago, Cubone said:

With the microtransactions in general (like recently with Shadow Of War), I usually say boycotting a game with microtransactions is not helping your cause because then only gamers who buy microtransactions get the game and the stats tell the dev that microtransactions are much more popular than they really are. If you're against microtransactions, you should still buy the game you want to play and not pay for microtransactions. I'm still buying Assassin's Creed games day one and I just never pay for microtransactions.

 

Completely disagree. If you buy the game and avoid the MTX you're basically saying "I'm happy with your doing [insert symptom of monetisation model here] to the game". The only way that you send the message that you reject the monetisation system is not to buy the game at all.

 

Buying the game is still an endorsement of the package as a whole. 

 

The issue with this game is moreso the Loot Boxes, rather than MTX in general tho. 

4 hours ago, Joker said:

I won't buy any EA products anymore until they stop punishing developers for their mistakes and shady business practices. This fucking bullshit has to stop.

 

Totally on board with this. I can live without all their franchises these days. 

 

Did you see the latest Need for Speed? Angry Joe's video on it was depressing! He called it an Angry Rant, but it was more sad than anything. 

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3 hours ago, sh4d0wzcs said:

I don't even know where people got the whole 40+ hours to unlock a hero when it litterally only takes 2-3 hours of mp.

 

It was based on the cost of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, which were both 60k credits before they reduced it by 75%. People say that you earn an average of 200-300 credits per match. Assuming 10 minutes per match people came up with 40 hours. 

 

Other heroes cost fewer credits, I understand. The outrage was mainly that most players would never get to play as the 2 most iconic SW characters going when it was 60k. 

2 hours ago, MMDE said:

There's always that one corporate shill. :) 

 

It amazes me too.

 

To be able to say "MTX are necessary" they have swallowed the corporate doublespeak hook line and sinker. 

 

Has EA disclosed their total investment in SWBF2? Have they said how much ongoing server support and DLC development will cost? Have they said how much they expect from sales of copies of the base game? 

 

You'd need to know these things to be able to say that this monetisation model is necessary, like that 10/10 reviewer did. Without that info, their opinion is just as valid as a cynic's who says the opposite. 

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1 hour ago, Elvick_ said:

I'm sorry, but if you had to go to metacritic and look at arbitrary butthurt reviews from people who just want to shit on the game and EA, to know this then you fail at the internet. People have been droning on and on and on and on and on about this for awhile, all over the internet.

It's almost like you don't need reviews to find information. HMMM. I knew this stuff without reading a single review or going to metacritic! O: Magic.

Petty 0 reviews on Metacritic aren't going to do anything, and they only say how petty some gamers get.

These are some harsh words. In general i agree with what you said. But the problem with this game is, it's meant to be played with other persons. Gaining an advantage so easily isn't something that will motivate many players. At least i wouldn't even wanna even begin something like this.

 

Reviweing a game is nothing but stating the own opinion on a game. Giving a score of 0 means pretty much the game is unplayable. But isn't this what many people feel right now and also wanna state? A game that has lots of potential beeing unplayable because of the lootboxes. It's a score resulting out of frustration. But it just means that this game got unplayable for many people.

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14 minutes ago, StrickenBiged said:

It amazes me too.

 

To be able to say "MTX are necessary" they have swallowed the corporate doublespeak hook line and sinker. 

 

Has EA disclosed their total investment in SWBF2? Have they said how much ongoing server support and DLC development will cost? Have they said how much they expect from sales of copies of the base game? 

 

You'd need to know these things to be able to say that this monetisation model is necessary, like that 10/10 reviewer did. Without that info, their opinion is just as valid as a cynic's who says the opposite. 

 

I'm not sure EA has even mentioned the cost excuse for this game yet. The fact is, it seems they want the extra cost, because they know the potential profit they can make of it.

 

The point of making everything take so long, limit progress to time and release new content over time etc is to have a steady player base who keeps playing every day. Doesn't sound like someone who wants to save money to me. What do they want a steady player base for? Well, it's to milk it for money of course.

 

Of course, they will come up with clever reasons for why this benefits the user, such as more populated servers for a long period of time, and be able to release new content for free, or even by the random aspect of it force people to vary their playing.

Edited by MMDE
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I expect the game will sell well despite how much negative attention it's getting, and no doubt they're going to make a killing off the microtransactions, but at the very least this isn't a good look for EA. Just typing "Battlefront 2" into Google will greet you with a ton of articles discussing all of the backlash the game is getting. This is stuff people who aren't even dialled into the latest gaming news will see. I can only hope these casual gamers think twice about purchasing the game since they will make up the bulk of the sales.

 

Maybe you think not purchasing the game yourself won't make any difference in the grand scheme of things, but that kind of mentality is wrong. There are many others who think the same exact thing, not just with gaming, but elections and what not too. If all of these people decided to act, they would be able to make a difference. You can be damn sure EA would start listening to us if people stopped giving them money.

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42 minutes ago, StrickenBiged said:

 

And Moms and Dads looking for Xmas presents. 

Which is why the reddit community came up with this image, and are trying to get it to go viral. (In fact, the reddit is a great resource for anyone wanting to understand the controversy around this game.)

723.jpg

leave it up to reddit to cause witch hunts for the better (that and youtube creators)

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Just now, wackt1 said:

leave it up to reddit

 

To be fair to them, they're being consistent and smart about it. They're targeting Disney now, responding to @Disney on twitter with #gambling and the meme-poster. EA probably wouldn't give a frig because, as others have pointed out, casuals are likely to buy SWBF2 in droves come what may. But upset Disney's clean image...? Yeah... that could upset the apple cart. 

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The sad thing is, whatever happens with Battlefront II with reviews or well pure hate that it's getting, EA wont care at all and we'll see Battlefront III next year with just as much "Quality" as this one.

They will keep buying companies and killing them off one by one, it's like a parasite just devouring it's surroundings until there is nothing left to feast on, When that day happens needs to be sooner then later.

 

EA has been dubbed the worst video game company many times over and many more to come.

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I feel for the employees at DICE who are earning a paycheck and aren't involved in the decision making behind what is now a much broader examination of microtransactions and potential gambling.

 

I think this really really needed to happen though, I think people have been largely frustrated with the slow increase in payment systems wrapping themselves around gaming experiences. It's been a long time coming, and fueled just as much by recent releases like Shadow of War as well.

 

Star Wars:Battlefront 2 brings two of the largest fanbases in history together - Star Wars fans and gamers - buying into a game which is published by one of the most notorious gaming companies in history, for better or worse. So I guess if one game had to serve as the floodgates to open all this controversy to the mass media and governmental regulatory bodies, it would be this one.

 

Now we have government in countries like Belgium actively investigating companies like Blizzard and EA around loot boxes and potential gambling mechanics, we have a Reddit comment by an EA employee which is the most downvoted post in Reddit history. We have a slew of YouTube Influencers all running reports and investigations of their own. It feels like a tide that can't be turned, at least for a little while. And I think that's absolutely a good thing.

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24 minutes ago, StrickenBiged said:

To be fair to them, they're being consistent and smart about it. They're targeting Disney now, responding to @Disney on twitter with #gambling and the meme-poster. EA probably wouldn't give a frig because, as others have pointed out, casuals are likely to buy SWBF2 in droves come what may. But upset Disney's clean image...? Yeah... that could upset the apple cart. 

 

Oh man, I really hope that picks up steam and the mainstream media start reporting on it. "Is Disney encouraging your kids to gamble?". What a PR disaster that would be. :lol:

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16 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

Oh man, I really hope that picks up steam and the mainstream media start reporting on it.

 

Ask, and ye shall receive:

 

http://fortune.com/2017/11/15/star-wars-battlefront-gambling-disney-electronic-arts-loot-box-crate/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2017/11/15/should-disney-and-lucasfilm-be-worried-about-star-wars-battlefront-ii/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41997252

http://www.theweek.co.uk/star-wars/83367/star-wars-battlefront-ii-ea-faces-gambling-probe-in-belgium

http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/16/games-inbox-warframe-vs-star-wars-battlefront-ii-switch-attach-rate-and-the-future-of-loot-boxes-7085400/

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/star-wars-fans-outrage-over-11530232

 

That was just a quick Google, and ignores any specific game industry media sites. 

 

Edit: I probably missed many more. My Google-fu starts to break down on the "News" tab, I'm not always sure how to organise it by most recent. 

 

 

Edited by StrickenBiged
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ok honestly I'm baffled by the overwhelmingly negative user reviews on metacritic. yes this game has microtransactions and yes you can theoretically "pay-to-win" if you buy a shit ton of crystals for crates. BUT it's totally unnecessary to do so, I mean I've already unlocked vader after just playing the campaign and 5 arcade challenges. I've played like 10 matches of mp and honestly, it's not a huge deal, who has what cards and I haven't seen anyone with all purple cards or anything crazy. yes the progression system is flawed, but EA already said they're willing to change and adjust it based on fan feedback. so maybe instead of boycotting and whining about microtransaction people should get it, cuz it's a fun game. and then tell them what's wrong with it so it can be fixed. they already went down 75% on the hero cost making all heroes together take about 30h of mp vs 40h just for the highest tier before., it's not a big deal. that is a huge improvement and I'm sure they'll adjust the amount of credits somewhat to make it even quicker soon enough. besides no one complains like this when the new Madden game drops every year and you can't do shit online unless you buy MUT packs unless you grind crazy hours. same with FIFA and all the other competitive sports games. now COD:WW2 seems to have microtransactions coming too. as do so many other games that people don't bash to death. seriously - the last of us (remastered) has microtransactions, you can buy weapons and traits etc. to give yourself a crazy edge over the competition instead of grinding for hours and days to unlock it all. and even though I noticed some people had ridiculous perks, I didn't let that stop me from having fun in mp and it's a lot of fun. in fact that game has one of the best reviews of any playstation games and not just because of the story. but no one went bashing that game. yeah, so EA f***'d up in the beta, they fixed it. and then they set their aim to high with th heroes initially, so what? the origin early access is a 10 hour TRIAL. and the model of games as a service means they're going to keep udating and fixing things. so everybody. chill. tf. out. just enjoy the star wars fantasy and stop complaining so much. bottom line is even from a plat trophy perspective, this is no hurdle. legitiamtely making it to level 100 in SWBF1 takes waaaaay longer than this.

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15 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

Oh man, I really hope that picks up steam and the mainstream media start reporting on it. "Is Disney encouraging your kids to gamble?". What a PR disaster that would be. :lol:

 

This is now on the frontpage of the number one main stream media in The Netherlands. To translate:

Are loot crates in the new star wars game a form of gambling?

https://nos.nl/op3/artikel/2203135-zijn-loot-crates-in-de-nieuwe-star-wars-game-een-vorm-van-gokken.html

It basically says that the belgium and dutch authorities are going to investigate loot crates, that it's addictive and pay to win. 

Let's hope this will lead to it being illegal my country, maybe that will change something somehow.

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4 hours ago, starcrunch061 said:

What power has the community shown? I mean, if there is a large drop in sales because of this, I'll agree, but my guess is that people will still buy the game. Most will put it away after a few days. Some will buy the loot boxes.

 

Well, in reddit it seems like that they might change stuff and I bet EA is pissed about the bad ratings. They are not going to publish any game like that anymore. At

least I hope they don't. Plus, other publishers are aware of what happened.

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7 minutes ago, Gommes_ said:

Well, in reddit it seems like that they might change stuff and I bet EA is pissed about the bad ratings. They are not going to publish any game like that anymore. At

least I hope they don't. Plus, other publishers are aware of what happened.

 

I hope you're right. After posting that, I did remember that EA made some changes, but I haven't played the game, and the info I've gotten on the benefit of those changes has been mixed, to say the least.

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4 minutes ago, starcrunch061 said:

the benefit of those changes has been mixed, to say the least.

 

The only change I'm aware of so far is that the cost (in in-game credits) of Hero Characters has been reduced by 75%. 

 

People quickly noticed that they also reduced the amount of credits rewarded for completing the main campaign by 75% too, which I think is the "benefit" bit that you're referring to.

 

Heroes will though, now, be faster to unlock by grinding multiplayer or Arcade mode than they were before. Campaign will only give you enough credits to unlock one of the lowest-tier - in terms of credit cost, I have no idea about gameplay efficacy - heroes.

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9 minutes ago, StrickenBiged said:

 

The only change I'm aware of so far is that the cost (in in-game credits) of Hero Characters has been reduced by 75%. 

 

People quickly noticed that they also reduced the amount of credits rewarded for completing the main campaign by 75% too, which I think is the "benefit" bit that you're referring to.

 

Heroes will though, now, be faster to unlock by grinding multiplayer or Arcade mode than they were before. Campaign will only give you enough credits to unlock one of the lowest-tier - in terms of credit cost, I have no idea about gameplay efficacy - heroes.

untrue. I played the campaign, 5 arcade challenges and 3 mp matches and had enough for vader 

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