Battlefront 2 PS4 scores 0.9 on Metacritic

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

The more I think about it, the more I'm getting stomachaches about how EA is ruining what should be an awesome time for Star Wars games. The movies are doing great, the EU has a clean slate with many great books and comics... There should be an overload of Star Wars games, not a drought with only one Battlefront title every two years.

 

Fuck this, I'm cancelling. Line in the sand has been drawn.

 

Well, at least as a Star Wars fan, I'm used to seeing awful games. It's not like LucasArts was doing great towards the end, they often made cash grabs as well. At least they had the decency of switching it up, and after souring things with Bombad Racing they'd do a Jedi Outcast 

 

3 hours ago, StrickenBiged said:

 

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. 

 

Not my opinion - buying the game is not an endorsement of the whole package but rather saying there's enough inside for me to warrant a buy. I'm not happy with microtransactions in Assassin's Creed but I'm not bothered enough by it to not buy the games any more.

 

I AM bothered enough by EA's practices and stuff I heard about the story campaign part of Battlefront II that I don't want it any more though, not until I can get it from someone used for a few bucks.

 

3 hours ago, StrickenBiged said:

 

ACG goes into more detail on the solo campaign than most of the reviews I have read or seen. You might find it helpful if you haven't seen it already.

 

Thanks, that video was actually pretty helpful. I usually don't watch video reviewers except for Zero Punctuation (and I  often watch him more for the laughs than for the actual review) but this one was alright.

[ragnarok2887]

As a someone that this game was perfectly aimed for (huge gamer & Star Wars fan), I can't begin to express just how disappointed I am about what this game has turned out to be.  The funny thing is that the actual gameplay looks pretty good, but that will be forever overshadowed by the rotten cesspool of microtransaction "pay to win" business model that is infested inside of it.  This kind of predatory business practice needs to be fought against, not only to prevent future games following suit, but also to prevent these companies aiming a type of gambling towards vulnerable people and kids.

 

I only hope that gamers point the finger at all the other current/future games that follow this model, and not just at Battlefront 2.    

 

"EA (gambling), It's in (every) game"

[Guest]

So...how well did the game sell? Did people speak with their wallet or just bought the game anyways.

[Undead Wolf]

7 minutes ago, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

So...how well did the game sell? Did people speak with their wallet or just bought the game anyways.

 

It doesn't officially release until tomorrow, but we'll know soon enough.

[that_dude_cam_ps]

2 hours ago, ragnarok2887 said:

As a someone that this game was perfectly aimed for (huge gamer & Star Wars fan), I can't begin to express just how disappointed I am about what this game has turned out to be.  The funny thing is that the actual gameplay looks pretty good, but that will be forever overshadowed by the rotten cesspool of microtransaction "pay to win" business model that is infested inside of it.  This kind of predatory business practice needs to be fought against, not only to prevent future games following suit, but also to prevent these companies aiming a type of gambling towards vulnerable people and kids.

 

I only hope that gamers point the finger at all the other current/future games that follow this model, and not just at Battlefront 2.    

 

"EA (gambling), It's in (every) game"

I wrote a longer post, bump. but still I'll reiterate. I've played the campaign once (on normal), go the collectibles. so far only the light side arcade challenges tier 1. and 2 matches of each mp mode and I now have unlocked both luke and vader without paying anything. all this paytowin business is being completely blown out of proportion. was getting 8 player kill streaks in a starfighter and haven't dropped a single credit on crates. and I'm not even that good, just average.

[Katt]

To be honest, I'm enjoying this. It's time to show the big boys what we want once for all.

Also, if we talk about metacritic, user reviews are always better than critic reviews.
They haven't failed me not even once.

[AtroxBR]

 

Will the score go up now? 

[Terra]

7 minutes ago, AtroxBR said:

 

Will the score go up now? 

Still not going to buy it. I'm waiting a good few months to see if EA will stick with it.

[AtroxBR]

2 minutes ago, Terra said:

Still not going to buy it. I'm waiting a good few months to see if EA will stick with it.

 

It's temporary, but when they come back, it will be with a much lower cost, for sure. 

[Katt]

11 minutes ago, AtroxBR said:

Will the score go up now? 

 

NO.

[Terra]

Just now, Katt said:

 

NO.

Calling it now, this will reach 0.5 by the end of the week

[Major_Kiba]

Does anybody really pay attention to a games metacritic score when buying one.  I mean average consumer probably hasn't even heard about the entire microtransaction thing.  I bet this game will sell just fine considering its Star Wars and a new movie is coming out so marketing for Star Wars is big right now.  

[Kishnabe]

Belgium investigating the Gambling Mechanics in both Overwatch and BF2. Can't wait to see a crackdown on this and others stepping in. AO rating for anything with Lootboxes.

[Killbomb]

34 minutes ago, MrKittyEmperor said:

Does anybody really pay attention to a games metacritic score when buying one.  I mean average consumer probably hasn't even heard about the entire microtransaction thing.  I bet this game will sell just fine considering its Star Wars and a new movie is coming out so marketing for Star Wars is big right now.  

 

I certainly don't pay attention to Metacritic user scores. The only user reviews I've found helpful are on Steam.

 

Anyway, I am surprised they took the leap and turned off all microtransactions for the moment at least. Probably still a lot of players that have a paid advantage though.

[BeautifulTorment]

2 hours ago, Terra said:

Still not going to buy it. I'm waiting a good few months to see if EA will stick with it.

I'll probably wait a good few years. I don't trust those guys.

[Fubuki]

Hurrah! I'm so happy  this happened. Sadly there will still be sheeps who buy it and are aware of microtransactions but don''t care. EA pulled the microtransactions but only for a limited time. We won the battle but not the war. 

[You]

May as well just wait for 6-12 months for the inevitable GOTY edition or wait a few weeks / month for the inevitable price drop.

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

4 hours ago, Kishnabe said:

Belgium investigating the Gambling Mechanics in both Overwatch and BF2. Can't wait to see a crackdown on this and others stepping in. AO rating for anything with Lootboxes.

 

It will not stick because it's not gambling if you get something out of loot boxes every time. It's just like buying a pack of Magic cards - might be good stuff inside, might be bad, but you always get something.

 

Just to have this out in the open is a good thing though, most casual consumers don't know anything about these practices at all.

 

25 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

May as well just wait for 6-12 months for the inevitable GOTY edition or wait a few weeks / month for the inevitable price drop.

 

Rumour has it that the "free" DLC will be locked behind a credits wall as well, don't know what that would mean for a GOTY edition.

[Paleblood]

17 hours ago, StrickenBiged said:

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. 

Yeah, I‘ve seen that one. Of course I can feel him on this. If you‘ve grown up with gaming it just really is sad to see every major franchise go down that path. Games like Need for Speed used to be so much fun back in the day.

 

You can truly see the dissapointment in Joe during the video and it‘s honestly how I feel to about it too.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Joker

[StrickenBiged]

15 hours ago, cam_wick said:

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

 

What was untrue about what I said? Not criticising you, just wondering. 

 

Like I said in my post you quoted, the cost of Vader has been reduced so it's not surprising to me that you'd be able to unlock him much more quickly. 

 

Edit: What was the total time investment in doing this, by the way?

 

Because when Vader was 60k credits, people were calculating you'd need to play for 40 hours to unlock him. So if you played for, say, 10 hours to do those things, that would also match the 75% credit reduction.

Edited November 17, 2017 by StrickenBiged
another question

[StrickenBiged]

1 hour ago, Cubone said:

it's not gambling if you get something out of loot boxes every time

 

I've got a new slot machine, of my own invention, that you can play. I'm not going to tell you the odds of winning and, because it's all controlled digitally, rather than mechanically, you can't calculate the odds and I could change them at any time based on your playing habits and/or how much you're using my slot machine and other data captured from the way you and other players like you are interacting with my slot machines generally. 

 

Each spin costs $0.99.

 

You could get some money if you win but, y'know, I could also use that data that my machine learns about you to optimise the rewards you earn which will maximise my revenue, not your enjoyment, necessarily. 

 

I'll make sure that my machine also spits out a piece of PEZ candy for every spin though. Y'know, so that you get something out of playing my slot machine and it's "not gambling" and I can avoid those pesky regulations that mean I have to play fair. 

 

Do you want to play my game?

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

1 minute ago, StrickenBiged said:

 

I've got a new slot machine, of my own invention, that you can play. I'm not going to tell you the odds of winning and, because it's all controlled digitally, rather than mechanically, you can't calculate the odds and I could change them at any time based on your playing habits and/or how much you're using my slot machine and other data captured from the way you and other players like you are interacting with my slot machines generally. 

 

Each spin costs $0.99.

 

You could get some money if you win but, y'know, I could also use that data that my machine learns about you to optimise the rewards you earn which will maximise my revenue, not your enjoyment, necessarily. 

 

I'll make sure that my machine also spits out a piece of PEZ candy for every spin though. Y'know, so that you get something out of playing my slot machine and it's "not gambling" and I can avoid those pesky regulations that mean I have to play fair. 

 

Do you want to play my game?

 

Nope, but then again I don't buy into microtransactions either, nor do I buy Magic cards.

 

Point is, as awful as the progression and payment model used in Battlefront II is, it simply can't be classified as gambling because you always get something and you never get any real life reward. Your example would probably still be gambling even though you give some candy, because there's also the possibility of a money reward. With Battlefront II, there's no real life reward ever, it's just random in-game stuff but it is always some in-game stuff. With Magic packs (and Pokémon and other same-minded card games), you could have horrible cards or you could have great cards, but you always get six cards (or thereabouts).

 

Yes, strictly speaking the loot box system is a game of chance, and since real money can be paid for it, strictly speaking, it should be called gambling. I just don't think a situation like Battlefront II can be called gambling unless you're going to call something like Magic a gambling game as well.

[StrickenBiged]

4 hours ago, BadTitanSlayer said:

We won the battle but not the war.

 

 

 

[Meacham]

I bet Disney rang EA and swanton bombed them before they got dragged into the bs.

 

I do still think they’ll bring them back though once more people buy the game.

[StrickenBiged]

5 minutes ago, Cubone said:

and you never get any real life reward

 

And I think this is the real debate that is going on right now. There are different conceptions of what is a "reward" at play. 

 

On a strictly legalistic basis, you are absolutely correct. It's not gambling unless there is money (or, in some jurisdictions, "money's worth", hence why CS:GO skin gambling was a problem) involved.

 

What a lot of people, myself included, are arguing is that this is too simplistic today, where people attach real emotional value to digital goods which can be generated at almost zero unit cost (because they're digital and can be generated infinitely the unit cost will trend towards zero the more times that item is "unlocked" or "unboxed" or whatever). 

 

And we know enough about psychology these days to know that these loot box methods are as effective as gambling in giving people that dopamine rush and getting them to invest more. And all those things I warned about, like using data to optimise the loot-box on a per user basis to get them to spend the most, will soon be possible if they're not already implemented. Check out Scientific Revenue. If you think those data techniques won't soon also be applied to loot boxes, you are dreaming. 

 

There's a lot of laws which need to change to greet the new digital economy. For instance, if I died tomorrow, legally, my digital collection of PSN games dies with me as transferring my account to anyone else in my will is illegal under the terms and conditions. Personally, I think that collection of licences are worth something and should be transferable. The gambling laws also need to be updated because real people are attaching real value to digital items, however intransigent they may be and even if those items cannot be redeemed for cash.