As you have no undoubtedly heard, the latest EA release, Battlefront 2, is rife with issues before it's even been released to the public. The main culprit is their loot box system, where users must either spend cash on crystals or spend an ungodly amount of time earning credits to unlock heroes or purchase loot boxes, which allow players to "improve their characters". The response to this basically pay-to-win scenario has been overwhelmingly negative, with a post with EA's response to the criticisms receiving the most downvoted posts ever on Reddit which is currently at 676,000+.

In response to this, EA has decided to completely disable all in-game purchases for the Battlefront 2 just before it's release. EA's statement is below:

Thank you to everyone in our community for being the passionate fans that you are.

Our goal has always been to create the best possible game for all of you – devoted Star Wars fans and game players alike. We’ve also had an ongoing commitment to constantly listen, tune and evolve the experience as it grows. You’ve seen this with both the major adjustments, and polish, we have made over the past several weeks.

But as we approach the worldwide launch, it's clear that many of you feel there are still challenges in the design. We’ve heard the concerns about potentially giving players unfair advantages. And we’ve heard that this is overshadowing an otherwise great game. This was never our intention. Sorry we didn’t get this right.

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.

We have created a game that is built on your input, and it will continue to evolve and grow. Star Wars Battlefront II is three times the size of the previous game, bringing to life a brand new Star Wars story, space battles, epic new multiplayer experiences across all three Star Wars eras, with more free content to come. We want you to enjoy it, so please keep your thoughts coming. And we will keep you updated on our progress.

While that's at least a step in the right direction regarding Battlefront 2's pay-to-win loot box system, and while EA has slashed the prices on heroes already, it's still unclear how long exactly it'll take users to unlock popular heroes through normal gameplay.

Source

 

[the_randomizer]

Makes me glad I spent 50 bucks on Skyrim instead of one of EA's treasure troves of trivial tripe.

 

[Subtle Demise]

Makes me glad I spent 50 bucks on Skyrim instead of one of EA's treasure troves of trivial tripe.

Bethesda as a publisher hasn't been much better honestly with the paid mods fiasco.

 

[KingVamp]

I knew it was temporary, yet hope it was permanent.

"giving players unfair advantages" Unless there are just cosmetic changes, as long as lootboxes and microtransactions are in the game, that will always be the case.

 

[the_randomizer]

Bethesda as a publisher hasn't been much better honestly with the paid mods fiasco.

No, but they did back down from that, well plus, they actually have competent programmers who make ports that aren't half-assed on Nintendo consoles; Skyrim Switch is a prime example of a port that doesn't suck ass. I'd much rather get a port that works than one that has entirely missing features.

 

[froggestspirit]

"Let's be greedy to the fans expense"
600,000+ downvotes later...
"Oh, we're sorry, we didn't realise you didn't like that"

 

[Bladexdsl]

just went on ign can't believe all the butthurt comments about peeps disappointed they were looking forward to the micro$ is todays gen really that PATHETIC?!

 

[the_randomizer]

just went on ign can't believe all the butthurt comments about peeps disappointed they were looking forward to the micro$ is todays gen really that PATHETIC?!

Wait wait wait, this I gotta see, need to have some fun on that article

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Wait wait wait, this I gotta see, need to have some fun on that article

Link us, link us!

 

[the_randomizer]

Link us, link us!

I assume this is the portion of the body that has succumbed to necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria), proceed with caution
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/11/17/ea-takes-star-wars-battlefront-ii-microtransactions-offline

 

[Steena]

They're just turning them off and waiting for people to buy the game as a result to turn them back on. It's a massive honeypot, and the sad part is, it's going to work.

This
Lootboxes cannot be stopped, as the community makes small concessions they will gradually and slowly take the hold and p2w will inevitably become a standard at some point, just like utterly broken day 1 games, early access, badly practice dlc, scammy founders packs, etc.
Now sensible people would not make the purchase until the changes are revealed and employed; but the reality is people will cheer for a victory, praise EA for honesty and give up on giving bad coverage for the game which is exactly what EA wants right now. All of this turmoil will not only be proven to be useless, but will serve as an example that people would now accept p2w with the "it's okay if it's postlaunch" asterisk.

 

[Bladexdsl]

loot boxes are a cancer to gaming

 

[the_randomizer]

loot boxes are a cancer to gaming

It's sure fun pissing off the damage control/white knighting squad on IGN

 

[Bladexdsl]

the memes in there are killing me

 

[Deleted-401606]

True, but I heard they also reduced the amount of in game currency earned from the single player campaign and possibly online matches also.

Thats finesse lol.

 

[Chronicar]

So people still haven't figured out that EA makes you pay $60 for a game that is then p2w. Been doing it with their sport games for years now. They have basically combined the p2p scheme of mobile games with the one time purchase scheme console games.

 

[Xzi]

Word around the interwebz is that they intend to re-introduce microtransactions at a later date. I definitely wouldn't put it past them. Short-term PR damage control bullshit like EA has used a million times already.

Again, best protest move if you're looking for a good Star Wars game IMO is buy the classic Battlefront 2 on Steam ($10, low system requirements, new multiplayer support). I definitely will be when I get paid tomorrow.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/6060/Star_Wars_Battlefront_2_Classic_2005/

loot boxes are a cancer to gaming

To be fair, Rocket League does them really well. Neat(er) cosmetics than what you get for free, that's it. And $1 = 1 loot box, straightforward. Overwatch does them okay. Not as fast to collect as Rocket League, even though you get free loot boxes. I don't like the odds as much, hard to get the stuff you really want. Everybody else does them really poorly.

 

[leon315]

Makes me glad I spent 50 bucks on Skyrim instead of one of EA's treasure troves of trivial tripe.

I got my legendary edition for just 8 bucks, clearly Bethesda regnizes who has bigger wallet!

 

[linuxares]

DO NOT BUY this game. They will REINTRODUCE them later. This is just a move to calm the storm. Boycott this game, hell boycott EA Games!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Word around the interwebz is that they intend to re-introduce microtransactions at a later date. I definitely wouldn't put it past them. Short-term PR damage control bullshit like EA has used a million times already.

Again, best protest move if you're looking for a good Star Wars game IMO is buy the classic Battlefront 2 on Steam ($10, low system requirements, new multiplayer support). I definitely will be when I get paid tomorrow.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/6060/Star_Wars_Battlefront_2_Classic_2005/


To be fair, Rocket League does them really well. Neat(er) cosmetics than what you get for free, that's it. And $1 = 1 loot box, straightforward. Overwatch does them okay. Not as fast to collect as Rocket League, even though you get free loot boxes. I don't like the odds as much, hard to get the stuff you really want. Everybody else does them really poorly.

No, they don't. Rocket League failed hard once they locked new cars in lootboxes. If it was just cosmetics fine, but cars shouldn't be locked behind a gambling mechanic.

 

[ihaveahax]

loot boxes in a $60 game are a terrible idea, even if they are "just cosmetic" it doesn't change the fact that they're exploitive and manipulative and prey on those with gambling tendencies.

it would be so good if the microtransactions were disabled permanently, but that's not going to happen because EA. hopefully a second backlash happens once they're re-enabled.

 

[ov3rkill]

It was freakin' hilarious when they sell this expensive triple-A game on top of in-game purchases which is crazy. I would understand if it was a freemium game. This is just gold. EA is definitely the company of the year. /s

Hopefully, that 40-hour per hero unlocked is now a thing of the past.