OK, EA isn’t completely insane, so they’ve made some changes. Electronic Arts and DICE listened to the screeching horde of hundreds of thousands of gamers who hated the 40+ hour grind to unlock a single hero in Star Was Battlefront 2, and they’ve adjusted it. Instead of it taking 40 hours to unlock a single hero, gamers can now unlock FOUR heroes in that time.
Estimates from players with access to those earlier sessions put the unlocking of top tier characters like Darth Vader in the realm of 40+ hours. And that’s if you dedicated yourself purely to that pursuit. EA’s initial reply to these concerns didn’t go down very well, with this particular Reddit comment earning itself (to date) 453 thousand down-votes. Reportedly a record for the site.
And yes, 10 hours grinding for one hero (who was included for the price of admission in the last game) is still terrible, and no I won’t be happy with any grind in this context because they shoehorned a Free-to-Play economy into a full-priced AAA title. And I’m certain more than a few people who are aware of how scummy that is will share in this sentiment. It’s unfortunate that this objectively irritating system can be called a “victory”, but that’s the game industry now. If it isn’t EA pushing predatory gambling mechanics for insane profits, Warner Brothers, Take-Two, Activision or some other big name will do it first.
Read the full EA announcement here.
For the impatient, here are the highlights. The unlock costs for Battlefront 2 heroes will be reduced by 75% on launch. “Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will now be available for 15,000 credits; Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa for 10,000 credits; and Iden at 5,000 credits,” the post states. That change is also happening today for anybody playing the game early.
The one other positive from this whole kerfuffle is the showcasing of how direct action gets the goods. But sadly, until the majority of the gaming public decide to tell AAA publishers to stop behaving like Scrooge McDuck’s even greedier alter ego, the only way forward is to make the voice of discontent to these anti-consumer policies loud and clear.
Keep tearing apart EAs public statements and demanding that they do better, but for the love of all that is holy, don’t threaten the developers with violence.
EA/DICE are holding an AMA on Wednesday, I’m sure the heads of the dev team will love to answer some pointed questions from the community.
[UPDATE]
EA also tacked on a variety of adjustments to player rewards, effectively changing absolutely nothing in terms of time it takes to grind a hero. Looks like EA has managed to sneak a bait-and-switch by some of the gaming community.
What EA failed to mention when it announced that it would be reducing hero unlock costs in Star Wars Battlefront 2 is that in-game rewards have also been reduced. Prior to the changes, completing Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s story campaign rewarded players with 20,000 credits, but that reward has been reduced to a mere 5,000 credits.
