EA’s Defense of Star Wars: Battlefront II is Now Reddit’s Most Downvoted Comment

DooKey

DooKey

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Apr 25, 2001
Messages
13,183
Things just keep getting worse for EA and their loot box fiasco in Battlefront II. Apparently the denizens of Reddit are really mad about a comment the EA team made during their defense of how long it takes to get certain heroes unlocked. Once the sales numbers are released we'll find out how many people are REALLY upset about all of this.

Until today, the most downvoted comment in Reddit history was from a user who comically asked for downvotes. It was at about -24,000. EA didn’t just beat the record. It crushed it.
 
Holy shit, as I write this, -306,000!

I guess they've forgotten they were voted to worst company.
 
I decided to ditch EA after BF3. Between BF4 being a glorified update, and the craptower that was C&C4, I didn't want to contribute any further to the monetization of garbage games and shitty business practices. Admittedly, I was tempted by BF1, but everything I've seen from EA since has further reinforced my decision. Nothing will change as long as the short-sighted consumer masses continue helping them make bank off this type of behavior.
 
EA is so full of shit. They're pulling some incredibly shady shit with review copies of the game too, in order to boost scores.

DOg2ubSV4AAJlRY.jpg
 
Funny enough people really didn't complain as much in BF3/4 about the packs you could buy that unlocks the various classes. To unlock everything was $40... IMO not too opposed to this kind of monitization.. I guess the devil is in the details... Where in BF3/4 you could be relatively geared (enough to compete) in just a few hours of play as each class/vehicle... There were some exceptions here and there but it wasn't horrible.

Another thing... People were complaining about lack of more progression and things to "work for" and unlock during these titles. The comments were literally the game was getting boring. There are a LOT of gamers that want pay to play or other mechanics to reward their awesomeness, but only if they are the ones on top... funny how that works...
 
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...

When IOS was hacked on the original iphone and everyone started stealing games. Within a few months freemium games started to appear with microtransactions.

Seemed to move to PC/Console a year or two later.
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...

I remember it kind of starting with Dead Space and it's shoe-horned multiplayer mode. There were packs that people could purchase just for the multiplayer...apparently people spent CRAZY amounts of money on the micro-transactions alone, so much so that every future game would have some Micro-transactions/multiplayer to get all that extra money.
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...
Horse armor.
 
rudedog said:
And yet people will still buy the game giving EA more ammo to keep pulling this shit game after game. I refuse to buy a game at full price if they are going to nickle and dime me over loot crates. Same goes for Activisioin and CoD WWII
Click to expand...

Same here. I was talking to a friend about this earlier and said if I do actually buy this game, which is only somewhat likely, I will buy a used copy. Same with WWII.
 
I quit buying EA games a long time ago, and I rarely fire up Origin.

Far better games out there...on Steam.
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...

It started happening when game companies figured out people were willing to pay. It's no different than people paying hundreds of dollars for virtual gear in World of Warcraft of Ebay. Don't you think the company noticed people are willing to pay real money for fake stuff? The solution to this problem is for everyone to stop paying, but like everything else, no one ever does. We all sit here and complain about it on the internet, and then either do it anyway, or we make up a small minority of the gaming community.
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...

MTs got their start thanks to the free-to-play world. Facebook, mobile phones, etc. Then free-to-play MMOs jumped on the bandwagon heavily, especially those out of China and South Korea. Then Valve decided to jump on board with TF2 and CS: Go. Outside of the usual avenues it wasn't a problem until a few years ago. Now after Overwatch and GTA Online everyone is getting on board because they make so much damn money.
 
The masses will still buy into this shit. Others (reddit, HardForum, other people that are more 'into' the industry rather than just buying based on advertisements) won't. Guess who is the majority by a long shot? Definitely not us.

I refuse to preorder any EA/Ubisoft/Activision game. I won't buy the game until the GOTY (full game with all DLC) is released and most likely used. It won't put a tiny dent in EA's coffers, but it's saving my ass some cash.
 
Here's the original comment:

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.
Click to expand...


Translation:
The intent is to provide players with a sense of frustration and impatience 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. The initial values were thrown out and, as an act of pure greed on EA's part, were increased significantly. Among other things, we’re looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we’ll be making constant increases to the cost of unlocking things to ensure that players have challenges that are enticing, low-rewarding, and of course unattainable via gameplay.

We don't give a shit about all the candid feedback, and zero fucks are given about 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 increases while ignoring community feedback and never update everyone as soon and as often as we can.
Click to expand...
 
This is sort of like listening to people complain that they had to pay a Cover Charge to get into a Casino that didn't give them free drinks or comped meals, it just let them lose their money at the tables and didn't throw them out :D

Step One: Go buy a used copy of an older game that doesn't do this crap or at least has all of its former DLC or microtransactions bundled into some super-affordable package.

Step Two: Play the hell out of that game

Step Three: Wait for these new ripoff games to reach that point...then play them. Boom. Win.

Diablo III, Forza 6, NFS...well ok maybe not anything recent from this series but you know, go play Hot Pursuit....go play something else multiplayer with your friends.

Battlefront 2 isn't even a game you OWN....you're paying $60 or $100 bucks to lease the thing for 3-4 years before they shut the servers down and your money is gone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rahh
like this
Microtransactions are lucrative as hell, and also a disincentive for content production. Why actually make new content when you can sell the equivalent of a pull on a one-armed bandit?
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...
I think Funcom pioneered this sort of thing with Anarchy Online. They are the first game I can think of which offered various in-game items you could purchase with actual money, beginning with vanity items and eventually items that gave XP boosts and whatnot.
 
If everyone who hates EA so much would stop buying their games....maybe they'd change?

I boycott very few things in my life, Tom Cruise movies, EA Games (thanks to Origin), any product I pay for that also makes me watch ads gets cut instantly (except for cable because my wife uses it, I use newsgroups)
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...

You can thank LoL, they were the first to break a BILLION $$$ doing it and show the model is a HUGE cash cow correctly implemented with a casual, mechanically dumbed down game made for drones.
 
babochee said:
You can thank LoL, they were the first to break a BILLION $$$ doing it and show the model is a HUGE cash cow correctly implemented with a casual, mechanically dumbed down game made for drones.
Click to expand...

Valve was eager to help with CSGO, TF2 and DOTA as well
 
I think the Farmville era was the start of the microtransaction revolution. They realized a select few would literally spend thousands a month on microtransactions, eventually this reached teens playing barbie dress-up with FPS skins. Now it's pay to win in AAA games.

I've played some of the games with cosmetic lootboxes, I think that's fine. If people want to pay money for barbie dress-up on their digital avatar... whatever, who am I to care. But FPS games offering classes or performance advantages via loot crates? Not gonna be buying any game like that.
 
Most down voted of all time at 364k, and they proved at least 2 of the 4 golds were bought by/for EA itself. I love a good shit show and it's only getting better with EA putting more feet in its mouth.
 
Microtransactions were presaged, as noted before, by the sale of virtual items for real money on Ebay for Everquest and WoW. I knew a comic shop guy who had a bank of PCs in the back where he payed kids a buck or three an hour or so to play games to grind up levels to grab items via XP that he would then sell on Ebay for way more than he payed the kids to earn them. Was a nice little sideline until the games got wise and started making it harder and harder to do. Shortly thereafter, more stuff was available to buy online and the advent of mobile and various FB games contributed to the development of microtransactions. It just took a bit longer to get figured out by the PC AAA gaming industry.

As far as the "outrage" around here about paying 60-100 bucks and "only" getting 2-4 years of play before a service is shut down - how many hours did you play... 100? 200? a buck or less an hour is pretty cheap entertainment. Excuse me while I find the smallest violin in the world to play in sympathy for your hurt feelings. Truly a #FWP.

I play LoL (badly) and they've got a good model - $ only buy vanity items and its not pay to win. For the hours of enjoyment they've given me, I've flipped em about 60 bucks over the last few years. Hell, I remember paying $2.00 an hour for early online flight sims - AirWarrior and Warbirds. Folks I know were playing Red baron for more than that, PLUS their compuserve fees. Holy hell!

At any rate, buying a game with a decently long or well done single player mode for the usual 40-70 bucks and then having an online component with vanity microtransactions available to maintain servers and product development doesn't seem to be too bad a trade off.

Pay to win sucks, though. And shitty single player campaigns that are only there to justify an initial purchase and actually don't - but are only there to funnel you into the online microtransaction online play and which then doesn't do anything for the actual development of the game or new games, are not ok either.
 
BB Gun said:
Microtransactions were presaged, as noted before, by the sale of virtual items for real money on Ebay for Everquest and WoW. I knew a comic shop guy who had a bank of PCs in the back where he payed kids a buck or three an hour or so to play games to grind up levels to grab items via XP that he would then sell on Ebay for way more than he payed the kids to earn them. Was a nice little sideline until the games got wise and started making it harder and harder to do. Shortly thereafter, more stuff was available to buy online and the advent of mobile and various FB games contributed to the development of microtransactions. It just took a bit longer to get figured out by the PC AAA gaming industry.

As far as the "outrage" around here about paying 60-100 bucks and "only" getting 2-4 years of play before a service is shut down - how many hours did you play... 100? 200? a buck or less an hour is pretty cheap entertainment. Excuse me while I find the smallest violin in the world to play in sympathy for your hurt feelings. Truly a #FWP.

I play LoL (badly) and they've got a good model - $ only buy vanity items and its not pay to win. For the hours of enjoyment they've given me, I've flipped em about 60 bucks over the last few years. Hell, I remember paying $2.00 an hour for early online flight sims - AirWarrior and Warbirds. Folks I know were playing Red baron for more than that, PLUS their compuserve fees. Holy hell!

At any rate, buying a game with a decently long or well done single player mode for the usual 40-70 bucks and then having an online component with vanity microtransactions available to maintain servers and product development doesn't seem to be too bad a trade off.

Pay to win sucks, though. And shitty single player campaigns that are only there to justify an initial purchase and actually don't - but are only there to funnel you into the online microtransaction online play and which then doesn't do anything for the actual development of the game or new games, are not ok either.
Click to expand...

Finally some one who has a memory. I believe that MMO's first started dipping their toes into the waters that the players had already tested (via Ebay), by offering name changes, server moves, and other account services for a fee. I remember how ticked off I was the first time that a name change cost something like $5-$20. Since then it has been item, currency, and RNG box sales all the way.
 
BB Gun said:
As far as the "outrage" around here about paying 60-100 bucks and "only" getting 2-4 years of play before a service is shut down - how many hours did you play... 100? 200? a buck or less an hour is pretty cheap entertainment. Excuse me while I find the smallest violin in the world to play in sympathy for your hurt feelings. Truly a #FWP.
Click to expand...
Nice misrepresentation of a larger problem. They're destroying games. "Games as a service" doesn't even hold up under the law in many countries. In Australia, many European countries, unless you're paying a monthly fee, they're PRODUCTS under consumer law, the end. You're paying for a product that's designed to be destroyed. What other "service" do you have no guarantee of how long it will last AND no metric of when it's considered done? Hell, if you buy a game like this a couple years from now, you may only get 1 month of play before they announce it's being shut down. This affects multiplayer AND single player games, it's a plague on the industry.

But hey, put your money where you mouth is. If you honestly believe 2-4 years is a reasonable amount of time to have access to a game that you paid for, then you can never play it again because it's been bricked by design, do you ever watch movies, listen to music, or read books older than 4 years old? Would you be fine if they were all rendered unusable after 4 years? I somehow doubt that. Making games unnecessarily rely on a central server, then shutting it down is destroying games, that's all there is to it. Meanwhile, I can still play Quake online and it's 20 years old. How far we've come.
 
Sedriss said:
I was just talking about this with a friend of mine. What the hell has happened to Gaming? I mean... Where did microtransactions come from as in terms to gaming? Can we pinpoint a mark on the timeline when this started happening?

It's such a repetitive saying but I do miss the old days. When you bought a game and actually got a full game. Non of this dlc on release day crap. Maybe I'm showing my age, or failing to conform to the new norm.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it's the exact origin of it, but some MMOs and most "Free to Play" games had microtransactions in them for awhile before it became so common in AAA games. It's pretty much the app store model as well.
 
BB Gun said:
Microtransactions were presaged, as noted before, by the sale of virtual items for real money on Ebay for Everquest and WoW. I knew a comic shop guy who had a bank of PCs in the back where he payed kids a buck or three an hour or so to play games to grind up levels to grab items via XP that he would then sell on Ebay for way more than he payed the kids to earn them. Was a nice little sideline until the games got wise and started making it harder and harder to do. Shortly thereafter, more stuff was available to buy online and the advent of mobile and various FB games contributed to the development of microtransactions. It just took a bit longer to get figured out by the PC AAA gaming industry.

As far as the "outrage" around here about paying 60-100 bucks and "only" getting 2-4 years of play before a service is shut down - how many hours did you play... 100? 200? a buck or less an hour is pretty cheap entertainment. Excuse me while I find the smallest violin in the world to play in sympathy for your hurt feelings. Truly a #FWP.

I play LoL (badly) and they've got a good model - $ only buy vanity items and its not pay to win. For the hours of enjoyment they've given me, I've flipped em about 60 bucks over the last few years. Hell, I remember paying $2.00 an hour for early online flight sims - AirWarrior and Warbirds. Folks I know were playing Red baron for more than that, PLUS their compuserve fees. Holy hell!

At any rate, buying a game with a decently long or well done single player mode for the usual 40-70 bucks and then having an online component with vanity microtransactions available to maintain servers and product development doesn't seem to be too bad a trade off.

Pay to win sucks, though. And shitty single player campaigns that are only there to justify an initial purchase and actually don't - but are only there to funnel you into the online microtransaction online play and which then doesn't do anything for the actual development of the game or new games, are not ok either.
Click to expand...

You must be the only non-millennial who is ok with this. The disposable generation has no problem with these tactics but I would think someone from an older generation would prefer to see a return of lasting value. There is a reason why you dont pay by the hour for games presently : Only a few stupid people did it. Now unfortunately the majority of people are willing to be exploited into paying for the same thing over and over again. It's a sickness of this time period.
 
It wasn't the silly stuff added to Bethesda's single player MMOs. Let's be real here. It was the runaway success of microtransactions of games like Magic and phone apps. It's just that once it finally got around to PCs, it hit hard and fast.

Microtransactions bother me. But even more than that random loot box/crate keys REALLY bother me. It's absolutely a form of gambling and games that supposedly target the full age spectrum from kids to adults should not be offering monetary gambling for game items. The arguments that the items are virtual or have no real world value is total BS. We all know how much some of the items are worth. And then there is spending an unkown random amount of money to gamble for items, that you then have to trade to get what you actually wanted. This is fundamentally wrong and not healthy to be exposing children to. Hell, a lot of adults don't need or appreciate pressure to gamble with real money.

The item you want, should be available for outright purchase. "but people hate that!" Yeah, well, hiding it behind putting in dollars and pulling the handle vegas style doesn't make it right.

This is really a sick path gaming is heading down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top