K&AJones

I was able to play a bit last night but just did the Arcade part which I actually liked. It's a shame "Arcade Mode" is not in more games with a infusion of AI Bots to fill in solo or co-op. Gears of War had something like this where you could setup a match with different variables solo or with someone else and it was really fun. There's quite a bit to do in that area with Challenges. The detail in the maps is top notch and very impressive. I wanted to start the campaign but same day this came out, Warframe's Plains of Eidolon came out and that's just ...Wow.

stingermck

Played some MP and Arcade last night. I rode a tauntaun while shooting rebels like John Wayne. That was worth it right there.

Music

Take your religious posts to the appropriate forum!

Rob V

But if you think about the % of people that will pay to be noticeably better and a total MP buzz-kill... that's gotta be less than 0.10% maybe? In a 40v40 match, how many people are maxed out players? Probably none... maybe 1 per every 10 rounds?

spainlinx0

Well, it's easy to think it's not a big deal when you completely make up your statistics. I have no clue what the actual numbers are, but I'm guessing you don't either. Nevermind that when you design a game to gouge players for extra cash, you make it more grindy than it needs to be.

I know not everyone is a completionist, but it's just been calculated that it would take either 4,528 hours or $2,100 to unlock everything.

story

Yikes, that's about as long as I've put into Battlefield Bad Company 2 between 2011-2017 and that's my favorite game.

Supermallet

This mentality is why we’re stuck with this shit. EA and other publishers know that fans of beloved franchises generally have little or no self control when something comes related to said franchise and looks cool. The more we buy into it, the worse it will get.

I’m a massive Star Wars fan, but I’m not going to pay a company to fuck me in the ass, even with a Darth Vader dildo.

mattysemo247

If anyone ends up watching the AMA today, report back with some tidbits. I'm REAL curious to see what kind of questions they end up answering.

DaveyJoe

Imagine if Star Wars Episode 8 charaged you another $5 to watch the final act of the movie? It's the same concept. This concept was designed for free-to-play games where you could play for free or choose to pay to enhance your experience. To drop $60 on a game and have a ton of content locked unless you pay more is ridiculous, and it sets a shitty precedent for the future of gaming.

Rob V

I think they actually sell Darth Vader dildos... so have at it.

My "mentality" is not why YOU or anyone else is stuck with EA shit. If you're stuck with EA shit, it's because you chose to buy their product. Devs have been adding this "loot crate" mentality for years; let's not get all high & mighty like THIS is the last straw... or do go all high & mighty and play about 25% of the big budget games (or less).

Rob V

Dead Rising 4 did it... Where's the Capcom bashing? Nobody gives a fuck because it's 1/20th the size of a massive universe like SW. And yes, 1/20th is a made up statistic for those that give a fuck.

FTR, I'm not defending EA, I just don't give a fuck because it's $50 fucking dollars. It's my disposable income... and I suspect very few people will actually buy loot crates due to the global flaming they'd receive. But whateves.

Mike86

I might buy the game still but I won’t be paying micro transactions for extra content. That’s some bullshit and definitely a trend lately that I’m not a fan of.

stingermck

Well it started at 12:30 and here it is an hour later, and no responses.

Great success so far

RichC2

At least they're unlockable.

Bandit03

So far pretty vague answers and nothing worth noting. Pretty much what was expected. Basically, "we're looking into data, we're looking into solutions, we're looking into looking into stuff".

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsBat...r_ama/dpv7v2l/

spainlinx0

Yup, it's a huge vague letdown, as expected.

mattysemo247

Some of these are great so far. They have one hell of a hole to dig themselves out of.

Q: Lootboxes should be removed. These ruin the feeling of accomplishment, are a form of gambling, and are obviously an incentive for players to buy credits using micro-transactions. Currently, Battlefront feels like a free mobile game, not a $60-$80 AAA title. There should be absolutely no micro-transactions that affect progression. While we recognize that you need money to continue creating free DLC, it should not come at the expense of fair gameplay. A compromise can be limiting lootboxes to cosmetic items only, so you can still make money.

A: I think crates can be a fun addition as long as you don't feel forced to engage with them in order to progress. I feel that's where the issue is with our game right now and that's where we'll look to solve as quickly as we can. We're looking to add additional ways to progress your favorite character or class, while allowing crates to be a fun thing for those who want to engage with them.

Q: Do you feel the 6.5/10 review that GameInformer released on your game was an adequate score based on the product you released? Do you think the score would’ve been higher if the game was not riddled with micro transactions and a progression system inherently tied to those micro transactions?

A: I feel that the score was impacted by the feedback on our progression system and obviously would have loved if that wasn't the case. I believe the gameplay, art, audio and depth warrants higher recognition, but I'm a developer, so I'm not necessarily the most unbiased source. Reviewers are obviously entitled to their own opinions, and we respect that completely.

Q: What do you plan to do to repair the backlash you've received and are you worried this will have serious impact between you and the consumers?

A: Jumping into this AMA is just one of the ways we want to start to repair the bridge to our players. Lots of people told us that we shouldn't do this this as it wasn't going to go like we hope it would. That said, we are committed to continuing this dialogue even if we need to face some harsh feedback. We welcome the discussions and criticisms, we're not just here for the praise (although it is nice to hear!). And we'll continue to be here, and on our forums, talking to our community as we strive to work with you to make a Star Wars game you enjoy.

stingermck

Yes, they are answering, but half of the time they're being mass-downvoted, so the answers can be hard to find. Since there's three of them answering, we can't get around that by sorting by Q&A. The easiest way to get around that is to go to their user page and look at the answers there:

http://www.reddit.com/u/WazDICE

http://www.reddit.com/u/d_FireWall

http://www.reddit.com/u/TheVestalViking

Additionally, here's a list of answers so far:

────────

/u/WazDICE

• On how long progression takes

• On the negative press reaction to the crate system

• On the rate of unlocking crates/cards

────────

/u/d_FireWall

• On cosmetics and customizations

• On competing with players who spend a lot of time/money

• On lootboxes as progression

• On the lack of credits/crafting parts

• On review scores

• On Galactic Conquest

────────

/u/TheVestalViking

• On offline progression

• On community engagement, and star card level requirements

• On recovering from the community backlash

• On performance-based credit rewards

• On private servers

mattysemo247

Also, some review scores are starting to come in:

7/10 - Playstation LifeStyle, EGM, IGN (provisional)
6.5 - GameInformer
6/10 - Gamespot (provisional), Shacknews

mattysemo247

I'm guessing that the people that played Dead Rising 4 (which probably wasn't many) did bring up the concerns of loot boxes if it affected the progression or enjoyment of a single player game. The noise of BFII is going to be MUCH larger because it's SW, but the conversation has to start somewhere. I don't think there has been one positive thing that people have said about the loot box system in any of the games that have come out this Fall. Every game has suffered negatively from it. Shadow of War, CoD WWII, Forza 7, etc. I think Overwatch is still the perfect example of how to use a loot box system, but the rest of the developers just haven't figured that out yet.

dvdjunkie32

They did claim that the matchmaking is set up so you are only matched with people of equal skill sets. Which pretty much makes the star cards or whatever as nothing but a pointless money grab. It's a no win situation for them.

fujishig

Someone mentioned on another board that they may not have had the option of charging for cosmetic changes because they need approval from Disney to get variants approved and that may not be allowed for the more iconic characters (which is what most would pay for, I'd think). Doesn't excuse what they did, though.

I completely understand people willing to pay up or ignore stuff because it's Star Wars, heck, I feel NBA 2k is going way overboard with microtransactions and the grind, but I still bought it because the alternative is Live. But they will test your breaking point for sure.

Bandit03

Lol, what a clusterfuck. Think I'll pass.

mattysemo247

They should have figured something out ahead of time because it would almost seem like people would have spent MORE money on some sort of cosmetic skins (hell, even if it's gun skins like Gears or CoD have done in the past). Or an accessory or something. Everyone can have a BB-8 that follows them around on the battlefield!

Bandit03

Answer from Dice:

"Right now, 20% of your score is factored into your Credit reward. We agree, that's likely not enough, and we're looking into how we can increase that now."

That doesn't sound right from what I've been reading from other people that have been playing though...