By Anni Simpson on November 14, 2017 at 1:52pm
EA Games made a daring decision to require in-game credits to unlock characters in "Star Wars: Battlefront 2," and it did not go well.
EA made the news yesterday when a representative responded to an angry player who unconvered their newest business blunder wherein classic characters in the "Star Wars" universe (e.g., Darth Vader) were locked behind 60,000 credits, an in-game currency that could not be purchased with real money.. The response netted 681,000 downvotes, which was more downvotes than all other Downvote Hall of Fame entries combined. The representative did not empathize with the player, simply justified the business decision to lock characters even after players paid a standard full price for the AAA title:
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. EACommunity Team, reddit.com
Currently, the standard edition is now $30 and a season pass is $20. Before EA responded, the estimated time frame for unlocking Vader was approximately 40 hours, but the price has been reduced by 75 percent.
In a Reddit post written for the "Star Wars Battlefront" subreddit, the anonymous source alleges that EA likely won't respond to complaints about how they are being treated:
EA spends tens of thousands of man-hours focus testing and doing market research on the optimum way to wring money out of your wallet. This means that one or two days (or weeks or months) of complaining will not get them to change their mind regarding the nature of the progression system. They will not truly "fix" it because they believe that it's working as intended and their accountants and marketing guys will tell them that it is. A certain amount of players are supposed to get sick of it and stop playing. That's built-in to the calculations, like when Wal-Mart assumes that there will be a certain amount of shoplifting. Feminymphist, reddit.com
Worse still, the cost of the characters in early releases of the game for review copies was actually lower, making it impossible for review sites to give an accurate repsentation of the mechanic.
Players hold a contentious view of EA Games as is, and with good reason. In 2012 and 2013, EA won the Consumerist's Golden Poo Award for the way they treated players, including complaints of microtransactions and releasing games that were not ready for production, and day one DLC. The honor places them in the same rank as Comcast, BP during its oil spill fiasco in 2011, and Halliburton during the criticism of their role in the Iraq War.
Charming.
Players who want a refund from EA for "Battlefront" can request one online or call into support, but as of the time the article was written, the hold time is over an hour.
Polygon Reddit
