English
Gamereactor
news
Star Wars Battlefront II

DICE on Battlefront II's progression system: "We will fix this"

AMA failed to enlighten players, while DICE continues to look at the numbers.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

The furore that has exploded across the Interwebs this last couple of weeks in relation to the implementation of loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront II has been surprisingly explosive, with EA's slick shooter walking into a perfect storm of player resentment towards microtransactions in triple-A games.

In an attempt to assure fans about the issues surrounding the multiplayer portion of the game, in particular accusations of pay-to-win practices in the form of game-changing star cards, three key developers working on the game took part in an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit, where around 30 or so questions were answered.

It was interesting to hear this response from associate design director Dennis Brannvall, who revealed how the team had been impacted by the negative reception to the game in some quarters, and how they're resolved to turn things around.

"We were incredibly saddened by the negative response from you, the community on reddit about the game," Brannvall said. "In fact, we hated it, we truly did, because we want to make a game that you love. We've made a really cool, fun and beautiful game but it was overshadowed by issues with the progression system. We will fix this."

Elsewhere during the Q&A the subject of time came up. There have been some theories doing the rounds this week with regards to how long it would take an average player to unlock everything in the game. Unsurprisingly, and without really revealing anything concrete, it was explained that their numbers are much lower than external ones.

"We've seen the speculation about how long it takes players to earn things - but our averages based on the Play First trial are much faster than what's out there," executive producer John Wasilczyk said. "But as more players come in, that could change.

"We're committed to making progression a fun experience for all of our players. Nothing should feel unattainable and if it does, we'll do what it takes to make sure it's both fun and achievable. As we update and expand Arcade mode, we'll be working towards making sure that players can continue to progress without daily limits."

Microtransactions are obviously the hot topic, and the trio of devs didn't offer anything to appease concerned players, although Brannvall did say that paid-for loot crates are "there for player choice, but won't be a requirement to play or succeed at the game. And like everything else, we'll continue tweaking and tuning until we achieve these goals".

In fact, the main takeaway from the AMA was that Wasilczyk, Brannvall, and producer Paul Keslin would continue to keep a watchful eye over the way players interacted with the progression system, and how that in turn impacts balance in multiplayer.

Whether that'll be enough to "fix this" for some of the more vocal sections of the community remains to be seen, but let's hope that DICE and EA can strike a balance through future updates that keep the community having fun with what's otherwise an excellent sci-fi shooter.

Star Wars Battlefront II

Related texts

0
Star Wars Battlefront IIScore

Star Wars Battlefront II

REVIEW. Written by Mike Holmes

"It never gets boring watching Yoda rip through enemy lines with his lightning-quick lightsaber (as long as he's on your side, of course)."



Loading next content