Loot Boxes MAY NOT Return to Battlefront 2 - Sensationalist Headlines

Meant to change the title to "Paid Loot Boxes / Microtransactions MAY NOT Return to Battlefront 2" [quote]Electronic Arts may not bring microtransactions back to Star Wars Battlefront II, the chief financial officer of Electronic Arts told a gathering of investors earlier this week. This is the first time EA has publicly acknowledged that the controversial money-making system may not return to the Star Wars game. But speaking at the 37th Nasdaq Investor Conference on Tuesday, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen noted that microtransactions may not return to the game when asked about how the company is dealing with the backlash. "Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants and that's evolving constantly," he says. "But we're working on improving the progression system. We turned the MTX off as an opportunity to work on the progression system inside the game. We're continuing to do that. I think there's an update this week and again next week. [B]"Overtime we'll address how we will want to bring the MTX either into the game or not and what form we will decide to bring it into."[/B][/quote] [URL="http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/ea-may-not-bring-loot-boxes-back-to-battlefront-ii-w513439"]http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/ea-may-not-bring-loot-boxes-back-to-battlefront-ii-w513439 [/URL]

I don't believe a single fucking word they say.

[quote]"Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants and that's evolving constantly," he says.[/quote] The consumer wants you to go bankrupt. It hasn't evolved, it hasn't changed. It's been like that quite some time now, it's just being more vocal about it.

"may"

Mark my words, as soon as EA and Battlefront 2 are out of the limelight, the microtransactions will arrive shortly thereafter. Until we get some legislation preventing or limiting these predatory practices, they won't stop.

[Quote]Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants[/quote] Are they trying to convince me, or themselves? They don't sound to sure.

read as "we are waiting for everyone to forget about this as much as possible so we can quietly put the boxes back in the game at a point where the revenue will out-scale the backlash"

Can't trust a thing EA says

they are thinking of some other form to milk our hairy tits for money

are they basically saying "we have altered the game, pray we don't alter it further" ?

[quote]Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants and [B]that's evolving constantly.[/B][/quote] I want games to be priced and sold like they were when I was a kid, my wants have not evolved in 15 years.

[quote]Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants and that's evolving constantly[/quote] [t]https://i.imgur.com/XEH3hTb.jpg[/t][t]https://i.imgur.com/K5dYh5A.jpg[/t][t]https://i.imgur.com/QK4xRj7.jpg[/t] That's bullshit but I believe it.

I believe them, but it will be the only case of them doing so. after this game it's business as usual

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;52951908]The consumer wants you to go bankrupt. It hasn't evolved, it hasn't changed. It's been like that quite some time now, it's just being more vocal about it.[/QUOTE] Hear me out on this, but I don't want EA to go bankrupt. So many IPs have been lost or otherwise won't resurface from the closure of THQ, and they were small compared to EA. If EA went bankrupt, what happens to Origin, and the games you may own on there? If the rights to certain IPs goes to a different company than the one that holds the reins to Origin, what happens to say, Battlefield? I want them to get their shit together and stop trying to squeeze every penny out of people, stop going for the focus-groups and focus on actually making good games, but I feel if they were to go straight under we'd be losing more than "winning" over "evil EA".

[QUOTE=Steel & Iron;52951988][t]https://i.imgur.com/XEH3hTb.jpg[/t][t]https://i.imgur.com/K5dYh5A.jpg[/t][t]https://i.imgur.com/QK4xRj7.jpg[/t] That's bullshit but I believe it.[/QUOTE] They put out a statement LAST WEEK about cosmetics that was a complete lie. How the fuck could they possibly say that straight faced.

EA is definitely the company I'd take their word for:hiddendowns:

What I want is actually pretty simple. I want a full game with no microtransactions, loot boxes, or DLCs unless they are of an expansion pack level size. Where the focus is on providing great gameplay with real depth to it even if it means I can't have the best graphics in the world. A game that understands that 'fun' should come from being genuinely fun and not looking visually gorgeous to make me feel like it [i]should[/i] be fun. A game where you could swap out the visuals for low poly PS1 visuals and it would still be a blast anyway. A game with extra content in it like bonus challenges and costumes that only serve to make my experience better rather than to be sold to me. BASICALLY the opposite of everything you're doing.

They will turn the MicroTransactions back on the moment they think it's been out long enough to get a "oh well I stopped playing that months ago!" reaction from most players rather than another colossal shitfest.

[QUOTE=Jetamo;52952061]Hear me out on this, but I don't want EA to go bankrupt. So many IPs have been lost or otherwise won't resurface from the closure of THQ, and they were small compared to EA. If EA went bankrupt, what happens to Origin, and the games you may own on there? If the rights to certain IPs goes to a different company than the one that holds the reins to Origin, what happens to say, Battlefield? I want them to get their shit together and stop trying to squeeze every penny out of people, stop going for the focus-groups and focus on actually making good games, but I feel if they were to go straight under we'd be losing more than "winning" over "evil EA".[/QUOTE] You can argue that and I'll admit you have a point there. We'd arguably be losing alot more if EA went under. At the same time though, good fucking riddance to their predatory practices, and we'll have less cases of Visceral, pandemic, X beloved developer/studio being shuddered PURELY because of EA. How many beloved series would still be alive if it weren't for EA fucking devouring the devs responsible for them?

[QUOTE=Solo Wing;52952198]How many beloved series would still be alive if it weren't for EA fucking devouring the devs responsible for them?[/QUOTE] Probably not nearly as many as a lot of gamers seem to think. EA tends to buy studios that are struggling financially (many of which would have gone under if they weren't bought out), and of course any studio being subsequently dissolved by EA is attributed to EA rather than their unprofitability as a studio. Gaming is a very volatile industry, and having an entity like EA to bankroll development provides a lot of stability. Maybe a Visceral that wasn't shackled to EA's market requirements would still be alive. Or maybe despite a lack of EA meddling, a lack of EA funding would have led to an equally underwhelming Dead Space 3 and the company would have folded back in 2013. It's all just empty speculation. EA's fucked up a lot of things, but they're also responsible for a lot of good games coming to exist instead of never getting beyond publisher solicitation. I don't think a full-on EA bankruptcy would be the best thing for the industry, but if they could go ahead and fire all their management that'd be nice.

[QUOTE=Jetamo;52952061]Hear me out on this, but I don't want EA to go bankrupt. So many IPs have been lost or otherwise won't resurface from the closure of THQ, and they were small compared to EA. If EA went bankrupt, what happens to Origin, and the games you may own on there? If the rights to certain IPs goes to a different company than the one that holds the reins to Origin, what happens to say, Battlefield? I want them to get their shit together and stop trying to squeeze every penny out of people, stop going for the focus-groups and focus on actually making good games, but I feel if they were to go straight under we'd be losing more than "winning" over "evil EA".[/QUOTE] EA never learns, might as well bite the bullet and hope other publishers learns from EA's eventual demise that being ultra greedy is a really bad idea.

[quote]"Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants and that's evolving constantly," he says.[/quote] To me, this reads like he's some kind of lizard person. "Yesss, we are attempting to understand the human consumerssss and what they wantssssssss."

...because they're gonna make it pay2play now? Has to be :v:

Everything EA tells you is a lie.

I'm all for MTX if it means the expansions and DLC will be freely available to all. That's a REALLY good thing. For the life of the game especially. But they gotta be Cosmetic, or experience/credit boosts maybe. They need to make credits percentage based off your score at the end of the game. If you get a booster, you get like a 25% increase. They need to make starcards unlock from achieving certain goals related to them. (Kills to unlock and upgrade Assault Training. Headshots to unlock and upgrade Marksman, etc etc) Heroes should not be locked at all. There should be a few cosmetics for long term milestones, like reaching level 50, or 5000 kills, shit like that The Credits can be used to buy the weapon attachments and cosmetic only lootboxes Hell, just give us a Customizable Jedi. The Clone Wars era had plenty of Jedi. Or a generic Hero. And you can add all sorts of customization for that alone in the cosmetic boxes. Different Jedi robes, saber colors, species There's a LOT you can do with MTX while making Progression fully gameplay focused. People will pay to look different. They do it in Overwatch. They do it in The Division. They do it in WoW I'd pay money to run around with a Sunrider colored lightsaber fuck yeah. I'd rather grind and work for it to show everyone I did this thing to get this thing, but $5 for it and no season pass required for the expansions is good in my eyes

After hearing about that rigged, literal p2w crate garbage in UFC 3. I don't believe their shit one bit.

[QUOTE=RichyZ;52952837]my issue is that a corporation with billions in revenue should be able to produce more content for their games at no added charge because initial sales + sales over the games lifetime should more than cover the development costs making dlc for a game is significantly cheaper than making a game, you no longer have to worry about developing the engine or making fancy features or whatever, it's just maps and characters/guns from then on out generally[/QUOTE] The employees are still employed and have to get paid, and there's quite a few of them. If Microtransactions mean they get to develop the DLC and release it for everyone, rather than charge $15 a pop like they have in the past, splitting the playerbase up between those that do buy it and those that don't each time, that's a huge plus Just as long as the microtransactions don't give people fucking statistical bonuses and advantages over other players, that is

Do not buy EA games Tell your friends to not buy EA games Tell your relatives that care to tell their friends that EA is a company taking advantage of people etc [editline]s[/editline] oh cool, I'm a gold member now

[QUOTE=RichyZ;52952856]employees are safe as hell in the current climate in terms of payment, they get paid dirt and the typical ea game makes over several hundred million dollars in profit per release there is no excuse for them to sell more stuff in the same game after the initial $60 buy in, most of the dev team moves on to the next project while a fraction (or a smaller studio/subsidiary) focuses on the dlc/post release content/support why can joe blow indie boy make a ton of new content for his indie game out of his garage for free while multibillion dollar corporation ea cant[/QUOTE] I get where you're coming from, and I agree, but the industry is the AAA companies don't do that for the most part. Especially fucking EA of all things. They release the $60 game, and some stupid season pass with it for another $40 for the expansions, OR, you pay $15 for them individually. They did it with BF3, BF4, Battlefront, BF1... So this is a welcome change that will see the playerbase not dwindle with each release, which improves longevity of the game. It's almost how they did things with Bad Company 2. It's an improvement

[QUOTE=TheTalon;52952846]The employees are still employed and have to get paid, and there's quite a few of them. If Microtransactions mean they get to develop the DLC and release it for everyone, rather than charge $15 a pop like they have in the past, splitting the playerbase up between those that do buy it and those that don't each time, that's a huge plus Just as long as the microtransactions don't give people fucking statistical bonuses and advantages over other players, that is[/QUOTE] If costs were an issue - EA (and any other Triple A company) would have folded years ago. This is pure profit, so the employees are safe. Hell, I'd go as far to say - if it's getting too expensive, start toning it down and using your existing tech and make it better, not shinier. A game can go a lot further when it's got a great storyline rather than shiny graphics (For example, BOTW). There's also no definition of "DLC". It could be an expansive map, or it could just be 1 re-skinned character, and a section of map cobbled together from existing assets. Are they DLC? Yes. Did they require any effort? No. Are they worth the MTX? No because they were lazy implementations and released for free to stave off the "but you said free DLC!" crowd. "Free DLC" could also mean 1 map and that's your lot. It's still DLC, [I]but there's no actual figure on what you're meant to get in return for having the whales keep the profit margins high.[/I] Worse if they say "DLC TBA" instead. That could mean 1 DLC file, or it could mean hundreds (ala Witcher 3 - which did that right. No MTX and yet still an amazing game, with well thought out DLC for free!).