And all this talk of a boycott of the game isn't going to do anything.
For every one "woke gamer" there are ten more kids(or more precisely their naive parents) being exploited by the gambling inherent to lootbox styled games.
I mean, it literally took less than 24 hours of concentrated boycott outrage for them to make concessions.
If the voice is loud enough, it doesn’t matter if it’s one in ten, the market will be poisoned.
And while whales absolutely are what keep the market afloat, what keeps them engaged is a high player base. If no one can find games and or the player base falls off a cliff early, the whales depart. So a positive narrative is pretty crucial
The first Battlefront fell off a cliff in user base in a very short amount of time. I thought they would realize that is maybe a bad thing? But then again, if they're just going to release the "Same Game n+1" every year maybe they don't care about that.
It's an odd decision, because if you want those whales to spend, they need the plebs there to lord it over/impress. The way they are going about it is counter to that entire idea. At this point, I just wish Disney would take back the franchise and license it out on a game by game basis to different studios. Let's see what Obsidian can do with the franchise, for instance.
The first Battlefront fell off a cliff in user base in a very short amount of time. I thought they would realize that is maybe a bad thing? But then again, if they're just going to release the "Same Game n+1" every year maybe they don't care about that.
Of course they don't care. This is EA + Star Wars = Cash Grab 101.
The game is literally the equivalent of a movie that makes a trailer to gain enough hype for opening weekend to make them some money, because they know nobody is going to to buy a ticket 2 weeks down the road. The microtransaction being tied to progression pretty much proves that. Adding microtransactions costs them nothing, gains them revenue, and stretches out content artificially. Because the only other way people are going to stick to a multi-player online shooter for any substantial amount of time without progression grinds and microtransactions, is to make a great game with tons of content that fosters creativity and enjoyment. Doing that takes a lot more work than they're willing to do. Mainly because if they make a great product that lasts for years, they are essentially competing with themselves.
It's much easier to ship out a +1, make it look pretty, deliver a tiny bit of content the first was missing and tack on some transactions that just fluff their wallet and move on to the next thing. Anything more than that, and they're competing with their other properties, in which they'll do the same thing.
The "whales" who spend all the money on microtransactions and loot boxes far outnumber the consumers like us that frequent this forum who aren't into that.
Unless the demographics have shifted dramatically, I don't believe this is the case at all.
The whole notion of the 'whale' gamer, as coined by Zynga and followed through by many other companies is catering to an extremely small portion of the player base who are willing to spend extravagant amounts of money. Some games drilled down on this so deeply that they'd attempt to identify individual whales and build in promotions that specifically catered to them personally, like finding out who their favourite sports team was and having a high priced cosmetic or pack that appealed to that person or group.
The 'freemium' style of game has adopted a number of terms to describe other facets, like 'f2p' to indicate players who are entirely Free To Play, or 'dolphins' for players who spend a little now and then but aren't 'whales' (like, maybe $10 per week or month, rather than hundreds or thousands). How much a given game caters to those groups is a point of contention in fanbases and communities. The notion that 'f2p' might get something weeks or months after the whales have it, as the never ending treadmill of gear or characters or premium bobbles goes on.
Not to misread you intentionally, I recognize that perhaps you meant that the whales, small in number as they are, spend disproportionately so much as to be worth catering to as a business model, but that doesn't mean it can't be something consumers balk at. Yes, obviously, voting with our wallets will be one of the best ways to indicate our displeasure, but I think openly having these kinds of discussions is valuable in general. If nothing else, if we want to believe that we can have an impact, some measure of organization is necessary, or at least information. No impact is likely to be registered if we just hope that hundreds of thousands of players decide of their own accord to not buy a game to send a message. Knowing that there are concerns and why is a big part of convincing them it might be worth doing in the first place.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Hold on, the endgame is that they kill each other? I mean I know it's just in the context of the game, but I expected a reconciliation, not a double-down on we "hate" each other.
From the commercial, I got the sense that they were into each other and this is (literally) some kind of game they're playing with each other. Was that just me?
Hold on, the endgame is that they kill each other? I mean I know it's just in the context of the game, but I expected a reconciliation, not a double-down on we "hate" each other.
From the commercial, I got the sense that they were into each other and this is (literally) some kind of game they're playing with each other. Was that just me?
I mean, it was a very cliche oh look boy and girl subsume their mutual attraction into conflict instead of admitting their feelings for each other. Then at the end they fight in the game...and the end. I feel like there is an end credits scene that was left on the cutting room floor, maybe showing them in their respective living rooms, playing the game vs each other on a couch, smiling all the while in genuine happiness.
Don't get me wrong I liked the trailer, just was of-put by the end. Maybe something like the end of the below video would be a good addition.
Sev: Your gameplay is the most heavily yomi based around. Usually you look for characters that allow you to force guessing situations for big dmg. Even if the guess is mathematically nowhere near in your favor lol. You're happiest when you have either a 50/50, 33/33/33 or even a 75/25 situation to go crazy with. And you will take big risks to force those situations to come up.
It was nice to see the campaign didn't lead to a cliche romance (ends with them curled up on the couch or walking down the aisle to the Imperial March or something), but a happy medium, like cutting back to the real world, a message comes in "You got me", response "Same time next week?" or something like that.
Or maybe even a similar exchange in game. One gets a drop on the other who falls to the ground... and the first person reaches out a hand to pick them up.
It'd be against the spirit of the setting in a way, but also elevating the shared camaraderie and good sportsmanship that is often bemoaned as lacking in public multiplayer games.
But I'm not a marketing guy. Maybe they tested a few different endings and they all sucked.
Forar on
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
I just felt like it ended prematurely. Still liked it. Could have had a better ending but still good imo.
Sev: Your gameplay is the most heavily yomi based around. Usually you look for characters that allow you to force guessing situations for big dmg. Even if the guess is mathematically nowhere near in your favor lol. You're happiest when you have either a 50/50, 33/33/33 or even a 75/25 situation to go crazy with. And you will take big risks to force those situations to come up.
The "whales" who spend all the money on microtransactions and loot boxes far outnumber the consumers like us that frequent this forum who aren't into that.
Unless the demographics have shifted dramatically, I don't believe this is the case at all.
The whole notion of the 'whale' gamer, as coined by Zynga and followed through by many other companies is catering to an extremely small portion of the player base who are willing to spend extravagant amounts of money. Some games drilled down on this so deeply that they'd attempt to identify individual whales and build in promotions that specifically catered to them personally, like finding out who their favourite sports team was and having a high priced cosmetic or pack that appealed to that person or group.
The 'freemium' style of game has adopted a number of terms to describe other facets, like 'f2p' to indicate players who are entirely Free To Play, or 'dolphins' for players who spend a little now and then but aren't 'whales' (like, maybe $10 per week or month, rather than hundreds or thousands). How much a given game caters to those groups is a point of contention in fanbases and communities. The notion that 'f2p' might get something weeks or months after the whales have it, as the never ending treadmill of gear or characters or premium bobbles goes on.
Not to misread you intentionally, I recognize that perhaps you meant that the whales, small in number as they are, spend disproportionately so much as to be worth catering to as a business model, but that doesn't mean it can't be something consumers balk at. Yes, obviously, voting with our wallets will be one of the best ways to indicate our displeasure, but I think openly having these kinds of discussions is valuable in general. If nothing else, if we want to believe that we can have an impact, some measure of organization is necessary, or at least information. No impact is likely to be registered if we just hope that hundreds of thousands of players decide of their own accord to not buy a game to send a message. Knowing that there are concerns and why is a big part of convincing them it might be worth doing in the first place.
Saw a game analyst tweet this out - can take it with a grain of salt, but they said that % of consumers who are "whales" for console games, is a much larger % then "whales" for mobile games.
That's not really surprising consider most mobile games are free so its a much broader user base - but the whale gamer they are after isn't a tiny percentage like mobile
Playable Lando! He hasn't been a PC since Super Return of the Jedi, even if he did have a cameo in Jedi Outcast.
Lando was playable in various Lego Star Wars
+1
BeezelThere was no agreement little morsel..Registered Userregular
So I heard about the credit cost reduction but I heard that credit generation was slashed by Same amount and I'm wondering if that's total bullshit or not because I may or may not have been looking forward to this game but was taking a "wait and see" approach.
So I heard about the credit cost reduction but I heard that credit generation was slashed by Same amount and I'm wondering if that's total bullshit or not because I may or may not have been looking forward to this game but was taking a "wait and see" approach.
They reduced the credit rewards from completing the campaign by an equivalent amount because the intent was to only give enough credits to be able to immediately unlock Iden, should the player so choose.
The current score is 7/10 and I can easily see that getting downgraded once the full review is out. The progression system is not being.....well received.
Only played a couple campaign missions and one MP Strike mission before dragging myself off to bed at 1:30. Pleasantly surprised by the campaign! More effort went into it than I was expecting. MP was super fun as well, but that was to be expected. The only fly in the ointment is the dumb progression system.
Hopefully the reviews are all like IGN's and they score it lower because of them. If only to cause more backlash and perhaps have EA at least roll back crate prices to what they were in the beta.
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
So I heard about the credit cost reduction but I heard that credit generation was slashed by Same amount and I'm wondering if that's total bullshit or not because I may or may not have been looking forward to this game but was taking a "wait and see" approach.
Multiplayer credit amounts seem to be the same level as before when I was doing early access.
Got my first mvp last night! It was on kashyyk? Whatever the wookie planet, basically farmed up a ton of sky kills in the arc (which was always my favorite aspect of the prequels) and then in the last push just hero spammed with Lando. His smoke grenade is ridiculously fun.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
So I heard about the credit cost reduction but I heard that credit generation was slashed by Same amount and I'm wondering if that's total bullshit or not because I may or may not have been looking forward to this game but was taking a "wait and see" approach.
They reduced the credit rewards from completing the campaign by an equivalent amount because the intent was to only give enough credits to be able to immediately unlock Iden, should the player so choose.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. Why doesn't it just unlock Iden instead? People who don't want her probably aren't interested in the single player anyway...
Edit - I read that and thought the same thing, like okay they reduced the cost by 75% but then also reduced the single player credits reward. I didn't realize Iden was a locked hero to begin with.
Iden is super bad luck for Death Stars... she was there for both of them. I bet the campaign goes long enough that we find out she was on Star Killer Base as well. Perhaps a spy this whole time?! Dun dun dunnnnn
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
The line will be drawn when the government steps in to regulate it with gambling laws because publishers are unwilling to do it themselves and too many gamers can't be bothered to care about it as an issue.
edit: These boxes are only going to get worse and worse. Publishers are going to get away with as much as they can. If you give corporations an inch, they'll take a mile, and everyone defending Overwatch's loot boxes (and similar games, but Overwatch in my mind was really the harbinger because any criticism of the boxes got shouted down immediately) as "just cosmetic" pretty much paved the way for this to happen.
What few legal opinions I've actually heard on the subject--emphasis on opinions, don't ever do anything without consulting a lawyer, no, nothing--are pretty consistent: "This is gambling. The fact that the ESRB says it isn't is either comically shortsighted or, since they're not stupid, self-serving. And even if the ESRB were going to attempt to regulate it, which they aren't, it would still eventually demand regulation from the federal government (and other national governments on a country-by-country basis), the moment judges actually understand what the hell is going on. This is going to happen." And that did apply to a "less egregious" example like Overwatch because it's not a matter of "How many people does this piss off thanks to imbalance" but "How exploitative of the same psychology and tactics as any other kind of gambling for profits".
+2
KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
edited November 2017
Boogie2988 hit with a "Wait 3 hours to earn more credits" while playing Arcade mode:
Idk, hasn't xp throttling been in MMOs for a while now?
In what form? I've been out of the MMO game for a while now, but your WoW and other games have daily resting bonuses, or just daily bonuses like World of Tanks, but do any of them actually stop you from earning currency or experience and tell you to wait?
Saw a game analyst tweet this out - can take it with a grain of salt, but they said that % of consumers who are "whales" for console games, is a much larger % then "whales" for mobile games.
That's not really surprising consider most mobile games are free so its a much broader user base - but the whale gamer they are after isn't a tiny percentage like mobile
Maybe the demographics have changed in the last decade, it certainly wouldn't surprise me, but remember that Zynga didn't start with mobile games, they were all the rage on Facebook, which at the time was primarily a desktop experience (in terms of being able to run the games that is).
Mobile gaming has certainly shaken that up, and I'd be interested to see the link/article, as a cursory Google search for recent articles about gaming whales and consoles isn't bringing up much that stands out.
... mostly articles about conservation of actual whales.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
No actual numbers so I wouldn't read too much into it, I just know I had for some reason assumed that mobile and console had similar number of whales, though it makes sense they shouldn't be
Idk, hasn't xp throttling been in MMOs for a while now?
In what form? I've been out of the MMO game for a while now, but your WoW and other games have daily resting bonuses, or just daily bonuses like World of Tanks, but do any of them actually stop you from earning currency or experience and tell you to wait?
Yeah, once again for some reason we're re-hashing old concepts that for some reason people have forgotten. Long ago, in vanilla WoW Beta, Blizzard was trying to find ways to incentive slowing day play so that they could stretch out the monthly fee dollar. They originally toyed with having your XP gain reduced after playing X hours; but this sucked and no one liked it. Even back then, they had figured out the same thing that retail stores do. Make the shitty rate the default (ie, high price / lower XP gain) and then give you a "bonus" (rest XP / "sale" price). Meanwhile, the rest XP rate is the intended progression rate and the sale price is the real price; playing outside the parameters given is still a net negative but your brain doesn't perceive it that way.
As for the unlocking Iden at the end of the campaign thing; if you buy EA's "reason" for it, it is because in prior DICE games (can't remember which now), you used to get a decent multiplayer gun unlocked by playing the campaign. People complained because they didn't want to play the campaign but still wanted the gun. So now, they have given you the "option" of being able to just go straight to multiplayer and unlocking Iden through normal currency unlocks or you can play the campaign and are given the credits to unlock her that way.
+3
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited November 2017
Yeah I'm interested to find out too.
I haven't found any recent articles, but what I have noticed is that articles that talk about whales in mobile games cite them being a smaller percentage of the player base compared to more recentish articles.
Like, as the years go on the percentage of whales cited in these articles increases. But all these articles seem to be talking about mobile games.
What I do remember though as that a few former mobile devs have written about whales and how companies treat them. In many cases their treated like VIPs at a casino. They're given free vacations, tours of the studio, etc, etc. Others talk about the not so good sides of it. Like how a lot of their biggest spenders weren't well to do and were ruining their own lives. There was instance that a dev talked about where they actually intervened and stopped one of their more prodigious whales from spending money cause they found out she was spending, like, half her years income on the game. That one might have been in an episode of Extra Credits now that I think about it.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Idk, hasn't xp throttling been in MMOs for a while now?
In what form? I've been out of the MMO game for a while now, but your WoW and other games have daily resting bonuses, or just daily bonuses like World of Tanks, but do any of them actually stop you from earning currency or experience and tell you to wait?
Yeah, once again for some reason we're re-hashing old concepts that for some reason people have forgotten. Long ago, in vanilla WoW Beta, Blizzard was trying to find ways to incentive slowing day play so that they could stretch out the monthly fee dollar. They originally toyed with having your XP gain reduced after playing X hours; but this sucked and no one liked it. Even back then, they had figured out the same thing that retail stores do. Make the shitty rate the default (ie, high price / lower XP gain) and then give you a "bonus" (rest XP / "sale" price). Meanwhile, the rest XP rate is the intended progression rate and the sale price is the real price; playing outside the parameters given is still a net negative but your brain doesn't perceive it that way.
As for the unlocking Iden at the end of the campaign thing; if you buy EA's "reason" for it, it is because in prior DICE games (can't remember which now), you used to get a decent multiplayer gun unlocked by playing the campaign. People complained because they didn't want to play the campaign but still wanted the gun. So now, they have given you the "option" of being able to just go straight to multiplayer and unlocking Iden through normal currency unlocks or you can play the campaign and are given the credits to unlock her that way.
It's the problem that everything--especially "XP gain rate"--is relative. Especially anything in gaming. At least with outright stopping it, we can see a concrete, undeniable change. Especially now, when WoW has basically abandoned the whole XP growth concept (or rather, made it largely, and in some cases, entirely optional), there's still a debate to be had if it's too fast or too slow, but it'd be a completely different thing if, at any point in WoW's lifetime, you would be carrying on an a message would pop up: "DAILY/HOURLY EXPERIENCE LIMIT REACHED. PLEASE WAIT X."
The closest we get to that in WoW is an eventual cut-off line for XP acquisition (it's why the much-loved South Park episode is not actually possible). Something that is x levels beneath you, when killed, will net zero experience, and not just some fraction either (nor is it rounding down--it's a deliberate cut-off line). Relevant, but not the same thing.
An actual "NO EXPERIENCE FOR THE TIME BEING" state in an experience point driven game is a pretty concrete thing to point at. Most basically, 50% "what it should be" is still mathematically infinitely more than 0%. That really is a smart phone game strategy, to cut the flow off entirely--it's almost surprising they haven't found a way to monetize the actual length of time (meaning you wouldn't pay for experience, you pay for the time to acquire it).
'You are out of ammunition. You will find a new stockpile of ammunition in 4 hours. You may buy an extra magazine of ammunition now for ten cents, or an ammo bonanza pack for a dollar, containing unlimited ammunition for 10 minutes, 20% faster reloads for two hours, 15 magazines, and a Loot Box containing a piece of gear of at least Rare quality or higher!'
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Gamespot did a deep dive on the big crystal pack, seeing exactly what kind of impact it would have for a player. This was actually from back on the 9th, but has a crazy low amount of views.
The results are... not good. Keep in mind, all they've adjusted is the credits for the Hero unlock -- the rest of the 'features' of this system are still very much in play.
'You are out of ammunition. You will find a new stockpile of ammunition in 4 hours. You may buy an extra magazine of ammunition now for ten cents, or an ammo bonanza pack for a dollar, containing unlimited ammunition for 10 minutes, 20% faster reloads for two hours, 15 magazines, and a Loot Box containing a piece of gear of at least Rare quality or higher!'
ObiFettUse the ForceAs You WishRegistered Userregular
MP does not have a credit wall.
The credit wall in Arcade is dumb, but also maybe a bit smart because I guarantee people would have figured out a way to farm credits in Arcade with bots and then they'd have pretty big advantages in MP.
There was already a post on reddit about someone saying it would be very easy to make a multiplayer bot to just sit in the corner, twitch and hit the respawn button every ten seconds.
I don't know what the difference between arcade and other modes are but pretty sure this will still be a thing
I love playing as the little droids. They run so funny.
Tried out the heavy as that's a timed challenge for this week, first map was maz's castle which I've never as a first order got beyond the first objective. Swear to god its impossible. Second map was a lot better Kashyyk as the droids, made those clone troopers pay!
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I love playing as the little droids. They run so funny.
Tried out the heavy as that's a timed challenge for this week, first map was maz's castle which I've never as a first order got beyond the first objective. Swear to god its impossible. Second map was a lot better Kashyyk as the droids, made those clone troopers pay!
Maz's castle is the Skirmish map, right? It's definitely easier on defense, and a resistance team with just a handful of people actually working together should have a big advantage, but I saw the First Order win that one at least half a dozen times during the beta. I actually delivered the package on one of those, and my son totally lost his shit because even he could tell that the First Order has a hard time on that one.
Won quite a few Takodana Strike games as First Order during the beta :cool:
The only MP game I played last night was a Strike on Yavin. Played as rebels and we got whupped bad... Partially my fault because I picked up the package, but ran the wrong way in a panic... :redface:
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
I love playing as the little droids. They run so funny.
Tried out the heavy as that's a timed challenge for this week, first map was maz's castle which I've never as a first order got beyond the first objective. Swear to god its impossible. Second map was a lot better Kashyyk as the droids, made those clone troopers pay!
Maz's castle is the Skirmish map, right? It's definitely easier on defense, and a resistance team with just a handful of people actually working together should have a big advantage, but I saw the First Order win that one at least half a dozen times during the beta. I actually delivered the package on one of those, and my son totally lost his shit because even he could tell that the First Order has a hard time on that one.
I have only played it in galactic war. But it starts in the forest and the first objective is to take a hill and woe be to everyone trying to fucking do that. I think the biggest problem I've seen is that first order tends to sit back and snipe and the resistance positions are way better about that, so anyone trying to push just gets annihilated.
I do have to say I'll probably work on Lando as my hero of choice. He's like a point capper/defender supreme. Dude has smoke, aoe shot, and a disabling grenade he's a fucking beast.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Posts
The first Battlefront fell off a cliff in user base in a very short amount of time. I thought they would realize that is maybe a bad thing? But then again, if they're just going to release the "Same Game n+1" every year maybe they don't care about that.
It's an odd decision, because if you want those whales to spend, they need the plebs there to lord it over/impress. The way they are going about it is counter to that entire idea. At this point, I just wish Disney would take back the franchise and license it out on a game by game basis to different studios. Let's see what Obsidian can do with the franchise, for instance.
Of course they don't care. This is EA + Star Wars = Cash Grab 101.
The game is literally the equivalent of a movie that makes a trailer to gain enough hype for opening weekend to make them some money, because they know nobody is going to to buy a ticket 2 weeks down the road. The microtransaction being tied to progression pretty much proves that. Adding microtransactions costs them nothing, gains them revenue, and stretches out content artificially. Because the only other way people are going to stick to a multi-player online shooter for any substantial amount of time without progression grinds and microtransactions, is to make a great game with tons of content that fosters creativity and enjoyment. Doing that takes a lot more work than they're willing to do. Mainly because if they make a great product that lasts for years, they are essentially competing with themselves.
It's much easier to ship out a +1, make it look pretty, deliver a tiny bit of content the first was missing and tack on some transactions that just fluff their wallet and move on to the next thing. Anything more than that, and they're competing with their other properties, in which they'll do the same thing.
Unless the demographics have shifted dramatically, I don't believe this is the case at all.
The whole notion of the 'whale' gamer, as coined by Zynga and followed through by many other companies is catering to an extremely small portion of the player base who are willing to spend extravagant amounts of money. Some games drilled down on this so deeply that they'd attempt to identify individual whales and build in promotions that specifically catered to them personally, like finding out who their favourite sports team was and having a high priced cosmetic or pack that appealed to that person or group.
The 'freemium' style of game has adopted a number of terms to describe other facets, like 'f2p' to indicate players who are entirely Free To Play, or 'dolphins' for players who spend a little now and then but aren't 'whales' (like, maybe $10 per week or month, rather than hundreds or thousands). How much a given game caters to those groups is a point of contention in fanbases and communities. The notion that 'f2p' might get something weeks or months after the whales have it, as the never ending treadmill of gear or characters or premium bobbles goes on.
Not to misread you intentionally, I recognize that perhaps you meant that the whales, small in number as they are, spend disproportionately so much as to be worth catering to as a business model, but that doesn't mean it can't be something consumers balk at. Yes, obviously, voting with our wallets will be one of the best ways to indicate our displeasure, but I think openly having these kinds of discussions is valuable in general. If nothing else, if we want to believe that we can have an impact, some measure of organization is necessary, or at least information. No impact is likely to be registered if we just hope that hundreds of thousands of players decide of their own accord to not buy a game to send a message. Knowing that there are concerns and why is a big part of convincing them it might be worth doing in the first place.
From the commercial, I got the sense that they were into each other and this is (literally) some kind of game they're playing with each other. Was that just me?
I mean, it was a very cliche oh look boy and girl subsume their mutual attraction into conflict instead of admitting their feelings for each other. Then at the end they fight in the game...and the end. I feel like there is an end credits scene that was left on the cutting room floor, maybe showing them in their respective living rooms, playing the game vs each other on a couch, smiling all the while in genuine happiness.
Don't get me wrong I liked the trailer, just was of-put by the end. Maybe something like the end of the below video would be a good addition.
Or maybe even a similar exchange in game. One gets a drop on the other who falls to the ground... and the first person reaches out a hand to pick them up.
It'd be against the spirit of the setting in a way, but also elevating the shared camaraderie and good sportsmanship that is often bemoaned as lacking in public multiplayer games.
But I'm not a marketing guy. Maybe they tested a few different endings and they all sucked.
Saw a game analyst tweet this out - can take it with a grain of salt, but they said that % of consumers who are "whales" for console games, is a much larger % then "whales" for mobile games.
That's not really surprising consider most mobile games are free so its a much broader user base - but the whale gamer they are after isn't a tiny percentage like mobile
"...only mights and maybes."
They reduced the credit rewards from completing the campaign by an equivalent amount because the intent was to only give enough credits to be able to immediately unlock Iden, should the player so choose.
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 2 REVIEW IN PROGRESS
Hopefully the reviews are all like IGN's and they score it lower because of them. If only to cause more backlash and perhaps have EA at least roll back crate prices to what they were in the beta.
Multiplayer credit amounts seem to be the same level as before when I was doing early access.
Got my first mvp last night! It was on kashyyk? Whatever the wookie planet, basically farmed up a ton of sky kills in the arc (which was always my favorite aspect of the prequels) and then in the last push just hero spammed with Lando. His smoke grenade is ridiculously fun.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. Why doesn't it just unlock Iden instead? People who don't want her probably aren't interested in the single player anyway...
Edit - I read that and thought the same thing, like okay they reduced the cost by 75% but then also reduced the single player credits reward. I didn't realize Iden was a locked hero to begin with.
What few legal opinions I've actually heard on the subject--emphasis on opinions, don't ever do anything without consulting a lawyer, no, nothing--are pretty consistent: "This is gambling. The fact that the ESRB says it isn't is either comically shortsighted or, since they're not stupid, self-serving. And even if the ESRB were going to attempt to regulate it, which they aren't, it would still eventually demand regulation from the federal government (and other national governments on a country-by-country basis), the moment judges actually understand what the hell is going on. This is going to happen." And that did apply to a "less egregious" example like Overwatch because it's not a matter of "How many people does this piss off thanks to imbalance" but "How exploitative of the same psychology and tactics as any other kind of gambling for profits".
https://clips.twitch.tv/AdorableTenderCrowLitFam
More mobile games practices inside a $60 game.
Idk, hasn't xp throttling been in MMOs for a while now?
Steam ID: Good Life
Yeah that happened to me as well during the trial. Only played it maybe 30 minutes?
In what form? I've been out of the MMO game for a while now, but your WoW and other games have daily resting bonuses, or just daily bonuses like World of Tanks, but do any of them actually stop you from earning currency or experience and tell you to wait?
Maybe the demographics have changed in the last decade, it certainly wouldn't surprise me, but remember that Zynga didn't start with mobile games, they were all the rage on Facebook, which at the time was primarily a desktop experience (in terms of being able to run the games that is).
Mobile gaming has certainly shaken that up, and I'd be interested to see the link/article, as a cursory Google search for recent articles about gaming whales and consoles isn't bringing up much that stands out.
... mostly articles about conservation of actual whales.
No actual numbers so I wouldn't read too much into it, I just know I had for some reason assumed that mobile and console had similar number of whales, though it makes sense they shouldn't be
Yeah, once again for some reason we're re-hashing old concepts that for some reason people have forgotten. Long ago, in vanilla WoW Beta, Blizzard was trying to find ways to incentive slowing day play so that they could stretch out the monthly fee dollar. They originally toyed with having your XP gain reduced after playing X hours; but this sucked and no one liked it. Even back then, they had figured out the same thing that retail stores do. Make the shitty rate the default (ie, high price / lower XP gain) and then give you a "bonus" (rest XP / "sale" price). Meanwhile, the rest XP rate is the intended progression rate and the sale price is the real price; playing outside the parameters given is still a net negative but your brain doesn't perceive it that way.
As for the unlocking Iden at the end of the campaign thing; if you buy EA's "reason" for it, it is because in prior DICE games (can't remember which now), you used to get a decent multiplayer gun unlocked by playing the campaign. People complained because they didn't want to play the campaign but still wanted the gun. So now, they have given you the "option" of being able to just go straight to multiplayer and unlocking Iden through normal currency unlocks or you can play the campaign and are given the credits to unlock her that way.
I haven't found any recent articles, but what I have noticed is that articles that talk about whales in mobile games cite them being a smaller percentage of the player base compared to more recentish articles.
Like, as the years go on the percentage of whales cited in these articles increases. But all these articles seem to be talking about mobile games.
What I do remember though as that a few former mobile devs have written about whales and how companies treat them. In many cases their treated like VIPs at a casino. They're given free vacations, tours of the studio, etc, etc. Others talk about the not so good sides of it. Like how a lot of their biggest spenders weren't well to do and were ruining their own lives. There was instance that a dev talked about where they actually intervened and stopped one of their more prodigious whales from spending money cause they found out she was spending, like, half her years income on the game. That one might have been in an episode of Extra Credits now that I think about it.
It's the problem that everything--especially "XP gain rate"--is relative. Especially anything in gaming. At least with outright stopping it, we can see a concrete, undeniable change. Especially now, when WoW has basically abandoned the whole XP growth concept (or rather, made it largely, and in some cases, entirely optional), there's still a debate to be had if it's too fast or too slow, but it'd be a completely different thing if, at any point in WoW's lifetime, you would be carrying on an a message would pop up: "DAILY/HOURLY EXPERIENCE LIMIT REACHED. PLEASE WAIT X."
The closest we get to that in WoW is an eventual cut-off line for XP acquisition (it's why the much-loved South Park episode is not actually possible). Something that is x levels beneath you, when killed, will net zero experience, and not just some fraction either (nor is it rounding down--it's a deliberate cut-off line). Relevant, but not the same thing.
An actual "NO EXPERIENCE FOR THE TIME BEING" state in an experience point driven game is a pretty concrete thing to point at. Most basically, 50% "what it should be" is still mathematically infinitely more than 0%. That really is a smart phone game strategy, to cut the flow off entirely--it's almost surprising they haven't found a way to monetize the actual length of time (meaning you wouldn't pay for experience, you pay for the time to acquire it).
The results are... not good. Keep in mind, all they've adjusted is the credits for the Hero unlock -- the rest of the 'features' of this system are still very much in play.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
"...only mights and maybes."
Jesus... the hits keep comin'.
If you play too much MP, will you also hit a credit wall? I cannot believe I gave EA the benefit of the doubt on this game.
I mean, it's a fantastic Star Wars game! Reaaaaally good Star Wars action, but the corporate meddling is so bad...
I just saw this. Holy fucking hell.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
The credit wall in Arcade is dumb, but also maybe a bit smart because I guarantee people would have figured out a way to farm credits in Arcade with bots and then they'd have pretty big advantages in MP.
Xbox Live / Steam
I don't know what the difference between arcade and other modes are but pretty sure this will still be a thing
Tried out the heavy as that's a timed challenge for this week, first map was maz's castle which I've never as a first order got beyond the first objective. Swear to god its impossible. Second map was a lot better Kashyyk as the droids, made those clone troopers pay!
pleasepaypreacher.net
Maz's castle is the Skirmish map, right? It's definitely easier on defense, and a resistance team with just a handful of people actually working together should have a big advantage, but I saw the First Order win that one at least half a dozen times during the beta. I actually delivered the package on one of those, and my son totally lost his shit because even he could tell that the First Order has a hard time on that one.
The only MP game I played last night was a Strike on Yavin. Played as rebels and we got whupped bad... Partially my fault because I picked up the package, but ran the wrong way in a panic... :redface:
I have only played it in galactic war. But it starts in the forest and the first objective is to take a hill and woe be to everyone trying to fucking do that. I think the biggest problem I've seen is that first order tends to sit back and snipe and the resistance positions are way better about that, so anyone trying to push just gets annihilated.
I do have to say I'll probably work on Lando as my hero of choice. He's like a point capper/defender supreme. Dude has smoke, aoe shot, and a disabling grenade he's a fucking beast.
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