Star Wars Battlefront II and You: A Reddit Story
Let’s talk dirty. You ready? MICROTRANSACTIONS. LOOTBOXES. PAY TO WIN. Hot? Not. Reddit has gone the way of the Tauntaun with Star Wars Battlefront II, they think the whole thing stinks and microtransactions should probably die.
Let me break it down. The EA Community Team posted the following in regarding to putting Luke, Darth and friends behind a paywall.
Click on the link and you’ll find that EA have been downvoted into oblivion and even set a record for the most unpopular comment on reddit. The little gold star next to it? That’s reddit gold. The accolade costs real money and is typically reserved for comments that a reddit user deems worthy of praise, in this case it has the opposite affect. I guess that’s one way of voting with your wallet.
In response to this EA have reduced the cost of these downloadable characters by 75% however they have found alternate ways to recoup lost revenue. Get a head start on the battlefront. Get three rare Star Cards that improve your defensive abilities on the battlefront, and 1500 Crystals, with the Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II Starter Pack.
Look on the bright side, you get a sweet $2.49 off if you have EA Access.
Now the EA hate train has even more carriages and to be honest with you I’m jumping on board as well. Here are some of my favourite posts below:
Here’s what EA CEO John Riccitiello has to say about microstransactions.
“When you are six hours into playing Battlefield and you run out of ammo in your clip, and we ask you for a dollar to reload, you’re really not very price sensitive at that point in time.”
“A consumer gets engaged in a property, they might spend 10,20,30,50 hours on the game and then when they’re deep into the game they’re well invested in it. We’re not gouging, but we’re charging and at that point in time the commitment can be pretty high.”
“But it is a great model and I think it represents a substantially better future for the industry.”
Members of reddit ask that you vote with your wallet but here’s the thing. It’s Star Wars, people still want to play it and EA have a stranglehold on some of the biggest intellectual properties in media. Clearly the business model works very well for them and while I don’t want EA and companies like them to succeed sometimes the game they publish is worth the price of admission. I for one won’t be playing Battlefront II but games like Middle-Earth Shadow of War were riddled with micro transactions and I still loved it to bits. Although I’ve never paid a cent for micro transactions I’m still supporting the business model and honestly that makes me a little sick.
I think I need to reassess where my money is going in the future. I ask that Jono and Joe join me in the comments below for their opinions and to you the reader, where do you stand in all of this? Are you going to get the game anyway or has EA’s approach to “Make The Microtransaction Be With You” forced you to the light?