Tag: Star Wars

Star Wars: Battlefront II just recently launched its open beta, and it is getting panned by critics and users alike over pay to win elements present in the game.

With the latest title in the Battlefront franchise, EA/Dice decided to go down the route of loot boxes as the main source of secondary income, tying abilities and crafting materials to random chance. Users have been pointing out how powerful the abilities are, such as an ability for Bobba Fett which allows him to take 100% less damage (effectively invulnerable) while flying with his jetpack, and how the expense/rarity of obtaining or crafting said abilities is encouraging players to spend a ton of money on crates in order to not be at a disadvantage. Another example includes up to 40% health increases on bombers.

Have you played the Battlefront II beta? If so, do you agree with the critics below?

So if I spend $200 on crates, open or craft all the best cards I can, then face an equally skilled opponent at the same level as me who didn’t spend money, I will likely win because I have better tools available.
–IGN

To make matters worse, awarded currency comes in at a flat rate for the team regardless of performance, making it even harder to strategically earn to earn everything the game has to offer.
–Kitguru

What’s even worse is that for some reason, the developers have decided that it’s okay for progression to be completely random. Unlike the previous game, regardless of which classes or even mode you’re playing, the loot box system completely dictates the overall progression.
–WCCFTech

Cards are not rewarded based on the class you play, so if you’re unlucky you could end up with a bunch of garbage for a class you never touch. It also has made leveling meaningless—unlike Overwatch, there’s no crate reward for gaining a level, which is utterly bizarre.
–PCWorld

Put simply, this is an exploitative and greedy system I’m surprised has made it this far. Question is, will EA let it go the whole way, or will it use a saving throw and alter the system for full release?
–Eurogamer

What can I do to side-step this bad luck? Well, EA could ask me to spend real money of course. Buying as many loot crates as I need to get the abilities I want, either using crafting parts or waiting until the RNG falls on my side. People who would buy the most loot crates on day one will have a significant advantage over those players that don’t, which is depressing because the underlying game seems supremely amazing.
–Windows Central

And if these loot boxes are purchasable from the get-go, yes, I can imagine that players who buy say, 50 boxes on launch day will be at an advantage over someone who is going to grind out 50 boxes over the course of the next month, even if the “opportunity” is there for them to get the same amount of crates when one pays and one doesn’t.
–Forbes

There is something about the timing of Battlefront 2’s release that coincides with the ongoing debate in the gaming community regarding loot boxes. But of the games listed as “offenders” so far, Battlefront 2 is the game critics are singling out as having a particularly hostile loot system.
–US Gamer

While Star Wars Battlefront 2 has yet to be released, unless the ability to purchase loot crates with cash is removed from the game, it’s difficult to see how EA could change the current system without it being pay-to-win.
–Game Revolution