The controversy surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2’s microtransactions shows no signs of letting up, with a recent Reddit AMA failing to put gamers at ease despite input from various members of the development team.
The session was headed by three members of the team, including John Wasilczyk (executive producer), Dennis Brannvall (designer director), and Paul Keslin (multiplayer producer).
DICE kicked off things by broaching the subject of hero unlock time, something which rubbed gamers up the wrong way when it emerged that players would have to sink an exorbitant amount of hours into the game to get their hands on the likes of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
Wasilczyk noted that the developer had “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.”
“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.”
He then addressed concerns that the loot system is directly affecting the game’s critical reception.
“We’re going to continue adjusting the crate systems, content, and progression mechanics to hit a point that gives players a great, balanced experience at all skill levels.”
Elsewhere, Keslin tackled the subject of low credit rewards and the cap imposed on players earning credits offline.
“As we want to let players earn Credits offline via a more relaxed game mode, we needed to also find a way to make sure it wouldn’t be exploited in a way that would impact Multiplayer. Because of that we made the decision to limit the number of Credits earned to stop potential abuse.”
Unsurprisingly, the team added that the were “incredibly saddened by the negative response from you, the community on Reddit about the game. 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.”
DICE confirmed earlier this week that it had reduced the unlock cost of heroes by 75 percent due to heavy criticism from gamers.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is due for release on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One worldwide tomorrow.
Source: VideoGamer / Reddit AMA