Star Wars Battlefront II Buyers Have Complaints Lots Of Them (updated)

A lot of people that pre-ordered Star Wars Battlefront II have been complaining massively to EA. EA made it clear that certain unlockable heroes in Star Wars Battlefront II may take 40 hours to unlock (i.e. Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, etc.) 

And that is not appreciated, as the Deluxe version that offers this costs 80 USD. There's now-locked thread on Reddit shares more pre-order player dissatisfaction with Star Wars Battlefront II, kicking off a series of complaints about the upcoming game's grind. The original poster says they will seek a refund for their eighty-dollar Deluxe Edition since it will still require unlocking characters (specifically Darth Vader in this case). A subsequent thread notes that the response from the EA Community Team has inspired a reddit record number of downvotes for suggesting players should take pride in the grind. 

In an attempt to quell the response from a segment of the fanbase, the EA Community Team created a Reddit post on the StarWarsBattlefront subreddit explaining the rationale behind their content unlock decisions, reports dual-shockers via ggmania.

As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we’re looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we’ll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay

Without context, however, the "constant adjustments" named here signal the conscious decision to lock certain heroes behind tens of hours worth of gameplay in order to incentivize players to pay money to speed up the process. The post even acknowledges the frenzied feedback that players have been radiating since the news broke:

“We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.”
 

 
This response post has already accrued over 350,000 downvotes — a record on Reddit, and one likely assisted by automated scripts and bots. For those not a fan of the systems, there is hope – however – that changes will be made before and in the days after launch to make these staples of the Star Wars universe less expensive to unlock both in terms of hours and money.

Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can.

Oh and I just learned that EA Removed their Refund Button from its Customer Portal Page, you now have to call them directly to request the refund. Star Wars Battlefront II will be released November 17th for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. 

Update: Electronic Arts has now changed the Star Wars Battlefront II multiplayer policy after a large number of players have complained. EA writes in a blog post:

Making games great comes from regular tuning. As one example, today we’re making a substantial change based on what we’ve seen during the Play First trial. There’s been a lot of discussion around the amount of in-game credits (and time) it takes to unlock some of our heroes, especially Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Unlocking a hero is a great accomplishment in the game, something we want players to have fun earning. We used data from the beta to help set those levels, but it’s clear that more changes were needed. So, we’re reducing the amount of credits needed to unlock the top heroes by 75%. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will now be available for 15,000 credits; Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa for 10,000 credits; and Iden at 5,000 credits. Based on what we’ve seen in the trial, this amount will make earning these heroes an achievement, but one that will be accessible for all players. It's a big change, and it’s one we can make quickly. It will be live today, with an update that is getting loaded into the game.

Players need to save virtual currency within the game to make certain heroes playable in multiplayer mode. Due to the previous high price, it could take up to 40 hours to get a character they already paid for.

Death threats

EA responded earlier this week to Reddit about the fuss, the response received a record number of negative ratings. At the time of writing,  629,000 downvotes. The game developer said on Twitter that he has received seven death threats. 

Star Wars Battlefront II is released worldwide on November 17th.