UPDATE – This article and headline have been edited to report and read ‘Report: Unlocks in Star Wars: Battlefront II at the review event required a sixth that of the retail version.’ Review copies had the same unlock requirements as retail versions.
It was only during the review event that EA reduced the required amount to a 6th what they originally cost in the retail version.
The amount of credits required during the review event was still lower than the amount after the 75% reduction announced yesterday.
More bad news in the world of Star Wars: Battlefront II. The ongoing saga of the loot boxes, cost of heroes and community management continues as details of the review event come to light.
In a video posted to YouTube by Star Wars HQ the narrator mentions that Luke Skywalker can be purchased for 10,000 credits (watch below). This is a sixth the amount we know it currently costs in the final game. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader both cost 60,000 credits in the retail version. Unlocking just one of them will take 40+ hours.
Based on the calculations by Reddit user TheHotterPotato, unlocking Luke or Vader during the review event would have taken only roughly 6-hours. This could give fans an unrealistic expectation of how quickly they can unlock and use their favourite heroes and villains. It could leave many players disappointed and frustrated to find paywalls locking off the best and most wanted content.
Obviously, the credit cost has been lowered during the review event to give reviewers access to the heroes. Though it is troubling to think that reviews may miss the true cost of the heroes. The reviewer may even be none-the-wiser and simply think that the lowered 10,000 credits cost is reflective of the final game.
Earlier today we reported on the tweet from an EA Community Manager calling fans “arm chair developers.” The Community Manager has since deleted the tweet and publicly stated that the tweet in question was not in relation to Star Wars: Battlefront II.
My tweets earlier had nothing to do with community remarks or topics within or around SWBFII. I made a tweet about a general thing and people claim I am speaking about my games community complaints. #disheartning #Frustrated Sorry to those who think it was about Star Wars.
— Lethal Camaro (Mat) (@sledgehammer70) November 12, 2017
Even if that is the case, the timing of his tweet was incredibly unfortunate. It has added fuel to an already raging fire and things seem to be going from bad to worse for Star Wars: Battlefront II.
On Reddit, EA replied to a post from a fan complaining that Darth Vader was locked even though they had paid $80 USD for Battlefront II. EA’s response is now the most down-voted comment in Reddit history, with -194,000 at time of writing.
EA’s response reads;
The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes.
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.
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.
Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can.
It looks as though EA has certainly struck a chord with fans. Probably not the one it was hoping to strike though.
Star Wars: Battlefront II will be available on November 17. It will unlock for those who pre-ordered the special edition on November 14.
