Other

First of all, forgive me. This post is not aimed at writing; mostly. It’s a gaming thread about something I feel passionately about. I figured this one was a good one to start back on, given my absence of blogging for as long as I have.

So, the point that started me wanting to write this post was the “backlash” and debates over the new Star Wars Battlefront II, and fans “displeasure” over the decisions that EA have made. Most of which, can be summed up as first world problems, and people looking for a reason to cry about something–and I’m not joking this is what’s happening.

The main “issue” gamers seem to have with the new game, revolves around how to get the Hero characters, such as Vader, Luke, etc. Basically the characters from the films that everyone loves so much.

What I can’t understand is why? Why so angry on how you get them? First of all, ANY game involving the Star Wars universe (and Star Trek but that’s a different topic) is about finding yourself playing in, and exploring, the universe. The aim is to have an extended feel of the how it feels outside of just the movies they release every few years (soon to be more with the announcement of Rian Johnson’s new Star Wars trilogy here). 

The aim of Star Wars Battlefront 2, or Old Republic, or KOTOR, or any other Star Wars game is to experience the universe. The heroes are there for a bit of added fun, and distraction. But they are not the main function of the game.

Now, I may see a point to the argument if EA was only hiding this behind a paywall of, pay this much to unlock Vader. But they are not. They give you the ability to earn crystals and cards through regular gameplay. Which leads onto the next argument, it’s “too much of a grind to do”.

This is the other complaint to come out of this. Which I should add comes from the same people who complain that games come out with not enough gameplay, and it can be completed within a day or two.

At last count, to unlock a single character was about 4500 hours of play. This is 4500 hours where you can be enjoying the game. Why are you forcing yourself to do nothing but get crystals, or whatever to unlock? Play the game, have fun. If you happen to get enough to have a character unlocked, great. But it’s not the point of the game.

Effectively, EA have given us a game that has literal hours of gameplay that takes place inside the universe of Star Wars, a universe I love. If you like the movies, so should you. So just play the game. Don’t be so targeted on the hero characters.

I’ve seen this compared to advertising gambling, which if you’ve seen the poster that’s floating around, is wrong. It’s being pushed this way by supposedly “angry” fans because the loot boxes supposedly act in a similar way to slot machines? Well, no. That’s all false, and similar gaming functions have been in place for a lot of games. The most recent that comes to mind is the drops via Tom Clancy’s the Division which is a similar structure. The argument goes that these loot boxes push gambling because they are subject to random pickups, some high, some low, items. Yeah, that’s not really what gambling is.

The biggest point I’m making is, that EA is a business. Just like any other gaming company. When did people seem to forget this? They will do what they think can make money, that’s their goal. The games they make might be entertainment for the end user, but for the company themselves they are there to make the board members happy with their investments. That’s the bottom line. In the same way that movies, and TV studios are there to make money on their programs. I’m not sure where the loss of understanding happened with these two examples, but somewhere along the line, most thought they were entitled to what they call a “good game” or “good series\move”.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t exist. “Good” is a point of view, and subjective. What you like, a hundred, or thousand others might not. Why is it that if someone doesn’t like something, they feel it’s up to them to try and convince others they should feel the same? Let people enjoy what they enjoy.

I for one will be getting this game (eventually I have other stuff to sort out first). I don’t know how often I will play it, but I will get it because I enjoy Star Wars. Will I buy characters? Probably not, if I unlock them then fine, but as I said that’s not the purpose of the game.

It might be time for gamers to take a step back, and think about how they actually feel about what they play, and how they play it.

Well, that’s it for this post. Now go out, and play more games!