DICE “incredibly saddened” by Battlefront 2 loot box controversy

Star Wars Battlefront 2 continues to be mired in its loot crate/pay-to-win controversy, and during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), developer DICE has said it is “incredibly saddened by the negative response”.

During the AMA, fans could pitch questions to executive producer John Wasilczyk, associate design director Dennis Brannvall, and producer Paul Keslin. Hundreds were asked, with the trio offering responses to 30 of them, but it doesn’t seem to have done much to quell many of the issues surrounding the game’s progression system and microtransactions.

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In response to the negativity, Wasilczyk responded “I think this concern has come through loud and clear. 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.

He continues, “We’re working on expanding the number of ways that players can progress, putting more control in their hands and providing more options and choice in the way people play. There’s not much in the game that we wouldn’t revisit to improve the game for as many players as possible.”

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One user calculated it will take 40 hours to unlock a single hero – Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker – in the game, and this was also addressed:

“We’ve 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,” Wasilczyk said. “But as more players come in, that could change. 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. As we update and expand Arcade mode, we’ll be working towards making sure that players can continue to progress without daily limits.”

DICE has stated that changes to systems will be made post-launch. Brannvall described to Trusted in a recent interview that tweaking the currency systems, is “one of the easiest changes to make”. In response to a question during the AMA regarding the timeline of making adjustments, Brannvall responded:

“It depends on the type of change, it’s difficult to give you specific dates but as we get closer, we will. The credit based on performance I mentioned in another question (we are changing the percentage of your score factored into your credit reward from 20% and increasing it) is a quicker change, while larger progression overhauls might take a little longer.”

One user asked about concerns regarding recovering from the damage caused by the controversy, to which Paul Keslin offered a response:

“Jumping into this AMA is just one of the ways we want to start to repair the bridge to our players. Lots of people told us that we shouldn’t do this this as it wasn’t going to go like we hope it would. That said, we are committed to continuing this dialogue even if we need to face some harsh feedback. We welcome the discussions and criticisms, we’re not just here for the praise (although it is nice to hear!). And we’ll continue to be here, and on our forums, talking to our community as we strive to work with you to make a Star Wars game you enjoy.”

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You can check out the full list of responses to questions in the AMA, but Brannvall offered one of the last comments of the session:

“We 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.”

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How do you feel about Battlefront 2’s loot crates and progression system? Let us know @TrustedReviews.