EA and DICE have listened closely to player feedback gathered from the recent Star Wars Battlefront II beta sessions and today have announced some tweaks to their loot and progression systems. Those who had issues with the crate and progression systems being a little too close to “pay to win” may be pretty happy to hear about some of the changes that will be incorporated into the full game. They revealed these changes on the official game blog this morning, which is republished below as well.
Epic Star Cards, for example, will not be available in crates at all and they will be require a certain rank to be crafted to help keep things a little more fair. Most weapons and gear will be locked behind game milestones as well, not crates (other than a few exceptions apparently) instead of giving gamers who spend real world cash on crates a better chance at obtaining more powerful items.
See the announcement below for more detail.
We went into Star Wars Battlefront II with a goal to make the deepest, biggest Star Wars game you’ve ever played. That meant transporting you to all three eras and handing you a huge assortment of heroes, classes, and vehicles ? as well as bringing tons of free post-launch content to all Star Wars Battlefront II players.
The Beta gave us a welcome chance to test all of our systems in action and tune things up for better balance. A few weeks back, we mentioned we were going to take another look at how the progression system works. After incorporating feedback from the Beta, we?re happy to share our plans for launch:
- Epic Star Cards, the highest tier of Star Cards available at launch, have been removed from Crates. To help keep everyone on a level playing field, these Star Cards will primarily be available through crafting, with the exception of special Epic Star Cards available through pre-order, deluxe, and starter packs.
- You’ll need to reach a certain rank to craft upgraded Star Cards. You won’t be able to buy a bunch of Crates, grind everything up into crafting materials, and immediately use them to get super powerful Star Cards. You can only upgrade the ability to craft higher tier Star Cards by ranking up through playing the game.
- Weapons are locked behind specific milestones. While a select few will be found in Crates, the rest can only be attained by play. Want to unlock a new weapon for your Heavy? Play as a Heavy and you?ll gain access to the class?s new weapons.
- Class-specific gear and items can be unlocked by playing as them. As you progress through your favorite class, you?ll hit milestones granting you class-specific Crates. These will include a mix of Star Cards and Crafting Parts to benefit your class?s development.
This system, as well as all of the others, will be continually iterated on and improved. As we first announced at EA Play in June, we?re committed to keeping the community together. All upcoming weapons, maps, heroes, and vehicles introduced in Star Wars Battlefront II?s post-release content will be free so that players can play alongside friends as the world of Star Wars Battlefront II continues to grow. We know that the magic is in the balance, and we’re going to make sure that we continue to make a game that is fun for everyone.