Category: Opinion

EA wants to keep Microtransaction in Star Wars Battlefront 2 and doesn’t understand Gamers

Electronic Arts have lost $3 billion in stock value after the microtransaction loot box system was discovered to create a pay-to-win situation in Star Wars Battlefront 2. Many fans were critical of the system and EA pulled loot boxes from the game before the official launch.  After news programs and governments around the world began to notice, EA received mass criticisms from many audiences.  The Belgian Gaming Commission waded in, as did Hawaii State Representative Chris Lee, who publicly denounced EA‘s game as “a Star Wars-themed online casino designed to lure kids into spending money”.

Despite this, EA decided to double down on keeping MTX (Microtransaction). EA‘s Chief Finance officer, Blake Jorgensen said “”We’re not giving up on the notion of MTX [microtransactions].” Whether they will continue to use the loot box feature in the future is still a debate for EA. Many fans protested the game because players could earn Star Cards that buffed the characters which created an imbalance in multiplayer. You could also not predict what you would obtain in a loot crate which some government leaders considered similar to gambling. To earn enough currency to purchase certain characters or features required substantial game time or you could bypass with real currency.

Jorgensen said that EA was focusing on improving the beta over the MTX and wasn’t aware how the public would react. The statement is quite outlandish considering many of the gaming community has shunned the loot box system; including for popular games that use them such as Overwatch. He also stated that certain players have more money than other while others have more time. EA worked to create a balance between the two to create a value system that would appeal to both. That is usually a fine method if there wasn’t boost in the game that would make you stronger than other players.

“For us it’s a great learning experience. We are trying to run the company with an ear to the consumer at all times, not only in the testing phase but when the game is up and running” said Jorgensen. EA, a gaming company which is older than 30 years, is still trying to understand their modern audience. It is unacceptable and an excuse that nobody who understands the modern game market would believe.

Supposedly, LucasArts is extremely focused on Star Wars Battlefront 2 following the canon according to Jorgensen. “There might be things we can do cosmetically, and we’re working with Lucas on that, but coming into it, it wasn’t as easy as if we were building a game around our own IP where it didn’t really matter. It matters in Star Wars, because Star Wars fans want realism. But Star Wars fans also may want to tailor things: different colour Lightsabers, things like that, so you may see something like that.” This would make EA look better if the skins were added to the game but it has been shown on Uninspired Zebra’s YouTube channel that there is a menu for customizing skins. Also, the previous game had skins! So EA is trying to manipulate the narrative by trying to tell people that they are making changes to Star Wars Battlefront 2 when they should already understand the backlash from their audience over microtransaction and what is the modern method most multiplayer use MTX. It is embarrassing for the company and mostly the developers who put in so much effort to make Star Wars Battlefront 2 a good game.

Sources:

Eurogamer

Polygon

Patent shows Activision uses Matchmaking to coerce players into Microtransaction

Recently, more and more games have begun adding microtransaction items in AAA games. Games such as MiddleEarth: Shadow of Mordor, Forza Motorsport 7, and Star Wars Battlefront 2 are recent video games that contain loot boxes. Most prizes within usually have cosmetic items that don’t influence the game but their multiplayer games such as Star Wars contain upgrades or improved Star Cards. The inclusion of loot boxes has angered many fans.

This month, Activision‘s patent passed for a system to coerce players into buying in-game items. The system would drive players into buying in-game items based on multiplayer. It would actively place expert or higher ranked players against a junior player.

It would also place players based on interest. “In a particular example, the junior player may wish to become an expert sniper in a game (e.g., as determined from the player profile),” according to the patent. A newer player may want to emulate their guns or gear which could lead to potential purchases.

The system also knew which items to promote based on players preferences. If you’ve already bought an item or weapon, the patent stated “if the player purchased a particular weapon, the microtransaction engine may match the player in a gameplay session in which the particular weapon is highly effective, giving the player an impression that the particular weapon was a good purchase. This may encourage the player to make future purchases to achieve similar gameplay results.”

Activision has stated this method is not in any current games and Bungie has confirmed the method is not in Destiny 2. It was an exploratory patent made in 2015 by the Research and Development team outside of their gaming division said Activision spokesperson to Glixel.

Opinion:

A lot of people are disgusted that Activision would actively create a match-making system that incentives in-game purchases rather than creating fair and balanced matches. Although Activision has stated they have not released this system on any current games, that may change towards the future. We want our games to be pure and be created purely for fun and entertainment but the gaming industry is still a business. Many online stores and sites already cater items, videos, and advertisements based on your searches, likes, or content you viewed. While I don’t have anything against promoting purchases based your interest, I am actively against basing the entire matchmaking system on it. While the system is based for first-person shooters, it can potentially be added into future Activision games. This further ruins their image to gamers.

Source:

Rolling Stones: Glixel

Swery pushes forward on Cat RPG: The Good Life

Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro refuses to back down despite his low support on crowdfunding his new Cat RPG: The Good Life. The game is planned to be a combination of murder mystery, pet simulator and role-playing game. The project currently sits at 19% of its crowdfunding goal on Fig. Their set goal is $1,500,000. As of October 3rd, 2017 they stand at$293,017 with 8 days remaining.

“Originally and even now I have been concerned, of course,” Swery said about the project’s struggle to bring in backers when Polygon spoke with him during TGS “I’m not going to give up, though. There’s no way. I’m going all the way through to the end.”

This is Swery’s first project with his new studio: White Owl. It involves a story revolving around a New York-based photographer, Naomi, who moves to an English village regarding a murder. Your investigation earns you money. Depending on how much money you earn, you’ll be treated differently by the NPC’s. Also, the townspeople and yourself turn into cats or dogs at night and nobody knows why. Its known in the game as “This is the happiest town in the world.” and “We’re the happiest people on the planet.” (I would love to be a dog or a cat tbh)

 

The game is being crowdfunded through Fig which is considered a controversial crowdfunding site. Unlike Kickstarter, investments in the game development give you Fig Game Shares; meaning you will earn a profit depending on how much the game sells. However, the game must sell at least 2 million units at a $60 to earn any money back. Investors are not guaranteed any funds unless the game earns a unspecific amount of revenue. The investments are not secured by SEC (Securities And Exchange Commission) meaning they aren’t legal investments and have to be reviewed by the government before receiving any money back. The SEC’s primary function is to oversee organizations and individuals in the securities markets, including securities exchanges, brokerage firms, dealers, investment advisors and various investment funds. Through established securities rules and regulations, the SEC promotes disclosure and sharing of market-related information, fair dealing and protection against fraud.

The site is backed by Fig’s advisory board, which includes Double Fine head Tim Schaefer and Obsidian Entertainment co-founder Feargus Urquhart. 

Swery has stated that “The guys at Fig did something really nice, in that they only choose something that has been very exclusively selected,” he said. “Only high-quality people are chosen to be able to fund and be part of the project.”

Crowdfunding ends on October 12th.

Opinion:

There is no way this game is gonna reach its goals. Although his games are cult-classics, they never sell well enough to warrant sequels or reach a wide audience. A goal of $1,500,000 is absurd for any game that he has produced. Even on Ps3 and Xbox 360, Deadly Premonition made less than half a million dollars globally. He even admits that the game had no “economic success.” To even put it on Fig, a site which most people have not heard of or disapprove of their style of funding makes Swery’s goal even less probable. It also doesn’t help that The Good Life looks ugly graphically. Swery’s games have never looked graphically impressive but to ask for $1.5 million for something like that is ridiculous.

 

Sources:

Polygon

Eurogamer

Investopedia

Thegg

Video Game Voice Actor Strike: What is it?

The 340-day strike for The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has reached an end. A tentative agreement has been made between the voice actors and 11 Video game companies: Activision, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and more. The strike began on October 21st, 2016. SAG-AFTRA was striking for four issues: Transparency on voice acting contracts, prevent stress on extensive vocal sessions, stunt coordinators available for on hand performance capture studios, and bonus pay depending on sales of the game.

  • Not every voice actor knows what game their voices will be in. Often, voice actors are contracted for a specific role, sent to a recording studio, and then given a script. This is more relevant on actors playing small characters or NPC’s.
  • Voice acting sessions can become quite straining on vocal cords depending on the role. Grunts, screams, and battle lines session can become strenuous and taxing. Some actors claimed they were forced to shout for hours which can cause permanent damage to vocal cords.
  • Some voice actors are requesting to perform certain stunts for performance captures in the game. To save money, most companies will not hire professional stunt actors for roles but rather have their on-hand voice actors perform the action.
  • The biggest issues were the request for bonus pay based on video game sales. The original request from SAG-AFTRA was a full day’s pay for each 500,000 units sold. Certain games sell extremely well but voice actors are not compensated for their “efforts in improving sales.”

Not everything was achieved but so far SAG-AFTRA is considering the negotiation to be a big step forward. An alternative form of payment was agreed upon but not based on sales of the game. Voice actors will receive a  bonus of $75 for their first session and end up with a total bonus of $21,000 for 10 sessions. 

“This is an important advance in this critical industry space. We secured a number of gains including for the first time, a secondary payment structure which was one of the members’ key concerns,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris. “The bonus payments we have now are significantly larger now than what we had 11 months ago. The existence of additional payments beyond your session fee is in the video game world for good, both in our high-budget and independent promulgated agreements” said Keythe Farley, chair of the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee”

Voice actors will also receive more transparency from Video game studios. They will know the project code names, the genre, whether it is a sequel or part of a previous IP or if it is a recurring role. 

“Members are also protected by the disclosure of whether they will be required to use unusual terminology, profanity or racial slurs, whether there will be content of a sexual or violent nature and whether stunts will be required,” said chief contracts officer Roy Rodriguez.

The contract also contains an “employer commitment” regarding issues of long video recording sessions. The agreement isn’t finished. SAG-AFTRA’s national board will review the contract at its next meeting in October.

Arguments against the Strike:

SAG-AFTRA doesn’t represent every video game voice actor. They make up 25% of the industries voice acting talent. 40% of the top-selling games don’t even use SAG-AFTRA voice actors.

Sources:

Eurogamer

Endgadget

Polygon