Giant Bombcast 510: Ken's Alpha Hair

@ev77:

I seriously doubt you've even played it, are basing your arguments on the opinions and comments of others who also don't understand the actual progression of it, or just don't care and want to get in on the whole EA is the devil bandwagon by spreading blatant disinformation. That's basically how you come off when you keep referring to this fantasy progression system you think exists when I, as someone who has sank around thirty hours into the game repeatedly explained what it actually is and how it's a separate thing entirely from the elements that you're raising a stink about. The same goes for its supposed "pay-to-win" elements which may fit your definition loosely but has little to no impact on the gameplay, especially now weeks after release.

Also, no shit..."It isn't a matter of "we need these to stay profitable" it's "we want these to maximize our profits"."...but in an age of $100 Shark Cards, you can't fault EA for following 2K's lead especially when it's much less sleazy. GTA Online has created an environment that's totally fueled by the temptation of dropping real cash to get "cool shit", and while that was an element of BF2, it didn't apply to the loot crates. They're fucking trash. Angry Joe and others have shown this to be true, the drops are too many and too randomized to have been worthwhile when they were available for purchase. This is what got the game heat legally speaking. Not to mention the purchased hero and villains couldn't even be used in Galactic Assault until you earned enough battle points in a match. Its only "at the expense of the player" when the player has no common sense of what a good deal is.

I do however agree somewhat with your take on the development of the game as far as its story mode is concerned. It really felt as if it was cut short making the narrative feel disjointed and in turn cheapened some big name appearances. I wish they would've just bit the bullet on it because it really could've been something special. Especially considering how atmospheric the Galactic Assault maps are with their npcs and wildlife running around. There's a point where it looks like you might be leading an assault on Kashyyyk to liberate the Wookiees, but nope...doesn't happen, despite a large multiplayer map being present in the game.

After the recent cancellation of Amy Hennig's single player game in the Star Wars universe, I get that EA might've felt BF2's story mode wasn't worth the extra effort given its one and done nature possibly causing an influx of used copies flooding the second hand market, but since they already had the assets in place they could've at least inserted a bot version of that particular Galactic Assault experience to pad things out as well as the others that didn't make their way into the mix. That's probably the most disappointing aspect of an otherwise decent title.

@shiftygism: You are right, I have not played it myself because I don't support shit publishers. I highly enjoy gaming and I avoid publishers that treat me like shit. Especially in 2017 when there are too many way better games and publishers/developers I can be supporting instead. But Giant Bomb had hours of coverage of BF2, and I watched a number of streams. So I'd say I understand the progression pretty decently. Or at least the progression as it was just before and at launch. I haven't followed it since.

And just because EA rolled back a number of changes, doesn't mean they still don't deserve to get trashed on for their shitty initial implementation. The only reason you have the "better" progression now is because people bitched about it for you.

During the first week they were in SF, Abby tweeted at Jeff a rather NSFW furry picture involving a zebra at Jeff with no context. (Just go look at her tweeted images if you're curious. It's definitely not the worst thing out there, but it's a bit gross.) It must come up somehow in their GotY deliberations. How exactly that happens will be... interesting to hear.

@knoxt: Absolver looks so fucking cool. I love its style AND its name. The sort of sandbox build-a-move thing it has going on seems ingenious and deep. It looks entirely impenetrable to me, however. I don't have time to learn regular fighting games properly, let alone something like this (even though ostensibly I really dig fighting games, especially watching them. *cough* bring Ranking of Fighters back *cough*). Since it's 15 bones though I'm tempted to get it just to support such a cool concept.

Nice post, though. I like seeing people positive and passionate about games (though in my opinion the Battlefront 2 nonsense is the only thing this year to *really* earn the ire driven towards it). The devs also sound like amazing and humble people devoted to making a damn fine game, which I can respect like crazy.

Is the single player stuff any better. Cause if so I just might pick it up.

@ev77:

"Giant Bomb had hours of coverage of BF2 and I watched a number of streams."

If you're basing the foundation of your knowledge on that, then it's no wonder you're confused.

Not to mention you clearly didn't pay attention as not even four minutes into their Quick Look, Dan backs up my argument that the crates are garbage both in real world pricing (before they turned it off) and in terms of "play to win" bonuses because of its randomness.

Seconds later he and Alex try to explain how to raise a character's card level saying it goes up the more you play with that person/vehicle, which isn't true. You raise that level by buying, crafting, or receiving cards as drops.

Dan then goes on to says he assumes the people he sees running around with tier four cards bought a shit-ton of crates to get them when that is not only flat out false but a pretty alarming statement coming from the person that reviewed the game. There's actually a video tutorial on the main menu explaining the card system and makes it clear you can not unlock those via crate purchases. They have to be crafted and you can only do so when you reach a player rank of twenty, and a card level of twenty five in a specific class.

However, it just came to my attention there were at least four tier four cards, one for each of main troop classes that came as a preorder bonus for purchasing the deluxe edition. So there was the actual "play to win" element someone could've bitched about. Though none guarantees the specific kills needed to further the actual progression towards the blaster unlocks.

Back to the Quick Look, Vinny asks Dan if someone could have bought their way into unlocking the two extra card slots for each character/trooper/vehicle, which Dan incorrectly answers "no", once again showing he didn't understand how the card system worked.

Alex chimes in claiming how confusing it is, when it really isn't once you understand there's two separate elements at work beyond the player rank which only serves as a barrier to craft and acquire certain rewards.

They say there's a grind to get what you want, which is true, but not as bad as they make it out to be...even before the slight increase in credit rewards last week. Within a couple days of Blast mode, rank ups, and challenges, I had enough to buy both Luke and Vader priced at 16,000 credits a piece or sink that into crates.

Dan claims the multiplayer at its core is fucked and super unrewarding when in reality the card system is a breath of fresh air which allows you acquire what perks you want, when you want...as well as bringing in rpg elements allowing the random card drops to raise the level of the things you may not be currently using. It's not a bad setup, it's just going over everyone's head.

Then it's implied that the card perks improve the skill of players in relation to actual progression, which is not true in most cases as kills from side weapons and abilities do not count towards your trooper's blaster unlock. The kills you get via the perks only translate to a slight bump in post match credits awarded, something also pointed out by Angry Joe as he showed the minuscule differential between his dead last performance and a friend who had the most kills. Although I can totally understand Dan's gripe when he's was only getting 145 credits per Galactic Assault, which isn't as rewarding as Blast which offers more opportunities for kills and assists.

I haven't even reached the eight minute mark!

But I did skip ahead to when he jumped into multiplayer, where he said if it was like Call of Duty where you are awarded a preset perk when leveling up, it would be a much better experience. Better than having every perk available to you? What? He reviewed it, he doesn't get it. I love me some Dan Ryckert, he's one of the main reasons I follow the site, but I've learned...especially in recent months, to take his opinions with a grain of salt.

He is right about rank leveling being unrewarding though. As I said, it needs something to pad it out beyond the already present credit bonus.

He also claims "bullshit" as he once was killed (off camera) by someone with three tier four cards. No....no it's not. If that was truly the case of what he was up against, only one would have been a preorder bonus, while the other two were cards that person crafted after grinding a fuck-ton during the headstart period.

Oh and about those supposed "play to win" folks with higher advantages due to the cards they acquired in the fantasy crates you created in your mind? Not one of them showed up in Dan's time playing the Quick Look.

Not one.

@shiftygism: This will probably be my last reply on the topic, because you seem to just not understand what pay-to-win is. But just to clarify my knowledge. Yes, I watched the GB quick look and NO I did not get my information from what was said by Dan and Vinny; because GB doesn't have the best track record in providing factual information. It is not why I come to GB. But, I can watch the video and see how the cards and systems behave. I can watch other videos, like the gamespot stream of the "preorder" state of the game, (aka how EA would have liked to have the game behave) and also see how the cards and systems behave.

Like I said, I think the progression is shit. It was super shit in the "preorder" period where EA tried to do every scummy move in the book to try and sell crystals and it only got slightly better after they tried to "tweak the numbers". Before I guess tweaking the numbers again, and again.

@ev77:

"you seem to just not understand what pay-to-win is."

No...I do.

You on the other hand, don't understand how the game actually works or can't get past the idea that the crates don't actually matter that much beyond getting crafting materials. Just because something fits your definition on paper, does not mean it actually translates gameplay-wise, especially when actual progression is a separate system.

"I can watch the video and see how the cards and systems behave."

Yes, you can.....but if you watched a knowledgeable presentation that had no underlying agenda, you wouldn't be constantly describing the made up progression you claim is "shit". The only questionable moves they made were offering the tier four bonuses with the deluxe version and set the prices too high on the character/vehicle unlockables. The crates are fine, and have always been fine thanks to the super random nature of the drops and restrictions placed on them.

But whatever, man. Keep on truckin' with your incorrect theories about how the game actually works if they better fit your "I care about the industry" mantra.

Peace and bacon grease.

The Pest gets talked about at the 1.35.33 mark (premium video)