Battlefield Heroes Price Changes Causes Gamer Rage

Post by trog @ 10:54am 02/12/09 | 14 Comments

The official Battlefield Heroes website outlines some changes to the pricing structure. The core effect of the change is to make items much easier to acquire - if you throw down real hard-earned bucks. Getting items by scoring Valor Points - points you acquire by actually playing the game - has become much harder, meaning you need to really grind to be able to get items.

Given that the higher-end items (apparently) give you a pretty decent advantage in the game, it is obviously strong incentive to lay down some cash to get them, so the move has - unsurprisingly - lead to some hardcore e-rage from gamers upset at the changes and claiming it has now turned from a free game to a paid game.

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blahnana
Posted 12:53pm 02/12/09

My understanding of BF:H was always that it was always intended to be like that. Their whole model is based on people continually paying to get better stuff, more skills in the game. It's an EA game, everything they do is to make money, of course they're going to encourage people to pay in the easiest way they can find.

This doesn't surprise me at all, anyone not paying is fodder for those who roam around with the uber pay weapons/skills. Only the incredibly naive could possibly be surprised by this news.

I would happily have played BF:H when it came out, but the writing has always been on the wall for anyone who bothered to read it. That thread is full of lol.

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greazy
Posted 02:10pm 02/12/09

It's a silly move on their part to change the pricing model, they should have set something in stone from the start. Everyone knows gamers are cheap.

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Lsx
Posted 02:34pm 02/12/09

The fact remains is one of the producers "Ben cousins" righ from the start in countless interviews stated that BFH players would NEVER be able to purchase an advantage over other players.

"Goodman" another producer has been all over the BFH forums posting condescending and curt replies to genuine cries of anguish from seasoned BFH players, his demeanor in dealing with paying customers in the last 24 hours has been nothing short of Smug and self righteous and in many cases highly offensive, he has stated several times that they need and want more money and if the current players do not like it then they should go play something else.

Players are leaving in droves and this is the way EA deal with it, the changes were too much, new players will not go on to become long term players purchasing battlefunds due to the fact that VP are now obsolete in so much as you would have to play 200 games per day or some 8 hours non stop to obtain enough VP to sustain ONE weapon on ONE character, thus they do not get a chance to have even a slightly enjoyable experience against all the "rich kids" the only other option is to Buy battlefunds, period.

I truly believe EA have shot themselves in the foot on this one...BFH will become yet another ghost town in the true vein of corporate greed.

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trog
Posted 04:20pm 02/12/09

Players are leaving in droves

Are they though? I don't have any data on how many people are playing it because Dice decided, in their infinite wisdom, to disable external third party querying - so there's no way for anyone to know how popular the game is aside from them (...for obvious reasons).

I would love to know if there's an actual player drop though or if there's just a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, and people then shrug and keep playing.

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parabol
Posted 04:38pm 02/12/09

Ok can we rewind a bit before these "changes" .. can someone please give a quick rundown on how this game works for uninitiated people like me? It almost appears as though one is paying for in-game items. Surely I must be mistaken?

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trog
Posted 04:45pm 02/12/09

Ok can we rewind a bit before these "changes" .. can someone please give a quick rundown on how this game works for uninitiated people like me? It almost appears as though one is paying for in-game items. Surely I must be mistaken?

nope, and that was always the plan. It's a free game; the plan was to generate revenue selling in-game items and through advertising. The rage is because they've allegedly significantly shifted the balance now so that the only way to really be competitive in-game is through actual purchased items, which is (allegedly) something they said they'd never do.

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koopz
Posted 05:28pm 02/12/09

BFH will become yet another ghost town in the true vein of corporate greed.

here in Aus? yeah for sure.

I think that in the US it'll do well enough to become a new EA 'standard' thanks to millions of todays idiot young gamers who'll buy their way there instead of just playing to the best of their ability - which sucks.

last edited by koopz at 17:28:03 02/Dec/09

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tequila
Posted 06:00pm 02/12/09

wow, that ben cousins dude sounds like he's almost a big a douche as our ben cousins (AFL wanker)

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HyperJ
Posted 06:08pm 02/12/09

I played the beta for a while, really had no interest in the game, was FPS dumbed down as far as i think is possible,

As far as people paying for in game items, Habbo Hotel has been around for years doing the same thing, people buy anything from clothes to furniture.

Even better, you can get arrested for stealing virual furniture http://www.switched.com/tag/virtual+theft/

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Eds
Posted 08:27pm 02/12/09

EA just simply saw wow gold being a billion dollar industry and decided that was the way to make money for them .

I don't see how you can be shocked, EA is a marketing/publisher first, developer second.

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Hogfather
Posted 02:18pm 03/12/09

he has stated several times that they need and want more money and if the current players do not like it then they should go play something else

I know he's being a douche, but this is actually really good advice.

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skythra
Posted 12:06am 04/12/09

This structure is already very popular in chinese and korean MMO's. It's been written about in gaming blogs, translated and reposted time and times again. They make these games based at the corporate level employee who doesn't have a lot of time, but enjoys the time they have with games, and makes them "level the playing field" by adding in some cash.

I used to know sources for this s***, because i used to go on rants about it while playing wow, but that was a while ago now and i can't even remember search terms..

All i keep coming up with in google is "free mmo download"! kind of what i'm talking about but not actual articles explaining them.

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Khel
Posted 12:26am 04/12/09

I used to buy WoW gold and stuff when I played WoW, makes a lot more sense than mindlessly farming for hours. Blizzard should just give up trying to stop it and incorporate it into their system, if you can't beat em, join em.

I'm sure some people have no lives and no money and would rather spend hours and hours and hours pointlessly farming, but seriously, f*** that.

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Dazhel
Posted 12:46am 04/12/09

It's an increasingly blurred line though, when online gaming crosses over from being a fun way to pass time into something resembling a shakedown every time you connect.

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