While DICE’s AMA on the Star Wars Battlefront 2 Reddit some promise for changes to come in the future, including a rework to the progression systems, cosmetics changing the game on all levels, and a commitment to a continuing dialogue with players. There was one talking point that stuck out as particularly egregious though.
When asked numerous times about the Arcade mode credit lockout (where credits earned from Arcade battle scenarios are time-gated and locked out after earning 500 credits), DICE’s response was to insist that this choice was made to prevent people from exploiting the single-player mode to farm for credits and purchase loot boxes. In particular, this reply from Producer Paul Keslin is pretty direct on the topic.
With Arcade we set out to let players earn Credits offline via a more relaxed game mode, but as a result we needed to make sure it wouldn’t be exploited in a way that would impact Multiplayer.
So to stop this potential for abuse, we decided to place a limit on Credits earned offline. We’ll look to find ways to expand on the options to earn Credits offline as we want to make the experience rewarding, but we don’t have any new news right now.
Makes sense, right? That is, until you consider another way that people could exploit a system that could impact multiplayer. Did DICE really just forget that there’s an entire feature in their game that allows multiplayer to be impacted and exploited without needing to play the game at all? There’s no limit to how much players can pay in real world money for loot boxes, so why is the daily cap for credits in single-player less than 25% of the amount required for the cheapest loot box?
Fortunately, Executive Producer John Wasilczyk gave a reply to another user that seems to hint that DICE may be looking at removing the daily cap from Arcade mode altogether. “As we update and expand Arcade mode, we’ll be working towards making sure that players can continue to progress without daily limits.”
DICE’s intention with this AMA was to provide an open forum where players could offer feedback and they could respond. Instead it showed that they seem to have a blind eye to just how bad the loot box economy is in Battlefront 2. DICE needs to straighten out their messaging and commit to some real changes with Star Wars Battlefront 2 moving forward. This tone-deaf response about single-player mode exploits just supports the predatory monetization that ruins what is an otherwise great game.
