Microtransactions are the lifeblood of Battlefield Play4Free and many had bought new weapons to deal greater damage, but now EA has pulled the advantages - ”know it hasn’t been fun”.
Customisation is at the center of this storm with EA saying they couldn’t have foreseen what an imbalance they would cause later down the line. Users feel they’ve been robbed.
Below is a post by EA.
At the start of this month, we released weapon customization, an update that gave players the ability to personalize their arsenal as they saw fit. During this update we removed all “Elite” and “Veteran” primary weapons and in their place owners of these weapons were given new weapon attachments named “Legacy” items, that they could add to their guns.
As some of you may have already noticed, these “Legacy” items have made these weapons too powerful, significantly affecting the balance of the game which we did not foresee. So in an effort to restore balance and an enjoyable experience for everyone, we are eliminating all “Legacy” attachments and removing them from the game.
Existing owners of “Elite” and “Veteran” weapons (a.k.a “Legacy” attachment owners) will still get something in return, as we will replace your existing base weapons with new, unique, “+3” versions. These “+3” weapons are more powerful versions of the current base weapons with slightly increased stats and can still be upgraded with the full catalogue of customization items.
We value our community and your experience with the game is our top priority. We know it’s not fun to feel like you can’t win, and we know it’s not fun to feel like there’s no challenge. We’ve taken these steps to help ensure that we are delivering the most enjoyable gaming experience possible.
After this thread hit the Battlefield Play4Free forum it erupted into a 319 paged vent of anger by gamers. To get hold of weapon add-ons you must convert real currency into Battlefunds with 700 costing $4.99. These add-ons range from as little as 100 to a few thousand Battlefunds. EA have stated no refunds will be given at all.
A new update has been posted with EA promising something will be done:
As you all know, we recently removed “Legacy” attachments from Battlefield Play4Free as a way to introduce a better level of balance in the game. We appreciate all the feedback that you’ve been giving our team since this change and we assure you, this was a tough decision and not an easy one to make. That being said, we believe that it will deliver the most fun and enjoyable gaming experience to all players and as such these changes will remain.
In the spirit of continually improving Battlefield Play4Free, we are listening to your feedback and responding. Over the next few weeks, we will be implementing several community requested changes to the “+3” weapons:
Damage will be increased across all ranges of +3 weapons
(Currently +3 weapons do 2 additional base (body) damage over all ranges compared to their non +3 counterpart. This will be increased to 3 addition points of damage)
Base ammo count will be increased across all +3 weapons
(This will vary depending on the weapon and the weapon type)
In addition, we will be making some changes to currently imbalanced boosters (for example, the Mortar Strike and RPG Boosters).
While customers may have little recourse on their own, gaming communities are a potent force when they combine strength after being sufficiently whipped into a frenzy. Developer CCP suffered immense wrath from the EVE Online player base after talk of microtransactions infuriated them, which left the studio reeling to try and win trust back.
Have Battlefield Play4Free’s changes upset your soldiering?
