The AMA on the Star Wars Battlefront II Reddit with three of the development team at DICE has been a treasure trove of information for everyone looking to see how DICE will react and respond to the many controversial and criticized elements of their latest game.
When asked a lengthy question about the convoluted progression system being based on Star Card unlocks rather than playing the game as a certain character or class, Producer Paul Keslin was said that they are working to quickly make a change where progression is rewarded by actually playing as a specific class.
We’ve already started to tweak our existing systems based on the data we’ve seen from our Play First Trial players as well as your feedback. The goal with star card class level requirements, initially, was to make you go wide in the type of cards you get before you go deep in specializing which ones you want to upgrade. That said, we’re hearing loud and clear that you’d prefer a system where playing a class or a character specificially will upgrade its level instead, so we’re looking to make that change as soon as possible.
Keslin very clearly states that this isn’t just something they are thinking about. He makes it pretty clear that this is a change that the team is looking to implement as soon as possible. This convoluted and roundabout system was one of the downsides I called out in my own Star Wars Battlefront II review, including how monetization is inevitably tied in with stunted progression.
Overall, it’s simply a bad and convoluted system. Progression is tied to a level of randomness and monetization, and in no way accounts for or rewards playing the game as specific classes. Gameplay is little more than a gate to being able to eventually earn enough of a currency to either roll the dice or craft Star Cards you need.
With Keslin’s comments regarding progression being more tied to playing as specific characters, it makes me hopeful that the future of Battlefront II could see skill rewarded over RNG or paying money.
