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Has potential unlike the last one. I'm interested. Good to see that this has everything the first one (by EA) should have had. Also the campaign looks promising. Not something I usually say about shooters.
Edit
They announced there will be no season pass. So this is a big and bold move for EA. However this likely means they will triple down on micro-transactions and loot crates *sigh*
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/04/15 21:54:19
Gamgee wrote: Has potential unlike the last one. I'm interested. Good to see that this has everything the first one (by EA) should have had. Also the campaign looks promising. Not something I usually say about shooters.
Edit
They announced there will be no season pass. So this is a big and bold move for EA. However this likely means they will triple down on micro-transactions and loot crates *sigh*
Yes, it's such a "big and bold move" that they have done it for Titanfall 2, Mass Effect 3's MP, and Mass Effect Andromeda.
Also, whine more about completely optional micro-transactions.
Actually your right. I totally forgot. I should say this is an interesting move for the battlefield series/dice since their games almost have always had season passes until now. Even the recent battlefield 1 had one.
Still it's good news.
Microtransacitons are not. From what I've seen of MEA's microtransacitons they are the most gouging of EA's yet. Still at least I can avoid them if I don't want them.
The story mode sounds very interesting. There is a huge gap in between RotJ and TFA and so far all we have are a couple of novels.
Hopefully this is the game that Dice wanted to make originally had they not been forced to tie in with the Disney reboot. While I don't think they'll be able to beat the original battlefront 2 for quantity, the last game was undoubtedly the prettiest SW game I have ever played and this will likely be more so.
Strange that two of the planets listed will be Endor and Hoth seeing as they were in BF1 already. I guess because they are the two main stages of war in the OT. Really hoping we get a Coruscant map!
Gamgee wrote: Actually your right. I totally forgot. I should say this is an interesting move for the battlefield series/dice since their games almost have always had season passes until now. Even the recent battlefield 1 had one.
Battlefield games have been a mixed bag of free and season pass content since BF3.
They have a season pass which gives you special playlists tied to new maps/game modes(effectively gating that content off) but still allows for weapons/vehicles, etc to appear in the standard content.
Battlefront had a season pass, but also had free content drops every time a season pass item dropped.
Still it's good news.
Microtransacitons are not. From what I've seen of MEA's microtransacitons they are the most gouging of EA's yet. Still at least I can avoid them if I don't want them.
"From what you've seen"? Have you actually played or, as usual for you, are you going off third hand knowledge?
The MEA Microtransactions are strictly for MP. Anyone who buys them expecting to get good stuff, without having invested a bit of time into playing the MP side of things first, is an idiot. BioWare has never made a secret of the way their loot box formulations worked since they made packs available with real money after the first free DLC for ME3's Multiplayer.
The way that Mass Effect's loot boxes work:
You get a certain number of items, with the numbers going up per pack.
Supply Packs contain nothing but consumables--cannot be purchased with "Andromeda Credits"(they added a special currency that you can buy for packs rather than before where it was $2.99 for a single high-end pack or thereabouts in ME3). 2000 Credits
Basic Packs contain 5 items, with a chance at getting an Uncommon grade item. Cannot be bought with Andromeda Credits. Costs 5000 Credits.
Advanced Packs contain 5 items, with a guaranteed Uncommon and a chance at a Rare item. Can be bought with Andromeda Credits. Costs 20,000 Credits or 100 Andromeda Credits.
Expert Packs contain 5 items, with a guaranteed Rare and a chance at an Ultra Rare item. Can be bought with ACs. Costs 50,000 Credits OR 200 Andromeda Credits.
Premium Packs contain 5 items, with a guaranteed 2 Rare items and the highest chance at an Ultra Rare item. Can be bought with ACs. Costs 100,000 Credits OR 300 Andromeda Credits.
As you finish out each tier of items to its maximum(each weapon, gear, or character has 10 levels)--they cease to pop up in the packs. Finish out your Commons; the Basic Pack becomes useless to you. Finish out your Uncommons, the Advanced Packs become useless, finish out your Rares and then you basically are just going to be picking between getting 2 chances for an UR or 1 chance between Expert or Premium Packs.
Unlike ME3 though, BioWare is doing a good job currently of spreading out where the new content is going. They've added 1 new UR character and 1 new UR weapon, 1 Rare character and 1 Rare weapon, then an Uncommon weapon.
I can in the space of an hour make 200k credits doing 5-6 random matches on Silver(which, realistically, you should be running with level 10 or higher characters but I keep getting dumped into matches where I have to carry lower levels), as each mission pays out around 20k.
Point is, there is no way shape or form where Andromeda Credits are currently necessary. If you buy any for packs, that's on you.
Gamgee wrote: Actually your right. I totally forgot. I should say this is an interesting move for the battlefield series/dice since their games almost have always had season passes until now. Even the recent battlefield 1 had one.
Battlefield games have been a mixed bag of free and season pass content since BF3.
They have a season pass which gives you special playlists tied to new maps/game modes(effectively gating that content off) but still allows for weapons/vehicles, etc to appear in the standard content.
Battlefront had a season pass, but also had free content drops every time a season pass item dropped.
Still it's good news.
Microtransacitons are not. From what I've seen of MEA's microtransacitons they are the most gouging of EA's yet. Still at least I can avoid them if I don't want them.
"From what you've seen"? Have you actually played or, as usual for you, are you going off third hand knowledge?
The MEA Microtransactions are strictly for MP. Anyone who buys them expecting to get good stuff, without having invested a bit of time into playing the MP side of things first, is an idiot. BioWare has never made a secret of the way their loot box formulations worked since they made packs available with real money after the first free DLC for ME3's Multiplayer.
The way that Mass Effect's loot boxes work:
You get a certain number of items, with the numbers going up per pack.
Supply Packs contain nothing but consumables--cannot be purchased with "Andromeda Credits"(they added a special currency that you can buy for packs rather than before where it was $2.99 for a single high-end pack or thereabouts in ME3). 2000 Credits
Basic Packs contain 5 items, with a chance at getting an Uncommon grade item. Cannot be bought with Andromeda Credits. Costs 5000 Credits.
Advanced Packs contain 5 items, with a guaranteed Uncommon and a chance at a Rare item. Can be bought with Andromeda Credits. Costs 20,000 Credits or 100 Andromeda Credits.
Expert Packs contain 5 items, with a guaranteed Rare and a chance at an Ultra Rare item. Can be bought with ACs. Costs 50,000 Credits OR 200 Andromeda Credits.
Premium Packs contain 5 items, with a guaranteed 2 Rare items and the highest chance at an Ultra Rare item. Can be bought with ACs. Costs 100,000 Credits OR 300 Andromeda Credits.
As you finish out each tier of items to its maximum(each weapon, gear, or character has 10 levels)--they cease to pop up in the packs. Finish out your Commons; the Basic Pack becomes useless to you. Finish out your Uncommons, the Advanced Packs become useless, finish out your Rares and then you basically are just going to be picking between getting 2 chances for an UR or 1 chance between Expert or Premium Packs.
Unlike ME3 though, BioWare is doing a good job currently of spreading out where the new content is going. They've added 1 new UR character and 1 new UR weapon, 1 Rare character and 1 Rare weapon, then an Uncommon weapon.
I can in the space of an hour make 200k credits doing 5-6 random matches on Silver(which, realistically, you should be running with level 10 or higher characters but I keep getting dumped into matches where I have to carry lower levels), as each mission pays out around 20k.
Point is, there is no way shape or form where Andromeda Credits are currently necessary. If you buy any for packs, that's on you.
Calm down man. I watched Angry Joe's review and he hated the micro transacions and felt they were worse than in ME3. When I say worse I usually tend to mean grindy and more in your face. On the flip side another reviewer who I watched play a lot said he felt they weren't worse. Personally for me I think they got worse since it seems there is even more stuff to unlock which means more grinding to try and get the guns you want up to the level you want. It doesn't look like there is any way to level up just one gun fast. I'm more than familiar with BF3 and 1 since I own both and the season passes/premium. A small content update is a lot different from no more season passes of old. Which is a good thing.
It's good if they add content, but bad if I'll never touch it since it takes too much grinding to get or paying.
I think the reviewer I watched who didn't mind the microtransactions as much was Total Biscuit.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/04/16 01:21:22
Interesting that Rey was fighting alongside the clones. I guess the heroes aren't going to be restricted by eras.
My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 12 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
Mr_Rose wrote: Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
Gotta hand it to EA, they really listened to the feedback from the first game from what I can see. Prequels and space battles! Also I spotted some ships from the animated clone wars show which is cool.
Yeah, those space battles look incredible. It's a totally separate studio doing them (Criterion are doing space, DICE are doing ground, Motive are doing campaign) and much like the single player campaign stuff from D23, you can see the results of that; a great focus and attention to detail so hopefully no part is going to feel tacked on.
So, the beta is available to download now. Been playing it, it's pretty fun so far. It's only 1 Naboo map and 1 space fighter map but it's a pretty cool preview of what's coming. I don't know if it will last till release or if it's just up for a few days. I'm gonna be getting the full version when it comes out though. Liking what I see so far. It's basically Star Wars Battlefield 1 with a few twists
Necros wrote: So, the beta is available to download now. Been playing it, it's pretty fun so far. It's only 1 Naboo map and 1 space fighter map but it's a pretty cool preview of what's coming. I don't know if it will last till release or if it's just up for a few days. I'm gonna be getting the full version when it comes out though. Liking what I see so far. It's basically Star Wars Battlefield 1 with a few twists
Go into the "Strike" game mode and you get to play the lake planet from "The Force Awakens". It lets us get our first real look at the variant First Order Stormtroopers and the Resistance ground troops.
In general, it's a definite step up over the last game (which I did really like). The space battles are just absolutely incredible and it's nice to see 'proper' flight controls back. The ground stuff is also pretty great mechanically, the guns are a lot meatier now and the class abilities all work really nicely. I only wish they'd included leaning, lying prone and mantling this time, these things are pretty standard for shooters these days so it feels a tad clumsy playing without them.
My biggest concern is in map design, I'm not a fan of how committed they are to the Attacker/Defender dynamic in most game types; there's a major gap in the list of modes in the standard Conquest/ Command Post Capture mode that is really the headline in Battlefield One and the old Battlefronts. Failing that, I'd at least hope there's something to do on these maps other than play the same 3-stage battles over and over again. It'd be cool to reverse the Theed one with a Clone counter-attack starting from the throne room and busting out into the larger battle, or to give the Imperials an alternate space battle over Fondor where they launch an offensive from the orbital installation against a Rebel capital ship ect.
I just hope we don't end up in a situation where if you're playing a Clone on Naboo, you'll only ever be fighting a defensive battle, or if you're flying an X-wing at Fondor you're going to be taking out that Star Destroyer every time. Asymmetrical and multi-stage game modes and maps are all well and good, but I want to see either plenty of variety on the same maps or just a traditional symmetrical mode that isn't just the Team Deathmatch type.
I'm thinking it might just be the eras on offer, but this isn't grabbing me in the same way the previous game's beta did. While I like that they're including Clone Wars content and they've got the VA's from the show, I really dislike Theed as a location, and I've almost zero interest in the new film stuff yet.
The changes to how you access heavier weapons, jump packs, and vehicles is probably good mechanically for balance, but I can't say I don't miss using a rocket pack all the time, and the fact stuff like that is limited does seem to have impacted the map design since there's a lot less verticality - contrast Theed with Sullust or even Hoth from the first one - the rocket trooper now just seems like an engagement/escape mechanic rather than a real game-changer, especially since you're locked out of participating in the objective gameplay while using a Specialist.
I'm also obviously not happy with the inclusion of microtransactions, but the corporate game industry have successfully convinced people that they "need" additional revenue after the base game sales in order to support it(ie, they're unwilling to spend any portion of their profits from base game sales on supporting it), so it was bound to be something, and microtransactions *might* be better than paid map DLC and season passes. The issue I have is that the lootbox system looks to be grindy as feth - no automatic one box per-level like in Battlefield - and the current rumour is the top tier of item mods will *only* be available in premium packs. That could be a huge issue since the jump between 2nd best and top-tier is pretty massive, I've seen ones as big as going from 50% bonus to 80% bonus, and the fact that the only free way to earn Credits to buy the premium crates is to do well in the game, plus that the rate of gain for Credits is pretty low, there's a real danger of a "rich get richer" scenario where the only way latecomers, low-skill folk, or time-poor folk will be able to operate on a level playing field is to fork over real cash. And a lot of it, since of course the loot boxes are random gambletrash where you will often get duplicates that reward you with a pitiful amount of "crafting" currency.
I think I'll be waiting for reviews to see whether it's worth buying on the strength of the single player alone.
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
Yeah, for all its visual flair Theed is a pretty dull map. Flat, blocky, and thanks to the mission there's no back and forth, everything moves inexorably in one direction.
Yodhrin wrote: I'm thinking it might just be the eras on offer, but this isn't grabbing me in the same way the previous game's beta did. While I like that they're including Clone Wars content and they've got the VA's from the show, I really dislike Theed as a location, and I've almost zero interest in the new film stuff yet.
The changes to how you access heavier weapons, jump packs, and vehicles is probably good mechanically for balance, but I can't say I don't miss using a rocket pack all the time, and the fact stuff like that is limited does seem to have impacted the map design since there's a lot less verticality - contrast Theed with Sullust or even Hoth from the first one - the rocket trooper now just seems like an engagement/escape mechanic rather than a real game-changer, especially since you're locked out of participating in the objective gameplay while using a Specialist.
I'm also obviously not happy with the inclusion of microtransactions, but the corporate game industry have successfully convinced people that they "need" additional revenue after the base game sales in order to support it(ie, they're unwilling to spend any portion of their profits from base game sales on supporting it), so it was bound to be something, and microtransactions *might* be better than paid map DLC and season passes. The issue I have is that the lootbox system looks to be grindy as feth - no automatic one box per-level like in Battlefield - and the current rumour is the top tier of item mods will *only* be available in premium packs. That could be a huge issue since the jump between 2nd best and top-tier is pretty massive, I've seen ones as big as going from 50% bonus to 80% bonus, and the fact that the only free way to earn Credits to buy the premium crates is to do well in the game, plus that the rate of gain for Credits is pretty low, there's a real danger of a "rich get richer" scenario where the only way latecomers, low-skill folk, or time-poor folk will be able to operate on a level playing field is to fork over real cash. And a lot of it, since of course the loot boxes are random gambletrash where you will often get duplicates that reward you with a pitiful amount of "crafting" currency.
I think I'll be waiting for reviews to see whether it's worth buying on the strength of the single player alone.
That's the way "rumors" always work with regards to EA's stuff. We heard it with Titanfall 2(I'm flush with credits there and nothing to spend them on), we heard it with Andromeda's MP, and now we're hearing it again with Battlefront 2.
And yet, I haven't spent one fething dime on Mass Effect Andromeda's multiplayer that some whined would be mandatory to do so.
And no, "the only free way to earn Credits" is not to do well in the game.
Go into the "Career" section. There are Challenges there that require you to click on them to retrieve the Credit Rewards.
The reason why they are there instead of auto-rewarding is because it makes sure that you know that extra 300 Credits was from you having completed that specific Challenge(things like play 10 minutes as a Specialist rewards 200 Credits...for just playing a full match as one class) rather than something you did in the match.
And let's not forget that the Arcade mode exists and rewards Credits along with having unique Challenges that reward Credits tied to it.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Paradigm wrote: In general, it's a definite step up over the last game (which I did really like). The space battles are just absolutely incredible and it's nice to see 'proper' flight controls back. The ground stuff is also pretty great mechanically, the guns are a lot meatier now and the class abilities all work really nicely. I only wish they'd included leaning, lying prone and mantling this time, these things are pretty standard for shooters these days so it feels a tad clumsy playing without them.
My biggest concern is in map design, I'm not a fan of how committed they are to the Attacker/Defender dynamic in most game types; there's a major gap in the list of modes in the standard Conquest/ Command Post Capture mode that is really the headline in Battlefield One and the old Battlefronts. Failing that, I'd at least hope there's something to do on these maps other than play the same 3-stage battles over and over again. It'd be cool to reverse the Theed one with a Clone counter-attack starting from the throne room and busting out into the larger battle, or to give the Imperials an alternate space battle over Fondor where they launch an offensive from the orbital installation against a Rebel capital ship ect.
I just hope we don't end up in a situation where if you're playing a Clone on Naboo, you'll only ever be fighting a defensive battle, or if you're flying an X-wing at Fondor you're going to be taking out that Star Destroyer every time. Asymmetrical and multi-stage game modes and maps are all well and good, but I want to see either plenty of variety on the same maps or just a traditional symmetrical mode that isn't just the Team Deathmatch type.
Fondor really can't go any other way, IMO. It's an Imperial shipyard.
That said, the "Galactic Assault" game modes are likely going to be static. I wouldn't be surprised if after launch though we get revisited versions of the maps that alter the dynamic--they did it with Battlefield 4, where the "night" versions of the original maps changed up the dynamics heavily.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/10/08 14:22:46
I think you could add an imperial offensive element to Fondor by adapting the rules of Battlefield One's Operations mode. Instead of abruptly ending the game when the Rebels run out of tickets, give the Imperials a crack at the Mon Calamari Cruiser after going through some Blockade Runners. If they fail, the Rebs get another go at the Star Destroyer, and the game ends when one or the other Capital Ships has been taken out. It'd make the games longer, but I'll take that over the couple of 5-minute games of Starfighter Assault I've had where the Rebel tickets just got drained at an insane rate.
I also think the scoring in SA needs looking at; you can spend a whole match doing major damage to the objectives as the Rebels and the top half of the leaderboard will still be dominated by those who elected to go dogfighting and rack up 15+ kills instead. It's not so bad for the Imperials as their objective is getting kills, but for the Rebels, the fact that unless you're the one to fire the crippling shot at a system (which really comes down to luck) you get a paltry amount of points compared to what you'd get for a kill or even an assist.
Speaking of scores, it's a minor thing but I wish they'd let you actually see the scoreboard at the end of a round without having to bring it up from the pause menu during the endgame cutscene. I mean, what shooter doesn't just show you the scoreboard at the end?
~15000 Astra Militarum: 
~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: 
~1900 | Imperial Knights: 
~2000 | Sisters of Battle: 
~3500 | Leagues of Votann: 
~1200 | Tyranids: 
~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: 
