Alright @JoeKGBX, here is my feedback on the whole thing. Apologies for the essay but I only know how to be thorough. I know there’s a lot of negativity in this thread, no doubt some of it coming from people who love and play Battleborn and some from people who just jumped aboard the hate train - you know how the internet is. You know who I am… well, to an extent I suppose. You know what I do. You know my place in the community. You know how much Battleborn means to me. Now, all that being said…
I’m okay with skins and taunts being sold separately through microtransactions. Buying power is never acceptable so cosmetics-only is fine by me. The cost of AAA game development has skyrocketed but the retail cost of games hasn’t increased so other revenue streams have to be created. The Battleborn Season Pass is perfectly fair for a new IP at $20 and obviously, I bought it. However, I think the creation of the in-game marketplace was poorly-timed. I know the reality of the situation is this wasn’t done at the expense of necessary fixes to the game but sometimes perception is stronger than reality and the perception was that the marketplace update so soon after launch prioritized an influx of cash through microtransactions to compensate for what appeared to be lackluster game sales post-launch week and after um, the other game came out.
From the perspective of the community it looked like a case of “Just because you can, it doesn’t mean that you should.” I know the marketplace had to be a call made by 2K, not Gearbox. You just make the stuff and they decide how to sell it - I get it. However, as a Season Pass owner, it irks me to see skins and taunts for sale when I already paid for some cosmetics but haven’t seen them yet. I know that’ll be with the first DLC pack but if it’s not finished then it won’t be released - QED. I’m patient but for other Season Pass owners, its the whole perception/reality thing again and sometimes perception can affect a game more than reality. As stupid as that is, I don’t want that to happen to this amazing game.
Now, the amount of platinum that comes with each transaction:
$1.99 for 230 Platinum
$4.99 for 700 Platinum
$9.99 for 1625 Platinum
$19.99 for 3500 Platinum
$49.99 for 9300 Platinum
Skin = 420 Platinum & Taunt = 230 Platinum. I’m sure the price of each is somehow reflective of how much it actually costs to develop a skin or a taunt but I can’t figure it out. However, I want to make one thing clear: being able to buy the skin or taunt I want directly is the most pro-consumer approach to microtransactions so I’m thankful for this implementation. If the skins and taunts were put into RNG loot boxes then this post would be very, very different.
As for the cost of each physical transaction, it feels like Microsoft Points all over again or Silver in Destiny - no matter which package you buy, you’ll always have some leftover you can’t seem to get rid of so you just watch your money sit there, unable to spend it on something you actually want. It may ultimately equate to less than $1 in Platinum but it’s feeling like you need to spend more money to get rid of the money you already spent that people don’t like. Again, perception/reality. I don’t think this can be changed at this point and I’m over it but that’s how it can feel sometimes.
Alright, now the part that’s very important to me. First, this quote from the post:
“What else could the Battleborn Marketplace hold? That’s up to you! In addition to awesome skins and taunts, we’re also exploring convenient ways players can add bank spaces, loadouts, or boost their XP and credit earnings that do not affect actual gameplay. We don’t have a timeframe yet, but we are interested in your feedback. Let us know what you’d like to see in the Marketplace in the forums.”
This part here is where I start to see the line I don’t think should be crossed. Please don’t interpret this as some sort of ultimatum but I would encourage those making the decisions about these possibilities to tread lightly because I see this as a big problem potentially. Again, this is all feedback coming from someone who loves Battleborn very, very much.
Alright, so there’s a F2P game called Warframe I’m going to use for this example and coincidentally, its microtransaction currency is also called Platinum. Right, so in Warframe you can only have 10 weapons in your inventory: primary, secondary, melee - it doesn’t matter, you can only have 10 in total. If you want to have another weapon, you’ll need to either sell one you currently have for in-game credits (not unlike Battleborn’s credits) to make space for the new one, or you can pay like 10 or 12 Platinum for another inventory slot thereby allowing you to hold that 11th weapon. I probably have almost 20 weapons but I expected to pay for the convenience of being able to have more than 10 weapons in my inventory because it’s a F2P game.
Warframe’s in-game marketplace also sells timed boosters for things like credits, allowing you to earn more of the in-game currency as you play. These boosters of course are bought with Platinum. I would be paying for the convenience of being able to afford things like blueprints for weapons faster than normal. I would have to go farm the materials and the weapon would take time to build but buying the booster is paying for convenience. I could acquire this weapon without spending a dime, start to finish, if I wanted. It would be more time-consuming but I could do it. I could have used Platinum to buy the weapon outright, buy the crafting materials so I don’t have to farm, or rush the building process so I don’t have to wait - at all of these stages, players are given the option to pay for convenience and that’s something we should all expect in a F2P game, that’s how the developer makes money.
Now, back to Battleborn. Battleborn costs between $60 and $80 so it is not a F2P game and I do not think it should have a F2P-esque microtransaction system. I don’t think it has a place in a full-priced retail release, especially Battleborn. If XP boosts can be bought with Platinum, then players may, and likely will, have the perception that XP gains are intentionally slow to create the incentive to buy XP boosts. If credit boosts can be bought with Platinum, then players may, and likely will, have the perception that credit gains are intentionally slow to create the incentive to buy credit boosts. Buying power is never acceptable but buying convenience on a F2P level should never be acceptable in a full-priced retail release.
However, I think there may be some wiggle room where players can buy convenience and still feel like their purchase of a full-priced retail game (and the Season Pass) is respected. So, here are my suggestions.
- Give us 30 total loadouts (21 more than present) that can be bought with credits or otherwise earned in-game; that’s one dedicated loadout per character after the remaining 4 are released. Give players the option to pay a small Platinum fee for each loadout thereafter. Maximum loadouts: 60?
- Give us 600 (not 599, a full 600 please) slots in the gear bank. That’s equivalent to 20 pieces of gear, 2 full rows, for each of the eventual 30 characters. All 600 slots will be purchasable with in-game credits. Give players the option to buy more blank pages with a small Platinum fee. Maximum bank slots: 1200?
- More quality skins and taunts. If you keep making cool stuff, the community will continue to buy the cool stuff.
In my humble, outsider opinion, I think this 3-part plan respects players’ investment in the game and gives them enough inventory space, loadouts and gear bank, while still allowing players who desire more to purchase more without feeling they’re being squeezed. Please, do not offer paid boosters of any kind in the marketplace.
I don’t know how it looks from the perspective of Gearbox and 2K but from the community’s perspective, Battleborn is struggling. Not being beaten, but struggling.
The way I see it, as both a member of the community who wants to see a long-term future for the game and a content creator, Battleborn needs good will from gamers, both in and outside the community. There will always be people who make a fuss over cosmetic microtransactions and there’s nothing that will change their minds which is unfortunate, especially when you can buy the cosmetic items directly.
You can obtain good will with quality story DLC when each of the 5 packs are finished. You can obtain good will with listening to community feedback and implementing the features we want. You can obtain good will by communicating with us as well as you do. You (probably) won’t lose good will with microtransactions that respect players’ investment in the game, both financially and temporally. However, I’m certain you can and will lose good will if boosters are put in the marketplace.
Please, do not add boosters to the marketplace. If you need to borrow against the next Borderlands game to keep Battleborn up and running, do it. We all know it’s going to be a runaway success. I cannot stress this last point enough, I am confident you will gain an enormous amount of good will from all of us if you announce, in no uncertain terms, that after contemplating adding boosters to the marketplace, you’ve decided not to as a result of our feedback. That good will may not translate into cash immediately but it will display an incredible amount of courage and strength. It would prevent what could have been the exodus of players who see boosters as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Keeping players in the game with your demonstration of good will toward us means more potential customers, both current and future, for the quality content Gearbox is known for.
I know this has been a chore to read but thank you for making it to the end. We await your decision.
Solus Scientist
