Let me start with this: I am all for console exclusives. I totally understand Sony paying big bucks to lock up a character that only PS4 people get to use.
HOWEVER, I think that Gearbox just set a very crappy precedent. Apparently they didn’t have time to make sure that the XBOne and PC builds properly displayed Toby in his unlockable state. This tells me that the decision to make it exclusive to PS4 during beta was made too close to the beta release for Gearbox to properly handle the exclusion.
This tells me that Gearbox is willing to treat a portion of their users as second-class citizens if the money is right.
To clarify, I don’t have an issue with the exclusive nature of Toby during the beta. I have an issue with the decision that Gearbox made to roll out a build that left Toby in its deceiving state. I only found out that I couldn’t use him after I finished winning 5 games with characters that I didn’t particularly enjoy. It went: play numerous games until I get 5 rogue wins, check out the toby screen in the Command section, queue up for my next game, discover that Toby is still locked, google “Toby Beta Bugged”, discover the PS4 exclusive.
Gearbox: you knowingly put out a broken build in exchange for some Sony cash. Can you understand how that is a terrible UI experience? I have a limited amount of time to play this game during the beta, so I devoted a chunk of it to unlocking and trying out Toby only to find out that my quest was in vain. How am I to know that you won’t do the same thing in the future? Some new character will come out, I’ll unlock it, then find out that I have to wait a week until it’s ACTUALLY unlocked for my platform? You’ll release a new chapter of the story, I’ll do everything I need to do to unlock it - maybe even get an achievement saying that I’ve got it unlocked, only to hit a bugged looking state where it is unlocked but not accessible?
I don’t want to pay top dollar for a game whose developer is willing to do that. If you didn’t have time to fix the UI on the profile, you could have included an announcement along with the Pre-order, balance changes, and digital deluxe announcements on the home screen - surely THAT is something easy to do? As it is, I (and others judging by the Toby threads here) were given a ■■■■■■ first impression that only occurred because of your willingness to accept a last minute deal with Sony. If this is the kind of decision making that Gearbox is going to engage in with Battleborn, then I’ll be taking my money elsewhere. I love playing the game, but it’s decisions like this that paint a picture of a broken production team and thus a short-lived brand.
