@stukapookaThey released the game untested and underdeveloped. But I believe Popcap can pull through if they consistently listen to community feedback and update the game with content and fixes at a satisfying pace.
@Pheesley I think Popcap only pays attention to the community on matters of playability. And even then it's limited. They pay no attention to things the game has needed and wanted by the community since founders. Topics like solo/private play,(which by the way was promised to us with 24 player private play) ROT9000 empty and the rainbow star and bulb mess. It is unfortunate but they don't even view their own EA message board, (us). They are making positive changes to the game that will bring me back for a few weeks but is it too little too late? I wish the game was more like GW2. ☹️
We were told during founders that there would eventually be 24 player private play. I thought it would be available at launch but nothing and no mention of it again.
BfN is certainly lacking in features when compared to its predecessor but I would argue that it is not more grindy than GW2 but rather that the grind is different and time gated.
its easy to forget that obtaining cosmetics and character variants in GW2 was tied to a Sticker Pack RNG system which badly frustrated many players and I’m glad to see that RNG plays no role in BfN.
What BfN does is introduce the same sort of grind, only now items are time gated and that is clearly intended to psychologically introduce a fear of missing out which in turn pushed the susceptible towards the micro transaction system. It’s not as predatory as it could be but it’s still there.
I think this hurts player retention and time investment in comparison to GW2 because in the game you knew you could get everything just by investing the time even if the system was designed to make 100% acquisition be as hard, and take as long, as possible.
BfN has forced the majority of us, in my opinion, to accept that we’ll never own all the cosmetics, costumes, expressions, gestures and emotes because they are either strictly time gated or locked behind in game purchases which require months and months of playing to unlock the most expensive items and that mindset eliminates the drive to play more in the hopes that we’ll get that thing we really want a little sooner.
I practically lived in GW2 but I quit the game after the sticker packs demanded even more time from me by changing the Sticker Pack content to have fewer collectibles and more consumables when I got close to finishing my Sticker Book.
With BfN the day Rux’s Store opened I accepted the fact that I would ultimately move on from the game before coming close to owning everything and as a result I play it far less than I ever played GW2.
At first the grind in GW2 seemed impossible but with a game plan it was actually fun to get max rank twice in this game because everything was tied to leveling up and we hit max rank months and months before a complete sticker book. In BFN the ROT9000 was empty in Sept/Oct for a lot of us and when Grand Master was added there was/is no benefit to leveling up. The grind on this game is not fun but it was not the reason I quit. I used to love visiting Rux on GW2 because I had coins to spend. I even purchased several of the DLC for GW2 just for coins I did not need because I felt it supported the game. With BFN I feel forced to spend real money and even though money is not an issue the feeling of forced spending is. There are great things about this game but the bad out ways the good right now. The sad thing is...they just need to view this board, (EA message board) to pretty much fix all of the problems. I really hope they can make some much needed changes and start listening to us to keep this game alive. 🙂
