The Oh So Depressing Tale of BFN and the FOMO!
Well, I suppose this sums up about everything im about to say. 🤭 At this point, about everyone here knows how BFN is, almost arrogantly, preying on the fear of missing out. I thought I would ju...
Forum Discussion
Great post. You definitely outline the differences between the GW series and this one. I for one think they should have stayed with those series. Imo, GW1 and 2 were fun; great design, not a serious shooter, fun and a variety of characters (obviously some were crazy compared to others).
BfN is not even fun at all. I'm just grinding characters, because otherwise it feels like a total waste of money.
I don't get this outcry about cosmetics. What else do you want? Like what options do developers have?
Also don't forget this is a tiny franchise. Popcap barely exists and it would not be the first time if EA closes its doors forever.
You will understand that the devs work hard to keep this game alive without the funds other games have just lying around. Somehow they need funds to have servers running 24/7 across the entire planet.
If there would be an easy answer to just lift up the game to the likes of Fortnite, CS:GO and Overwatch i am sure Popcap would have already done it. And you can see they try with the new design that shares similarities with Overwatch.
I literally hate the shooting mechanics in this game, i feel severely handicapped, but i also respect Popcap for trying something new mixed with important changes. Its a slow learning process developers have to go through until something for whatever reason attracts lots of players. Like they could have tried to go open world battle royale instead. But as you can see the leadership was against that.
And all they want you to do is play the game for reasons that don't affect game balance. So i don't get why cosmetics are a problem.
I know people talk about looking forward to GW3 but it's pretty obvious, to me at least, that the long awaited GW3 somehow became BfN while we all waited.
I don't really want to criticize BfN for being different from GW2 because GW2 itself was very much different from the original GW.
Looking back to PvZGW it's pretty obvious that PopCap was trying something different - a very asymmetrically balanced variant on the Hero shooter genre with a level progression system which I absolutely hated and which had no effect on the development of the characters since new abilities came from card packs and not by leveling up.
GW2 changed all that as they tried something different again; now we had a level progression system which wasn't asking you regularly to do insanely specific and impossible things and which actually affected the character progression by unlocking new perks. They introduced the elemental variants, the Gnomes, Rux, the hidden features and new areas, the ability to play any game mode at all solo with the use of AI,and then ultimately the Trials of Gnomus. They also had thousands of things to collect (even if the majority of them were hideously ugly palette swaps) and you could do it all in-game by just playing.
BfN obviously continues in the vein of trying new things- the variants are gone, character abilities have been changed across the board, a new Perks based "Build your own Variant: system introduced and a new selection of characters plus new PvE areas to explore and they gave us the Prize Maps to have something to work on outside of our own personal goals.
But GW2 was a big, expansive, and fun game to follow.
The solo options have been drastically paired down by comparison once you complete the PvE open areas, the daily quests cut way back, OPs are shoved into a small corner of the menu and reduced to 5 rounds instead of the 10 rounds of GW2, the lobby system is also different and somehow less satisfying. We're all together in one big Hub instead of our own private Backyard Battlegrounds (but we might as well not be since interaction is largely limited).
Looking back to GW2 there just seems to be a lot missing.
GW2 took the time to introduce you to the game, having you spawn as a Sunflower in the Zombie controlled regions and fight your way back but BfN just spawns you in the hub to figure it out on your own. It's a little thing but that intro sequence was nice, especially for new players.
.In GW2 the new characters were all given backstory and individual quests. In BfN they're just there.
The little touches are largely gone which I would speculate can probably be attributed to a shorter development cycle and/or data mined from GW2 being used to focus development by cutting features which people may have enjoyed but which didn't see players revisiting after completion.
Of course the "live service" landscape has changed over the years.
Previously you bought the game and then maybe you also bought the new DLC which dropped periodically after that which expanded the game but that's the old monetization system. Now every game has to be a "live service" designed to run for a decade as a cash cow with microtransactions.
At least BfN avoided the really predatory system of designing the game to be a terrible grind so that the company can then sell you the solution later one for a chunk of cash.
What we did get however is the "limited time". cosmetic only, completionist gamers get ready to empty your wallet, system which we have now with Rux. I don't have a problem with selling cosmetics and costumes, I really don't, but the problem here is the way the store is designed using so many psychological hooks which are proven to prey upon people with poor control over their spending impulses; a fake "sale" right out of the gate, a short window of opportunity to purchase, an unclear rotation of items so you can't know if they'll ever be available again, and a laughably inadequate trickle of in-game currency earned in game which can't possibly allow you to get those items just by playing during the time you see them.
I can live with all of the other changes because I'd rather get an iteration of the game which does something different instead of having the previous game sold to me again with new box art attached but the predatory store tactics are just too much.
I find myself wondering if all of the legendary costumes from the Prize Maps will eventually rotate through Rux priced at 1000 Rainbow Stars each and if the coin-purchased cosmetics were only ever planned to be a fixed number with all new items coming through Rux.
I played a lot of GW2, a couple thousand hours, and I only left after the content of the sticker packs changed in what was a transparent attempt to force me to grind even harder if I wanted my Book to reach 100%. I don't mind grinding when it's fun and I feel a sense of progression and like it's something I want to do, but once grinding clearly becomes something the developers want to force me to do and the sense of progression feels artificially drawn out the game loses the fun and, ultimately, fun and a sense of progression is what keeps me playing.
I'm still having fun right now despite the issues in the game, but I am prematurely wondering what the next game I'll be playing will be because while I can see myself running the characters up past Master level there's no way I'm sticking around only because of a need to collect 100% of the cosmetics because that's obviously designed to be an impossibility.
@realitysquared wrote:GW2 took the time to introduce you to the game, having you spawn as a Sunflower in the Zombie controlled regions and fight your way back but BfN just spawns you in the hub to figure it out on your own. It's a little thing but that intro sequence was nice, especially for new players.
Hey don't get me started. It was awful as i had to go through that every time i started the game.
You have to give me more information here. How does a cosmetic - as a result of massive backlash and feedback from the gaming community which accepts cosmetics as opposed to pay to win microtransactions - have an impact on game balance? How does the presence of a bit of colour and shape make people win?
I also have to point out that your desire to get certain cosmetics has nothing to do with game balance. People always find a reason to play character X over Y and Popcap actually encourages all of us to do exactly that. It is intended by design; so to speak.
As to why people are afraid of missing out is really not important here. I know the Steam market and how much people can value childish looking assault rifle skins with the investment of hundreds if not thousands of dollars. That market exists because the demand is there, while at the same time companies appreciate that additional income. So buying a gingerbread skin for 10 USD is really nothing special.
About GW2 i can actually say a lot. But what really matters is that it had and probably still has Corns BBB ability locked behind a paywall. Rux also demanded a lot of grinding to get additional impactful abilities that would just so happen to be purchaseable with real money. Not to forget the buggy event chests with modes like Cats & Dinos nobody ever asked for only to grind for rare items that take ages to unlock with an ever increasing sticker book plagued by bling. If you think BfN has more grindage than GW2, you never really played GW2.
Not to forget that i payed 30 EUR for BfN as Founder, while i payed over 62 EUR pre-order for GW2 of todays money - excluding later DLC. And they did avoid the Unicorn Chomper scheme this time around, which even demanded more of extremely ugly and buggy grindage.
I for example already have unlocked all the winter items in BfN. The Engineer swag is already mine. And as that happened i occasionally looked at Rux to end up buying a couple cheap expressions and emotes. Would those extra taunts and skins be cool? Sure! Do i want to spent money on them? No.
And the thing with those free cosmetics you have to work for is the created value which i actually like. Other than just spending some real money on something, that journey to the Engineers outfit is mine. And with one month it can be rather long. So "missing out" really just mean to not play the game. But then why do you have the game?
In the end all i can do with that outfit is show others that i have been here in December 2019. Nothing more from a rational standpoint. And i have to decide if i want to do that.
And i don't know about you, but i play this game to place that gnome bomb and capture that area.
I would actually support additional quest areas. As so far i rate the single player experience higher than the competitive multiplayer one. Nothing is truly in good shape once again just like before but that progress through the PvZ universe i liked. But that would not solve the problem for Popcap as these would be one-time purchases with a larger investment beforehand.
- @Screion I paid a full 60EUR for BfN and I think I got the GW2 for 30EUR. GW2 was definitely more fun for me. More grinding and better gameplay in my opinion. MTX-wise I don't think it's a good idea to pay for MTX if you already have to pay for the full game. Today's popular games are F2P and if you want to support the company, you buy MTXs. On the other hand, if you wanna pay for a skin ingame, go ahead. Why should others be bothered by it? Everyone can make their own choice.
I do like the rewards system, similar to a battle pass. You earn an ingame currency (prize bulbs) and you can use it to purchase various MTXs.
Imo single-player aspect is weak compared to GW2. What I do like, are the different new areas for each faction. That gives variety and those areas were not that bad, but I think they can definitely improve on that. Also, maybe Popcap can add nice easter eggs as they did in GW2. And ofcourse, they have to listen to the community and based on the feedback improve the game.
- @Screion GW 1/2 have far less egregious monetizations and prey... much much less on the fear of missing out.. yet their servers are still up and running just fine. No doubt, popcap receives less resources than other EA devs, but I don't think they are being starved or anything. If that was the case would GW 1 and 2 servers still be up? Why wasn't GW 1 and 2's monetization as egregious if they absolutely had to make more money?
And I just can't respect jumping on current successful trends, such as the live service. Which this game is desperately trying to be. Thats actually what ends up getting an EA company closed down. Just go look at the trends it happens time and time again. EA forces company to do something they aren't good at just because its a successful trend at the time. Game flops. EA close the studio. You said it yourself, BFN is an uncomfortable game, and overall not a good shooter. What if it performs poorly? Not a good thought.
Also when comparing BFN to fortnite, overwatch, and CSGO, like those games or not, they are extremely wellmade shooters. BFN is not. So that could probably be a reason why its nowhere near as popular as those. Not to say that Overwatch and fortnite aren't also disgusting. That just boils down to garbage companies that lack morals. Which.. I'd like to believe popcap still has.
And here's the thing about the "Its only cosmetics" argument, cosmetics DO affect gameplay just not directly. Why do you think people are susceptible to the fear of missing out in this game? Why would they sell cosmetics if they didn't matter? Saying cosmetics have no effect on the game is like saying that artstyle and visual appeal in video games have no affect on the game. Its simply not true. Cosmetics are part of the fun in any multiplayer game like this. People want them. Heck, I'd say this game revolves entirely around cosmetics. Its BFN's only unlockable and main incentive. Its the entire purpose of coins, rainbow stars, rux, and events. Which... each of those are a big part of the game. Also its got to the point that it honestly feels like they are prioritizing monetization and the FOMO over the actual game, which again as you said, is in a pretty horrible state. Just another reason to be upset by this.
In the end, I think what people are saying is that there are better ways to monetize this game without scaring players away with the FOMO, such as DLC PVE regions. Keep being anti-consumer with an already poorly made game, and well... thats how you run yourself into the ground.
