Shadow of War is getting rid of its microtransactions

[midian182]

Although Star Wars Battlefront II took the most criticism during last year’s crusade against loot boxes in games, it wasn’t the only title at the time to feature such microtransactions—many players found them to be the worst element of Middle Earth: Shadow of War. Now, six months after it was released, all real-money purchases are being removed from Monolith’s game.

The surprise announcement came via a community forum post, in which Monolith confirmed that the game’s War Chests (its version of loot boxes), the Market, and its paid-for currency—Gold—are being permanently removed from the game through a series of free updates.

Gold will be purchasable until May 8, and the Market will be shuttered on July 17. If you have any Gold left after the Market closes, it will be converted into Gold Loot Chests, which will remain but players will be unable to buy them with real cash.

Mirian, the in-game currency, is also staying, though you won’t be able to spend it on War Chests once the market shuts. Monolith says you’ll be able to use it in new ways, such as buying Training Orders, upgrading older gear, and rerolling its stats.

Monolith says its decision to remove microtransactions is a response to player feedback. “The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world. While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realize that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System. It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything,” it writes.

The updates will also streamline Shadow of War’s campaign and enhance it with narrative elements. This part of the game had been criticised for feeling bloated, so the changes will hopefully address these problems. There will also be new skins, skill tree additions, gear system upgrades and progression updates.

While most players will likely welcome the updates, which could see a renewed interest in the game, it seems strange that Monolith waited so long to implement them. Still, better late than never.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/73987-shadow-war-getting-rid-microtransactions.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

On the one hand, good, I might actually consider picking the game up now.

Ont he other hand, was there any content exclusive to the pay 2 win system, and if so, what is being done with that content?

 

[Prosercunus]

I remember when I was only complaining about PC games raising prices from $50 to the $60 standard. Now I long for those days before DLC and other BS.

 

[stewi0001]

On the one hand, good, I might actually consider picking the game up now.

Ont he other hand, was there any content exclusive to the pay 2 win system, and if so, what is being done with that content?

I never played it myself, but I remember reading in previous TS articles that this was not designed on the P2W structure. The Micro-transactions in this were for speeding things up if you wanted.

I do know someone that played it and he beat the game, enjoyed it, and never paid any micros.

 

[Nobina]

They said they realised that buying things in game rather than working for them is bad for the experience. Imagine how dumb they think you are to believe they don't know that buying end game ruins the game. But before this they said microtransactions are all about player choice. So if the mt's are gone where is the "player choice" then?

 

[bolski]

Let's hope this is a continuing trend. Micro-Transactions ruin games.

 

[TopTop18]

I'm afraid this might set a new trend, release a game with lootboxes, get your cash from those, and then pull them after 6-12 months to get some more press and new players that have been holding out.
Everything is about the money, not about the "experience" or "player feedback"

 

[m4a4]

I'm afraid this might set a new trend, release a game with lootboxes, get your cash from those, and then pull them after 6-12 months to get some more press and new players that have been holding out.
Everything is about the money, not about the "experience" or "player feedback"

I doubt it. Most of the people who wouldn't buy the game because of the lootboxes will feel it's "too little too late" (like me).

 

[Boilerhog146]

I'm guessing the content that you used to buy through MT will still be there but it won't give the same level up as fast or as effective as it did when you had to pay cash for it,

Take World of tanks as an example ,a tank I had won the rental on 4 years ago,but never bought ,was a killer in the Battlefield as were other premium tanks that had to be bought in the premium shop and gave a distinct advantage in the Battlefield,
I finally spent some money on this game and bought some Gold and purchased a couple of those Premium tanks that I had tried so long ago,only to discover ,they had been either "nerfed" ,as the saying goes ,or are no longer as much the killer they used to be.
coincidently , I would like to see Techspots take on the new upgrade,to WOT, that was released ,recently, including new benches ,as they have rebuilt the game it seems ,with a new graphics engine and Physics ,it does look a lot nicer than it did,water, flames ,etc , have all been improved. ROLL OUT!

My guess other games that use the PTW, MT type system will perform similar upgrades , for players to discover on their own the hardway later.

 

[Misagt]

Let's hope this is a continuing trend. Micro-Transactions ruin games.

Not only do they ruin the games they consume a huge about of development time and money to implement them. Which leads to a lower quality game for the players.

 

[bolski]

Not only do they ruin the games they consume a huge about of development time and money to implement them. Which leads to a lower quality game for the players.

Yup. I find games like Ultima III have more depth and content in them (heck, Ultima VII was out of this world and still is) because the developers actually CARED about telling a story, rather than trying to make a quick buck. These days, a lot of games are all about the flash and pizazz rather than the actual content.

 

[Pastuch]

SOW is one of 2 new games out of 40+ I've tried in the last year that I liked. Getting older sucks, I'm 36 and 99.9% of games bore me but I thought sow was amazing. The lootboxes were useless anyway, I had all the gear and more legendary orcs than I could field in the first month of launch. How easy are games supposed to be now? I consider 100 hours + of content the bare minimum.

Edit: oh and I hate story driven games so the fact that talions story is short doesn't bother me at all. I like Diablo.

 

[psycros]

I'm afraid this might set a new trend, release a game with lootboxes, get your cash from those, and then pull them after 6-12 months to get some more press and new players that have been holding out.
Everything is about the money, not about the "experience" or "player feedback"

Pretty sure you nailed it.