Star Wars: Battlefront II (The villagers are outside with pitchforks and torches)

EA Access gives early access to new releases. Just like with Andromeda.

Yeah us poor console plebs had to settle for dividing up our screens with friends back in the day   

The latest iteration of Battlefront, both the first and second games, have local multiplayer features but they are a pale, insulting comparison to what we had over a decade ago.

What's funny is DICE actually touted an 'improved' split-screen feature as being one of the things they were going to work on for Battlefront 2, but surprise surprise, it's still limited to offline bot battles with only one other player. At the very least they should have let split-screen buddies join player one in online battles if they were going to remove campaign co-op and half the optional number of potential players. 

They have to be in full panic mode right now. The ads alone are a mighty investment, and with the micro-transactions being in the current state that they are, I bet they're scrambling to try to make something out of this. 

Right now the only thing going for all of this is the fact that its a Star Wars game. If it were any other game, it'd be dead on arrival I suspect.

Well, if it is capable of split screen - ye - I guess they are after more copies.

Neither of them are heroes either.

Oh, no. The game is out already, boxes are not going anywhere. They just shutted down the microtransaction portion temporarily. So, people has to still buy boxes to get their stuff, but you cannot longer use IRL money to buy them. Temporarily.

So, you're basically saying that, in your opinion, loot boxes that give you random items and can be bought with real life money is definitely not a form of gambling. I got you right?

Here's where we learn Hanako is an EA chatbot...

So what you're saying is, that Casinos can start handing out free food to people that are using their slot machines, playing cards, etc and since those people are receiving something for their money it no longer counts as gambling.

Well, now gambling is no longer illegal in certain states, in fact athletes can now bet on their teams as long as they actually receive something when they make the bet! This is going to be great!

Not necessarily. You can play a slot machine and get nothing, something, or a lot. It's a risk for a possible reward by waging money.
In fact, I'm gonna quote good old wiki (you can laugh at the source if you want):

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value (referred to as "the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. 

So with loot boxes, you use money to buy a crate, right? you're getting something, but you don't know what. Could be something good, could be trash. Chance is involved, the outcome is uncertain thus making it a gamble.

Can't say I'm surprised. Aside from EA/Dice making a decision to tie microtransactions/loot crates to progression or either forcing people to grind or pay, this whole outrage about mts/loot crates has been brewing for several months - and since Battlefront II is either last, or one of the last game blockbusters this year, they got doubly-slammed - if not triple-slammed, given that Disney, owner of SW franchise, has experienced its own share of controversies lately, which may have further compounded the anger.

It'd be curious to see what happens next. On one hand I can't say that I'm not a bit relieved that this is happening now and not during release of, say, Anthem. We have no idea whether it'd be the same situation, given that it's a different game that is also not tied to a behemoth of a franchise, but such vicious blowback will perhaps temper eagerness of those who'd like to see similar stuff in future titles published by EA. On the other hand it's uncertain whether a year is enough for most ruffled feathers to be smoothed out - I'm fairly sure that even without any such controversy, there will be a portion of gaming community looking for any opportunity to find something to be outraged about in what is expected to be a highly drummed-up release. All eyes will be on Anthem now.

Then there's an issue of what will happen if in case BFII fails to meet revenue expectations and what does it means for company as a whole. I mean... I don't expect for things to fall apart, lol. But if it went so far that EA/Dice decided to (temporarily) switch off microtransactions and rethink their model, it's not something that will not have a ripple effect and various consequences down the line.

Yea, I guess I was just thinking wishfully.

I own the original battlefront 2, if I need a battlefront fix that's where I'm going.  Anyone else playing that game?  If so, it might be fun to get a BSN match going.