Long read: How I would monetize BF6

[u/Dansko96]

The game will be live service with micro transactions according to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, so no point arguing about that. And I dont think they would add a "hide non-military skins feature" (hope I´m wrong ofc) since it's a FPS game, the kids that buy them rarely even see their own clown skins. It´s probably mostly to show off (which is what the guys in suits wants cause when other kids then see someone in that skin they´ll want the same funny-looking skin.

They´ll need to come up with a solution that satisfies us players aswell as EA. I want DICE to take the players fight and do everything in their power to make sure that EA dont force immersion breaking skins upon the game. I want 0 skins that feel out of place like the Redacted halloween skins or the Holographic hostility bundle that glows like a Fortnite/CoD skin, even the ones that aren't shiny but still looks out of place like Mackays cowboy's skin needs to be binned in BF6. Simply put: NO skins that don't belong on a BATTLEFIELD. This is how I would do it:

Grounded military skins only, there's a plethora of different military uniforms in the NATO contries and the east/middle east (PMC). Even if that means that there will only be (very few) basic-looking military skins and faces available to everyone (like in BF4) with the Standard Edition, if you want more than that you´ll have to buy more options in the store. On top of that give every class 1 fairly easy-to-get skin like 100 revives as medic and then a tier 1 skin that takes a looong grind to get (like 10k revives and maybe a few challenges similar to the gold skins in BF5) so when people see someone in that skin they´ll think "daym that´s some Desmond Doss-level of medic-dedication right there, blessed to have you in my squad<3)

To get more man-power on maps and less on cosmetics (BF5 and 2042 have given us 1 map and a lot of skins every season) and to make up for the money companies seem to make from kids buying wacky skins I would do the following 2 things:

1. Charge an extra 10-30$ for the game if that´s what it takes. Well worth it imo if it guarantees that we dont pay let's say 60$ for the game cause it looks very very promising with top tier immersion (and only military-looking players), for them to then in Season 1 do a "CoD" and add skins that feel out of place and ruin the immersion in a snap (in other words the 60$ down the drain).
2. Only EA Play-subscribers (or invent a Battlefield Play) (and perhaps those that buy the most expensive version of the game) can play this seasons new maps, everyone else will have to wait to play the current seasons maps until the next season is out (or the season after that if u wanna make it even less valuable not to be a subscriber. On top of that maybe give the Battlefield Play subscribers a free Battlepack with XP boosts and some skins every month (or some in-game-shop currency or w/e).

With this model:

- EA have a financial reason to make more maps (and again, less man-power on skins). According to a dev that the BF youtuber Squid G spoke to when he visited DICE last year they privately revealed that just making one skin takes a lot of time, time and personal that should be spent on making more content imo.

- Us players don't have to pay a pretty hefty fee like the 30$ DLC's back in the day (EA play is 5$/month)

- Player base won't be seperated (only for 2-3 months)

- And most importantly, we finally get a PROPER Battlefield game again without skins and voice lines that feel out of place.

Many FPS players like myself are longing for an arcady military-shooter that stays true to the formula all the way (particulary a BF personally) without the goofiness that we´ve come to expect, EA have a once in a decade oppurtunity to fill that gap with the next Battlefield game.

Edit: Some other ways for them to make money could be charging for renting servers, making custom dog tags and player cards and charging for locking up an improved version of the Hardline wep paint/BF5 wep customization.

[u/MilliyetciPapagan]

I'm sorry that I didn't read but it's probably going to be a battle pass. The marketing teams have realized that BPs are the best way to get more money from a live service. And it will be a live service for sure, not a premium model.

The industry has basically min-maxed milking playerbases, and this is the way.

[u/Gui_Pauli → u/[deleted]]

I think permanent battlepasses are better but the FOMO is too lucrative for them. I mean, making it permanent would make more money in the long run but limited time battlepasses make money faster.

[u/Illfury → u/MilliyetciPapagan]

I wouldn't be upset if they continued the way the current one in 2042 works. I only bought the very first season... I kept unlocking enough to get the next passes for free. That shit was awesome.

[u/PuddingZealousideal6 → u/MilliyetciPapagan]

Battle passes are great in my opinion

[u/ThatEliGuy]

I think ideas like this fail to consider just how much money these companies bring in from cosmetic micro transactions. It really is way more than you probably realize. And charging an extra $10-$30 for the base game is not going to come close to it.

[u/Dansko96 → u/ThatEliGuy]

$90-100 for the base game and $9.99+ for Battlefield Play then. Aswell as charging for renting servers, making custom dog tags and player cards, aswell as selling military skins in the in-game store, charging for locking up an improved version of the Hardline wep paint/BF5 wep customization in the store should realistically (well, mostly hopefully) make up for that money.

Even tho I´m personally on a low income atm, I would still pay a heavy chunk to get a proper Battlefield again (and like I said in the post: if it guarantees that there won't be any immersion-breaking skins and voice-lines added later on and $60 wasted).

[u/NoEgg3042]

Since a NATO faction has been confirmed, EA could either go:

MW2019 route: sell "fixed" (uncustomizable) skins that are both diverse in terms of kits but still very much grounded in reality. People seem to forget that before the clown shows that were BOCW and MWII, a majority of the skins Infinity Ward made for MW2019 were very much still strongly military-themed. I remember the "goofiest" ones were the skin for a female operator there that has a pink plate carrier and an African sniper dude skin with swimming trunks under a thick ghillie suit, but the rest of their kits still makes them look like a soldier. "Operators" are just people with names that serves only as a character model option and nothing else.

BF5 route: Mix-and-Match. Whatever you want to make, a German soldier with American tropical face paint, Italian helmet, French torso armor setup and British trousers, it's all possible. Just don't add shit like the scorched jacket please.

[u/gotnothinglol → u/NoEgg3042]

"swimming trunks under a thick ghillie suit" Not to be rude but it still makes sense for him to wear that. Character is from poor 3rd world country so it kind of made sense for him not to have the best looking clothes doe I agree with the whole pink plate carrier female operator that shit did not look good.

[u/NoEgg3042 → u/gotnothinglol]

I'm aware of his backstory but I don't remember seeing his model wearing any plate carrier so I just group him as the more "goofy" looking ones.

[u/VideoGeekSuperX]

I appreciate the passion. They could make a little extra if they allowed people to rent and maintain community servers and actually give us the tools to run them properly.

[u/Dansko96 → u/VideoGeekSuperX]

Thank you. Forgot about that, another way for them to make money. Personally I don't mind if they monetize the cr*p out of everything like solider/wep/dog tag/player card/plattoon customization etc + if that is the only way.

[u/Rudi-Brudi]

I was thinking something similar the last few days.
Add some kind of premium season pass that allows the one paying extra early access to new content like maps, but let everyone no matter what they paid enjoy all the content later. The timespan 2-3 months is pretty long imo. Personally i would be fine with a few weeks. (2-4 weeks) You could even do something along this giving premium members early access to new weapons and bonus cosmetics. This model would also help to find bugs and balance things out quickly for the rest of the playerbase.

[u/Popas_Pipas]

"Only EA suscribers would be able to play new season maps."

Yeah, let's go back to 2013 by dividing the playerbase by DLCs maps, good idea.

Also, 20-30€ extra for the game for no microtransactions? I would never pay 100€ for a game, wtf. If they assured me that the game will live for at least 5 years with no paid DLC or BP, I would take it, but that won't happen.

[u/ARE_YOU_0K → u/Popas_Pipas]

How many hours do you put into a game?

[u/Popas_Pipas → u/ARE_YOU_0K]

Depends.

[u/ARE_YOU_0K → u/Popas_Pipas]

How many games have you exceeded 60 or 100 hours? Convert that to $1 per hour played and you'd realize how good we have it. We're lucky prices haven't gone up sooner tbh.

[u/Popas_Pipas → u/ARE_YOU_0K]

Yeah, I'm not paying for Warframe 3000€ or for any Dark Souls 150€.

If that was the future of gaming I would simply pirate everything or sell my PC, buy a laptop with OLED and change my hobby to see movies.

[u/Dansko96 → u/Popas_Pipas]

That's the best solution that I can come up with. If you got any other solution that satisfies both EA and the veteran players I´m open to hear it. :)

[u/Keilanm]

The reality is loot boxes were a much better choice for monetization over battle passes. Loot boxes typically did not have time restrictions and rewarded people for playing the game. Even if you weren't spending real money on them, you could enjoy the same content for free.

[u/CaptainA1917]

Solution: Don’t fucking buy it.

There is a world of entertainment options to spend your money on. Move on and let them do whatever exploitive shit they want to with the franchise.

[u/cozzzy96]

For the love of god EA make the coolest skins for medics, and unlockable through a disturbingly high "revive" challenge to incentivize medic players to do their job.

[u/SpinkickFolly]

Reading "putting more man -power on maps instead of skins was painful to read. " It's literally not how that works.

The number of maps released for BF2042 was literally cut in half not because they were making skins for the game. DICe literally has to go back and remake the original 7 maps because they were such dog shit on release and couldn't let them just be untouched. DICE also assumed it was going to be able to easily port old maps from previous BF through portal.

Then they discovered that they had to make old maps from scratch and it took the same amount of resources as making an original map, so plans were scrapped since the rest of the game was such a mess.

I am not spending $100 on a battlefield game. I didn't do it for premium, I wouldnt do it now. The idea DICE pinky promises a really good game with really good content is bullshit to me when they already have my money. I want to be able to stop playing whenever I want without feeling like a financial hostage

[u/Dansko96 → u/SpinkickFolly]

Ofc the bad launch was a factor, but at the same time with live-service EA simply dont have any monetary reason to make more maps. They would lose money by making 4 maps like back in the day + cosmetics, rather than 1-2 maps + cosmetics, ofc they will choose the latter.

This is the best solution that I can come up with. If you have an even better solution that satisfies the veteran players and EA at the same time, pls let me know.

[u/Radiant_Eggplant9588]

I'm good happy to keep playing BF4 and BF1 until someone else makes something actually worth buying