Battle Pass Criticism

[hedwyn]

I’ve discussed this in some other places but I really want the developrs to see what I have to say and my hope is that this is the best place to do it.
I have no issues with the team adding a battlepass system to the game, I’m eager to have ways to support the devs and this game that I love. But I feel like there are, and could be, some huge issues with the battle pass system.

First off, the UI gives so, SO little information about the battle pass.
I look at the battlepass screen and I see the rewards and levels, but where is the information about how long the battle pass has been running?
How long it will be until the next pass?
Is there a deadline to earn the items like there is with the majority of battle pass systems?
I have no idea, it doesn’t seem to say anywhere, and if it does it’s not nearly clear enough. You really need to make that information very upfront so people know what they’re getting into.

That being said, if the battle pass in Conan does have an end date, a finite amount of time to complete, I BEG the developers to change that. I understand that’s the norm with Battle Passes, and I’m sure there are plenty of people that are comfortable with it given that’s what they’re used to. But surely you can see how much of an unfriendly move that is for the cosnumer?
We pay money for access to the battle pass because we want to support the devs and we like the look of some of the rewards, and then we have to work to unlock the items. On top of that, you then also say we only have so many weeks to do the work or those items we paid money to access are taken away from us?
Not everybody has a huge amount of time to dedicate to the game. People have families, full time jobs, disabilities that limit the amount of time they can spend in game. Hell, maybe some people just don’t LIKE to play in such high quantities and want to mix up how they’re spending the free time they have.
From my experience so far, it seems like the battle pass is a very slow grind, so anybody in one or more of the situations above could well struggle a lot.
Halo Infinite did a lot of things wrong, but I will praise them to no end for letting you buy a pattle pass and have access to it forever. No time limit, you just complete it whenever you want. You paid for it, you should be able to take your own damn time earning the items in it.
Hopefully this is something Funcom aggrees with.

Another point that definitely has impact on the point above;
The progression is astonishingly slow.
I’ve had some time off work so I’ve spent a good amoutn of time in the game over the past few days, and I feel like the progress I’m making is incredibly slow.
But here’s the thing, I’m doing it all in creative mode, like many people on the forums and reddit are recommending. Just spawning in creatures and killing them, zipping around to get everything done quickly.
If it’s taking this long to grind through those levels using creative mode I can’t imagine how heinously long it must take for anybody trying to do it legitemately.
And here’s the thing, I WANT to do it legitemately.
I don’t want to rely on creative mode to complete the battle pass. I think one of the benefits of a battle pass is that when done right, they can be actively fun! They can encourage you to play the game slightly differently. They give you some new objectives to chase. If I knew I could take all the time I need, and the progression wasn’t so incredibly slow, i’d very happily just buy the battle pass right now and chip away at it as I play the game. I’d love to have that as an option. Instead I feel like if I don’t try and grind through it all in creative mode I have no chance at all of finishing the battle pass given the amount of time I’m able to put into the game, and that just isn’t fun.

I’m not going to buy the battle pass unless I manage to complete it, or at least get far enough in that I have access to everything I want. Knowing that I might not get far enough in is holding me back from putting that money down.

I honestly love this game so much, it’s my #1 playtime on Steam for a reason.
I would LOVE the excuse to give the game more of my money.
I just don’t know that I can justify it without that security of knowing putting money into the battlepass isn’t just throwing money away on a boring grind for items I might not even manage to get.
And I know I’m not the only person that feels this way.

I’d honestly be elated to hear that the developers were making the battle pass available indefinitely upon purchase.
And, please in the future, consider making the grind a bit less intense…

All of this is said with love from a huge Conan Exiles fan, just one with a limited amount of time and money.

[Mengela]

Im new at posting, not sure this correct way to be heard. The Battle Pass to me appears to have been conceived with what available to players only on the Exiled Lands map. Something I see that needs to be looked at on the Battle Pass is:

The Rewards giving should be something that can be accomplished or created on BOTH maps. Example: Hyenas are not available on Siptah, a similar animal the Aardwolf is on Siptah, one of the rewards allows you to make a certain pet, with and without armor, but it Requires a Hyena to make it. Either put Hyenas on Siptah or allow options of similar animal types to make the rewards given.

This is just one example, I haven’t progressed far enough to see if any other rewards fall into this category.

[Sir.Henry.Vale]

I gotten two map locations for Siptah yesterday while playing on Siptah. So I can confirm its not exclusively EL map items for the Battle Pass.

What appears for each player, I have no idea, it could be totally random, or based on your account playing time, or some other calculation.

[LordTovek]

Hmmm… I have found it fine. I just go about doing my things and complete them as I go. A bit repetitive but that’s another topic. I’m now at level 41 I believe and I did not cheat by doing it in creative. I think they intended them to be done as a side thing over time, not as a zerg. I would like to know when it does end. As to the argument of people having families and time constraints… come on. That argument is old and stale. Everyone knows that there are time constraints. Once you start down that slippery slope, it never ends well. This is a game. Which means a luxury, not a necessity. The meat of your argument really seems how slow it is and it really is not. Also, I am not 100% sure but I’ve noticed that the more time away from the game, the more xp modifiers you get to compensate. I can’t personally verify since I play daily but I have read about it several times on the forums. So there is a catch up mechanic. Also, I had to laugh a little about how you said that you “WANT” to do it legit after the fact that you did not. You either Do or Do Not.

[Kapoteeni]

I agree, there needs to be clear, unambiguous information on the game itself regarding how long the season will run - and how the heck the whole system is supposed to work! Not everyone checks the Twitch streams, and plenty of people - veteran players who have been around for longer than me - need to ask for info on the forums because the game doesn’t explain itself.

The progress pacing seems fine to me. The season lasts for 91 days if I remember correctly, and we’re now nine days in and I’m at around level 20 out of 60. No cheating with admin spawns either.

[Talyna]

Was just about to write a post with mostly the same points.
Most important for me: When does a Battle Pass end? How much time do I have to complete it?

[Mbeat]

That’s a very thorough post, thank you.

I will just comment on the length of time for a battle pass by comparing to another game, Destiny 2.

My assumption here is that Funcom are doing the same thing as other battle passes like Destiny 2. There appears to be conventions in this business model. I would not be surprised to find that Funcom did a case study on Destiny.

Destiny 2s battle pass will only last for about 90 days, or the length of a “season”, which does vary every now and then.

Now Funcom are calling their seasons “chapters”, but largely it is the same process. Now I (think) Wak4863 mentioned something about how long chapters last, I want to say 90 days, but we’d need to check that. I can’t exactly recall the video that I saw this.

Now changeovers to new seasons in Destiny 2 include two main things, a new battle pass, and new arenas to battle in. The items in Destiny battle passes are not brand new things, there might be one or two new items, but largely most of it are just things that already exist in the game. I think this will be where Funcom differs. Because Funcom cannot add new arenas for battles (which we might think of as dungeons), Funcom will therefore add brand new unique items in their battle pass, so I feel that this makes up for what Destiny can do with their new arenas. So we will experience change on a comparable level with Funcom.

So a battle pass should last about 90 days, give or take, depending on what the new “chapter” entails for Funcoms story about sorcery, and where they will take it design wise.

Because Destiny has a long history of this business model, gamers are familiar with the time windows, and when to expect a new battle pass. Funcom is new with this, but after a year or so we should know what Funcoms time windows will be.

There are no timers on Destiny battle passes. I think this is intentional because otherwise it gives Destiny some room to shift deadlines if unexpected designing issues occur. Funcom will likely not put a timer on the battle pass.

I’m not saying that it will be the same as Destiny. I’m saying that Destiny is a comparable model for our expectations for Funcom.

Hope those ideas help with your thinking.

[Necdilzor]

I agree, the most important question is how much time do we have to complete the battle pass.
Based on that information I can see if it’s worth my money or if I’ll lose out some of the last rewards.

[Yshtola]

I wonder if they are going to stop player’s from purchasing it after a certain cutoff.

Imagine buying the Battle Pass and a few days later they close it out because the next one is coming up.

I’d be super pissed and demanding a refund.