Sure it's all about the money, and no doubt it'll have all the normal bunk to buy. Just saying that one little thing you don't like, the match making only.. if that is true then you can relate it to Disney marketing 101. They don't like their customers felling all downbeat and trampled on, empowerment is the way they work.
Of course in your world, you see no problem (as a regular fps player), but in their marketing eyes, they don't want all the people that will buy this game (who aren't) walking away from all that money making dlc because they dump the game in frustration.
less chance of that happening with match making only. And of course it's a matter of opinion only, but Ill hold it, the wider appeal of the star wars brand over the generation, a single player story game (mass effect/old republic type) would have been far more suited to the first films release... given how there marketing it to the original trilogy, a generation that has a lesser interests in competitive online gaming.
You still would have got you're money spinning battlefront will all the added extras... Disney would never leave that money on the table, just maybe if that wasn't the only premium product around the release of the film... you might not have got the match making only.
I know what and why they are doing it, and it is not just Disney that operate in this way. Activision have been doing it with CoD for years. Make everyone feel like they are good (even if they are totally
****) and they will love you for it. I don't exactly know where this hand holding mindset came from but it is noticable that it has been damaging to games in my opinion. The dumbing down as a whole is all part of the same coin where people need to basically be told what to do and when every step of the way, and they have to be receiving achievements every 5 seconds like they are in need constant validation of their prowess on a game. Hey kiddo, you got a whole 5 hipshot kills with that gun? Man that is amazing have an achievement badge and don't forget - you are totally awesome!
I put it down to a few things, but mainly:
-Consolecentric design ethos due to mass growth in that market.
-More kids gaming than ever (the very players who see the afore mentioned validation mechanics as 'cool').
-Hardware limitations of the dominant chunk of the market (IE Consoles, even current ones, are still years behind and struggling to get 60FPS without major corner cutting).
I just think it is wrong and is actually damaging to gaming as a whole. We condition gamers into believing they are good when they are not. We offer them easy modes and ways to basically 'cheat' just so they can have fun and have their ability validated.
Seems to me whilst the gaming market has exploded, the quality of the content being churned out year after year is at an all time low. Generec recycled / reskinned titles year after year. Constantly racing to the bottom to satisfy the lowest common denominator and then designing a game around it. In terms of FPS - Removal of age old basic features like server browsers, like dedicated servers like rentable servers, like skill based gameplay (IE introduction of randomness and luck which actually negates skill, such as in CoD).
Like I said, it is a sign of the times, but I feel saddened by it. It is almost as if they don't wan't gamers to think anymore or face the prospect that they just ain't any good. They just want to string them along in bubble wrap with what amounts to an interactive 'tutorial' and then give them achievements when they manage to accomplish something banal.
