Open Letter to Devs: Balancing Crate Mechanics with Microtransactions (Crate unlock time too long)

[sparcut]

Dear BI:C Devs,

I've been playing BI:C daily since introduced by the E3 humble bundle. I'm really enjoying playing it in the background while watching YouTube etc.

The only complaint I have, is how the crate system works. It's become evident with the limited "Special offer", to open crates instantly. Here are the problems with current crate system (when not during instant unlock event).

1. Long unlock times - The amount of time needed to unlock crates is far too long; it would be fine if this were a mobile game. However, this is a desktop game so I can't just close the game put it in my pocket to play later, I want to be able to unlock crates within my play session, or for rarer crates, within a few play sessions. I understand this is to attract more microtransactions, though you need to draw a line in the sand to where microtransactions affect the games enjoyment too much. You must remember this is a desktop game now; it's fine to have this sort of mechanic on the mobile version, though it kind of ruins the desktop experience.
   
2. Very small inventory to store crates - Due to the long unlock times, in a play session you accumulate all four slots for crates very quickly. Now, I understand this is again to attract more microtransactions, though the same dilemma as point 1 is encountered. The real problem here is, once I've filled out my four slots, it feels pointless to keep playing as I won't get crates for winning.

This is how you could fix these issues:

1. Decrease unlock times - As described above, it takes way to long to unlock crates for it to be enjoyable, sure the times are fine for a mobile app, though play sessions are longer on desktop, so you fill up for crates slots to quickly.
   
2. Increase # of crate slots - The number of crates you can have should be either larger or expandable (through leveling, not microtransaction), this way we can play for longer and still obtain crates on wins. Seems silly to limit slots unless you're hungry for microtransactions, which doesn't work for desktop games, just ruins the experience.
   
3. Simultaneous unlocking - It seems really slow to only be able to unlock one at a time, you should either have larger or expandable (through leveling, not microtransaction) number of crates unlocking at one time. This prevents crates piling up while unlocking, this isn't a mobile game, so you can't just open the game when you get a notification and start unlocking another crate, so the only time you start new crate unlocks is at the start of a play session, which doesn't last the length of most crate unlocks (3hrs, 12hrs, 24hrs, etc. is far too long).

Now I'm sure there are many other ways, so I hope any other BI:C that read this can offer their opinion and share their views on the topic.

I've tried to be as constructive as possible, as there are many reviews already bashing the game for the microtransactions. Which, to be honest, do seem to have pay-to-win safeguards, e.g. user level/rank.

BUT, if the BI:C simply ignore this letter, well, gg. You've proven all you care about is money, since the only reason to have a lot of these annoying limitations is to drive microtransactions. These type of microtransactions simply don't work for desktop games, if you seriously want this to be a good game, consider what I've said. No successful desktop game run on mobile style microtransactions, if you want more money, change microtransactions to match other desktop games, CS:GO, TF2 are examples where it's been done right and have profited because of it, even if you don't like the games, you can see how successful their microtransaction systems work. Because, in the end, removing these limitations will affect the amount of gold bought with $, but will give you better reviews, more players which in turn and the long run will get you far more $. The microtransaction-based free-to-play monetization model only works if it doesn't ruin the game

Prove myself (and other players) wrong, that you'll listen to the community and change the game for the better.

If you're serious about making a good game, listen to the community.

Regards,
sparcut.

P.S. Add a better ♥♥♥♥ing exit/quit button, sick of having to click on options, click on another tab, click on options again for the quit button show up. I'm not going to play longer just because I can't find quit button, what kind of logic is that? If I want to stop playing, I'm going to stop playing.

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tl;dr: Crate system is too much like a mobile game, doesn't work for a desktop game. Not enough crate slots, takes too long to unlock crates, let us unlock multiple crates at a time.

[BIC_HQ]

Hi Sparcut,

We greatly appreciate your feedback on the crate system. Development have taken your suggestions on board and as with any player feedback will keep it in mind going forward.

As always, thanks for playing and continue to keep an eye on future updates for any more potential information regarding this. We agree that community feedback is important when attempting to improve the game and as such if you have any further suggestions or concerns do not hesitate to let us know.

Kind Regards,
Tribute

[76561198140725558]

Hi Sparcut,

Firstly, apologies for how long it’s taken us to get back to you. It’s been insane here and I wanted to make sure that we dedicated enough time to formulate a decent response.

The crate system is just one of the features we are tweaking and focussing on now that we have finished porting the game to mobile platforms. The special instant crates have been our first test with this and it seems like this promotion has had a very positive effect on certain aspects of the game.

We developed BI:C as a truly multi-platform title, developed to run on any system from mobile to PC and console and, due to the team size, it was the hope that we wouldn’t have to maintain different economies for each platform. This was probably a bit of a pipedream and as you mention, this isn’t a mobile platform and it doesn’t support the flexibility that those platforms offer in regards to session times, player behaviours, messaging etc..

Our first step is to definitely sort these timers out so that they work better for each platform, and then continue to improve the whole crate system to better match play styles and what is expected of the players on those platforms.

I’m glad you are having fun with BI:C we have strived to make an enjoyable bite-sized title and it seems to really resonate with people who get into it!

P.S Apologies for the quit button disappearing, it was a bug that will be fixed shortly! If you press ESC at any time you should back out of the screen you are on and then get prompted to quit.

-Craig

[sparcut]

Thanks, I'm glad you've taken my concerns onboard and thrilled to hear your support.