CAS in career mode and lootboxes/packs

[James]

Hi, I think I know whe answer from what I've read, but I just want to confirm; Are all the cosmetics and moves locked behind an RNG grind like last year? I know it's only one mode but it ruined the game for me last year.

[Chris5626]

I shared your frustration with last year and I found it ruined the game for me, I ended up playing it very rarely and only to do matches with existing wrestlers where as usually I do everything with CAWs.

The answer is no but with a caveat.

There are packs (that resemble sticker packs) that you can buy that are (going from memory):

Mixed Pack - Random items across categories.
Move Pack - Random moves.
Cosmetic Pack - Random costume items.
Entrance Pack - Random entrance customisation items.
Boost Pack - Random limited time boosts that can be used.

These come in 3 different levels, the higher the level the more chance of guarenteed high level items (e.g a generic punch vs the Stone Cold Stunner).

You earn the currency to buy these amazingly quickly, it isn't a grind at all to aqquire the currency but with so many potential unlockables it will take a time if you want to just unlock very specific items e.g the Rock Bottom.

You do have the option of buying any of the loot box customisation items (Moves, Cosmetics, Entrances) with VC which you earn just by playing the game, you can also use VC to buy the currency to buy the packs. The downside to buying specific items with VC is that they can be pricey, e.g the Rock Bottom might cost like 12,000 VC which is the equvilient of playing quite a few matches, for the same investment you could buy dozens of card packs.

It seems pretty clear that they are moving in the direction of putting in paid micro-transactions and this is either getting us used to the mechanic before they go all in OR they pulled the ability to pay real money due to the bad mainstream press and gambling concerns.

TL:DR - No you can buy specific items if you don't want to do the RNG but it costs more for higher level items.

[Emmagination]

It's not as bad as I was expecting though. I got some nice moves and parts from the packs I got for free (as in, by using the tokens I got from playing myCareer...got about 20.000 tokens and 10.000 deluxe tokens just playing through the story). Then also with the VC I got from the career mode I bought all the the finishers and fancy moves I wanted and still had 45.000VC left after I was done.
Now, if you want to unlock every single move then you're screwed...your myPlayer is never going to be like your CAWs with everything unlocked and available but since myCareer is a mode that will only keep you occupied for 2 or 3 days at most it's not that big of a deal (not sure if what you unlock stays unlocked for your next myPlayer though, haven't tried.)

[James]

Thank you both, between your comments and some decent reviews I finally decided to buy. Downloading now :) Glad they've given us more choice and also that they've not gone full on microtransactions.

[Apathy]

It's still in but not as grindy. Unlocks are now accountwide and not character tied for MyPlayer. Meaning everything you unlock (except maybe abilities) carries over onto your other MyPlayer characters. So all costume parts and moves are shared. The only thing that might not be are skills and such like Fired Up and Table Finisher.

*edit*

I don't know if this is a new addition because my MyPlayer data got corrupted so I ragequit the mode last year, but you can use VC to buy more credits and premium credits for the lootboxes. I have the Accelerator DLC so I just blew all of the VC I got at game start + whatever I saved in MyPlayer for extra lootboxes.