Rainbow Six Siege players aren’t happy after Ubisoft announced that the game’s next event, “Outbreak”, will include character items that can only be found in special new loot boxes. As you might imagine, longtime players are not thrilled.
Outbreak, arriving this autumn, is a four week event that revolves around players trying to free civilians from an area suffering a mysterious infestation (probably zombies). A lot of the fun of Rainbow Six Siege comes from running around as your preferred operator spec-ed out in cool-looking, cosmetic-only gear. Outbreak will bring more of this, but inside loot boxes called Outbreak Packs, which will contain a total of 50 unique new items. Each pack costs 300 R6 Credits (600 R6 Credits can be bought for $6.65), and Ubisoft says players won’t receive dupes. So if you buy 50 packs, you’re guaranteed to have everything.
In the blog post yesterday explaining how loot boxes will work, Ubisoft also said that it is changing the way it sells Siege. The game’s standard edition is being removed from the market, replaced with a $US60 ($75) Advanced Edition that includes 600 R6 Credits and 10 Outbreak Packs (valued at $US30 [$37] total). If you want to spend more money, a $US90 ($112) edition will include all of this plus the Year 3 pass, while a $US120 ($149) Complete Edition will include Year 1 and 2 content as well. Exact Australian pricing has yet to be confirmed, but it will be equivalent to the US pricing.
The new pricing scheme takes effect 13 February 2018.
The pricing shift, and the $US10 ($12) savings that new players are getting on the Outbreak Packs and in-game credits, have the diehard fans who’ve been playing Siege for the last two years feeling a little left out.
“I’ve bought every Year Pass, I’ve spent at least $150 on Siege Points, and I’ve played over 400 hours,” wrote Liquid7778 on the game’s subreddit. “I find out today that in your Outbreak Event, you’re releasing Outbreak Packs that can only be obtained through spending real world money on virtual currency. Not only that, but the people who are buying your newly $60 game are going to be receiving 10 more of those packs, than someone like me who has been there every step of the way, giving you money, supporting your game, letting everybody and their mother know that Siege is the game to play and you need to buy it now. That’s terrible. I feel truly cheated as a customer and as a supporter of your game.”
That sentiment was widely shared enough to make the pricing changs and new Outbreak loot boxes the topic du jour throughout the game’s community, with a lot of other people chiming in to convey similar feelings.
When Rainbow Six Siege first released, it was swamped with complaints about its grindy progression that could only be reduced through microtransaction payments in addition to what people had already paid for the full-priced game. Ubisoft was able to right the ship and slowly build up goodwill among the game’s player base by reducing grind and continually adding new content that could be unlocked with season passes. Time will tell if this will require corrective action, as well.
Comments
26 responses to “Longtime Players Feel Burned By Rainbow Six: Siege’s Upcoming Loot Boxes”
I don’t think the loot boxes are Ubi at all TBH. I think its Vive going ‘EVERY ONE IS DOING THEM, PUT THEM IN YOU’RE GAMES NOW!’
I bought a TV at JB hifi – had it for just under two weeks – then without warning people were able to buy the same TV at much cheaper cost.
I mean, yeah it sucks, but it is what it is, you cant whinge if you were happy to pay it at the time.
A sweeter deal is always around the corner. – some people might get on board and play the game for another 400 hours whereas the originals may have dropped off and headed elsewhere.
Always going to be someone that feels offended and outraged.
That is a poor analogy. It would be more accurate to say that you bought into the early adoption of the advanced model of a car from a manufacturer that offered small upgrades everytime it was serviced by them at a premium. Then a couple of years down the line the manufacturer offers people that buy in to the basic version extra bits that have actual financial worth that exceeds what you got with the more expensive advanced version , even though you have been supporting the manufacturer by paying premiums for servicing.
Your analogy fails to take in the fact that the people that are angry are so because they purchased the advanced version of the game and get less than people that now by the basic version.
end of the day, no matter what, someone is going to whinge.
Entitlement is ridiculous these days.
How dare people get angry that their purchase is being devalued.
Nearly everything purchased in life loses value, almost instantly in most cases.
I don’t disagree that as far as this situation goes perhaps the people who’ve been around buying up all the yearly passes and such should probably get a few more freebies, but they should get them because its just good from a business/customer service standpoint. Not because their purchase should retain the same value.
Yes they may have been supportive. But in situations like this people have also been playing and using said product the whole time, yet tend to ignore that factor and think their product should retain the exact same value.
It’s just really not how it has ever worked, for anything.
You haven’t purchased something with resale value, you purchased a service and even then the devaluing of said service was not caused by time, but artificially by the publisher. You aren’t getting Siege 2, you are getting Siege 1 the same as the people that gave early support and have purchased all the season passes; which are much more akin to pure support in Siege’s case as there is no nothing made unavailable by not having said season passes.
A service which they have been using the whole time.
There is absolutely value to be taken into account for that fact, whether you want to see it or not.
You devalue a physical object; you don’t devalue a service, unless it is being replaced with another, which they have not.
So all those PC owners of Batman Arkham knight are entitled for expecting a functioning game?
is that even the argument?
try again
I know right?
People keep bringing it up as a distraction from the core issue, dismissing genuine consumer reaction as some kind of childish tantrum.
For most the erosion of quality gameplay to facilitate revenue streams and predatory design based on addiction models have finally reached a head, for others it’s easier to blame some idiot on the Internet because it’s too complex an issue.
So like an end of model run out sale?
Except it is not the end of the model in this case, so good job I guess.
Sure showed me, mr guest account.
So it’s just a sale then?
Guest account?
It is not a sale price, its the standard price. It is about as underhanded as the starter edition is.
I think out of the major publishers, Ubisoft are the leading example of how to support games long-term. They have continued to update The Division, For Honour and RB6S despite negative community sentiments, and they areuch better games for it.
Sure – “they should have been fine from the start” but at least they aren’t leaving their consumers hanging out to dry like Actiblizz and EA.
“A lot of the fun of Rainbow Six Siege comes from running around as your preferred operator spec-ed out in cool-looking, cosmetic-only gear.”
Just wanted to say a no and a big fuck you for that, this ain’t Overwatch, this incessant honking for cosmetics is slowly butchering the medium and it shouldn’t be a shock to so many to see micro-transactions down our throat when community regards the shallow aspect of aesthetic as a major player.
Also gotta love the pseudo-realistic shooter with people runnin’ ’round with brightly coloured guns, always fun.
“Pseudo realistic combat simulation”
Everything in Siege is meant to be a simulation between two teams of rainbow squads. It’s not meant to be serious.
To be fair though as the number of unique user names disappears you gotta do something to stand out.
Ripoff alert! The game is already full of toxic griefers and teamkilling idiots and now without fixing its issues, Ubi wants more money? Who is running this turd show?
“Hey everyone. I know all our customers are still pissed off about lootboxes and microtransactions thanks to BF2, So i thought we should add more of them to our game! Our fanbase will love us” – Ubisoft boardroom conversation.
Dont worry, 2017 was the year of the loot box so 2018 should be fine!!
Far Cry 5 is coming out this year right? I guess they wanted to give their PR department a bit of practice before that dropped…
It is annoying that if you bought the season pass, instead of a base copy of the game, you don’t get the extra packs (you do get an extra 600 R6 creds if you owned season 2 when buying season 3), which makes feel like a bit of a middle finger to the face for long time supporters. At least it is only skins, and not enhancement card packs from loot crates that make Eva’s SMG stronger 🙂
Me Sadface
played 400 hours
but if waited 2 years would of got 10 Lootboxes
Hulk Smash