Crowd Source Battlefront 2 Skins in a competition!
I. Introduction (skip to the Proposition if you already know what this is about)
The start of Battlefront 2 was a rocky one as everyone knows, but thanks to an incredibly dedicated team at DICE, and a very supportive community, the game has more players than ever and is on an incredible trajectory.
In the course of two years since launch, they've rewritten the entire progression system, delivered multiple new maps, game modes, units, heroes and skins. All this was done on a fraction of the budget that Battlefield V has and with way less manpower. I'm a fellow developer by trade and I'd like to thank all of you at DICE who are working harder than ever to make BF2 the best game it can be. I am so excited for the future of this game.
With all that said, the BF2 community has requested more. In recent weeks, and for the past year there has been a huge demand from the community for more skins. Skins are the wave of the gaming future, as has been shown by countless F2P games gamers who are willing to open their wallets to wear those skins in-game. BF2’s problem is that "the 3D artists are working on other things", which I personally have no problem with—keep the maps, reinforcements and the heroes coming.
There have been multiple videos over the past week, and over the past year, for new hero and villain skins (Battlefront Knight, The Star Bazaar, Twisted, and many others). While many of the older video skins suggestions have come to the game, there isn't the manpower to keep up with demand and actually earn Battlefront 2 some real money.
II. The Problem
The BF2 team is in a catch 22 situation. They don’t have enough funding to create skins and content—they’ve rightly prioritized content over skins. Since they haven't created skins at a rate that the community can purchase with real money, they haven't been able to make more money on the game other than the initial purchase. Because they aren’t making a lot of money on the game, the company that funds the game doesn't give them more money and manpower to develop the game further.
III. The Proposition
My proposition is simple: competitively crowd source the creation of new hero, reinforcement and trooper skins.
The Star Wars community is some of the most giving and creative community in the galaxy and with the incredible talent that I've seen from some of these modders I know that many of them would jump at the opportunity to get their content into the real game.
The basic competition would be where modders and 3D designers would submit their skin designs to DICE, and DICE would then be able to sift through, own, adjust, and pick any of the skins that meet the criteria of DICE, EA and Lucas Arts.
As far as compensation/prizes goes, I can see this competition being run one of three ways. Whichever is most realistic depends on legality, permission and feasibility. In either case the winners will get the joy of having their skins in the actual game.
- The Screen Cred Option - Winners will get compensated if they win by having their name on the screen, video, website or forum so that they can get exposure to employment opportunities as a 3D artist.
- The Prize Option - Winners would get a one-time cash or other prize for winning the competition in exchange for the full rights to using their skin in-game.
- The Royalty Option - Winners would get a small percentage of the money that their skins earn in-game.
Again, whichever of these options is most realistic depends on many variables and layers of permission. While the later options are much more motivating to rogue content creators, knowing the Star Wars and modding community, I know that there already are skins out there that would be submitted and be very successful in this competition.
VI. The Benefits
- The Community - Gets the skins they've been looking for.
- DICE - Gets to focus on creating more complex content while still releasing skins that the community has been requesting.
- EA - $$$ for selling cosmetics.
V. The Call to Action
How you can get involved really depends on your range of influence, but here are a few suggestions:.
- Gamers - Please sign and share this petition with your friends and fellow gamers through social media (Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc.). Also, when and if these skins come out, please put your money where your mouth is and pay real money for them. It will really send a message to EA that this is where their money needs to go for this and future Star Wars games.
- YouTubers - Please sign and share this petition with your viewers through a video and on other social media outlets.
- Ben Walke - Tell your Boss about this.
- Dennis Brannvall - See if you can make this happen.
- EA - Make this happen.
This has the potential to change game content creation forever and if there is any community that can really make this happen and be successful, it would be the Star Wars Community.
Can we get your support?
Join the Rebellion!
Crowd Source Battlefront 2 Skins!
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