A couple of months ago, Frost Giant asked for the community’s feedback on battle passes - these were our thoughts. Well, now the developers have come back with their thoughts on all the feedback, so let’s get into it!
Time Problems
One thing the community was rather vocal about was not punishing players for not having the time to play the game as much as they would like. The RTS community is a rather mature one, all things considered, and many people expressed displeasure with the idea that they would lose access to progression once the battle pass period ends. The Stormgate dev’s address that in several ways throughout their feedback.
Frost Giant presents a measured approach to this problem, balancing the competing desires of encouraging players to buy new passes while still providing an opportunity for players to complete previously-purchased passes in a reasonable manner. One idea they bring up several times is the concept of having no time limit on battle pass completion once the pass is purchased (in a limited-time window). While players would likely not be able to work on multiple passes at once, this provides an opportunity for players with busy lives to complete content they paid for at their leisure.
Frost Giant also addresses several other ideas to reduce the sting of time-gated battle passes - mainly through the concept of a skin vault system where players could purchase old skins at a later date, by making skins available for a more expensive bulk purchase after the battle pass is over, and potentially cycling old battle passes back into the rotation at a later date for players that missed them the first time.
The one thing they wanted to be clear on, however, was the concept that players that do complete a battle pass in time would receive some level of (perhaps smaller) exclusive rewards they could use to show off - whether that is a banner, army color, or something else.
Multiple Paths
The other key concept that Frost Giant was clear on was the ability to choose multiple paths to complete a battle pass. Many battle passes in different games have been rather linear - you get levels for winning games. A game like Stormgate, with its Four Pillars of Content, really benefits from allowing players to experience the game as they wish, and reap the rewards for doing so. In fact, the Frost Giant devs were excited about the idea of using battle passes to incentivize players to play the game differently, with potential challenges available for players to complete in different ways. In their words, “Encourage, don’t force.”
All the rest
Frost Giant briefly touched on some other ideas, but not nearly in the depth of the first two points. They acknowledge the people that want to see War Chests supporting esports, which is to be expected at this point. The big thing that they don’t address, however, is the concept of Third-Party War Chests. We cover that concept extensively in our own response to their request for feedback (show below), and not seeing it addressed is a bit disappointing - it is the single most powerful tool to bring large tournament organizers and/or teams into a small space, as it allows them to ensure profitability in a growing scene.
Getting Involved
As always, if you want to engage with the Frost Giant developers and get information from them as they post it, you should sign up for their newsletter, head on over to /r/Stormgate on reddit, and sign up for the beta and wishlist the game on steam!