By: Tyler Miller
The Battle Pass is the newest progression system to make its way into multiplayer games thanks to Fortnite. Although I have some grievances with it, I can understand why it’s so popular. It’s a way to incentivize people to keep playing a game and constantly give them new rewards for their time. You don’t have to buy it, but you’re doing a disservice to yourself by not getting it. Plus they’re pretty cheap too. But what if they could be more player friendly than they already are?
As it stands now, a Battle Pass is only good for the game’s current season. Once that season is over, the content of the Battle Pass and all the associated challenges are gone like a thief in the night. Some may like this sense of exclusivity, but I feel like it’s something that should be looked at again. Because Battle Passes are gone for good once each season is over, it becomes a race against time to get everything that it contains before the season ends. This leads to players dedicating all their time to the game for days and weeks on end, something that the developers and publishers love because it means consistently high player engagement numbers.
But as a player, it ends up feeling like a job. I can’t take a break from the game because every day I’m not playing means that I’m running the risk of not finishing out the Battle Pass. And I can’t just progress at 1 tier per day. I have to spend a few hours making progress through a few tiers so that I can finish on time. This means I have to neglect other games that I want to play, and will potentially have to neglect other upcoming games. It makes me feel like I’m not spending my time in the most productive way I could.
My idea for how to change Battle Passes is a simple one: make them available after each season ends. I know that may seem crazy and take away some of the exclusive appeal of Battle Passes, but it would go a long way towards being more respectful of our time. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is on its second season right now. All the Battle Pass content and challenges from prior seasons is locked away and can’t be earned at all. With the change I’m proposing, that content would still be available for players to chip away at and earn at their leisure, as well as all future Battle Passes.
Say a player decides to take a break from a game and misses out on two seasons, or a brand new player jumps in a few months after launch. That’s a lot of stuff that they didn’t get. If they want, they could look back at the Battle Passes that they missed and see what appeals to them. If something does, then they could buy whichever Battle Pass they wanted and progress through it alongside the Battle Pass for the current season if they buy that one as well. This would be a very smart way to invite new players into a game, while also letting players who are there from the start and like the game a chance to play at their own pace and take breaks whenever they want or need to, without making them feel like they’re doing something wrong by not playing the game day in and day out.
Perhaps this change requires too much backend work on the part of the developers. Maybe it’s just straight up impossible to have multiple Battle Passes being tracked at once for players. Or maybe it is just a matter of wanting to get people playing for as long as possible. I’m not a game developer so I have no idea. But I would like for this idea to be something that’s at least thought about or considered. Respect our time a bit more developers. Please?
TheComfySpot 