Battleborn getting microtransactions starting tomorrow

Buy skins and taunts for platinum. Buy platinum for cash.

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Battleborn developer Gearbox had said it was coming, and tomorrow's update to the team-based shooter will finally add microtransactions.

The patch will introduce a new platinum in-game currency that can be used to buy various items in the Battleborn store. At this point, the things you can buy from the Marketplace are taunts and skins, but Gearbox is considering expanding the offerings to such things as loadouts, additional bag space, and even XP or credit boosts. You will be able to buy platinum DLC packs from the PlayStation Network, Xbox store or with your Steam wallet.  

Prices for taunts will set you back 230 platinum per taunt and 420 per skin. Platinum packs run from $1.99 for 230 platinum all the way up to $49.99 for 9300 platinum.

Gearbox is making it clear that the items being sold are purely cosmetic, and that taunts and skins will be available through other DLC by completing the Story Operations. They are also quick to point out how much is actually free in the game: "We’re stuffing Battleborn with lots of free content across the board – five new, free heroes, competitive multiplayer maps, modes, and updates."

Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 15, 2016 1:35 PM

    John Keefer posted a new article, Battleborn getting microtransactions starting tomorrow

    • reply
      June 15, 2016 2:06 PM

      Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

      • reply
        June 15, 2016 2:10 PM

        We had a pretty decent group talking about the patch yesterday. There are people here who play it and as you know front page stories usually get less comments.

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            June 15, 2016 2:31 PM

            Yes, sorry it isn't up to your standards. A few of us still like the game and play it a lot.

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          June 15, 2016 2:41 PM

          This makes me very sad. (the front page stories part)

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            June 15, 2016 2:49 PM

            Just compare this thread.

            http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=35076888

            to this one

            http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=35072032

            Shack gets scooped a bit by Chatty and no one shows up for the front page threads.

            Granted, this one was slightly different than the patch stuff yesterday, but that was the part of the story that mattered more to those of us still playing.

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            June 15, 2016 2:57 PM

            I don't understand why you expect the larger discussion to spawn off your front page story thread. Typically news of this stuff gets out there before your story goes up. The discussion happens in a thread, and then the FP story goes up, mostly to crickets.

            If your goal is to leverage the chatty to show how shacknews has a lot of discussion on gaming relating topics, why not just co-opt an existing thread with your story added in? (not as a comment, but interpolating your story with the existing comment thread sort of baked in).

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              June 15, 2016 2:58 PM

              Better mod tools for combining threads would be a huge help to chatty/Shacknews becoming more related.

    • reply
      June 15, 2016 2:09 PM

      Yeah. Can’t say this will help the game much. Maybe the few that will pay for them will fund continued support for the game, maybe it parlays into a F2P setup.

      The population is pretty small, but Persecutor and I still find games pretty easily when we sign in to play at night.

      The microtransactions are just cosmetic and they announced this would happen during the beta. I think some of us just wish they would focus more on growing the game right now and costmetic sales aren’t going to do that.

      Still, it is no different than what we are seeing from games like Killing Floor 2.

      • reply
        June 15, 2016 2:35 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          June 15, 2016 2:47 PM

          I don't know, I don't think it ever had much of a chance to be popular. At best it was going to be a nice middling community. The problem is that it can't sustain that.

          I think it had the same problems as Monday Night Combat (which wasn't saved by F2P either). People just can't figure out FPS/MOBA combos because they have been trained to play a different way. Overwatch overlap and false comparisons didn't help, but the game would have struggled anyway.

          I wanted to learn the game and I went something like 10-40 in my first 50 games. Not a lot of people are going to stick with that. Now, I probably have a 75% win rate in games I play with Persecutor know one hero inside and out. I can get kills just based on predictive feeling of enemy movement and knowing my animation speeds. It is just a very niche game. I just wish it was doing better at holding a niche sized population.

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            June 15, 2016 2:50 PM

            [deleted]

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              June 15, 2016 2:54 PM

              It'll probably go on sale at some point during the Steam stuff. If you can get Deluxe cheap I would go for it. They introduced a key system for those with deluxe that you can use to unlock any hero. You get the key back when you would have unlocked them anyway. This means that you get the keys to unlock all the 5 bonus heroes that will be coming out, but you can use them before hand if you just want to play someone earlier.

              The grind really isn't too bad, but it can look daunting at first. If you do get it, hit up Persecutor and me for games. We really enjoy it and it is more fun with a team.

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                June 15, 2016 2:57 PM

                That key stuff might be a bit confusing.

                So say there is a character that you unlock at level 40. You can use the key on that character when you are level 5 and then you will get it back when you hit level 40 and that hero would normally unlock. Then you can use it again on whomever you want.

                Since the DLC heroes require grinding of in game currency otherwise, this basically means that Deluxe owners get them instantly if they don't want to use the keys on other characters first.

                There is 1 DLC character out right now, so you get 1 key as a Deluxe owner.

          • reply
            June 15, 2016 3:55 PM

            A) Shut your whore mouth

            2) Monday Night Combat was NEVER F2P.

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              June 15, 2016 3:57 PM

              Sorry. MNC was soooooo successful that within a year it spawned a F2P sequel that died.

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                June 15, 2016 4:35 PM

                That's better.

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                June 15, 2016 11:08 PM

                I liked SMNC........ it flourished for awhile been the community took deep dive with some shit updates.

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          June 15, 2016 6:49 PM

          It's the first game I ever returned on steam for a refund.

          The game play felt off. Playing a heavy with a Gatling gun and unloading like 500 rounds into someone and only seeing their health drop 20% felt wrong. I know I should of stuck with it a bit longer and learn how to play it as a moba/fps hybrid and not try to play it like the FPS that I'm used to.

          What prevented that was simply that none of the starting characters were appealing to me. All the other interesting characters were locked behind a grind wall. I just had no desire to grind characters in a game that has a big learning curve with characters that weren't appealing to me.

          I feel that if all the characters has been unlocked from the beginning that i would of stuck it out.

      • reply
        June 15, 2016 7:07 PM

        These patches were planned content updates so it's not really a reactive move. We have stuff planned in the pipe as a reaction to game pop and what not. But this past patch and the one after are all planned content we worked on before launch.

        I'm glad you enjoy the game! We're working hard on improving things continuously. Trying to get the next patch out asap.

    • reply
      June 15, 2016 3:49 PM

      the 500 people still playing it on Steam will sure be happy about this.

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      June 17, 2016 6:04 AM

      Interesting how a new game can be so hated, fo no apparent reason and others just get a pass simply by being created by certain dev houses.
      In any case, I love Battleborn, I am happy to support it and will continue to do so. I also love Overwatch, but for entirely different reasons.
      And although I have them both, I find myself going back to BB time and again.
      I sincerely hope it has staying power. Because I can't fathom how a perfectly well-made game dies and is withering on the vine.
      This is a masterclass of hype and marketing drowning out a good game.
      Did you want original IP's? well, there you go.

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