Battlepass in MMOs

State your opinion, I'll start with mine

They're dumb they are meant for repetitive games like shooters, they give you something to do in a games that are arena pvp weather it be a MOBA or Shooter. MMOs are supposed to keep you busy. adding chores on top of that for things I should just be able to work for tends to leave a bad taste in mouth.

Also the monetization of it is kind of dumb as well. FFXIV and WoW have raked in large amounts of money just doing cosmetics on the shop, do that without the predatory fear of missing out.

One other argument for me was when I was playing NW I wanted to support the game, I bought up dyes and emotes and spent more money on that game then I have any other game as far as cosmetics, I supported it because it was simple and clean way for them to make extra money. I stopped giving them my money after they started doing the battlepass. It even made me not care about collecting all the emotes anymore. It wasn't even to protest, I just stopped caring.

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Roelath

bloodprophet wrote: »

They can't just immediately add new content when the old content runs out.

Why?
Why can't they just add new content as they wish?

Apparently it can only be done via Battlepasses.

Dygz

bloodprophet wrote: »

Why?
Why can't they just add new content as they wish?

This question is the same gamer mentality Steven had when he thought he would be able to release Ashes "Before 2020".

Same reason why we have not seen Dünir in the game world in the 3 year interim between Alpha 1 and Alpha 2.
Same reason why we have not seen Niküa and Tulnar in the Ashes game world yet.

Because it takes a lot of time to create new content.
Especially to write unique dialogue for Quests. And to create gear with balanced stat blocks for each Quest.
And to create new locations and to create new mobs associated with those Quests. And to test all of that.

Which is why devs designed the hunt for BiS gear via repeating Dungeons and Raids ad nauseum, with plenty of RNG - to try to keep gamers playing 12-18 months while they wait for the next Expansion.

Again... yes, the devs could just implement Seasonal DLCs without a Battlepass. But players would complete that in 20-30 hours or 40-60 hours and then stop playing while they wait for the next drop of new content.
A Battlepass gives players more stuff to do - similar to Achievements - that keep players repeating content after they have completely experienced all the new content one or two times. It typically takes about 80-100 hours to reach the end of a BP.

Dygz

Roelath wrote: »

Apparently it can only be done via Battlepasses.

It can be done via Expansions if you want to wait 12-18 months for new content. The devs would prefer if it did not take them 12-18 months to add new content.
The devs would prefer if they could add new content every month or even every week. They can't.
They would also prefer if gamers didn't race through Expansions in 100 hours and then quit playing.
And they would also prefer that players play Seasonal DLCs for 100 hours rather than for 20-30 hours.

Instead of masses of players quitting once they hit Endgame.

Noaani

Dygz wrote: »

bloodprophet wrote: »

Why?
Why can't they just add new content as they wish?

This question is the same gamer mentality Steven had when he thought he would be able to release Ashes "Before 2020".

Same reason why we have not seen Dünir in the game world in the 3 year interim between Alpha 1 and Alpha 2.
Same reason why we have not seen Niküa and Tulnar in the Ashes game world yet.

Because it takes a lot of time to create new content.

This is untrue.

It takes a long time to build the game. Once the game is built, assuming you also have good tools, making content is fairly easy in comparison.

If a game like WoW was putting its revenue back in to the game, they would have been able to release an expansion every 3-4 months - they would have had 4 or 5 teams working on expansions at the same time in order to avoid rushed work. This is similar to how SoE operated, just not with thet many teams, and is why both EQ and EQ2 with significantly smaller populations than WoW were each able to release a similar sized expansion every year (well, along with prioritizing what was important and ignoring what isnt).

Dygz wrote: »

They primarily care that players are playing as frequently as the devs can entice players to play.

No, they only care how much money they make.

Publicly listed companies are legally obliged to make as much money for their investors as they can. Shareholders have taken companies to court to prevent them paying hard working staff a bonus - and they have always won. That is the level to which they don't care about anything other than profit for shareholders.

Again, if a publicly listed company does something, it is to make them as much money as possible. By actual law (in America, at least).

Dygz

LMFAO
So, pray tell... why does it always take at least 12 months for a new Expansion?
I mean... I've been a game dev for 10 years, so... I do actually know how dev schedules and production cycles work. And how game devs think.

But, yes, I am more likely to spend $120 per year playing a Battlepass than I am to spend $120 per year in a Cosmetics store - especially if there is a BP and a Cosmetics Store.
That's true for APOC, NW and WoW.
(The exception being LEGO Fortnite because I love their Character Skins - but... from 1990 - 2012, I typically spent $120 per month on comic books.)

Laetitian

Dygz wrote: »

Noaani wrote: »

I'm going to ask why they are selling them for $5. I can tell you now, they are doing it for their benefit, not yours.

Why not both? The benefit with a Battlepass is that the devs/publishers retain more players longer compared to not having a BP..

Counterpoint: If a noticeable amount of the playerbase spend their time in the game chasing battlepass objectives, *I* will be more likely to leave the game years earlier than if those players were required to interact with the game world and other players to come up with things to do and achieve. Because of how much more tedious it would be to get players to coordinate on a mutual goal/activity, and how much more empty and nihilistic the game would make me feel, if tons of players are constantly running around chasing a new task list instead of having their own thoughts about the next thing they want to achieve in the game.

You can't just claim that it'll be a net benefit on the player count because there's some benefit in carrot-on-a-stick entertainment for some players, and ignore the repercussions on the community connection.

Aszkalon

Legi wrote: »

Wdym, 3rd quarter starts in 3 1/2 weeks.

Hopefully Sir Steven will announce the exact Date somewhere around when Quarter Three starts.

bloodprophet

Dygz wrote: »

bloodprophet wrote: »

Why?
Why can't they just add new content as they wish?

This question is the same gamer mentality Steven had when he thought he would be able to release Ashes "Before 2020".

Same reason why we have not seen Dünir in the game world in the 3 year interim between Alpha 1 and Alpha 2.
Same reason why we have not seen Niküa and Tulnar in the Ashes game world yet.

Because it takes a lot of time to create new content.
Especially to write unique dialogue for Quests. And to create gear with balanced stat blocks for each Quest.
And to create new locations and to create new mobs associated with those Quests. And to test all of that.

Which is why devs designed the hunt for BiS gear via repeating Dungeons and Raids ad nauseum, with plenty of RNG - to try to keep gamers playing 12-18 months while they wait for the next Expansion.

Again... yes, the devs could just implement Seasonal DLCs without a Battlepass. But players would complete that in 20-30 hours or 40-60 hours and then stop playing while they wait for the next drop of new content.
A Battlepass gives players more stuff to do - similar to Achievements - that keep players repeating content after they have completely experienced all the new content one or two times. It typically takes about 80-100 hours to reach the end of a BP.

Just want to make sure I understand your point here.

Are you saying they can't set goals and create content on 60-90 day basis. Then install said content into the game.
but
If they have a BP then they can create and release content every 60-90 days.

You said several pages ago in Fortnite you get your tasks. Jump into a game mode then back out of the game mode as it starts, without playing the game at all. Just to check the box of I did a thing.
How is this keeping people engaged in the game? This seems like it is just a metrics thing: Look how many players we have.
While disregarding the fact they aren't playing the game at all just logging into a game mode and back out without interacting with the other players. This kind of behavior seems counter intuitive to the social aspect of what an MMO is supposed to be.

Noaani

Dygz wrote: »

LMFAO
So, pray tell... why does it always take at least 12 months for a new Expansion?

It doesn't.

There was 9 months between EQ2's DoF and KoS expansions, at which point they slotted all expansions to be released in November or December - and the reason it is 12 months between expansions is because they aim to release in that window. They have deemed that the most profitable time for them to release expansions (they are also a company).

I mean... I've been a game dev for 10 years, so... I do actually know how dev schedules and production cycles work.

If this were true, you wouldn't have conflated building a game from scratch with adding content to an existing game - unless you said that knowing it was a lie.

So, either you were lying when you said thst initial statement, or are lying in saying you have been a game developer for 10 years.

A QA tester I would believe (begrudgingly), but not a developer.

Dygz

Laetitian wrote: »

Counterpoint: If a noticeable amount of the playerbase spend their time in the game chasing battlepass objectives, *I* will be more likely to leave the game years earlier than if those players were required to interact with the game world and other players to come up with things to do and achieve. Because of how much more tedious it would be to get players to coordinate on a mutual goal/activity, and how much more empty and nihilistic the game would make me feel, if tons of players are constantly running around chasing a new task list instead of having their own thoughts about the next thing they want to achieve in the game.

You say that because you have no clue what Battlepass Tasks are like.
Battlepass Tasks inherently require players to interact with the gameworld - that is the entire point of them.
Battlepasses do not inherently require people to interact with other players any more than Quests or Achievements or Bulletin Board Tasks do, but completing Dungeons and Raids are also categories of Battlepass Tasks, so people who like to interact with others via Dungeons and Raids can focus on those Tasks.
_____________________________________________________
In LEGO Fortnite, my current Survival World Dailies are:
Deal Melee Damage 0/50
Craft E-11 Blaster Rifle 0/1
Craft Harvesting Tools 0/1

It's is not tedious or difficult to interact with other players while dealing melee damage. Indeed, it's quite likely that people will be in the vicinity of other players while dealing melee damage. That Task certainly does not prevent anyone from coordinating with others to complete the Task if that's what they want to do.
But, also... you don't even have to look at that BP Task to complete it. If you spend your game session dealing melee damage, you will likely complete that Task coincidentally within 20 minutes.

I have all the Harvesting Tool I need at the moment, so I will Craft the quickest and easiest Tool and destroy it. If I were in an MMORPG, I could Sell or Trade the Tool.
I might choose to gift that cheap Tool to newbies at the Portals.
I might even decide to make a valuable Tool to place in my Personal Shop or Player Stall or Auction House. Same for the BP Task: Craft Any Weapon 0/5

I might choose to ignore the E-11 Daily.
I have over 25 E-11 Blasters at 30% Durability sitting in my Storage, from killing Storm Troopers. I don't need another E-11 Blaster.
If I have the Resources in Storage or I can quickly gather the Resources I lack, I'll Craft an E-11 Blaster.
I might choose to go hunting for the Resources I lack - which, in an MMORPG would place me in the vicinity of other players - with whom I would likely interact. There might be a bunch of heading to the same location because we're pursuing the same Daily - and we might choose to PvP over the same Resources, if those Resources are scarce, or we might choose to Socialize.

___________________________________________________________
My current Survival World Weekly is:
Defeat AWR Trooper 0/3

I've been saving that one for a couple of weeks because those are Bosses at the end of a Dungeon and I haven't yet taken the time to Craft the Epic Health items that will make that fight easier to Solo.
But, if I were playing an MMORPG, I would run that now with at least one other player.

___________________________________________________________
My current Sandbox World Dailies are:
Add Creatures To Your Inventory 0/3
Complete A Build in A Grasslands Biome 0/1
Place Balloons 0/12

I will finish all of those Dailies in 3 minutes.
And, yes, I would do those first without interacting with anyone.
But, I would then go do the other Dailies and Weeklies that, in an MMORPG, would likely have me interacting with other players.

In an MMORPG, if I hadn't finished the new Seasonal content, I would play at least 4 more hours in order to experience the new content.
If I had completed the new Seasonal content, I still might continue to play for a few hours after completing the Dailies in order to prep for future ones.
Like, I might spend a couple hours Gathering the Resources necessary for Crafting Weapons and Tools, so I can quickly complete those Tasks the next time they pop up as Dailies.
In Ashes, that would mean my character is in the game world available for Risk v Reward gameplay with other players. Which is a benefit Steven should want.

____________________________________________________________
Also, sometimes Battlepass Tasks can entice players to interact with others in ways they might typically avoid.
In APOC, I would typically play the Battlepass by hiding as long as possible.
If there was a Task to Deal 500 Damage With X Weapon (Mace), I would use a few sessions to go bang on other players with a Mace.

Even though I don't particularly enjoy playing Battle Royales, if it seems like it's quicker and easier to gain more XP on the main BP by doing BR Tasks in addition to LEGO Tasks, I'll jump into the BR. Which means some other player is going to kill me.
And, despite being a Carebear, sometimes I will hunt and kill other players.

Steven like to say that Ashes is a PvX game, so any BP that Ashes has is going to include numerous PvP Tasks. And even Tasks for completing Dungeons and Raids or exploring the Open Seas will include Risk v Reward - where Risk = PvP.

Typically BPs also include simple Tasks, like using Emotes 0/5.
And there's nothing tedious about coordinating with people to use Emotes.
You can complete that while you're waiting for the entire group to arrive.
You can complete that in a Tavern or at a Player Shop or during a Guild meeting.

Laetitian wrote: »

You can't just claim that it'll be a net benefit on the player count because there's some benefit in carrot-on-a-stick entertainment for some players, and ignore the repercussions on the community connection.

I can claim that it will be a net benefit because it's true.
You can't ascertain whether or not that's true if you haven't played modern Battlepasses.

I haven't ignored the repercussions on the community connection.
You simply don't understand how BPs work and have decided they must have major negative repercussions - so you try to fabricate in your own mind what the negative might be - because, to you, all BPs must suck some kind of way.
You just have to figure out how the BP sucks - but they all have to suck... even if you don't know how yet.

Dygz

bloodprophet wrote: »

Are you saying they can't set goals and create content on 60-90 day basis. Then install said content into the game.

Noaani wrote: »
If a developer wants to add content to a game, they can just add it. If it is not a free addition to a game, a DLC in which the content is defined, or a cash shop purchase in which the purchase is defined, then the developer has deception as a prime motivation and us players should not stand for it.

Dygz wrote: »
Well, I think what you mean is that devs could add Seasonal content seasonally without a BP.
But, if they want people seeking Cosmetics to play for 100 hours rather than 20-30 hours or even 40-60 hours, they will add something like a Battlepass in order to entice the Casual Challenge players who are not interested in hunting BiS gear (which is 75% of the player population) to have fun complete Casual Challenge BP Tasks.

bloodprophet wrote: »

If they have a BP then they can create and release content every 60-90 days.

I'm saying that the new content that is released every 90 days will only be 20-30 hours of content. And that Battlepasses entice the Casual Challenge players who returned to play the new content to continue playing for 80-100 hours - even though they completed the new content in 20-30 hours.

bloodprophet wrote: »

You said several pages ago in Fortnite you get your tasks. Jump into a game mode then back out of the game mode as it starts, without playing the game at all. Just to check the box of I did a thing.

Doing that can complete one Milestone Task for the main BP.
So, yes, I could do that once for each Game Mode in a three month period and earna chunk of XP on the main BP.
So if there's 3 Game Modes, I could do that a total of 3 times in a three month span.

bloodprophet wrote: »

How is this keeping people engaged in the game? This seems like it is just a metrics thing: Look how many players we have.
While disregarding the fact they aren't playing the game at all just logging into a game mode and back out without interacting with the other players. This kind of behavior seems counter intuitive to the social aspect of what an MMO is supposed to be.

Because that's just one Task out of hundreds or thousands of Tasks.
Or I guess you could thing of it as 3 Tasks if there are 3 Game Modes.
Typically, completing only 3 Tasks in 3 months is not even going to get a player to the first reward of a BP.
Although in WoW, you get 500 Traders Tender just for participating and you could use that to pay for several of the cheaper items.

This is really just another question that is similar to, "How are you going to land a rocket on the Moon when the Moon is made of soft green cheese? That rocket will sink and fall out fo the other side."
You don't know how BPs work, so you just try to concoct absurd ways that they have to suck.

I think my example of jumping in and out of Game Modes was in response to saying that BP Tasks are tedious chores. It's not a tedious chore to jump in and out of a Game Mode.
Most BP Task are quite quick and easy to complete. Some BP Tasks include completing Dungeons and Raids. Which are not particularly quick and easy to complete.
But, it really just depends on what mood each individual is in during each game session. Do the stuff in the game you like to do and ignore the stuff in the game you don't like to do. And sometimes it might feel worth it to try something you typically avoid doing.
I have not yet been successfully enticed to actually play the Racing mode Tasks or the "Guitar Player" mode Tasks in Fortnite, but I might some day in the future - especially if I started playing the main BP in the last 3 weeks of the Season and wanted to wrack up main BP XP super-quickly.
I did run BR Tasks during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Chapter a few months ago, but that's probably so I could acquire some specific TMNT Items/Skins.

bloodprophet

Dygz wrote: »

bloodprophet wrote: »

Are you saying they can't set goals and create content on 60-90 day basis. Then install said content into the game.

Noaani wrote: »
If a developer wants to add content to a game, they can just add it. If it is not a free addition to a game, a DLC in which the content is defined, or a cash shop purchase in which the purchase is defined, then the developer has deception as a prime motivation and us players should not stand for it.

Dygz wrote: »
Well, I think what you mean is that devs could add Seasonal content seasonally without a BP.
But, if they want people seeking Cosmetics to play for 100 hours rather than 20-30 hours or even 40-60 hours, they will add something like a Battlepass in order to entice the Casual Challenge players who are not interested in hunting BiS gear (which is 75% of the player population) to have fun complete Casual Challenge BP Tasks.

bloodprophet wrote: »

If they have a BP then they can create and release content every 60-90 days.

I'm saying that the new content that is released every 90 days will only be 20-30 hours of content. And that Battlepasses entice the Casual Challenge players who returned to play the new content to continue playing for 80-100 hours - even though they completed the new content in 20-30 hours.

bloodprophet wrote: »

You said several pages ago in Fortnite you get your tasks. Jump into a game mode then back out of the game mode as it starts, without playing the game at all. Just to check the box of I did a thing.

Doing that can complete one Milestone Task for the main BP.
So, yes, I could do that once for each Game Mode in a three month period and earna chunk of XP on the main BP.
So if there's 3 Game Modes, I could do that a total of 3 times in a three month span.

bloodprophet wrote: »

How is this keeping people engaged in the game? This seems like it is just a metrics thing: Look how many players we have.
While disregarding the fact they aren't playing the game at all just logging into a game mode and back out without interacting with the other players. This kind of behavior seems counter intuitive to the social aspect of what an MMO is supposed to be.

Because that's just one Task out of hundreds or thousands of Tasks.
Or I guess you could thing of it as 3 Tasks if there are 3 Game Modes.
Typically, completing only 3 Tasks in 3 months is not even going to get a player to the first reward of a BP.
Although in WoW, you get 500 Traders Tender just for participating and you could use that to pay for several of the cheaper items.

This is really just another question that is similar to, "How are you going to land a rocket on the Moon when the Moon is made of soft green cheese? That rocket will sink and fall out fo the other side."
You don't know how BPs work, so you just try to concoct absurd ways that they have to suck.

No, I keep asking questions and you keep dodging.

Dygz

LMAO
Which questions did I dodge?

Noaani

Dygz wrote: »

Dygz wrote: »
Well, I think what you mean is that devs could add Seasonal content seasonally without a BP.

As I said - if this is what I wanted to say, it is what I would have typed.

What I meant to say is what I typed.

If you want to get clarification on something that you don't understand, by all means ask. What you should not do though, is assume people mean something they did not type and then continue the discussion with that assumption in mind without first asking for clarification.

When I said "If a developer wants to add content to a game, they can just add it", what I meant to say was "If a developer wants to add content to a game, they can just add it", and not "devs could add Seasonal content seasonally without a BP".

Is that clear?

Dygz

I wasn’t responding to you.
I reposted quotes for context for bloodprophet.

You are incapable of clarification, so…

Noaani

Dygz wrote: »

I wasn’t responding to you.
I reposted quotes for context for bloodprophet.

You are incapable of clarification, so…

Yes, and I am reiterating that I told you that your response was unacceptable.

It was unacceptable the first time, and it is unacceptable the second time.

Why you would repost something that is unacceptable instead of attempting to rectify it is something that only you know the answer to.

Orgagriffith

I like a battle-pass if it is understood as an "optional sub."

I think the ideal monitization compromise is a "free-to-try with an optional sub" that gives you things a consistent player would benefit from. I think that currently manifests as "free-to-play with a battle pass" even though that language is dishonest. And not designed around the correct things.

Laetitian

Dygz wrote: »

It's is not tedious or difficult to interact with other players while dealing melee damage. Indeed, it's quite likely that people will be in the vicinity of other players while dealing melee damage.
[...]
I might choose to go hunting for the Resources I lack - which, in an MMORPG would place me in the vicinity of other players - with whom I would likely interact. There might be a bunch of heading to the same location because we're pursuing the same Daily - and we might choose to PvP over the same Resources, if those Resources are scarce, or we might choose to socialize.
[...]
I would run that now with at least one other player.
[...]
But, I would then go do the other Dailies and Weeklies that, in an MMORPG, would likely have me interacting with other players.
[...]

I haven't ignored the repercussions on the community connection.
You simply don't understand how BPs work and have decided they must have major negative repercussions - so you try to fabricate in your own mind what the negative might be - because, to you, all BPs must suck some kind of way.
You just have to figure out how the BP sucks - but they all have to suck... even if you don't know how yet.

I told you how they suck, and you stopped after the first half of my sentence. The problem isn't that they make players not interact with the world, it's that they relieve players of the incentive to come up with their own motivations and objectives for interacting with the world.

This is an intrinsic quality of battlepasses that cannot not be a part of a "modern" battle pass. (I've played plenty of "modern" games with dailies, battlepasses, and achievements, all of which lead to the same extinguishing of creativity, agency, and willingness to find people to coordinate and collaborate with.)
If you're given 3-10 tasks to complete today / this week, that's 3-10 things less you have to decide on by your own choice. 3-10 things less you will be willing to do before you'll feel like you've played enough of the game that day/week.

Not having to make that decision in order to keep playing the game is literally the primary function you've been requesting and championing the battlepass for. You've been imploring us to let you have your externally superimposed motivation to log on.

Yes, you *can* often pursue some of those tasks while simultaneously engaging in other activities. And there will even be some guaranteed coincidental cooperation.
But you already have your mission. If anything another player suggests or any cooperation with another player that you take into consideration while pursuing your task list becomes even remotely tedious or inconvenient, you now have no reason to tolerate that frustration for the sake of the long-term benefit. Because you have your missions laid out for you, and any self-made decision to cooperate is merely a cherry on top.
Whereas without the battle pass, you'd be encouraged to come up with your own goals and commit to your decisions and group projects in order to make things happen.

None of this is solved by the "possibility" to cooperate anyway. Your argument falls completely flat, it doesn't address the issue at all.

The only interaction and cooperation you get from this side effect is purely cosmetic. It's the illusion of player interaction. Giving away scraps, and co-operating purely when it happens to be so convenient that you have no reason to put a single thought into the decision. The whole point of player cooperation is making choices together. Overcoming obstacles. Weighing cost-and-benefits. Optimising gameplay so everyone's happy with the result. Working on flaws because you care about the result. Being creative about new ambitious plans together. At the centre of player coordination is overcoming challenges.
Opportunistic player interaction is effectively no player interaction.

Dygz wrote:

But, also... you don't even have to look at that BP Task to complete it. If you spend your game session dealing melee damage, you will likely complete that Task coincidentally within 20 minutes.

You can't seriously think that that's an argument. If a battlepass task is expected to be fulfilled without paying any attention to it, what's the point of its existence? What does it add to your experience? That section of the battlepass doesn't exist. It's a fake component of free/low-price premium stuff that only actually materialises because you were online in the game without being afk. It should be replaced by a timer, if it should exist at all.

Dygz wrote:

I can claim that it will be a net benefit because it's true.
You can't ascertain whether or not that's true if you haven't played modern Battlepasses.

Ignoring the part where I just told you I would not continue playing the game as I otherwise would, if a significant portion the playerbase is spending their time online in the game chasing Battlepass objectives. I've quit other MMOs because of these types of tasks and the disinterest towards cooperation they create.
Why are the players you're trying to protect from uninspired boredom more important than the players who want people around them to be prepared to declare their own objectives in the game, and be ready to cooperate in order to achieve them where advantageous?
(Especially when being uninspired and bored are things you can fix yourself. Being surrounded by worker drones incentivised to focus on ticking off task lists isn't something other players can confront without appealing to the developer not to sabotage their player interaction.)

To be perfectly clear, I don't mind players rejecting any particular group endeavour. I just don't want them to be given meaningless task lists that specifically exist to give them something to do, disincentivising them to come up with/cooperate on endeavours that they care about or choose on their own.

Pearfor

If the battlepass is not divided into "paid" and "free" in a paid game, then this is an acceptable situation. if the battlepass must be purchased in a game for which I pay money, then in no case.
but in any case, a good MMORPG does not need additional "hooks" to retain the player. it already offers enough content

Dygz

For all good MMORPGs:
75% of players stop playing at Endgame.
25% will continue to play Dungeons and Raids until the next new content drop, which is typically an Expansion.
Popluation typically spikes 5x when an Expansion drops - but then players will race through that content in 100 hours and 75% will stop when they complete the new content and then wait 12-18 months for the new Expansion.

Within the last 3-5 years, MMOs have been able to drop new content every 3 months with Seasonal DLCs, but that's only 20-30 hours worth of content. BPs help extend that play time to 100 hours - for those players who typically leave once they complete new content.
The additional "hooks" are to entice players to repeat content until the next new content drop.

Child Item