Ubisoft Under Fire as It Looks to Stop XP Farming in Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Story Creator Mode

well maybe if they didn't fill the games with stupid level walls people wouldn't HAVE to resort to things like this would they?

I don't like all the paid bonuses Ubisoft add to their games. I feel like I'm playing a F2P even though I paid for the game

I never had to grind a single time during my playthrough of Odyssey. It's the plebs who raz through the game that complain about a lack of xp. There's a beautiful map of the Greek Isles to explore, why would you rush it?

@ApostateMage i never had to grind xp either. Pretty easy game honestly, but a game i really liked.

Before I comment I should probably say that I have never played any AC game so I could be looking at this wrong, but from what I have heard, Ubi sell an XP booster which gives 50% more XP permanently upon purchase. The fact that people are making easy quests for XP grinding honestly sounds like a balancing issue (perhaps intentional for monetary purposes) which perhaps Ubi should fix before any 'sanctions' against players.

Gotta protect that Micro transaction money right? Seriously though the only complaint I have really heard from players is that it is a bit grindy (as in borderline too much) and obviously having a paid way out of it is rather dodgy. Now closing off a loophole that isn't really game breaking, just logical seems a bit harsh - unless this allows any online benefits against others.

I'm all against cheating/boosting online, but when it comes to single player, who cares?
Ubisoft only bothered by this cause they don't wanna lose on that micro transaction money, simple as that.

It's a single-player game. Who cares? If people want to 'cheat themselves' and it's not affecting other players, let them have at it.

I can see both sides of the argument, but ultimately, I do think it's a bit daft that Ubisoft would allow people to make their own levels in a single player game and then turn around and say "oh sorry, no, you're not allowed to do this".

For the record I had no issues with grinding whatsoever in Ass Creed Odyssey, but then I've put about 350 hours into it. I really enjoy the game and I've enjoyed taking my time and seeing everything there is to see.

That's my personal experience, but if people want to mainline the story and do nothing else, then I don't think they should be stopped by progression systems.

If that's what's leading to the popularity of XP boosting quests, then that's mostly on Ubisoft and the game's design. THAT SAID, let's not pretend like people wouldn't be making these quests anyway, even if there was no issue with grinding. People will always find a way to abuse systems like this because it's the easiest win.

@ShogunRok surely the simple solution is to simply disable xp for user created content, problem solved surely

Incredible. Xp farming is so very much commonly done by gamers to level up faster to acquire perks and other features level locked. Ubi did not know that when designing the Story Creator Mode? Incredible.

@carlos82 Or they can put a limit on how much XP is givien in a quest? I think that'll be better since I doubt people will play user generated quest if they give no XP.

I never needed to grind XP in this game. I am currently sitting on level 70ish after the second Atlantis DLC. I have just focused on the main missions, cultists and side missions. The only grind I did in this game wasn't for XP, it was picking up all the materials to get that Adrestia upgrade trophy. Everything else came pretty naturally whilst playing.

Now, AC Origins was a grindy game. I was forever hitting level walls on that, despite doing most of the side quests.

I think the flak is fair. If they put a microtransaction in for an XP boost and not expect people to do this, they can't argue.
Now, if the XP boost wasn't a microtransaction and wasn't there then I'd be behind them.

I'm not surprised by the reaction, but yes Ubisoft is obviously absolutely right.

"These exploits risk jeopardising the overall"... amount of money we are getting. Simple as that it's hurting their micro transactions no more no less

Yeah, let people do as they want. Skyrim lets mods give you XP. They need to let go. I think asking people to clearly label them so those that don’t want to speedgrind aren’t affected is a good solution. Basically let it be reserved for those who really want to. Make it feel like using an easy option that hurts pride.

if you give a Monkey excrement what he/she gonna do.

This is the reason game companies shy away from making dev tools available.

@ApostateMage But somehow Ubisoft put in a XP booster. Other games let you "grind" or play the game if you sell it im sure you made the game in a certain way.

@Flaming_Kaiser I didn't even pay attention to levels or xp. I just enjoyed everything the game had to offer and loved every minute of it.

Ubisoft just upset they never thought of it, and could have charged people somehow for the privilege. Cheeky, buggers.

Haha, Ubisoft sells an xp booster in game but doesn't want you getting an xp boost for free in game. They either think their customers are stupid, they have a moron in charge of PR, or both.

@Constable_What

no u

:}

I totally respect that BS spin they put on this. Not saying they are against it because it makes the game less grindy and hurts microtransaction sales, but rather it hurts other creators by hiding their work below these farming levels. That is some grade A marketing b.s. right there. The boldness to think people will believe that is impressive.

(Yes I get the irony of saying that vs my pic)

@ShogunRok if people want to mainline the story and do nothing else, that's usually what difficulty levels are for. And yes, such quests would thrive even if there was no grinding (although living to see gamers complain about level grinds in an RPG is an event in itself - idle clicker generation much?). That's as certain as the fact that Ubisoft adding optional MTX (because there's nothing more irresistible to spend money on than experience boosters in an RPG - I mean, among sane people it would be as lucrative a business as selling snow near the South Pole) is the only ghost crutch fans can even pretend to base the aforediscussed "fire" on. Xenoblade 2 is rumoured to have downright UNHOLY gacha RNGs for determined blade collectors, but since you can't spend real money on this gacha, this form of Nintendoomed usually sizzles down faster than others.

In the end, people can choose what to do with their single player games but devs and publishers can choose which what they can allow people to do in their single player games. Hence, penalties may be a bit overboard, but adjusting Creator Mode itself is welcome.

when will these games learn that maybe some people don't want any grind and want all abilities from the get go and to crush everything, not just an easy mode but a full ability mode. this type of awful grind is what put me off dying light

@ApostateMage and at the same time it's a single player game. How someone chooses to play shouldn't concern anybody else. I'm not even mad they sell an xp boost. But when you take these steps as a developer...its ridiculous.

@nhSnork it's not about the grind, it's the fact that you have to be certain levels in order to get past certain enemies or events, i love RPG's and i don't mind grinding, take a game like FINAL FANTASY VII for example with the right materia set up you can theoretically complete the game at any level, it's not like you get to a boss and suddenly it's name is in red and it says, this boss is unbeatable unless your level 75 or over like Origins and Odyssey does

RPG stands for Role Playing Game as in you are playing this role and it's up to you how you play it not you're playing a role but you can't carry on the story because you need to be "X" level

Is a single player game and I should be able to play it and beat it as I see fit, if this was an online game then I would side 100% with Ubisoft. Is obvious they are protecting their crappy little microtransactions, is stupid enough they are in a single player story game to begin with.

As an owner of this game, also enjoying this game still today, I do not understand Ubisoft's problem with people crafting easy XP scenarios for themselves in a single player game. If I bought the game and this is what I wish to do, then so be it. Ubisoft gave us the tools to do so. I wish I knew how people do this, I'd like to give it a go before they ban it.

Clearly their Sales Dept got involved. Charts and graphs showed that the XP booster they openly sell for real cash and have no problem doing so, was doing quite well at some point before they introduced story creation mode. Then the sales line drops.

Ubisoft is one of the worst offenders with microtransactions and loot boxes and pay to win. Much like Activision and EA. It's sad to see game journalists defend this nonsense. They literally use all kinds of psychological tricks and walls in games to make people shell out more than the 60 bucks. And no the companies do not need microtransactions to survive. It is greed pure and simple. And it would be refreshing if companies were honest when they explain the motivations for their actions. If you think for one second this has anything to do with the integrity of the game then I have a bridge to sell you. If that were the case then how does them selling xp boosts not affect the integrity of the game. That was like when Y's net provided this knee slapper of a reason for going with the Epic game store by saying they wanted the player to have the best experience and the Epic game store was that. 8 months later and it still doesnt have a shopping cart. They would be respected a lot more if they said the truth. They wanted that sweet sweet Epic cash. In the end it is almost always about money. Stop defending this stuff push square!!

any single player game with 60$ price tag-100$ with predatory practices like outfit packs and booster packs sold weapon packs sold is bad there is no rationalization to it you cant wiggle your way out of it with lame excuses no one should support this kinda behavior its expected in online games but to ban people and have MT in single player games is lowest. they can give you lot of explanations like how they did with this but its never their intention all they care is it will ruin their ingame store money. ubisoft is next ea and activision take any game its open world filled with MT be it guns, outfits, booster packs. every AAA game same formula and sites arent talking about it and questioning these giant corporations they are ok with it too but when people start to take things into hand oh no its offensive gamers are hurt again lets sympathize with corporation who treats their devs and players alike. even some people are taking company side with this kinda bs so they gave you tool its sp you can do whatever you want this is not MP game to get that extra edge on opponents or ruingame for everyone else, everyone will have their own experience let them have it instead of punishing your customer.

I have seen the extra's you can purchase its worse then in a free to play game. Costumes, weapons, boats, maps, ingame currency and XP boosters wow its totally shameless. I will take a great expansion over it any day of the week. 😆

Yeah... we all know what this is REALLY about. They even nerfed marauding at sea by lowering the amount AND quality of loot one could acquire... Why?? They want people buying their micro-transactions. That's the reason why they soft-booted it into an rpg...