Monolith Productions’ Middle-earth: Shadow of War is due out in just few months. While fans of Shadow of Mordor have been getting excited about the sequel’s new trailers and details, the latest announcement on the game is not getting quite the same positive reception.
In a new post on the WB Games Community Forums, Monolith gives new details on the type of in-game loot and microtransactions that will be present in Middle-earth: Shadow of War. The system will contain rewards that are unlockable both through standard playing and grinding in the game, or more rapidly by spending real money.
The Shadow of War loot system, called The Market, will allow players to purchase Loot Chests, War Chests, XP Boosts and Bundles. Loot Chests will contain armor and weapons of varying rarities which can be upgraded and equipped on Talion, which will strengthen his abilities and attributes. War Chests will contain Orc followers to add to your army, as well as Training Orders to improve and level up your Orc followers, and XP Boosts are consumable items that help Talion level up faster. Bundles will combine these various chests and boosts for purchase at better prices overall.
Items in the game will be purchasable through two types of currency: Mirian and Gold. Mirian can be unlocked through regular play of the game by defeating treasure orcs, destroying gear for Mirian, destroying Orc followers for gear (which can be destroyed for Mirian), and finding Mirian stashes throughout the game. Gold can be acquired primarily through purchasing with real money, and in “small amounts at specific milestones” within the game. The post states that gold will be more rare than Mirian, and that purchasing gold will help players unlock content more quickly, although all content will technically be unlockable without spending any additional money (if players are willing to grind a bit more).
Members of the gaming community have already spoken out against this new system. In a high-scoring post on the main /r/Games subreddit, some players and fans have sounded off in opposition of the new Market announcement, with some of the highest-rated comments calling the system “just awful”, “a great way to get me to not buy this game”, and saying they “totally lost all interest”.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is due out this October.