Allods' path: would they ever stop adding more pay2win stuff?

Greenzor

 

 

Chronologically we had:

- Weak runes (+0,3% dmg and heal per level) and elixirs

- Runes' power x10

- Incense then no incense

- more levels to the runes

- Turrets and i'm-a-raid-boss-mount

- More Stats for cash (admiral strongboxes)

- Entropy (rune level affecting the heal received by your target)

 

What we may have:

- level 5 patronage (100 to 200€)

- additional gear slot for cash

- ...

My question is: would they ever stop adding more pay2win stuff?

B1mble

Short answer...no.

As long as people are willing to play and pay they will keep adjusting the cash shop with the illusion of fairness to hide the fact that a new pay2win has been added.

With this kind of game the population is so transitory that only a few remain to pay to get to the top, meanwhile those passing through will drop some cash as a matter of course before moving on to 'the next big thing'.  As long as something novel and alledgedly 'new' get added on a regular basis the game works and continues.

Personally this game is a time sink for when there is nothing better to do.  I have no intention of playing for any great time and I refuse to splash the cash for a cash shop that extracts the urine.

Emoqqboy

if they dont add pay2win stuff, players are gonna spend money  why? 

the game company is gonna earn how?

maybe they will just keep their GM staff up and maintain servers through donations? (lol)

gaeanprayer

Originally posted by Emoqqboy

if they dont add pay2win stuff, players are gonna spend money  why? 

the game company is gonna earn how?

maybe they will just keep their GM staff up and maintain servers through donations? (lol)

Play more MMO's please. There are plenty of games that use item malls that are NOT pay to win, that make money. Most of them in fact, are more successful than any of these korean f2ps could dream of being.

stayontarget

Originally posted by gaeanprayer

Play more MMO's please. There are plenty of games that use item malls that are NOT pay to win, that make money. Most of them in fact, are more successful than any of these korean f2ps could dream of being.

I don't think Allods was made in Korea ^^  I think it's a Russian game.

B1mble

I always thought Mabinogi had a ok cash shop.  In fact it is also an ok game that only falls down on how long it takes to get anywhere.  Time served players always suggested a mount as a first purchase.

Allods cash shop is too expensive and the items you can buy affect gameplay too much.  Other than that it is a nice game for a f2p (apart from the class imbalances and the crappy combat system which is worse if you are a warrior and can have you kill a mob one minute and have you lolstomped by it the next).

huskerman34

Originally posted by B1mble

Short answer...no.

As long as people are willing to play and pay they will keep adjusting the cash shop with the illusion of fairness to hide the fact that a new pay2win has been added.

With this kind of game the population is so transitory that only a few remain to pay to get to the top, meanwhile those passing through will drop some cash as a matter of course before moving on to 'the next big thing'.  As long as something novel and alledgedly 'new' get added on a regular basis the game works and continues.

Personally this game is a time sink for when there is nothing better to do.  I have no intention of playing for any great time and I refuse to splash the cash for a cash shop that extracts the urine.

All right heres the deal, ive been playing for months and the cash shop is no different than turbines, or any other.  I dont people pay to win. The majority of the purchases are mounts and cosmetics. I do agree that some items are too expensive like the water of death and water of life. My biggest bitch about the game is that they give you shit  in the radiant strongboxes that is sometimes useless in your class and is not sellable. The only thing that holds this game back is the massive grinding one has to do.  there are high level runes and chips in the ah so you dont always need to visit the cash shop. This game is far from pay to win game. You need dedication to farming and crafting and knowing how to handle your myrth and your dying. if you can manage all that, then you will be fine.

B1mble

If you have the wallet to buy level 10 runes and as one player did lolstomp the city of Novagrad on his own because he was bored then yes, by definition it is pay to win because you don't have to grind to be able to batter everybody.  Sure there are other approaches but at the end of the day you can buy your way to the top.

 

 

Greenzor

Originally posted by huskerman34

Originally posted by B1mble

Short answer...no.

As long as people are willing to play and pay they will keep adjusting the cash shop with the illusion of fairness to hide the fact that a new pay2win has been added.

With this kind of game the population is so transitory that only a few remain to pay to get to the top, meanwhile those passing through will drop some cash as a matter of course before moving on to 'the next big thing'.  As long as something novel and alledgedly 'new' get added on a regular basis the game works and continues.

Personally this game is a time sink for when there is nothing better to do.  I have no intention of playing for any great time and I refuse to splash the cash for a cash shop that extracts the urine.

All right heres the deal, ive been playing for months and the cash shop is no different than turbines, or any other.  I dont people pay to win. The majority of the purchases are mounts and cosmetics. I do agree that some items are too expensive like the water of death and water of life. My biggest bitch about the game is that they give you shit  in the radiant strongboxes that is sometimes useless in your class and is not sellable. The only thing that holds this game back is the massive grinding one has to do.  there are high level runes and chips in the ah so you dont always need to visit the cash shop. This game is far from pay to win game. You need dedication to farming and crafting and knowing how to handle your myrth and your dying. if you can manage all that, then you will be fine.

 " there are high level runes and chips in the ah so you dont always need to visit the cash shop."

That's the illusion of fairness B1mbo was talking about. You can try to save some gold to buy Crystal Chips, but this game has way too many gold-sink mechanics (myrrh, ship upgrades and construction, reputation gear, etc). And even after buying some stacks of CCs, you'd need Gold Dust (which isn't cheap at all) and Runes.

And we're just talking about Runes, but it isn't the only power-up. Elixirs, stats or rubies. And in future patches, you'll have to face an higher level of patronage (+25% damage?), additional gear slots and so on. 

Allods is arguably a rampant pay-to-win game. The list of pay-to-win items unbalancing the game is an ever growing one.

 

Palebane

People bought Michael Jordan shoes because they thought it would help them be better at playing basketball. Is it surprising people will pay for things that actually do make them better in a competitive game? Or that a company would exploit such a market?

Greenzor

Originally posted by Palebane

People bought Michael Jordan shoes because they thought it would help them be better at playing basketball. Is it surprising people will pay for things that actually do make them better in a competitive game? Or that a compane y would exploit such a market?

that's the basis of the pay-to-win concept, and I agree it works from a businesses' point of view.

Anyway, when the amount of cash you expend empowering your character determines the result of your fights you're killing any competition. Competition in a game is about measuring skills, not wallets. And yet it's more noticeable in games like Allods, where everything works on rails and there's no place for choices or cunning. 

 

waynejr2

Originally posted by Greenzor

Originally posted by Palebane

People bought Michael Jordan shoes because they thought it would help them be better at playing basketball. Is it surprising people will pay for things that actually do make them better in a competitive game? Or that a compane y would exploit such a market?

that's the basis of the pay-to-win concept, and I agree it works from a businesses' point of view.

Anyway, when the amount of cash you expend empowering your character determines the result of your fights you're killing any competition. Competition in a game is about measuring skills, not wallets. And yet it's more noticeable in games like Allods, where everything works on rails and there's no place for choices or cunning. 

 

 Games are meaningless in the long run and there isn't much to brag about even in a "skill" based game.

Greenzor

Originally posted by waynejr2

Originally posted by Greenzor

Originally posted by Palebane

People bought Michael Jordan shoes because they thought it would help them be better at playing basketball. Is it surprising people will pay for things that actually do make them better in a competitive game? Or that a compane y would exploit such a market?

that's the basis of the pay-to-win concept, and I agree it works from a businesses' point of view.

Anyway, when the amount of cash you expend empowering your character determines the result of your fights you're killing any competition. Competition in a game is about measuring skills, not wallets. And yet it's more noticeable in games like Allods, where everything works on rails and there's no place for choices or cunning. 

 

 Games are meaningless in the long run and there isn't much to brag about even in a "skill" based game.

The human been has been measuring skills through proto-games long before the invention of the wheel either to seduce a female or just because it releases dopamine. Computers have just provided a new format to do so. No need to brag about anything, it just feels good.