So, in the first month this site quoted another site that quoted another site that it made only 10 million. That was on July 7th. It is now July 29th and you now say its 10 times that number? I smell something here.
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
How can you even claim its a vocal minority when even Ybarra says most players haven't spent money on the game? If ANYTHING it's the exact opposite of what you claim: A vocal MINORITY of players with Deep Pockets, perhaps even extreme minority... really like microtransactions.
Indeed: the entire point of microtransactions as a monetization scheme is hyper-focus on the easiest group of gamers to scalp, which enables you to largely ignore the requests of players who don't want or have the capacity to spend thousands of dollars in your game.
They literally do not give a shit what any gamer who isn't paying thousands says about how they monetize a game, progression, or any other specific part of the game.
I find the comments saying the gameplay is good very weird. The 'game' is absolutely boring and repetitive from the beginning. There's no complexity to the gameplay at all. It's simpler, though obviously faster paced, than D1. It's like if you took D3 and watered the shit out of it and took away almost all skill choices and gear setups then dumbed down boss fights.
I find the comments saying the gameplay is good very weird. The 'game' is absolutely boring and repetitive from the beginning. There's no complexity to the gameplay at all. It's simpler, though obviously faster paced, than D1. It's like if you took D3 and watered the shit out of it and took away almost all skill choices and gear setups then dumbed down boss fights.
200 players, that is how many it takes to raise $100,000,000. If they have maxed out their characters of course. Those are the players that the game is aimed at too, everyone else is just content for the 'main' players to consume.
the comments saying the gameplay is very weird. this is absolutely BORING !!! by the way idk . I just bought this XFX RX580 8g for this boring 'game' .... pffff
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
Plenty of people "volunteer" yes, without even knowing what they are volunteering for. They are hopping in and banking on the quality of a franchise, and even getting a decent initial presentation, that doesn't end up reflecting the long-term reality or scope of the game and it's model in general.
This is why there's already the 80/20 rule in general for mobile gaming, and a big park of why there's such a massive churn rate on free users that spend very little time in a game, even this one, while everything else banks on how much they can extract from the much smaller margin of users who then invest.
And as the old saying goes "If you aren't paying for a product, they you're the product."
The only concern Blizzard has with anyone that says "But I'm enjoying it for free." is making sure enough of them are coming in to mediate the number going out.
It's not a massive amount of people "quietly supporting" this or any other mobile game.
Which is also where the "victim" issue comes up. Because the things that actually are concerns revolves around how to make someone that has begun to pay, pay even more.
That's why we have averages of $10k to roll for one gem. That's why we have PvP dominated by million-dollar clans. That's why we have higher tier rifts run by clans that require everyone to be paying and using crests. That's why we have a paid currency auction that you can only sell things you got from paid rifts.
It's easy to volunteer to jump in a lake when you don't realize there's alligators in it.
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
Plenty of people "volunteer" yes, without even knowing what they are volunteering for. They are hopping in and banking on the quality of a franchise, and even getting a decent initial presentation, that doesn't end up reflecting the long-term reality or scope of the game and it's model in general.
This is why there's already the 80/20 rule in general for mobile gaming, and a big park of why there's such a massive churn rate on free users that spend very little time in a game, even this one, while everything else banks on how much they can extract from the much smaller margin of users who then invest.
And as the old saying goes "If you aren't paying for a product, they you're the product."
The only concern Blizzard has with anyone that says "But I'm enjoying it for free." is making sure enough of them are coming in to mediate the number going out.
It's not a massive amount of people "quietly supporting" this or any other mobile game.
Which is also where the "victim" issue comes up. Because the things that actually are concerns revolves around how to make someone that has begun to pay, pay even more.
That's why we have averages of $10k to roll for one gem. That's why we have PvP dominated by million-dollar clans. That's why we have higher tier rifts run by clans that require everyone to be paying and using crests. That's why we have a paid currency auction that you can only sell things you got from paid rifts.
It's easy to volunteer to jump in a lake when you don't realize there's alligators in it.
The people know. Anything that can be bought has a price tag.
Of course there are many quiet supporters just as there are many quiet MMORPG players that never grace a forum with their presence.
What percentage of dropped gems do you think are actually made public knowledge, or percentage of clans are funded by millions, or percentage of rifts run with full crests?
Focusing solely on the extreme doesn't provide an accurate view of anything.
How many you think actually know or have such in mind? "But I haven't payed anything yet." is one of the most frequent rebuttals, and it directly shows that the individuals think they are enjoying something that has no cost.
The rest is a rather weak argument. We know the drop ratios. We've discussed the math on it even in these forums to come out with the fact that a 5 star gem only drops on a $10k+ price point average. The in-game player shop even reflects this in the pricing of gems on sale.
That's not the extreme, that's the average. The extreme is the costs that range $500k+ to kit a single character out.
And the problem is that this directly affects everything else. As pointed out in the other thread the rifts above the first couple tiers are gated directly by clans requiring people use paid legendary crests. Same as PvP, you can see the gear people are using by ID-ing and the leaderboard is consistently dominated by people that have invested 40k-half a million into their characters. That's just the norm and it's easy to confirm as you can just login to any leveled character and try that content to see the wall and see the massive disparity.
The people playing for free and leaving in droves after a short time are the only silent majority, with some outliers errantly defending this being the exception.
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
Again. If you read the article Ybarra says most players haven't spent money on the game. So instead of dismissing everyone else maybe actually accept that fact. Most people that play this game do NOT support it in any way shape or form. They just free-load and are wiling to accept a sub-standard experience... because it's free.
The MINORITY of people that play...actually support the game monetarily.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
How many you think actually know or have such in mind? "But I haven't payed anything yet." is one of the most frequent rebuttals, and it directly shows that the individuals think they are enjoying something that has no cost.
The rest is a rather weak argument. We know the drop ratios. We've discussed the math on it even in these forums to come out with the fact that a 5 star gem only drops on a $10k+ price point average. The in-game player shop even reflects this in the pricing of gems on sale.
That's not the extreme, that's the average. The extreme is the costs that range $500k+ to kit a single character out.
Anyone marginally competent should have such in mind.
Those that haven't paid anything are enjoying it free. It's not a thought. It's a fact, and remains so right up until they actually pay something.
There nothing weak about my argument at all. As I've said, the base game can be easily played at no cost. It can be played so multiple times by making new characters. Once one has had enough they can then move on, having all that fun for a grand total of $0 dollars. You don't need a single 5-star gem to do that so it doesn't matter what the drop rate for them is.
All the moaning about cost doesn't apply if one plays in that manner. Play otherwise can cost a ridiculous amount of money, I personally think doing that is rather dumb unless you have money to burn or formidable patience and resolve to spend nothing.
In summary, base game free... beyond not so much. Make choices accordingly.
Bit of a No True Scostman. It'd be fair to say most players engage with a title on the premise of self-entertainment and gratification, not any deep foresight, nor even moderate. They look at the aggregate score on the marketplace and go.
That gives almost no information into what they're actually jumping into, but it's the baseline on which many snap decisions are made because the cost to jump in and try is perceived as zero.
Playing the same introductory content multiple times is just that. Playing a small part of the experience multiple times to avoid the rest of the game. "For free" just means you're recycling a small part of the content and actively avoiding any of the progression mechanics.
And you as a player don't matter if you play in that manner. Blizzard doesn't care for that kind of user because it's clear you're not going to part of their turnover. You're a negative in their ROI. As such, no content will be geared towards doing anything for you. Just a number to churn out as they try to drag in new people for potential conversions to feed into the hefty charges the game throws at the rest of the game.
It's not "formidable patience" to spend a decade grinding gear that you can't even fully cap for free. That is stupidity unto it's own.
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
Again. If you read the article Ybarra says most players haven't spent money on the game. So instead of dismissing everyone else maybe actually accept that fact. Most people that play this game do NOT support it in any way shape or form. They just free-load and are wiling to accept a sub-standard experience... because it's free.
The MINORITY of people that play...actually support the game monetarily.
Yeah, I remember when it was first said people questioned his honesty. Now it is apparently incontestable truth. I'll dismiss the vibrato spin on it instead.
Also, my response was in the context of microtransactions in general which is how they were presented in the post I responded to.
Bit of a No True Scostman. It'd be fair to say most players engage with a title on the premise of self-entertainment and gratification, not any deep foresight, nor even moderate. They look at the aggregate score on the marketplace and go.
That gives almost no information into what they're actually jumping into, but it's the baseline on which many snap decisions are made because the cost to jump in and try is perceived as zero.
Playing the same introductory content multiple times is just that. Playing a small part of the experience multiple times to avoid the rest of the game. "For free" just means you're recycling a small part of the content and actively avoiding any of the progression mechanics.
And you as a player don't matter if you play in that manner. Blizzard doesn't care for that kind of user because it's clear you're not going to part of their turnover. You're a negative in their ROI. As such, no content will be geared towards doing anything for you. Just a number to churn out as they try to drag in new people for potential conversions to feed into the hefty charges the game throws at the rest of the game.
It's not "formidable patience" to spend a decade grinding gear that you can't even fully cap for free. That is stupidity unto it's own.
It doesn't take deep foresight to distinguish free from not . Everything for sale has a price attached.
The cost to jump in to try is zero, not perceived as such. You're alluding to deception that doesn't exist.
It's not introductory content. It is the entire base game. You kill the big bad and then it's done. It's the whole deal. The remainder is permutations of that content at higher difficulty, at least for now anyway.
What Blizzard wants is irrelevant to the choices I make, and can be equally so to those others make. It's a non-issue save for those that choose to make it one.
What you think is stupid only matters for your choices. If somebody else finds grinding forever to barely get anywhere enjoyable that's their business and they are entitled to it without comment from what would essentially amount to their peanut gallery.
Bit of a No True Scostman. It'd be fair to say most players engage with a title on the premise of self-entertainment and gratification, not any deep foresight, nor even moderate. They look at the aggregate score on the marketplace and go.
That gives almost no information into what they're actually jumping into, but it's the baseline on which many snap decisions are made because the cost to jump in and try is perceived as zero.
Playing the same introductory content multiple times is just that. Playing a small part of the experience multiple times to avoid the rest of the game. "For free" just means you're recycling a small part of the content and actively avoiding any of the progression mechanics.
And you as a player don't matter if you play in that manner. Blizzard doesn't care for that kind of user because it's clear you're not going to part of their turnover. You're a negative in their ROI. As such, no content will be geared towards doing anything for you. Just a number to churn out as they try to drag in new people for potential conversions to feed into the hefty charges the game throws at the rest of the game.
It's not "formidable patience" to spend a decade grinding gear that you can't even fully cap for free. That is stupidity unto it's own.
It doesn't take deep foresight to distinguish free from not . Everything for sale has a price attached.
The cost to jump in to try is zero, not perceived as such. You're alluding to deception that doesn't exist.
It's not introductory content. It is the entire base game. You kill the big bad and then it's done. It's the whole deal. The remainder is permutations of that content at higher difficulty, at least for now anyway.
What Blizzard wants is irrelevant to the choices I make, and can be equally so to those others make. It's a non-issue save for those that choose to make it one.
What you think is stupid only matters for your choices. If somebody else finds grinding forever to barely get anywhere enjoyable that's their business and they are entitled to it without comment from what would essentially amount to their peanut gallery.
I repeat my point, whether you think it's easy or not is irrelevant when the basic level of interaction with mobile marketplace and F2P in general is "what's the score, download, play".
Nobody is going to know those initial $2-$5 dollar purchases don't net them anything of any actual value. They'll progress, invest, hit the wall, and be faced with the choice of dropping the game, investing more, or grinding eternally (and still having to pay).
Those that don't pay at all, don't matter. They will only experience the showcase and then leave. Many who play for free will never even get that far as the average drop-off rate on unpaying users in most mobile games lives in the matter of minutes to a half hour pf play, and there's no practical reason to expect DI is an exception to that. This curbs your argument even more when the majority of free players aren't even experiencing the full story or introductory content.
What you call the base game, is a series of missions showcasing the mechanics they want you to invest into at the endgame. The fundamental scope of play for a Diablo, and most ARPG titles, is in the escalating loops and challenges added at higher tiers.
And your suggestion was to replay the beginning of that loop to begin with.
The choices you make are defined by what Blizzard makes available. You're prompted with even the early missions with those reward screens that say "pay this for extra rewards" and shows some absurd "%200+ value" in the corner, with the express goal to introduce you to paying during the introductory content in the campaign for cheap, to then invest more in the latter content loops.
And your last comment smacks of irony given you were the first to say "I personally think doing that is rather dumb". The ability to completely change tunes from one comment to the next is quite remarkable.
We are moving into a new era of gaming. Good games will come from much smaller studios - who’s yet to be tainted by investors. Larian Studios, Crate Entertainment etc. are still producing games not littered with useless microtransactions
Bit of a No True Scostman. It'd be fair to say most players engage with a title on the premise of self-entertainment and gratification, not any deep foresight, nor even moderate. They look at the aggregate score on the marketplace and go.
That gives almost no information into what they're actually jumping into, but it's the baseline on which many snap decisions are made because the cost to jump in and try is perceived as zero.
Playing the same introductory content multiple times is just that. Playing a small part of the experience multiple times to avoid the rest of the game. "For free" just means you're recycling a small part of the content and actively avoiding any of the progression mechanics.
And you as a player don't matter if you play in that manner. Blizzard doesn't care for that kind of user because it's clear you're not going to part of their turnover. You're a negative in their ROI. As such, no content will be geared towards doing anything for you. Just a number to churn out as they try to drag in new people for potential conversions to feed into the hefty charges the game throws at the rest of the game.
It's not "formidable patience" to spend a decade grinding gear that you can't even fully cap for free. That is stupidity unto it's own.
It doesn't take deep foresight to distinguish free from not . Everything for sale has a price attached.
The cost to jump in to try is zero, not perceived as such. You're alluding to deception that doesn't exist.
It's not introductory content. It is the entire base game. You kill the big bad and then it's done. It's the whole deal. The remainder is permutations of that content at higher difficulty, at least for now anyway.
What Blizzard wants is irrelevant to the choices I make, and can be equally so to those others make. It's a non-issue save for those that choose to make it one.
What you think is stupid only matters for your choices. If somebody else finds grinding forever to barely get anywhere enjoyable that's their business and they are entitled to it without comment from what would essentially amount to their peanut gallery.
I repeat my point, whether you think it's easy or not is irrelevant when the basic level of interaction with mobile marketplace and F2P in general is "what's the score, download, play".
Nobody is going to know those initial $2-$5 dollar purchases don't net them anything of any actual value. They'll progress, invest, hit the wall, and be faced with the choice of dropping the game, investing more, or grinding eternally (and still having to pay).
Those that don't pay at all, don't matter. They will only experience the showcase and then leave. Many who play for free will never even get that far as the average drop-off rate on unpaying users in most mobile games lives in the matter of minutes to a half hour pf play, and there's no practical reason to expect DI is an exception to that. This curbs your argument even more when the majority of free players aren't even experiencing the full story or introductory content.
What you call the base game, is a series of missions showcasing the mechanics they want you to invest into at the endgame. The fundamental scope of play for a Diablo, and most ARPG titles, is in the escalating loops and challenges added at higher tiers.
And your suggestion was to replay the beginning of that loop to begin with.
The choices you make are defined by what Blizzard makes available. You're prompted with even the early missions with those reward screens that say "pay this for extra rewards" and shows some absurd "%200+ value" in the corner, with the express goal to introduce you to paying during the introductory content in the campaign for cheap, to then invest more in the latter content loops.
And your last comment smacks of irony given you were the first to say "I personally think doing that is rather dumb". The ability to completely change tunes from one comment to the next is quite remarkable.
Your repeated point remains invalid as to whether you can play DA for free. The only requirement is having a brain and not being afraid to use it.
Those that play for free don't matter to the provider. The profit expectations of the provider don't matter to those that play for free.
Every game teaches through the play of it. Once that play leads to killing the last big boss the story and game are done. You can play it again if you want. You can enjoy that supplementary to the main game if you want, but in DA that can get expensive.
You do get prompted to spend money from every which way again and again. Absolutely none of those many prompts require it. The choice is defined by Blizzard but is made by the player. Of course the goal is profit. It's a for profit game.
It isn't ironic at all or a change of tune. I do personally think it rather dumb to continue past what can easily be played for free as the monetization of the game is extreme. I didn't. I had my fun spending all of $10 along the way, and then dropped it. For the number of hours of enjoyable play I got out of it the cost was plenty cheap, and I could have easily got by without even spending even that.
I mention on a regular basis what one can enjoy for free in the game and how to do so, and that play other than has glacial progression without paying. What people do with that information, or in general, is up to them as is the wisdom they see in the choices they make. Your interpretation of some of what I say is extremely bizarre.
More confirmation that the easiest demographic to scam is gamers.
Scam? Rwally? What do you mean? They're having fun right? You think they should be getting something in return now?
Smart'n up dude these web2 companies are never going to give gamers shit but this right here.
As if so called "web3" doesn't promote pie in the sky, get rich quick schemes lol.
The only difference is that no NFT games scam by using the word "free" while web3 does it by using the word "earn."
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
"Despite the outcries against Diablo Immortal's microtransactions..."
Outcries from what is blindingly obvious a vocal minority, if not extreme minority. Fine, we get it already you don't like microtransactions. Clearly a lot of gamers don't agree with you. Accept it and move on, fercryinoutloud.
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
Again. If you read the article Ybarra says most players haven't spent money on the game. So instead of dismissing everyone else maybe actually accept that fact. Most people that play this game do NOT support it in any way shape or form. They just free-load and are wiling to accept a sub-standard experience... because it's free.
The MINORITY of people that play...actually support the game monetarily.
Yeah, I remember when it was first said people questioned his honesty. Now it is apparently incontestable truth. I'll dismiss the vibrato spin on it instead.
Also, my response was in the context of microtransactions in general which is how they were presented in the post I responded to.
So you believe that DI is an outlier and most people that play OTHER microtransaction games actually pay money?
According to this article only about 1 player per THOUSAND pays for items in an in-app store. Maybe it's incorrect... but it does match what other industry people have said. The percentage of people that actually PAY for F2P games is SMALL. We call that a MINORITY. Some might even call it an EXTREME MINORITY.
You can champion the joy of getting a sub-standard experience for "free" all you want. but facts are facts. These companies make a TON of money with this model, but a MINORITY of people actually contribute. The rest are just freeloaders happy to be used as content for the whales and sharks.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
It's not introductory content. It is the entire base game. You kill the big bad and then it's done. It's the whole deal. The remainder is permutations of that content at higher difficulty, at least for now anyway.
What Blizzard wants is irrelevant to the choices I make, and can be equally so to those others make. It's a non-issue save for those that choose to make it one.
What you think is stupid only matters for your choices. If somebody else finds grinding forever to barely get anywhere enjoyable that's their business and they are entitled to it without comment from what would essentially amount to their peanut gallery.
That is disingenuous. The "entire base game" can be completed in a relatively short amount of time. That is not the REAL game. It's the teaser. The REAL game goes on for years.
Just like in Neverwinter it takes a day to level a character to 20 (max) but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
If you like a sub-standard game experience because it's free, well... I'm happy you have lots of choices. Most of us know better.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Comments
They literally do not give a shit what any gamer who isn't paying thousands says about how they monetize a game, progression, or any other specific part of the game.
Crazy how people have opinions of their own....
I just bought this XFX RX580 8g for this boring 'game' .... pffff
خرید کارت گرافیک
True. They are loudly condemned by many but also quietly supported by many more. If that wasn't true they would never had become as widely and deeply entrenched as they are. Don't expect that to be accepted or even recognized though. It would be difficult to reconcile with the depiction of players as victims when in fact they are volunteers.
That and a good deal else most likely. Their success will inspire others.
A mobile game costing $49 probably wouldn't sell a lot. The most expensive mobile game I could find with a quick check was $28.
This is why there's already the 80/20 rule in general for mobile gaming, and a big park of why there's such a massive churn rate on free users that spend very little time in a game, even this one, while everything else banks on how much they can extract from the much smaller margin of users who then invest.
And as the old saying goes "If you aren't paying for a product, they you're the product."
The only concern Blizzard has with anyone that says "But I'm enjoying it for free." is making sure enough of them are coming in to mediate the number going out.
It's not a massive amount of people "quietly supporting" this or any other mobile game.
Which is also where the "victim" issue comes up. Because the things that actually are concerns revolves around how to make someone that has begun to pay, pay even more.
That's why we have averages of $10k to roll for one gem. That's why we have PvP dominated by million-dollar clans. That's why we have higher tier rifts run by clans that require everyone to be paying and using crests. That's why we have a paid currency auction that you can only sell things you got from paid rifts.
It's easy to volunteer to jump in a lake when you don't realize there's alligators in it.
What percentage of dropped gems do you think are actually made public knowledge, or percentage of clans are funded by millions, or percentage of rifts run with full crests?
Focusing solely on the extreme doesn't provide an accurate view of anything.
The rest is a rather weak argument. We know the drop ratios. We've discussed the math on it even in these forums to come out with the fact that a 5 star gem only drops on a $10k+ price point average. The in-game player shop even reflects this in the pricing of gems on sale.
That's not the extreme, that's the average. The extreme is the costs that range $500k+ to kit a single character out.
And the problem is that this directly affects everything else. As pointed out in the other thread the rifts above the first couple tiers are gated directly by clans requiring people use paid legendary crests. Same as PvP, you can see the gear people are using by ID-ing and the leaderboard is consistently dominated by people that have invested 40k-half a million into their characters. That's just the norm and it's easy to confirm as you can just login to any leveled character and try that content to see the wall and see the massive disparity.
The people playing for free and leaving in droves after a short time are the only silent majority, with some outliers errantly defending this being the exception.
The MINORITY of people that play...actually support the game monetarily.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Anyone marginally competent should have such in mind.
Those that haven't paid anything are enjoying it free. It's not a thought. It's a fact, and remains so right up until they actually pay something.
There nothing weak about my argument at all. As I've said, the base game can be easily played at no cost. It can be played so multiple times by making new characters. Once one has had enough they can then move on, having all that fun for a grand total of $0 dollars. You don't need a single 5-star gem to do that so it doesn't matter what the drop rate for them is.
All the moaning about cost doesn't apply if one plays in that manner. Play otherwise can cost a ridiculous amount of money, I personally think doing that is rather dumb unless you have money to burn or formidable patience and resolve to spend nothing.
In summary, base game free... beyond not so much. Make choices accordingly.
That gives almost no information into what they're actually jumping into, but it's the baseline on which many snap decisions are made because the cost to jump in and try is perceived as zero.
Playing the same introductory content multiple times is just that. Playing a small part of the experience multiple times to avoid the rest of the game. "For free" just means you're recycling a small part of the content and actively avoiding any of the progression mechanics.
And you as a player don't matter if you play in that manner. Blizzard doesn't care for that kind of user because it's clear you're not going to part of their turnover. You're a negative in their ROI. As such, no content will be geared towards doing anything for you. Just a number to churn out as they try to drag in new people for potential conversions to feed into the hefty charges the game throws at the rest of the game.
It's not "formidable patience" to spend a decade grinding gear that you can't even fully cap for free. That is stupidity unto it's own.
Yeah, I remember when it was first said people questioned his honesty. Now it is apparently incontestable truth. I'll dismiss the vibrato spin on it instead.
Also, my response was in the context of microtransactions in general which is how they were presented in the post I responded to.
It doesn't take deep foresight to distinguish free from not . Everything for sale has a price attached.
The cost to jump in to try is zero, not perceived as such. You're alluding to deception that doesn't exist.
It's not introductory content. It is the entire base game. You kill the big bad and then it's done. It's the whole deal. The remainder is permutations of that content at higher difficulty, at least for now anyway.
What Blizzard wants is irrelevant to the choices I make, and can be equally so to those others make. It's a non-issue save for those that choose to make it one.
What you think is stupid only matters for your choices. If somebody else finds grinding forever to barely get anywhere enjoyable that's their business and they are entitled to it without comment from what would essentially amount to their peanut gallery.
Smart'n up dude these web2 companies are never going to give gamers shit but this right here.
Nobody is going to know those initial $2-$5 dollar purchases don't net them anything of any actual value. They'll progress, invest, hit the wall, and be faced with the choice of dropping the game, investing more, or grinding eternally (and still having to pay).
Those that don't pay at all, don't matter. They will only experience the showcase and then leave. Many who play for free will never even get that far as the average drop-off rate on unpaying users in most mobile games lives in the matter of minutes to a half hour pf play, and there's no practical reason to expect DI is an exception to that. This curbs your argument even more when the majority of free players aren't even experiencing the full story or introductory content.
What you call the base game, is a series of missions showcasing the mechanics they want you to invest into at the endgame. The fundamental scope of play for a Diablo, and most ARPG titles, is in the escalating loops and challenges added at higher tiers.
And your suggestion was to replay the beginning of that loop to begin with.
The choices you make are defined by what Blizzard makes available. You're prompted with even the early missions with those reward screens that say "pay this for extra rewards" and shows some absurd "%200+ value" in the corner, with the express goal to introduce you to paying during the introductory content in the campaign for cheap, to then invest more in the latter content loops.
And your last comment smacks of irony given you were the first to say "I personally think doing that is rather dumb". The ability to completely change tunes from one comment to the next is quite remarkable.
Your repeated point remains invalid as to whether you can play DA for free. The only requirement is having a brain and not being afraid to use it.
Those that play for free don't matter to the provider. The profit expectations of the provider don't matter to those that play for free.
Every game teaches through the play of it. Once that play leads to killing the last big boss the story and game are done. You can play it again if you want. You can enjoy that supplementary to the main game if you want, but in DA that can get expensive.
You do get prompted to spend money from every which way again and again. Absolutely none of those many prompts require it. The choice is defined by Blizzard but is made by the player. Of course the goal is profit. It's a for profit game.
It isn't ironic at all or a change of tune. I do personally think it rather dumb to continue past what can easily be played for free as the monetization of the game is extreme. I didn't. I had my fun spending all of $10 along the way, and then dropped it. For the number of hours of enjoyable play I got out of it the cost was plenty cheap, and I could have easily got by without even spending even that.
I mention on a regular basis what one can enjoy for free in the game and how to do so, and that play other than has glacial progression without paying. What people do with that information, or in general, is up to them as is the wisdom they see in the choices they make. Your interpretation of some of what I say is extremely bizarre.
The only difference is that no NFT games scam by using the word "free" while web3 does it by using the word "earn."
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
According to this article only about 1 player per THOUSAND pays for items in an in-app store. Maybe it's incorrect... but it does match what other industry people have said. The percentage of people that actually PAY for F2P games is SMALL. We call that a MINORITY. Some might even call it an EXTREME MINORITY.
You can champion the joy of getting a sub-standard experience for "free" all you want. but facts are facts. These companies make a TON of money with this model, but a MINORITY of people actually contribute. The rest are just freeloaders happy to be used as content for the whales and sharks.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Just like in Neverwinter it takes a day to level a character to 20 (max) but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
If you like a sub-standard game experience because it's free, well... I'm happy you have lots of choices. Most of us know better.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018