Monetizing without pay-to-win
While I'm not averse to 'buying in' on a game I enjoy, to support the studio and people behind successful development, I will admit to having a bit of an axe to grind when the monetization of a game is handled without consideration for potentially game breaking results... and also when it is so 'cosmetic' that there is no value earned for the outlay of funds. SWGoH definitely hits the pay-to-win side of things hard, resulting in a huge gulf in roster strength and depth between high paying customers and those spending limited (or no) money on the game... which is ironic because there are many features in this game that everyone uses that could be bridged or automated for a small outlay each month... without changing game balance at all.
INDIVIDUAL
Energy Efficiency (I to V) - Energy and Cantina Energy accumulate slowly throughout the day, with occasional bonuses available in addition to the regular clock tick. What we 'can' earn and what we 'do' earn over the course of the day relies upon being able to actively be online to use that energy before it caps. Normally, these regen at 1 pt per 6 min (12 min for Cantina). With the level 85 cap at 144, this means 'full up' occurs at 14.4 (28.8) hrs. That's not too bad, if you log in twice per day, 8-12 hrs apart... you can easily stay ahead of the energy. But if you can't? It's lost. So, for a small cost in crystals or a credit card charge, you buy levels of Energy Efficiency, each of which raises your energy cap by 8 hrs. No change to regen rates... it just accumulates to a higher amount, reducing how often you have to use it.
Simming Agent (I to II) - Hiring a Simming Agent allows you to set 3 - 5 times during the day at which; if you have not been online, the agent sims the highest level Challenges available to you. A level two agent also sims Galactic War.
Raiding Agent (I to III) - A Raiding Agent allows you to predefine a certain number of raiding teams for use in Pit, Tank or Sith Raids. A level 1 agent allows you to define a character who will automatically tag you in (0 dmg) as 'participating' in any raid as soon as that raid is opened by guild admin. A level 2 agent allows the player to define one participant squad and the raid phase that the squad should participate in. A level 3 agent would allow the player to define one participant squad for each of four phases.
Quartermaster (I to III) - The purpose of the Quartermaster is to use resources when a desired item is available. While currency doesn't decay and there is no cap on it, you are limited in the sense that you can only buy what is in the shop or only run missions a restricted number of times. Each level of Quartermaster could allow you to define 5 characters (shards) and 5 salvage/gear pieces that you automatically buy the moment it comes available in a shop via refresh. A Quartermaster will also Sim 5 Light or Dark missions and 5 Cantina missions for each level of the QM, as long as energy and hard mode chances still exist to run that fight. It wouldn't automatically spend crystals, for shop OR to extend energy total OR reset number of allowed attempts.
Diplomat - Automatically spends any allied points/tokens accumulated that day.
Logistics - Allows the player to boost their personal raiding tickets accumulation cap. Only 600 can be contributed to the guild in a given day, but with Logistics, any additional energy spent still generates tickets that are stockpiled for a rainy day.
Dressing Room (I to V) - Allow the player to select a character and in a 'test' dressing room, setting each mod, gear slot, shard level, ability rank, and so on to observe the result of upgrades on the final stats of the character. Allow the player to store one 'dressed' character per level of the dressing room.
GUILD
Team Logistics - allows a guild to raise its raiding ticket cap to prevent losses from rapidly accumulating ticket gains.
Raid Rules - Allows guild administrations to purchase the option to place a couple specific limitations on raids - Tag in Only for first X hrs, Minimum raid cycle (phase 2-4 never take less than Y hrs to complete, extra dmg is tracked for leaderboard but doesn't advance the fight to next phase timer counts down), Membership participation threshold (gp minimum, raid ticket contribution minimum, penalty box exclusion).
Simulated Raid - Allows guild admin to use a small amount of raid tickets to create a 'training' box for members. The Simulated Raid duplicates a single phase of any tier raid and can be reset and run multiple times with different squads by anyone in the guild for several days while it is active. Any real character AND any store Dressing Room character can be used in the Simulated Raid. This would allow guild strategists and planners to work out idea target squad makeup and inform guild members of the minimum effective gear/stats for participation.
As I lead with, none of these change any balance of power in game mechanics... instead, they focus on streamlining the action/efforts/time commitment of the player. They are definitely elements that I would be willing to pay for... far more so than I am willing to gamble on character shards with hidden huge RNG.
In fact, THAT is something I'd also be willing to pay for. Visibility of the actual odds of acquiring something in game. Whether that's the rate of a shard proc from a hard mode mission or a shop purchase
INDIVIDUAL
Energy Efficiency (I to V) - Energy and Cantina Energy accumulate slowly throughout the day, with occasional bonuses available in addition to the regular clock tick. What we 'can' earn and what we 'do' earn over the course of the day relies upon being able to actively be online to use that energy before it caps. Normally, these regen at 1 pt per 6 min (12 min for Cantina). With the level 85 cap at 144, this means 'full up' occurs at 14.4 (28.8) hrs. That's not too bad, if you log in twice per day, 8-12 hrs apart... you can easily stay ahead of the energy. But if you can't? It's lost. So, for a small cost in crystals or a credit card charge, you buy levels of Energy Efficiency, each of which raises your energy cap by 8 hrs. No change to regen rates... it just accumulates to a higher amount, reducing how often you have to use it.
Simming Agent (I to II) - Hiring a Simming Agent allows you to set 3 - 5 times during the day at which; if you have not been online, the agent sims the highest level Challenges available to you. A level two agent also sims Galactic War.
Raiding Agent (I to III) - A Raiding Agent allows you to predefine a certain number of raiding teams for use in Pit, Tank or Sith Raids. A level 1 agent allows you to define a character who will automatically tag you in (0 dmg) as 'participating' in any raid as soon as that raid is opened by guild admin. A level 2 agent allows the player to define one participant squad and the raid phase that the squad should participate in. A level 3 agent would allow the player to define one participant squad for each of four phases.
Quartermaster (I to III) - The purpose of the Quartermaster is to use resources when a desired item is available. While currency doesn't decay and there is no cap on it, you are limited in the sense that you can only buy what is in the shop or only run missions a restricted number of times. Each level of Quartermaster could allow you to define 5 characters (shards) and 5 salvage/gear pieces that you automatically buy the moment it comes available in a shop via refresh. A Quartermaster will also Sim 5 Light or Dark missions and 5 Cantina missions for each level of the QM, as long as energy and hard mode chances still exist to run that fight. It wouldn't automatically spend crystals, for shop OR to extend energy total OR reset number of allowed attempts.
Diplomat - Automatically spends any allied points/tokens accumulated that day.
Logistics - Allows the player to boost their personal raiding tickets accumulation cap. Only 600 can be contributed to the guild in a given day, but with Logistics, any additional energy spent still generates tickets that are stockpiled for a rainy day.
Dressing Room (I to V) - Allow the player to select a character and in a 'test' dressing room, setting each mod, gear slot, shard level, ability rank, and so on to observe the result of upgrades on the final stats of the character. Allow the player to store one 'dressed' character per level of the dressing room.
GUILD
Team Logistics - allows a guild to raise its raiding ticket cap to prevent losses from rapidly accumulating ticket gains.
Raid Rules - Allows guild administrations to purchase the option to place a couple specific limitations on raids - Tag in Only for first X hrs, Minimum raid cycle (phase 2-4 never take less than Y hrs to complete, extra dmg is tracked for leaderboard but doesn't advance the fight to next phase timer counts down), Membership participation threshold (gp minimum, raid ticket contribution minimum, penalty box exclusion).
Simulated Raid - Allows guild admin to use a small amount of raid tickets to create a 'training' box for members. The Simulated Raid duplicates a single phase of any tier raid and can be reset and run multiple times with different squads by anyone in the guild for several days while it is active. Any real character AND any store Dressing Room character can be used in the Simulated Raid. This would allow guild strategists and planners to work out idea target squad makeup and inform guild members of the minimum effective gear/stats for participation.
As I lead with, none of these change any balance of power in game mechanics... instead, they focus on streamlining the action/efforts/time commitment of the player. They are definitely elements that I would be willing to pay for... far more so than I am willing to gamble on character shards with hidden huge RNG.
In fact, THAT is something I'd also be willing to pay for. Visibility of the actual odds of acquiring something in game. Whether that's the rate of a shard proc from a hard mode mission or a shop purchase
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