A reality we all need to accept...
January 15, 2016 4:56PM
edited January 2016
We all need to understand that EA built this game for the whales, not F2P. The only reason they allow us in the room is only so those 1% they cater to have people to play with. The game would immediately shut down if they only had those 1% of players remaining because then all this game would be is a spending war of which elite player can buy the most junk to stay relevant.
For the players who don't have thousands to drop on SWGOH, I'd advise you use caution when spending money here because I expect the trend of future updates to work out similarly to this one as the paradigm of the game shifts as EA/CG meet financial targets.
Once they meet those numbers, the usefulness of F2P players will lessen and there will be similarly less content made to keep you around because they made the money they needed to from the whales and know they can slowly stop improving things as P2W players can walk away from thousands invested here and go do it elsewhere all over again.
In close, expect things to get harder for F2P as time passes and also expect to see the gaps widening between the elite P2W players and their F2P counterparts. I really feel for the newer players who don't have much resources and now will have a difficult time farming and growing. I've been told plenty of times that EA/CG know how to make money and this is the strategy that works, so I guess we'll have to wait and see but if this update is a sign of things to come, expect more conflict and anger.
There is not much more anyone can say going forward other than "good luck". In the end of the day, we've said our piece, now let's wait until this story ends to see who was right....
For the players who don't have thousands to drop on SWGOH, I'd advise you use caution when spending money here because I expect the trend of future updates to work out similarly to this one as the paradigm of the game shifts as EA/CG meet financial targets.
Once they meet those numbers, the usefulness of F2P players will lessen and there will be similarly less content made to keep you around because they made the money they needed to from the whales and know they can slowly stop improving things as P2W players can walk away from thousands invested here and go do it elsewhere all over again.
In close, expect things to get harder for F2P as time passes and also expect to see the gaps widening between the elite P2W players and their F2P counterparts. I really feel for the newer players who don't have much resources and now will have a difficult time farming and growing. I've been told plenty of times that EA/CG know how to make money and this is the strategy that works, so I guess we'll have to wait and see but if this update is a sign of things to come, expect more conflict and anger.
There is not much more anyone can say going forward other than "good luck". In the end of the day, we've said our piece, now let's wait until this story ends to see who was right....
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Replies
Amen my man
I didn't mention the whole GW mess in this post, just trends I believe are coming..
Well this statement just nullified your whole premise. I appreciate that you sincerely "believe" these trends are coming, just as I can come to grips that some people still "believe" the Earth is flat.
I respect the fact that is their true "belief " but until it is proven or in this case comes to pass it is all just conjecture.
That is the so generous, nearly all other games have 1 leaderboard with 1 reward given at one set time. F2P players don't get close to the top 100/1000 in these games yet F2P can obtain rank 1 here, at least for their 6pm reward time. While this may change in the future, currently they are still very generous to F2P, people are far too hard on them when in fact they are spoiled rotten in comparison to f2p in other games.
I remember when Elder Scrolls Online first came out on PC. It was fun at first, then it started to feel like I was playing an F2P game, as far as the massive time/money sinks. The problem with that, was that we paid $60+ upfront, and an additional $15 per month. So F2P styled tactics, such as creating a cash shop within the first 30-days, where you could flat out buy a mount, was a sensitive topic, as it was an indicator of things to come. It was especially insulting for those (not me) who forked over more initial purchase cost to get the deluxe editions, just to have their exclusivity removed. The Devs were trying to double dip. I wouldn't mind this tactic if it were an F2P, because it's known that is how they make their money, plus I wouldn't have to pay any initial costs just to try the game.
SWGOH is an F2P, so we know we can expect F2P tactics to be employed to take advantage of the targetted player's psychology profile, in order maximize profits (which is the point of a business). I'm not trying to say it as though they are some evil corporation, but that there is more to designing a game than artwork and coding. Whether each company does the work themselves, or are just using copycat knowledge from others, the F2P model is one that employs it's knowledge of human psychology to drive sales and repeat visits. That's why the most common sale items across F2Ps are "time saving" items. They specifically create time-barriers to take advantage of the common desire for humans to have things NOW. Then they sell you an item that lets you circumvent the timer, and make you feel as though you are getting some sort of true value from it.
Then, if an F2P adds a multiplayer mode, this REALLY sets things off, as not only do humans want to have their toys NOW, they also want to have the shiniest toys to show off to others, while sitting at the top of a leaderboard. All of which is very intentfully locked behind a pay wall.
All that being said, while SWGOH may currently have a slightly better/fair model than others, it's still an F2P, and if necessary, they will travel down the dark side in order to continue running, as you noted. The most we can do is not relinquish control of our patience, but also not forget that the game is free to anyone who chooses not to buy. In my opinion, it feels good to know I am not their psychological profile target audience. I would hate to be so predictable that the gaming development community could literally use a cookie cutter model (F2P) to milk me, and myself be too ignorant to realize it.
At the end of the day, everyone has a choice. EA/CG didn't force anyone to download the game, nor to make IAPs. Those players who fit the target profile, will do exactly as they are expected, and the F2P community will continue thrive. And I will be there getting my free entertainment from it, while it lasts. I'm used to decades of paying $50-$60+ upfront for games that turn out to be garbage, so I don't feel bad about milking free games, lol.
Sorry for any typos, I do all of my responses from my phone (as does probably everyone else).
I wholeheartedly disagree. I've not seen a single thing in the game that heavily favours p2p, the refill costs scaling ensure that almost all of the f2p can gear farm.
The latest characters that were added to the game (Rey, Kylo, Finn, Phasma, Poe) are all farmable where only Rey can be considered to be farmed slowly. (For comparison, I unlocked Kylo in 6 days of farming).
The Arena having possibly as many as 24 different payout times effectively mean that you're almost always guaranteed at getting 10 shards a day(top 200) where even the first place nets you ~13 shards a day.
GW prior to the change was easily completed by almost all forum-goers and from what it has been seen, at least the half of the player base in a daily basis.
The packs do not guarantee any OP toons and realistically the only OP toon 'FOTP' is farmable at two nodes and the close second Poe is entirely farmable in cantina. If anything the game has the perfect balance between f2p and p2p and heavily disfavours spending for the amount of in-game power you get.
And if I can beat a team that has been built by thousands of dollars with my 0$ team, I'd say if anything the game does not tilt heavily in favour of p2p.
I'm sorry but I find whoever that is pointing that this game is dying or is impossible as f2p simply do not grasp the in-depth game knowledge as many others like me have the complete opposite experience, could this change in time? Time will tell but right now the game is simply the perfect balance between f2p and p2p.
I don't see why they wouldn't find another way for the whales to contribute as they probably have made their fair share of money this past month or so and come up with ideas to #makethatmoney and make it feel a whole lot more player friendly.
I mean Marvel Future Fight ain't no highly competitive game and it feels so player friendly, even became so much better over time, they came up with great ideas updated alot of the game's mechanics and extra content/rooster to keep you entangled.
Playing for free has and should have a natural disadvantage
1) encourage spending
2) time in lieu of money
Time is a commodity, so free to play uses the mechanics of energy or set turns per (min/Hr) to encourage easy fast addictive play upfront (trial period) like a full console game then slowly weens you to the point where the penalty is increased time and less characters to encourage:incentivize you to make large purchases there by creating ownership which then makes your commitment to stay and make purchases more likely
True f2p value money more than time so they grind to compete ,where p2p value time over money and want more and greater content in shorter time periods
This is not judgement but a fact that many research studies have helped define and the reason for so many f2p is this model is very effective in achieving results
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/195806/chasing_the_whale_examining_the_.php?print=1
This article was written to explain the bigger picture idea beyond the update, that picture is that, in time, the F2P player will have a difficult time staying viable until eventually, there will be no place for them and all that will remain is the elite players....
Implying that I presume game to be complex? There are as many as 80 characters in the game in addition to many different abilities and stats. This means game knowledge, it does not make a game simple nor complex.
Chess is an incredibly simple game where there are only 6 different 'characters' yet has incredible knowledge depth attached to it so knowledge/simplicity don't actually have to match.
So we just need to sit here and accept your assumption of the future? Yeah ok I'll get right on that. While your at it can I get some lotto numbers? Or I this a may I buy drugs from you thing?
Just for s&g, what is your pricing suggestion? What would they have to change for you to become a "whale" and drop thousands in this game?
This is the debate on price....a f2p stands on principle or is just bitter on the degree of thier desire
Ok, so let me get this straight.
1) You think it's foolish to spend thousands on this game (or any game) regardless of personal wealth.
2) you think the pricing structure of this game is foolish
3) You are hoping the devs listen to your email and change the structure to make said structure less foolish.
So, why do you care what the pricing structure is, if you aren't going to participate in it because you find it foolish? If your approach is that people should not be wasting money on IAP, and this game relies on IAP to survive, then why in the heck would the developers listen to you?
Also, if you believe it's an addiction that is causing people to spend all this money on the game, then there is no price change that they can create that would fix this. It's like people addicted to cigarettes. They smoke a pack of regulars a day, but if they get 'lites' they smoke 2 packs a day. The only solution is to stop completely and adjusting the pricing isn't going to fix that (because they will just spend what they normally would have, but get more).
And this is based on the in-game data that you possess right? Even though I agree that the pricing structure might change as this was a testing period, it is simply a lot assumption to say that and also insult to people who keep the game running.
How a person decides to spend their money is their own business unless they interfere with your experience.
Pretty small minded comment there. We must be fools to have worked and excelled in our field to have the disposable income to "flush" as you call it. Brilliant assessment. I spend on what I want because I have busted my butt all my life to earn money so I could enjoy whatever I wanted. If that is dropping a few hundred on a game over the weekend so be it. If it is a Limo out on the town partying, so be it. If it is a $1,000 bottle of scotch to go with a nice Cuban, so be it. I have multiple degrees with honors and highest level certifications in 3 different industries. I am no fool my friend, just someone who has worked hard to be able to spend on things I wish to, be it a Limo, vacation, Booze, or a game.
Thank you though for the brilliant assessment of me though. I will keep it close to my heart and not ever forget the wisdom you shared with me on that comment,lol.
Is that what your data is showing?
Ok ok ok , sure sounds like you can't afford the packs (or at least determine they are such bad value that you won't buy them) and that the only way for you to afford/value the packs is to have them much cheaper.
Up to this point you sound like you are fighting against IAP, but in reality you are fighting against the prices of IAP. So, if an addict can get an 8x pack for 20 bucks, and then you drop the price to 10 bucks, won't they just buy 2 packs instead?
So are you fighting against IAP, and how they harm individuals and people get addicted, or are you fine with IAP you just feel they need to be priced based on your personal preference?
To be honest, I am down for as cheap as possible. If 8x packs were a penny, I would buy a gazillion. I hope they listen to you, because I will get more for my money!!