TRM Debate: Root Question is How to Monetize Hardcore PvErs?

[KisaiTenshi]

I've never seen a way to monetize hardcore players that isn't sleazy as hell.

Because it's always sleazy. Look up the term "skinner box", or watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c

Hence, Slot Machines, Gatchapon, Lottery mechanics, and so forth are the ways you get people to spend money. Freemium games hence load up on the amount of skinnerbox mechanics in cash shop items (chance to win 1 item of 100 items, with maybe 4 items not being vendor trash.) Whales will keep buying these until they get that item.

Every freemium game does this with costumes, dyes and even pots that just make you invincible for 3 minutes (HP,MP, Stamina, ammo, etc unlimited.)

They know the whales will just buy those invincible pots to get ahead of their friends unwilling to spend money on the game.

In small amounts, it's fine, and isn't toxic, if you can get the invincible pot and only use one per 24 hours, it's less damaging than being able to just spam 20 of them to get through the hardest content, and even then that hardest content might have an instant-kill mechanic that makes using it foolish. Then you have things like lag and server crashes that makes these whale targeted items have the highest support costs.


In a subscription game, the game cost is front-loaded. Everyone who bought the game and subscribed for at least a month will likely spend more time in the game having a good time in 30 days than someone in a freemium game for 3 days who can't get anywhere without either being "powerleveled" by a friend who has already beat the content or towed through the game by paying someone to do it (which incidentally people do in FFXIV as well for the EX clears.)

The only time you ever start on a fair playing field in a freemium game is when the game is open-world PvP AND you can effectively hinder whales progress who abuse their position. Archeage and Wizardy online both employed mechanics like this, and you could actually hinder even the RMT bots (sometimes that was more fun than the game content, because it's a game to figure out which one will fight back.)


In short here is how FFXIV would look if it was on the Freemium bandwagon:
- All the items from every event? Cash shop gachapon, no need to actually do the event
- All items from every previous event? Cash shop gachapon
- No dyes in the game, Cash shop gachapon
- All the Materia in the game is vendor trash, get Grade XX from Material gachapon
- All the blue gear in the game is vendor trash, get ilevel 9000 gear from the cash shop, also can't npc it, trade it, exchange it for seals
- Spirit/Anima/Zodiac/Relic weapons eat regular gear, remember to feed all your vendor trash to it, also you can only repair with pots from the cash shop that cost $25 to repair fully
- Get the "experience booster" earring, only works while you pay 9.99$/mo
- No free retainers, every retainer is 2.00/mo
- Crafting is trash, every item you can craft requires cash shop crystals or spending months fighting elementals. Can't mine/harvest/fish them.
- Fishing games every second event, fish up nothing but vendor trash and consumables
- All the best consumables are cash shop gachapon

If you don't know which game I'm making fun of, It's stuff I've seen in Mabinogi, Wizardy Online and Archeage, and few other games going back to 1999.