After reading a lot of differing opinions my stance on P2W in Lost Ark has changed. I do agree that P2W is prevalent in other successful MMO’s so I don’t believe that’s a deterring factor for western players.
The difference is how P2W is presented in those top performing western MMOs and Korean MMOs…
If this game wants to maintain a high player count for years to come and does not want a large majority of western players to quit the game the moment they open the gem shop then the whole system needs to be redesigned…
Gem currencies needs to be deleted as a whole and everything needs to be purchased through gold even though gold is purchasable by selling cosmetics. The shop needs to be redesigned to make it look less like a mobile game shop and some blatantly egregious systems like Marie’s secret shop need to be toned down a lot to cater towards the western market.
At the end of the day all I want is for this game to not be on life support in a few years with only a handful of high populated servers that still cause difficulty in forming groups or matchmaking two teams together in PVP but from my experience in gaming that will be the case as the very obvious and mobile game-like P2W systems will deter many western gamers.
The Lost Ark veterans may not like those western gamers but you need them to keep your game alive and thriving so in conclusion, keep P2W but change the way it’s implemented heavily to something more palatable to westerns.
Blue gems are just converted Gold and royal crystals are the game’s premium currency so removing it would just mean you buy things directly with money which is almost identical to how it already is. I agree with the shop’s layout as I personally don’t like it also but regarding Mari’s secret shop in other regions it refreshes once every 3 days which I also hope/believe will be the same for the western release assuming the beta was just sped up to showcase how it would work in the 7 days it was active (also the prices in that secret shop during the beta were massive scams and you would have to be an idiot or a whale to use them)
In my opinion, the amount of p2w is already at a tolerable level with everything reasonably accessible to f2p players, my main issue is how in your face Mari’s shop is when you open the cash shop and as a result deters a lot of players when in reality most of them won’t ever use the shop if they are smart and should be put in its own tab rather than the home screen. (i also remember hearing that Mari’s shop helps prevent player made prices from going outrageously high as if it does go near the shop price you would just buy from the shop)
Gems are an instant correlation to mobile games and P2W for a lot of people. It would still be identical you’re right, but the correlation to P2W would be lessened significantly.
If a premium over gold is absolutely needed then platinum coins would be better than any sort of gem.
Didn’t think about that but your right but it would also be a big change from other versions so i doubt they would do it (a friend refers to the royal crystals in the beta as Bezos Bucks )
This is similar to my stance regarding this, the P2W aspects in this game aren’t nearly as bad as your first impressions might make you believe - which is a huge failure in part from the developers for not being able to properly communicate this to new players.
The game has a lot of systems reminiscent of P2W that, despite being inconsequential in the long run, will scare away a lot of players.
I would prefer that any premium currency to gold conversion to be removed from the game entirely. No selling premium currency to players in return for gold at all. Remove any and all mechanics that incentivize you to buy premium currency.
Premium currency should not be a thing in the first place but as a mechanic to leap frog from RMT payment to buying something from the store is fine. The only things purchasable on the store should be cosmetic in nature. Paying for additional character slots, name changes, extra gear loadouts seems fine to me.
I did not like that the skins available in the beta gave you a percentage increase in stats. That needs to be removed. Unless even free skins give the exact same stats. Although playing through the beta I did not find such free skins if they exist at all.
This part I will 100% agree on, it has been the main cause of most if not all of the P2W arguments, I can see where the P2W assumptions come from when you open the shop and half your page is covered with the secret shop sales. While it is not really detrimental to the game itself, the way it is presented is off-putting.
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