This is The Way to monetize. I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.
If you want to get the full collection and don't care about the order in which you get it, that system works great for you. You will be able to get everything at a predetermined price (excluding gold earned for free through gameplay, if any). But if you are only interested in specific favorite pieces, then you are dealing with a cleverly-disguised lootbox mechanic; you pay gold to get a randomly-selected new piece in the shop that may or may not be the one you are hunting for. Or you can buy the piece you don't like anyway in order to increase the odds of getting the one you want in the future.It seems like Google saw through their "no lootboxes" loophole. If you say you don't have lootboxes, why don't you just list all pieces individually in the shop so that anyone can purchase any pieces they like at any time they like?
This...seems ok. I may try this game then. Is it known is the pay currency (gold i guess it seems) is only via rmt or can a f2p player slowly accrue it on there own to get a few minis at a f2p pace?If thats the case (and its not TOO slow) this could be a fun replacement for AFK Arena which i played for 3 years but stopped last year due to finally getting tired of it (f2p).
There are still so many ways mobile games take advantage of their customers. Abstract currencies, consumables, time savers, boosts - all of these monetization methods could still be present. It's great that loot boxes (as we currently define them) won't be in the game, but people should still avoid 'games' like this. They drive addiction, gambling, irresponsible spending and encourage companies to allocate resources to projects which lack creativity, innovation and passion. King (Activision) has been targeting children with titles like this for decades. Exploitative mobile game development explicitly targets and takes advantage of children. Titles like these should be heavily regulated and given classifications that prevent them from being downloaded by minors. It's questionable whether or not the mechanisms in these 'games' are even ethical and justifiable for older audiences given how they are designed to take advantage of those who struggle with addiction and responsible spending.
I played Clash Royale and I had pretty competitive deck as a full f2p player and this model seems much better to me. Especially if it's true that all cards are the same level in pvp, that's a big thing.
The objection to loot boxes isn’t based on what you MUST spend (which looks to be $0). It is based on the temptation and introduction of gambling. If it is possible to pay real money that may result in something of benefit that isn’t guaranteed - this is gambling. Offering temptation for anyone under 18 to gambling in a few countries is very heavily prohibited.The reason why Apple and Google started agreeing to limit loot box style systems in their apps at the request of specific countries is because the laws impacting minors usually comes with jail time. The publisher/distribution platform has equal liability here.I like loot boxes personally, but I would expect limitations on the game or which countries have access down the track.