Edit: Payment models, P2W concept and a proposal (Topic exhausted - Please Do not reply)
As you all know, there are different strategies that companies often resort to in search of financing their products or making them as widely accessible.
In general, around these decisions, the discussion of the P2W concept and how healthy it can be from the consumer's point of view is usually created.
First you have to understand what P2W is.
Contrary to what many tend to say, there is no single definition of what this means.
For convenience, the word win is often attributed to everything related to the power acquired by a character and his consequent ability to measure himself against other characters in the game.
But the reality is that a video game does not revolve solely around the power of the character as many tend to affirm, if so, video games should only be processors of values and calculations in search of the best possible number.
No, video games evolved to the point of becoming more than just numbers, they are a virtual world full of stories, music, sound effects, visuals and much more.
With this in mind, excluding any of these components from the formula for success is very pretentious and unrealistic.
Not all players seek to be the best in terms of numbers, many define their success in the game in aspects such as the acquisition of each available visual option, others seek to achieve the best optimization of their time, others optimize the management and performance of its resources, etc.
Unfortunately, the abuse of those who claim to know what it means to ¨win¨ has left out these types of players who have to constantly deal with the reality of seeing how their goals within a game are used as a source of regulating income.
Cosmetics or quality of life enhancement items are not P2W!
How many times have you heard this statement?
Well, it is shown that it is not only a false statement but it is one that focuses on a single style of player and the need for companies to deal with their billing.
In the past, access to all the content of a video game required a single payment, this was affected by the incorporation of micropayment stores, season passes, alternative dlc, lootboxes, etc.
Currently, accessing all available content requires a totally exaggerated investment from the point of view of a single consumer when choosing for virtual entertainment and instead a model was chosen that ensures that no one can have it all except for a few.
A division was generated among the consumer base regarding access to content with a strong purchasing power factor, even reaching ridiculous amount of money to invest if what is sought is not to lose available content.
Let's see examples with some values for reference:
- Payment of the base game (and each future expansion) 60 usd - subscription payment 15usd per month - Without store.
In this case, through 2 types of payment, users have access to all the content available in the game.
- Free access - subscription payment 15usd per month - Micropayments store.
In this model, access to the game is made more accessible since payment for the game is omitted, but it is compensated with a payment store that makes it impossible in the future to acquire all the available content without spending a ridiculous fortune in the process.
- Free access - without subscription - Micropayments store.
In this other model, the concept of facilitating entry is extended even more, leading to permanence since the need for monthly payment is eliminated, on the contrary, all income is generated in the store making access to all available content impossible.
As can be seen, the methods used by companies in search of managing the number of potential users and their billing capacity seriously damage fundamental aspects of a video game since they feed on the exclusivity of access to basic issues such as the aesthetic appearance of the characters , pets, mounts, consumables, account level upgrades, power-ups, etc.
What I propose is the following:
Optional payment for the game 60usd (includes access to Tier I of the store) - Optional payment of 5usd per month for access to the Tier II store - Mandatory subscription payment 15usd per month - Micropayments store.
With this model, those who choose to pay for the game will have access to all the cosmetics in the store within the Tier I category.
Those who want full access (previous unlocking of Tier I) can opt for an additional payment of 5usd per month thus having access to Tier II of the store.
Those who only opt for the monthly payment will be able to make purchases of Tier I and II objects through individual payments in the store.
In this way, the objective of eliminating the barrier of incorporation of players raised by Steven is maintained and at the same time it is avoided to harm those who can opt for a more traditional model and full access to the content through an additional payment system that does not result in ridiculous values.
