tired of paywalls

[surreal valley]

I recently after years I just got back into this game, but I’m fairly tired of all the paywalls. (such as the engineer and other characters. Subscription just to repair gear with gold, and things of that nature.) now I love games that are based around the idea of RPGs but I am thinking about stopping permanently because if you don’t have a fortune of money to buy everything including gems the game comes to grinding halt to only later feel almost unplayable without paying real cash. Does anyone else feel similar or am I alone on this?

[ripe depot]

Welcome to mobile gaming and their monetization.

But in all seriousness. Yes, the game is easier if you pay. Yes, you can play the game without paying. It is only a pay to get ahead or progress faster.

[sharp fox]

This is a more free to play friendly game than 99% of free mobile games.

They have also recently added in crafting dice which was a major source of money through purchases during ToT and through gem rerolls.

[void ingot]

10 bucks a month is the only pay wall.

[empty fern]

the problem is that the paywalls arent progression based but actual locks, with workers and gold repairs being completely unavailable(and royal merchants already get a discount on gold repairs too, which makes it an odd choice).

having repairs open and still giving RM discounts(perhaps even better discount, or even discount on gem repairs) and have workers purchasable with gems(an equal or even slightly above equivalent would be about 4-5k gems?) would still have people buying and spending gems and would still take a reasonable amount of time for the average player to get in game(saving an extra 25k gems on top of other expenses like content passes and gear upgrades,etc...) and giving even the free players more long term goals is better for player retention

[surreal valley]

@void ingot when you work 8-12 hours per day full time and have bills it is. Not everyone has disposable income in which to spend on a game.

[sharp fox]

If you are struggling to pay the bills then worrying about free mobile games should be the least of your worries. You can already do everything in the game for free. People have gotten to level 80 without buying anything. So if you don't want to spend money on the game don't, many people don't.

[dry nacelle]

I got lvl 53 in 2 months with only Royal merchant

I don't get the point of going on about this game being "P2W" You'll only progress faster in exp if you buy gems and transfer it into gold

[ripe depot]

The thing is, you dont need the payed workers. They only unlock extras but arent needed to play the base game. The only thing is repairs indeed but the game also gives you a lot of repair kits for free.

[ripe depot]

Like Zenkiki said, this might not be the game for you if you can't afford it and feel like you can't play the game without paying. In the end we all play games to have fun and if you don't have fun in a game then its time for a new one.

[empty fern]

whether or not you 'need' something is irrelevant, a large portion of people are still being locked out of certain things and when new players are introduced to more and more things that they will never be able to achieve regardless of how much effort they put in, it can be incredibly demoralizing, and flat out suggesting people are better off leaving if they cant afford a ftp game only further validates my point

[dry nacelle]

Sounds like weak mentals that's about it tbh

[wary berry]

It's not the first time people suggest to move on, play other game or something else. Not even the second or third time.

Hello Kabam, do something.

[ripe depot]

The need is the most important part. Mobile games use marketing to feed of your feeling of missing out (FOMO). They hope you feel left out so that you spent money. It will never change. It is how mobile games work. So spending energy and being bumbed out on it is just wasted.

I felt like the bp packs became to much and havent bought any for a few months. I also didn't buy the last worker because I didnt feel like I needed it.

But I think we can leave it at an agree to disagree

[drowsy shard]

I've never felt anything nessisarily locks a f2p player out. The closest has always been lack of full moon fusions on demand and as long as you prep during the month and can be on a few times during the day, even that isn't so bad. I could go through each purchase option and why they aren't nessisary to play the game, but I don't want to and doubt anyone wants to read that.

I think a lot of it comes down to having to adapt your playstyle in some areas, understanding some of the mechanics more in depth, and not judging your own numbers by the numbers that whales can produce.
(P.s. I'm an almost level 72 f2p player who has never even entered a giveaway drawing)

If you're feeling stuck there's always a way. Ask around, the community here is generally knowledgeable and try to be helpful to everyone. This is a free game with no ads, I find it hard to be upset at them having a subscription option or premium workers when I'm proof that none of it is necessary

[void ingot]

Homie, I don't know what to tell you. Game devs have to eat too. They put man hours and skills into the creating this game and deserve compensation from somewhere.

[gleaming hull]

but you do realise this is the dev's "8-12 hours per day" job, right? Why should they make it all available for free, would you work for free?

I agree with what others have been saying, as a game this is quite f2p friendly, most "paywalls" are only around exclusive stuff that is completely extra and the repair for gold is countered with having multiple sources of kits. If you could achieve everything for free while having few time to play, there would be no game left for most of their dedicated players in no time.

The only thing I really have to say against the model, as a mostly f2p player, is that as a RM I'd want it to be the end-all for supporting the game, not that you are still being offered these other things to spend real money on constantly. If you are paying a subscription, you should get at least most everything included.

[grizzled veldt]

Well, i am agree about engeneer - with her game much more easier) But in end game even without royal merchant its normal. I think you can buy engeneer and all. its not so expensive like royal merchant all year.

[drowsy shard]

I would say engineer is one of the least useful premium workers but that's getting me a bit off topic.

I think if anything I think it would be nice tongive f2ps a way to craft premium bps that they get off of LCoG and KC. Especially with LCoG every time there's a premium BP I see a lot of disappointment.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect f2p to access the workers other benefits but maybe something like unlock their bps with both research scrolls and a gem cost for each BP. It wouldn't be fast or easy but at least there would be a pathway to craft that shiny opulent t14 thing. And let's face it the premium workers real benefit is their ability not the bps they innately give you

[gleaming hull]

I think it would be really hard to get an agreement on this. I personally would feel disappointed if the RL money I spent on a worker for their BP's + ability was suddenly only for the ability, it would make premium workers quite a bit more expensive. I think it happens already, but if it doesn't then consider this a suggestion, but you can get random BP's for a line you don't have, during KC for example, but you can then only craft that one item from that line. If it needs a premium BP as precraft, well then you have to use the market. Like that the probability of someone getting a workable "fake premium worker" line without spending money on it would be really small and anyway require an insane amount of playtime.

You can already buy premium items on the market so you aren't locked out of using those, which is important to make the game f2p friendly and tbh they could have very well not allowed that.

[drowsy shard]

The issue with only crafting the one item is that you need to be able to level the worker up to be able to craft the item. If all I can access is a t12 how do I level the worker to be able to craft a t12?

[gleaming hull]

you need to get your hands on a lower level BP. Tbh I already have BP's that have seated unused for ages because of not having the worker level, but I do get your point. Maybe if this is implemented they could use a neighbouring BP to give (a small amount of) XP to the premium worker too. This way if you have that worker you get a little boost and if you don't you can grind for it.

[drowsy shard]

The lowest bps you can get are t4 which you still need to level your worker up to be able to craft

[gleaming hull]

Say a staff could give scholar XP, Sundra stuff could give Mundra XP, bows could give guns and crossbows XP, etc

but keep in mind that I don't know what I'm talking about, this could very well either break the game or actually happen already, as I havn't checked

[drowsy shard]

I'd be fine with something like that too. Heck personally I'm fine never being able to craft any premium bps. I just also know it can feel like a kick in the seat to finally beat your first LCoG and to never be able to craft the grand prize you earned

[rotund sonnet]

Like others have written already the only real paywall is RM since you can access all items via the market without owning any worker

I don't have any of the premium workers and I'm doing fine

[gleaming hull]

same, as the owner of a premium worker I'd be fine with "other" people getting the BP's using their own KC currency or as a reward from another event and then having that grind as opposed to just buying with RL money. The worker then becomes not only about the ability(they aren't really worth the cost IMHO) but also the BP's accessibility and lack of extra grind. Also still agree that there is no real need to be able to craft the BP's yourself

[drowsy shard]

I don't disagree nessisarily. Just acknowledging that you and I are at a point where LCoG can be finished almost passively and another opulent BP isn't a big deal. For a player who has done it for the first time it is and should feel like a huge achievement. I can understand feeling slighted even if I don't really feel it myself.

[stoic sky]

The paid workers are DLCs. I play tons of games where I don't buy the dlcs.. it doesn't hurt the play-ability of this game at all.

Shop Titans does a far better job than most of not locking new players out of old content (blueprints never fully retire, you can always pick them up in antiques, even cash pack blueprints) I've never seen that anywhere else.

Is there an occasional event blueprint that's 'not for me' sure.. but that's rare and I get a ton of other loot from the event so it's not really a big deal.

RM is not necessary. Repairing with gold is stupid expensive and you can absolutely farm repair kits and just let gear break. There is no reason to run full legendary other than showing off. Content is completely winnable without it. Dress them in the right low quality gear and replace it when it breaks if you can't afford the repair kit. I've set up repair kit rules for myself. If I'm over 100 repair kits in stock I'll repair whatever breaks, once I dip under 100, normal quality just breaks.

This game isn't even pay to win, its pay to... convenience. Yeah, that guy breaking his credit card limit buying gems etc progresses a bit faster, but eventually he still hits a wall.. and in my experience they get far less enjoyment out of the game and retire a lot sooner than f2p players that have worked for the gains they've gotten and feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

[fast whale]

Was there not a time (long time ago) when you couldn't invest in prem worker buildings if you didn't own them or am I not remembering things correctly. I recall people specifically looking for players that owned scholar and engineer in their recruiting efforts. I'd consider that more of a paywall since it would involve spending money just to not be holding other people down due to inability to invest. Best you have right now is inconvenience because you can only create kits on certain days and can't repair with gold. (before kits could be fused it was definitely not fun to not have RM)