Gatekeeping is Killing Our Community: Why We Must Welcome New Free-to-Play Players Now

[weary plume]

Gatekeeping is Killing Our Community: Why We Must Welcome New Free-to-Play Players Now

Our community is facing a significant challenge: the reluctance to welcome new players, particularly those who play for free. It's disheartening to see gatekeeping behaviors, where a select few try to monopolize rewards, ignoring the broader potential that every member can bring. This mindset is not just damaging—it's unsustainable.

The Underestimated Power of Free-to-Play Players

Let's set the record straight: free-to-play players are not a burden—they're an asset. They are often the lifeblood of any gaming community, driving engagement, activity, and, most importantly, growth. They bring diversity, fresh ideas, and new energy that keep the community dynamic and evolving. By turning away F2P players, we're not just shutting out potential investors; we're stifling the community's potential to expand and thrive.

The Ripple Effect of Inclusivity

Free-to-play players have a unique way of contributing to the ecosystem. They create content, share experiences, recruit new members, and often become the most passionate advocates for the games they love. When they feel valued and included, they spread the word, bring in new players, and generate excitement. This organic growth is far more powerful than any marketing campaign.

Moreover, F2P players can become paying players over time. When they experience a welcoming environment and see the value in the project, they are more likely to invest. This natural progression from free to paid is a crucial aspect of a sustainable community model.

Gatekeeping Hurts Us All

Gatekeeping creates a toxic environment where only a few benefit, and the broader community suffers. It fosters resentment, discourages new members

[dapper crest]

i would like to know what you mean by Gatekeeping, and what you want us to do about it. I don't see an issue nor a solution 👀 you just say that in general Gatekeeping is bad, does that happen in Illuvium? if so, where? how?

"Our community is facing a significant challenge: the reluctance to welcome new players, particularly those who play for free."

this can be in the form of ignoring new members, or making it difficult for people to enter the Illuvium game.

"It's disheartening to see gatekeeping behaviors, where a select few try to monopolize rewards, ignoring the broader potential that every member can bring."

This strikes at the airdrop being for paid players primarily and not for free to players, as paying players get the highest rewards?

So there are three possible issues you might be describing here, i would like you to clarify which one you would like to address and then come up with a solution to this issue

Or at least think about a solution! 🙂 no need to come up with a solution, but at least be clear 😛

[blissful tulip]

Though I can't speak for OP, I think I get where he's coming from as I myself have noticed that when I give feedback regarding the current gameplay loops being unrewarding/not fun and then offering solutions that usually call for a push towards more f2p content/features or a web2-first gaming focus, it's quite common that someone will try to counter with saying things like, "these attempts will just devalue our assets and we can't just rugpull investors like that. So let's just keep the Illuvium community to people who will invest in the economy to keep the value of our assets up and forget about catering to f2p gamers as they'll just leech value from us." This is what I feel would constitute as gatekeeping by OP.

As I say this, I also see that some of the feedback posts calling for more f2p content have actually gained a lot of positive sentiment, so the representation of opposing viewpoints in these discussions may be a bit skewed.

Nonetheless, I personally feel as though the dev team is already aware of the need to nail the gameplay content by offering a strong and compelling gaming experience in order to succeed in the crypto-gaming space. Given our gacha-like "pack opening" system for attaining Illuvials, it just makes sense to focus on f2p content that incentivizes pulling for more Illuvials to save time on progression in said f2p content. So for me personally, I just want to know if the dev team shares the same values or has something better planned 🤷‍♂️