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This is the business model of many free-to-play games. For instance: Overwatch relies on whales to purchase their excessively expensive and worthless in-game

This is the business model of many free-to-play games. For instance: Overwatch relies on whales to purchase their excessively expensive and worthless in-game skins, and fund the business.

alstonite 3y ago
In my experience most free-to-plays just use a battlepass nowadays and don’t rely on whales (though obviously all games have them) Gambling based games like cs:go and genshin absolutely apply to what you’re saying though
- whateveracct 3y ago
  Battle Pass is just a subscription with more steps. It was cool when I could just pay $50 for an online game and play it for years in dedicated servers so long as there were other people who paid $50 out there.
  - StableAlkyne 3y ago
    I miss community-hosted servers in games. Nowadays it's all servers that are only run by the developer, who could just flip a switch tomorrow and tell you "Remember that $80 you spent on Game 1 few years ago? You're gonna have to pay up again for Game 2. Also we're turning off the servers for Game 1."
    - pests 3y ago
      Overwatch 2 was odd because it was only half that. "Remember that $80 you spent on Game 1 a few years ago? Well, you get Game 2 for free. Also, were turning off the servers for Game 1" It doesn't sound as wrong but the community still hated it.
      - Jochim 3y ago
        > It doesn't sound as wrong but the community still hated it. It only seems odd if all context is left out. Blizzard's whole pitch for Overwatch 2 is that it would introduce single player and co-op PvE content. It didn't do that. Overwatch 2 was much stingier with rewards for gameplay than Overwatch 1. Overwatch 2 started locking new heroes behind a paywall, where they'd previously been entirely free in Overwatch 1. Overwatch 2 charged much more for it's items, and limited specific items to bundles in an attempt to force players to spend much more than they would for the item itself. Overwatch 2 made multiple changes to balance, that weren't always well received. The sad thing is that people seemed fairly excited for PvE Overwatch. That excitement was strangled through a combination of hubris, corporate greed, and an inability to deliver.
        spondylosaurus 3y ago
        There've been PvE missions for a few months now. I think part of the reason they were initially cut/delayed was because of all the shakeups at Blizzard after so many people left and/or got fired for misconduct. Also, you mention unpopular balance patches, but "Blizzard sucks at balancing" has been a complaint since the early days of OW1 :P I remember when the first Mercy rework dropped... and the Bastion rework... and everything about Brigitte...
        pests 3y ago
        They are only a glimpse of what was promised. They're void of humans and filled with bots now. No replayability and just a learning down.
        pauldenton 3y ago
        Do they have custom map support yet? Most of my time in TF2 was not spent on official maps. It seems like server browsers have been disappearing since the jump from MW1 to MW2, where the quality of the PC experience is dampened for the sake of making it more like the console experience.
        pests 3y ago
- mathgeek 3y ago
  Many use both in order to capture multiple types of buyers.
kaibee 3y ago
Buying skins in a game is the same thing as buying fashionable/brand-name clothes. Gambling is different.
- mugwumprk 3y ago
  I'm not in that industry, but if I was, I bet you could do something shady. Perhaps people who buy expensive skins have an increased chance of "luck" within the game. Critical hits may be more likely, more high quality gear drops. It's possible there isn't a clear line between gambling and fashion. At least, that's if the industry is unscrupulous, and I generally assume that describes most companies.
  - Darmody 3y ago
    Having played a lot of games, if that was the case, it would be vox populi. In all gaming communities there are very smart people and if the damage output is important, they'll have it traced, if loot if important, it'll be traced too.
  - mvdtnz 3y ago
    In the Call of Duty games if you purchase a premium skin the matchmaking algorithm tries to match you into servers where fewer (or no) players have that same skin, to increase the feeling of exclusivity. This is not a secret, Activision even patented the idea.
    - Terr_ 3y ago
      I wonder if anybody specifically gets "elite" skins to increase their odds of being matched against easier opponents.
- wellthisisgreat 3y ago
  Unless the skin is in a lootbox
- meristohm 3y ago
  I was a Hearthstone whale on a small scale relative to wealthier people and a large scale relative to my family's annual income. I wanted certain gold cards (rarer) for aesthetic reasons in my decks, and shortly before I quit all Blizzard games (for the slot machines they are, to me) I bought fifty packs just to get enough dust to craft the golden legendary I wanted. I did something similar with World of Warcraft, buying a level boost that I ended up not using, just to "round out my character list." It was a low point in my life and I will never go back to that behavior. I recognize these games can be used and enjoyed responsibly, just not by me and that's okay.

This is the business model of many free-to-play games. For instance: Overwatch relies on whales to purchase their excessively expensive and worthless in-game skins, and fund the business.

alstonite 3y ago

In my experience most free-to-plays just use a battlepass nowadays and don’t rely on whales (though obviously all games have them) Gambling based games like cs:go and genshin absolutely apply to what you’re saying though

whateveracct 3y ago
Battle Pass is just a subscription with more steps. It was cool when I could just pay $50 for an online game and play it for years in dedicated servers so long as there were other people who paid $50 out there.
- StableAlkyne 3y ago
  I miss community-hosted servers in games. Nowadays it's all servers that are only run by the developer, who could just flip a switch tomorrow and tell you "Remember that $80 you spent on Game 1 few years ago? You're gonna have to pay up again for Game 2. Also we're turning off the servers for Game 1."
  - pests 3y ago
    Overwatch 2 was odd because it was only half that. "Remember that $80 you spent on Game 1 a few years ago? Well, you get Game 2 for free. Also, were turning off the servers for Game 1" It doesn't sound as wrong but the community still hated it.
    - Jochim 3y ago
      > It doesn't sound as wrong but the community still hated it. It only seems odd if all context is left out. Blizzard's whole pitch for Overwatch 2 is that it would introduce single player and co-op PvE content. It didn't do that. Overwatch 2 was much stingier with rewards for gameplay than Overwatch 1. Overwatch 2 started locking new heroes behind a paywall, where they'd previously been entirely free in Overwatch 1. Overwatch 2 charged much more for it's items, and limited specific items to bundles in an attempt to force players to spend much more than they would for the item itself. Overwatch 2 made multiple changes to balance, that weren't always well received. The sad thing is that people seemed fairly excited for PvE Overwatch. That excitement was strangled through a combination of hubris, corporate greed, and an inability to deliver.
      - spondylosaurus 3y ago
        There've been PvE missions for a few months now. I think part of the reason they were initially cut/delayed was because of all the shakeups at Blizzard after so many people left and/or got fired for misconduct. Also, you mention unpopular balance patches, but "Blizzard sucks at balancing" has been a complaint since the early days of OW1 :P I remember when the first Mercy rework dropped... and the Bastion rework... and everything about Brigitte...
        pests 3y ago
        They are only a glimpse of what was promised. They're void of humans and filled with bots now. No replayability and just a learning down.
        pauldenton 3y ago
        Do they have custom map support yet? Most of my time in TF2 was not spent on official maps. It seems like server browsers have been disappearing since the jump from MW1 to MW2, where the quality of the PC experience is dampened for the sake of making it more like the console experience.
        pests 3y ago
mathgeek 3y ago
Many use both in order to capture multiple types of buyers.

kaibee 3y ago

Buying skins in a game is the same thing as buying fashionable/brand-name clothes. Gambling is different.

mugwumprk 3y ago
I'm not in that industry, but if I was, I bet you could do something shady. Perhaps people who buy expensive skins have an increased chance of "luck" within the game. Critical hits may be more likely, more high quality gear drops. It's possible there isn't a clear line between gambling and fashion. At least, that's if the industry is unscrupulous, and I generally assume that describes most companies.
- Darmody 3y ago
  Having played a lot of games, if that was the case, it would be vox populi. In all gaming communities there are very smart people and if the damage output is important, they'll have it traced, if loot if important, it'll be traced too.
- mvdtnz 3y ago
  In the Call of Duty games if you purchase a premium skin the matchmaking algorithm tries to match you into servers where fewer (or no) players have that same skin, to increase the feeling of exclusivity. This is not a secret, Activision even patented the idea.
  - Terr_ 3y ago
    I wonder if anybody specifically gets "elite" skins to increase their odds of being matched against easier opponents.
wellthisisgreat 3y ago
Unless the skin is in a lootbox
meristohm 3y ago
I was a Hearthstone whale on a small scale relative to wealthier people and a large scale relative to my family's annual income. I wanted certain gold cards (rarer) for aesthetic reasons in my decks, and shortly before I quit all Blizzard games (for the slot machines they are, to me) I bought fifty packs just to get enough dust to craft the golden legendary I wanted. I did something similar with World of Warcraft, buying a level boost that I ended up not using, just to "round out my character list." It was a low point in my life and I will never go back to that behavior. I recognize these games can be used and enjoyed responsibly, just not by me and that's okay.