Best Of

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales.

I don’t have a particular opinion on the sales, hence my lack of comment, but this is just blatantly wrong. “Predatory” has been standard language used to describe all sort of gacha mobile game tactics designed to trick people into spending money, we’ve had literal legislation written because of it. We have drop rates on crystals because of this. Again, I make no comment on whether such language deserves to be applied here to MCOC but this feels like a ridiculous claim to make given the very real specter that hangs around similar games.

You can call it what you want. I don't agree. No one is being tricked into anything. Also, I was around when the Drop Rates were posted. I don't need a lesson on that.
*also worth noting that there exists no such law. The Drop Rates were posted because they were required by the platforms MCOC has partnered with, and they honored that.

you're not really listening.

the game is losing some of it's magic, whether you spend $6k a year or $2k the experience is the same, nothing really matters and it feels like we're sleep-walking into the next rarity wondering what's the point. this time next year they could announce 8*s for release in summer 2027 and it feels empty. how will 8*s be any different than what they're currently doing?

I listened. I also said I respect that you feel that way, and I'm sure others do as well.
The topic is about how much monetization is too much, and that's what I'm addressing. There is no such thing as too much in a game that makes it optional. For literal years, they've been saying that not all offers are for everyone. That's not just a blanket statement, that's literal. Also, monetizing less isn't going to help the game be less stale.
Now, if someone had an issue with the newest shiniest things always being too expensive, that I could see. I don't have any control over that, but I get it. What I take issue with is the idea that they're monetizing too much in general because that's just asinine. They're a business. They need to do business things. Businesses are a lot like Hollywood movies. If something has a modicum of success, they'll keep doing it until it stops working.

Doesn’t sustainability matter? At some point, if you burn out your user base, you lose your consumers, and the game is dead anyways.

This is just a conversation to point out maybe this path forward of maximizing short term gains may not be good for long term success, as this event used to be exciting… this year it just felt stale and overly aggressive. Based on the reaction from this segment it’s not fun anymore, and I’d wager a bet that this sentiment is probably true throughout the highly engaged segment of the community.

I doubt creator videos about Crystal openings do as well as they used too. Because if there’s always a Crystal event it’s really not interesting.

Sometimes people burn out. That's nothing new. Based on your original post, it sounds like you're just over the game in general. It happens. That doesn't mean you speak for the entire community.

it's not simply "burnout", it's also value.

a group throws 2 giant parties a year and everyone is there having a great time drinking and eating quality food. the entrance fee is $100.

then they go from 2 parties a year costing $100 each to 8 parties a year costing $100 each and in every party the quality of food and drinks goes way down. you go from champagne and rare cognac to sparkling water and coke and for the sake of argument let's say that socializing isn't the point.

would most people still go? why would they spend 4 times as much for things that don't matter? why go to all 8 parties if you can show up to 1 or 2 and still have the same general experience? people will start looking at the flyers for the next "big party" and just roll their eyes.

nothing against kabam making money, it's great, and they should do it, but there comes a point where things lose their sparkle.

There are worse hobbies, guys 🤷‍♂️

Edison, have you ever wondered if you're asking the wrong question?

You're asking people to 'rate' Mr Fantastic twice: (1) how do they think other people rate him, and (2) how do they personally rate him?

Then they compare the two to decide if he's overrated or underrated.

However, a few years on the forums is more than enough to learn that actually, we're pretty bad at judging other people's opinions.

So two people might both think Mr Fantastic is pretty good. Person A thinks other people hate Mr Fantastic. Person B thinks other people think he's pretty good.

So, Person A says he's Underrated.
Person B says he's Perfectly rated.

So what have we actually learned about Mr Fantastic?

I'd say: nothing. We didn't actually learn either person's opinion about Mr Fantastic, which is that both person A and B think the same thing: that he's pretty good.

So, why not just ask if Mr Fantastic is good?

Or add a scale like Poor-Mid-Useful-Strong-Amazing?

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales.

I don’t have a particular opinion on the sales, hence my lack of comment, but this is just blatantly wrong. “Predatory” has been standard language used to describe all sort of gacha mobile game tactics designed to trick people into spending money, we’ve had literal legislation written because of it. We have drop rates on crystals because of this. Again, I make no comment on whether such language deserves to be applied here to MCOC but this feels like a ridiculous claim to make given the very real specter that hangs around similar games.

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

from a customer POV, the oversaturation of offers literally waters down the product and also makes us less excited for big deals since they're happening like every other month now. they're good and exciting in a sense and fund the game, but still.

end gamers might be paying $5000 a year for the same experience they had for $800 8 years ago. it's just not worth spending anymore since ranks reset every year anyway. why feel FOMO when you can just wait it out.

That's entirely up to you, and I'm sure other people feel that way as well. That doesn't mean they're going to stop marketing. Others will spend, and more power to them. It keeps the game going.

i'm not mad that they're selling anything, like you said it funds the game, but from a customer POV, the game doesn't have the same magic it did 5 years ago, even though i think that the launch and rollout of 7*s is/was very good.

every other month is a sale, the biggest sales have lost their shine, everyone has all the champs, champs are somehow LESS important than were, whatever you buy in january loses all value by december, and we're 2 years into 7*s and it feels like 8*s are literally around the corner so we can repeat the process all over again.

The game has been monetized all along, in one way or another. The fact that people are offended or surprised by this seems a bit odd to me. There will always be things you can't have without paying. As a consumer, my job is to decide a) if I can afford it, and b) if it appeals to me. If I don’t buy something, I'm not entitled to it for free.

GW as per usual not getting the point. This isn't about spending in general it's about the fact that the more sales we have, the more expensive they get.

The game has been around for 10 and a half years, give or take. You think the market hasn't changed over that amount of time?
All money does at its base function in this game is accelerate time. Unless something is exclusively only available for purchase, which very few things are in this game, then spending saves time.
The OP talked about the frequency of sales and the effect on casual spenders and FTP Players. There is no tit for tat in this game. There's no competition between spending and non-spending Players. It's just not a thing. No one would spend if they gave every perk to people for free.
Equally, a casual spender spends at their leisure, and isn't always the targeted audience for all sales, especially when they're higher in value. Those Offers are more likely aimed at the big spenders.
It IS about whether they monetize or not because there's no such thing as too much. They don't owe amends for monetizing to the people who don't or barely spend. They're a business. So they're going to make their money in whatever way works, and the only expectation on people to buy it all is the one they place on themselves.

Market has been changing during those 10 years yes but it didn't happen overnight it was gradual, this time the minimum for the good stuff went from $400 to $600 in three months. Also at one point it needs to stop or people will stop spending completely, not because we're broke and can't afford it but because dropping $600 every three months on a mobile game is ridiculous, unless you're constantly sucking off the devs of course.

More to the point, it's a business. There's no such thing as too much. We can still play for free if we choose.

There absolutely is such thing as too much. The aggressive push for 600 dollars every 2-3 months is too much when you compare it to doing that only 2 times a year.

Too much for who?
For people who think they must buy everything, perhaps.
For a company who is trying to keep the lights on, not at all.
No one is forcing anyone to buy these. If it's too much for us personally, we're free to pass. The fact that people are still offended with EVERY Offer this game releases almost 11 years later is crazy to me. They're a business. They're going to try and make money.

When even the mega whales who buy everything says its becoming too aggressive and predatory, then something is obviously wrong. Just cause you either refuse or fail to see that doesn't make it any less true.

Predatory is a ridiculous word for a mobile game that offers optional sales. The mega whales don't really care when you consider they spend tens of thousands of dollars a year, and these sales are clearly successful enough for them to repeat them. IT. IS. A. BUSINESS. Which means they're going to continue to make sales as long as they're being bought. When they fail, they'll sell something else. That's not predatory. That's business. It's what keeps the game going.

How is it not predatory when they're directly selling counters to the newest month old defenders? How is it not predatory when they are selling a champ people have asked for repeatedly to be a 7* but only sell it for an insane amount of cash only and not even let you know when you can maybe get it free and hope to keep it paid only? All forms of mobile gaming purchases are meant to be predatory and if you don't believe me, I'm pretty darn sure there's legal cases in some countries that have ruled them to 100% be so.