I have played they game for about a dozen hours now and it seems like a game to chill in for an hour or so here or there but maybe not one to hold my attention like BG3 or something. How about everyone else in the beta? Love it, hate it, meh?
I have played they game for about a dozen hours now and it seems like a game to chill in for an hour or so here or there but maybe not one to hold my attention like BG3 or something. How about everyone else in the beta? Love it, hate it, meh?
I have nearly 100 hours and I love it! I love it enough to be concerned about the new update and where it shows the dev teams priorities are and how it will play out in the long term sustainability.
Either way it has far surpassed my expectations, entirely my type of game and I want it to be the best it can be, but it does require better monetisation for it to have healthy growth.
Yeah, I saw the frustration on the Internet towards the pets which kind of highlighted the cosmetics shop in general. There does not seem to be enough cheap options. Also it puts me in a weird place. I have no issues throwing money at a game I enjoy but I also do not generally care about cosmetics so I certainly do not like paying10-20USD for an outfit even though I would be happy to pay a 10-15USD subscription.
In any case, I am still enjoying the game and am looking forward to new content.
I don’t get why people are so upset about the cash shop. It is exactly what they said it would be. Nothing about it is a surprise, and it is cosmetics only with no bonuses to gameplay. You have two choices to fund an MMO, a monthly fee, which many gamers are unwilling to do now because they never played in the MMO heyday, or a cash shop where the premium currency is slightly more expensive than you think it should be. Just because the game is free to jump in, doesn’t mean it was cheap to develop.
I think the biggest criticism is the pricing, not the existence of the cash shop. It is using the Apple model versus the Walmart model of pricing targeting the whales which is probably more profitable. Like you said, it does not impede gameplay at all though it is always somewhat concerning to see such an emphasis on a cash shop for a product that is still in beta. I will continue to play and see how it goes.
I think the issues lies with their mindset being too focused on money now instead of later. It’s in open beta and they have shown so far that most of their development time since launch has been spent making paid outfits and pets instead of building the fundamental game into being great enough to warrant spending money in valid areas. Features like unlockable clothings should be added before they pump an open beta up with even more paid cosmetics.
It’s terrifying because a bad monetization model WILL kill a game, that can’t be understated. Many players actively want to support the game, both myself and the previous commenter want a reasonable option to spend $15~$20 a month with pleasure, but instead Palia devs want at minimum a lump sum of $20 for an outfit, the average one time payment for one of this games competitors like Stardew Valley, My Time At Sandrock, Dinkum, etc.