P2W versus F2P, how it should be!

Hey Guys, while preparing the meeting with the devs but also touching on something I think should change in IK, I decided to share my opinion on P2W versus F2P content.

This article will give you a good idea of what I think should be P2W content in Infinity Kingdom.

P2W versus F2P content.

This is by far one of the most important aspects of a game like Infinity Kingdom. Without a good balance, the game will become/stay unhealthy.

At a certain point, the game will be Big Spender against Big Spender.

Not Server versus Server, not Kingdom versus Kingdom, not Alliance versus Alliance, simply a handful of Big Spenders going toe to toe against another handful of Big Spenders.

But the chances are, before that happens, the F2P will be gone, the Low Spenders as well and the Big Spender will follow very soon after.

This is how P2W content should work:

To me, except Cosmetic, 95% of the PAID content should be something F2P can one day achieve as well.

The Paid content would allow spender to get early access and a faster growth than F2P players. But not exclusive content!

After a while, F2P would have a way to get the same content(Immortal, Skill, Dragon). Once they do get it, their growth(maxing the immortal, the skill, the dragon) would be slower than a P2W player that spends money in the game.

The best 2 examples are already in the game and represent VERY well the difference between a P2W and a F2P + everything in between those two levels of spending.

VIP

Indeed, VIP is a very good example of what P2W content should be about.

The vast majority of VIP is F2P friendly yet there is a P2W ONLY content attached to it.

Here is the breakdown!

As you can see, the vast majority of the content in VIP is F2P friendly.

You earn points every day by login in - F2P

You earn points by spending Gems - F2P

You earn points by claiming Alliance chest - F2P (for you^^)

Then you have a P2W content as well.

The Exalted Chest is only for P2W.

*Note, I would NOT have Immortal EXCLUSIVELY unlockable in these chests. This is what P2W Exclusive is.

Yeah, you can have them there and let P2W players get early access. But after a certain amount of time, they SHOULD appear in the Hall of Immortal or some F2P friendly event to unlock them.

The other P2W content in VIP is how quickly spenders can max it compared to F2P.

They earn Points by purchasing bundles.

They also have more gems by spending $, so they can invest more gems towards VIP points.

So, when you look at VIP, ALMOST everything is F2P friendly.

The huge difference for P2W is how quickly they can achieve the max level (VIP15).

This difference is HUGE already, there is no need to add exclusive content for the P2W.

Reaching the end goal quicker is enough for P2W to invest in VIP, yet still F2P!~

To give you an idea, I have spent money on the game yet I am still just VIP 13 after 416 consecutive days of playing.

Is that not enough of a P2W versus F2P gap?!?

The Second good example is the Wind Crystal.

Very much so, Wind Dragon Crystal is a premium item that is very hard to obtain.

Spender gets to max their Wind Dragon Skills A LOT faster than F2P players.

YET, F2P players can STILL have access to Wind Crystal and can STILL max it with dedication and time.

Note: F2P can spin and get wind crystals in the Lucky Spin event. Of course, spenders have more crystals to spend, so can earn more Wind Crystal in this event.

Still, as you can see, F2P can also get Wind Crystal therefore work on their Wind Dragon.

But, these Wind Dragon Crystal Do NOT drop from Gnome bosses. Making Wind Crystal a lot rarer and harder to obtain.

However, Spenders have multiple other ways to obtain Wind Crystal:

Let’s take a look:

Don’t even think you can place TOP 5 as F2P. In at least 99% of the servers out there, it would be impossible.

Bundles, although the amount of Wind Crystal is lower than the other type.

This is another way for Spender to quickly max their Wind Dragon Crystal.

As you can see, P2W can max their dragon a lot faster than F2P.

But F2P can still slowly work on it and one day max it!

Again, to give you an idea, I have been using ALL my Arena currency and always maxing Wind Crystal in the Throne of the Supreme shop. Yet, I am still far from maxing my dragon…

I still need a ton of wind crystals :/

But I hope you get the idea of what I think should be P2W content.

95% of the Paid content should be like this, only a way for spenders to get an edge and early access / faster maxing time.

The right focus content-wise.

Another big thing for me is the recent content that has been released versus the content that has not been released.

The way I see it, most of the new content has nothing or at least almost nothing to do with the actual gameplay. It does not add new game modes that could keep the players involved and excited.

New Immortals (mostly for spender or almost impossible for F2P to obtain), New Artifacts + Empowerments (if you find one F2P that has 1 or more epic empowered please let me know), Coin gated skills (Costs $ or million of gems to unlock).

Those are all things only a few can get excited about (Spenders).

These do not add any added game modes someone can try and enjoy.

What I would love to see is an optimized KvK (Read my articles about KvK), IB league & Tournament, More Cross-server game modes.

More in-sever game modes as well, the last we have had has been Infernal Assault & Malena (the event never gave the right amount of rewards for its difficulty)

We need more game modes that players can play and enjoy, not just events added to the Calendar where you spend money and gems to “play” the event.

To me that’s not a game mode, that’s just a way to obtain some items.

That’s why I strongly hope IK starts putting more time on content that at least 95% of the community can play, enjoy and thrive for.

To conclude, P2W should NOT be exclusive content that only spenders can get or play. Bundles should only give a way to the Spender to have early access and to max certain Immortals, Artifact, Skills, etc, faster.

For a Spender, that’s all they need to spend money into the game, an edge.

For F2Ps, the ability to slowly work their way to the same content and same end goal is what keeps them involved and playing.

If you fear that F2P will catch up too quickly, then you release new content that P2W can have access to first. Again, not content strictly exclusive to them.

Update after some questions/comment:

P2W content should be in a cycle.

First release: Spender only gets access. Then they go on to max/optimize that content.

Second release: It becomes available for F2P (events/shops/ wheels) Then Mid spender, low-spender, and F2P get to unlock and max that as well.

Of course, the mid-spender would be next to get that content maxed since they spend more than low spender and F2P.

Infinity Kingdom simply need to release new content when a high % of the Big Spender has maxed that content.

This would become a cycle there whales always have some kind of an edge, yet everyone get access to most of the content.

+ F2P can still compete if they focus on one or two thing at a time.

What do you think P2W content should be?