this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2024
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Helldivers’ business model is primarily microtransactions. The microtransactions affect gameplay, so it’s in the direction of “pay to win”. It’s not the paragon of non-predatory monetization that people make it out to be.
(Baldurs Gate 3 and Palworld both are good examples of a healthy pay once and actually own a copy games)
Also none of these games released without serious bugs.
Obviously you haven't played Helldivers if you think it's pay to win.
It’s not “pay to win” exactly, but it’s only a matter of time until an important “meta” weapon is locked behind a warbond.
For which you can get the premium currency by simply playing the game. I got enough for 4 of them, though I didn't get one. You can farm it in level 2 missions, getting 40 - 70 each mission if you are short. You can do that with a squad of 4 friends to have the mission time be sub 10 minutes. It isn't necessary to 1. get every warbond 2. pay real money for the currency. The grind isn't massive and is skippable by simply playing the game normally.
Yeah that’s typically how microtransaction driven games work.
See also:
(Also all of those are free to play, so minus points to helldivers for double dipping)
We are not talking about "microtransactions in a game". We are talking about pay to win. There is a huge difference, and Helldivers isn't pay to win.
The fuck are you talking about, you can unlock everything without ever once spending money. Even if you DID drop thousands that would only give you more bonds and some cosmetics you can't buy medals. You have to play to unlock things
This is how microtransaction driven games typically work.
You technically never need to pay, but they keep adding more content locked behind 1000 credit warbonds, and some of that content is very useful, and getting to 1000 medals takes a while if you aren’t specifically trying for it.
If you actually want all of the gameplay affecting content (war bonds) you either need to grind specifically for medals for a long time or you need to pay.
Other games that use a similar business model:
(Also note all of these are free to play and only make money off microtransactions, which IMO makes Helldivers more predatory for double dipping)
I'm very aware of how micro transactions work. I'm trying to say that this game is nowhere near as egregious is literally any of the others on your list. I don't play a lot, I get on once every maybe couple days and I do a full set of missions so three Maps.
I just about hit level 27 recently, I already have two of the premium more Bonds on locked and then most of the way through them and I am on page 7 of the overall main war bond. I have not spent any money on the game.
I didn't grind, I didn't specifically go for things, and I didn't spend money. You will get absolutely nowhere for free with that type of casual play in any mobile game or League of Legends
Yeah, it's not pay to win, so much as pay to unlock faster. Plus it's co-op, so that's not a huge deal
TL;DR:
It's not hard to earn the ingame currency. No FOMO. Definetly not pay to win, since you get decent equipment, can unlock everything else with little time, it's a PvE Co-Op game with many difficulty levels to serve most player tastes. Buying ingame currency has some dark patterns though, but it's extremely better in comparison to other games with microtransactions.
Long version:
You can earn the paid (and sadly obfuscated) currency by playing the game and collecting some stuff. You don't need to pay at all despite the game's price initially.
It takes me about 15 to 30 hours to get enough of the paid currency in order to buy a warbond (the "battlepass", basically a package of weapons, tools and skins you get access to by buying such a warbond once). And that's me not even trying to farm the currency. I'm sure you can get there a lot faster if you're aiming for farming it.
It's also not pay to win. I understand the first impression, since it's actual different sets of weapons and armour which are locked behind it. But: on the one hand, you still have the standard warbonds which you don't need to unlock using that special currency; there, a decent collection of items is already present in order to find a style with which you can beat the game. On the other hand, it's a PvE Co-Op game with a lot of different difficulties to choose from. You can play it from extremely easy to very hard. It's not intended to be played solo. Although you absolutely can if you're good. That means: winning is easy. Even with equipment you don't like as much.
And let's not forget that it isn't that hard to earn the paid currency by playing the game. Unlocking the paid warbonds that way can be another incentive to play and get a feeling of progression.
What's also very important:
There is no FOMO. The warbonds stay where they are. You can complete any of them at any time in any order you like. Also, even in the ingame shop, there is not really FOMO: there are literally just four items: two helmets and two armours. Those switch every couple of days. But that switch is a cycle. Meaning, after some days those, you've seen on one day, are back.
The devs also made clear in a statement that they explicitly don't want that FOMO stuff and don't want it to be pay to win.
I have more than 200 h in the game and have unlocked every item in every warbond earlier than that. Never paid a cent. Not even for the game itself since I got it as a gift, lol. Also several of the shop items. (That depends on difficulty though. With lower difficulties might take longer.)
Yes, they are not "the paragon of microtransactions". First, because they still have microtransactions at all. Secondly, because it's obfuscated and superlinear (ratio between spent money and amount of received currency is not the same between the packages: you get much more if you spend a bit more). But if you compare that to other games, which employ microtransaction shit, it's waaaaay better and right at the top, after Deep Rock Galactic.
Regarding difficulty - on lower difficulties it'll take longer to earn up the medals (though the major order rewards definitely help there) but I actually think it's faster to farm super credits on the easiest 3 difficulties.