@Zarqa said: And here is was thinking people spending around $100/month were considered whales
Not anywhere close. I have said before but I think demi was really surprised when they rolled out CP and discovered that there was a big appetite for buy clubs.
The profitability of the game really trapped demi creatively in a lot of ways, and explains why the character release cadence has hardly ever missed a fortnight in 10 years.
@Vhailorx said: @Zarqa said: And here is was thinking people spending around $100/month were considered whales Not anywhere close. I have said before but I think demi was really surprised when they rolled out CP and discovered that there was a big appetite for buy clubs. The profitability of the game really trapped demi creatively in a lot of ways, and explains why the character release cadence has hardly ever missed a fortnight in 10 years.
@Vhailorx said:
Eh, it's a lot different now. That player I was talking about would spend enough to immediately 550 all new 5* at release, and he wasn't the only one. As far as I know nobody is doing that now -- that guy is long gone, there was another who hung around for awhile, but I think he's gone now too.
Around the time Gambit showed up, the game changed. There was no point in maxing out everyone, even if you had the money and the inclination to spend it. All you needed was the one overpowered guy. It's pretty much been like that since. People do still spend but nobody is spending at that kind of level now.
The character release schedule is about selling roster slots to the masses, not about selling 550s to whales.
@entrailbucket said: @Vhailorx said: @Zarqa said: And here is was thinking people spending around $100/month were considered whales Not anywhere close. I have said before but I think demi was really surprised when they rolled out CP and discovered that there was a big appetite for buy clubs. The profitability of the game really trapped demi creatively in a lot of ways, and explains why the character release cadence has hardly ever missed a fortnight in 10 years. Eh, it's a lot different now. That player I was talking about would spend enough to immediately 550 all new 5* at release, and he wasn't the only one. As far as I know nobody is doing that now -- that guy is long gone, there was another who hung around for awhile, but I think he's gone now too. Around the time Gambit showed up, the game changed. There was no point in maxing out everyone, even if you had the money and the inclination to spend it. All you needed was the one overpowered guy. It's pretty much been like that since. People do still spend but nobody is spending at that kind of level now. The character release schedule is about selling roster slots to the masses, not about selling 550s to whales.
@entrailbucket said:
There's still people 550ing every new release.
@Pantera236 said: @entrailbucket said: @Vhailorx said: @Zarqa said: And here is was thinking people spending around $100/month were considered whales Not anywhere close. I have said before but I think demi was really surprised when they rolled out CP and discovered that there was a big appetite for buy clubs. The profitability of the game really trapped demi creatively in a lot of ways, and explains why the character release cadence has hardly ever missed a fortnight in 10 years. Eh, it's a lot different now. That player I was talking about would spend enough to immediately 550 all new 5* at release, and he wasn't the only one. As far as I know nobody is doing that now -- that guy is long gone, there was another who hung around for awhile, but I think he's gone now too. Around the time Gambit showed up, the game changed. There was no point in maxing out everyone, even if you had the money and the inclination to spend it. All you needed was the one overpowered guy. It's pretty much been like that since. People do still spend but nobody is spending at that kind of level now. The character release schedule is about selling roster slots to the masses, not about selling 550s to whales. There's still people 550ing every new release.
@Pantera236 said:
Are there really? I'm surprised! Like I said, I knew a bunch of those guys years ago, but all the ones I know of are long gone now. They were driven off by the balance problems -- there's no point in spending that much money when you can lose to an f2p player who maxed out the one good character.
I don't really interact with that community anymore, or even see them in-game...I wonder if it's the same folks returning or new ones joining.
If you were to watch the buy clubs, you’d be surprised at how much people spend. Personally, I think it’s a waste of money when you’re spending thousands. You’re ultimately trading money for time. With enough time, everyone will have 550’s, but spending can get you there faster. How much faster? Here’s my guess, just a guess:
$10 / month = 5% faster $100 / month = 15% faster $1000 / month = 50% faster $10,000 / month = 150% faster
Of course, this depends on how much you play. Spending for a casual player makes a bigger difference than for a dedicated player. But the point I’m trying to make is that it takes a lot of money to make a dramatic difference in your progression speed.
@entrailbucket said: @Pantera236 said: @entrailbucket said: @Vhailorx said: @Zarqa said: And here is was thinking people spending around $100/month were considered whales Not anywhere close. I have said before but I think demi was really surprised when they rolled out CP and discovered that there was a big appetite for buy clubs. The profitability of the game really trapped demi creatively in a lot of ways, and explains why the character release cadence has hardly ever missed a fortnight in 10 years. Eh, it's a lot different now. That player I was talking about would spend enough to immediately 550 all new 5* at release, and he wasn't the only one. As far as I know nobody is doing that now -- that guy is long gone, there was another who hung around for awhile, but I think he's gone now too. Around the time Gambit showed up, the game changed. There was no point in maxing out everyone, even if you had the money and the inclination to spend it. All you needed was the one overpowered guy. It's pretty much been like that since. People do still spend but nobody is spending at that kind of level now. The character release schedule is about selling roster slots to the masses, not about selling 550s to whales. There's still people 550ing every new release. Are there really? I'm surprised! Like I said, I knew a bunch of those guys years ago, but all the ones I know of are long gone now. They were driven off by the balance problems -- there's no point in spending that much money when you can lose to an f2p player who maxed out the one good character. I don't really interact with that community anymore, or even see them in-game...I wonder if it's the same folks returning or new ones joining.
I know 2 that 550 everyone whilst they still have the new tag, and many many more that are able to 550 the LL twice a year or so and level up some classics with swaps. Quite a few of the latter will be 550ing while still having new tag soon.
I do think that buy club activity has dropped off from the 2016-2018 peak. How much of a dropoff is hard to judge, but the major evidence of this is change in MPQ monetization that looks together more, smaller transactions from a broader section of the playerbase via direct buy offers. But my main point was just that the appetite for very big spending was (and to some extent still is) WAY higher than the casual observer might guess.
This game is not top revenues in its category, on Android, and I doubt anytime it was. So any big spender, any new monetization system is actually pretty modest compared to the market kings, and ultimately not so exaggerated according to what it's a marvel license. In fact I'd say this is the gacha game where any type of player has the most freedom to play in the way they feel like it.
@Bad said: This game is not top revenues in its category, on Android, and I doubt anytime it was. So any big spender, any new monetization system is actually pretty modest compared to the market kings, and ultimately not so exaggerated according to what it's a marvel license. In fact I'd say this is the gacha game where any type of player has the most freedom to play in the way they feel like it.
Good for you if you have historical lists of top performing android games. I don't. But i would not be surprised if someone told me MPQ was a top grossing game back in 2018. Nowadays it has clearly fallen off judging by the actions of d3/bcs. But even so, "not making the same amount as minecraft or genshin impact" is not the same thing as "not making a lot of money."
Playstore on android always says if the game is top in its category each month. I've played already 3 gacha games more than this one, one of them was many months #top in its category (you can see it when downloading each actualization) Fire emblem heroes. I unstalled precisely because of the wild gacha and p2w. These services, as explained multiple times, have to pay a lot of money to third parties. Now, a game reaching # top in its category, makes a lot of money. Still it's not easy to keep in top a product, and there's a lot of good work behind. These services cost money. If you don't spend, there will be another player who will do. The opposite, of course, is the unavoidable shutdown.