The Gachapocalypse (Gacha games are getting so good and I hate it)

[@meepswag35]

I don't know why it took so long for gacha game companies to figure this out, make a good game and you can shove whatever monetization scheme you want in there.

[@LuquiTheFarmer]

thats an obvious thing but they prefer avoid making good games and instead make good products

[@novyknec1113]

the type of consumers gacha games had before Genshin came out were pasive, they didnt give a f if the gacha game was good or not, they will still spend money on it regardless

[@notqrow3654]

Most of the gacha games back then really relied on a lot of hot or attractive character designs plus skins to really make money off of players. And I would know because I got sucked into Azur Lane for a while until I got horribly bored because of the gameplay. Or lack there of. So, having actual good games to play (good being subjective) it’s definitely way easier to justify spending on them.

[@plvto1]

Not just gacha games but games in general. I don't why they don't realize that they can expand their revenue if they actually make a good game and make the monetization acceptable.

[@kingalex105x7]

probably because they didnt want to take the risk to make one, have it be expensive to make, then no one play it

[@legacymse7095]

Ever since Genshin upped the standards, every upcoming gacha game is going to be closer to "a real game" than it was before. I love it and I hate it just as much. Not because I'm against the monetization system of gacha, I love it, but because i'll want to play them all but since they're all live service games, they're going to DRAIN my free time I won't have time to play anything else. And if you leave... FOMO is going to hit you and you might regret it if you don't have enough currency to pull for your new favorite character when you come back.

[@sleeppss]

Having to get picky about games is so annoying 😭 we've come to the era of, tgeres so many options, now you need to drop what you dont adore

[@ixirion]

you just have to pick 1-2 and other play only every 6 months. I returned to HSR after an year and first month I had a blast. Now its just boring doing autocombat while watching videos. So I will delete it for and year again. I plan to play ZZZ for a month and again skip 6 m. Genshin is boring atm so I will just log in once per week and most likely delete the game after Natlan story ark and reinsttall at Snezhnaya. maybe. the best thing is that since there are 4 quality games like Wuwa, HSR, GEnshin and maybe ZZZ I dont feel presured to pull characters or build them. Each month I can pull cahrater in different game XDDD

[@xanaviii]

Exactly this. Before, I would've finished a JRPG like FF7 Rebirth in a month. But now, because I play so many damn gach games, it's been 5 months and im still not done. I barely have time to play anything that isn't live service anymore...

[@nat6lbg440]

That's why you only spend on those where you are truly invested in and went past honeymoon phase and can see the true endgame.

[@KyouXin]

Same I love and hate gacha games. It can be a really good game and very effective business for the developers, a lot of them is just so good I just want to keep playing it, they are made to be so damn appealing but they are also so time consuming and god forbid falling into spending money.

[@henrey8086]

Why is there a little raccoon on the progression bar hahahaha it’s such a cute detail lol

[@Truck-kun11]

- Open World - Turn-Based Combat - Hack and Slash As soon as Hoyoverse makes a Shooter and a Rhythm game there will be no more worlds to conquer

[@db1777]

RTS? Racing?

[@King_Jockey]

FPS, MOBA, 4 player Coop

[@Truck-kun11]

@@db1777 True, if I'm not mistaken Uma Musume is super popular in Japan but I don't remember any very popular RTS Gacha

[@Truck-kun11]

@@King_Jockey FPS is already included in Shooter, but I don't know how a Gacha MOBA would work since it is a genre normally exclusive to Multiplayer, which would make it very difficult to balance when you have F2P and Whales playing together

[@BiBiren]

I'm kinda looking forward for a MMORPG Hoyoverse game, tho i know a lot of people would hate that

[@GrimMeowning]

HSR gives more rewards to players because they are releasing new characters 2 times as fast as Genshin. This means that "per 1 character" in HSR you are actually getting less than in Genshin and that it is easier in Genshin to get most of characters that you want, while in HSR it can be done only with huge-huge luck (especially as f2p or low spender).

[@marqkc]

Here's the thing: not every single player is going to want every single character. There's the infamous "I am a pyro main", "I am only here for the hot guys", "I only play waifus", "I believe in harmony supremacy", etc. And then there's also the average player who just won't care about certain characters but be compelled to pull for some. The pickier you are, the better HSR becomes because you just get so many jades for the next character. I've put in less than half the effort in HSR than I did with Genshin and I've gotten every single character I wanted. In genshin this is also the case, but that's because I am much pickier about my 5 stars in genshin than I am in HSR, so it's not an "even playing field" in my experience. HSR is just simply nicer and better in terms of rewards. Like it is very time consuming to 100% every single area just to get less than the amount of rewards HSR players do

[@Antithesismanifest]

Another thing is that in HSR, pulling strong units actually matters. The only good AoE character I had was Imbibitor Lunae, so even story Aventurine obliterated me. Pure Fiction is absolute pain because i still don't have Himeko, and since they are not only increasing enemies' HP but also giving bosses resistance to elements they don't have weaknesses to, you pretty much can expect powercreep next year.

[@rajaryan-fe1oy]

I ain't playing that shit, is what I always tell myself whenever another one of these comes out

[@shadowkhan422]

Then you end up playing this sh*t anyways lol. Thats how it usually works with those games

[@docedeleite16]

as someone who has struggled to give up on games after dumping a lot of hours on them i think its good to remember the sunk cost fallacy and just set yourself free from what is taking too much from you. as a f2p i have to recognize my time is finite, so ive already decide dthat if zzz appeals to me more, genshin will be benched

[@bunny_the_lifeguard9789]

I will probably finally bench hsr if this one is fun.

[@sleeppss]

Im gonna be benching hsr for the moment since penacony ended anyway, genshin is still kind of dear to me. And i did not play wuwa cause another open world would BREAK me lmao

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

I am not in sunk cost fallacy stage. I can drop any gacha game at any moment. Except Genshin, since I don't spend money on it anymore but I still play because of Natlan fomo. If I see leaks come out and the characters and everything looks mid though, I'll drop it then, but since no leaks. I'll play until the fomo goes.

[@Tey_TX]

I just ditch them as they come

[@Rat_Fบcker]

i already bench Genshin since Jan last year and i play since day one log in every day buy every battle pass and buy welkin moon every month at some point the fetch quest just stacked on me and burn me out i hope they don't made the same mistake here genshin make me hate Open world game for a good while to the point that i can't play elden ring

[@raygrossman4504]

why is there a trailblazer dragging the progress bar across my screen

[@courtney6816]

I gotta give it to the people who are able to make time for all of these. Consistently keeping up with just one on top of my schedule has been a struggle at times. I definitely would feel burnout and drop gachas completely if I was keeping up with all of these high quality ones at once

[@kimashitawa8113]

I lowkey feel envious because i have a huge sense of FOMO, but i can barely keep up with 2 Gachas at the same time.

[@Cinnamowo]

2:40 CYNO BENCHED 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@otakuwhat_]

I know it’s not required to play these games, like if you don’t want to play a game it’s ok to do so. But, the way they’ve done it so that if you don’t play, you’ll feel fomo is just… Like we’re getting gacha games shoved down our throats at a rapid pace- I wouldn’t be surprised if hoyo are already planning on the next game after zzz.

[@Danny-mp8dq]

Project Mugen, Zenless Zone Zero, Wuthering Waves and Azur Promilia: I'm about to end this guys entire wallet

[@Bullminator]

I find it stupid to pay for games that are online and you gona lose everything. Learned a hard way when i permaquit wow back in pandaland. Spend like 2200 euros just on sub i think.

[@TheFutureDothDream]

@@Bullminatorit’s the same with life, no? Whatever valuables we purchase in life are no longer ours when we are gone. What matters is its value to you when you’re spending time with it, not the fact that its value will be lost someday. You could think of these games like a very long concert and consider whether the amount you paid for was worth the play time and enjoyment you got. The concert may end, but the memory lasts.

[@klng1285]

@@TheFutureDothDream@Bullminator agree, you pay to have a good time, and one thing I ask myself whenever I want to dump money into them, will I able to move on from it and not sinking further just because I already spent.

[@planetary-rendez-vous]

Forget wallet. Where do you find the time to play them??

[@alexs29]

@@TheFutureDothDream Or I can waste my precious money & free time on games that I'll still be able to own, play and enjoy even after their servers shut down - like Monster Hunter, Smash Bros, Granblue Fantasy Relink, etc. You know, games that allow me to "re-experience" those memories again - whenever I want - 1, 4, 10 years down the line. And that's one of the primary underlying issues plaguing all of these high-quality gacha games right now. Their quality is getting so good that things like character powercreep and EOS shutdowns feel legitimately awful now, to the point where it's turning me away from the genre entirely (let alone enticing me to spend any money.) And this doesn't just apply to gacha games - but the majority of online service games these days as well. At the end of the day, these gams are essentially scams and you learn the hardway as a result. That you're just better off being a F2P player, saving and pulling for characters you legitimately like, and that's it.

[@vermillionorange]

I think 💤 is worth it your money. Like Genshin, its focus is very clear. Genshin is for exploration and story, and ZZZ is for combat Since ZZZ's main focus is combat, they allowed the skip button unlike other games who's only selling point is combat but half-baked on other things. Might as well scrap these things because the playerbase themselves don't even care about it lmao

[@iluvchess14736]

The emoji is funnier than it has any right to be

[@jarrenraves]

if anything, playing genshin has made me less likely to play another gacha game. Not only did it set high bar, but it also taught me that I don't actually care about 'gacha' at all. Its just another monetization method with no real inherent appeal and I cant see it as a genre in and of itself.

[@tova2635]

the other thing Hoyo does is that it's not trying to pump out genshin clones even if it succeeded a lot. they know that players can't play 3 or 4 open world gachas because that would burn them out really quick. so they make different genres of games and those games can be considered "side" games. i look at ZZZ and i really can't see it be anything other than a niche action game. the game's whole presentation and concept is aimed at scratching a VERY specific fanbase. meaning people who might also enjoy jet set radio, splatoon or hi-fi rush etc... yet somehow, in a year, it's gonna be doing like 20+ or 30+ million a month in revenue.

[@kamicokrolock]

A niche target audience isn't exactly new territory for Hoyo. HI3 and its predecessors had and have a VERY specific audience in mind and Hi3 still panders to that audience. People forget Genshin was a departure for Hoyo with a focus on casual players of (almost) all ages.

[@PurinBoba]

@@kamicokrolock One thing I also appreciate about Genshin is how it proved that games with a lot of male playable characters are just as profitable (and even more so) than just waifu collectors. A lot of the men are popular, their banners do well, and they're well-written and integrated effectively into the story. Then HSR continued that trend and is printing money each patch. ZZZ already has a good lineup of male playable characters, too. It makes me wonder how future games like Azur Promilia will do once they release in that same market and genre (open world, action RPG, anime art style), since the devs of AP have announced there will be no playable male characters. Feels like they're omitting a big chunk of the genre's audience (since Genshin and HSR are about 45% female players and 55% male players), which could impact their profits.

[@Jayfeather4x]

I hate what genshin did for game community, their games have so much potential but are purposely handicapped with psychological tricks to make you spend as much money as you can and its downright disgusting but most people dont talk about it cause pretty characters

[@JustASunflowerSeeD]

people think you lose when you spend too much money on the gacha game, they're wrong, it's when you invest too much time. the moment the game convinces you to prioritise it over everything else, wether that would be doing dailies at 1am because you were busy all day and forgot, grind for 13 hours a day for the restnof the patch because you lost the 50/50, sneak in a 20 minutes break from work to do the spiral abyss, or cancel plans with your friends because the new update just dropped. the moment the game takes priority, is the moment you lost, because you're addicted.

[@finnaldredge-byars7578]

Look on the bright side: Genshin (and maybe star rail) are both stories with endpoints. That means there might be a point we can all escape!

[@Ali_Fuchs]

HI3's story ended, but the game just got Part 2 lol They can keep it going if they want to

[@Hazel_TheOne]

​@@Ali_Fuchswait hi3 ended???😭 I haven't kept up with that games story in so long I didnt know it ended oml

[@Antithesismanifest]

​@@Ali_FuchsHonkai Gakuen also ended and they made a part 2, there's no scaping genshin will also be eternal.

[@neliaironwood7573]

You do realize that most gacha games that EoS never finish their stories or simply put, end on a cliffhanger? Usually after they finish their main story, they start a "season 2". After the end of Genshin's main story, they'll obviously do Genshin Impact Season 2 that takes place in a new world.

[@Kurocat115]

⁠​⁠@@neliaironwood7573I have a feeling half of peoples devices will explode before they even get to a season 2 Genshin Impact jesus

[@Melotaku]

I'm a F2P but I feel the same way. Not based on spending too much money, but rather on spending too much time. I don't have all the time in the world to play all these amazing games so I wish some of them would suck so I don't feel like I'm missing out on a great game. To be fair that kinda did happen with WW for me.

[@PersonWhoIsTired]

I remember being turned off by Genshin when they said it was a Gacha pre-release when I was excited. And there was also the fact it didn't had the action combat I wanted like in Bayonetta or Tales Of games, where super cool combos can be performed. Then came the day, I went ahead regardless of my feelings, and it turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time. As well it made me appreciate the simplicity of the less "stylish" action hacknslash battle systems(even when Genshin still does have complexity in its own mechanics). Add the wonderful story, lore, world-building, characters, exploration, most minigames(we don't talk about that delivery mini game event back in 1.0 patches), etc. Nothing the negative side of the fandom can turn me away from Genshin Impact for the many great things it has done. Sorry, but not many free rewards isn't a fault(I wasn't a Gacha gamer till Genshin) and the endgame modes weren't my cup of tea(with constant updates, didn't need them). Played a bunch more Gachas after Genshin. Only stuck with a few. Now ZZZ seems super promising. Couldn't get into HSR. Even with not finding my footing with Star Rail, it does scream quality. Man, I wish Honkai Impact 3rd would be on console.

[@pontoancora]

@IDONTreadreplies the July Ines who comply about more pulls are gacha addicts. For free we can get way, way kore tha we need. Last time I made the math, with only the walking moon and average results we can get every character.

[@oyshikaadi9631]

We're in a point of time where Gacha games have more effort and love put into it than most western AAA games... What a time of all times.

[@alexs29]

IMO the worst thing about modern gacha games these days is the powercreep and the fact that they'll eventually reach EOS, no matter how successful they are. With the combat, exploration and storytelling in these newer games getting better and better, it just feels awful finding a character with a playstyle you really love - only for them to become completely obsolete from the meta (or even casual play) several updates down the line. And then at the end of it all, once the game shut down - that's it. You'll never have the opportunity to play those games or re-experience them ever again. And that too, feels like shit when so many of these newer games have excellent gameplay to back them up.

[@kimashitawa8113]

I know some gachas that ended live service but fans made an offline version of it, i feel like they would somehow find a solution for that with their huge and immense fanbases.

[@NaughtMax]

I think it’s also crazy that these gacha games have less predatory monetization than a lot of other modern live service games where content will straight up be locked behind a paywall, the best way to play is like 5-15 a month on welkin and maybe battlepass. Plus there’s more new content every update than I usually see from AAA “live service” games. Gacha games are becoming live service done right and idk how I feel about that. I still prefer normal one time purchase games with 0 extra monetization, but if you’re gonna do a “live service” I feel like you need to offer at least half the value these gacha games offer. Also not to say gacha games aren’t predatory because they are for gambling addicts or whales and other gacha games are way worse than hoyo but imo it’s getting better not worse with time

[@tikhonbatkovic]

I love how in the first clip you kill enemies so fast you don’t get to proc 5 Overloads…

[@AndresLionheart]

Good thinf he did. With that I learned that you only get the extra character if you complete all the objectives. On my one and only playthrough of that mode so far I completed everything on the first try so I thought you just naturally get a character per fight.

[@brxkenhalo]

my problem isn't money, it's storage. i have 256gb on my phone and 32gb on ipad and i play genshin, hsr, wuwa and will play zzz when that comes out. but not only that i also play pjsk and am waiting for the release of infinity nikki. i already play that game's predecessor love nikki and want to play shining nikki again and i also want to play honkai impact again and i would be able to if my ipad didn't have this little of storage. genshin is 22gb, hsr is 21gb, wuwa is 12gb, pjsk is 10gb, love nikki is 5gb. when i had honkai impact it was also around 20gb and is definitely more now, shining nikki was 10gb. infinity nikki will also probably be 10gb on release at least. i could maybe clear up a few gb if i cleat out my gallery a bit since it takes up around 20gb but i really probably won't be able to clear out much. if i want to be able to play everything i need to literally get a new device

[@kimashitawa8113]

I feel you😔 getting a new phone i thought "wow 256GB is a lot of storage, i can play all my gachas now" and wow did i underestimate the space those games took

[@sleet9289]

not a problem for me, so far Genshin is still the only Gacha game that has really kept my interest long-term and that i've actually spent money in. I'm gonna check out ZZZ and maybe i will really like it, but i feel like i'll probably just play it a for a few weeks. I honestly do like Gacha game monetization, though, it is really good for the casual player who just wants hops in to check a game out, people like to say it's predatory but i'd argue that selling a game that's horribly optimized and full of bugs for 70$ (like so many AAA game companies do) is worse.

[@neliaironwood7573]

I'm probably betting there's a Chinese dev working on a gacha game that copies Granblue Fantasy Relink and puts it in an open world. Basically instead of switching in and out your entire party is on the field controlled by AI and you can switch in battle. Aether Gazer meets Genshin Impact.

[@Sosuke0727]

Paid games are ultra expensive on 3rd world countries as well if have high inflation and high exchange rate with North American dollar 😒 So Gacha games, close that gap in the market. Simple because they are free to play by nature If you don't like them, can leave them without have a broken bank account 1st world issues, I guess 😒

[@Bullminator]

YARRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[@adoroselatte]

That's why I quit although I was a whale for the majority of gacha games. Preferably buying their merch nowadays since it's a better investment, lmao. It takes a while to get out.

[@MasterP86]

Even in a 3rd world country its often cheaper to buy paid games than to be a paying gacha player

[@Sosuke0727]

@@MasterP86 Paid games are still affected by tax entry. Especially if they are online sold only. Steam used to made discount for the base price compared to US , EU or Asia. However since November 2019 that's no longer the case and now cost full price as if live in Game's original country This also affected Turkey so my home country wasn't the only victim of this

[@MasterP86]

@@Sosuke0727 yes, but gacha currency too, the price of gacha currency is insane if you dont live in a first world country, even with all of this, being a paying gacha player is still more expensive than a full priced game.

[@jihyoooo6172]

im so sad zzz realeases right after summer is about to end :((

[@reified_paradox]

Hoyo making good games isn't a problem... Other devs making crap games is the issue.

[@TJF588]

Aside from spending six bucks on a top-up ahead of the first bonus reset I learned about, I've kept to the battle pass and Welkin/whateverstarrail'sis(/HI3rd's one time), but with Wuthering Waves and Zenless Zone Zero, I'm gonna be keeping to free-to-play, especially since the former hasn't grabbed me. Before these, it was Dissidia Final Fantasy's monthly five bucks (and a "top-up" equivalent when barely missing a series-favorite character). I'm a "guppy", but even this has occupied so much of my mind cataloguing what I have and haven't landed so far. Spreadsheets taking up my mind when I could be taking in crafted narratives or collaborative efforts rather than figuring what's next to mull over.

[@SharkyShocker]

Genshin, Played Day 1, played every day for 6 months, took about a year off, been playing off and on since then, still F2P. Have yet to play HSR because there's still SO much to do in Genshin. ZZZ however, I'm playing Day 1 without a doubt. This is just as a little background before I say what comes next. From a monetary standpoint, Gacha is very predatory and can be very dangerous. From a gameplay standpoint... I think it's amazing... Let me explain Yes there are guides online for what is best for a character and who they work well with, but because it's a Gacha game and you're limited in who you have access to, you may just have to go ahead and try to make a team out of Diluc and Mona or whoever you have on hand. There is no "Oh, you can find this weapon here and this character there". Each account and player is going to have a different experience based on who they have at their disposal, and I personally think that's great for giving a variety of experiences. Obviously there are the whales that go crazy and C6 every character that comes out, or at least almost. But the lovely second point as to why the Gacha isn't an issue, is that the game isn't competitive. "Guys hear me out. What if I was in my world with my Noelle and all of the sudden I get ganked in a PVP zone by a C6 Xiao and they can take my Resin" There are no worries about that. People can live in their own worlds, spending their own money, enjoying the experience that is unique to them.

[@raderelcaroman1403]

Thats why i only keep playing 1 gacha at once, i will try the other ones for a month at most

[@1Henrink]

YES! AND I HATE IT! I am avoiding them because of how bad Gatcha is and I cannot agree with someone that defends Gatcha as a monetization strategy.

[@shadowkhan422]

I mean ... It does make them a lot of money . They wouldnt try to spam Gachas if it didnt . I just wish countries will start to ban Gacha and Loot boxes at some point . They can BS you all they want . End of day is still gambling for minors .

[@KoeSeer]

@@shadowkhan422 uumm... don't let minor get a hold of your bank card?

[@shadowkhan422]

@@KoeSeer Tell that to the ultra rich dudes. Some kids have bigger allowance that we both earn in a month.

[@KoeSeer]

@@shadowkhan422 well, that's their parents money.

[@shadowkhan422]

@@KoeSeer You do realize money is not the problem? Gambling is an addiction and minors are more susceptible. We dont allow our kids to drink alcohol (so they dont get addicted) but teaching them to be addicted gamblers is fine?

[@sevengnomesinatrenchcoat]

i started playing genshin 2 years ago and now i will soon have 3 gacha games under my belt (genshin, hi3, zzz) (i play project sekai so technically 4 but it's more of a rhythm game than a gacha game imo)

[@KoiinuNe]

i went from not knowing what a gacha game was to now struggling to stop spending on HSR and Genshin. these new games are testing my limits xDD

[@903IDFOLEY]

Man, you hit that going from Pay to F2P feeling on the head. I'm a day 1 Arknights global player who brought the monthly pass every month almost without fail and things were great! Then about a year ago, Play Store changed their policy and I basically lost access to the in-game shop for AK. Things became f**king miserable. AK is known for having pretty good gacha rates, but limited banner guaranteed pity was very high, and standard banner pity was only introduced recently and is still quite high... Every meta or top waifu banner became a matter of life and death! And the feeling of pulling 3 off pool 6 stars in a row before hitting hard pity for Degenbrecher made me uninstall the f**king game... Only to reinstall 4 days later because I miss my characters... 😭

[@AndresLionheart]

So far I've been able to stay away from more time consuming games. Genshin has been there since the start. I avoided HSR because since it's turn based I guessed powercreep was gonna be more of a thing. I avoided Wuthering Waves because I don't need to play 2 Genshins. With ZZZ I'm expecting it to have very low daily time requirements becauae it's more of an instanced-based action game. Withour any sort of exploration it should be easy to keep up with it.

[@somedude6351]

I actually like that there are so many good quality games nowadays. I only play Genshin so all it means for me is that the bar keeps rising and that Genshin (might hopefully) is forced to get better. Also the fact that when I some day in the future do play a new game it'll probably be very good due to the high bar that's being set rn

[@eltocsis]

Ok, good video but still waiting for the idle animations tierlist

[@jam6079]

At this point I just let my resin or resin equivalent cap and play the games when I want to. I also told myself I’m only going to spend money on 1 game a month and it used to be genshin, now it’s hsr, I don’t think I’ll ever spend on wuwa tbh.

[@Sunrose-]

Grew up without a home console system so gacha games were kind of my entry point into gaming weirdly enough. Started with FEH and then became immediately hooked on Genshin in 2020. Juggle about five gachas consistently of varying quality and varying time investment + play AAA and Indie games when I can so my free time is booked lol. Don’t know if I’ll end up sticking with ZZZ but I’m glad the gacha space has more offerings now than just the low-effort cash grab

[@marqkc]

Funny you mention feh because it was my first and only gacha for well over 5 years. I didn't have any money to spend at that time, so I have the mindset of "spending money = BAD" Eventually I picked up genshin around 3 years ago and still played feh, except now I have money. And I STILL don't really spend it either - it took me 700 days of playtime to even fork out the $5 for a Welkin. And in feh it was even worse, I didn't spend money until Brave Roy Resplendent got announced because only my son is capable of making me buy the god forsaken feh pass. I didn't even buy BP or a Genesis crystal top up in Genshin until recently too, mostly for C4 Wanderer (I still play Heizou more, but my inner delusional shipper said I have to have both C6 + well optimized and now I have the #9 140ER Wanderer, someone get me out of here). In HSR I haven't spent money because I didn't feel compelled to. Same goes to WuWa, and same will probably apply to ZZZ. Maybe I've just been F2P for too long, but I just don't like spending too much money.

[@Palcii]

Dude you are just like me. I was playing WoW for a decade, then some Lost Ark and finally arrived at gacha town, starting with Genshin. I had no interest in Star Rail cause of the same reason that you listed, plus I'm not really into sci-fi. But I saw all the content creators playing it, my Genshin friend playing it, and finally caved in - and I love it even more than Genshin today. I was not interested in WuVa (and did not want to get into another gacha) but in the end I have just installed it last week, and I am having a blast. I will definitely try ZZZ as a Hoyo player, but I wish that it would suck...playing 3 gachas is already a bit too much for me, don't want to add a 4th one.

[@addayang7456]

I’m f2p and I never really felt like spending money on a the games, probably since I save up enormous amounts of primos every time and only have a few characters that I really like. I also just think it’s a hassle to raise the characters so I’m less inclined To pull

[@TheGabrielbowater]

I only do the premium BPs the first 1 or 2 cycles on these games now, the value drops off a lot once you have decent teams. The gem dole is hard to turn down though, but even 3 of those is only equivalent to one WoW sub

[@examplehere]

Idk about y'all but I have the infinity gauntlet of gacha games: Genshin Impact Honkai Starrail Wuthering Waves Zenless Zone Zero Dragonball Legends Cookierun Kingdom Yes, doing dailies is a pain, but at least I'm better than most of my friends at all of them (*cries in 14hr daily avg screen time*)

[@sleeppss]

Damn,,, crk alone is 40 to 1: 30 of dailies do you even have a life😭

[@DefinitelyNotAFerret]

You don't play Tears of Themis or Nu Carnival??? I'm gooped and gagged. But why not Reverse 1999

[@sleeppss]

@@DefinitelyNotAFerret nucarnival and reverse1999 gang rise🙌

[@Hazel_TheOne]

DB legends player spotted in the wild ????? no way ??

[@tunmble]

@@sleeppss MED POC COME HOMEEE

[@js100serch]

Compared to Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring, Skyrim and The Wticher 3, gacha games are the gaming equivalent of McDonals. But compared to street food stands, yeah I guess they are fine.

[@yusharider]

Kinda hope they pull a stellar blade with their next project. There's only so many of these games people can spend money on.

[@kazukimisaki2312]

I have never spent a dollar in wuwa, mainly because they are so generous with the reward, and the drop rate feels so generous too? Like when jiyan banner dropped, I summoned for him and at like 50ish wish I won the 50 50. Then I try summoning again to "build pitty" and get the new 4 stars and in 10/20 wish I got jiaxin. Then I went for the weapon banner and got his weapon at 60ish pull. Then I save for jinshi On jinshi's banner, I have guaranteed pull, and on the 60ish wish I got her. Then I wish 10 more times and I won 50 50 and got c1 jinshi, then I went to her weapon banner and got it at 80 wish Is the drop rate so high? I guess what I'll do is I'll choose from 2 of the featured banner on which one I prefer the most. Wish on that banner and get their signature weapon, then save again Also, I'm poor af rn, I literally only have like 44 credit left 😢 Also I still got calcharo and havoc rover to build and my supports and subs are still lv 70 😅 so I'll hold off from pulling changli's banner

[@addisonpacker4959]

👏👏praise you for being ftp

[@Ali_Fuchs]

you're just very lucky. I had the opposite situation. The worst gacha luck ever, going to ridiculous 75 pity after losing 50/50. Somehow the more a game is praised for its generosity, the worse my luck in it is xD I get more 5 stars in a much stingier game than in those generous ones, so the "free pulls" bait doesn't work on me anymore lol

[@GrimMeowning]

On the other hand: now "full game 110$ or cut version 70$ (and not 60$ anymore), also it is bugged, no updates and very safe - so no unique mechanics or content, also it may have lootboxes and anti cheat with experience/money boosters (like in Ubisoft games) because leveling is very slow and grindy in your single player game, also it is not playeable offline anymore because of anti-cheat". So "good made gacha games" - are usually simply better than modern AAA games. Also in gacha's Lootboxes are usually regulated by laws, so there almost no gacha games without pity system, etc. Unlike FIFA/NBA/etc where you can spend 1000000 pulls and 20000$ and still not get the character you like. Only alternative - is to go play small indie games with unique mechanics, with normal price and usually with updates and stuff. And gacha games usually free (even tho will try their best to get your money - especially from people with low self control or gambling problems), and the main problem in those games - is doing dailies, especially if you play 5+ of them and don't want to miss stuff. It eats so much free time. I mean still less than oldschool MMO's, but time today is more valuable than it was before.

[@Mr.MasterOfTheMonsters]

Yeah. The problem is with the gaming industry as a whole. It's state is so bad that it makes Gachas look good in comparison. Tbf, since mobile games turned into shameless cashgrabs, gacha hasn't changed much it's monetization. When you could get 0-5$ mobile games with a lot of creativity put into them, gachas were a bad deal. But now it's the opposite.

[@MasterP86]

Except when you account that most of the gameplay in gacha games is grinding the same thing over and over to gather materials while the game offers you a paid option to skip the grind.

[@ThomasAndy-qu8dp]

These games makes you think they're extremely high quality but pure solo games completely smokes them in term of quality. These games are good because they hook you on the character so you spend money OR time on them. They're a lot more similar to MMORPGs

[@SageRuffin]

I hear ya. I forget the name, but there's a game affectionately called "Genshinframe" and I hate how good it looks. Like you said, it's not just that the games have gacha mechanics. It's that they're solid, _multiplatform_ games that have gacha mechanics. I hate playing mobile games for a variety of reasons - if Genshin, WuWa, ZZZ, and whatever else didn't have a PC or console release, I wouldn't have given these games a second thought. I imagine many of my fellow Americans feel the same. But since the US is a pretty big market for gaming despite the stigmas against it to this day, who's to say the EAs, ActiBlizzes, Ubisofts, Nexons, and Konamis of the world won't try building their games around lootboxes (or worse: lootboxes _and stamina)_ again?

[@tiredcloud3741]

you guys can just choose not to play you know it aint that hard, i wanted to play wuwa too, i did the first few weeks but i realized playing wuwa and genshin takes too much of my time and i dont like that, i had to choose between the two and I chose genshin and as sad as i am that i couldnt pull for jinshi ultimately it had to be done for my own good

[@rocrod430]

I'm really happy that gacha mechanics ruin most games for me. Genshin is a weird exception where I play it and love it despite the gacha. I tried Wuwa, I tried Star Rail, I've tried other gachas (FE Heroes, Nikke) and I've hated ALL OF THEM. I can't shake this feeling that they only exist to sell me something, that thing being characters. I'm well aware that every game does that, I'm an Overwatch player for example. But at least you own every character in Overwatch, just missing some cosmetics. Genshin is the only one that feels like I can enjoy it without having every character. Hsr shoves new characters down your throat until it feels like you're being strangled by them (the last time I played was when Dan Hung IL was released and they did NOT shut up about him)

[@Antithesismanifest]

Is because genshin is a cultural game, the quality and variety of the musics and scenarios is so beautiful that sometimes you just stop and vibe, the lack of powercreep and dificulty helps a lot.

[@insertnamehere2022]

Funnily enough my genshin and honkai accounts got hacked and all my years of progress and money investment got wiped so only game I can play is ZZZ edit: After seeing that firefly trailer now i wanna try and pick up the pieces of my honkai account for her 😭

[@Freenos]

I wish there were EVEN MORE games at the same quality of Genshin/HSR/ZZZ/Wuwa so the playerbase has more variety and competition is only a good thing for the consumers.

[@black_cat4444]

Well even if i am a f2p player who's not spending a single dollar on these games it still suck a lot of my valuable time *sigh* you know you can recover the money you spend but time nah it only keep running forward but don't go backward

[@joaovitorlima9952]

Other game companies have already been doing this. Lootboxes are gacha. The Counter Strike packs are gacha. It's been in the industry for over a decade now, there are just the companies that excel at making you spend and the ones that come across as "too forceful", like EA.

[@ischleep6278]

I'm gonna be honest, I won't even try ZZZ because it is so similar to hi3 in a way (Classical ARPG). And as much as the game looks appealing I gotta limit the gacha games I play since I don't have unlimited free time (and I think many players are in the same case)

[@FilmFlam-8008]

Imagine if they made a Gatcha Game that you could just buy with a one time purchase, and then you get all the characters and a finished game. Perhaps they could release future updates as content you can download as a fixed price for the entire update.

[@KoeSeer]

that's... defeats the purpose of gacha. gacha is first and foremost, designed as F2P game because it needs to catch fishes as much as they could. A paid game would be a huge barrier for players to play. Also, if you put a price tag on a character that could be gambled through pull, people will pull in the hopes that they will get that character with less money needed on price tag. Let's say, this character X is put on store as a purchasable. The price would be equivalent of hard pity needed for that one. Say 160 primo x80 hard pity pull = 12800 primo. That's around $100. Unless they know they are unlucky (always get one near hard pity) and in 50/50 state, people will always gacha.

[@shootingrock7213]

There are a few rare gacha games that were shut down but the company release a non-gacha version of them to preserve the game's content, so this is a thing. Ex. Megaman X Dive Offline, Touhou Danmaku Kagura

[@lumsalo]

Yeah, i can see that. Maybe they would call it just "games" or "premium games", just without the "gacha", you know? Like a game with no gacha is... A game you can buy... And then.... But seriously, if you want something like that, Ex Astris by Arknights developers exists

[@wolfbad512]

That's just a game Not a gacha game lol It would be good but definitely not profitable if u make it as good as genshin is right now

[@neliaironwood7573]

There was Azur Lane Crosswave and Seven Knights Time Wanderer, as well as Alice Gear Aegis: Concerto of Simulatrix but that one was based on a Japan-only gacha. Time Wanderer looked awful and it was a commercial failure altogether. Seeing Granblue Fantasy Relink, I doubt we'll see another gacha dev get interested in making paid spinoffs of gacha games (a $60 spinoff of Blue Archive) despite Relink succeeding, as some devs would rather make paid original games than offline spinoffs.

[@KategariYami]

Maybe I just... Am not hugely into Gacha games, just hugely into adventure and action games. Coz I've certainly tried a bunch of Gachas since Genshin but I've only stuck with Genshin. Tried TOF, spent a bit to get the chick with the guns, dropped the game. Tried Star Rail, didn't spend, got a 5*, wasn't Himeko, immediately dropped the game. Tried WuWa, still got it installed but I haven't even finished the story... I haven't touched the game in a while. Meanwhile after more than 10yrs I'm still playing Warframe, just finished The Final Shape story in Destiny, and still playing Genshin the only Gacha I play... I'll probably try ZZZ, then drop it and keep playing Genshin 😂 I've spent a fair bit on Genshin though. So I'm not f2ping for sure.

[@naruto2382]

Alright real question here.. what platform is it worth playing all these games on? I have PS5, PC, and an S22 Ultra

[@voidbg7017]

I miss brave frontier 😢 Cant wait for recoded

[@iluvchess14736]

I got a zzz ad on this vid

[@adityawidarma3803]

what if Animal Crossing into gacha game despite AC: Pocket Camp exist? it's not like it's a Hoyo project right now, right?

[@EnjoyGengar]

Im playing honkai star rail and wuwa so yeah.. I would play zzz but i dont have time work calls.

[@headlesshiidra]

I pride myself for playing Genshin and no other gacha games. I am going to play ZZZ but I plan to be entirely f2p for it because early Genshin killed my wallet lol. Now that I have tons of characters in Genshin and there isn't insane powercreep I feel like I can skip most characters now, but I still refuse to spend more money on another gacha because I've seen what it does to people. If ZZZ has insane power creep then I'll save my pulls for later meta characters, but if it doesn't like Genshin, I wont be stingy about my pulls in the early game.

[@Penbin123]

That F2P guy, that's me, being playing gacha since like 2011 because I understand moonrunes and I have never spent a single yen on them, shoutouts to Square-Enix for making some of the worst mobage I have ever played and being ruthless with the EOS axe, also Scamco is up there too on being a shitty company for mobage.

[@Dapper_Blahaj]

I have to drop hsr for ZZZ because I think I’ll like it more who knows, I might get it back but not for a while

[@Kefla361]

Zzz is already good just because of Nicole my beloved. She's the prettiest and coolest for me. I will try the game if I like it I will play it if not well then I won't. I already play Genshin, Star Rail, Honkai Impact AND Wuwa. Adding another game to my daily schedule will be pain xD But I just can't resist pretty woman and the beautiful designed world's

[@pasdidees8514]

I also think the botw drama played a part in the sucess of genshin, personnally I'm a zelda fan and without all this drama I wouldn't have heard of or played genshin

[@terraghost]

Same here the only reason I played cause it was free multiplayer botw.

[@MasterP86]

I am really curious, what the appeal of gacha games is? If you are a broke teenager, you cant spend money on it, and if you isnt, buying a AAA game at full price is usually way cheaper than what most gachas expect paying players to pay, for a much higher quality product than most of the gachas out there, this not even counting all the sales and high quality indie games that can be bought for much cheaper.

[@earthbit.]

Happily, the only one I'm remotely interested in is Genshin. I briefly dabbled in HSR, but quickly grew bored of the combat system and annoyed at having no idea what anybody was talking about, and that kind of killed any momentum I had in the gacha space. I'm not even playing Genshin at the moment. Taking a break from it to work through my backlog of older games, like the Yakuza series. Never played those until now. Probably won't come back to Teyvat until Natlan launches. Maybe even later than that.

[@abdulwaduod11]

I am you 100%, i also like fireemblem but HATE that phone gacha game, i also buy every battlepass and walkin, also playing the 3 games and planning to play zzz, hopefully after 1 month of playing the 4 games I will finally decide to stop playing genshin or WUWA or ZZZ, my favorite gacha game is HSR will never stop playing that

[@epicazeroth]

Get ready for the RTS gacha

[@stevem.9340]

Wonder if your thoughts on Destiny and how that game made companies copy it to varying degree of success.

[@unboundking9742]

F2P in Gachas is just playing a live service Pokemon Nuzlocke where no one dies permanently. As an aside, Square Enix needs an FF Hoyo clone or they're gonna blink out of existence soon.

[@MT-uy6vw]

They're doing fine with ff14

[@unboundking9742]

The issue with that is that XIV paying for every mistake Square makes is both garbage for how little XIV gets put back into it and also how unsustainable XIV might be in the long run. That said, maybe I'm wrong and Dawntrail is doing better than Endwalker and Square can survive the next two years between expansions without needing to shut down all their failing gachas and nft shenanigans blowing up in their faces.

[@hedgehugs]

ironically I was thinking about what a Smash Bros gacha game would be like... Sounds fun at first but I don't know how they would even make it work unless they go the AFK Journey route where you're more so pulling for copies/power instead and... nah. 💀 Also, I understand wanting to spend money on ZZZ but not really wanting to because you're already doing so for 3 other gacha games. Luckily I haven't fallen in love with any of the characters so I'm staying F2P... For now lol.

[@TheGwilwileth]

I’m a Genshin girl first and foremost. My first gotcha….. Also play SR and WuWa 😂 yes to the Welkin and BP for Gen. Pass in SR… Though may not do BP in WuWa this month….will see. Will also try ZZZ….. hope I don’t like it 😅

[@iwasakitado]

Hi dude, if zzz don’t fit you you can trust me honkai 3rd eventually . It’s zzz but depressed lesbian only lol

[@Luci-pz8xx]

Didn't even mention Tower of Fantasy once

[@planetary-rendez-vous]

I'm currently surfing the gacha waves by quitting and coming back regularly on many games... It's just not possible to play all of them at the same time. It's crazy schedule. Or get over the FOMO and focus on story instead of grinding your f2p ass.

[@paris5831]

I just like playing games simple I’m not a annoying little prick crying about everything in sight

[@treeleven3316]

I think you just have to bite the bullet and go f2p on some of them. It’s just like streaming services combined can stack up.

[@newagesoup]

it’s too many! i can’t play them all lol. so i try to play just one. ww just took over for genshin for me

[@MN-xh7yu]

I don't mind gacha or mobile games but I don't want to play an action rpg on my phone or my PC if I'm being honest. Rpgs are my bread & butter of game genres but that's something I enjoy on my couch getting achievements and spending 120hrs on a single rpg so I don't play any of these that aren't on PS because I reserve PC for when I want a sweaty ranked session

[@pumpkin4648]

Don't envy f2p, they pay with time, effort and patience.

[@planetary-rendez-vous]

PC adds a dimension of legitimacy to the game instead of "trash mobile game". Seems like opinions are changing.

[@mikku54432]

played the old free to play anime MMORPGs of the mid-2010s. Pretty sure the folks that got into those just simply smoothly transitioned into gacha games as those old MMORPGs shut down one after the other since most of my old guildmates in those games have all invariably picked up a gacha game or two as their lives got busier and the habit of doing grinding, dailies and weeklies was already ingrained even way before that. As I see it, you only spend money in these games if you think that you want the game to continue existing and not because of wanting a character and only spend when you can afford it. If you think you aren't heard by the devs then simply don't spend money on it. Take the Hoyoverse fandoms. A lot of displeased genshin players like to paint the whole company through the lens of their displeasure with the genshin team but even without side eyeing the public perception of HI3's players seeing mihoyo as passionate with no malice but flawed or HSR's players not having too much to complain about with. If they're so displeased, just don't spend? The genshin fandom talks about boycotts a lot but then when push comes to shove the app revenue charts aren't lying and the people who got into the free to play MMORPGs already see genshin's system as less predatory than what they were already used to (enhancement systems gated behind RNG with a chance of gear break only fixable through cash shop, a chance to completely reset the enhancement level back to 0, a cash shop item to prevent the earlier 2 outcomes, lootbox cosmetic items with no pity in sight with stat benefits you can only get from a full set of those cosmetic items, needing to pay real money to be able to make an item tradable in player auction house, direct pvp in a p2w model, all these off the top of my head before I even played my first gacha game)

[@Suriyakeng]

I pretty much agreed, I used to play many old mmorpgs and transitioned to gacha games. Some may struggle to keep doing dailies every day, but it's like 5-10 mins trivial chores to me.

[@invarkul7831]

As a fast pace combat games enthusiast I only found Genshin and Wuwa to be appealing to me and man playing 2 of these is kinda sluggish. I'd say I enjoy wuwa much more because it's just like genshin but with better combat and more generous. To be fair I never tried HI3 and PGR but they were made before the "raised standards" so I don't think I will ever lay my hands on them

[@yuulb.alwright]

what next? Hoyo FGC?

[@KudaGeatsune3821]

I play this many games All of hoyoverse Both Kuro Titles A waifu shooter And 2 Rhythm games I admit I have a problem

[@Imaturtletehehe]

Thank you whales for funding my f2p game❤

[@SagittariusAyy]

For better or worse, Hoyo is REALLY GOOD at their craft. …That being said, I think I’ll stick with Star Rail. I don’t need TWO Hoyo gachas in my life

[@captainonomatopoeia]

Ironically enough... AAAA western devs are falling behind with their own shitty practices and broken games, pushing players more and more away from them and going for more indie devs and others. I don't blame people favouring Hoyoverse games despite being a gacha because you can actually see the effort and the budget that went into the game. Plus Hoyoverse regularly donates to charities and even funded nuclear fusion research at one point. You'll never see Ubisoft, EA, Blizzard, etc. do that lol

[@DimitriKatsuro]

If you love videogames but you struggle economically right now you can play all those amazing hoyo games for free and always have something to do. If you love videogames and enjoy the variety of genres, do yourself a favor and only chose one gacha game, the rest, just buy indies or AA games. I did the mistake of playing Genshin and HSR at the same time, worst mistake of my life, I barely had time for something else. Now I just stick to Genshin and everything else are games from steam.

[@KoeSeer]

to be fair, i'd rather play a good online gacha game than a shit bland slop of singleplayer game. *COUGH* STARFIELD *COUGH* most gacha games nowadays give players free gacha currency through regular in-game event. It won't be to the point you can pull every character in every patch and updates, tho. Unless you're really lucky. But just enough to quench the FOMO every 2-3 banners. If you want more, well, you swipe your card. in the end of the day, it's all just business. a damn profitable business that is.

[@evergreen7260]

just don't pay for it no matter what you tell me there is nothing forcing you to paying for either just stop it

[@cjwat1118]

I can ruin ZZZ in one little detail: ultimates are just chain attacks that do more damage.

[@nedandrew1753]

in what way? like the visuals or are the animations similar to the chain attacks?

[@f.b.iagent3971]

That doesn’t ruin it…

[@cjwat1118]

@@nedandrew1753 the animations are literally copy paste. You get a windup cutscene in ZZZ but your ultimate is the exact same animation as your chain attack.

[@cjwat1118]

@@f.b.iagent3971 well they should’ve removed ults then

[@nedandrew1753]

@@cjwat1118 i think they kept ults so that the combat flows more smoothly cuz if you basically have 2 chain attacks you can do longer strings of attacks and combos