Reading the recent F2P articles, I've been curious how much do the most spending players actually spend.
I have seen some proportionate figures, showing what % do whales spend in relation to other groups.
Looking at it from an individual's perspective, how much would I be spending in $ if I were at the end of the spectrum? 200$, 1000$, do some people spend more than 2000$ on a F2P mobile game?
Comments
I personally know people who spend $1,000 a month on F2P mobile games.
Personally I think it is stupid but it is their money...
but it sort of makes sense because if a game requires x amount of dollars to say afloat, let alone thrive, it's going to need a LOT of money. Even just to recoup the investment. If the majority of the players spend "nothing" then the only way to stay in business is to court people who have a LOT of money and are willing to spend it.
If you read the interview with one of Funcom's founders, he says that some of their investors were very rich people who though nothing of spending a few million because it was "fun".
So there are people out there who wouldn't even blink at several thousand.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Publishers have talked about wanting everyone to "pay something" - even if its only 99 pennies - but words and actions are not necessarily in accord.
VG
Then there are others who spent even more than me around the $10,000 range. Then there are some that lose count, but they claim they spend $300 a month on it because they have good jobs.
But that is just from PAD. It is a really popular game so I expect whales to spend a little more on this game than some others.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I know that sometimes hobbies can get expensive. I am collecting PnP rulebooks. Some books will be expensive and others will be available at discount prices so it evens out. Overall the per year expenditures are negligible (< 150$) compared to the overall annual income.
With MMORPGs, especially f2p titles, it's rather different. I now spend significantly less than I would when paying for a subscription. How much can you possibly spend?
3) literally costs peanuts.
2) is a bit more costly but it's useful.
1) Big content updates don't come that frequently. It's still significantly less than going full subscription.
I can see that it's possible to spend hundreds of dollars a year if you go on a shopping spree. But who could sustain it?
You can do so many assumptions to who the big whales are.
I have seen some casual games on mobile devices where with time the in-game progress gets slower and slower. You have the option to buy in-game items/ currencies to speed up that advancement, though. I may try such an MMORPG which is build in a similar way. What is more important is if the gameplay is to my liking (i.e. controls, game flow, not too shallow). That's the first barrier. After that I would see if I can play without being nickled and dimed too much.
To be honest I could also live with a trial period (e.g. 30-60 days) as was usual some years ago. An "unlimited trial period" that most f2p games offer, doesn't make me try more games. Time and motivation are my main limiting factors when it comes to gaming. I can't play more than 2 MMORPGs at a time. And even if I'm playing 2, then I won't log in to both every day. Especially getting an overdose of the same routine in two MMORPGs (accept quest, go collect/ kill/ escort, collect reward) kills the motivation. Additionally the MMORPG I play has to compete with offline games, movies, sports, etc. and not with other MMORPGs.
Arche age, and Uncharted waters are a whales dream game..... O my bad my bad, being able to buy a super valuable tree in the cash shop, you cant get in the game isn't whale hunting, or p2w. O wait, better yet, neither is selling super boats, that you can't get in game, that are 100 times better than anything you can make in game. I have seen some one I was playing with in UCW pay 4000 a month till his injury check ran out, and he said he had to force him self to get work, even though he was injured. I never went back to that game again........
I used to dev for a couple private servers and in one game in particular (RF Online) we had a player who, after already spending a few thousand over the years on the official servers spent around $40k across a couple of iterations of our private servers over 3 or 4 years. Funny thing about it was, even without spending all that money he was already one of the top players. But he didn't spend it all on himself. He was also known to drop hundreds at a time on helping other players get into top end gear as well. To him it was all about helping his race / faction. Having stronger players on his side only made it easier for him to win wars and events.
Whales have been in the online gaming industry ever since the early days. I met some in Isle of Kesmai in the 80's, and again the late 90's when graphic MMORPG's took off. The faces may have changed, but the spending habits have not.
http://www.slideshare.net/emily_greer/dont-call-them-whales-freetoplay-spenders-virtual-value-gdc-2015
Check page 23 for the breakdown.