According to a Korean news website, NCSoft does not plan to introduce probability items in Throne and Liberty. The loot boxes, gacha system, etc, seemed like a good monetization system, at least from the developers’ point of view. But lately, after many problems and regulations, it seems to be not so attractive anymore. Overcharging players for random items only seems to foster fan frustration and, despite the initial gains, frustrated players are not good for business in the long run.
Ncsoft seems to be thinking along the same line for the release of Throne and Liberty. TL’s monetization system will not include probability items, instead it will focus on Battle Passes subscriptions.
With the subscription-based battle pass players can receive the promised items when certain milestones are reached during the subscription period. Since it’s not about luck, you know what you are going to get, and that seems to be more apeeling to players.
During the last Throne and Liberty CBT all ‘draw items’ were excluded and we got a sneak peek at the Season Pass instead, with cosmetic rewards that had little effect on combat ability. This is an attempt to target European and North American fanbase, who do not have a good perception of probability items.
The Seasson/Battle Pass monetization system was well-received among users, and all signs indicate that NCSOFT will remove probability items permanently. In order to earn the same profits that would be generated with a probability system, the subscriber base must be high, so NCSOFT must be quite optimistic about the number of players Throne and Liberty will have in Korea and globally.
An industry official said, “It is true that game companies have made a lot of money through probability items in the MMORPG genre. As a result, competition has intensified, item-related crimes have occurred, and there is even a movement to legislate probability disclosure to resolve unfairness. In the future, it would be desirable to change to something like a battle pass”.
And remember that in just a few days we will have more information about Throne and Liberty. On November 2nd at 11 o’clock, NCSoft will finally show us everything about Throne and Liberty in the Launching Showcase.
Source: news.mt.co.kr
