In recent years, the videogame market has experienced a massive increase in gacha and Genshinlike games. That is to say that there is a considerable rise of installments with open-world characteristics, new waifus or husbandos every few weeks, and an attractive anime cell shading style. Yet, the feature that stands out the most, and the main one that keeps players hooked, is its “Free-to-play” gameplay. Even though investing money in gacha games is not mandatory, with every update, we face a big dilemma: to pull or not pull.
What Is It That Incentivizes Pulls in the Gacha?
It is true that many gacha developers promoted their games as free and that you don’t need money to progress, but this is a facade. Of course, it is possible to have only units or characters 4-star or A-rank, depending on the game, and complete even the latest stages, although it is more complicated. However, the natural enemies of any player, F2P and Whales alike, are the power creep and the meta. Both aspects are essential to these live services to renew their endgame and keep their users connected, trying to update their teams and build.
However, like HoYoverse’s games, the rhythm of new patches feels significantly accelerated. For example, Zenless Zone Zero recently showed a new trailer during The Game Awards with characters that might come in the future. Also, ZZZ‘s gacha fast pacing is due to two new S-rank characters and weapons per Version; it’s too much to keep up with four completely different banners. We know paying in this gacha is optional, and some have the funds, but the true dilemma is it is still too much. This is also where the famous rewards and daily missions come in.
Although at first, like any release, it is expected that, as players, we get carried away by the hype. Wanting to discover the map, complete missions, and finish events as soon as possible is part of the excitement; this grows exponentially if we add the rewards. These are the same rewards that could help us get the new character of the Version. Yet, as time goes by in this endless cycle, this excitement unsuspectedly becomes a chore and even an intense anxiety. This is when players have a strong feeling of being obligated to complete their events and daily missions without fail. The worst-case scenario for some gamers is to lose a specific character that will “make the team work” for the new content.
This dilemma may be less so if you only play a single gacha, but with so many games like these right now, some players play five or more every day. So remember that the main point of playing a video game is to have fun. If any game goes so far as to make us feel stressed or anxious, it is better to go back to the beginning. It’s better to play for the sake of playing and distracting ourselves for a moment. Besides, you don’t need all new or most powerful characters; the real challenge is to use your creativity to tackle an obstacle with what you have.
Even if you are a player who prefers the story, don’t let the trend of insta-kill a boss or make your DPS the strongest, or vice versa. If you want a character, go ahead and try to use your pulls to get it; if not, there will be more opportunities.
