Re: Gacha games and barrier of entry Read more
>All these new gachas trying to gain some of Genshin’s audience fail to see what made it so popular in the first place: that you can run it on a potato.
>(...)
>It’s really destroying the low barrier to entry reputation of being an f2p gacha.
I thought about this sometimes, but you put it better than I ever could lol. Originally, isn't one of the biggest strengths of mobile gacha games was their low barrier to entry, where you could play for free (even if the monetization can be aggressive, being free to play means much lower barrier of entry), run them on fairly modest devices, and play in short sessions? That accessibility is a big reason they became so popular in the first place, especially in places like Japan where commuting and quick breaks shaped how people played. As much as people like to berate on AFK gacha games or gacha games where you can quickly do dailies (due to auto or sweep), they're popular for a good reason. I don't play Honkai Stair Rail, but I've seen my friends and other people talked about how they like and play it due to how easy it is to play even when you're busy.
Genshin Impact did raise the bar in terms of scope and production value, but as you said, part of what made it successful was that it still plays well on weaker devices, while having the option to be played on other high-end devices - which means it captures a wide range of audience. A lot of newer gacha games seem to copy the high-budget presentation without that same level of accessibility, which ends up sidelining players who can’t upgrade their hardware.
It’s cool to see mobile games evolve, but when "mobile" starts to mean "PC strongly recommended," it kind of defeats the point for a lot of people, I think. Especially now, when phones and tech in general are getting more expensive, not everyone can justify upgrading just to play a supposedly mobile game.
That said, I’ll admit I have a lot of beef with Infinity Nikki’s optimization (Papergames/Infold in general, honestly, stares at Shining Nikki), but I’m still grateful it has a mobile version at all. Being able to play on the go matters to me. The mobile version used to lag horribly, buildings didn't even load, but it’s gotten more playable over time, even if the graphics still suck (and at least buildings load now! That's an amazing improvement for me). And honestly, I’d still rather have that option than not have a mobile version at all.
So yeah, I suppose it’s complicated. I can have issues with raising barrier of entry, lack of accessibility, and optimizations, and still be glad a game even tries to be playable on mobile. To me, that option, imperfect as it is, still matters more than pushing mobile games further toward "PC required."
>All these new gachas trying to gain some of Genshin’s audience fail to see what made it so popular in the first place: that you can run it on a potato.
>(...)
>It’s really destroying the low barrier to entry reputation of being an f2p gacha.
I thought about this sometimes, but you put it better than I ever could lol. Originally, isn't one of the biggest strengths of mobile gacha games was their low barrier to entry, where you could play for free (even if the monetization can be aggressive, being free to play means much lower barrier of entry), run them on fairly modest devices, and play in short sessions? That accessibility is a big reason they became so popular in the first place, especially in places like Japan where commuting and quick breaks shaped how people played. As much as people like to berate on AFK gacha games or gacha games where you can quickly do dailies (due to auto or sweep), they're popular for a good reason. I don't play Honkai Stair Rail, but I've seen my friends and other people talked about how they like and play it due to how easy it is to play even when you're busy.
Genshin Impact did raise the bar in terms of scope and production value, but as you said, part of what made it successful was that it still plays well on weaker devices, while having the option to be played on other high-end devices - which means it captures a wide range of audience. A lot of newer gacha games seem to copy the high-budget presentation without that same level of accessibility, which ends up sidelining players who can’t upgrade their hardware.
It’s cool to see mobile games evolve, but when "mobile" starts to mean "PC strongly recommended," it kind of defeats the point for a lot of people, I think. Especially now, when phones and tech in general are getting more expensive, not everyone can justify upgrading just to play a supposedly mobile game.
That said, I’ll admit I have a lot of beef with Infinity Nikki’s optimization (Papergames/Infold in general, honestly, stares at Shining Nikki), but I’m still grateful it has a mobile version at all. Being able to play on the go matters to me. The mobile version used to lag horribly, buildings didn't even load, but it’s gotten more playable over time, even if the graphics still suck (and at least buildings load now! That's an amazing improvement for me). And honestly, I’d still rather have that option than not have a mobile version at all.
So yeah, I suppose it’s complicated. I can have issues with raising barrier of entry, lack of accessibility, and optimizations, and still be glad a game even tries to be playable on mobile. To me, that option, imperfect as it is, still matters more than pushing mobile games further toward "PC required."
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