Follow-up to: Free-to-Play Games: Three Key Trade-Offs The central free-to-play mechanic is to ration action and resources via real world time. This leads to two of the three key trade offs. Players are prevented from having fun because they are time restricted, either unable to play or unable to have the resources to play the way they would like, allowing the game to sell a solution to these problems. More perniciously, players become trained to constantly check in with the game in order to claim rewards and keep their resources from becoming idle. This can warp a person's life more than one would think, changing behavior to allow timely access, and preventing focus on other subjects.
Timer Toxicities
Timer Toxicities
Timer Toxicities
Follow-up to: Free-to-Play Games: Three Key Trade-Offs The central free-to-play mechanic is to ration action and resources via real world time. This leads to two of the three key trade offs. Players are prevented from having fun because they are time restricted, either unable to play or unable to have the resources to play the way they would like, allowing the game to sell a solution to these problems. More perniciously, players become trained to constantly check in with the game in order to claim rewards and keep their resources from becoming idle. This can warp a person's life more than one would think, changing behavior to allow timely access, and preventing focus on other subjects.