As a free-to-play game, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:VALORANT has been a resounding success since la✃unch and is seeing only growth in its player base and the esports scene. Even though players are not required to spend any money to play ✱the game, the way in which is handled in game remains a source of contention among some players, but certainly not all.
Monetization Through Cosmetics
Like most of Riot Games’ catalogue of titles, VALORANT has no financial barrier to entry. Monetization is handl♏ed through a Battle Pass system that lasts two months at a time, costs roughly $10, and provides players with plenty of cosmetic rewards. There is also the option to spend larger amounts of money on cosmetics and the re🍌sources needed to upgrade some pieces to look a certain way, but again, the core gameplay is unaffected by this.
This allows everyone to enjoy the game, and if they want to support Riot Games financially, they can make one of these purchases. However, a look at any online forum would make a casual observer believe that Riot Games is acting like a greedy tyrant, charging unreasonable amounts🌟 of money to play the game.
The High Cost Of Radianite Points
The controversy stems from the high costs of acquiring certain cosmetic items, which is tied to the way in which Radianite Points are handled. These are a form of currency used to upgrade the look of skins for weapons, and they can mainly be acquired slowly through playing each se👍asons Battle Pass, but 🌌are scare in quantity and often still require a top off by purchasing a bundle ranging from $15-45.
As a result, acquiring the Radianite points needed to acquire every skin a player might want is virtually impossible without spending real money, and that seems to be the crux of the issue. Since certain cosmetic upgrades and finishers are gate꧑d behind a Radianite cosꦐt, some players argue that the model should be revamped entirely, along with the reduction in prices for premium cosmetic bundles.
Not Everyone Complains
For every post complaining about having to spend money for cosmetic items, there seem to be an equal number defending the monetization structure. Most discussion on the matter seems to end in points relating to how else a developer is supposed to make any money from their game, which in the case of VALORANT, took a little over six years.
What is most interesting here is that the fundamental issue could not be more of a first-world problem. The game is completely free-to-play at all levels of skill, Riot Games has done an excellent job with balance and communicating with its player base and spending any money at all is completely optional and only serves towards personal vanity. No one that sees a premium skin ไin game believes that a player is of a certain level of skill, but that they have money to burn or consider the game well worth supporting.
Riot Games Treats Most Of Their Games In A Similar Fashion
What makes the complaints surprising is that Riot Games has several games that operate under a similar monetization structure. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:League of Legends, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Teamfight Tactics, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Legends of Runeterra are all free-to-play as well, and while money can be spent in each of these games, it is purely optional and mainly goes towards cosmetics that add a touch of personalization to the game, exactly like VALORANT.
Thanks To Fortnite, Players Are Spoiled
Another point to consider is how the rise of the Battle Pass system over the last few years has fundamentally shifted how players perceive and value cosmetic items in game. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fortnite has done an outstanding job each season by pro🐼viding great value with their seasonal Battle Pass, which often comes 🦩with several skins in different styles, emotes, sprays, gliders, harvesters, and more.
Meanwhile, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Apex Legends suffered greatly in its first seasons because its Battle Pass was, by comparison, lackluster and required too much grinding. On its own, it was still good value for the money, but compared next to Fortnite, it was lacking.
There are countless other examples we can point to, but the main point is that VALORANT is a well-made, balanced game with great developer communication, and complaining about the cost of vanity items in a free game is rather ridiculoꦡus. Imagine for a moment if the game were made by EA. Players would need to buy the actual game, each new agent, a battle pass, premium skins, and those would likely be inside of loo🐼t boxes to achieve that sense of pride and accomplishment.
Honestly, Radianite Points are f🔯ine in their presꦜent state, but there will always be something that players find to complain about.
Source: valorant.fandom.com