Understanding the Risks of Raid - Digital Slot Machines, P2W / F2P, and Addiction
Introduction
My experience with Raid has been similar to that of a job.
I login every day, do all my daily tasks, grind the same level over and over, and rinse and repeat. I get paid in the occasional rewards which include:
- More energy to do more work (grinding)
- Many penny slot machine rolls (gear)
- The occasional free slot machine token (aka shard pull)
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Gameplay
At first I enjoyed this loop because I didn't understand how much content of the game is locked behind an invisible paywall:
Want to do events and tournaments? - You need to be able to farm higher levels of content and have a ton of energy
Want to farm higher levels of content and have energy? - You need to save or purchase energy and get useful characters
Want to get useful characters? - Get a team that can beat Ultimate Nightmare Clan Boss
Want to beat UNM? - Do shard after shard until you get useful champions (roll the slot machine day after day)
Beating UNM? - Congrats. You can do a daily slot machine where you have a couple miniscule chances of getting a Sacred shard which in turn has a miniscule chance of getting a champion you actually need.
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Experience as a P2W vs. F2P
I've experienced both F2P and P2W and can honestly say that both felt as hopeless as the other.
F2P had much more of the "fear of missing out". As I saw my fellow players in Discord, Arena, and Clan progressing their teams I saw that my progression had slowed due to the inherent energy and shard limit in the game. I felt like I was quickly falling behind and the only way to keep up would be to spend money, or to micromanage all of my time spend on the game.
My P2W experience was the same. I had more energy than I couldve spent, and a full team of synergistic 60s. Was I satisfied? No - I realized that grinding to level characters still took hours and hours of my time and that events and tournaments were still incredibly tedious even with the tools to complete them. Despite having characters that many hold in high regard, my sights were always set on the next objective as though I was always chasing the next "high".
All the while the game was throwing:
"...the unavoidable pop ups at the start screen that say "HOT!" "SALE" "SPECIAL OFFER", that are all actually garbage deals that guarantee nothing but more RNG. A good game can get people to pay by providing gameplay that provides joy to the player. A bad game on the other hand, has to rely on constantly pressuring you with offers, so that it can catch the precise moment where you are in a weakened mental state to give in. " - Supermush from the following forum post.
If the above quote resonates at all with you I'd recommend giving the above forum post a look. Although its from 2 years ago, it brings up many points and complaints about the game that still ring true today.
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Conclusion
With the number of games being made for mobile we as consumers can make informed decisions about what we choose to spend our time and money on.
From a consumer standpoint many argue that Raid takes the form of an idle hobby where one can login during their spare time to slowly build their team. For those users Raid is likely to fill a healthy space in your life, assuming you don't obsessively find the "spare time" to play the game.
For others who want to treat the game like something they will make time to play and grind out its important to understand this:
Devoting time to this game is like going to a casino in your spare time. You WILL spend hours on end chasing the next "big win". You WILL feel dissatisfied when you run out of daily energy and cant roll the slots anymore. Finally, you will sit there watching the game play itself as you press the "autospin" (oh sorry, its called autoPLAY).
Its a scary cycle and I hope this post and the stories of many others can help you break out of what is truly an unhealthy addiction.