Back in the old Ragnarok Online days, my life looked very different. I had hours - sometimes whole weekend - to grind, farm, and slowly work my way through the game. Fast-forward 20 years, and things have changed. I don’t have that kind of free time anymore, and I know I’m not the only one in this boat.
That’s why I don’t have a problem with paying to progress a little faster. In fact, I’d rather spend a bit to catch up than fall behind simply because I can’t play for 6 hours a day.
But here’s the line for me:
I do mind if monetization starts giving too much power - to the point where endgame content becomes impossible unless you spend money. That’s where “pay to progress” turns into “pay to win”, and it kills the fun and fairness for everyone.
At the end of the day, the developers are running a business. The game needs to make money to keep the servers online, pay the team, and keep new content coming. I’m almost certain RO3 will be free-to-play, so finding the right balance in the monetization model will be critical.
If they get that balance right, I think both players and the devs can win.