Having released very recently in America alongside Europe, Lost Ark took over the online world. As a free to play game with great gameplay, it appeals to many diverse players. The game is so widely acclaimed that it broke a literal record for the most concurrent players at one time. With any free to play game, there’s a little skepticism in the game’s progression. Lost Ark, a viral gaming sensation, is no different. Players looking to get into the game may be wondering, ‘Is Lost Ark Pay to Win?’
The game is pay to win. When considering whether a game is pay to win, people need to consider what they really consider as “winning.” In Lost Ark, winning the game can be seen as beating certain boss fights. These boss fights remain unbeatable unless players properly progress. But how players progress is the crux of the dilemma.
Players have the option of paying to progress faster, which allows them to reach the equipment and level requirement to actually stand up against the bosses. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no skill or that players need to pay to reach that point. In Lost Ark, real life currency undoubtedly provides shortcuts to gameplay grinding, easily replacing literal dozens of hours. Certain boss fights, which would have take a painstakingly long period of time to prepare for, can take minutes with the swipe of a credit card. This is how the game can be perceived as “pay to win.”
How is beating a boss considered winning? The one paying isn’t directly comparing and competing with others.
That’s where the definition of pay to win gets tricky. Each player perceives winning as something different, especially in a MMORPG like Lost Ark.
The biggest argument for supporting the idea that Lost Ark is pay to win is that there’s no cap amount of times a player can pay. In essence, there are multiple instances throughout the progression of the character where the player can pay money to reach the power that they desire. A one time purchase would be a whole different story. If a one time purchase unlocked a separate progression tree, the argument would become invalid. But in Lost Ark, no matter what point the player finds themselves, they’ll always find that paying real money helps fix the problem.
A player can pay $100, and not reach their maximum power. In fact, they could even pay $1000 and still have more that they can pay for. This business model built into the game is concerning, and will definitely be a factor that turns players away.
Here’s the argument of why it’s not pay to win. Players can still achieve the exact same equipment and progression that those who pay money do, it’ll just take a lot longer. Lost Ark is a very grind heavy game, so players who commit to not spending money will eventually find themselves needing to sit down and farm.
Some may also argue that PvP in Lost Ark is the only way of accessing if the game is Pay to Win or not. In essence, if the players themselves believe that notion, then yes. Lost Ark is not pay to win. But this notion relies heavily on what the individual player believes.
Winning isn’t simply winning a match, but overcoming an obstacle and challenge. It doesn’t necessarily have to be winning in PvP, but winning could be considered beating the video game. In that case, Lost Ark very much characterizes itself as a Pay to Win game. But for those who don’t consider beating the game as winning, then Lost Ark is not pay to win.
Free to play is completely viable in Lost Ark. Since players don’t directly compete with others in the main story, the pay-to-win nature of the progression system shouldn’t be that big of a red flag. In other words, for those looking into playing the game, don’t let the microtransactions scare you. Leveling and progressing will go smoothly, just be mindful that a long grind awaits. Hopefully this article on whether ‘Is Lost Ark is Pay to Win’ helped inform players.
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