Is Lost Ark Pay to Win? – Answered

As much as free-to-play games are welcomed by a significant part of the gaming community, there are still some issues with the business models a lot of games are using to further their development and growth. There have been accusations against many developers that they are creating “Pay-to-Win” or P2W games, and some are even going so far as to call out developers for unethical business practices. There are wide discussions about Lost Ark and whether Lost Ark is P2W or not Pay to Win, and that’s what we are trying to find out in today’s analysis guide.

Do You Get Significant Advantage By Paying Real Money In Lost Ark?

Let’s face it, most players do not like the possibility of a Pay-to-Win mechanic existing in any game, because it allows a group of players (that may be insignificant number-wise, but is very significant in terms of the amount of revenue they are bringing to the developers) to have an advantage over the rest of the field.

Where does Lost Ark stand on the Pay-to-Win Spectrum?

Yeah, P2W Spectrum seems to be a thing apparently, with players having both serious debates as well as mental gymnastics about “to which degree is Game X pay-to-win?” and it’s not any different for Lost Ark either.

Lost Ark has some Pay to Win elements, but it’s not a blatant P2W game. What do we mean by this?

When it comes to PvE, there are definite ways for you to become stronger in the game by shelling out real money.

When it comes to PvP, the advantage you can get is not that significant. There are people who are F2P players who can kick your butt and be considered rightful members of the top of the PvP scene. Why is this the case, you may be wondering…

This is because (oh boy, here we go with new terms again) Lost Ark is essentially a Pay-to-Progress game. This means, in essence, that you are trading your money in order to save some time you would spend grinding so that you can spend your time doing something else. So basically, you are paying to cut corners.

And that’s okay. Some people value their time, and the game needs money in order to maintain the servers and to have staff developing the game.

What’s NOT okay is that some game developers are seemingly making the grind so hard that you playing a game can basically count as a second job, and you are gently beaten into submission if you wish to progress as fast as some other people, since you gradually lose your sanity and just want to make that big leap with your character.

Therefore, it’s Pay to Win in a sense, because you can pay money to get significantly ahead of other players.

Related: When Did Spending Thousands of Dollars in Video Games Become the New Normal?

To me, this is not normal, and no, this is not an attack on Lost Ark, it’s a general opinion about the state gaming is in right now. Yes, I fondly remember the arcade days when people dumped bags of quarters in order to play games, but the gaming industry has indeed had a lot of ups and downs, evolutions, drastic changes, and whatnot. However, it seems to me that we have gone full circle and that we are “inserting coins” from the comfort of our homes on our consoles and computers, or on the go as we go about our ways around the city with smartphones in our hands.

Related: Great… Warzone 2’s COD: DMZ is Pay-To-Win Now

As long as enough people abide by these business practices things are bound to keep getting worse. Vote with your wallets, and your presence within a service. See you around.