a game with the same kind of storytelling and gameplay conceits of gacha and still has "rolling," but it has mmo-style monetization

buy it once, then monthly sub, then regular expacs that cost additional money but just get you Everything in that patch

the rolls are just like. earned purely in-game and are all cosmetics

so that people who are Actually Addicted to gacha-style rolling can get that fix

without spending a bunch of money on it

I think an idea with legs would be like

make an RPG or something, within which a gacha game exists

so you play the game within a game using money you made killing monsters in the main game

instead of real money

that's also an interesting idea

it's just like. how do i communicate this.

as someone who's played a lot of gacha and had Bad Experiences with each one

part of the appeal is that there's a certain kind of storytelling that only gacha games can pull off

Witcher 3 actually comes close, with its in-universe CCG

80% of the time that storytelling is like. bad.

but that last 20% is what gets people hooked in and also all the money drained out of them

True! MMOs are probably the closest you get since, like gacha games, they're designed to keep giving new content and story arcs all the time.

the real-time story crafting coming in drips and getting people really excited about backstories and new outfits

MadarFoxfire: exactly yeah

there is, in fact, one game where you roll for characters in typical gacha mechanics but only using in-game currency, who are each designed by different artists and have different movesets in a gacha-like way,

Xenoblade Chronicles™ 2 for Nintendo Switch - Ninten...

hey, emily? i think i have to kill you now

that's fair

..... huh

hilariously there is a mobage that came out pretty recently where characters are unlockable via items you get in game and all the gacha is like........ aesthetics

huh, do tell?

i need to play more of it myself actually but it's duet night abyss

the upcoming Ananta game is going to do the same thing, have gacha strictly for cosmetic things, clothes and vehicles. characters are all unlocked via story progression.

HUH.

whether or not Ananta will be any good remains to be seen but it does have the Hoyogame gacha aesthetic down pat.

Yeah I was going to come here and say xc2....

I just got to the part of FFXIV where I can make ancient jokes about your player character being a pull in someone else's gacha and the final boss being him doing an 8-pull

But I will admit to spending too much money on MMO subs and expansion pack happy strategy games and those both being the kind of fix people might look for from gachas without being gambling.

tbf to lily i think she's said before that she wont be returning to xiv

it does have some in game obtainable lootboxes too tho lol