"I spent $1000 Buying Waifus in Gacha Games" by Gigguk (An examination of playing Gacha Games)

[Chasing]

Despite the click-baiting title, IMO this is one of the best cross-examinations I've watched of someone first trying, and then delineating the experience and culture of playing a mobile gacha game. Starting with a $1000 budget to spend on the games, Gigguk recounts his experience as a fairly extensive deep dive into how people get invested into it, of their enjoyment over time, and of the subculture around them; As well the monetization, the gambling dopamine, and yes, how he eventually spent his own moolah buying waifus.




The overload of anime memes asides, it's a fairly hilarious watch (I would guess especially to people who are playing the 3 titles he examines, Fate GO, Arknight, and Dragalia) but also one of the more informative and well-rounded takes I've seen on the gacha game experience.

 

[Glimpse_Dog]

Anime was a mistake.

On a more serious note, I feel for the people who get sucked into these games. As someone with strong addictive tendencies I can empathize.

 

[Ex Libris]

Spending $400 on Astolfo in Fate GO is simultaneously completely insane and completely in line with what I know about Fate GO

 

[Yuntu]

Oh nice. Love Gigguks videos.

 

[Arkanim94]

"because the doujinshi are better in context"

Imma fucking dead.

 

[dark494]

It's all true, that's why it's a great vid. From the exciting moments to the actual fun gameplay to the thousands of hours of farming and yes to the potential money sink it can become if you don't have good self control. But we play these games because we enjoy them.

 

[Razmos]

Cant watch it yet but I'm curious to see what he says about Dragalia which imo is one of the friendliest gachas due to the vast amount of free currency they give out

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

I mean, $1000 sounds like a lot but if you buy 10 AAA newly released games a year that's also a lot of money spent on this hobby of ours.

 

[Imperfected]

Oh, well, if it was for Astolfo...

 

[Chasing]

Cant watch it yet but I'm curious to see what he says about Dragalia which imo is one of the friendliest gachas due to the vast amount of free currency they give out

Click to shrink...

Yeah, he did recognize that part; at the end of the video he gives a breakdown of how much he spent on each title:

Spoiler

Dragalia $0
Arknight $150
FGO $650

 

[Kewlmyc]

I've played 4 gacha games in total and have probably spend $5000+ in total.

Shit sucks, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I'm still playing 2 of them, though I don't spend as much as I did before.

 

[spartan112g]

As an avid Arknights and ex-Dragalia Lost player, this all checks out. I maybe spent around $60 on Dragalia for the year I played and am more in the $100 range for Arknights. I've tried other games, but Arknights gameplay loop is fun and you feel OMEGA-BRAINED when you figure out a difficult map. Dragalia is pretty much pure gameplay knowledge and learning boss patterns since it's more of an action game and high level content requires precise teamwork.
All and all, I don't regret any of the money or time I've spent with Gacha games.

 

[Yuntu]

I have spent like 300-400 in Gacha. Brave Exvius, Fire Emblem and Yugioh Duel Links.

Wasnt worth any of it.

 

[Arkanim94]

 

[Razorrin]

This video is amazing! Livhthearted yet informative, really goes into Gatcha's in a fun and interesting way! I feel like this could be required viewing for people interested in knowing why people play these games!

Also, WTF, 1%?!? I play DFFOO as my big game, you get characters for free, but roll for three (soon to be four with Positively adjusted rates) weapons for each character on banners that have three characters on them.

Two of these characters have an EX weapon, which is the only weapon you can't get pitside of the banners with other easily built over time resources. The rate to get one of these weapons? 10%, with a 15 multipull pity system if you don't get the EX Weapon you want by then, that is halfway funded each month basically.

How in the hell does somebody put themselves through that for a 5* rare for a tenth of that!?! With much less easy to gain resources?!? You can easily end up with over 200+ single pull tickets from events and story progression alone each month, and with Summon Boards (you fight summons like Ifrit and Shiva to empower your characters and get rewards) you get like 360+ more from each new one alone.

Watching anything with regards to the Gatcha systems in other games makes me more and more proud of playing DFFOO, F2P in that game is the default, constant experience rather then the beginning. The money that flows in is way more often a charity exchange for costumes then something you would actively whale for.

In any case, if this isn't allowed, I'll cut my post down, but I'm glad that the message being taken away is "Addictive Personalities should stay away, not worth losing money over, but the games get money because they are legitimately fun to play, and the best ones don't seriously require whaling, but rather whaling is a consiquence of investment into a game, as you are expected to play them a little over a long time."

That last one is important by the way, GATCHA GAMES ARE NOT FUN OR GOOD ENOUGH TO LOSE IMMENSE AMOUNTS OF MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE OR NEED TO SAVE UP, DON'T PLAY THEM IF YOU CAN'T HELP YOURSELF.

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF GAMES YOU CAN PUT ON YOUR PHONE OR TABLET THAT ARE FUN AND DON'T USE THESE SYSTEMS OR OFTEN DISGUSTING TACTICS.

I may have spent $200ish on DFFOO myself over the two years I've played it, but I was under No Illusion thar it was a donation to the devs for a game that gave me joy for a long time. I'd be $500 in already if this was an MMO, and it isn't.

Just like gambling, KNOW YOUR LIMIT, SPEND WITHIN IT.

 

[.exe]

Good video! I got close with the Shin Megami Tensei game. Legit kinda fun and the 3D models were sick -- featured all the summoning hits. Like the video says, some of them are pretty fun games. Also, yeah, the main input is not (just) money but time. I definitely wasted a few days playing that SMT game. Fandom is so easily exploitable and these companies should feel bad for doing it. I wonder if anime is uniquely suited to this shitty genre, because JRPGs and MMOs have taught people to be ok with grind. That and the obsessive character devotion.

 

[blame space]

After over 3 years and more than $15k, I'm essentially done with Fire Emblem Heroes

I say "essentially", because I will probably still log in here and there (like I do in Epic Seven, Fate/Grand Order, and Brave Frontier), and maybe even spend a bit if like I get a guaranteed character I want, but like I haven't even logged in for over a week. But yeah, Fire Emblem Heroes is...

www.resetera.com

 

[Zen Hero]

I tried a couple of Nintendo's gacha games and wasn't ever able to get past what he describes as the 'Welfare' stage. You start off the games and they're just so overwhelming with so many kinds of resources and buttons and mechanics and whatnot and I just can't.

 

[Yasumi]

I've spent like a buck on Fate GO to get a Saint Quartz for a continue. Got pretty much all the servants I've wanted. I'll never reproduce the luck that resulted in pulling Merlin on my first attempt with a single free ticket. It was meant to be, he's my bby.

 

[Oreiller]

Never spent any money on any gacha game but it was mainly because farming in these games is so boring I can't stand to play them. They feel like a side job more than a genuine game.

 

[Kaguya]

This was a really well done video.

 

[Iztok]

I once bought the minimum available amount of COD points, and immediatelly regretted it.
Felt dirty.

I cannot imagine anything on this level.

 

[Dreavus]

Dragalia was great for a gacha. Endgame bosses are an enormous challenge if you want something to work towards. Learning the first high dragon fight was interesting and quite frankly a lot of fun, and there are a surprising amount of play styles available to you by means of which character you choose to play as... all tucked into a little mobile game with relatively simple controls. Voice acting is great and the character are colourful and stylish. It's a really tight burst of gameplay.

Sadly, the gentleman in the video is not lying about the time sink aspect. If you want to be "efficient" and get anywhere with your unit upgrades, be ready to not only daily farm but also dive head first into limited events to amass the rare materials you will need.

I was having fun with the game and never felt any need to spend money. My mindset is usually "I'm going to pull until I break my streak 1-2 times with free currency, then stop" and that has served me well (usually odds of getting a top unit continue to increase until you get one, but not necessarily the one you had in mind). I ended my time with the game with literally entire teams in each element at 5 star rarity, all with top weapons and accessory items, without spending any money at all. All that aside, the grind was the thing that was starting to get to me. We are talking at least 20 minutes a day for ONE game to do your "dailies", and seriously guys that shit adds up over time. I found my self kind of planning my time around the game - getting my dailies done in the morning then doing event or other missions in the afternoon. It could easily become all consuming if I wanted it to (and this is even AFTER they added auto play and increased amounts of "skip tickets" and give you instant rewards for not playing the mission.)

I think it would have made more sense for me to tackle more hard battles for fun and just start ignoring the daily stuff, but when you are in the thick of it it's hard to leave those materials on the table. You're going to need those items later if you ever want to upgrade a new character, and the event is happening right now, so why not do them? It's hard to resist, and that's not even the gacha paid money stuff I'm talking about. Basically the business model of gacha is to worm their way into your life and then it's on you to resist spending. But there's usually no way around the time sink stuff because that's how they get you invested in the first place, right? At a certain point, and on many levels, it all starts to get exhausting.

Overall I felt it was healthier to drop the game. It's weird, but I found I just felt better cutting it completely rather than try and continue in "maintenance mode". There's no FOMO and you no longer have these drop tables and stamina timers constantly going through your head. And honesty I felt I was approaching this whole thing relatively sanely, I can't imagine getting myself wound up after a certain character and dropping real money to obtain them.

I supposed of you have the time and really enjoy the gameplay, go for it. You'll have some fun things to look forward to. But if you ever find yourself just grinding stuff out for the sake of it, maybe take another look at why your spending so much time of your one and only life on this particular game. (Okay okay, a bit of a cheap shot since we're all on era here, but damn do these games ever turn into sinks if you let them).

 

[fulltimepanda]

Been there with P&D and Treasure cruise.

They are excellent time sinks however they are hyper predatory in their practices. I was hanging at the bit for the next event, hoping it would drop a character/creature that I could use to further my progression in something else that I could use to get more of another resource so that I could upgrade other characters that I could use to do some other event that would come in a few weeks time that would allow me to get a bit further on whatever dungeon I was on. The cycle doesn't stop and it only gets higher and higher until you realise you've dropped a ridiculous amount of money on them and decide to step away.

 

[show me your skeleton]

gacha games more like gotcha (wallet) games

 

[Gacha Santa Alter]

But Astolfo is only a 4*. The 5* version isn't out here yet. /kappa

Anyway I've played many gacha games over the years and never spent a cent. Sure, I don't get every single 5* waifu but as long as the monetization doesn't get in the way of my actually having fun playing the game, I'm fine with it. I can see these games being a problem for people with poor impulse control though.

 

[Chille]

That's not even that much money for a YouTuber to spend on gacha games. Datruth spends are 2-3k per banner.

 

[jiggle]

Only gacha I stuck around with is puzzle and dragons (1300+ days and over 7 accounts at one point) since it's so generous with free rolls, with not completely terrible drop rates and near constant refresh of most of the old cards
Plus the gacha gating is not totally wretched
Makes it really easy to delete other gacha games with terrible rates

Actually spent the most money in level5's fantasy life online cuz it was so fun
But my god the grinding was a nightmare

 

[Theswweet]

The one and only time I've spent money on gacha was Dragalia Lost.

I got two of a 5* unit I already had. Never again.

 

[Razorrin]

But Astolfo is only a 4*. The 5* version isn't out here yet. /kappa

Anyway I've played many gacha games over the years and never spent a cent. Sure, I don't get every single 5* waifu but as long as the monetization doesn't get in the way of my actually having fun playing the game, I'm fine with it. I can see these games being a problem for people with poor impulse control though.

Click to shrink...

This is the big takeaway. People shouldn't be going into these games expecting to need the highest tier stuff to have fun, and Definitely shouldn't play if they are succeptible to the tactics these games use.

Dragalia and Dffoo are both good choices for games that are both generous and fun enough to never necessitate spending money on stuff.

 

[Imperfected]

But Astolfo is only a 4*. The 5* version isn't out here yet. /kappa

Anyway I've played many gacha games over the years and never spent a cent. Sure, I don't get every single 5* waifu but as long as the monetization doesn't get in the way of my actually having fun playing the game, I'm fine with it. I can see these games being a problem for people with poor impulse control though.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I played FGO and the only premium Servant I ever felt a serious lack for was Merlin. Most of the 5*'s honestly aren't even very good.

 

[Zombine]

The one and only time I've spent money on gacha was Dragalia Lost.

I got two of a 5* unit I already had. Never again.

Click to shrink...

I refuse to spend a dime on the game and I rolled maybe 70-80% of the units by being patient. If there are enough free tickets and stones on offer during an event, you're likely to get at least 1-2 of the new units if you only use 10+ summons.

When I was younger, my poison was puzzle and dragons. Can't begin to tell you how much I spent on rolls when I was in my 20s (only to have most of those units end up useless due to power creep.)

Gatcha simply isn't worth it. Take all the free rolls you can get and just hope for the best.

 

[Chasing]

That's not even that much money for a YouTuber to spend on gacha games. Datruth spends are 2-3k per banner.

Click to shrink...

It's not really about how much money he spent, and it's certainly not an LP of the gacha game. The video is about a deep dive into the experience, the culture, and perceptions of playing gacha games, as a person new to them.

 

[Red Liquorice]

I don't understand the appeal. The games look like bad JRPGs/farming sims, so why not just play good actual JRPGs. Big RPGs give you 100~ hours of gameplay with all the collecting and leveling up, but it's 40 quid on release day and half that a few months later.

/Old man thoughts.

 

[munchie64]

I don't understand the appeal. The games look like bad JRPGs/farming sims, so why not just play good actual JRPGs. Big RPGs give you 100~ hours of gameplay with all the collecting and leveling up, but it's 40 quid on release day and half that a few months later.

/Old man thoughts.

Click to shrink...

Psh, normal JRPGs only give you 4 or 5 waifus at most.

 

[Gacha Santa Alter]

Yeah, I played FGO and the only premium Servant I ever felt a serious lack for was Merlin. Most of the 5*'s honestly aren't even very good.

Click to shrink...

5* chars in FGO are generally worth using for their stats alone but yeah, the vast majority of them have half a dozen lower rarity viable replacements. The big three Casters (Waver, Merlin and Skadi) are the only ones I'd call game changers, but considering you can just friend request people who have them and use them as your own, I don't really find it all that inconvenient to not have them.

 

[Devilgunman]

I mean, $1000 sounds like a lot but if you buy 10 AAA newly released games a year that's also a lot of money spent on this hobby of ours.

Click to shrink...

That's whale mentality that these gasha games are feasting on. At end if the day, whales will always come up with excuses to rationalize their absurd spending.

I mean, if you think about it, $10,000 might sounds like a lot, but you can easily save up that money if you stop eating out for 2 yrs. You can spend that money now to get loads of rainbow UR waifu, get enjoyment and head start over everyone else! while also eating healthy for the next 2 yrs. Win-win.

See what I did there?

 

[NazoNazoXLR]

Spending money on Astolfo is extra weird to me when you consider he's in the general pool and as a 4* is very likely to show up the longer you play, between rateups/class-specific banners/etc...

I don't understand the appeal. The games look like bad JRPGs/farming sims, so why not just play good actual JRPGs. Big RPGs give you 100~ hours of gameplay with all the collecting and leveling up, but it's 40 quid on release day and half that a few months later.

/Old man thoughts.

Click to shrink...

Well for one thing, they're free if you don't spend any money, and you only spend money if you're desperate

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

I mean, $1000 sounds like a lot but if you buy 10 AAA newly released games a year that's also a lot of money spent on this hobby of ours.

Click to shrink...

I mean, yeah, $1000 on new games is a lot, but that'd be money spent on varied, well crafted experiences while $1000 on a gatcha is spent on earning .jpgs to use in a JRPG Grinding simulator.

 

[roguebubble]

That part about Astolfo being only 4* resonates the most with me. Being the second highest tier you trick yourself into thinking that they somehow realistically obtainable even if the maths is against you. I wasted too much money trying to get knight Sayo in Bang Dream on her release banner and it was that made me realise I had an addictive personality and quit before I spent any more

 

[Razorrin]

I don't understand the appeal. The games look like bad JRPGs/farming sims, so why not just play good actual JRPGs. Big RPGs give you 100~ hours of gameplay with all the collecting and leveling up, but it's 40 quid on release day and half that a few months later.

/Old man thoughts.

Click to shrink...

Some of these, like the vid says, are legitimately fun, and the dripfeed of event content keeps you playing over a longer period of time.

If you understand why people enjoy GaaS, it's the same reason, the game is fun, and gets more content over time consistently.

Tons are WAY more grindy then they have any right to be, and those should be avoided. And nearly all of them instigate this sort of money investment with duplicitous bullshit like low rates and huge pools of characters to accidentally pull for instead of who you want.

A good community will help you play without spending a bunch of cash, and thankfully many Gatcha games here have communities on Era that are helpful and supportive.

 

[tadaima]

Nice video but I am pretty sure that those are PNGs. Much more worthy of the price tag.

 

[caff!!!]

All the characters I like don't get cool meta top tier versions. Also, why should I roll for bland waifus when I can just commission cute art of the ones I actually like instead?

 

[Philippo]

Really good vide.
Gigguk is really good at his job: his videos are both funny, well edited and self-ironic/ironic towards the anime fanbase while also being actual interesting content with both real content or research and also personal insight.
Also, he's a madlad.

I have less than 0% interest in gacha games yet I keep seeing these girls everywhere, also because they're hot.

 

[FeD]

I'm currently playing War of the Visions and you can really whale out on that game.

For 95% of the player base you just have to have the mindset that you'll never have everything not even close. And I have to say (even though the tactics employed are very obviously geared to exploiting the playerbase) I like that. I enjoy that you just have to work with what the game provides. Beforehand I was dead set on working towards a certain team comp. Saved up ingame currency from quests and events and tried to get that character I would be building my team around. Never got her.

A week later I got a character from a free pull I never imagined using. Now building that character up and I really love the role she can play. Like yes, the tactics involved are stupid. And the amount of money that some people spend is completely outrageous. Like I read a reddit post of someone playing War of the Vision who spent 6000 dollars to level up a single card on the day it launched.

But on the other if you just go in with the mindset that you'll never have everything it does become a sort of enjoyable unique experience in its own.

 

[MouldyK]

 

[Aether]

Some of these, like the vid says, are legitimately fun, and the dripfeed of event content keeps you playing over a longer period of time.

If you understand why people enjoy GaaS, it's the same reason, the game is fun, and gets more content over time consistently.

Tons are WAY more grindy then they have any right to be, and those should be avoided. And nearly all of them instigate this sort of money investment with duplicitous bullshit like low rates and huge pools of characters to accidentally pull for instead of who you want.

A good community will help you play without spending a bunch of cash, and thankfully many Gatcha games here have communities on Era that are helpful and supportive.

Click to shrink...

I would argue that the basic monetization scheme is inherently immoral, and that arguing about wether it's fun or not is making it easy to overlook what those are: gambling. Those need better regulations and features.

• Make such things with the same age restriction as casinos. I know, if somebody really wants to, he can still play them...but the same could be said about drugs/alcohol.
• Let users exchange characters. Or sell them. Would give the jpegs at least a tangible value. (See: TCGs...and yeah, digital TCGs have the same problem)
• Limit the amount somebody can spend. Dont know exactly where (i would say somewhere between 1-5k), at least per year.
  Even with disposable income, to many are sucked into it and make a fuckton of debth, and for the normal player the limit wont be a problem, since (i asume) 90+ dont pay >1k for 1 gacha per year. This wont help with multi account users, or multicredit card users, but yeah... like some laws would say: "in his best effort", so in the best effort of the developer.

So yeah, it wont catch every addicted, but it would help a lot of people that are to young, or that cant controll themselves to not go into debth. And if you make a marketplace: just take a fee of the sum. Youre not loosing anything, but if somebody gets a 5* that hes not into, and sells it for 100$ to the other (instead letting the other roll for maybe even more), then take a 25% cut of that.

My dilemma:
While i think pumping 1000k into such a game is not a responsible thing to do, i cant forbid people to do it, and in personal freedom therms they should be able to, at the same time im in the dilemma of wanting to help those that get addicted, be it because of depression, an addictive personality, or just financial iresponsibleness.

 

[BanetteAndBaguette]

I can get addicted to the slots machines from the casino in Dragon Quest 11, I hope I don't fall for these kinds of shitty games

 

[Razorrin]

I would argue that the basic monetization scheme is inherently immoral, and that arguing about wether it's fun or not is making it easy to overlook what those are: gambling. Those need better regulations and features.

• Make such things with the same age restriction as casinos. I know, if somebody really wants to, he can still play them...but the same could be said about drugs/alcohol.
• Let users exchange characters. Or sell them. Would give the jpegs at least a tangible value. (See: TCGs...and yeah, digital TCGs have the same problem)
• Limit the amount somebody can spend. Dont know exactly where (i would say somewhere between 1-5k), at least per year.
  Even with disposable income, to many are sucked into it and make a fuckton of debth, and for the normal player the limit wont be a problem, since (i asume) 90+ dont pay >1k for 1 gacha per year. This wont help with multi account users, or multicredit card users, but yeah... like some laws would say: "in his best effort", so in the best effort of the developer.

So yeah, it wont catch every addicted, but it would help a lot of people that are to young, or that cant controll themselves to not go into debth. And if you make a marketplace: just take a fee of the sum. Youre not loosing anything, but if somebody gets a 5* that hes not into, and sells it for 100$ to the other (instead letting the other roll for maybe even more), then take a 25% cut of that.

My dilemma:
While i think pumping 1000k into such a game is not a responsible thing to do, i cant forbid people to do it, and in personal freedom therms they should be able to, at the same time im in the dilemma of wanting to help those that get addicted, be it because of depression, an addictive personality, or just financial iresponsibleness.

Click to shrink...

I definitely agree with all your points and suggestions, and this is my major reasoning why, despite enjoying DFFOO, I want FULL REGULATION across all the nations of the earth.

These ARE gambling, and they should he REGULATED as such. Monthly Spending limits, Pity systems, Age restriction, Alternative options for earning Gatcha exclusive content over time, ect.

These should all happen, and we can't expect the game companies making these like freaking GUMI to regulate themselves. A commission for Gatcha Games themselves, or at least an offshoot of the gambling commission should be established in every nation that can afford it.

I may love some Gatcha, but I don't want them to thrive at the cost of disadvantaged and exploited people and children. IF YOU LOVE YOUR GATCHA, YOU WOULD FEEL THE SAME.

 

[Gnorman]

This video is amazing! Livhthearted yet informative, really goes into Gatcha's in a fun and interesting way! I feel like this could be required viewing for people interested in knowing why people play these games!

Also, WTF, 1%?!? I play DFFOO as my big game, you get characters for free, but roll for three (soon to be four with Positively adjusted rates) weapons for each character on banners that have three characters on them.

Two of these characters have an EX weapon, which is the only weapon you can't get pitside of the banners with other easily built over time resources. The rate to get one of these weapons? 10%, with a 15 multipull pity system if you don't get the EX Weapon you want by then, that is halfway funded each month basically.

How in the hell does somebody put themselves through that for a 5* rare for a tenth of that!?! With much less easy to gain resources?!? You can easily end up with over 200+ single pull tickets from events and story progression alone each month, and with Summon Boards (you fight summons like Ifrit and Shiva to empower your characters and get rewards) you get like 360+ more from each new one alone.

Watching anything with regards to the Gatcha systems in other games makes me more and more proud of playing DFFOO, F2P in that game is the default, constant experience rather then the beginning. The money that flows in is way more often a charity exchange for costumes then something you would actively whale for.

In any case, if this isn't allowed, I'll cut my post down, but I'm glad that the message being taken away is "Addictive Personalities should stay away, not worth losing money over, but the games get money because they are legitimately fun to play, and the best ones don't seriously require whaling, but rather whaling is a consiquence of investment into a game, as you are expected to play them a little over a long time."

That last one is important by the way, GATCHA GAMES ARE NOT FUN OR GOOD ENOUGH TO LOSE IMMENSE AMOUNTS OF MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE OR NEED TO SAVE UP, DON'T PLAY THEM IF YOU CAN'T HELP YOURSELF.

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF GAMES YOU CAN PUT ON YOUR PHONE OR TABLET THAT ARE FUN AND DON'T USE THESE SYSTEMS OR OFTEN DISGUSTING TACTICS.

I may have spent $200ish on DFFOO myself over the two years I've played it, but I was under No Illusion thar it was a donation to the devs for a game that gave me joy for a long time. I'd be $500 in already if this was an MMO, and it isn't.

Just like gambling, KNOW YOUR LIMIT, SPEND WITHIN IT.

Click to shrink...

Brilliant post. Some people mock others for spending anything at all in these games but to me the $200 you spent over a couple of years is a really good deal considering the number of hours enjoyment you've had from it. Like you say it's all about control and knowing yourself. That's not to say I don't feel for the people that do get addicted of course.