UNDECEMBER is 100% PAY TO WIN and 600% dead to me

Summary

The video discusses the disappointment with a new game that was previously highlighted for its promising gameplay. Despite initial excitement, the game's heavy monetization has sparked outrage. The creator explains how various in-game items and features are locked behind expensive paywalls, leading to a pay-to-win scenario. This has resulted in negative reviews on Steam. The video emphasizes the frustration with game studios continuing such practices despite past backlash from the gaming community. The creator vows to explore the game further without spending money and shares their intention to retract their previous recommendation.

Takeaways

• 😡 The game, previously featured in a Steam Nexfest demo, has disappointed the reviewer due to aggressive monetization tactics.
• 💰 The game uses two currencies: diamonds (the primary paid currency) and rubies (earnable or buyable). Items are overpriced and primarily require diamonds.
• 🛍️ There's a 1:1 conversion between diamonds and rubies, but many important items, especially convenience-related ones, require diamonds.
• 💎 Major monetized features include inventory expansion, stash upgrades, and specialized storage, all of which are extremely expensive.
• 🛑 Key items like the Stardust of Oblivion, which allows players to reset their character’s stats, cost $3 per use, with a limited grace period for free resets.
• 📦 Players must pay to expand their inventory and stash space, with full expansion costing up to $180, which is viewed as highly excessive.
• 🐾 Convenience features like auto-looting pets and Zodiac Walker abilities are locked behind paid tiers, with subscription-like structures.
• 👎 The game's pay-to-win elements are seen as unfair, as purchasing items gives players significant advantages over non-paying players.
• 💸 Auction house listings are also limited unless players spend real money to expand their listing capabilities, adding another monetized barrier.
• 😔 Despite the game's fun mechanics and potential, the reviewer can no longer recommend it due to the egregious monetization practices.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video focuses on the heavy monetization of a game that was previously highlighted by the creator as promising, similar to Diablo or Path of Exile. The game has implemented aggressive pay-to-win mechanics, which has disappointed the creator.

What was the creator's initial impression of the game?

The creator was initially impressed with the game's combat and thought it held a lot of promise, hoping it would be as successful as other indie games like Grim Dawn and Wolcen.

What is the main issue the creator has with the game?

The main issue is the extreme monetization of the game, where players are required to spend real money for various in-game advantages, including inventory expansions, currency exchanges, and stat changes.

What are the two in-game currencies mentioned in the video?

The two in-game currencies mentioned are diamonds and rubies. Diamonds are the base currency, while rubies can be used for certain purchases and may be earned through in-game activities.

What is 'Stardust of Oblivion' and why is it problematic?

Stardust of Oblivion is an in-game item that allows players to change their stats (such as strength, dexterity, intellect). The problem is that it costs $3 every time you want to change your stats, unless you do it within a six-hour grace period after purchasing the item.

How does the game limit inventory space, and what are the costs of expanding it?

The game starts players with 100 backpack slots, and additional storage must be purchased using real money. Expanding inventory costs $2.50 for every 5 additional slots, and fully expanding the bag would cost $75 in total.

What is the cost of expanding general storage and specific storage areas in the game?

Expanding general storage costs 500 diamonds, which is around $11. Expanding specific storage areas, such as Essence storage and Material storage, costs about $15 per area, with five areas available, totaling $75 for all expansions.

What is the 'pet ability' and 'Zodiac Walker' in the game?

The 'pet ability' allows a pet to auto-loot items for the player, and the 'Zodiac Walker' is essentially a membership that offers various boosts. Together, they cost around $12 USD for 28 days.

How much does it cost to change your character's name in the game?

Changing your character's name costs $22, which the creator finds extremely expensive and discourages making any mistakes when naming your character.

Why is the creator upset about the monetization of this game, especially in 2022?

The creator is frustrated that despite constant criticism from players about excessive monetization in games, studios still continue to implement such pay-to-win systems. The creator is particularly disappointed because the game is enjoyable, but the aggressive monetization ruins the experience.

Outlines

00:00

😔 Disappointment with a Promising Game

The narrator starts by sharing disappointment with a game that had shown great potential during Steam Next Fest. Described as a mix between Diablo and Path of Exile, the game initially impressed with its combat mechanics. However, after its release, the monetization strategy turned out to be aggressive, with heavy reliance on in-game purchases. This revelation contrasts sharply with the expectations set during the demo period, leading to frustration among fans of the genre.

05:00

💰 The Unfair Currency System

The second section discusses the game's dual-currency system: diamonds and rubies. The narrator explains how these currencies are used for various in-game purchases, with a 1:1 exchange rate between the two. Diamonds, the primary currency, can only be bought with real money, and the prices range from small amounts to larger sums aimed at 'whales'—players willing to spend significant money. Items such as bundles and convenience items also point towards a pay-to-win structure, giving paying players an unfair advantage.

10:02

💵 Hidden Costs of Changing Your Character

Here, the focus shifts to an in-game item called 'Stardust of Oblivion,' which costs $3 each time a player wants to reset their character’s stats. While there’s a six-hour grace period allowing free respecs, every change afterward requires another purchase. The narrator criticizes this mechanic, especially since basic actions like changing character builds, which are often free in other games, require continual payments.

🎒 Expensive Inventory and Storage Expansion

This section dives into the costs associated with expanding inventory and storage space. Players start with limited backpack space (100 slots), and expanding this space costs real money—$2.50 per row. Similarly, general storage can be expanded for about $11, and specialized storages (like Essence and Material Storage) cost $15 each. The total cost to unlock all storage options is around $180, which the narrator finds absurd.

🚨 Paid Membership and Subscription Costs

The narrator discusses paid memberships akin to Lost Ark's 'Crystalline Aura,' which offer conveniences like auto-loot pets and fast travel. In this game, these benefits are bundled under the 'Zodiac Walker' membership, costing $12 per month. The narrator compares this to Lost Ark’s $10 monthly fee, pointing out how Lost Ark offers more content for a lower price, making the $12 fee seem unjustified.

😡 Ridiculously Priced Name Changes

This part emphasizes the outlandish cost of changing a character’s name, which is priced at $22. The narrator finds this particularly frustrating and absurd, given that name changes in most other games are either free or much cheaper. The excessive cost of what should be a simple feature reflects poorly on the game’s overall pricing strategy.

🎮 Disappointment with Pay-to-Win Mechanics

The narrator expresses dismay at how the game, which initially seemed fun and promising, has become heavily reliant on pay-to-win mechanics. Features available for free during the demo are now locked behind paywalls, creating a frustrating experience. The community has voiced their displeasure, with the game receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam due to its aggressive monetization.

🛑 Final Thoughts and Community Reactions

In the concluding segment, the narrator acknowledges that some players may argue that the game can still be played without spending money, but criticizes the studio for maintaining such exploitative practices in 2022. The video ends with a reflection on how disappointing it is that studios continue to prioritize pay-to-win mechanics, even as players vocally oppose them. Despite the game being fun, the excessive monetization leaves a bad impression.

Keywords

💡Monetization

Monetization refers to the process by which a game or service generates revenue, often through microtransactions, ads, or subscriptions. In the video, the speaker criticizes the heavy monetization tactics used by the game, including the high costs associated with basic functions like inventory space and character customization, which create a pay-to-win environment.

💡Pay-to-win

Pay-to-win describes a game model where players who spend real money gain significant advantages over those who do not. This is central to the video's critique, as the speaker points out how various in-game advantages, such as boosts and inventory expansions, can only be purchased with real money, giving paying players a clear edge.

💡Currency system

The currency system in this game is divided into 'diamonds' and 'rubies,' which can be purchased with real money and used to buy in-game items. The speaker explains how these two currencies are part of a complex system designed to encourage microtransactions. Diamonds are the main paid currency, while rubies can be earned but are limited.

💡Stardust of Oblivion

Stardust of Oblivion is an in-game item that allows players to reset their character's stats, costing $3 each time. This item highlights the game's monetization tactics, as players need to spend real money to make even basic adjustments to their character's build. The speaker uses this as an example of the game's exploitative mechanics.

💡Inventory expansion

Inventory expansion refers to the ability to increase the number of items a player can carry, but in this game, it is locked behind a paywall. The speaker describes how players must spend real money to increase both their backpack and general storage capacity, with each expansion costing a significant amount, leading to frustration.

💡Auction house

The auction house in the game allows players to buy and sell items with each other, but only after paying real money to list items. This system is heavily criticized by the speaker, as it forces players to engage in microtransactions to participate in trading, further demonstrating the game's pay-to-win mechanics.

💡Subscription model

The subscription model in the game, represented by 'zodiac walker' and 'pet ability,' offers ongoing benefits for a monthly fee. The speaker compares it to similar models in other games, arguing that this one is overpriced for the limited benefits it provides, such as auto-looting and minor convenience features.

💡Free-to-play

Free-to-play refers to the business model where a game is free to download and play, but often contains in-game purchases. The speaker critiques this game's approach to free-to-play, arguing that while the base game is free, the monetization tactics make it impossible to fully enjoy without spending money, turning it into a de facto pay-to-win model.

💡Diablo/Path of Exile clone

A 'Diablo/Path of Exile clone' refers to games that imitate the gameplay style of the popular action RPGs Diablo and Path of Exile. The speaker initially describes this game as a promising clone of these games, with engaging combat and a familiar system of character progression, before expressing disappointment in its monetization strategies.

💡Reviews

Reviews are critical evaluations left by players on platforms like Steam. In the video, the speaker mentions that the game is being 'slaughtered' in the reviews due to its pay-to-win nature and aggressive monetization practices, reflecting the wider dissatisfaction among the gaming community.

Highlights

The game is described as a Diablo or Path of Exile clone with promising combat mechanics, compared to titles like Grim Dawn and Wolcen.

The excitement for the game turned into disappointment due to its aggressive monetization system after release, which was not evident in the demo.

The game features two in-game currencies, diamonds and rubies, with a 1-to-1 exchange rate, but both are tied heavily to real-money purchases.

The most significant pay-to-win elements are tied to purchasing diamonds and rubies, which can be used to buy items that give players an advantage.

Switching character stats requires a consumable item called Stardust of Oblivion, which costs $3 each time after a six-hour grace period for free rerolls.

Inventory expansion is highly monetized, with each line of bag space costing $2.50, and expanding the stash costing 500 diamonds, or roughly $11.

Full inventory expansion, including bag space and stash, costs a staggering $180 in real money.

The game offers a premium subscription option called 'Zodiac Walker' and 'Pet Ability,' which provides auto-loot and other bonuses for $12 per month.

Character name changes cost $22, which is highlighted as being excessively expensive for such a basic feature.

The game includes an auction house system, where listing items for sale requires spending real money.

Items that upgrade player skills can be bought in the shop, adding another pay-to-win aspect to the game, as they are random drops otherwise.

The game is getting negative reviews on Steam due to the extent of its pay-to-win mechanics and monetization, which were hidden during the demo.

The video creator regrets recommending the game earlier due to the pay-to-win systems and high costs for features previously included in the demo.

Despite the predatory monetization, the game itself is fun to play, which adds to the frustration.

The creator emphasizes that although you can finish the game without spending money, the monetization still creates an unpleasant experience for players.

Transcripts

what's up everybody and welcome back to

the channel

unfortunately a bad news video today but

recently on December came out those of

you that have been following my series

of videos on the Steam nexfest and all

of the demos that I played during

nextfest will know that this is one of

the games that I highlighted essentially

it's a Diablo Path of Exile clone hybrid

whatever you want to call it and I was

really impressed with the combat in the

game and it held a lot of promise and

generally speaking we don't have enough

of these games and every once in a while

one of the Indie titles that comes out

like this like Grim dawn like Volson

really really surprise and so I was

hopeful that this was going to be

another case like that and I just need

to make sure that like 30 seconds have

passed but oh my god did they

monetize the ever-loving out of

this game let me explain

so specifically when we go over to the

into the game itself now this is

obviously you know something that wasn't

available to us as information when the

demo was there although this studio is

somehow famous for this and when I was

compiling the information for this a lot

of people had mentioned this to me and

said hey you know these guys kind of

like this was to be expected this was

going to happen but just how

vampiric this is uh I I'm gonna need to

go ahead and explain that so let me just

go over to the actual store itself which

Jesus this has shocked me so much that

I've basically you know blocked it out

of my memory but um no that's

the game guide but um if we go over to

the shop itself so first of all we need

to just discuss essentially how this

works so you have a couple of items in

this shop that you can just flat out by

with a you know currency now my currency

at the moment is South African rand but

let that not you know bother you

nonetheless these items are terribly

overpriced and it's ridiculous

but this isn't this isn't where I want

your focus to be because what I'll do is

we'll we'll look at the currency shop

all right uh which is how you purchase

the two different currencies in the game

with which you actually buy the majority

of the stuff that you potentially want

now the first and the base currency in

the game is diamonds and then you have

rubies which some of the other items in

the game can also be bought with and

having not played far enough I Pro it's

it kind of seems like rubies is also

something that you can get from certain

activities in the game because there

seems to be some things that you can buy

with the rubies as well and there's of

course this exchange system between

diamonds and rubies which is a one to

one by the way but I digress so in any

case we have several different

environment options here you know

starting at like 44 diamonds for

essentially what works out to be one USD

and then going all the way up so we have

we have like a 10 USD option here which

I believe is this one so this is the 455

Diamond so that's 10 USD and then it

goes all the way up to some whale

of like 4260 diamonds which basically

roughly works out to about 90 USD 90

dollars okay so you might be

thinking well that's not that bad uh

maybe you can get a whole bunch of

with 90 so let's let's uh let's go

look shall we so now again the

thing is there's a whole bunch of stuff

here like bundles and this is things to

do with like you know Battleground

support items and changing your ruins

and stuff like that and right off the

bat when you look through some of these

items something that is very very clear

is that this already shows a lot of pay

to win because there's a lot of things

here that you can buy which obviously

give you a massive advantage over

someone else who isn't buying anything

and uh I know that there's a there's an

argument to be made here to you know

whether if if it's just you playing by

yourself who gives a if somebody

wants to blow their money and all that

stuff I will discuss that that whole

argument that whole point at the end of

the video so hold your tongue but

specifically again just saying as we go

through here there's a lot of stuff here

that essentially looks like ways for you

to give you know yourself like a

boost basically and it involves spending

real money on it there is however one

thing which you can buy with an in-game

currency which is you know gold

but I'm 100 sure that this is gonna also

like 50 000 gold is probably like a

ridiculous amount of gold but

specifically let's go ahead and look at

consumables and convenience because this

is generally speaking where people swipe

where people spend money and this is

already where you start seeing something

that's problematic so first of all this

Stardust of Oblivion so how this game

works is

you have your basic stats which you

level up and you put points into them

and that's like strength dexterity and

intellect but then you also have like

another leveling system which is

essentially this Rune chart where you go

through different star signs and you

give yourself different bonuses and all

that stuff you cannot change this

on the Fly once you pick something and

lock it in it's done and dusted

and if you want to change that you need

this item you need Stardust of Oblivion

and this costs three

us a pop so every time you want to

change your stats you want to switch

from an intellect based character to a

strength based character or you realize

oh my I shouldn't have put all my

points into intellect Jesus Christ I

definitely should have put some stuff

into dexterity so that I can at least

Dodge some things before they kill me

guess what you're spending three us and

you have to do that every time now there

is however they mention it here how

graceful they mention it here

that there's a grace period of six hours

after you've bought a stardust of

Oblivion and used it that you could keep

on doing that so the first six hours

after using a stardust of Oblivion you

can reroll your stats as much as

you want

but in any case after those six hours

guess what uh Johnny spending three us

again of Mommy's Mommy and money Mommy

Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy uh to

reroll this okay but it's not that

bad yet three bucks fine it's you know

it's not the end of the world you know

whatever let's go to convenience now

specifically when we look at convenience

here we have we have two let's say three

different areas to look at first of all

you have basic inventory in the game and

let me show you what I mean by that you

have a backpack this backpack has a

hundred slots okay that's it so you have

space for a hundred items now you can

not get additional bags in this game or

anything like that what you have to do

is you have to spend real

money and you have to buy yourself

expanded bag storage now you can do this

purchase 30 times and it works out to

two and a half bucks two and a half USD

per line per five boxes of inventory so

per line like this like a line like that

that a line like this is

2.50 that's half a buck a box

okay great so uh good times then then

you have General storage so General

storage is like your stash your stash

you can also expand but boho this is

really really expensive it's

it's 500 diamonds 500 diamonds is like

11 bucks now just just to put this into

perspective if you want to buy all 30

Slots of the expand bag that's

75 USD if you want to expand your stash

all the way so that it's also can fully

expanded that's another 33 USD and then

what we have is we have specifically we

have five specific storage areas Essence

storage chaos card storage material

storage charm storage and con

what

what is is this

activate content content material store

what the ever you have five of

these These are also ridiculously

expensive right these are clocking in at

15 bucks each and there's five of them

so again that's another 75. so if you

want to unlock all of the storage

available in the game that is a hundred

and 80 bucks to get all of

this unlocked and it's diamonds as

a currency so there is no way for you to

earn this in-game you have to spend this

money if you want to get that

hold on it gets better then as we've

seen from games like lost dog for

instance which has crystalline Aura uh

you have some like like almost like

since this is a free game remember that

on December launched free right but all

this is in the shop there is a paid

track There is almost like a monthly

subscriptions for you in the in in the

place of something like Lost Ark the

crystalline Aura gives you access to a

pet that order Auto picks things up

around you gives you free travel

and a whole bunch of other boosts it's

like a long list of right and that

usually costs you I believe 10 us a

month right for every 28 days or

something like that this is the

same but it's actually sprayer cost two

different things so you have petability

which is just a pet that auto loots

around you which you can buy for 400

diamonds and then you have zodiac Walker

which is the basically the membership

thing and I'm not sure everything that

this offers because it doesn't

say but this is essentially says it

extends the duration blah blah blah but

it's also 28 days the point is they

know that these two things

should be together so they offer them

together pet ability and zodiac Walker

ability together for for 28 days that

is 540 diamonds which is 12

USD so there's a premium game out there

Lost Ark you might not like lost dog but

the bottom line is it's good at what it

does that should cost 10 have probably

has infinitely more content than this

right and has an established and you

know road map with new

being added to the game the entire time

they're looking for 10 bucks and I think

probably they offer more than what these

guys are looking for for 12 USD and then

honestly the cherry on the cake

here for me

is the character name change

in this game costs you 22 bucks

it's

I mean you better not make a spelling

mistake on that name when you

name it because that's going to come

back to haunt you 100 but this is this

is insane

like

I I don't understand it this is this is

ridiculous it's super interesting to me

that in today's world with this sort of

thing gets called out by players all the

time studios are still trying to

do this they're still trying to

monetize and make their game essentially

a hundred percent pay to win this game

is getting slaughtered in the reviews in

Steam right now and I would say

rightfully so because there's a lot of

things that were present in the demo

which you just automatically got by

itself which is now sitting behind this

paywall and that is scummy as

hell the bottom line is I agree and I

know there's a bunch of you that are

probably saying that dude you don't

actually have to spend the Cent you can

just play the game as it is and it

doesn't matter and finish the story and

move the on you can absolutely

do that a hundred percent but

the bottom line is studios are still

doing this they're still monetizing it

this way and most likely behind this and

believe me I plan to try and play the us

all the way through to the end through

all of the acts without spinning ascent

and I plan to try and see how that

affects the things like you know

legendary drops and better item drops

and all that because the bottom line is

this game has this underlying system

where your skills level up to a point

and then you have to upgrade them from a

normal skill into a magical skill and

then from a magical skill into uh you

know an advanced skill and so on and so

forth those items are random drops out

in the wild in the game or they are just

simply available in the shop for cash

money what I also haven't touched on is

the fact that this game has an auction

house which actually only allows you to

auction off a limited amount of items

unless you spend real money from your

wallet to list those items on the

auction house then you're able to spend

as much money as you want as list as

many money you know items as you want

likewise if you want to buy items off

the auction house you have to spend real

money to buy it this is and

obviously the studio is most likely

taking a cut off that I'll be digging

through this a lot more honestly I've

only spent a couple of hours with this

this is already disgusting enough to me

as it is but the main reason why I made

this video it's let's say two reasons

why I made it the first one being that I

wanted to share this with you know why

the audience people have literally been

asking me you know am I going to be

playing this and so on and secondly

because I had made a video recommending

this game which I now absolutely

do not do yes you can play the game

single player all the way through and

yes you can do it without spending a

cent but should you do

that it's a sad thing because this is

actually a fun game to play and it's

always the way how it works isn't it

it's the fun games the ones that you

would actually play and that wouldn't

leave such a bad taste in your

mouth if it wasn't monetized to death

like this but nonetheless let me know in

the comments down below if you've tried

this out if it's not that big a issue

for you uh I know again this is

Different Strokes for different Oaks

this doesn't bother as many people as it

bothers other people I think the issue

here is that because this isn't being

you know taken a stance against hard

enough or enough Studios still try to do

this because again this is the part that

amazes me that in 20 22 at this

point in the game where games have

literally been voted down into

the ground because of this kind of stuff

they still do this they still do this

and they will probably make money on

this because you will get people

that spend money on this horse but

that's it thank you so much so much for

watching especially if you made it this

far I'm sorry for the extreme rantiness

of this video but this kind of came out

of left field I was holding thumbs

hoping that this wasn't going to be the

case of this game but like a

dozen people told me that it was gonna

be and I was wrong and it pisses

me off it is what it is but thank you

it's just super important to me that you

have a fantastic morning afternoon and

evening wherever you are in the world

and until next video cheers

thank you