Wardogs monetization: the "Intel boosters" idea is a P2W risk

video: youtu.be/5R64LDNJbK0?si=3clJi_mW94N_p8a1&t=3720

What they said

• No paid skins, gold bars or cash. "Cash breaks the system." • Joe pitched a subscription (his idea alone). Perks: better servers, better anti-cheat, "stuff in the metagame." • Intel, a future metagame currency, could get "almost like boosters." For reference, the metagame appears to be a "passive skill tree" where you spend points, like faster movement speed, faster reload etc..

Why boosters are a problem

Anything that speeds up Intel or skill points is P2W in a persistent economy with wipes. Nobody wants a second currency you can accelerate with a credit card, and it goes against everything the studio has said so far.

Red line

Money never touches loot, cash, Intel, XP, skills, weapon access or visibility. If a persistent armory ever comes, storage slots are never paid. That's the Tarkov EOD trap.

His own math says skins don't pay

$7.99 skin, minus 30% Steam, minus 50% publisher, the studio keeps $3. Times 3% of a million players, that's $83k. "Half our server bill."

True for $8 skins. But Path of Exile sells $30 to $480 supporter packs, off Steam, and the same 3% -way more for POE- buy several per league (there are 3 leagues per year on average, similar to wipes but with a ton of added content). Wardogs targets the same kind of audience: older, more disposable income, and used to paying to support a game they'll play for years. Expensive packs are not a problem when they're cosmetic only, clearly sold as "supporter" packs, and offered in several tiers like POE (lets say $10 to $300) so everyone can chip in at their own budget. You don't need a million buyers. A few thousand supporters at $200 already beats his entire skin scenario.

The model for Wardogs

Bulkhead already sells a Supporter Edition with skins. Just do one per wipe.

Supporter packs per season:

• Limited weapon camos, offer removed after the wipe • Vehicle and helicopter paint schemes and nose art, military patterns only, no bright colors, no silhouette change • Name plates, arm patches, titles like "Season 1 Supporter" • Realistic palette only, nothing more concealed than default gear Quality of life, zero economy impact:

• More loadout preset slots (free 3 to 5, supporters more) • Gunsmith presets per weapon • Loadout import/export codes for your squad • Favorites and tags on weapons and attachments • Squad presets, custom squad patch, name and callsign • Settings presets per role (sens, keybinds, HUD) • Community server slots, saved configs, whitelists, admin tools End of season

• A season archive: your stats, best configs, squad history. Cosmetic only. That are some ideas..

Joe said "if you tell us it's bad, let's have that conversation." So, what would you add or remove?