The console and space of PC gaming are regularly changing as we speak, and one thing might discuss and argue it’s changing for the wrong because of how various games companies are fused the free-to-play mobile games’ monetization system into full-priced games—especially if you have to pay or the privilege to sink your more money to attain something that would otherwise be asked a ton of time to acquire.
But now these “microtransactions” or micro-payments are optional, which means that if you don’t want to pay for the game or sink your money into the game, you are free to avoid it, but in this situation for getting what you want, you have to work hard.
But if you are interested in paying for games and decide to pay more to skip the grind, and want to increase your chances of getting that item you need, or if you get the upper hand through buying heavy and powerful weapons early on, and have a compulsion to attain everything possible in the game, then because of all these you are called a “whale” and you have also become a part of the main revenue stream of the developers of these free-to-play game.
A BIG FAT WALLET
The usage of the term “whale” among gamers has been around ever since free-to-play mobile gaming became widely popular in Asia, especially in China and Japan it has become very popular. Originally, if we talk about this term then the term “whale” is usually used in casinos that refers to gamblers who have a very big amount of money to spend.
So, above a “high roller”, a “whale” is a rank, with a spending budget of money to upwards of $1,000,000 and because of this, the casinos give them preferential treatment. However, if in gaming someone spends a lot of money or a huge amount of money on “microtransactions” is called a “whale”. And stereotypically, a whale is someone or a spender who has no self-control and who is with too much disposable income. A whale can spend from $5 to $1000 per week. Preferential treatment is giving to gaming whales by game developers, has yet to be confirmed.
PAY MORE TO PLAY MORE
The developers employ psychology to tempt and agree to people to pay more for items that they want to get and that are hard for them to get, to raise more whales for their games. Humans are highly obsessive creatures by nature and if they see something they will try to get it and want this.
To obtain the thing which they want they will do whatever they can according to their power. There are different ways to tempt a gamer to spend his money, but here, we are going to mention just three ways to tempt them to spend.
1. Endless Grinding
In gaming Grinding for rewards or different resources is very common or usual and there will be also a point to observe when progression rightly moves at a snail’s pace. For example, there is required a large number of gems for a unique thing or item to purchase, but keep in mind grinding for the gem takes hours, days, or even it takes weeks to accomplish.
Once the tedium sets in, in the in-game shop, you’ll be tempted to buy the bundles of gems that certainly cut grinding time from 50-90%. However, it depends on which bundle you obtain; the $4.99 bundle of gems that allows to lets you to gain 2 levels. Or the $99.99 bundle of gems that lets you allow to gain 10 levels?
2. The Waiting Game
The waiting game is similar to grinding, but with some caveats. In some games, there is a stamina or energy meter system for gamers and the gamers use this energy meter system to engage in events or different missions. Once during the game, if the energy is depleted, then to continue the player must have to wait for a set time to recharge enough energy through which they can again continue the game.
As the game player levels up, the waiting time increases as well and certain events or missions also require a ton of energy to play the game. Keep in mind if you’re trying to grind for certain items, then you need to must keep your energy full, and players will be forced and suggested to either use fewer resources to restore energy constantly or forced a player to buy these finite resources using their real money.
There are also other examples of waiting as an example of waiting is in the building and creating or crafting mechanics. When you’re crafting a level 1 weapon will take just minutes, but as you continue this process to reinforce the weapon too much higher levels, then wait times will also increase from minutes to hours, and even it can reach days.
Sometimes, to skip the waiting the game players are forced to pay money because in certain situations the players need their gear as soon as possible to deal and take over significant damage to high-level monsters.
3- A Game of Chance
One of the most popular monetization methods free-to-play games employ is maybe the randomized loot drop strategy that awarded the players with a random set of certain items by opening amazing virtual loot boxes. A consumable virtual and important item that contains a random and certain item inside itself is called a loot box.
Otherwise, they can obtain certain items as a reward when the players are leveling up. These loot boxes have various items in varying levels of rarity, so on one side as more the player unboxes, on the other hand, the higher the chances for rare items to drop.
Conclusion
To conclude we can say that being called a “whale” gives off a negative sign and connotation because the reason is that a whale is often seen as a player who has no self-discipline and this trick is also encouraging game developers to have different opportunities to wring each drop of money from the base of their player. So, if you want to know right about what is the whale in gaming then our article will prove very helpful to solve your problem.
