Board Thread:Plants vs. Zombies 2/@comment-24843074-20161207133938/@comment-29611741-20161211160209

OK, so GollddMan's argument is that P2W and balance are exclusive and that one should get different accounts to experience both sides of the game. I'm going to break down the implicatons.

Part 1 is the exclusivity of fairness of mechanics and the paying on money. I find that, frankly, unnecessary. Although it is by far the easiest method of gaining money, there are both other ways to gain revenue and better ways to increase the revenue of this idea. I'll go in the reverse order this time because I have waited an eternity to say what I am about to say.

PvZ2 is making revenue worse than its systems show it can. Look at the price of the Gems. Take a long, hard glance. They're extremely expensive. 110 Gems is $9.99. Yes, effectively $10 for enough Gems to buy a Fire Peashooter(if I remember correctly). Looking at the largest deal($50 for ~700), my account is worth around $250-$300, and that was before I bought those freed Premiums, like Starfruit and Squash. Imagine what would happen if they made their OP plants cost, say, 209 Gems each. Would people complain? Not really, as they can eventually reach it and use it. There will be some people kind of mad, yes, but not nearly as much as they are now because their "fixed" or buffed plants are technically in reach of everyone. If they made every Prem 109 Gems or more, even I, who has been playing before the star and map systems were removed and changed repectivey, wouldn't be able to get them all without either paying or grinding.

Another thing is that it can do is make content that is unique or has a function that doesn't replace another's function, per se, but adds a new one. Think about it. If Bombegranate did half of the initial damage, but released more powerful seeds(say, 15-20 nds in a 1.5 tile radius) that can stack and have plants on it, would you not buy it? It's not an upgrade of Cherry Bomb necessarily, but its effect is unique and useful in a way that no other plant is. Apple Mortor wasn't the most powerful plant ever. However, it could stall enemies like no other. There really wasn't a more cost-effective way of stalling as many zombies as it can, is there? I can see people who don't usually buy these "powerful" plants because they feel sufficient with their current plants' power, but see these as different tools that they have no equivalent of in their arsenal and buying it just to test it out, and probably start finding unique things they couldn't do before. And EA can make their money off of these positive engaging experiences that leave the buyers enthralled and ready for more. I can give an example, but I shouldn't even be here 'cuz of my work, so I'll make it quick: Warframe. Long story short, it's power system rolls off of Primes(extremely rare, but purchasable for an exchangable Premium currency, Platinum) and Forma(hard-to-obtain items that increase the power that you can put on a Warframe, but takes a day to craft and resets your level).

Now, your argument about making a new profile for my normal non-PLS playthroughs. There are a few problems with it. The main ones are time and exclusives. First, it does take a decent amount of time to go through all 200-300 levels, especially when some of them are borderline impossible without Prems or PLS. Second, not all of my resources transfer. Want to get GP so it's not as difficult to break through the BWB levels so I can get Guacodile and BL? Welp, gonna have to grind/pay for that again. Need an Imitater for rapid E. M. Peaches? Well, if you bought it with Gems, you gotta either pay for real or deal with it(well, now that I think on it, I believe this was one of the few plants I bought for real before my account glitched). Got a strategy that could go better with Sweet Potato and Garlic? Too bad; SP only comes on Thanksgiving; ought to wait for a super-sale reselling it or Thanksgiving. All of this work just to appreciate the game's workings in a way that you used to before. That's not very welcoming, is it?