GamerBraves Newsletter vol. 43 - How NOT To Handle Pre-registration Rewards and Rerolls
Gacha game fans only want one thing and it’s disgusting—a good gacha game.
In a genre saturated with so many cheap cash grabs and mediocre titles, it’s as if every single time a new gacha game is announced, gacha game vets are begging that it won’t flop or be another case of “dead on arrival”.
Recently, one major gacha game that launched globally last week was Dislyte, a new mobile RPG from Lilith Games, the developer of massively popular titles such as AFK Arena and Rise of Kingdoms. Since then, the game has already been installed over a million times, according to Google Play Store.
While a figure like that is no doubt a goal that many game developers would love to emulate, there are several aspects of Dislyte which shouldn’t. While the game does have some stuff going for it like its unique aesthetic and interesting music (even minigames!), there are two big takeaways from its launch day—how not to handle pre-registration rewards and the restriction of rerolling to combat account selling.
When the Carrot is Too Far From the Stick
If you’ve lurked around the App Store or Play Store looking for games previously, chances are, you’ll have seen the term “pre-register” (pre-order on App Store) being thrown around. More often than not, mobile games will offer pre-registration rewards once the game comes out.
Technically, in most mobile games, even players who didn’t pre-register tend to have access to these rewards, as long as they start to play the game near its launch. Such is the case with Dislyte. However, one of the complaints that gacha game regulars tend to bring up is how the game distributes its pre-registration rewards.
Amongst the rewards (as seen in the image above) are 10 Gold Records, which is arguably one of the most desired resources in Dislyte. This is because Gold Records are necessary to roll for characters in the game’s gacha system. To make the first 10 pulls (which guarantees a 5★ character), players will need 10 Gold Records.
Typically, most games let players redeem all the rewards simultaneously the moment they have access to the in-game mailbox. However, the issue with Dislyte is that it divided and distributed the 10 Gold Records across 5 days.
Naturally, players found this to be less than desirable. After all, pre-registration rewards are an established practice in mobile games—having them distributed across a period of time instead of all at once is seen as anti-consumer.
In gacha games, there is already a kind of reward that is distributed across several days, which is called log-in bonuses—a completely separate thing from pre-registration rewards. Treating your pre-registration rewards as log-in bonuses definitely feels like a cop-out, giving off the impression of developers being stingy.
When almost every single gacha game out there lets players make their first 10 pull within the first few minutes of starting the game, players will get upset when they aren’t able to because the expectation is already there. Regardless, this is just one-half of Dislyte’s launch issues.
The Relationship Between Rerolling and Account Selling
In Dislyte, there is no easy method to reroll. If you aren’t familiar, the term “reroll” is used specifically amongst gacha game players. A significant portion of gacha games out there allows players to reroll their initial 10 pulls until they are satisfied, or make it quick and easy to reset your account and make another 10 pulls.
However, this isn’t the case for Dislyte. As we’ve already established, players need 10 Gold Records to make their first 10 pull. Since they can’t get them right away through the pre-registration rewards, there are only 2 other ways to get 10 Gold Records—spending real money or spending over 40 minutes getting through the game’s missions.
As such, the Dislyte doesn’t offer an accessible method of rerolling. This isn’t the main issue, since there are also other gacha games out there that don’t have easy access to rerolls. The issue is the reason behind that that was communicated to the players.
When the game is making rerolling a chore to combat account selling, players will get upset. After all, it appears as if the majority of the player base is being punished for the actions of a few bad apples.
It’s also debatable whether making it difficult to reroll actually helps to reduce account selling. When players can’t easily reroll their accounts, the value of the accounts goes up in the marketplace. Likewise, when players can reroll, more players will be happier with their starting accounts, which lowers the demand for them from account sellers.
As such, Dislyte’s approach to rerolls may actually have the opposite effect when it comes to account buying and selling. We are by no means condoning or encouraging account selling—this is common sense.
Worse, there have been reports of players getting banned due to rerolling. This isn’t right. Period. Rerolling isn’t cheating or unethical—punishing players for this is outright wrong. While I can’t speak for the developers, ultimately, this gives the impression that the game is greedy and just out there to squeeze players for their money.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that Dislyte will be successful. However, there are lessons to be learned on what NOT to do for your game when it launches. Sure, at the end of the day, it’s the goal of any game to make money, but it’s important to remember not to make your practices appear anti-consumer.
What we’ve learned:
Players have the expectation that pre-registration rewards are claimable all at once instead of being distributed across a period of time.
Making it hard to reroll isn’t a good way to combat account selling.
Banning players for rerolling is completely unacceptable.
Feature by Benedict Leong
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