To spend or not to spend?

[Mercuriair]

I'm on a tight budget so haven't spent real money on the game yet but I sometimes feel guilty about this, what are others thoughts?

[Jagger517]

No need to feel guilty!

These games are offered for free, and a huge company like Storm8 surely knows that many, if not even most, players will never pay a penny towards a free game, while some other players will spend hundreds!

That's why these games always try to get you to buy something really small almost immediately after starting playing -- those "value packs" that cost like $2.79 or $5.99 or whatever are a way to get you used to the idea of spending cash in small increments, in the hopes that you'll feel you need to follow up on your initial investment with ever more cash! Google "micro-transactions" if you want more info/opinions on the practice.

It's up to each player to decide whether or not they want to spend real world cash on these games. Personally, I'll spend $20 every 2-4 weeks on these games, as it's cash that I'd otherwise blow on fast food or some other fleeting pleasure, so why not these fun games? But whether you don't want to, or can't afford to, you don't need to feel guilty!

[snowyhillz]

I agree, no need to feel guilty... It is a play for free game and it is up to each person to decide if they want to speed things up by paying or getting the premium items that are pay only

[cyndora]

i cut out my starbucks habit, and seem to have extra cash on hand.....so why not lol

if i enjoy a game like i do castle story ( three years playing i think ) i dont mind at all spending cash to support development , and also to get something shiny and new like a purple alicorn or something that interests me.

but you have to set limits or it might get out of hand,

[Mercuriair]

Thanks for replies everyone, I would also be more inclined to spend real money if they got rid of the gem traps.

[jbfps116]

my policy is as soon as I buy gems I spend them so I DONT lose them. So I don't buy them unless there's specific items I want right away.

[dipwid]

On average, if you purchase a computer game, you spend between 39.99 and 69.99 on it at the store. The question that I ask myself is have I gotten X dollars of entertainment value for the new special item of the week, and/or do I expect to? If the answer is yes, then I buy it. One caveat-I would be more likely to spend money on a game that has offline content and playability rather than only being accessible online and someone else's server instead of my PC.

[VersaceMorrow]

I was refusing to pay anything for the longest time, and then was conflicted when they offered a sale for 50 trade tickets and I forget what else.... then remembered I had a gift card balance in my iTunes account and used it for that sale package. Since I frequently have iTunes gift cards from doing surveys I just use them so I am not paying "real money" in the truest sense. It is convoluted logic, I know, but it does keep me from overspending.