Is it just me, or do Y'all feel like you barely get to actually play this game?I played the mobile game Summoners War for a couple years and from crystal refreshes, I would grind all day and all night and still have energy left. I enjoy this game (swgoh) many times more than I did Summoners War, I just feel like the game doesn't want me to actually play it.I love the sim ticket idea and think it makes the grind a lot easier, but I'm only getting about 100 crystals a day I just use for the 50/50 refresh. I am left staring at my screen with nothing else to do within a hour or so.I'm also worried how far I can actually progress while contending with the Pay to Win players on my shard. If say in like a year, I'll be able to have CLS and all the other major meta characters, then this is sort of understandable. I just don't want to waste my time if I will never be able to contend in the arena with a good roster like AhnaldT101 or MobileGamer does. I heard they spent very little money and were still high in ladder but I'm not sure how well this could hold up as of today.PS I am level 54 and have only played for 18 days straight.Any thoughts?

You just have to choose how you want to play, if you want to be competitive with top arena players you most likely will have to put money into it. But if you are willing to grind daily and be in the middle of Arena pack then staying F2P is very doable. I went through the same slump as you around the level even all the way to 70 with the whole energy lacking and SIM tickets lack. But that was do to all the low cost gear farming I did at that time. Burn through my sim tickets every day and had to wait and wait just to save enough energy to even battle a mission.

Free to play, you definitely need to have a good plan of action. People who spend will have an advantage over you, but you can still succeed in arena due to all of the different payout hours and the AI being horrible on defense. I have both an account I spend money on, and an account that's FTP. I'm able to finish at the top of arena in both.This game also adds a lot more content as you progress in level. Between raids, terriroty battles, and other events, there's always something to take up time.At 54 you just unlocked mods, this is what separates good teams from bad teams. You want as much speed as possible on your arena squad. Start farming health mods, and look for speed secondaries. Additionally equip everyone with a speed 'arrow' primary. Research mods before the rest of your shard and you'll shoot to the top if you also have good characters with maxed gear.After you learn the game you could also choose to restart with a better plan if you so choose.

Ive been playing since 2015. Im in a HAAT guild and we get 30 stars in TB. I have chaze and thrawn at 7*. I have the Chimeara at 5*. I hover around 100 in arena but have gotten up to 26. I have never spent a dime. Obviously i could be further along if I spent money, but I’m very satisfied with where I am. Even though i wasn’t able to get CLS, i’ve never felt that the game was unfair towards ftp members like myself. If anything, the game is worse for ptp members who get squeezed. TL;DR: progress requires investing time or money

In Summoners War, you’re fighting in a global leaderboard so you’ll never be able to compete at the top without paying to win. In SWGOH you get placed on a leaderboard at level 28 with mostly people who hit 28 around the same time and it fills up to 20,000 players before a new leaderboard opens. Therefore you’ll never compete with players who have had 2 years headstart on you. That’s extremely fair towards new players which I doubt you can easily find in many other games. There are plenty of pure F2P players who can hit rank 1 for payout in their respective leaderboards so this is most definitely proof that it’s not P2P. You’ll unlock Fleet at 60 which will give you a lot more to do. You’ll unlock TB at 65 I think?And then there’s raids every 2-3 days assuming you are in an active guild. And lastly, you should have unlocked GW which a lot of people are complaining takes up too much time. So I’m fairly confident that once you get higher leveled, you’ll find that there’s too many things to do taking up an average of 2.5 hours daily.

Nothing is behind a permanent paywall, so I wouldn't technically call this game "pay to win." There's just so much content that a free player has to choose, because they can't have it all. A free player cam be just as competitive in all aspects of the game if they are strategic with their choices and willing to put in the time.

Is SWGOH pay to win/play? | EA Forums

11 Replies

Stryker667sh
9 years ago
You just have to choose how you want to play, if you want to be competitive with top arena players you most likely will have to put money into it. But if you are willing to grind daily and be in the middle of Arena pack then staying F2P is very doable. I went through the same slump as you around the level even all the way to 70 with the whole energy lacking and SIM tickets lack. But that was do to all the low cost gear farming I did at that time. Burn through my sim tickets every day and had to wait and wait just to save enough energy to even battle a mission.
Drazz127
9 years ago
Free to play, you definitely need to have a good plan of action. People who spend will have an advantage over you, but you can still succeed in arena due to all of the different payout hours and the AI being horrible on defense. I have both an account I spend money on, and an account that's FTP. I'm able to finish at the top of arena in both.

This game also adds a lot more content as you progress in level. Between raids, terriroty battles, and other events, there's always something to take up time.

At 54 you just unlocked mods, this is what separates good teams from bad teams. You want as much speed as possible on your arena squad. Start farming health mods, and look for speed secondaries. Additionally equip everyone with a speed 'arrow' primary. Research mods before the rest of your shard and you'll shoot to the top if you also have good characters with maxed gear.

After you learn the game you could also choose to restart with a better plan if you so choose.
Pantry_B0y
9 years ago
Ive been playing since 2015. Im in a HAAT guild and we get 30 stars in TB. I have chaze and thrawn at 7*. I have the Chimeara at 5*. I hover around 100 in arena but have gotten up to 26. I have never spent a dime. Obviously i could be further along if I spent money, but I’m very satisfied with where I am. Even though i wasn’t able to get CLS, i’ve never felt that the game was unfair towards ftp members like myself. If anything, the game is worse for ptp members who get squeezed.

TL;DR: progress requires investing time or money
449710430e37db5
9 years ago
In Summoners War, you’re fighting in a global leaderboard so you’ll never be able to compete at the top without paying to win. In SWGOH you get placed on a leaderboard at level 28 with mostly people who hit 28 around the same time and it fills up to 20,000 players before a new leaderboard opens. Therefore you’ll never compete with players who have had 2 years headstart on you. That’s extremely fair towards new players which I doubt you can easily find in many other games. There are plenty of pure F2P players who can hit rank 1 for payout in their respective leaderboards so this is most definitely proof that it’s not P2P.

You’ll unlock Fleet at 60 which will give you a lot more to do.
You’ll unlock TB at 65 I think?
And then there’s raids every 2-3 days assuming you are in an active guild.
And lastly, you should have unlocked GW which a lot of people are complaining takes up too much time. So I’m fairly confident that once you get higher leveled, you’ll find that there’s too many things to do taking up an average of 2.5 hours daily.
theatomicpun
9 years ago
Nothing is behind a permanent paywall, so I wouldn't technically call this game "pay to win." There's just so much content that a free player has to choose, because they can't have it all. A free player cam be just as competitive in all aspects of the game if they are strategic with their choices and willing to put in the time.
NyKynoe
9 years ago
No this is absolutely NOT Pay 2 Win. This game is a grind, all you need is time. That being said time = money, so anyone willing to pay will have an advantage that you can only overcome with time, so they can edge you out if they keep paying.

This game has a very long cycle and is really a marathon, you will not have everything, but with reworks and faction passes things that is old is given a second breath later on down the line. Also with TB, ships, and now TW everything you invests in has some long term value.

There is also a heavy stream of crystals from arena and now fleet arena, if you can work your way to the top then fight tooth and nail to stay there and that will be your lifeblood for years to come.
Cpytron
9 years ago
Thanks all for the replies. I guess I just have to be patient and determined to get pretty good at this game, which is what I've been hoping for.

I could really use some more help in battles from some of you.

My ally code is 568-359-997
devilock19888
9 years ago
The problem I have is that I wish I could pay to win, but this game is actually "pay and lose anyway, then pay more" which is really annoying. I'd love to be giving them money, but the value of the packs is so ridiculously low that I just can't do it.
WarrMonkey
9 years ago
Focus on ships and arena for crystals. I personally can't compete in ships cause I'm f2p and in a very hard shard with whales. I don't see many f2p in top 20 of ships at all but it is possible if you are lucky with a good ship shard and start early farming the tie fighters for tarkin capital ship (easiest way to get a good offensive and defensive team due to the turn meter shenanigans they provide).

Make sure you farm the toons required for CLS. He is a must have now for all parts of the game.

I am one of the top f2p in game and in one of maybe three guilds in top 50ish that aren't part of a huge alliances or mega whale guild.
https://swgoh.gg/u/warmonkeyy/

Good luck! I guarantee you will be frustrated if you care about good arena ranks but that's part of the fun and how you know you care lol
Acidwormss
9 years ago
Free to play can be good. The problem I find though as that there is a lot of characters in the game, but very few characters are competitive, and with how enormous the gear grind is, it is extremely important you invest in the right characters. I really wish the balance wasn't so terrible in this game, and more characters or teams were useful, but it is what it is.