VIP system + ads
A lot of mobile games have a VIP system that (sort of) tracks how much you've spent in the game and gives benefits to large spenders. My suggestion is to implement a system that allows CG to monetize on non-spenders (ads) while not "forcing" everyone to watch ads to get the benefits that ads would give to non-spenders.
It could work something like this:
VIP 0: spent $0 in game over the lifetime of the account. Ads are available to watch (maybe 5-10 30 second ads per day) to receive in-game benefits (easiest to quantify would be crystals).
VIP 1: spent $XX in game over the lifetime of that account. Receive a small reward (crystals) for free simply for qualifying for VIP 1 (equivalent to 1 ad). 1 ad fewer per day is available to watch.
VIP 2: spent 2*$XX in game... Receive rewards for 2 ads and 2 ads fewer are available.
...
VIP N: spent N*$XX in game... Receive rewards for N ads and ads are not available to watch (the rewards for watching ads are already baseline at VIP N).
The key here is that spending actual money reduces the ability to watch ads (those people have already been monetized, don't waste their time with ads) while those who have not spent money can spend a few minutes every day to receive in-game benefits while CG profits from that time spent.
Obviously crystals are the easiest to quantify in terms of how much the ad is worth to CG. However, it is also possible to give rewards that are not crystals (energy, character shards, gear).
It could work something like this:
VIP 0: spent $0 in game over the lifetime of the account. Ads are available to watch (maybe 5-10 30 second ads per day) to receive in-game benefits (easiest to quantify would be crystals).
VIP 1: spent $XX in game over the lifetime of that account. Receive a small reward (crystals) for free simply for qualifying for VIP 1 (equivalent to 1 ad). 1 ad fewer per day is available to watch.
VIP 2: spent 2*$XX in game... Receive rewards for 2 ads and 2 ads fewer are available.
...
VIP N: spent N*$XX in game... Receive rewards for N ads and ads are not available to watch (the rewards for watching ads are already baseline at VIP N).
The key here is that spending actual money reduces the ability to watch ads (those people have already been monetized, don't waste their time with ads) while those who have not spent money can spend a few minutes every day to receive in-game benefits while CG profits from that time spent.
Obviously crystals are the easiest to quantify in terms of how much the ad is worth to CG. However, it is also possible to give rewards that are not crystals (energy, character shards, gear).
