I know that I am very late on sharing my thoughts about Sony's month-old announcement of ending physical gaming disc production after January 2028. I actually wasn't going to say anything about it in my blog, but if I'm going to talk about the gacha system change in Blue Archive, I might as well briefly share my thoughts on Sony's thing, too.
NOTE: I should mention that this post may not be very interesting for you, specifically for my thoughts about Blue Archive (unless you are a fan like me).
Regarding Sony's No Physical Gaming Disc Production After January 2028 Announcement
Well... What can I say that hasn't already been said? Nothing, really. For me, there truly is a lot to say, but it's already been said. I don't like that Sony is taking a digital-only direction with its gaming. This is not just because I grew up playing games physically. This is not just because I think physical is better than digital, though my preference does lean towards physical (I understand there are pros and cons to both formats). And there isn't just one big reason why I don't like it. It's a combination of many things: reducing shopping options, preservation risks, no refund / transfer / sell options when you buy something you later regret playing, no way to display fandom, no way to lend the game... I may have missed mentioning some other things, but those are some of what come to mind when I think about Sony's announcement.
And of course: If Sony is pushing for their future games to be digital-only, that likely means that the PS6 will have no disc drive. That means I won't be able to play my Blu-Ray movies. When the PS3 first came out I often joked that I wanted the PS3 mainly so I could play my Blu-Ray movies. It was a joke, but was always a selling point for me for the Playstation consoles.
I also wonder WHO this announcement is for. Who is this benefitting? The gamers? Or just Sony?
Just to provide some context on my thoughts: As mentioned earlier, I personally tend to prefer physical over digital, but due to a lack of space, I've become more picky with which games I buy physically. I'll often buy physical versions when I'm a big fan of the game series or of the creator / developers / publishers (Yakuza games, Atlus, Suda 51, Yoko Taro, Vanillaware, etc.). The last physical game I got was Yakuza Kiwami 3. I usually buy digital if the game is only available digitally or there is a major discount.
In the end, if Sony continues going in the digital-only direction for future gaming, there's a high chance that I won't buy the PS6 and will stick with PC gaming and play games on my older consoles. Even though PC gaming is pretty much digital-only, there are different storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store, and GoG, so there are still some buying options.
Regarding The Gacha System Change in Blue Archive
I've been playing Blue Archive for almost 3 years now. I think the character designs are nice and the story is a good mix of funny, emotional, and sometimes thought-provoking (the kind of mix that I like). I also think that the game is pretty generous with its players, giving a fair amount of pyroxenes every month (the currency for the gacha system).
I think the gacha system is also pretty good. I don't know if it is the most generous gacha system but it is good and easy to understand. One might think that all gacha systems are the same and it says nothing about the game, but I disagree. I think a gacha system can say something about the game's developer and how they want to treat their players (and what they might want from their players). For example, a gacha system that guarantees the desired character / item in 1000 pulls with little ways to accumulate the gacha currency could suggest a game that strongly encourages spending real money and by that point, is not free-to-play friendly.
Below is an outline of the current gacha system for Blue Archive:
-Currently, there are 4 types of rarities for a character: 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, and 3-star limited
-Each time you roll on a banner, you earn recruitment points (1 roll = 1 recruitment point)
-Rolling 10 at a time guarantees at least one 2-star or higher character
-When you accumulate 200 recruitment points for a featured banner, you can spend the 200 points to get one of the featured characters. This is the pity system (aka "sparking")
-The recruitment points are often shared between the current featured banners (for example, if you do 60 rolls on Banner A, Banner B will also display 60 recruitment points)
-Even if you get the featured character before reaching 200 recruitment points, the recruitment points do not reset
-Featured banners usually come in two: one banner per featured character. Sometimes more characters are featured and each get their own banner
-When the banner changes to feature a different character, the accumulated recruitment points are lost and converted into some in-game crafting resource
If the above is too wordy, the general gist is when a banner comes with a character you want, you pull on the banner with a guarantee of getting that character in 200 rolls. If you get the character before the 200 rolls (say at 150 rolls), you can roll 50 more times in the other character banner and then spend the 200 recruitment points on getting the other character (if you wanted the other character).
While there is always a luck component with gacha systems, I like the general predictability with Blue Archive's gacha system. At worst, you will do 200 rolls for each featured character that you want. If you are lucky, you can get both featured characters (and possibly more) in 200 rolls. This gacha system favours the player whenever they get lucky. The only challenge is saving enough currency for 200 rolls. For a free-to-play player, it could take about 4-6 months depending on how frequent the player logs in and such to collect / earn the free pyroxenes.
A few weeks ago (late July), an announcement was made that Blue Archive's gacha system was changing, starting with the Japanese servers (as of this post, the gacha system changes have already been implemented and reactions online seem to be mixed). Below are the changes to the system:
-The recruitment point system is ending. Instead, there will be a roll counter.
-If the desired character is not pulled before the 100th pull, a guaranteed 3-star character will be pulled with a 50/50 chance that it could be the desired character.
-If the 50/50 chance does not result in the desired character, the roll counter will continue with each pull
-If the desired character is not pulled before the 200th pull, the desired character will be guaranteed on the 200th pull
-When the desired character is pulled, the roll counter will reset to 0
-The roll counter is carried over to future banners, but limited and normal banners have their own roll counter
-There are milestone rewards for certain amount of pulls done on the banner, which include 4 10-ticket pulls
In short, Blue Archive's gacha system is changing to be similar to Genshin Impact's gacha system. Back when I played Genshin Impact, I accepted its gacha system for what it was, 'cuz Genshin Impact didn't have any other gacha system to compare against.
For Blue Archive, when I compare the new gacha system against the old gacha system, I think I personally prefer the old system.
With the old gacha system, I knew what I needed to do to ensure the characters I wanted -- just save for the right amount of rolls in case of pity and ignore other banners in between. Then feel great if I don't have to use all my rolls 'cuz I got lucky at some point. For example, I pull my desired character at 180 pulls and I do 20 more pulls to spark the other character with recruitment points.
With the new gacha system, I'll be doing the same thing (saving for the right amount of rolls in case of pity and ignoring other banners in between). Then feel bouts of happiness, frustration, and disappointment as various scenarios happen during the pulling experience:
-I lose the 50/50 chance (DISAPPOINTMENT: the new gacha system kicked in and didn't go in my favour)
-I win the 50/50 chance (HAPPINESS: the new gacha system kicked in and went in my favour)
-I get my desired character before reaching the 50/50 chance (a MIX of HAPPINESS and FRUSTRATION: the new gacha system for 50/50 didn't kick in, BUT the roll counter still reset, meaning if I wanted the other character I'd have to potentially do up to 200 rolls. The old system would have worked better in this scenario so that early rolls are kept as recruitment points)
-I get my desired character at roll 150+ (FRUSTRATION: with the old system I'd just need to do 50 more rolls to get the other character, but with the new system I'd have to potentially do 100 or 200 rolls on the other banner if things don't go well)
I can see how this could appeal to players who would like to do more casual pulls among various banners since the roll counter carries over, but for me, it just doesn't work with my strategy.
I have read online posts saying that the new gacha system should on average take less pulls to get the desired characters (especially when factoring the 4 10-ticket pulls from the milestone rewards). While that might be true (I haven't done the math myself), it doesn't take away the potential negative emotions that will come from things like losing the 50/50 chance and getting your desired character on the 200th pull. At least with the old system, getting the desired character on the 200th pull means having enough recruitment points to outright spark the other character. With the new system, getting the desired character on the 200th pull means starting over on the other character banner and possibly doing another 200 pulls.
I think if Blue Archive really wanted to change its gacha system without being too disruptive, it could have added the 50/50 chance on the 100th pull and left everything else alone.
Whenever the new gacha system gets implemented to Blue Archive (anticipating in about six-ish months), I will refrain from buying the monthly pyroxene packs for at least 3 years. Afterwards, if Blue Archive is still alive, I'll see how I feel then. I don't spend too much in Blue Archive anyway (so far $80 in almost 3 years), and the new gacha system change will ensure it stays that way.
That's it for this post.
If you are still here, thanks for reading! I really blabbed a lot ^^; The next blog should be a continuation of the Japan blogs.
Take care and until next time! :)
