Where Winds Meet, a free-to-play MMO with Soulslike characteristics, contains some gacha elements that seem to have become a fundamental part of Eastern F2P games. While entirely cosmetic, they can lead to ludicrous skin prices due to low drop rates, and one of them costs as much as $42,000.
Though a game with well-designed systems, gameplay, and especially combat, Where Winds Meet has to make its money somewhere. As with most free-to-play games, this usually comes from selling skins and cosmetics, which, though expensive at times, aren't necessary to play the game, and there are often many ways of obtaining cool-looking cosmetics free of charge.
However, gacha games are a bit different, as they lock the best-looking stuff behind so-called "pulls," which merely give you a chance to get a good item. Think CS2's chests, but with much worse odds. Where Winds Meet, like other gachas, gives you a "guaranteed" ultra-rare drop if you've spent enough money but still haven't received it, which is precisely how the skin in question can cost up to $42,000.
The "Celestial Mortal" skin, as it is known in the game, is probably one of its rarest, and the only way to get it is by being super lucky on the pulls. If you aren't, then expect to pay $42,000, equivalent to about a yearly salary in the US, to get it. It's a beautiful skin, don't get me wrong, and it lives up to its name, but I'm not going to pretend that it isn't a tad bit excessive for a video game cosmetic that alters nothing except appearance.
And it's not like the game doesn't have cool skins that are otherwise free or cheap as well.
Gacha games and super-expensive "guarantees" are a topic I've covered extensively over the past few years, and the problem is by no means subsiding. What's more, it has spread to games in the West as well, including the likes of League of Legends. Even so, the latter's guaranteed drops run people up to a few hundred bucks at most, and are far removed from the 300,000 Yuan ($42,000) price tags of the Celestial Mortal.
Let's hope it stays that way.
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