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LoL: Riot Wants Exclusive Content, But Mythic Variants Are Not It
Welcome to the gacha game League of Legends: Riot Games have announced the introduction of mythic variants for existing skins. The first variant is made for the beloved Dark Cosmic Jhin skin, but Jhin mains are just as unhappy about its monetization model as the rest of the playerbase.
We get it. Apart from super old skins that are no longer available to purchase and out of the Hextech loot pool – such as Riot Singed and Black Alistar – there are not really any super rare and prestigious skins in League of Legends.
Not even the Prestige skins, originally introduced to fill this particular void, are still viewed that way. After early complaints about the immense grind for event tokens and the huge price tag of the original Prestige points, Riot have made it easier to access these skins. This called for a replacement – but do we really need one?
Mythic Variants: Do We Even Need This Kind Of Rare And Exclusive Content In League of Legends?
One thing needs to be said: The issue with Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin is not that it is just a special edition of the popular and incredibly beautiful Dark Cosmic Jhin. While Jhin has many beautiful skins, we will never say no to another amazing Jhin skin, especially not when it follows the immaculate fantasy of the Dark Star universe.
The issue lies in its monetization. Riot is adding Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin as a loot-exclusive skin and can only be received from Cosmic Capsules, released as part of the Cosmic event on the next patch. One of them costs 750 RP and has a 1% chance to reveal Jhin's new Mythic variant, with the player guaranteed to receive the skin upon opening their 30th cosmic capsule.
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To do the math for you: 30 Cosmic Capsules cost you 22500 RP, which comes down to a mind-blowing $200 USD. As a comparison: the regular Dark Cosmic Jhin – which looks almost identical – only costs you 1820 RP, or about $15 USD.
This strategy of guaranteeing a loot drop upon spending certain amounts of money is a business strategy commonly utilized in Gacha games, suggesting that there is a limited amount of money to be spent by the player. This business strategy looks consumer-friendly on the surface, capping how much you have to spend to get your desired loot.
However, when this amount comes down to $200 USD for a single skin, it looks more like an accessory for rich players rather than dedicated fans. Additionally, the whole logic behind capping the expenses of a player is easily questioned by considering that these contents can only be obtained through the closest thing to gambling that is legally possible.
Mythic Content: Why Prestige Skins, Mythic Variants And Hextech Skins Are Never Going To Work
The biggest issue about exclusive content starts with the Prestige skins. If you remember the release of the original Prestige K/DA Kai'Sa, chances are you also remember the disproportional grind players had to put in to afford the skin. Token drop rates were too low, and if you did not dedicate your life to League of Legends and practised an unhealthy portion of neglect for your other hobbies and social contacts, you would have to pay extra for the remaining tokens.
After this has been resolved by fixing the drop rates, another controversy came up with Prestige Points. These would be awarded to loot packages, and Prestige Blood Moon Aatrox – the first ever Prestige skin unlocked this way – would end up costing you about $100 USD.
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By fixing token drop rates and making Prestige Points (later: Mythic Essence) available through event tokens, the skins were no longer costing you a fortune – but they also lost the level of exclusiveness Riot Games were originally striving for.
This raises the question: why do these exclusives need to be so incredibly inaccessible through their price tag? Is capitalizing on the fear of missing out really what Riot Games want from their exclusive content?
You are definitely not wrong to think that capitalizing on regular skins – which still sell incredibly well – is still a good way going forward. Exclusivity should never come at such a big cost for the players – and players should definitely stand their ground in this topic.
Lastly, we have a glimpse of hope for any sad Jhin player out there who does not want to spend this much money on a new skin. Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin will be added to the reroll pool sometime in 2024.
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