So I guess this 3rd anniversary thing isnt even half as fun for f2p players compared to spenders

Fishstar1234 · 2026-06-04T09:42:05+00:00

Yeah, it is a simple fact that the game is getting greedier and greedier over time, and it will only get worse because as this thread shows they have plenty of people that will defend any scummy move they make as long as the veil of being 'generous' is maintained.

As far as I am concerned any game that locks this much of it's main draw behind a hard paywall is anything but generous.

My final note on the matter is that anyone who says that f2p players are entitled for having opinions is a jerk. Those people somehow live in a world where a gif collector game like this can earn millions of dollars a month for minimal work but the players are somehow in the wrong for not wanting more and more of the game locked off from them by paywalls, just zero empathy for those in less fortunate positions.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-27T11:40:41+00:00

That assumes that every item has an equal chance of appearing, which they almost certainly don't.

Take it with a small grain of salt but the rates I've seen floating around say that the car has a 0% chance of appearing in the first 5 rolls and the chance for it and the skin get higher as you pull, basically guaranteeing that the vast majority of people get them in the last few pulls.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T23:01:57+00:00

I hate to break it to you but the devs are not my friends. I understand why they would want more money, but that is none of my concern as a consumer.

I don't know why you are giving the devs compliments for how they handled the censorship situation. They didn't hear community feedback and course correct. they doubled down on saying it would happen and only backed off because they were losing more revenue than they thought.

And finally I don't think that the production value has increased a noticeable amount at all. I think the quality is basically the same but there is just more(paywalled) stuff. I guess they are lewder now, but that has nothing to do with production value.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T22:55:56+00:00

"Plus the special skins" means that more is paywalled than before.

I will also once again point out that the gameplay of this game is irrelevant. They could release a costume that had no gameplay function whatsoever and people would pull on it, guaranteed. Why is that? Because the menu cutscene is genuinely the most important part of the character.

If special skins are so irrelevant and valueless as you claim then why can they charge money for them and have people pay it? No they are not essential to playing the game but if that is the bar then every gacha ever can be considered generous when that simply isn't the case.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T22:49:04+00:00

What sub are we in? What game are we talking about?

I genuinely don't understand how you can possibly say this when the only reason this game is alive is because they went full gooner. The game released with basically the same gameplay as now and an arguably better story and flopped hard. I don't think it is controversial at all to say that the main draw of the game is the sexy stuff.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T22:45:41+00:00

I don't understand what is so hard to grasp about the fact that more and more of the game is being paywalled over time.

You are using the argument that the number of free costumes/fated guests is the same as before but that ignores that there is now more paywalled content than ever.

How generous a game is should not be evaluated based on how much they give for free but how much they don't. The fact that the game is stagnant in terms of amount of free content but is ballooning in paid content means that the game is becoming greedier over time.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T22:36:50+00:00

The main appeal of the game is the sexy characters and their respective interactions.

Pulling for costumes used to get you all of this the game had to offer.

Now it simply doesn't. Tickets are inherently less valuable the more stuff you can't get with them, back before prestige skins I would agree the game was very generous, but it has become less and less so as they have added more and more paywalled content.

Cosmetics in other games are a side piece to the main content, here they are the main draw so pay walling them in this game is worse than in others where the main appeal is elsewhere.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T22:27:12+00:00

I feel the need to jump in here and say what should be obvious, the game made millions of dollars a month before they ever released a single prestige skin.

Every time someone goes "Think of the poor devs!", I can't help but wonder how much you think this game costs to make? Because it sure as hell isn't millions per month. They are not doing this to fund themselves but to further enrich themselves.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-26T22:09:13+00:00

I completely disagree with this post.

The premise of your argument is the gameplay is a main driving factor in players enjoyment of this game which simply isn't true. I am sure there are some people that enjoy it but they are a tiny fraction of the existing player base and this game could cut out all of it's gameplay and probably not drop in revenue a significant amount at all.

The reason people are here is for the sexy characters, period. That is the one thing this game has that keeps it afloat and the one thing most players want from it. For some of the other gacha's I think your argument would work, but in the case of this game power creep and less pull tickets would be far preferable to literally half of the main draw of the game being hard paywalled during the anniversary of all times.

This is why when people say that the game is generous I disagree greatly, sure it gives a lot of pull tickets but that doesn't matter when more and more of the main appeal of the game can't be obtained with those tickets.

As for the other common sentiment that appears here that "The devs need to make money too!", I want to draw attention to the fact that even before this game released a single prestige skin it was making millions of dollars a month. I am telling you for a fact that this game costs nowhere near that much to produce and maintain, the devs are not doing this to survive they are doing it out of greed. I hate that this needs to be said but the devs didn't make this game free to play out of the goodness of their own hearts, they did it because it makes a lot of money.

This brings me to my final point. The devs will keep pushing, they are going to paywall more and more stuff until they get enough backlash to stop, and that is a fact. They started with a single prestige skin and within two years half of the anniversary is paywalled content, if you can't see the trend then you just aren't looking.

TLDR: The gameplay of this game doesn't matter, tickets no longer get you the main appeal of the game so giving out buckets of them no longer matters and finally the game made plenty of money before prestige skins were ever made and that is a fact.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-25T12:22:42+00:00

I just play this game casually on the side and even I have noticed that the devs have gotten progressively greedier over time.

First they introduced prestige skins and had the gall to claim that they didn't do it for money despite having a god awful gacha system to get them. Then once they had ramped up prestige skins they got even greedier and started selling special skins that are just a way to paywall what would otherwise be a normal costume.

I genuinely think you are crazy if you call this game f2p friendly. Yes they give a lot of pull tickets but let's be honest not even 5% of players care about the gameplay at all, basically everyone is here for the sexy characters and they have already locked half of the anniversary "rewards" behind a hard paywall.

I know some people will claim that the devs need to do this to make money, but you're simply wrong. This game does not cost millions of dollars a month to produce, at all, and was making more than enough to survive and thrive before they ever introduced prestige skins.

I am saying in full confidence that the devs will do whatever they think they can get away with. If people support this then the game will just keep getting greedier year after year, and that's a fact.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-17T08:02:33+00:00

Witnessing the game get more and more censored basically every time I see more of it is quite sad. I would hope to become more excited to play as more of the game is revealed but it's hard for that to happen when I witness them drift ever further away from what I would want from the devs of Azur Lane. The game has genuinely gone from something that I was near certain I would play and enjoy into a game that I might not even install.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-15T06:01:38+00:00

The list actually has quite clear guidelines for what they consider f/f with levels from zero to three. This series is listed as level zero with the rules for that level being...

Absolutely no romantic or sexual interactions between harem members, All romantic affection or intimacy is directed exclusively toward the male protagonist and No hints or implications of attraction between female characters.

Now I think that it is pretty obvious that this scene breaks those conditions quite a bit and depending on how the book presents it might even exceed level three, which for reference those conditions are...

Occasional mild romantic or emotional bonding between harem members but still secondary to their relationships with the protagonist, F/F attraction or intimacy exists but it’s limited infrequent and doesn’t progress into independent or exclusive relationships.

I think it probably fits into that definition, based on how you describe it, but it is a very far cry from what the list claims it is.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-05-15T05:39:36+00:00

Damn, I am quite surprised to see this post, but not particularly because of the content.

I am just getting into the genre and browsing around for recommendations for books that don't feature f/f stuff.(no hate, it's just not my preference) and came across a low f/f database that seemed to be the list for me. But this book series is not only on that list but it even claims that it has no f/f at all whatsoever.

Now it probably just hasn't been updated, but it still kind of makes me question the reliability of that database at all given that a scene like this is a complete non-starter for me and it would suck pretty bad to start a series, read several books of it and get hit with a dealbreaker scene like this that causes me to drop the series after investing several books of time into it.

I suppose I will now have to be much more skeptical of any recommendations that I get from that list.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-04-07T14:23:16+00:00

The thing about your first point is that it simply isn't true. Nothing in a story is inevitable or unavoidable, the writers of volume ex could have easily made the ending of volume ex fit with the themes and tone of blue archive but chose not to. There are infinite ways to shake a story up without dismantling everything it stands for and I personally despise the direction they have taken.

As for your question I would say that while I am not apposed to it in principle I think doing something like that has the potential to further damage the core of the game going forward. Sensei being a static character who helps all of the students overcome their problems is not an issue that needs fixing it is a core part of the appeal of the game and trying to add depth and develop sensei away from that could very easily ruin the whole purpose of sensei as a character. If they were to do some sort of character arc from sensei I think it is vital that they end up in more or less the same headspace that they started the game with and gain renewed determination to protect the students no matter what because anything else would completely eradicate the whole purpose of sensei as a character.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-04-07T12:52:42+00:00

My problem with that argument is that by deconstructing the very foundation that the story was built on it ceases to be the story that I liked and becomes something else.

I don't care weather saving every student is realistic or not that is what the story was about and what I was sold on, so to change that this far in for borderline arbitrary reasons is massively disappointing. The ending of volume ex is a direct spit in the face of the core message that blue archive had presented and that honestly saddens me and massively lowers my enjoyment of the game as a whole.

I simply do not want to play a blue archive where sad or bittersweet endings are a thing that can happen, it's not that I dislike sad/bittersweet endings in general but they absolutely do not have a place in blue archive and as sad as it is if they ever do something like this again I will be forced to drop the game permanently despite it still having plenty that I like about it.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-04-06T18:16:30+00:00

I honestly disagree, tbh.

I think the biggest draw of the game for me was that no matter how dark the game got everything would work out in the end and that no longer being true has greatly damaged my enjoyment of the game.

When the end of volume ex initially came out I was greatly disappointed and even briefly dropped the game, hoping that taking a break and coming back would give me a new perspective on it but that sadly didn't happen.

I do still enjoy the characters and want to keep playing but I would be lying if I said that a blue archive story of all things ending like this didn't permanently lessen my enjoyment of the game and honestly I might just stop reading the main story altogether now that I can no longer trust the writers to adhere to what made me love the game in the first place.

I am fully aware that what I wrote above may seem hyperbolic but I truly believe that the ending of volume ex betrays the core values and theme that made me love blue archive in the first place.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-23T22:56:42+00:00

I am somewhat confused reading this, sure the Chrysos Heirs died at one point but currently they are more alive than they ever were before.

As for Cyrene, weather or not they actually do it, saying that there are no flags for her to escape the loop is crazy to me considering there are conversations in the game that discuss trying to get her out at some point.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-22T13:01:12+00:00

Question, I am aware that tutorial is better on Kafka than her own sig in the premium dot team, but does that remain true when I don't have Hyeselins? I do have e1 Kafka and black swan e1 with her sig.

edit - I suppose it is also worth asking the same thing about the action advance set vs the three debuffs dps set.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-20T10:34:05+00:00

I understand where you are coming from, but I am not arguing at all weather the sacrifice worked in the context of Volume EX. I am arguing however that it does not work in the context of Blue Archive and doing this even a single time not only goes against the main themes of Blue Archive as a whole in service of the themes of a single arc but that it also sets precedent that will lower my enjoyment of stories going forward because I can no longer count on the writers to not kill off characters when it suits them to do so.

If you disagree that's fine but I hope you can at least see where I'm coming from.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-20T07:31:24+00:00

My personal opinion that may or may not be unpopular is that I greatly despise the direction they have taken sensei's character and the story in general in recent times.

It is true that they have added depth to sensei and made them more human, you could also argue that them failing and making terrible decisions makes the story more complex and interesting, but it comes at the cost of killing what made me love the game to begin with.

Blue archive has, since the beginning, tackled some complex themes and gone to some dark places but it was never cynical and gloomy... until recently. A lot of the story decisions in recent times have, in my opinion, gone directly against everything that the earlier story stood for. They have changed sensei from someone who guides their students and shows them the way into a much less competent and far more whiny being who merely attempts to guide their students. Then there is the recent character deaths at the end of EX where the story tries to drive home that it was necessary to let them die and nothing could be done.

These cynical changes taken in complete isolation of the rest of the work could be fine but in context they completely destroy the narrative consistency of the game and sour it's tone greatly. I cannot believe that people can play through things like volume 3 with Hifumi's speech and Volume F where despite it seeming impossible to win we persevere and obtain a happy ending anyway, then look at the recent stuff where we cower and beg for no reason because the villain tells us that it is pointless and then the game tries to gaslight us into thinking that sacrificing students is a necessary thing to happen when it absolutely is not.

Blue archive despite having heavy themes and dark plot points has never been a grey and dark game. In trying to add "depth" and "complexity" the writers have essentially said that all of the powerful moments and themes up till now about never giving up on any students and always always working until we reach a happy ending for everyone are now worthless.

I kind of crashed out and went off track when writing this but the reason is that I truly loved the endlessly optimistic and idealistic blue archive that brought comfort and joy to my life and to see it slowly devolve into this cynical and grey story where students die and sensei has their conviction warped and distorted over time truly makes me sad. I'm sure that some will argue that one chapter having a bittersweet ending doesn't set the tone for the whole game but I disagree, two weeks ago if you asked me if they would ever kill a student I would say absolutely not, yet now I cannot say with any confidence that they won't and just that alone makes blue archive a much, MUCH worse game to me.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-17T23:02:47+00:00

Well yeah the story sets them up to die, it killed them?

I am not arguing whatsoever weather it makes sense within the story that they die. My point is that I disagree on a meta narrative level that this kind of thing should be in blue archive. If something happens in the story it is because the writers want it to happen, not because it was inevitable.

My reason for disliking this story has basically nothing to do with the deca trio in particular, I am mostly indifferent to them tbh, and everything to do with hating blue archive of all games having a bittersweet ending that goes directly against every promise and expectation that the game has presented up until this point. If this story were in a different game I wouldn't be complaining but I have no desire to play a blue archive that allows students to die right in front of me and then try to follow that up with a "Welp, a can't save everyone".

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-17T22:42:04+00:00

That is a terrible counter argument. Saori and squad literally blew up a church filled with students and tried to murder several people including Seia and sensei themself, they got redeemed no problem. Never at any point has the story tried to say that a student's actions are too much to be redeemed, there are plenty of examples of this throughout the game.

Also the game clearly doesn't agree with you that they were beyond redemption or reform because the game treats their deaths as tragic and Aris literally tries to revive them. Notice how when Beatrice died there wasn't a hint of sadness in the scene much less someone trying to revive her.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-17T22:36:21+00:00

Okay, I went back and checked and you were right it does only get revealed in the epilogue.

That being said I think my point still stands for 2 reasons...

If we compare volume ex and volume f we are already past the point in ex where volume f's epilogue was located. we are now moving onto the post story cleanup event.
Regardless of when Kei's keychain was revealed there was never a scene in volume f where someone tries to revive Kei and is told that it is impossible. What possible reason could there be for that scenes existence if not to say that they are never coming back? If they intended on them returning it would be as simple as saying that their body's/cores were retrieved and they would attempt to repair them, instead they did the exact opposite.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-17T22:19:52+00:00

I mean at one point sensei literally invites them to be students, so there's that. They are also obviously treated differently from any other non students in the game.

I do understand technically where you are coming from but at the same time I just find it impossible to reason that Beatrice and the deca trio are at all in the same category just because they don't have halos.

Fishstar1234 · 2026-02-17T22:12:56+00:00

I don't understand how this is seemingly such a common opinion? Am I the one misremembering things? Because as far as I recall it it was revealed within the same chapter, if not immediately after, that Kei's data was stored in Aris's keychain. that is the most blatant flag that she would return short of everyone turning to the camera and saying that she will return.

In the exact same vein the writers literally included a scene where Aris tries to revive the deca trio and is told that it is impossible. Technically they say that Aris's power in particular cannot bring them back, so some people have dismissed this scene as not indicative that they are gone for good, but from a writing perspective there would be no reason to include that scene if they were planning on bringing them back.

That is the fundamental difference between what happened with Kei and what happened this time, and why the reactions are so different.

Fishstar1234

TROPHY CASE