Will the game be Pay2Win?
One of the biggest concerns is always the question of Pay2Win, especially when you bring up a controversial topic like collectible cards. It is probably beyond question (but not officially confirmed) that you will be able to buy chests full of cards with real money later and thus have an advantage at least at the start.
However, HiRez has already proven with SMITE that they hold relatively little to Pay2Win and can create incentives to spend money in other ways. Therefore, I consider the risk of Pay2Win to be relatively low – similar to Hearthstone, where you can get “faster” to the desired cards when you spend money, but they can also be earned with a reasonable effort.
Currently, each victory brings a single card, and each account level brings a total of 5 cards for free – plus the in-game currency, which currently has no use and will probably also be used to purchase new cards.
(Preliminary) Conclusion: Worth a look if you’re pain-resistant
Paladins is fun. However – like so many games – only with friends. After nearly 20 hours of beta, the air is out, which you can’t necessarily blame the game for, as many elements are still missing. Once you can create your own decks to get the desired cards more often, the whole thing will certainly become significantly more motivating.
Only 8 different champions are also a bit few and quickly lead to boredom – but HiRez wants to regularly improve this and plans to release numerous new characters early during the testing phase.
Anyone who has no problem with a beta that deserves its name should take a look at the game. It is different, but not bad. A rough diamond that still needs to be polished nicely – something I definitely trust the creators of Smite to do.
