Power Creep: The Fall of the King in Gacha Games
Remember the overpowered character that you own at the early version of the game? welp, now they are down to the lower tier.
The moment I write this, Seele just got dethroned by Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae in Honkai: Star Rail, and yes I am pretty mad about it because I heavily invest in her.
When I was still playing Genshin Impact (Version 1.0), I still remember the feeling when I got Diluc, the king of DPS, a few pulls after I got his best in slot weapon, wolf’s gravestone. That was the most memorable moment of my time in Genshin Impact, even though it led to a heated argument with a friend who was envious of my luck. Imagine, the chance to get 1 SSR on a standard banner is a mere 0.6%, imagine getting 2 SSRs from a few pulls apart.
Recently, one of my friends started playing Genshin Impact, and when I asked them which character they got first, they frowned and said, “Ahh, it’s Diluc. I’m so unlucky.” As someone who quit the game when Diluc reigned supreme as the top DPS character, I was surprised to hear that. When I asked about their disappointment, I discovered that, in the current state of the game, Diluc had been dethroned and was now considered a lower-tier character.
So, why did a once top-tier character fall to the bottom? Did they become weaker? Not at all, especially in gacha games where character nerfs can cause an uproar among players. Instead, they simply got left behind due to a phenomenon known as power creep. Power creep is a term in gaming that means a new version of the game that brings more powerful characters/new stages that make other available characters less relevant or outpowered. This Power Creep usually happens in gacha games as a strategy from the developer to keep making money from the new character. Imagine if you already have the best DPS, then the game releases a new DPS that has lower capabilities, there is a low possibility that you want to spend your money for that character because you already got the best one, Well, except if the new character is your waifu/husbando. So, to keep money flowing, the developers need to make new characters appealing, one of the ways to do this is by making a more powerful character. Even in some games, power is correlated with popularity (based on the author’s observation).
Is Power Creep Bad?
Not necessarily, it keeps the game alive. By doing this, more and more people would be interested in pulling the character. A survey conducted by Hiramatsu (2019) shows that more than 60% of respondents want to play the game with the intention of getting stronger characters. So releasing stronger characters again and again might give players a reason to keep playing even if on the same survey, most of the respondents did not think that power is their motivation to gacha. However, some players might get mad because of the Power Creep if it happens too fast.
Can I avoid Power Creep?
Possibly. There are characters that are more resistant to power creep, typically those in support roles. For instance, in Fate Grand Order, three support characters, which is Merlin, Zhuge Liang, and Skadi have maintained their top-tier status since the last time I played FGO (about 2–3 years ago), only 3 new characters are above them. Additionally, characters with unique playstyles or highly specialized skill sets may also prove resistant to power creep. So to avoid Power Creep it is better for you to avoid pulling characters with niche skill sets.
In the ever-evolving environment of gaming, power creep is a phenomenon that can both excite and frustrate players. It’s the force that propels us forward, the driving factor behind our desire to pull new characters. Power creep is not good or bad, actually, it is a double-edged sword that must be wielded carefully by developers. However, it’s important to remember that power creep is an essential part of the gaming industry’s strategy to keep us engaged and invested. In the end, power creep is not our enemy, and the tier list is just a list. At the end of the day, just play the way you want, it is ok if you do not mind about the tier list at all, pull the character you like and keep supporting the dev if you like the game. Good luck with your Gacha!
Reference
Hiramatsu, A. (2019). A Research of Social Game Users’ Attitude to “Gacha” Probability Announcement. 2019 8th International Congress on Advanced Applied Informatics (IIAI-AAI), 115–120. https://doi.org/10.1109/IIAI-AAI.2019.00033
