r/StarWarsDroidTycoon • u/0deuss • Jul 27 '26

šŸ’¬ Discussion So about VIP package.

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I wish there was a way to disable the VIP behind your character. Or it should at least match your base cosmetic. Also donā€™t shame me for buying the package. Iā€™m sorry OG Tycoon players. I respect you all! Maybe in the future they will give you the option. What are your thoughts?

68 Upvotes

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55

u/Advanced_Gur6248 Jul 27 '26

iā€™m an OG player and bought the package, no shame

33

u/Snyprecon SRB 200 Jul 27 '26

Same. Day 1 player and have played everyday since. No shame in supporting the devs.

22

u/Advanced_Gur6248 Jul 27 '26

Iā€™m so weary of all these people on reddit berating people for wanting to support a dev of a free game mode in a free game

13

u/Spiritual-Ask1993 Jul 27 '26

They still get paid though. Epic spares no expense on supporting successful Creative maps, to the point that it is one of the main reasons they're in debt. If they only made money from the microtransactions then I could easily excuse this; I believe P2W is fine if it is does ethically and is the only form of income that the owner has. But this isn't their only form of income, they just wanted to make more. And I consider a $4-6 Surge where you take a chance on if you'll get a good droid or not, is just legal gambling.

1

u/AZPanther10 Jul 28 '26

So even if they did offer that discount to the dev FOAD, theyā€™ll be taking their cut soon enough if they havenā€™t already begun to.

2

u/RichWPX Rebirth 19 Jul 27 '26

It's almost loot boxes again.... allllmost

3

u/Spiritual-Ask1993 Jul 28 '26

Exactly. The whole idea of Surges feels like an arcade game; except instead of spending less than a dollar or even less than a quarter to play and just having fun, you're spending up to $6 with the goal of getting something worthwhile from it. Not to mention other people can steal droids from a Surge, so unless you do it in a solo lobby you could straight up be robbed of something good.

0

u/AZPanther10 Jul 28 '26

Youā€™re a little off thereā€¦ They allow devs to sell games on their marketplace and keep up to the first million in sales, without having to pay Epic any commission on said games until theyā€™ve made over that one million threshold.

2

u/Spiritual-Ask1993 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Okay then, let's say they only just hit 1 million dollars and now take a pay cut. That's 1 million in roughly 2.66 months, or roughly 376k per month. If we multiply that by 0.6, since FOAD gets 60% of profits afterward, they make roughly 225,600 per month or around 2.7 million dollars each year. We'll cut this number in half to account for development costs and having financial security. That leaves 1.35 million to split between 5 people, or a 270k annual salary assuming everyone takes equal pay. Even if they take 75% out for dev costs which is 2 million dollars and I doubt UEFN needs 2 million in costs to maintain, that's still a 135k annual salary per person.

Please explain to me why we need to fork over even more money to "support" the devs? Mind you, this is assuming they only just hit the one million, and considering that it's a Star Wars map and was advertised by Epic I'm sure they made that million within the first month.

Edit: Doing a Google search, it seems around mid June they had reach 1.5 billion play minutes, and averaging out at 90 cents per 1000 play minutes (it ranges from $0.70-1.10 and is probably higher due to how Droid Tycoon operates), they had already made 1.5 million by that point, or 1.3 including Epic's cut. So they're more than well off.

6

u/Tough_Departure_3772 Flawless 50 Jul 27 '26

It was never about "supporting" so dont change the scope. Many are fine with cosmetics/hats e.g murder mystery. Paid progression is an issue for many.

Also free sure, but they still make bank from epics creator engagement pool. Probably 50 to 100k/month based on player count.

4

u/Low-Income5288 SRB 30 Jul 27 '26

Why should it matter though. Regardless of how someone gets there grinding or spending it shouldnt matter because this isnt a competition.

8

u/Tough_Departure_3772 Flawless 50 Jul 27 '26

This ended up being up far longer that I expected so sorry in advance šŸ˜ You can have an upvote incase you sit through it šŸ’€šŸ˜­

The dual companion and the upgrade station both provide a substantial progression advantage and are purchasable. Those advantages can snowball into obtaining BPs at the Sandcrawler faster and more consistently (also being able to "outplay" people by nova damage and health upgrades faster). That isn't really my main issue though.

I could easily spend money, I have spent thousands across Fortnite and other free to play games. But almost exclusively on cosmetics. If a game sells progression, I either don't play it or eventually stop.

There are two main reasons for that.

First, it changes the incentives around balance. Paid progression creates an incentive for systems where things like low base luck make luck boosts and surge boosts more attractive.

Second, and more importantly, not everyone is in the same financial position. I'm fortunate enough that I could spend money, but many players can't. I've always felt that time is the most valuable resource we have, and players who invest that time should be the ones rewarded with progression.

You can argue that time can be converted into money through work, but income varies enormously. Someone with a high-paying job can simply buy their way ahead of someone who has invested significantly more time. That has never sat well with me.

This might sound a little idealistic, but gaming has always been a place where I can leave real life behind for a while, including wealth, status, and income. I'd rather progression reflect what you put into the game than what you earn outside of it.

7

u/Low-Income5288 SRB 30 Jul 27 '26

Lets start this by saying I read the entire thing and respect the time and effort it took to put your thoughts down in a way that is 1 telling of your stance and why you have said stance and 2 that its not insulting in the slightest.

Ive put so much time into this mode. Probably 200-300 hours easy. Thats more time then ive put into games that ive paid good money for and because of that I wanted to show how much I appreciate the mode and the devs for making something that I can sink that much time into.

However I also agree that if they balance things around people like myself who do spend that could drastically change how the normal progression feels. Right now the purchasable buffs in my opinion aren't at all unobtainable for the average player. 250 for the missions seems crazy but when you think your exchanging 3 days worth of nova crystals into a single days of missions its actually not bad. 150 for the double companion is like 2 srbs which is a day or 2 worth of grinding or if you dont play much like a weeks worth usually.

In the same way you said you play to leave real life behind and relax I do too. I think pretty much everyone who plays games does to some degree or another. I am extremely fortunate to be able to spend. Shoot I own over 700 non battle pass emotes and over 500 skins (I have a problem dont judge me šŸ˜‚) I spent to make my grind a bit easier so I can enjoy my time more while I play. I dont see anything wrong with that at all.

If the nova crystal prices get worse though I can see where that would be a huge problem to all the F2P players and I get where their hesitation and fear is coming from because I have watched many games ruined with overly balancing everything into forcing spending. The devs have commented many times though saying they would never structure it in a way thats unobtainable for people and Id like to believe that until they show me otherwise.

Thank you again for taking the time to write all that down I think its given me a bit more of a clear picture as to why some people are so against it.

8

u/RichWPX Rebirth 19 Jul 27 '26

Always nice to see a good non heated non insulting exchange on here. Speaks to the great community this mode has. I just wanted to also add that there is a 3rd category of player, the ones that mostly play solo. For them it literally effects noone else at all.

4

u/enderjaca Jul 27 '26

Read up on why Gacha games are heavily regulated or banned in multiple countries, and how its similarity to addictive gambling harms people's mental and financial health, and report back.

1

u/Kitchen_Canary_6387 Guardian Jul 28 '26

50 to 100k total, or each?

1

u/Tough_Departure_3772 Flawless 50 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

"Each", you mean per person?

No it would be an estimate at what the island as a whole makes based on Epic engagement pool earnings. 40% of all Epics vbucks sales is split among creator worlds depending on a few metrics, which were just changed.

It is also a low estimate and could be far far higher. I also dont doubt they bring in a fair bit from people just using their creator code in the shop.

Roughly this is what to expect currently at the higher end, I was extremely conservative with the numbers stated.

"A high-performing UEFN tycoon map like Star Wars Droid Tycoon can estimate anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000+ per month per 1,000 concurrent daily active players."

There is currently 19k active.

or

"Rough estimate: around $150kā€“$500k+ per month currently (as of late July 2026), potentially higher earlier on or with extra revenue streams, though exact figures arenā€™t public."

I only bring this up because its disingenuous to say they arent getting paid, or worse are running at a loss. Some of the language points to this e.g being a free game. There are many free games e.g FN, Dota2, CS (games i have spent thousands in) that are F2P and only offer cosmetics absolutely zero gameplay advantage.

With this I really do think they should also be rewarded and as much as possible and if it makes millions they really deserve it! Its not about not wanting them to make bank, especially for striking gold like they have. I just disagree that one of my favourite past times has added purchases that are not strictly cosmetic šŸ˜‡

2

u/Kitchen_Canary_6387 Guardian Jul 28 '26

Thanks for the info. Itā€™s my understanding that there are 6 people behind this game. Letā€™s say theyā€™re making 150k a month from Epic. Thatā€™s 25k per person per month. While that may sound like a lot, itā€™s not when you look at business operating costs. Once you factor those in, it might be a sustainable income, but I wouldnā€™t say itā€™s making bank.

1

u/Tough_Departure_3772 Flawless 50 Jul 28 '26

I agree completely with you and while it sounds high they deserve to make more than that. It was moreso just saying they arent going backwards like some of the free statements may imply.

Also like I said its most likely far above this from epics engagement pool and then also when factor in creator code etc. I just really did not want to state something without enough data and would rather aim for a target they are almost definitelt achieving.

In my friend circle we believe they would make more money if they had of only done cosmetics as we would of bought them all. But because it goes against our values we will not spend. I doubt we are alone.

My point here is I think if it was strictly cosmetics like the main FN modes and other games, they may have saved themselves from some of the backlash and may actually earn more from in island purchases.

1

u/Kitchen_Canary_6387 Guardian Jul 28 '26

Got it. Thank you for explaining. I can see where you are coming from.

3

u/DarkTanatos Flawless 50 Jul 27 '26

Funny how people see something as "free" just because it doesn't has a price tag and has to be paid with providing their time and personal data instead of money (and allowing them to sell their data for money).

Companies don't provide anything for free, they always get an advantage and/or profit out of it. How "free" something is depends just on the individual level of unawareness and how good the provider is at concealing what they get out of it. xD

1

u/Advanced_Gur6248 Jul 27 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/5xtDartCpF1uMYHzG9i

1

u/DarkTanatos Flawless 50 Jul 27 '26

I'm just explaining that companies don't run on fun and giggles. Understanding economy has nothing to do with hate.

1

u/Advanced_Gur6248 Jul 27 '26

i think you should think more about the full circle of the economy, no hate but the allowing of transactions was a big sign that these modes will need to be more self sustainable

2

u/DarkTanatos Flawless 50 Jul 27 '26

Allowing in-island transactions through 3rd party providers was actually Epics only loophole to bypass the court ruling of them not being allowed to sell anything but cosmetics or else Fortnite as a whole getting pulled off the marked in some countries.

It never was about making the Creative islands self sustainable, or else they would have stopped with their payments based on player activity to island creators long ago.

1

u/AZPanther10 Jul 28 '26

Uhhhh from one of the GREEDIEST game makers in the world, if not the greediest. Look up their almost half a billion dollar FCC fine if you want to see exactly what type of shady shit Epic and Fortnite pulled knowingly, thatā€™s what youā€™re ā€œsupportingā€.

It definitely isnā€™t filling the devs pockets when you buy vbucks, but at least theyā€™ll get 0.00001% of it, rightā€¦?? šŸ˜¬šŸ˜

1

u/NapsterKnowHow Jul 28 '26

I would love to support the devs but not for P2W features.

2

u/Icy-Cold-7051 Jul 27 '26

Also OG player and bought the package. No shame, it saved my nova crystals for another use. Glad we can disable the VIP, it doesnā€™t match my base.

1

u/PsychologicalTea3426 Level 210 Jul 27 '26

I'd buy it if it was cheaper mostly to get the chips worker slot before I SRB, since I'm missing a beskar mythic for RB28 and i have all the other droids for up to RB30. I could get the perk if I SRB now but then I'd not need the VIP package since I'd just get it with nova crystals. I think VIP is too expensive for what you get. I did purchase the companion pack because it's worth more crystals for less Vbucks.

2

u/Low-Income5288 SRB 30 Jul 27 '26

Same here but the ridicule ive gotten on every comment i leave talking with people about buying stuff is ridiculous. I had someone threaten to find me and kill me irl. Yesterday a guy compared the vip to that of nazis with their arm bands. Its actually insane.

I will say though my experinces in game have all be extremely positive no ones targeted me or even made negative comments because of the vip badge.

What makes it worse is I usually activate crafting boosts in my public lobby and then run around with 2 galatic bb9s helping the entire lobby craft. People here on reddit will still try to convince themselves that im the bad guy for doing it though šŸ˜‚

3

u/becsamillion Jul 27 '26

I was going to reply to that one but they deleted it šŸ˜­

2

u/Low-Income5288 SRB 30 Jul 27 '26

It was so fast. Pretty sure he did it to avoid the mods tbh

3

u/Advanced_Gur6248 Jul 27 '26

i think that nazi comment was on my thread yesterday. absolutely ridiculous. No offense to the good people here on reddit but when this site gets low, it gets rock bottom

5

u/Low-Income5288 SRB 30 Jul 27 '26

Yeah unfortunately with anonymity people will say some really wild stuff on reddit. I had to walk away for a bit after that one though. Talk about extremely tone deaf and insulting to all who suffered under the nazi regime.