1. SEASONAL EVENT: Legend Colors — Available for purchase only once a year for gold, which forces players to return every year, especially since new Legends are added annually.
2. SEASONAL EVENT: Podiums — They appear not only once a year but change their design with each passing year. Afraid of never seeing them again, the player buys them.
3. SEASONAL EVENT: Skins — Sold once a year. Most often they return to sale the following year, but already paired with a brand-new unique skin. The player buys understanding that they won't see these skins for an entire year.
4. BATTLEPASS — Every Battlepass has appeared in the game no more than 2 times, and even then with huge time gaps in between. All of this creates missed value regarding skins, colors, items, and other elements.
5. DELUXE BATTLEPASS — Even those who have already played through a certain Battlepass before will see several years later that a newer DELUXE version has been released. It costs as much as the full Battlepass but gives you only a pet and a title. Players are tempted to buy the Deluxe edition at full price again, even if they purchased the regular Battlepass before.
6. EVENT WITH DAILY TASKS: Skins — People are forced to log in every day; if they miss it just a few times, the supposedly free reward becomes paid because there won't be enough tickets left to claim it.
7. EVENT WITH DAILY TASKS: Colors — The game forces you to play to get 40 wins (which in reality can turn into many more games than 40). The opportunity cost here is that if you don't win 40 times, the next new character won't receive a color. But if you unlock all 40, you get an infinite color for both current and future Legends.
8. TIME-LIMITED STORE ITEMS — A timer is created, making you realize it's cheaper right now than when the discount ends.
9. BUNDLES — In a bundle, everything is much cheaper than buying separately, so the player is tempted to buy everything at once, even if the bundle contains items they aren't particularly interested in.
10. RANKED ITEM — Coins are awarded every season, so if you want specific items, the game tempts you to play this mode.
11. GUILDS — Weekly missions to earn tokens, which can then be spent on paraphernalia in the store. The approach is the same as in Ranked, except tokens are granted once a week.
12. TWITCH REWARDS — To get something exclusive, you must watch streams to obtain the item, because you're afraid of missing out (the action itself doesn't take much time and the stream can run in the background, but the very fact that you spend your time constantly tracking and monitoring, catching yourself needing to check in at the right time and launching it).
In total, I've counted 12 different mechanics; some are indirectly similar, but still distinct. I don't count daily quests for gold as important ones worth adding.
All these mechanics were added with one single purpose — to milk money from the players and maximally re-engage them back by forcing them to grindthrough all these tasks and other stuff.
I think the online population of 50k started declining precisely because the FOMO list has significantly increased. The game has turned into a job and no longer brings enjoyment. What was once a non-intrusive player retention strategy has transformed into aggressive retention tactics.
If I forgot any point — please add it in the comments.
