One of the trends we’ve seen take shape throughout the years in the MMO world – and the gaming industry on the whole – are log-in rewards. For many games they are a way to push up player counts and get returning or new players into their MMO consistently.
For those unaware – or simply don’t notice when logging into virtually every major MMORPG nowadays, log-in rewards are literally just that – rewards you get for simply logging into your game. That’s it. These rewards vary based on the game and run the gamut from utility items like Experience Scrolls in The Elder Scrolls Online to special skins for a ship in EVE Online.
Log-in rewards are divisive – like most things in our industry – among the player base. I remember sitting in the audience at EVE Vegas 2019 when log-in rewards were mentioned on stage to the collective grown of the crowd. Players around me groaned, complaining that this was just “another step towards” a Black Desert-type aggressive monetization strategy (though, to be fair, log-in rewards are free). For many players the idea that a daily log-in reward is what draws you into a game cheapens the game itself – the content of the game should be good enough to get you to log in each day.
Personally, I don’t mind log-in rewards in my games – that while I personally don’t need that extra incentive to log into my favorite MMORPG on any given day, I do like the fact that just by doing so I might get an item to help me in my journey. But I could easily just do without them. So for me, they aren’t something that keeps me with a game, but I will admit to specifically logging into EVE Online and ESO on occasion just long enough to get my item and move on.
So I turn the question to you, reader: Do you like log-in rewards in your MMORPG? Why or why not? What about them do you like, or why do you not enjoy them? Let us know in the comments below!
