Is The Bazaar pay to win? Players complain about monetization

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After half a decade of tireless work, a Kickstarter campaign, and an exclusive paid beta phase, The Bazaar has now opened its doors to all players for free! Yet, it’s essential to understand that we’ve only just entered the open beta stage, meaning more fans like me can dive into this exciting game.

As part of this new phase, we’ve also introduced a monetization model, but the response from the gaming community, particularly on our official Discord server and subreddit, has been less than positive about the suggested approach by Reynad. The main concern seems to revolve around pay-to-win practices, something they assured us wouldn’t happen.

So, is it truly pay-to-win? What’s the current state of affairs, and is there hope for a change in the future? Let’s explore together.

Is The Bazaar P2W?

Reynad chose to leave his profession as a Hearthstone pro because he felt strongly that Blizzard was increasingly using Pay-to-Win (P2W) tactics in their card game, which he found frustrating. Instead of accepting this, he decided to create a game that didn’t rely on such a monetization model, where players, whether they paid for content or not, would have an equal opportunity to win. Fast forward five years, and it appears history is repeating itself, as after four months of successful closed beta testing, The Bazaar community is criticizing Tempo Storm for adopting similar or even more problematic strategies that Blizzard had employed earlier.

It’s challenging at this stage to decisively determine if Reynad’s creation has transitioned into a pay-to-win format, given that the open beta has only recently begun. We require more time to analyze the facts thoroughly and adjust to the new cards, balance changes, and other aspects. However, one thing we can confirm is:

The current situation leaves us uncertain about whether it’s pay-to-win or not. More time and observation are needed.

  1. The monetization model implemented in the game fosters buying the paid track of battlepass (or “Prize Pass” as it’s called in The Bazaar) by faster acquisition of new items for heroes, which can definitely alter the way the matches are played.
  2. The items included in the Prize Pass will become available for everyone only after the season rotates out. After that happens, they will be buyable for 999 gems, which is the in-game currency. This is the equivalent of around 10 US dollars.
  3. There are numerous posts on the aforementioned subreddit, where more experienced players are sharing their perfect (lossless) runs or defeating one of the hardest monsters in the game easily, with builds including the new items hidden by temporary paywall. However, this is not something that we should make our judgement off of, as this can be the case with all new expansions and patches that just went live without being properly balanced. We can expect more adjustments soon.

The topic of earning money from free-to-play games can be quite contentious and different for everyone, so it’s essential that you form your own opinion. At this moment, it would be wise to observe and wait as events develop over the coming days. However, it’s important to note that, at the present time, things do not seem particularly hopeful…

The Bazaar’s broken promises and controversies

What stings particularly deeply is discovering the monetization system suggested by Tempo Storm, which seems to contradict the principles they’ve upheld for a long time. On the game’s official Discord server and subreddit, numerous players are referencing Reynad’s declarations made across various platforms where he explicitly promised that The Bazaar would never be pay-to-win (P2W).

As a devoted fan, I’ve come across something fascinating: some users have actually captured a screenshot of one of his tweets, where he assured us that the title wouldn’t feature any collectible cards at all. Now, while the game itself doesn’t include cards, it does have items instead. Interestingly, this tweet isn’t the most recent one, but it serves as a reminder of a direction that seems to have been diverted somewhere along the journey.

Unfortunately, Reynad’s reaction to fan criticism doesn’t seem to be improving, as he firmly stands by his suggested solution while disregarding the concerns raised by gamers regarding it. This stance is concerning for the direction of the game and its progression in the future.

Ignoring all comments about monetization, he instead urged fans to demonstrate their support financially. Some Reddit users responded earnestly, even requesting refunds from their credit card companies for the Closed Beta access they had paid for, expressing disappointment that “the product delivered doesn’t align with its description.” Although the original post has been removed by moderators, we managed to save a screenshot of it before it vanished.

It’s quite disheartening and worrying to see that despite Tempo Storm creating an intriguing and enjoyable game, it has encountered issues that may hinder its success unless handled appropriately. Here’s hoping that following the criticism they have faced, the issues will be re-evaluated, and a more positive solution will be implemented instead.

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2025-03-06 14:10