But at the end of the day, convenience items are fine, provided it does not force you into situations where you’re at a serious disadvantage in PVP combat without them. Kudos to Closers to removing their need for Stamina, and having Stamina Items in the shop. Convenience items are not the end of the world unless you absolutely must have them. Games that are heavy-PVP focused with cash shops are games I want to avoid because I would not recommend players diving into these without spending real money. That’s why games like Black Desert Online and ArcheAge will not be on this list. Are there games that are very brutal and use their cash shop to gate content and slow players down? Of course, there absolutely are. Does that mean any game with convenience items is a bad, terrible thing that should be avoided at all costs? Absolutely not. Can you think of one that doesn’t? Even World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV has them! It’s a part of the ecosystem now, and it likely is thanks to mobile gaming and f2p MMOs. Nowadays, virtually every MMO has convenience items to help players go a little bit faster. This is not a comprehensive list, just a couple that players may want to take a peek at. Jason will outline what he defines as pay-to-win before listing these games, do not worry.
Some are in the camp of ‘any convenience item is automatically a pay-to-win game, no matter what’, some are not.
Editor’s Note: Pay-to-Win means different things to different people.