Many games, once they become VIP, I know they want to cut corners behind the scenes.
The methods are pretty similar: provide a bit of stamina, add some inventory slots, and then offer a few seemingly decent conveniences. The page is lively, but once players buy in, their lives don't change at all. It's still the same map, the same cycle, and the same group of people crowded together to grab the same items.
This kind of membership can make money.
But usually, you can only earn that immediate profit.
So when I look at the VIP line of Pixels, my first reaction isn't 'Is ten dollars worth $PIXEL ?', but rather a more troublesome question: Does it really cut into the players' daily routine?
This is the key.
Because the biggest fear in blockchain games is not the fees, but the fear of not being able to differentiate levels. Projects are afraid of offending free riders, afraid of being criticized for barriers, afraid that the discussion zone will say you only care about collecting money, so in the end, all entrances are flat, all rewards are spread out, anyone can touch it, and no one needs to seriously engage. There is excitement, but no depth.
If Pixels just turns VIP into a more decent monthly card, then this line has little significance. More task slots, more convenience, and more market positions are all just superficial. What really matters is whether players start living a different rhythm after buying VIP.
For example, whether the things seen first after going online are different.
Are the tasks you can receive and the trading opportunities you can encounter deeper?
After spending time, is the return more stable?
If these differences are just written in the copy, then VIP is still retail. In simple terms, it’s just repackaging those small benefits that could originally be sold and then swapping for a shell that resembles an identity more.
But once these differences start to manifest in daily life, the flavor changes.
What you buy at that time is not just convenience, but also position.
This is also why I feel that Pixels is really facing a structural problem here. It wants to try to separate 'people who come to browse occasionally' from 'people who are prepared to operate long-term'. The former wants ease, while the latter wants more stability, depth, and a sense of ongoing participation. These two types of people should not be forced into a completely identical daily routine.
If everyone lives the same kind of life, no matter how fair the system appears on the surface, it will ultimately be shallow.
Deep players cannot be retained.
The system can only rely on waves of new traffic to survive.
This is also the reason why many projects become increasingly superficial. They don't lack functions, but they lack levels. When players stay inside for a long time, they find that they are almost no different from newcomers, and naturally, they won't invest seriously anymore. It's hard to ask someone to spend time, energy, and $PIXEL over the long term, only to get a little more convenient benefit in return.
So I actually think that the VIP aspect should be as straightforward as possible. Don't pretend it's purely a benefit, and don't pretend it's just an ordinary monthly card. You are screening for users with higher engagement, providing a clearer path for deeper players.
This talk will get criticized!!!
But it is much more honest than designs that don't want to offend anyone and end up retaining no one.
As long as high-level players can truly see deeper content, gain a more stable rhythm, and feel a more obvious positional difference, #pixel in $PIXEL will no longer just be a one-time payment action, but will slowly turn into a pass to continue moving forward.
What I focus on is not the benefits list, but whether this line can solidify these differences.