Game Talk

Gacha pity systems, explained properly (and are they getting better?)

A lot of people outside Asia ask me why Taiwanese friends talk about 'pity' all the time, so here's the short version. In most modern gacha games there's a guaranteed rare character after a fixed number of pulls, often around 80 to 90. Many also have a '50/50': your first guaranteed rare might not be the featured one, but the next one is.

Some games also carry pity over between banners, which is a big deal, because it means saved progress isn't lost when an event ends.

My honest view: compared to ten years ago, the systems are more transparent, partly because regulators in places like China and Korea required published odds. But 'transparent' doesn't mean 'cheap'. Reaching a guarantee can still cost a lot of real money if you don't save up free currency. Do you think pity makes it fairer, or just makes spending feel safer?