It’s a question that often pops up in gaming communities when delays happen: is the compensation fair? Specifically, when a game’s update gets pushed back, and players are offered a certain amount of in-game currency, the math behind it can feel a bit opaque. Recently, there was a discussion around a 400 Primogem compensation, and whether that amount was truly “just right” for a 2.7 update delay.
Let’s break down what players might have expected to receive versus what was offered. The core idea is to look at the expected daily Primogem income that was missed due to the delay. When we talk about compensation, it’s generally best to exclude things like monthly passes or daily login rewards because not everyone purchases them, and daily logins are a given for active players. The compensation should be something universally accessible.
So, what did players miss out on? First, there were the standard Primogems from pre-release announcements and maintenance periods, which amounted to 900 Primogems. If we assume a delay of 42 days, that’s about 21.43 Primogems per day that players would have otherwise earned. Then, looking at the event schedule, the 2.6 update was expected to have certain events that would grant Primogems. For instance, if a new event like the “Stand by Me” event was planned for 2.6, and its Primogem rewards (let’s say 420 Primogems) were part of the expected daily haul, then those need to be factored in. Subtracting that 420 Primogems from the total expected event Primogems for the delayed period and dividing by the 42 days gives us another daily loss of roughly 36.19 Primogems.
Adding these two figures together, the total daily loss of expected Primogems comes out to approximately 57.62 Primogems. Now, let’s look at the compensation. The offered 400 Primogems, spread over a week, works out to about 57.14 Primogems per day. When you see these numbers side-by-side, it does seem like the compensation was calculated to be very close to the daily loss.
But what about other resources? Delays often impact more than just Primogems. Consider the resources provided in something like the “Gnostic Hymn” (often referred to as the Battle Pass). If we look at the total resources from a typical Battle Pass – say, 42 purple EXP books, 3 blue EXP books, 96 enhancement ores, 720,000 Mora, and 5 Fragile Resins – and compare it to the weekly compensation of 1 Fragile Resin, 7 Hero’s Wits (which are purple EXP books), 16 enhancement ores, and 120,000 Mora. If the delay was 42 days, that’s 6 weeks of compensation. Multiplying the weekly compensation by 6 gives us 42 purple EXP books, 96 enhancement ores, 720,000 Mora, and 6 Fragile Resins. Comparing this to the Battle Pass, the compensation offers one extra Fragile Resin but is short 3 blue EXP books. Interestingly, the five Acquaint Fates from the Battle Pass weren't explicitly included in the compensation, which leaves some room for speculation as to why, perhaps due to uncertainty about the exact delay duration at the time of the announcement.
It’s also worth remembering that game developers are also affected by these disruptions. While players can voice their need for compensation, the developers themselves face their own set of challenges and potential losses. A bit of mutual understanding can go a long way when unexpected situations arise that impact everyone involved.
