Pay or Play?

Clash Royale: a game many have played—and many still do. Clash Royale has been trending for a couple of months now, and many people in the senior class participate in the same “clan,” or alliance. This game involves intense strategy, grinding, and creativity to progress through the ladder… or a credit card.

When asked about the pay-to-win aspect of Clash Royale, senior James Brenneman explained, “I honestly don't have that much of an issue with it. I understand Supercell [the creators of the game] needs to make money… they’re going to release things that are pretty broken so people buy them. I get it. What annoys me is when they add a new maximum level to cards.”

Paying to win (P2W) can be a serious issue in Clash Royale, giving players a significant advantage over others. Most students at JA don’t spend money on Clash Royale, but facing more and more P2W players can be a convincing reason to spend money on the game. But what about the Spice Runners clan, with the majority of senior boys participating?

“The objectives of the Spice Runners clan are ultimately to get Clan War and Voyage chests, which give all the players more cards to work with, making their ladder decks better—ultimately making the clan better. It’s almost like a real capitalist society… we are very passionate about this,” stated Finley Bullis, a senior and co-leader of Spice Runners.

The Spice Runners clan is at maximum capacity with a whopping fifty members, which helps the clan progress toward its goals. Though the clan has had many successes, many are still frustrated with recent changes to Clash Royale.

“It’s absolutely terrible,” declared senior Liam Wall. “I think the game is ruined. They’re hungry for money, and people are not overreacting—the people’s reactions are a genuine representation of how terrible this update is… It’s on another level of a cash grab.”