Was initially outraged by the VIP system once maintenance completed. 24 hours later, it's tough to justify.
The only aspects of the game which are zero-sum competitive are Colosseum and Tower Events. (Gauntlet is sorta-PvP, but the caliber of your opponents are based on the team you put up.)
Colosseum is a legit problem, and I can't fault anyone upset by giving P2P players extra kicks at the cat. As someone who goes to sleep 2-3 hours before the day resets, the practical effect of this change on my play is minimal. If I end up at 1500 or at 2500, the difference is around 125 honor...when I get 2000 a day from Gauntlet.
My understanding with Tower events were that Sega changed the rewards after the Selene event, so that players can MLB the tower reward regardless of the final event standings. (In other words, you get the cards after certain point thresholds, a bit like getting demons after raid 50 / 80.) If relative point scores don't affect your ability to MLB, then VIP doesn't really affect my experience.
Everything else - in some form or another - is giving slightly better benefits to pay players...which is pretty much the point of F2P gaming. If anything, the VIP system is an acknowledgment of how lousy the ROI is for actual spending at the v1 rates. Aside from Colosseum, it's not necessary to pay to win; having just finished the main story (and Phoena's Lv. 75 ability quest), I feel fairly confident saying that.
Gumi just gave all of us the opportunity for 100 extra AP per day (AP buddy system); makes it a bit tough to get upset over pay players getting another 10-15 AP per day.
Have not put a dime into the game, but I'm open to doing so, as long as Gumi doesn't mess with the SR/UR rates in v2. Would be curious to know how much VIP gacha costs, though I'm unlikely to put more than the cost of a PS4 new release into a mobile game.
