Me? A Whale? Let’s Talk

In video games, we hear the term “whale” or “white whale” from time to time. But what does it mean, and why do most gamers turn their noses up at it?

Well, according to several sources, it is a metaphor for the big fish in the sea of gaming. Someone who spends a lot of their money on in-game purchases to either get ahead or have more cosmetic items, depending on the game.

I will admit, I have done this a few times. The earliest is the usage of Microsoft points back when they existed. I also bought a few REQ packs when I was playing Halo 5 that didn’t come from points earned from matches.

Oh and don’t get me started on It Girl. I was guilty of buying dresses in that game that I wish I had in real life, my favourite was the ferocious red bridal gown. Its hotness level wasn’t high enough to give me a boost where I was in the game, I just wanted to have it.

There are countless others in the past but they weren’t recurring and at that time I was a student with little to do outside of school and I didn’t spend a lot of money.

Now here I am playing Disney Dreamlight Valley. The most dominant game in my library where I have succumbed to microtransactions from time to time if I don’t have enough moonstones.

I bought the expansion on day 1 because I was so eager to dive in. I knew it was coming given the post-credits scene. Oh Jafar, come out of your palace, let’s not make this difficult okay?

Anyway, the game has been criticized for introducing microtransactions while it was still in early access and not going F2P upon leaving early access as there are people out there that believe that any game with microtransactions should always be F2P. Back then, the only way to obtain moonstones without paying for them was to find one or two blue chests in the valley each containing fifty of them. Adding Eternity Isle also causes these to spawn there too.

Another way to earn them is by participating in the weekly DreamSnaps feature by voting and submitting your own photo. No matter your rank, you get moonstones.

Mostly, when I spend moonstones in the premium shop, I save for a few weeks from DreamSnaps and random chests. However, if I don’t have enough for something I want in the shop, I’ll buy a small pack of them through Steam so I can afford it.

I also have done this a few times when there’s a new Star Path or Dream Bundle. These are all purely cosmetic and a once-in-a-while thing.

There will be times when I go for weeks without spending my moonstones because nothing has caught my eye too.

So, since I have bought moonstone packs from time to time, does that make me a whale? In a way, yes, it does, but like I said, I try to earn moonstones as much as I can before I whip out my credit card when there’s something I want. So bear that in mind before you accuse me of trying to be better than others.

A lot of gamers don’t like whales, depending on the game. If it’s a game that offers the option to buy say, upgrades to give themselves a boost in an online match, maybe players don’t like it because they consider it cheating. It’s also likely that people who hate whales may be jealous that they can’t afford those items, or they think it’s just lame in general.

The stuff I’ve bought in video games this way is purely cosmetic and only done once in a while in small amounts. The good thing about DDLV is that microtransactions are only that and not completely shoved in your face if you want to progress faster like in Speedstorm.

Not all whales are over-spenders. For some of us, maybe we’re tired of being stuck for a long time or just see a really cool skin that we can’t live without. This isn’t a frequent occurrence for many of us.

I’d say I shrank in size as a whale in the ocean of gaming compared to when I was in college, so maybe I’m a shark now? Anyway, I strongly encourage anyone instead of hating on whales in the gaming community, to ask questions. Learn why that person spends their money on these items, no matter what they are. Maybe it isn’t to get ahead in a match, maybe they just want a cute outfit and that’s it.

👽Emily