Morimens Half-Anniversary: Freebies, a Saya Collab, and... Returning Banner Drama
Hello! I'm coming back with another piece of news from the mostly well-liked, niche gacha game, Morimens.
The half-anniversary is approaching, and with it comes the release of Saya, a collab Awakener from The Song of Saya. Excitement is high, especially since her teased kit and wheel (weapon) look very promising. Players will also receive one free copy of Saya along with 250 Ethereal Cores.
However, Morimens wouldn't be Morimens without a bit of controversy regarding developer communication.
Remember the Ethereal Cores debacle? For those who missed it, Ethereal Cores were introduced as time-limited pulls that convert to standard pulls when a version ends. They were supposed to replace certain rewards that were previously limited pulls, but the community protested, and the devs backed down. They explained the change was meant to combat resellers and stated that Ethereal pulls would instead be used in paid content in higher quantities. The idea was to sell a pack with much better value, but combat hoarding at the same time.
Well, you probably won't be surprised to learn that the new half-anniversary pack, while offering 250 wishes instead of the previous 200, is also priced higher. The actual difference in value is small, leaving players wondering why there is a need to restrict paying customers from using their limited pulls however they please.
And then we have the reruns. Basically, the entire community was waiting for the half-anniversary, assuming it would rerun every Arc 2 Awakener (the newer limited units). That’s how it was handled during the game's full Anniversary, and the player base loved it. It's also worth noting that the developers recently added a bonus for maxing out a character (16 dupes), so a lot of people were highly motivated to save up and max their favorites.
The reruns are indeed coming. But they are not your regular reruns.
Every day, you can pick one of limited characters. However, you cannot choose whether to pull strictly for the character or for their wheel. They are combined into a single banner, meaning you are pulling for both at the same time.
For context on Morimens pity system: Normally, it takes a maximum of 90 pulls to get a character, and 60 pulls to get a wheel. There is also a 30-pull mark with a 66/33% chance where you can lose to a standard drop. Crucially, these banners are usually kept separate.
The new rerun banners offer a 60-pull maximum for a limited drop, but it's a coin toss on what you actually get. The rules state that you can receive a maximum of two copies of an item (the unit or the wheel) before you are guaranteed to get the other. This means if you are fishing specifically for character dupes and get unlucky, your pity ceiling effectively raises from 90 to 180 pulls. Since most players prefer going for character dupes rather than maxing out wheels, a large part of the community feels this format is highly anti-consumer.
What makes this situation worse is that this exact scenario played out last year—and Light (the producer) explicitly apologized for these exact banners.
"We’re sorry—the design of this rotation awakening event was not well thought out. In the upcoming version update, we will change the V2.4 awakening format from 'Awakener+ WoD Select Group' to 'Awakener and WoD independently.' Please take note.
We will share more V2.4.0 details soon. On behalf of the BIAV studio team, thank you for your support and understanding."
And yet, despite admitting in the past that the combined design was "not well thought out," they are bringing it back.
As for the half-anniversary itself, it looks like it will run for six weeks (deviating from the usual four-week rotation, which quietly masks the third minor delay this year). Spending events are plastered all over it, which some players deem as greedy. Fortunately, the blow is significantly softened by the 250 free rolls, Saya's arrival, and the new ability to strengthen standard units.
There is also a genuinely great update regarding premium currency. Previously, buying "Silver Prime" (paid currency) for the first time didn't give you double Silver Prime. Instead, it gave you Silver Prime plus regular Silver (which can be exchanged for pulls, but cannot be used to buy special packs, monthly passes, Battle Passes, etc.). The new update changes this system, and the devs will allow veteran players to exchange their old regular Silver for Silver Prime (to cover what those players bought in the past). This move made the community incredibly happy and helped calm the overall backlash.
Overall, the Morimens half-anniversary is a mixed bag. It highlights a recurring issue with the studio's inconsistent communication and questionable monetization experiments, but it also delivers genuine value through massive freebies and a collaboration.