Benefits and Use Cases
As stated in the integration tutorial, Virtual Items are any game item players collect, equip, use, etc. Virtual items may also be consumable or upgradeable. Players may purchase them, get them as rewards, or earn them from achievements - pretty much every case you may need (plus some bonus functionality!) can be handled with our Virtual Items module.
The primary distinction to keep in mind is between Virtual Items and NFT Virtual Items. This distinction becomes relevant for players when they are purchasing or acquiring NFT-Virtual Items, as they need to have a crypto wallet to store the NFT.
Easy to Use: The elusive dashboard. Not everyone has time to build a nice web interface to help you manage all that content. And you won't have to! With PLAY's Virtual Items dashboard adding new virtual items is simple to learn for any team member.
Live Content Updates: PLAY's virtual item systems let you enable or disable virtual items available for sale without releasing a new version - allowing for more granular content updates outside of version releases (or disabling a bugged item that went live!)
Simple Minting: Refreshingly easy. After creating your virtual item just head on over to the Minting Desk to select it and get minting!
Modifiable: If you require additional functionality not included in the SDK you may attach your own data in JSON format to virtual items.
There are as many options for virtual items implementation as they are game genres, so the in-game examples here will highlight consumable (referred to as "stackable" in the integration tutorial) items vs. non-consumable items.
Power-ups are employed in a variety of genres. In the below example, the player has a limited supply of 2 types of power-ups, infinite use of a basic power-up, and a new power-up that will be unlocked when they progress further.
Design-wise, the power-up that is non-consumable covers the case of a player who runs out of the more effective, consumable power-ups. Depending on your target audience and how resources are consumed, you may consider safeguards such as this to prevent a player from failing to a certain inventory state that would be difficult or tedious for them to overcome.
As for non-consumable items, anything from fashionable dresses to battle-hardened rifles goes. Virtual Items can have purely cosmetic effects like in the example below or function like a typical piece of equipment in an RPG that modifies stats and requires upgrades to reach its full potential.
Previewing is good! It's always good to let a player have a large, clear view of an item - especially when it's purely cosmetic.
For items that modify stats, make sure to be clear on the most critical information. If you intend to monetize a piece of equipment the reason why it is good should be upfront and center. Sometimes, this may work like highlighting the % stat improvement that merchandised item provides over the player's currently equipped item.
