Status Is the Store: The Pay-to-Win Audit Every SKU Must Pass - Post Base Establishment

There is a clean line between monetization players respect and monetization they revolt against, and it is not about how much you charge. It is about what money buys. If payment buys visible status and convenience, players stay happy for years. If it buys power, you win a few weeks of revenue and then poison the well. The discipline is to audit every single store item against that line before it ships.

The audit uses three stamps. Cosmetic - skins, pets, trails, banners - is always fine; it sells identity, not advantage. Convenience - loadout slots, rerolls, quick recall - is fine only when it stays optional and never becomes the sane default. Power - dig speed, extra health, more damage, bigger bag - is never for sale, full stop. Every SKU gets exactly one of these three stamps, and the power column is a wall, not a negotiation.

The chart below lays out the three categories with examples and verdicts. The value of the ritual is that it removes the case-by-case pleading - there is no 'just this once' for a power item, because the audit runs before anything reaches the store.

The audit: every SKU gets exactly one stamp - Cosmetic (always OK), Convenience (OK if optional), Power (never for money). Run it before anything ships; there is no 'just this once.'