Give me 100 rubles, and I’ll make you a king! Auto-translated

This is called pay-to-win.

Now I'll know, thanks!

I think that such games are designed for idiots. Why isn't this option in the list?

Well, explain in more detail, because nothing is clear.

Can I ask a question in return? What's better: a mandatory subscription fee or an optional donation system? Or what other alternatives are there for developers to avoid going broke?

A one-time payment for the game and its add-ons, similar to Guild Wars, Secret World, or (sort of) TES Online.

No, Heroist. Even though those players enjoy easily defeating everyone on the highest difficulty without straining their brains, they are at least healthy. But those who pay real money for virtual resources are already sick...

Indeed, maybe they also spend their free time sitting in front of an electronic screen and "playing" forum "games"? They must be idiots.

Back in the day, I played a couple of flash games. Besides the exorbitant donations required, there was another option: bring in a ton of friends and exchange items. That was quite annoying. Sometimes, though, you could farm a decent amount of the donation currency, and it didn't really make a huge difference, but rather served as a way to support the developers, which is fine.
I can understand a reasonable donation system, but having to spend a fortune just to dominate some random player – that's just ridiculous.

A reasonable donation is like a reasonable maniac...

No, in that clicker game I linked, the donation system is quite reasonable. You can farm a decent amount of resources in the game, and there's not much point in spending a huge amount of money, except maybe to make it easier to unlock a couple of achievements.

Could I ask a counter-question? What's better: a mandatory subscription fee or an optional donation?
Or what other alternatives are there for developers to avoid starving?

I would even divide it into 4, taking into account Plesen's opinion.
1) Subscription
2) Donations for cosmetic items
3) Pay2Win
4) Paid add-ons

By the way, experts, am I right in understanding that WoW charges for both 1 and 4? :)

In my opinion, a subscription is better. Moreover, there are games where even people who don't invest in the game can buy a subscription (they indirectly pay for it through others).
The question is, a subscription requires a strong and large game, while smaller and medium-sized projects can more easily attract people to "try it for free."

By the way, experts, am I right in understanding that WoW charges for both expansion 1 and expansion 4?

That's correct.

And for 2 as well.

Reasonable donations are like a reasonable maniac...

This is an incorrect comparison. People go to movie theaters and pay for tickets. This is the same, only you control the plot yourself. But it's one thing when they practically force money out of you, as in the freemium Perfect World (and in general, in all Mail.ru projects), where a player who donates gets something in a week that would take a non-paying player several years to farm. And without this, the non-paying player can't put up any resistance to the paying player, no matter how skilled they are. It's a different story with World of Tanks, where donating or not, if you're a bad player, you'll remain a loser. Even if you load up with a full supply of "premium" shells, if you can't shoot, it's just wasted money. Not to mention that these shells are also available without donating. And there's no super-armor, super-guns, or uber-stuff. Only skill and brains matter, not money.

In World of Tanks, I wouldn't mind spending some money if I hadn't gotten bored with the game (well, temporarily :smile43:). But in Perfect World, I've never donated myself and I don't advise others to! Encouraging greed is disrespecting yourself.

And for 2 as well.

Well, yes, it just appeared relatively recently, if you don't count the bonuses for collector's editions.

Added 4 minutes later
Although, on the other hand, the star horse was already in Lich, so maybe it's been going on for quite some time.

I think that such games are intended for idiots.

Reptilians.

Koshak, as always, compares normal MMOs with VK-games.

Judging by some of the posts here, they are not that different from each other.

I would even divide it into 4 categories, taking into account Plesen's opinion.
1) Subscription
2) Donation for cosmetic items
3) Pay2Win
4) Paid add-ons

5) "Acceleration" donation.
The point is that the player receives items, currency, or some other element of the game mechanics that can be earned fairly, but it takes more time to do so. This is what Kosh is talking about, as I understand it.
In general, everything except points 3 and 4 is quite acceptable. Although a too large subscription fee is also not good. Some games, like Dofus, have moderate appetites in this regard, but I wouldn't pay for games like WoW and TES.