Reference · Method
Evaluating a collection RPG before you install
Ten questions, each with a stated place to find the answer. The point is not to score a title out of ten — it is to reach the install decision knowing what you have agreed to spend in time and money, and knowing which questions the vendor declined to answer.
The short version
Settle platform, classification, monetisation and time commitment before installing, because all four are visible in advance and all four are difficult to reverse once an account has months of progress on it. An unanswerable question is itself an answer: a title that does not publish its drop rates or its pity thresholds has told you something about how it expects to be judged.
The method, stated
Methodology
Every question below meets three conditions. It can be answered before installing. It has a source that is not a promotional claim — the vendor's own documentation, the in-game information screens, the classification database, or the terms you accept at registration. And the answer changes a decision rather than merely describing a preference.
Questions that fail those conditions are deliberately absent. There is no question about whether a title is fun, because that is a preference and no checklist can settle it. There is no question about whether the meta is healthy, because that is a description of player consensus at one moment. And there is no scoring, because a score would imply this site has tested something. It has not; it has read published material and set out where to read it yourself.
The checklist
| What to check | Where the answer lives | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Platform and client | Vendor site; storefront listings | Whether a native desktop client exists, or only an emulated route, decides performance and who supports you. See desktop and system basics. |
| Classification and consumer advice | National classification database | The authoritative record of a title's Australian classification and the advice attached to it, rather than a store listing's summary. |
| Published drop rates | In-game information screens; vendor support pages | Whether probabilities are disclosed at all, and whether the stated rate covers a tier or a specific character. |
| Pity threshold | In-game summon screens; vendor documentation | A published threshold gives a bounded worst case that can be priced. No threshold means no ceiling. See randomised rewards. |
| Price per summon in AUD | The in-game shop, converted | Reduces uneven currency packs to one comparable figure. See spending and consumer rights. |
| Energy cost per session | In-game, during the first hour | Determines the daily rhythm the title expects, and how much of it can be cleared on auto-battle. |
| Group content requirements | Vendor documentation; in-game clan screens | Whether high-tier materials require belonging to an active group, which is a social commitment as well as a time one. |
| Account binding and cross-progression | Vendor support documentation | Decided at registration and often irreversible. See account security. |
| Terms of service | The terms you accept at registration | Covers account transfer, emulation and automation, and what happens to purchases if the service closes. |
| Privacy policy | The vendor's privacy policy | What is collected, where it is stored, and whether it leaves Australia. The OAIC explains the framework that applies. |
What a missing answer tells you
Not every question will have an answer, and the absence is informative in different ways depending on which question it is. Treat the three categories below differently rather than counting blanks.
- Absent because it varies
- Energy costs and session rhythm are not usually published as figures, because they differ by content. This is an ordinary absence, and an hour of play answers it.
- Absent because it is not required
- Drop rate publication varies by title and by the requirements of the platform a title is distributed on. An absence here is not misconduct, but it does mean you are deciding without a number that exists on the vendor's side and not on yours.
- Absent although it is material
- Account transfer rules, what happens to purchases at closure, and cross-progression are all knowable, all decided by the vendor, and all consequential. A vendor that does not document them has made a choice worth weighing.
Worked example
Applying the checklist to Raid: Shadow Legends, using only its published description and the distribution details available for the desktop route linked from this site. This site covers that title under a paid arrangement, disclosed below and in full on the affiliate disclosure page, which is a reason to read the example critically.
| Question | What the published description states |
|---|---|
| Platform and client | The distribution linked here is for desktop computers — Windows, macOS and Linux. |
| Genre and structure | A battle collection RPG. The player assembles an alliance of Champions and leads them through dungeons and clan boss encounters, with tactical player-versus-environment combat. |
| Campaign content | A fully voiced campaign spanning twelve locations. |
| Registration flow | Registration on the vendor's landing page, then installing the game and starting the tutorial. |
| Classification | Not stated in the description. Check the national classification database. |
| Drop rates and pity | Not stated in the description. Check the in-game information screens. |
| Prices in AUD | Not stated in the description. Check the in-game shop. |
| Energy and time commitment | Not stated in the description. |
| Account binding and transfer | Not stated in the description. Check the vendor's support documentation. |
| Terms and privacy | Not stated in the description. Read the terms accepted at registration. |
Four rows answered from published material, six referred elsewhere. That ratio is unremarkable for a promotional description, which is written to describe a game rather than to answer a buyer's checklist. It is set out here because a page that presented ten confident answers would be inventing six of them, and a reader is better served by knowing which four are sourced. The full entry goes through the same material in more detail.
Visit the Raid: Shadow Legends website
Paid link. Ergonomix CZ s.r.o. earns a commission if you register and install through it. Following it costs you no more than reaching the vendor any other way, and the commission had no bearing on the table above.
What this site does not assess
Being explicit about the limits is part of the method. This site does not test games, does not measure performance, does not rank titles, and does not publish opinions attributed to a person. It has no testing programme, and claiming one would be the easiest way to make everything else here untrustworthy.
Coverage is also narrow by commercial design, and the About page says so plainly: one title on this site is covered under a paid arrangement, and that is the title covered at entry length. A reader comparing several titles should use this checklist against each of them independently, with the vendor's own material in front of them, rather than treating this site's coverage as a shortlist.
Common questions
How long does the checklist take?
The six questions answerable before installing take roughly fifteen minutes with the vendor's site and the classification database open. The four that need the game itself — energy rhythm, shop prices, drop rate screens and group requirements — take about an hour of play, which is worth spending before any money is.
Should a title with unpublished rates be avoided?
That is a judgement rather than a rule, and publication requirements vary by platform. The practical consequence is that without a published rate and a pity threshold you cannot price the worst case, so any budget you set is a guess. If you intend to spend, that is a significant gap; if you intend to spend nothing, it matters much less.
Why is there no scoring?
A score would imply a measurement, and no measurement has been made here. The checklist produces something more useful in any case: a list of what you know, a list of what the vendor has not said, and a price for the worst case where one can be calculated.
Related reading
The glossary defines the terms used in the table. Genre structure explains why energy and roster depth carry so much weight. Randomised rewards covers how to price a pity threshold.