Will there ever be opportunities to earn VIP points by other means aside from spending money? Things such as:
Guides and community related activity
Sacrificing large amounts of gems (which would also allow people to buy gems, gaining VIP, then using those gems to power level VIP)
Certain hard to obtain in game milestones (Level 500, level 1,000, 100+ troops, 150+ troops, etc.)
As possible seasonal rewards for PvP for people with very large amounts of invasion wins
Weekly challenges (kind of like PS4 version) in which the reward for completion of the full array could include something like 1 VIP point (i.e. 20 cents worth of VIP)
This isn’t a bad idea, and could actually help spending. If a regular f2p player is close to a vip rank increase they might just bite the bullet and spend some money.
Most games with a VIP system do add alternative means of gaining very minimal VIP increase for reasons similar to what Machiknight said:
The other main reason is to increase game activity. If a game gives out cents worth of rewards to increase activity by an additional hour or two, that seems like a good trade off.
It certainly doesn’t seem like the suggestions above offer more than just a taste of VIP, and for a handful of difficult tasks. And once you do get some VIP points, and see what rewards it offers, maybe it will entice more people to open their wallets. I think it’s a good idea.plus, it just makes those milestones, like level or troop number, feel more significant. I just reached level 200 (finally!) and it feels pretty good. Imagine getting an in-game reward for hitting 500! Not just a stat bonus, but a VIP acknowledgement! Certainly anybody who reaches that level of play ought to be treated like a VIP.
Many games offer temporary VIP bonuses for new players. I guess this works rather well considering how wide-spread it is. I could definetly see it work although it might be difficult to implement temporary VIP status with the current VIP point system.