Permanent Hair Style Contract Discussion

Permanent Hair Style Contract Discussion

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Posted by: Perkinz.5362

Perkinz.5362

Now, I know this has been discussed to great lengths, but I thought I might bring it up once more.

Before I start, I’d like to preface this post with the statement that yes, I know full well the impact the permanent return of these would have on the sales of consumable hair style coupons. I am also making the prediction that there will be someone who ignores this entire post and simply jumps in, replying that the impact would cut into their profits far too much (which if they’d read what I have to say, then they’d understand I’m not arguing for it to become a common item)

Now, Consumables like Bank access, trading post and Black Lion NPCs all suffer from the Antidote Effect as with instant transportation to anywhere, from almost anywhere, there aren’t many situations where you can’t just go to a major city—-So obviously these aren’t purchased often, if at all—-But for their permanent counterparts, this is defused by the fact it can be used repeatedly, and thus becomes far more useful.

The reason I mention this is that while hair stylists and bankers both have permanent and consumable varieties, hair stylist consumables are obviously in demand while the others are not.

Obviously, if these became too common, eventually many people would already have them and those that don’t would have no desire or need to buy the consumables, as they’d simply choose to save up for a permanent—-The key to preventing this is the rarity. If they are rare enough, then the impact will be negligable at best.

That said, let’s get on with the minor maths, shall we?

At the time I’m writing this, on the trading post there are 33 Instant Bank Accesses, 38 Black Lion Traders, and 47 Trading Post Expresses—-While, there are 29 hair stylist contracts, despite only being available for roughly four weeks in the entirety of the game.

If the permanent hair style contract had odds four, five, or six times lower than the others, then the flow of contracts would not be enough to impact the sales of consumables. Occasionally, some lucky kitten would open one up and either sell it for the ~4k it might drop to or use it himself. It would be rare enough that it would still be a much better choice to simply buy the consumables as you’d likely have a better chance winning a small stake in the local lottery than getting a permanent.

So, that is my proposal—-The introduction of permanent hair stylist contracts into the standard, year round black lion chest loot tables at a low enough rate that it might be a full month or more inbetween individuals actually finding them. This would make them far more available—-But would have little to no impact on the actual sales of the regular item.

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Posted by: Roquen.5406

Roquen.5406

Those contracts were never removed from the loot tables…

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Posted by: Astral Projections.7320

Astral Projections.7320

Although it was said they were going to be removed from the black lion chests, apparently they are still able to drop (very rarely).

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Permanent_Hair_Stylist_Contract
Anomaly:
This item continues to drop from Black Lion Chests, despite the fact that the original announcement stated it would only do so through August 12, 2014.

And they are listed as a possible drop in the Black Lion Chest drop rate chart, although no one has recorded one yet since the last change to the drop rates. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Lion_Chest/Drop_rate

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Posted by: Perkinz.5362

Perkinz.5362

Interesting. I’ll have to keep my eye on this.

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Posted by: Shpongle.6025

Shpongle.6025

they’re like fractal weapons

they still drop but they just don’t anymore lol

Are you Shpongled?

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Posted by: Beldin.5498

Beldin.5498

And there goes my money away again .. sigh

Attachments:

EVERY MMO is awesome until it is released then its unfinished. A month after release it just sucks.
Best MMOs are the ones that never make it. Therefore Stargate Online wins.

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Posted by: niconori.7235

niconori.7235

thousands of perm hair has already flooded the market in the past 2 months. gg anet is this what u want?

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Posted by: Behellagh.1468

Behellagh.1468

A “lottery” with one $1 million dollar reward with the next prize level being $5 doesn’t sell lottery tickets. Reintroducing it at a low but not nonexistent chance increases the likelihood that players will spend their gold and more importantly money to buy gems to acquire one.

But it’s still a niche item, now at 1600g. Most of the 13.6K bids, 11.4K are at 1c with only 16 above 100g and 11 above 500g. There simply isn’t a lot of “honest” demand, yet, due to the price.

We are heroes. This is what we do!

RIP City of Heroes

(edited by Behellagh.1468)

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Posted by: Gewd.8125

Gewd.8125

I’m sure there’s more than a dozen people who bought a bunch of keys expecting the permanent hair stylist contract to be temporary.

This is really a bad thing for ANET to do to their customers. If they say something is going to be temporary, it should be temporary because it factors into purchasing decisions.

Now I expect everything that is “temporary” to always come back such as mystic conduits, greatsaws, and ghastly grinning shields.

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Posted by: DaShi.1368

DaShi.1368

thousands of perm hair has already flooded the market in the past 2 months. gg anet is this what u want?

It’s what I want. I have just under 800 gold and would spend it all to get the perm hair kit. Hopefully, the price will continue to go down as my gold supply goes up and I can buy it.

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Posted by: niconori.7235

niconori.7235

anet seems to have forgotten that they have a gem store hair kit item.

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Posted by: Minos.5168

Minos.5168

I’m sure there’s more than a dozen people who bought a bunch of keys expecting the permanent hair stylist contract to be temporary.

This is really a bad thing for ANET to do to their customers. If they say something is going to be temporary, it should be temporary because it factors into purchasing decisions.

Now I expect everything that is “temporary” to always come back such as mystic conduits, greatsaws, and ghastly grinning shields.

I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not…

Everything that’s put in the game should be expected to have a possibility of coming back.

The Escape from LA release should be a prime example of that. You could obtain the Molten Jetpack as a possible reward from it. People that were lucky enough to get it during Flame & Frost were furious, because they were told “once the dungeon’s gone, there’ll be no way to obtain this again.”

It simply doesn’t make sense from a gameplay (or sales, in the case of the hair stylist) perspective to severely limit the availability of a popular item.

What about all the players that are considering buying keys now?

If they want the hair stylist contract… That might actually make their decision to buy keys.

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Posted by: ProtoGunner.4953

ProtoGunner.4953

We are talking about a kittening stupid fashion item. A FASHION ITEM, it’s no use and it’s the pinnacle of casual crap I have even seen, especially that it is one of the most sought after item in this game. Just do some other stuff, will ya? It’s getting ridiculous.

‘would have/would’ve been’ —> correct
‘would of been’ —> wrong

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Posted by: Crimson Clouds.4853

Crimson Clouds.4853

Aesthetic is very important in this game- it’s what a lot of people aim for, and arguably it’s one of the biggest “end-games there” currently is (consider Legendaries).

We are talking about a kittening stupid fashion item. A FASHION ITEM, it’s no use and it’s the pinnacle of casual crap I have even seen, especially that it is one of the most sought after item in this game. Just do some other stuff, will ya? It’s getting ridiculous.

So of course it’s sought after, Gunner. Especially with the “new” wardrobe feature, it’s easy to change your look and people want to co-ordinate your hair with what you’re wearing. Anet is also constantly adding new hair styles and features.. so the contract is a fast way to stand out from the crowd.

Just because it only adds to the aesthetic of the game, it doesn’t mean it’s of no use. Arena Net have strived to make this game customisable and of beautiful and interesting aesthetic to keep in-line with the ideals that they had in GW1.

Personally, although I’d never buy one of these permanent contracts, I love the idea. I wish there were more infinite/endless things in game to do with aesthetic and customisability.

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Posted by: Preyar.6783

Preyar.6783

I haven’t seen this being mentioned in any recent post, so I’ll just put it here. In the Halloween patch notes this is written:
“Clarification: An error in previous release notes regarding the Permanent Hair Stylist Contract has been amended. The Permanent Hair Stylist Contract continues to be a very rare drop from the Black Lion Chest.”

Wondrous Achiever \o/

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Posted by: Behellagh.1468

Behellagh.1468

I haven’t seen this being mentioned in any recent post, so I’ll just put it here. In the Halloween patch notes this is written:
“Clarification: An error in previous release notes regarding the Permanent Hair Stylist Contract has been amended. The Permanent Hair Stylist Contract continues to be a very rare drop from the Black Lion Chest.”

So nice that they took weeks to officially acknowledge this.

This is what we mean by timely communications ANet. How many players may have lost coin on posting fees because they wrongly believed that new supply was over and priced accordingly? Hmmm.

We are heroes. This is what we do!

RIP City of Heroes

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Posted by: Becky.8396

Becky.8396

I’m sure there’s more than a dozen people who bought a bunch of keys expecting the permanent hair stylist contract to be temporary.

This is really a bad thing for ANET to do to their customers. If they say something is going to be temporary, it should be temporary because it factors into purchasing decisions.

Now I expect everything that is “temporary” to always come back such as mystic conduits, greatsaws, and ghastly grinning shields.

Although I think it makes a great addition to the permanent loot table, I highly dislike being misled and lied to. Anet initially said temporary and 2 weeks.

Thinking it was now or never, I overspent in both cash and gold trying to get one. My choice, of course, but based on false information fed to us by Anet. My bad, but if Anet had been telling the truth, it would have been my only chance to get one before the 2 weeks were over and the prices went stratospheric.

What do I take away from this? Don’t trust what Anet says, and especially do not make any buying decisions based on officially given timelines or statements of limited availability. Period.