I thought of a solution that would solve the problem with the low mini-pet drop rate and keep those with the mini-pets happy. Create a trader that allows us to trade in our unwanted mini-pets for the mini-pets we want, like the trader that takes ugly wool items just have three tabs with the accepted currency being the mini-pet you have and would like to trade for one of the other two you don’t. (Obviously Foostivoo would not be included unless of you could trade him for two of the masterwork mini-pets.)
Does anyone see a problem with this?
So far people have suggested:
Removing account-bound. (Which isn’t a bad idea.)
Creating a “mini-pet trio.” (I can see why those who spent more than 75$ to obtain all these pets would be upset.)
Allowing a crafting recipe for the mystery boxes in the mystic forge. (Also a good idea.)
The problem with this is it only really works for people who have an equal number of excess and missing minis.
For example if you got 6 snowmen it’d be perfect – you could use 3 to make Foostive, trade 2 in for the Golem and Airship and have 1 left. But if you got 5 snowmen and 2 Golems, you use 3 to make Foostive, trade 1 and still have 1 extra.
It also doesn’t help at all for those who gambled everything they could afford and were left with nothing, or who couldn’t buy gems at all. Which is why I think making them unbound would be the best solution, it would work like this approach where those with extra minis could trade them for ones they’re missing (or for gold to buy the ones they’re missing) but the extras could also go to those who want them.
Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).
I thought of a solution that would solve the problem with the low mini-pet drop rate and keep those with the mini-pets happy. Create a trader that allows us to trade in our unwanted mini-pets for the mini-pets we want, like the trader that takes ugly wool items just have three tabs with the accepted currency being the mini-pet you have and would like to trade for one of the other two you don’t. (Obviously Foostivoo would not be included unless of you could trade him for two of the masterwork mini-pets.)
Does anyone see a problem with this?
So far people have suggested:
Removing account-bound. (Which isn’t a bad idea.)
Creating a “mini-pet trio.” (I can see why those who spent more than 75$ to obtain all these pets would be upset.)
Allowing a crafting recipe for the mystery boxes in the mystic forge. (Also a good idea.)
I think an interesting way they could have introduced the mini pet trio is through a mystic forge recipe that uses 10 Wintersday Mystery Boxes, 100 Wads of Stuffing, 100 Globs of Glue, and 100 Cogs. This would in essence allow those of us with 200 extra cogs to use them toward something constructive. It also guarantees the player spending $20 in the gem store for a “more” guaranteed outcome.
The problem with this is it only really works for people who have an equal number of excess and missing minis.
For example if you got 6 snowmen it’d be perfect – you could use 3 to make Foostive, trade 2 in for the Golem and Airship and have 1 left. But if you got 5 snowmen and 2 Golems, you use 3 to make Foostive, trade 1 and still have 1 extra.
It also doesn’t help at all for those who gambled everything they could afford and were left with nothing, or who couldn’t buy gems at all. Which is why I think making them unbound would be the best solution, it would work like this approach where those with extra minis could trade them for ones they’re missing (or for gold to buy the ones they’re missing) but the extras could also go to those who want them.
I would be willing to buy another box or two if I knew that all I had to do was get one of the mini-pets and not the exact mini-pet I need, I’ve almost given up on getting the snowman mini-pet after opening at least 80 boxes and getting three festive golems, and three “Infinirariums.” (I used two "Infinirariums and one festive golem to create Foostivoo.)
I am angry because I have opened quite a few of the winters day gifts (80 at this point) and didn’t get any minis. There should have been a three pack like we had for Halloween, there should have been one for the lost shores event as well but at least those are not account bound. I have always enjoyed collecting minis but I am not a fan of throwing away money for garbage, buy garbage I mean tonics I will not use. Several others in my guild have had a similar experience with the gifts and are getting sick of throwing away money. There needs to be an alternative to blowing $100+ for nothing.
Coo, Foostivoo makes Bio sad =[
On a more serious note, I really would like that mini, but it just isn’t worth it. I got 1.8k gems spare, but from what I hear that won’t even get me close (probably). I don’t have $50 to spend on a mini; I rarely use minis. Personally, I’d like to see anything that makes this mini easier to get, especially after event ends.
My solution: do not buy boxes any more at events. As long as you keep buying them, the monetizing experts will think that these make players happy – primarily because the sales make the experts happy.
Edit: (in other words, the famous phrase as used by the person below: “vote with your wallet!”) /edit
Also, might be fun to find a way to make GW2’s revenue RNG-based. Of course we will use the same RNG used ingame. Might bring home an important point ^^.
There really is no problem to solve and no need for A.net to implement easy ways to get the pet after lots of people spent $50+ to get it, successful or not.
They have been aware of player concerns about cash shop RNG items from both previous events they held, so you can assume the odds for the pets and pricing of the shop item are both intended. Nothing to fix and nothing to see here.
(and before you start any attacks, I spent 2000ish gems on fixed price items for this event, thought about the RNG item and decided to vote with my wallet by not buying any)
There really is no problem to solve and no need for A.net to implement easy ways to get the pet after lots of people spent $50+ to get it, successful or not.
They have been aware of player concerns about cash shop RNG items from both previous events they held, so you can assume the odds for the pets and pricing of the shop item are both intended. Nothing to fix and nothing to see here.
(and before you start any attacks, I spent 2000ish gems on fixed price items for this event, thought about the RNG item and decided to vote with my wallet by not buying any)
Some people in this game pride themselves on their complete collection of mini-pets, they don’t farm for legendaries or fractal relics, they spend all their gold on completing their collection, it’s what’s fun for these people, some of those people have spend roughly 200$ and still haven’t received all four Wintersday mini-pets to completed their collection. In your opinion those people should just forget about their goals? They should do something else instead of what they find fun and want? I don’t think that you can deny that having people spend 50$ on each Wintersday mini-pet to complete their collection is unfair, that would be like if ArenaNet sold precursors in the gem store for 300$ and made them account bound so the only way to get one was through the gem shop, would people buy it? Yes, if they weren’t willing they would be so upset they might quit the game because after all that hard work and gold they can’t reach their goal without forking out 300$. You said you would vote with your wallet by not buying anything, this statement alone admits you think that this system is a problem, so I don’t understand why you said you don’t?
Not to mention I’m simply saying that there should be a way to trade your duplicates for the mini-pet you want.
I meant from the company point of view. Why implement something that means you end up making less money? That isnt a problem they want to tackle, so presenting solutions here is pointless.
From my personal point of view i dislike that the only way to get some event items is through low odds on a random bag, and that they are account bound on top of that makes it even worse. But like I said you are not going to change that in time for next holiday event by throwing $100 after them and then making a forum post. You change it by spending no money on the random bag and some money on the fixed price items (if you care for them ofc)
Everything that isn’t spam or flame wars tends to get presented to the development teams, if the argument on the other side of the forums is to be believed, so I wouldn’t say it’s pointless.
They are always being informed of what is going on; they choose whether or not it is important enough to think about going forward / fix now / etc
Plus they have mentioned that the gem store is an ongoing “problem” to use your choice of word, trying to find the perfect balance of selling things that doesn’t anger their potential buyers. They are always looking for possible solutions that they think would work in the future.
The solution is to stop the random chance items and let people purchase what they want to have from the event.
The purchasable skins were a step in the right direction, the random boxes on the other hand are complete and utter bullkitten. I feel like I was screwed out of a considerable sum of money through purchasing them.
I personally collect all costumes and minis that come out for special events, I’ve been doing this from the beginning in Guild Wars Prophecies. I have pre-ordered and purchased collector’s editions of every game from the franchise. I have purchased every possible upgrade from GW1 and in the course of put several thousand dollars into the franchise (I maintain accounts for myself, my fiance and several family members).
The solution is to build a sustainable brand, not make quick cash; If I had dealt with this kind of greed when I first started with GW in 2005 I would have quit a long time ago.
Don’t kill a good thing and lose a number of customers due to short sightedness and greed.
Some people in this game pride themselves on their complete collection of mini-pets, they don’t farm for legendaries or fractal relics, they spend all their gold on completing their collection, it’s what’s fun for these people, some of those people have spend roughly 200$ and still haven’t received all four Wintersday mini-pets to completed their collection. In your opinion those people should just forget about their goals?
This is called OCD gaming. Anet shouldn’t encourage it. Making it impossible or unreasonably expensive forces these people to not get too crazy about completion. If it’s fun for people to collect minis, they can go ahead and do it. When it gets to the point where it’s not fun, they can stop. If they can’t stop, they need a mental health board instead of a change in the game. And I fully encourage them to get it, because it will make their lives easier and less stressful.
Agreed. I think it says a lot that these boxes have never made it in to the ‘hot items’ list on the gem store. Players who have been burned by RNG boxes before have avoided them, and I’d be willing to bet if they try them again during another festival the sales will be even lower after more people were dissapointed this time.
It might be profitable in the short term but it’s not going to generate as much money long-term as making their customers feel they got value for money and want to buy again.
Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).
Some people in this game pride themselves on their complete collection of mini-pets, they don’t farm for legendaries or fractal relics, they spend all their gold on completing their collection, it’s what’s fun for these people, some of those people have spend roughly 200$ and still haven’t received all four Wintersday mini-pets to completed their collection. In your opinion those people should just forget about their goals?
This is called OCD gaming. Anet shouldn’t encourage it. Making it impossible or unreasonably expensive forces these people to not get too crazy about completion. If it’s fun for people to collect minis, they can go ahead and do it. When it gets to the point where it’s not fun, they can stop. If they can’t stop, they need a mental health board instead of a change in the game. And I fully encourage them to get it, because it will make their lives easier and less stressful.
This is absolutely ridiculous. OCD is nothing to do with wanting to collect something and I think it’s extremely belittling to everyone who suffers from it to compare a potentially serious mental health problem to a hobby.
It’s attitudes like that which leave people with mental health problems struggling not only to live with their condition but also the condescension of people who can’t (or won’t) understand why they don’t “just stop” or want to try “helpful” things like making a mess of an OCD person’s apartment so it “doesn’t matter” where things are supposed to be.
Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).
Regardless, being unable to feel good without getting every box in collections lit up isn’t healthy mentally. Being unable to stop anything is bad, and continuing to do something that makes you unhappy, and spending large amounts of money on an arbitrary idea of completion are things that need correcting.
@Biomaster: I agree that it should have been easier to get Foosti. But making it “easier” to get after the event, or at some point, is going to p*ss all the ppl who did spend the money on him off big time. Me for one. I wish you could all enjoy him, seriously. But I would never spend a dime on this game again if they changed anything from this event afterwards. Because indeed it took me 35 mysteryboxes (and I guess I was kinda lucky with that).
ANet made a mistake when they simply didn’t allow for minis to be found or earned in the game. I actually like the Wintersday thing where some of them could be earned with components for the mystic forge, it’s a step in the right direction at the same time as absolutely shooting themselves in the foot for making them account bound and non-tradeable. I am just baffled to the point where it is either total and obvious exploitation for money OR maybe there is actually a recipe or future update that will make it make sense?
Will we get another shot next Wintersday? They don’t say. Many of us have 200 mystic cogs left… which unless you use for other stuff in 50s is utterly useless, its like a tease.
Can we actually get the RNG minis through the forge through some combo we just didn’t see yet?? Kinda harsh they haven’t hinted by now, and those I call the ‘Mystic Mavens’ tend to find this stuff fairly fast (and I thank them for the service).
What is the purpose of Account Binding a RNG collectable if NOT for exploiting the players for money?? This is the thing that sours me most, it feels like exploiting the completionists and compulsives. It makes me treat them like a Casino… and I loathe Casino mentality.
. Might bring home an important point ^^.