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.
