It is ridiculous that you can get all this useless cheap stuff from the Black Lion Chest. Like crafting bags and transmutation charges and such. I feel sorry for those that buy keys then get crap like this in the chests. At least take out all the bullcrap that is so easy to get in game although mostly useless…. Example….. Transmutation charges , tomes of knowledge, and other junk
It is ridiculous that you can get all this useless cheap stuff from the Black Lion Chest. Like crafting bags and transmutation charges and such. I feel sorry for those that buy keys then get crap like this in the chests. At least take out all the bullcrap that is so easy to get in game although mostly useless…. Example….. Transmutation charges , tomes of knowledge, and other junk
That useless stuff is an integral part of BLC key monetizing. It’s not going anywhere. I encourage people who dislike the BLC scheme to do the only thing ANet will listen to — stop buying keys. Don’t buy keys with gems from cash, don’t buy keys with gems from gold.
Disclaimer: I don’t expect this to happen because it would take self-control and the key scheme banks on people not having self-control.
funny enough I actually don’t mind that ‘junk’…. apart from the combat boosters. very specifically them. I have over 250 of those useless things. the other boosters are great, combat boosters not so much.
but then, I don’t buy keys often, I mostly use ones I get for free from map completions and story, so I can’t really complain. free is free. so it’s like a free extra gift for doing something.
70 ‘mains’ and waiting for more slots
| 61 Asura | 5 Charr | 2 Norn | 1 Human | 1 Sylvari |
Its a steep learning curve with this game but it all comes down to: if you buy gems with real money make sure you use them on things you know you will get. Buying gems with gold or whatever…..it works a bit better but its still bulloney, but thats the design choice they chose for the game and its just a matter of opinion whether you like it.
I wish I had known this ahead of time, and I wish other people had more access to this information going into the gemstore. In my case I just lost a bit of gold but everything i spend my gold on IS…..arguably a waste of gold at this point.
I mean intuitively you would think that you could buy legendary weapons with real cash for a decent price….when in reality it costs many times the actual game in real world cash to buy just 1. Nothing in this game regarding gems is intuitive.
I kill you in one gunflame, or I kill you in two.
The Tiny Yuno Sniper of Ebay [EBAY]
That useless stuff is an integral part of BLC key monetizing. It’s not going anywhere. I encourage people who dislike the BLC scheme to do the only thing ANet will listen to — stop buying keys. Don’t buy keys with gems from cash, don’t buy keys with gems from gold.
Disclaimer: I don’t expect this to happen because it would take self-control and the key scheme banks on people not having self-control.
Advice I’ve already taken to heart.
Asura characters: Zerina | Myndee | Rissa | Jaxxi | Feyyt | Bekka | Sixx | Akee | Tylee | Nuumy
| Claara
Your skin will wrinkle and your youth will fade, but your soul is endless.
they are in there because its proven if you have a bunch of junk and a few high price rewards with a low drop rate people will spend more money to attemp those big ticket items like lemmings off the side of a cliff. tldr humans arent smart.
I’ve bought keys-with-cash before when I’ve been more pleased with ANet’s behavior (this ‘outfits, outfits everywhere and let armor rot routine’ needs to die in a fire).
Its not hard to come away satisfied – you just need to have the correct expectations. If you go in staring only at the grandest of grand prizes, you’re doing it wrong. And getting something interesting in only 2-3 tries is also far form the norm. But I’ve gotten nice skins, some neat minis, a black lion weapon ticket or two (counting all the scraps),and even a permanent orichalcum node to go with the various boost that are the only thing you should expect. Out of maybe 40 keys over the lifetime of the account. Or it could be RNG likes me better than the people who feel compelled to come and announce their perfectly ordinary outcomes as if they’re unusually bad.
“You keep saying ‘its unfair.’
I wonder what your basis for comparison is…”
- Jareth, King of Goblins.
I just gave up on BLC a long time ago, because mainly they churned out skins and I was getting 1 ticket scrap out of every 10 – 15 boxes.
The main reason for buying the chest is scraps, but if I am getting barely any and can easily get the skin I want in game from someone selling it then why fork out?
If it was a confirmed scrap each chest or something to that extent i’d consider buying a chest but as it is I am not even going to bother.
black lion scraps and tickets come in at a semi decent % and after all of the chests I’ve opened, the rate is relatively decent vs buying the skin off the tp. Granted, I also go for all skins so this ends up being cheaper for me in the long run. Any other drops end up being just some bonuses (especially if it happens to be a permanent kit).
I also only buy gem cards when they’re discounted and usually only buy black lion keys when they are also discounted to double up on the savings.
As someone mentioned earlier, if you’re going in there expecting to get a Permanent Hair Stylist Contract every time, I hope you are one that never goes to a casino.
It is ridiculous that you can get all this useless cheap stuff from the Black Lion Chest. Like crafting bags and transmutation charges and such. I feel sorry for those that buy keys then get crap like this in the chests. At least take out all the bullcrap that is so easy to get in game although mostly useless…. Example….. Transmutation charges , tomes of knowledge, and other junk
The BL chests contain junk; don’t expect anything else. Their value is entirely in the entertainment from anticipating the possibility that, this time, you won’t get junk.
They are like lotto tickets, basically valueless except for that momentary thrill of potential.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
I just gave up on BLC a long time ago, because mainly they churned out skins and I was getting 1 ticket scrap out of every 10 – 15 boxes.
The main reason for buying the chest is scraps, but if I am getting barely any and can easily get the skin I want in game from someone selling it then why fork out?
If it was a confirmed scrap each chest or something to that extent i’d consider buying a chest but as it is I am not even going to bother.
I spent a lot on keys and let me tell you, at the end of my 25 I always have at least the equivalent of one gold ticket, if not more. 2100 gems and you’re almost assured to get a skin.
The cumulative Average is 1 scrap per 3 boxes and 1 ticket per 50. Binomial distribution applies so some will get more and some will get less opening the same number of chests.
The #1 rule of gambling is “the house always wins in the end”. Never forget that.
How are you losing? It’s known you will always get a booster. It’s known that those lucrative permanent contracts are ultra rare (which doesn’t mean 1 in 100, try another order of magnitude or two). And it’s often discussed that you would be better off converting you cash bought gems to gold and buy the weapon skin off the TP than buying keys and hoping to earn tickets from the chests.
It’s a capsule toy, a blind box, a booster card pack. You might get something you like; you might get something you don’t; you are likely to get something you have way too many of already to care.
The #1 rule of gambling is “the house always wins in the end”. Never forget that.
I dunno about that…. House generally wins because they’ve rigged the field.
Casinos for example: If you have a good memory and pay attention to the game, you’re a cheat. If you have a system, you’re a cheat. If you win and bail on a table too many times, you’re thrown out for suspected cheating, especially if you’re not big spending at the bar or staying in the rooms. This limits the playing field to House vs Drunk/Greedy patrons, naturally the odds favor House.
on topic:
I think in the end it comes down to player greed and also the “spare change” you might have lying around to put into the slots so to speak, with BL chests it’s no different really. There’s a few jackpots in there like permanent contracts, but there’s also a few bonus rounds too with black lion scraps and black lion keys in chests. Obviously there’s also the “losses”, what you take from it is up to you, personally I see it as a lucky dip.
I mostly play for the new Free-For-All arena in PvP lobby.
….. And Elementalist.
always make me smile when a casino says “you’re counting cards” well OBVIOUSLY.. what do you expect me to do, just keep pushing these chips in and hoping I get 21 each time?
Blame Abaddon, he loves your tears.
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
It is ridiculous that you can get all this useless cheap stuff from the Black Lion Chest. Like crafting bags and transmutation charges and such. I feel sorry for those that buy keys then get crap like this in the chests. At least take out all the bullcrap that is so easy to get in game although mostly useless…. Example….. Transmutation charges , tomes of knowledge, and other junk
I agree – I bought keys during the Anniversary sale and was shocked when I got Transmutation charges and Tomes of Knowledge. I don’t remember ever getting those in chests before. I don’t mind getting things like boosters because it won’t be all wonderful stuff, but you get charges and tomes for login.
it’s this luck based mystic toilet that we’re all so sick of flushing our money down. -Salamol
It is ridiculous that you can get all this useless cheap stuff from the Black Lion Chest.
I take it you have never played slot machines before. Most of the time you get nothing and are just out whatever money you put in them. That reminds me of something. Let me think…
Yep. BL chests. They even have it set up like a slot machine. The difference is you get something every single time. You can call it junk if you want, but you DO get something.
Why are you complaining about it? If you don’t like the outcome, don’t buy the keys. Is that a hard concept? No one is forcing your credit card out of your wallet.
People gambling on BL Chests is part of what funds this game so that I don’t have to pay a monthly subscription. I’d like to take this time to thank all the gamblers and welcome them to continue supporting my sub-free lifestyle.
The solution is simple, don’t buy black lion keys. Anet has had trash in there since they were called mystic chests and there will continue to be trash in there until the day GW2 inevitably dies. If you never get anything good you never will get anything good. Despite anets claims I am 100% positive that RNG is based on some sort of seed attached to the account at conception and that accounts are either lucky or not lucky based on it. That is why you see some people with no precursors and some who have received their 10th, 15th, or like some people I know who have received more precursors than they can count.
That “junk” is very useful. I use all of it, the boosters, the revive orbs, the repair kits, everything. And what fun would gambling be if you only got jackpots every time? the price of keys would have to skyrocket to equal the jackpot you get, if every BL chest was a ley line skin or something. get outta here with that ish
I agree with the people who say don’t buy Black Lion Keys if you’re not willing to accept the random junk rewards.
I think of them as like those fair ground games where you pick a “treasure chest” off a chart or fish a rubber duck out of a pond or whatever. Sure you might win a massive toy or a phone or whatever the big prizes are (and every so often you’ll see someone walking around the fairground who did win one), but most likely you’ll get a 10p bag of sweets or a novelty wrist band.
You don’t play those games because you expect to win the big prize, you play them for the excitement of wondering what you’re going to get. And if you don’t think that’s worth the cost then you don’t play them.
Which for me means I don’t play them. I don’t do those types of games and I don’t ever buy Black Lion Keys. If I get a free key I’ll use it, and I very occasionally do a ‘key run’ to get one but I have never and will never buy them with real money or gold because it’s just not worth it.
Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).
I don’t understand the replies saying things like “you can’t get jackpots all the time”. The OP never said they wanted the best stuff all the time. But items like Transmutation Charges and Tomes of Knowledge which are plentiful from just logging into the game is a waste of the $ that I spent on keys. I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
it’s this luck based mystic toilet that we’re all so sick of flushing our money down. -Salamol
I don’t understand the replies saying things like “you can’t get jackpots all the time”. The OP never said they wanted the best stuff all the time. But items like Transmutation Charges and Tomes of Knowledge which are plentiful from just logging into the game is a waste of the $ that I spent on keys. I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
But you KNOW they are in there. So if you buy keys it is just unreal for you to expect not to get any.
You spent your money knowing that you could get that stuff, so how can you complain when you do? SMH.
I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
Unfortunately for folks such as yourself, that’s not what ANet is offering from BL chests. They are offering what you consider to be junk, with an infinitesimal chance of something shiny — they are offering the momentary thrill, not any sort of guaranteed value.
If you want the more valuable stuff, you can get that by converting your gems into gold and buying them directly from the TP; nearly everything that you might get from the chests is available there, at a more economic rate. That’s especially true if you wait for an ANet sale on BL Keys: you will get more gold for your gems and there’s a drop in the market price of stuff that drops from the chests (because people are opening more of them, and competing to sell).
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
I have been farming keys for awhile now, so each week I get one key at the very least. Sometimes 2 or 3 if I do a lot of map completion. I have bought exactly 1 key by trading my gold. I don’t know why I bought it, just a lark I suppose. I have gotten some good drops from chests. I find the lesser items to be very useful, and I love being helpful by dropping a merchant while waiting for the Blighting Tower, or a booster for leveling wvw. All that being said, I don’t buy things without knowing what I am buying.
I agree with the person that said if we quit buying chests, they will start selling the items to us directly. But that isn’t likely to happen. People like the idea of spending very little and getting a really big prize for their low investment.
The entire reason microtransaction gambling chests exists is so that people have to spend more than the wanted items are worth to acquire them.
Its gambling, and it is a proven moneymaker in microtransaction shops because no matter how much people say they hate it, they do in fact spend more money when there is only a small chance they will actually get what they want because they fail to get what they want.
This works even better when the “good” items are tradable, as it further incentivizes whales to overspend so that they can make ingame currency from the users that choose not to gamble, meaning that single users with poor impulse control or lots of disposable income are more likely to buy more boxes because they feel they can mitigate the cost.
If you want to see companies stop offering gambling boxes, try and convince people to stop buying them. They don’t exist because users asked for them. They exist because they make money.
I don’t understand the replies saying things like “you can’t get jackpots all the time”. The OP never said they wanted the best stuff all the time. But items like Transmutation Charges and Tomes of Knowledge which are plentiful from just logging into the game is a waste of the $ that I spent on keys. I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
But you KNOW they are in there. So if you buy keys it is just unreal for you to expect not to get any.
You spent your money knowing that you could get that stuff, so how can you complain when you do? SMH.
Actually, they change what you can get from chests, so it doesn’t always have to be the same. And the fact that people might know that these items are possible to get doesn’t mean that they have to be happy with it.
it’s this luck based mystic toilet that we’re all so sick of flushing our money down. -Salamol
I don’t understand the replies saying things like “you can’t get jackpots all the time”. The OP never said they wanted the best stuff all the time. But items like Transmutation Charges and Tomes of Knowledge which are plentiful from just logging into the game is a waste of the $ that I spent on keys. I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
But you KNOW they are in there. So if you buy keys it is just unreal for you to expect not to get any.
You spent your money knowing that you could get that stuff, so how can you complain when you do? SMH.
Actually, they change what you can get from chests, so it doesn’t always have to be the same. And the fact that people might know that these items are possible to get doesn’t mean that they have to be happy with it.
Just because those items aren’t useful for you, doesn’t mean that they aren’t useful for others who frequently open up the black lion chests.
Actually, they change what you can get from chests, so it doesn’t always have to be the same. And the fact that people might know that these items are possible to get doesn’t mean that they have to be happy with it.
They never change that the chests offer mostly low value items typically available from other sources. The list of potential items is always available on the wiki (although sometimes it takes a short while for minor changes to appear).
Thus, any buyer of BL chests has the opportunity to be reminded that it’s mostly fluff. It’s a bag of junk, with a teeny, tiny chance of something valuable.
Accordingly, while nothing forces buyers to be “happy” with the results, neither does anything force them to spend RL cash (or invest in-game time) to acquire the keys.
Buy the keys for the thrill of rolling the dice. To acquire specific items, purchase them directly, either via the BLTC or by converting the gems to gold and using the TP.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
I don’t understand the replies saying things like “you can’t get jackpots all the time”. The OP never said they wanted the best stuff all the time. But items like Transmutation Charges and Tomes of Knowledge which are plentiful from just logging into the game is a waste of the $ that I spent on keys. I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
But you KNOW they are in there. So if you buy keys it is just unreal for you to expect not to get any.
You spent your money knowing that you could get that stuff, so how can you complain when you do? SMH.
Actually, they change what you can get from chests, so it doesn’t always have to be the same. And the fact that people might know that these items are possible to get doesn’t mean that they have to be happy with it.
Just because those items aren’t useful for you, doesn’t mean that they aren’t useful for others who frequently open up the black lion chests.
Anyone that was happy about getting a ToK from a chest is a fool. Regardless of whether they are useful, they have no value since they are so easily obtained elsewhere.
I don’t understand the replies saying things like “you can’t get jackpots all the time”. The OP never said they wanted the best stuff all the time. But items like Transmutation Charges and Tomes of Knowledge which are plentiful from just logging into the game is a waste of the $ that I spent on keys. I want to get items from chests that I can’t get easily already.
But you KNOW they are in there. So if you buy keys it is just unreal for you to expect not to get any.
You spent your money knowing that you could get that stuff, so how can you complain when you do? SMH.
Actually, they change what you can get from chests, so it doesn’t always have to be the same. And the fact that people might know that these items are possible to get doesn’t mean that they have to be happy with it.
Just because those items aren’t useful for you, doesn’t mean that they aren’t useful for others who frequently open up the black lion chests.
Anyone that was happy about getting a ToK from a chest is a fool. Regardless of whether they are useful, they have no value since they are so easily obtained elsewhere.
And the black lion chests mostly give out items that are easily obtained elsewhere, with less common items being much much rarer.
Anyone who is upset about getting something they know is the common result of opening a chest either is blowing things out of proportion or went in with incorrect expectations of what to expect.
Anyone who is upset about getting something they know is the common result of opening a chest either is blowing things out of proportion or went in with incorrect expectations of what to expect.
How about neither? How about I’m just saying I would buy keys in the future if chests didn’t contain ToK?
it’s this luck based mystic toilet that we’re all so sick of flushing our money down. -Salamol
Anyone who is upset about getting something they know is the common result of opening a chest either is blowing things out of proportion or went in with incorrect expectations of what to expect.
How about neither? How about I’m just saying I would buy keys in the future if chests didn’t contain ToK?
And they’re not going to remove the common items. They want the rare items to stay rare. And even if they did remove the common items you hate, they’d put in new common items of equal value to the items you hate that they removed.
Anyone who is upset about getting something they know is the common result of opening a chest either is blowing things out of proportion or went in with incorrect expectations of what to expect.
How about neither? How about I’m just saying I would buy keys in the future if chests didn’t contain ToK?
And they’re not going to remove the common items. They want the rare items to stay rare. And even if they did remove the common items you hate, they’d put in new common items of equal value to the items you hate that they removed.
I’m not saying to remove common items, am I? None of the other common items are so easily obtained and so worthless in general. I also happen to have a huge number of Transmutation charges so I wouldn’t object to them being removed from chests also but I can live with them easier.
it’s this luck based mystic toilet that we’re all so sick of flushing our money down. -Salamol
Actually, they change what you can get from chests, so it doesn’t always have to be the same. And the fact that people might know that these items are possible to get doesn’t mean that they have to be happy with it.
There is two parts to what you just stated.
You are right that they change them on occasion, but they are always going to have very base things like transmutation charges and ToK. They are a staple and while they are “junk” to you, many people don’t come by those things as easily as you or I might. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
The second part concerns being happy with the possible contents of the BL chests. No, you don’t have to be happy about it. You don’t have to be happy about anything. But I see no point in being upset about something that is what it is. Being unhappy with possible drops really serves no purpose I can see.
No matter what the BL chests have for possible drops, there are always going to be people who do not like what is offered. I think we are dealing with a “get over it” moment here.
Partly because of drops like this, and mostly because the good drops aren’t that good either, I concluded I’ll only buy keys at 25 gems or less. So that’s only happened when they’re giving them away for free, because apparently 90% off is not a thing.
But that’s all they’re worth to me, so I haven’t paid for a single key yet.
I’ve never paid for keys; and maybe been lucky on map completions for getting keys. TBH; you have free chances for big prizes w/o spending gems. No different than hoping for an ascended drop off TT or Tecatl. The difference is you CAN pay to get keys; for the same chances are drops.
I wouldn’t mind if they made gemstore bought keys a slightly higher % on rare drops. But, I’ve gotten a makeover kit, macaw wings, nice selling skins/minis; and charges I am always out of as I change my looks often so trash to u is great for me.
Now that sounds great but that’s manyyyyy chests with crap or okay stuff like charges and XP boosts (really those are awesome). If I spent a bunch of money on keys and got mostly crap I’d be annoyed too but… you have to know this when you buy keys.
