Guild Wars 2

Hello.

I just wanted to visit an issue I felt needed to be addressed regarding the new LA merchant, Apprentice Mekteki. When I first discovered him, all I could see was that he was offering items, like the Glob of Destabilized Ectoplasm, but aside from vague descriptions on each offering, there wasn’t any real info to inform the players as to what the purpose of purchasing them was. Apprentice Mekteki himself talks in such a strange manner that learning anything tangible from his dialogue on its own is pretty much impossible (typical skritt).

So, naturally, I avoided it at first, because I didn’t see the point in paying gold or ectos on something when I’m not sure what I’m going to get back for it.

But, after reading a post by a player detailing how much gold you can make off the merchant, and how rare items could be acquired, I let my curiosity get the better of me and I decided to purchase globs of destabilized ectoplasm. To make a long story short, I ended up losing around 250 or so gold (roughly calculating in the cost and ectos). I only got some trophy items back which sold for 25 gold and some ectos back. I didn’t get any noteworthy items worth selling for a decent amount.

Now, for some players who spend hours farming every day and who have thousands of gold, it might not seem like a big loss and they’d probably brush it off. But for me, 250 gold is probably 3 or more months worth of saving. It felt like a huge blow to me and it left me feeling quite upset over it. But what upset me the most was not that I lost some digital gold because of my own curiosity, but rather because it was a loss that could have been avoided if I had been given more solid information as to what I was getting myself into in the first place.

So my suggestion is this. At the very least, give some more information to warn players that Apprentice Mekteki is essentially a gambling merchant, and that although there is a chance to get some good items, there is also a large risk involved. I think a lot of player grief can be avoided simply by providing proper information in game, rather than relying on players to test first at their own peril and then report their findings.

This is the kind of merchant that could trap new players or players who don’t have lots of gold into losing what little they do have very fast. It’s a very deflating experience and it left me personally feeling very angry and cheated.

This is why it is always prudent to consult the Wiki before investing any Gold/items one might not be willing to lose.

If the Wiki has not yet been updated on the topic, it is almost always only a matter of a short period of time.

It’s what I always do when confronted with a new mechanic/item/whatever now.

Good luck.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

This is why it is always prudent to consult the Wiki before investing any Gold/items one might not be willing to lose.

If the Wiki has not yet been updated on the topic, it is almost always only a matter of a short period of time.

It’s what I always do when confronted with a new mechanic/item/whatever now.

Good luck.

Yes, I know that, but in the end, if everyone is relying on the wiki for information, all it proves is that not enough information is being given to players in-game.

Who provides information on the wiki? It’s players who have tried and tested mechanics in-game. Even if you suggest that everyone takes a step back, or advise them not to try something until they have more info on it, someone has to take the plunge first if that information is ever to be acquired, for better or for worse. That means someone is forced to take risks at their detriment or benefit. In this case, it was to my detriment, partly thanks to the information being provided by another player being incorrect, but I feel it didn’t need to be if the relevant information was simply given in-game first.

It’s not like having one line about how this is a gambling merchant in game could take much effort on the devs part. It could, however, save players a lot of potential grief.

Some players really enjoy being the first to try out new content, and update the Wiki. Some don’t. Some players complain about the game having too much ‘hand-holding’ already. Some don’t.

We really don’t know how little or how much effort adding extra script involves. It might be easy, it might be more difficult.

Perhaps, the Devs intend to have some mystery in-game. Perhaps, not.

Regardless, the Wiki is maintained, by choice, to provide information to players. Or, there are sites like Dulfy. Until the game is changed to suit certain needs, that is the best on offer.

Good luck.

the threads i saw on the subject explicitly stated it was a gambling merchant. where did you get your info?

nathanjameson.3542:

the threads i saw on the subject explicitly stated it was a gambling merchant. where did you get your info?

I didn’t want to name or blame, but I got it from this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/new-vendor-RNG-for-High-rollers/first

The original title was “new vendor SUPER broken” and the OP mentioned how much gold they made from it and how broken it seemed because of it.

Original Post: "The new ecto vendor is very broken…

I made 5000g from it already… I stopped since it seemed wrong… might want to disable it."

After feedback and advice from other users who posted losses on that same thread, he since amended his post to one that more accurately reflects the nature of the merchant. But by then the damage was already done for some players like myself.

In any case, my suggestion is also keeping in mind that some players never read these forums and that they rely on information in-game. This new vendor provides practically no in-game information as to his purpose and so players might be at a loss.

ah, i saw that thread about an hour after the changes went live, and people were already warning about it.

you must have jumped on that bandwagon super fast. never visit vegas!

nathanjameson.3542:

ah, i saw that thread about an hour after the changes went live, and people were already warning about it.

you must have jumped on that bandwagon super fast. never visit vegas!

Well, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. At the very least, I wasn’t expecting such a loss with practically no reward to offset the cost.

I was, at the very least, expecting to get something back that was worth the gold and ectos I spent. Instead, the vendor just gave me back less gold, and ectos (so basically, I spent gold and ectoplasms to get less gold and ectoplasms back).

Today a strange skritt who I had never seen before asked me to purchase, in exchange for large amount of gold and valuable ectoplasm, some strange and unusual items of dubious value. “Apprentice Mekteki,” I said, “you seem shady, and I don’t carry that kind of cash.” I promptly continued about my day.

Then, an anonymous person led me to believe that this skritt might be unwittingly offering items at below their true value! My first thought was, “I must exploit this!”

In an attempt to take advantage of Mekteki, I promptly gave him all of my valuable gold and ectoplasm!

As it turns out, what I received was not worth what I paid. Now I’m broke. It’s a very deflating experience and it left me personally feeling very angry and cheated.

Why did no one warn me that this was a bad idea?!?!? This is everyone’s fault but mine!!!

I have no problem with this merchant whatsoever as a merchant. The problem I do have with it is that it is tied to an achievement. Those of us who like to do whatever achievements we can, have to gamble our gold to get it. Sure some (select few) might win in the end, but still it’s super sketchy to me. My first glob gained me 200g profit, but I know gambling so I stopped. However, there are a lot of people that will burn through their entire bank in minutes flat.

I don’t have gambling problems, but even I was tempted to keep going with the mindset that “maybe I can break even and get this achievement”. The 100 globs required to get the achievement is 10,000g + 25,000 ecto (~10,000g) at flat cost. Even with the possibility of gaining money by the end, we all know what will happen to the vast majority of people who try for this achievement. I just don’t know why Anet would want to encourage this behavior, especially before an expansion coming out.

Tenrai Senshi.2017:

Well, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. At the very least, I wasn’t expecting such a loss with practically no reward to offset the cost.

The OP said he thought the merchant was generating an unusual amount of wealth that might be the result of a bug. He stopped using the merchant at that point, which was the responsible thing for him to do given that exploiting bugs is against the rules. He suggested that ANet might want to disable the merchant until it was fixed, obviously to prevent others from inadvertently encountering the bug and risking a ban for using an exploit.

Does that really sound like the kind of bandwagon anyone should be jumping on? Are you now complaining because you expected an exploit but actually found a gamble?

Any time you give something only to get something back randomly, it’s gambling and therefore a risk.

You just got caught by one of the oldest street merchant scams in the book.

I don’t understand why this NPC is called a “Merchant” and a “Vendor”. This NPC is properly called a “Grifter” or a “Swindler”. I really don’t understand why Anet put this in the game.

“Double-click to destabilize and gain globs of ectoplasm and valuable junk items in random amounts.”

Let’s analyze that sentence:

“Double-click to destabilize and gain globs of ectoplasm”. This means you will both destabilize AND gain globs of ectoplasm in addition to valuable junk items (what does valuable mean? Valuable in relation to globs of ectoplasm?).

Very misleading and easily misunderstood sentence. If I was a tinfoil hat-wearing type I might say that someone deliberately crafted that sentence in order to fool players into thinking it was a good trade.

It’s not at all misleading. The offer is:

• Spend considerable amounts of gold and ecto.
• Get a random amount of goods and possibly ecto in exchange.

There’s no mention of whether this is a profitable exchange or not, which means people should ask, read the wiki, or remember that every other lottery mechanic in the game is a net wealth sink, i.e. most people will lose a little, some will lose a lot, and only a few will receive more value than they spend.

Naturally, those who “win” big are going to post their “earnings” — that’s part of the excitement of gambling; some people will make out like skritt and end up with all sorts of shinies. That doesn’t mean that it’s likely.

It’s easy to understand why ANet put it in the game: they wanted to remove some gold and ecto from the economy and re-introduce some high-end items (like Mystic Forge conduit materials), without creating too much disruption. Most of the people who can afford this gamble are the wealthiest in the game, so it’s also a good way of “taxing” the rich via a luxury.

tl;dr anyone expecting something for nothing should re-evaluate that point of view the next time they see something like this in game, since this isn’t the first and won’t be the last.

Seriously though, didn’t the 250 Ectos + 100gold tipped you off about it?
You already said yourself that you, in order to get 250gold, you needed a few months of savings. You obviously know the value of the ectos and 100gold is worth. So, just selling it just like that to the NPC without thinking about it, seriously. I went there to see what was up with that NPC just after the patch drop. And when I saw how much that darn thing cost, I just walk away. I am not wasting time buying something that will cost me 250 ectos which I can use to make a component or weapon that is actually more useful instead of junks and some ectos.

so let me get this straight: You come across some NPC trader, you do not understand at all what he is all about, you start dumping your resources on him without having the slightest idea what you are doing basically till your losses amount to 250 gold?

is that about right? If yes, you are really complaining now or looking for sympathy??