Guild Wars 2

So it takes me, from character creation, to completely empty inventory 30 minutes to farm one black lion key. I know there are people who can do it faster than that. I suck at this game.

I was about to start a run and a guildee was asking for people to do a run of AC dungeon. Someone asked how long the run takes – he replied 15-30 minutes.

Made me stop and think. I could do a run of a dungeon and get the rewards from that, or I can do another key run.

Which reward is worth more to you?

Would more people be doing dungeons, and discontinue the mindless repetition of key farming, if they could get a BL key from it?

I think it would be more fun. What do you think anet?

Dungeons are no doubt better for gold, unless you’re crazy luck with the keys. People just do them for low cost low effort ways to get items exclusive to the BLCs.

if gold is what your after then their is no reason at all to do the keys

I do key, because I like key running. Yes, I actually like it.
A run takes me anywhere between 27-40min depending on start scene(if the boss is up already ) or whether I’m chatting to people.

But I do it, because I like the luck factor. I’m not chasing gold, though it’s great to get something nice/cool/useful every once in awhile.

I don’t do 25-30 minute key farm runs. I actually take the time to level my keyrunner to level 8 or so, doing events, killing enemies, and gathering materials along the way. By selling low-level items on the TP, I can easily get 1 to 1.5 gold per character, as even really basic items can sell for a lot. (Some weapons with low level requirements can sell for 20 or even 50 silver each on the TP—equivalent to your average rare level 80 item!) Selling or promoting basic materials can also earn you some good income. So it’s not just the tickets, dyes, or other BLTC items; I can actually get some money while I’m at it.

Yeah key farming is not about getting gold, it’s about getting the exclusive items from the black lion chests without buying keys.

I don’t exactly farm them but I do occasionally think it would be a good idea to buy some keys, so then I farm a few and remind myself it’s not worth it.

Plus there is always the chance that you’ll get a permanent bank access contract or something similar which is worth a lot of gold.

From my experience of opening many black lion chests in the past, they’re a real waste of gems. I’m amazed people are still willing to run for keys with a very low chance of getting anything good out of it. The desperation is real here.

Fuji.6284:

From my experience of opening many black lion chests in the past, they’re a real waste of gems. I’m amazed people are still willing to run for keys with a very low chance of getting anything good out of it. The desperation is real here.

Desperation? People want to kill time in a way they want to and you have a problem with that? Do a key run, chat with people, do a boss chain/dungeon, it is all the same, a time sink, nothing else.

Fuji.6284:

From my experience of opening many black lion chests in the past, they’re a real waste of gems. I’m amazed people are still willing to run for keys with a very low chance of getting anything good out of it. The desperation is real here.

I’m not sure that word (desperation) means what you think it means….if people are doing this to get rich, then DELUSION might be a better word.

In terms of earning gold, No key runs are not profitable use of time (tho a good RNG drop CAN make it so). I do it as a side activity to break up my other GW2 goals.

I think the general consensus is that keys are extremely unlikely to get you any monetary reward, and very unlikely to get you an aesthetic reward. ( i’m not really a fan of skins, my eyesight isn’t good enough to see them)

I see no reason why a key couldn’t be added to the higher level dungeon rewards.

Is it because they are a low level item, more fitting for a level 10 personal story?
Or are they just a 1337 item that you should have to buy with gems?

The stuff in the Black Lion Chests is useable at any level.

Giving keys out at low levels is a way of encouraging players to try opening chests. It’s like a free sample and (for some people at least) makes them more likely to buy keys later on.

Fortunately it also gives players an easy way to get keys without paying for them, which apparently Anet have said they don’t consider an exploit.

I enjoy doing it occasionally because of the fun of opening something special, and getting unique rewards that I see nowhere else (also on my first key run i got a makeover kit and a black lion ticket, which was pretty awesome)

It’s also enjoyable to me. when I’m tired of actually investing myself into wvw, or pvp, and i’ve done all the world bosses i feel like doing, it’s something nice to just relax and do. simple and easy.

I try to do one a day. I’m not one of the fast people so about 30 minutes. Now that the boosters are convertible, they’re actually useful. And it’s nice to have some bank accesses, merchants, etc as well as the chance to get gem store stuff like backpacks, minipets as well as tickets.

It’s not a big money maker but you get stuff. I pay $20 USD a month on gems to buy items where u get what you pay for. I just don’t like to buy RNG items with real money, especially when I read posts where someone opens 30 chests and only gets one scrap. As a key runner I can ignore long stretches of bad RNG. It’s a lot harder when it’s bad RNG and real money.

I occasionally do it when the personal story daily comes up and I don’t feel like progressing the PS on any character who hasn’t finished it yet. By the time I am done I am usually at lv5 so I grab the SP near the garrison and windmill then use those to either convert some fine crafting materials and get around 1g or cores to lodestones(lazily working towards Meteorlogicus). The biggest “problem” is that even with the infrequent runs my bank is still slowly filling up with BLSK.

As for the key being given out at low level. That is one out of three times that it happens during the personal story, it’s just that getting all 3 would take a lot longer than repeating the first one. After the April 15 patch map completion also has a decent chance of giving one.

You need 50 Keys to get 1 ticket (scrap = 20% dropchance)
50 * 30 mins = 25hours ~60g for a 1ticket item

I can get way more than 60g in 25hours playtime

kokiman.2364:

You need 50 Keys to get 1 ticket (scrap = 20% dropchance)
50 * 30 mins = 25hours ~60g for a 1ticket item

I can get way more than 60g in 25hours playtime

Another way to think about it is, how much would it cost in gold to buy the items you get.

You get one booster for each run, ~ 125 gems. These are now convertible to get what you can use.
Then two items, generally a T-charge (30 gems), a merchant express (35 gems), repair canister (70 gems) or a bank access (35 gems). Assuming equal chance for these, ~ 210 gems worth per run. This doesn’t factor in the higher gem priced drops such as black lion salvage kits (300 gems), revive orbs (250 gems) or dye packs (200 gems), each of which may drop once or twice in the 50 runs or the more rare items such as the gem store backpacks, mini pets or full tickets.

Gems are at the moment 12.29 gold to buy 100 gems so 210 gems are worth 25.8 gold. 50 times 25.8 is 1290 gold. Plus the 60 gold for the ticket is 1350 gold.

This of course assumes you would spend gold to buy these items, but it does mean that key running can be worth more than 60 gold in 25 hours to some people.

@kokiman

the same logic would also apply to simply working and buying the gems with the money you earned. even at minimum wage it would be a whole lot higher than what you can farm in game.

I just do key runs to get rid of all the dang boxes cluttering up my inventory. Sometimes I get something cool, but thats about it.

ITheNormalPerson.9275:

@kokiman

the same logic would also apply to simply working and buying the gems with the money you earned. even at minimum wage it would be a whole lot higher than what you can farm in game.

nailed it, do what you enjoy doing. If somehow you really detest every single way of making gold ingame, apply for a job and buy gems for highest Gold/Hour, though then obviously the game isn’t for you.

Esmee.1067:

ITheNormalPerson.9275:

@kokiman

the same logic would also apply to simply working and buying the gems with the money you earned. even at minimum wage it would be a whole lot higher than what you can farm in game.

nailed it, do what you enjoy doing. If somehow you really detest every single way of making gold ingame, apply for a job and buy gems for highest Gold/Hour, though then obviously the game isn’t for you.

Although there are a lot of other factors that should be considered.

For example you will need to travel to get to a job, which will take more time and (unless you’re walking) take away some of the money you earned.

Also in most minimum wage jobs the shortest shift you’ll typically get is 4 hours, once a week. (Even if it’s a zero hour contract meaning they’re not obligated to give you anything they’re unlikely to call you in for an hour at a time.)

And you can’t pick and choose when you do shifts, you do them when they’re assigned to you. Which (if you’re only working that job to get money for gems) may not be when you want it.

I realise it’s highly unlikely anyone ever suggests this as a serious option, but I still feel it’s worth pointing out that it’s not really a practical option. If you happen to have a job where you can work an extra hour as and when you feel like it (instead of when there’s extra work that needs doing) and be paid for it then that might be worth considering, but in my experience jobs like that are rare.

Danikat.8537:

Esmee.1067:

ITheNormalPerson.9275:

@kokiman

the same logic would also apply to simply working and buying the gems with the money you earned. even at minimum wage it would be a whole lot higher than what you can farm in game.

nailed it, do what you enjoy doing. If somehow you really detest every single way of making gold ingame, apply for a job and buy gems for highest Gold/Hour, though then obviously the game isn’t for you.

Although there are a lot of other factors that should be considered.

For example you will need to travel to get to a job, which will take more time and (unless you’re walking) take away some of the money you earned.

Also in most minimum wage jobs the shortest shift you’ll typically get is 4 hours, once a week. (Even if it’s a zero hour contract meaning they’re not obligated to give you anything they’re unlikely to call you in for an hour at a time.)

And you can’t pick and choose when you do shifts, you do them when they’re assigned to you. Which (if you’re only working that job to get money for gems) may not be when you want it.

I realise it’s highly unlikely anyone ever suggests this as a serious option, but I still feel it’s worth pointing out that it’s not really a practical option. If you happen to have a job where you can work an extra hour as and when you feel like it (instead of when there’s extra work that needs doing) and be paid for it then that might be worth considering, but in my experience jobs like that are rare.

I’d make more money babysitting, walking dogs, etc. than a do per hour ingame (excluding really luck drops ofcourse.) Which is something anyone can do (well in all fairness I can’t walk dogs due to my disability, but I’m certain that’s a rather rare case.)

How-ever I only made the point to make clear that if you feel you need to grind something that gives you no enjoyment what-so-ever to be able to enjoy this game, you really shouldn’t be playing it. Not to say I don’t get any enjoyment from my jobs, but I have done jobs, especially as teenager, I’d did really only for the money and experience and I know not a single minute spend in game should be like that.

Same if X method gives you only 3g an hour, but you enjoy it vs Y method that gives 5g an hour, you should simply consider what’s worth your time more. ^^

I just unlocked 15 chests and refuse to open any more until the Dragon Coffers get removed….They are HORRIFIC in terms of rewards and I’d much rather have the guaranteed booster combiner (that was there just prior to the Coffers).

What’s up with SOULBOUND fireworks??

Brother Grimm.5176:

I just unlocked 15 chests and refuse to open any more until the Dragon Coffers get removed….They are HORRIFIC in terms of rewards and I’d much rather have the guaranteed booster combiner (that was there just prior to the Coffers).

What’s up with SOULBOUND fireworks??

Yeah, they’re just depressing as a reward.

Brother Grimm.5176:

I just unlocked 15 chests and refuse to open any more until the Dragon Coffers get removed….They are HORRIFIC in terms of rewards and I’d much rather have the guaranteed booster combiner (that was there just prior to the Coffers).

What’s up with SOULBOUND fireworks??

Oh, well. The dragon coffers have been worth around 9 to 10 silver. So not a dead loss.
And they will stop being a guaranteed drop after July, 1st, which is tomorrow.

And the fireworks have always been soulbound. Why? Heckifiknow.