Guild Wars 2

Over the last few major events there have been countless complaints about the RNG system that is being used with gemstore contains which contain desirable items, this includes the winters day minis, the Flame & Frost weapons, the scelerite skins and the new jade dragon skins.
With these complaints there are always numours suggestions as to ways that the system could improved including

Placing the items themselves in the gemstore.
Increaseing the drop rates of the desired items
Makeing the containers drop from mobs
Inceasing the odds of getting the items everytime u open a container.
Etc

Now some of these ideas have merit and some have actually been implemented but the problem is they still can’t guarantee that everyone can get one of these items but there is a system in place withing the game already that can……

And that would be the infinite achievements system, now by this I mean the system used for granting achivement points for things like salvaging, once u get the required amount done the achivement count resets and you have to start again.
Now if the team made an achivement like this for opening the containers they could then change the reward to be a item ticket instead of achivment points, this ticket could be then used to buy any of the items that the containers drop (each set to a reasonable amount eg 250 candy per ticket for the current containers).
This kind of change would allow everyone a chance to get what ever item they want while still allowing them to play the RNG game in hopes of getting the item sooner.

Example of the system.

Tier 1:
Requirement: open 100 containers
Reward: 1 copper ticket

Tier 2:
Requirement: open 250 containers
Reward: 1 silver ticket

Tier 3:
Requirment: open 500 containers
Reward: 1 gold ticket.

Items obtained with ticket.

Copper ticket:

10 pieces of food
100 pieces of candy
20 fireworks
1 common mini

Silver ticket:

3 copper tickets
1 masterwork mini
3 recipes of your choice

Gold ticket:

3 silver tickets
1 rare mini
1 jawbreaker
1 weapons ticket

Now obviously the number are just made up off the top of my head so proberly wont work out to a fair exchange but I can see this kind of system working so much better than the current one.

Opinions??

I apologise for any mistakes made in this message, it’s all been typed out on my phone and its quite hard to read through and check everything.

edit:

i should have noted that the example given would be for the containers droped by mobs, another step would need to be made for the store bought versions, either the store bought veriosn would need to count as multiple normal container opens or there would need to be a seperate achivement for the store bought ones with a lower requirement for each tier while still rewarding the same items (copper silver, gold tickets)

Nice idea. Imo the problem with it though is ANet wants you to buy the gem store RNG box to get the goodies. The drop ones are just thrown in to appease the people who otherwise would complain loudly if the gem store was the only way to get them. They don’t want good odds or guaranteed tickets with a certain number of drops as it cuts into their profit too much.

Astral Projections.7320:

Nice idea. Imo the problem with it though is ANet wants you to buy the gem store RNG box to get the goodies. The drop ones are just thrown in to appease the people who otherwise would complain loudly if the gem store was the only way to get them. They don’t want good odds or guaranteed tickets with a certain number of drops as it cuts into their profit too much.

Exactly. And there are two other factors I believe.

1. ANet knows that to keep people interested in the game there has to be a constant excitement factor. That factor comes from what drops from creatures and chests and RNG boxes. You allow everyone access to all skins and the excitement factor drop dramatically. If you are not excited about what you might get in drops, then you get bored and stop playing.

2. Also the all the complaints about RNG represent a very small part of the GW2 community. Most GW2 gamers do not participate on the forums. I am an officer in a large guild and we have had discussions about RNG and for the large majority, they don’t care about RNG one way or another. The vast majority of players have fun playing the game and are excited when they get something cool. They don’t care for the most part about RNG percentages of drops because it isn’t an issue. The main people complaining about RNG are those on these forums. In real life, the people who are upset about something are the ones vocal about it. The people who don’t care or are happy with the way things are don’t say much. ANet knows this and knows that most people are not bothered by RNG in any fashion.

There are dedicated players who are just unlucky with RNG like me, and that leaves a bad taste during every festival. I like Nebast’s suggestion but increase the amount to 10,000 or something and that it can only happen once. At least there is a sure gold sink way for those jinxed to obtain our festival skin while leaving extra skins to pure RNG.

jheryn.8390:

Astral Projections.7320:

Nice idea. Imo the problem with it though is ANet wants you to buy the gem store RNG box to get the goodies. The drop ones are just thrown in to appease the people who otherwise would complain loudly if the gem store was the only way to get them. They don’t want good odds or guaranteed tickets with a certain number of drops as it cuts into their profit too much.

Exactly. And there are two other factors I believe.

1. ANet knows that to keep people interested in the game there has to be a constant excitement factor. That factor comes from what drops from creatures and chests and RNG boxes. You allow everyone access to all skins and the excitement factor drop dramatically. If you are not excited about what you might get in drops, then you get bored and stop playing.

2. Also the all the complaints about RNG represent a very small part of the GW2 community. Most GW2 gamers do not participate on the forums. I am an officer in a large guild and we have had discussions about RNG and for the large majority, they don’t care about RNG one way or another. The vast majority of players have fun playing the game and are excited when they get something cool. They don’t care for the most part about RNG percentages of drops because it isn’t an issue. The main people complaining about RNG are those on these forums. In real life, the people who are upset about something are the ones vocal about it. The people who don’t care or are happy with the way things are don’t say much. ANet knows this and knows that most people are not bothered by RNG in any fashion.

Good points. It’s easy to read these forums and forget that though the forum posters may come to a consensus about RNG boxes, the average player is likely happily oblivious to the whole subject. If they get a nice drop they are happy and if they don’t, they weren’t realiy trying for it anyway and so don’t care.

I don’t really care for the idea personally. Direct buy would be the only way to get my money. I’m not spending 20k on gems to the gold tier of a reward ladder or something. This game already has plenty of grinds and achievement grinds, no more is necessary when a more simple and easy fix would do better.

And to what someone else said about excitement factor from drops – It’s non existant in this game. There is no excitement factor. “Oh another 1.5 silver green. Fun” Yea, I don’t think so. The game is way too luck based or the entire system is broken to begin with. RNG boxes just demonstrate this on a level everyone can understand because it’s the same broken system with real money involved.

just my 2c.

jheryn.8390:

1. ANet knows that to keep people interested in the game there has to be a constant excitement factor. That factor comes from what drops from creatures and chests and RNG boxes. You allow everyone access to all skins and the excitement factor drop dramatically. If you are not excited about what you might get in drops, then you get bored and stop playing.

That works only if the drop chance is high enough that you can actually expect something to drop. If you open 1k boxes and still get nothing (like some people here have already done), then not only the excitement is long gone, but a lot of (well justified) anger starts to build up. Guild wars 2 is not big enough of a game to be able to safely ignore player’s discontent.

jheryn.8390:

2. Also the all the complaints about RNG represent a very small part of the GW2 community. Most GW2 gamers do not participate on the forums.

Most of those disinterested people that this forum do not represent also do not care enough to buy those boxes.In fact, it’s mostly the buyers that Anet tries to persuade to look for a better game. Which is a …curious marketing strategy for a game that is no longer in a steady growth phase.

The solution is that we keep making threads expressing our discontent, and make sure the front page is full of them. People thinking about buying this game need to see them and realize that despite this game being B2P, the monitization of the game is absolute garbage and has a -huge- impact on its endgame. Between rampant loot nerfs and how unrewarding most activities in the game are (yay, another dungeon chest full of vendor trash) that intentionally annoy people into buying gold with cash so they can get what they need off the TP, and the fact that the vast majority of cool skins (the guild wars franchise’s primary method of ‘progression’) that have been added since release have been stuck in gambling boxes rather than making them things you can earn….

@Aeonblade
i should have noted that the example given would be for the containers droped by mobs
another step would need to be made for the store bought versions, either the store bought veriosn would need to count as multiple normal container opens or there would need to be a seperate achivement for the store bought ones with a lower requirement for each tier while still rewarding the same items (copper silver, gold tickets)
will add this to the main post

@Astral Projections

as Vradiqa has said, a limit could be put on the number of times an item can be bought with these gold tickets, eg one weapon skin, 5 minis etc
this has already been done with the laural vendor and the crafting starter packs so is easily repeated.

@jheryn

as to the people that aren’t bothered by the RNG and just enjoy the drops they get, this wont change anything for them except increase thier happness when they get that tier ticket just by playing the game.

You will have people complaining about being forced to farm 500+ of something to get what they want.

I hate to say it but I have to agree with Anet with the way they are handling these skins. If you put them on the gemstore then the item loses its exclusivity. I mean honestly, if you got one from RNG, you will feel so much more awesome about that item knowing how difficult it is for literally everyone else to get it than if you got it from RNG but know people can just buy them on the store anyway. It’s like those armor sets that are on the gem store. I bought that heavy armor set thinking it looked awesome. Then I saw tons of people with the same set and I felt like I had completely wasted all of my money. I banked the set and haven’t worn it since.

When I see anyone with the weapons you get from RNG I think to myself “daaang, lucky kittenhole!” I think that’s the response Anet wants for these skins.

But who knows, maybe they will make them available on store so that everyone and their cousin has one.

Draknar.5748:

You will have people complaining about being forced to farm 500+ of something to get what they want.

I hate to say it but I have to agree with Anet with the way they are handling these skins. If you put them on the gemstore then the item loses its exclusivity. I mean honestly, if you got one from RNG, you will feel so much more awesome about that item knowing how difficult it is for literally everyone else to get it than if you got it from RNG but know people can just buy them on the store anyway. It’s like those armor sets that are on the gem store. I bought that heavy armor set thinking it looked awesome. Then I saw tons of people with the same set and I felt like I had completely wasted all of my money. I banked the set and haven’t worn it since.

When I see anyone with the weapons you get from RNG I think to myself “daaang, lucky kittenhole!” I think that’s the response Anet wants for these skins.

But who knows, maybe they will make them available on store so that everyone and their cousin has one.

I highlighted everything you said that makes this system absolutely terrible and frustrating. It doesn’t make it fun, it’s a gambling gimick that nobody likes. Who cares about RNG skin exclusivity? You want it to be exclusive? Put it behind something that takes skill to do, not luck.

Draknar.5748:

You will have people complaining about being forced to farm 500+ of something to get what they want.

I hate to say it but I have to agree with Anet with the way they are handling these skins. If you put them on the gemstore then the item loses its exclusivity. I mean honestly, if you got one from RNG, you will feel so much more awesome about that item knowing how difficult it is for literally everyone else to get it than if you got it from RNG but know people can just buy them on the store anyway. It’s like those armor sets that are on the gem store. I bought that heavy armor set thinking it looked awesome. Then I saw tons of people with the same set and I felt like I had completely wasted all of my money. I banked the set and haven’t worn it since.

When I see anyone with the weapons you get from RNG I think to myself “daaang, lucky kittenhole!” I think that’s the response Anet wants for these skins.

But who knows, maybe they will make them available on store so that everyone and their cousin has one.

There is no such thing as exclusivity on a game that has sold 3 million copies. Sorry, every other person has a legendary or the newest skins. I don’t even see the SAB skins anymore and it’s only been 2 months. Putting them up for direct purchase really wouldn’t effect how many people you see with them after a month or so.

@Nebast I get what you are trying to say but if everything was available to everybody, I wouldn’t be very excited when anything special dropped for me. If exotics and skins dropped all the time, I wouldn’t care when I got one of them. The excitement factor would be gone.

Astralporing.1957:

That works only if the drop chance is high enough that you can actually expect something to drop. If you open 1k boxes and still get nothing (like some people here have already done), then not only the excitement is long gone, but a lot of (well justified) anger starts to build up. Guild wars 2 is not big enough of a game to be able to safely ignore player’s discontent.

Well there are two things you said above that I don’t agree with. One is that if you are buying anything with a random factor you cant “expect” anything. All you can do is hope for it. This isn’t gambling but people go to Vegas all the time and play slots and loose everything they put in. Sometimes in the thousands of dollars. They may be disappointed and frustrated that they didn’t win, but that is the risk they take. They should only be angry with themselves if they decide to risk their money. Same with RNG boxes. People are taking the risk. No one made them do it.

The second thing is that GW is a big enough game to ignore discontent on these forums. The people here, both of us included, only represent the tiniest fraction of the people that play the game. Anyone in business, as I am, can tell you that you cannot make everyone happy and it is futile to try. It just isn’t going to happen. So ANet can indeed afford to ignore those here complaining. They know that if they caved to those complaining, that would just bring about a whole new set up people complaining about their changes.

Astralporing.1957:

Most of those disinterested people that this forum do not represent also do not care enough to buy those boxes. In fact, it’s mostly the buyers that Anet tries to persuade to look for a better game. Which is a …curious marketing strategy for a game that is no longer in a steady growth phase.

I googled everything I could find and found not even the slightest indication that Anet has ever tried to persuade anyone to look for a better game. If you are talking about their drop rate doing the persuading, as I said above, there are always going to be people who are unhappy. If they are in the majority you have a problem. If not (as in this case) they are acceptable collateral damage.

As to the disinterested people that this forum does not represent, that is untrue. Many of my friends and myself shell out a bunch of money on boxes. If I don’t get anything, fine. If I do great. We are all this way. We understand we are taking a risk. The thing is, they either don’t do forums, or they don’t complain about it. Either way, a lot of boxes are being sold. Anet is doing just fine. And for those not happy with the RNG boxes and their drop rates, Anet is still making a lot of money whether or not those unhappy buy them or not.

jheryn.8390:

They know that if they caved to those complaining, that would just bring about a whole new set up people complaining about their changes.

You think if they got rid of their gambling boxes….people would complain? ….seriously?

Rooks Zaer.5846:

jheryn.8390:

They know that if they caved to those complaining, that would just bring about a whole new set up people complaining about their changes.

You think if they got rid of their gambling boxes….people would complain? ….seriously?

Yep. I do. There are a lot of people who like them who are not upset when they don’t get what they hope for. They are realistic and know they are taking a risk. I’m one of them. I know many others. We are realistic in knowing that we may not get anything no matter how much we buy. We just don’t complain about it when things do not go our way. So they would be upset if they had everything effectively handed to them. It would make the game boring.

All I can say is:

When I see someone with a gem store skin, I think you really liked that skin to buy it.

When I see someone with an RNG skin- I think 0_0 you must have farmed your kitten off or broke the bank\

When I see someone with an achievement skin, I think – at least you were there.

I would rather just earn or buy my skins

jheryn.8390:

Rooks Zaer.5846:

jheryn.8390:

They know that if they caved to those complaining, that would just bring about a whole new set up people complaining about their changes.

You think if they got rid of their gambling boxes….people would complain? ….seriously?

Yep. I do. There are a lot of people who like them who are not upset when they don’t get what they hope for. They are realistic and know they are taking a risk. I’m one of them. I know many others. We are realistic in knowing that we may not get anything no matter how much we buy. We just don’t complain about it when things do not go our way. So they would be upset if they had everything effectively handed to them. It would make the game boring.

But wouldn’t your complaint be better directed towards getting more weapons/armor skins that you can earned rather than gambled for? Right now it takes a mere minutes to buy a bunch of boxes and click through them all. Are you saying that these moments that you can gamble away some money are what is keeping the game from being boring for you? And that you’d prefer this method over having more skins that you can spend some time earning in game?

Nebast.7631:

Snip

@Astral Projections

as Vradiqa has said, a limit could be put on the number of times an item can be bought with these gold tickets, eg one weapon skin, 5 minis etc
this has already been done with the laural vendor and the crafting starter packs so is easily repeated.

Snip

They could do that, true. However the example you give is of items that are not sold in the gem store so that method is fine for those items. What I was saying was that increasing the drop rate of non gem store RNG boxes to the point where you will get a guaranteed ticket cuts into their profit. Since a company doesn’t like to go against their own financial interests, how would doing this benefit them?

Anyone who suggests a change in the drop rate needs to take into account the gem stores profits. Any suggestion that decreases it has no chance. And the method he suggested would decrease it. Why would anyone pay for the gem store box if they are guaranteed to get it for free from random drops?

I am in total agreement with jheryn. I like the way everything is set up. Also as someone stated

“Most of those disinterested people that this forum do not represent also do not care enough to buy those boxes.In fact, it’s mostly the buyers that Anet tries to persuade to look for a better game. Which is a …curious marketing strategy for a game that is no longer in a steady growth phase.”

I am a buyer, I buy gems every month, sometimes twice a month, but I am not stupid enough to buy the boxes from the gem store. I like to try my luck some something, the feeling when I get it is awesome. (I still haven’t gotten a single ticket from any event yet)

One thing that I suggested in another one of these posts is ANET needs to introduce new armor and weapon skins that aren’t tied to RNG boxes. We do need more sets in this game, but they need to keep some sets on RNG to keep the rarity there and make that set even more desirable.

Also from another post here someone said that they need to keep threads like this on the front page so ANET see there discontent, well I can say people like me will continue to post here showing are liking of this and I know many more in game that like this setup also, as it has been stated the majority on the forums are a minority of the amount of players in game.

Rooks Zaer.5846:

But wouldn’t your complaint be better directed towards getting more weapons/armor skins that you can earned rather than gambled for? Right now it takes a mere minutes to buy a bunch of boxes and click through them all. Are you saying that these moments that you can gamble away some money are what is keeping the game from being boring for you? And that you’d prefer this method over having more skins that you can spend some time earning in game?

No I am saying, again, if every skin was available to everybody, it would NEVER be as exciting to get one. If anyone can earn a skin, I wouldn’t care as much when one dropped. Also, when I get a drop, I am glad that not everyone else gets one. It makes me a little more unique. I also don’t care if someone else has something I don’t. That is life. I am happy for them when they have something good. Good for them! I’m not going to sit around feeling sorry for myself because I don’t have one.

I don’t think everyone should have access to all skins. There absolutely should be some very rare things.

And no I am not saying that if I could not buy RNG boxes it would ruin the game for me. I like all aspects of the game. Are you saying that if you can’t have all the skins that are available then the game is ruined for you? Because if so, that is just sad.

Hjorje.9453:

Also from another post here someone said that they need to keep threads like this on the front page so ANET see there discontent, well I can say people like me will continue to post here showing are liking of this and I know many more in game that like this setup also, as it has been stated the majority on the forums are a minority of the amount of players in game.

Awesome! +1

jheryn.8390:

Rooks Zaer.5846:

But wouldn’t your complaint be better directed towards getting more weapons/armor skins that you can earned rather than gambled for? Right now it takes a mere minutes to buy a bunch of boxes and click through them all. Are you saying that these moments that you can gamble away some money are what is keeping the game from being boring for you? And that you’d prefer this method over having more skins that you can spend some time earning in game?

No I am saying, again, if every skin was available to everybody, it would NEVER be as exciting to get one. If anyone can earn a skin, I wouldn’t care as much when one dropped. Also, when I get a drop, I am glad that not everyone else gets one. It makes me a little more unique. I also don’t care if someone else has something I don’t. That is life. I am happy for them when they have something good. Good for them! I’m not going to sit around feeling sorry for myself because I don’t have one.

I don’t think everyone should have access to all skins. There absolutely should be some very rare things.

And no I am not saying that if I could not buy RNG boxes it would ruin the game for me. I like all aspects of the game. Are you saying that if you can’t have all the skins that are available then the game is ruined for you? Because if so, that is just sad.

Considering the game is supposed to be all about customizing your aesthetics and that endgame was supposed to be based on going after skins, it’s not “sad”. That’s what a lot of people expected to get from the game. Instead we got RNG Box Skins for almost a year. Not to mention we have barely gotten any new armors, and most of the ones we have gotten are hideous.

Hjorje.9453:

We do need more sets in this game, but they need to keep some sets on RNG to keep the rarity there and make that set even more desirable.

See, rarity and exclusivity don’t make something desirable for me. I don’t care about being special or unique, and I don’t get any satisfaction out of comparing myself with others. All I care about, in my end-game cosmetics, is being able to make my character look the way I want, getting aesthetics that appeal to me. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the cheapest, easiest item to obtain or the biggest grind, or if everyone else is going to have it too or not.

I understand, to some people, that prestige is important! Not everyone wants a legendary because it looks good, they want it so they can say they have something with rarity, with difficulty to obtain. And I don’t mind the occasional set of pure-RNG skins, or super-heavy grind skins, to appease that.

But I do have a problem with the approach Anet has taken with it. I have a problem with that being the only sort of weapon skin released with an event, giving you no (even less exciting) alternatives. I have a problem with every full weapon set having been put into luck-based boxes, and every skin with a reliable way of getting them has had a chunk of weapons left out and leaving those who use them SOL (even the direct-buy Wintersday skins were not a full set).

My anecdotal evidence is opposite yours—I have not spoken to a person in-game yet who actually approves of constant RNG weapon skins. Even those farming coffers like mad to get their tickets weren’t happy doing it.

I get this is an easy way to make short-term profit but Anet has not as all hit a happy medium with it, and it’s frustrating to be barricaded repetitively from new cosmetics in a game entirely about cosmetics because I just plain don’t have the money to keep trying for them, and what money I do have to give to Anet I don’t want to drop to get nothing out of. I’d rather use that for actually useful stuff like Transmutation Crystals, or kitten even town clothes. I buy town clothes from them, and I’m almost never in them! But they didn’t dangle a carrot over my head with it, they just let me drop 600 gems and there it was.

@AlietteFaye

I don’t see anywhere that says that the end game is about acquiring skins. I have seen several articles, by ANet themselves that give suggestions on many things to do end game that have nothing to do with acquiring skins. And just as Hjorje said, we need access to more armors that are not RNG armors. As far as all armors we have gotten being hideous… …that is in the eye of the beholder. I do agree we need more non-RNG skins, but I can’t ever be convinced that there should NOT be RNG skins.

@athuria

RNG skins are hardly exclusive. I see many people having them. I got a Jade Weapon skin ticket yesterday in one of the boxes I got fighting holograms. It wasn’t a rich box. It was certainly dumb luck that I got it, but it wasn’t because I was spending lots of money on RNG boxes. Just because something is very rare does not make it exclusive.

Also this game is not entirely about cosmetics. I don’t grind away to get gold and items because I want all my characters to look awesome. I do it because I like the game play. I also like finishing achievements. I like running dungeons. This game is much more than about cosmetics.

Also, I don’t have a lot of money to throw at Anet, but what I do throw at it, I do so because I want to do so. No one is forcing you to buy anything. That carrot analogy works great for donkeys, but human beings are supposed to be above that. We are supposed to have self-control. If you buy RNG things, then you take that risk. Don’t blame anyone but yourself when the risk doesn’t fall in your favor. Random does not equal guaranteed.

jheryn.8390:

RNG skins are hardly exclusive. I see many people having them. I got a Jade Weapon skin ticket yesterday in one of the boxes I got fighting holograms. It wasn’t a rich box. It was certainly dumb luck that I got it, but it wasn’t because I was spending lots of money on RNG boxes. Just because something is very rare does not make it exclusive.

Also this game is not entirely about cosmetics. I don’t grind away to get gold and items because I want all my characters to look awesome. I do it because I like the game play. I also like finishing achievements. I like running dungeons. This game is much more than about cosmetics.

Also, I don’t have a lot of money to throw at Anet, but what I do throw at it, I do so because I want to do so. No one is forcing you to buy anything. That carrot analogy works great for donkeys, but human beings are supposed to be above that. We are supposed to have self-control. If you buy RNG things, then you take that risk. Don’t blame anyone but yourself when the risk doesn’t fall in your favor. Random does not equal guaranteed.

Rarity is exclusivity. Making something rare to obtain makes it limiting, it’s literally the same sort of thing. That a handful of people get better luck than the chance doesn’t change that. If we were taking more like a 1 in 5 chance, yeah, that’s not very rare of exclusive, but we’re talking much lower than that.

And yes, this game is more than cosmetics, but Anet is not just continually releasing skins as a large draw for content, has not implemented a system to let you get any skin on any stats, for no reason. They reward PvP and dungeons with things that are only unique in their appearance for a reason, Legendaries are treated as the primary end-game grind despite only being a unique skin for a reason—because the appearance is what is important. You don’t care about working to make your characters look good for the sake of looking good, but a lot of people do because cosmetic progression is part of what the horizontal progression people come here for is, just like achievement points or skillful play.

And I’m well aware nobody’s forcing me to buy RNG boxes for skins, nor do I do so. But that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be annoyed with overusing it as a business practice when their alternatives past the base game have been lacking (especially when you see on the forums that a lot of people unfortunately lack that self-control and continue to buy into it).

jheryn.8390:

@AlietteFaye
I don’t see anywhere that says that the end game is about acquiring skins. I have seen several articles, by ANet themselves that give suggestions on many things to do end game that have nothing to do with acquiring skins. And just as Hjorje said, we need access to more armors that are not RNG armors. As far as all armors we have gotten being hideous… …that is in the eye of the beholder. I do agree we need more non-RNG skins, but I can’t ever be convinced that there should NOT be RNG skins.

Here’s a long quote from one of the blog posts that they currently have taken offline:

“Guild Wars Principle #3: Players should look the way they want to look.
As you’ve probably seen in other games, the appearance of your character’s armor and weaponry are often entirely dictated by whatever the best statistical gear in the game looks like. I’m sure a few people reading this right now are already nodding their heads, recalling all those times when high tier gear depressed more than impressed. The worst part is that even when you don’t like a new armor’s look, it doesn’t matter! In these games, you still have to wear it because it’s the best armor and you need it in order to progress.
We think it is just flat out unacceptable when games don’t allow you to choose how your character looks.
Going forward into Guild Wars 2 we knew we had to trust our players to know how to dress themselves, so we introduced a system that has now become known as transmutation. With the transmutation system, you’ll be able to acquire new items known as Transmutation Stones through our in-game store that allow you to customize your appearance. With transmutation, you take two items of the same type, pick one that is the most visually appealing to you, one that is the most statistically appealing to you, and then you simply combine the two items into what will hopefully become your perfect piece of armor or weaponry.
With this system you can keep a “look” for as long as you want. Just because you picked up a cool new piece of armor, it doesn’t mean that you have to abandon the look and feel of your character up to that point (unless, of course, you like the new armor, and that’s fine, too).

Guild Wars Principle #4: Players should be able to look truly unique.
A big feature of Guild Wars games is the ability to customize a set of armor until it looks unique to you. The original Guild Wars accomplished this visual customization in part with a dye system that let you make your armor pieces whatever color you wanted. As I am writing this, I wonder just how many people out there have gone through a series of quests or dungeons with a friend in an MMO, only to come out with a nearly identical visual appearance simply because they both happened to be playing the same content. It seems ridiculous that the personality of players gets stripped away whenever they try to experience a game world together, with nothing to visually differentiate one player from one another.
Fortunately in Guild Wars 2, our team has created a versatile dye system that lets players differentiate their armor colors, but this time around we took things to a whole new level. Now we have not only one dye channel per piece of armor, but up to three separate dye colors per individual piece of armor! Even if you wind up in the same armor as your friend, you can get a dramatically different look by simply utilizing the dye system.

As a matter of fact, the Guild Wars 2 dye system is actually so powerful that I’d be doing a disservice to try to briefly sum it up here, so make sure to check out Kristen Perry’s in-depth dye article right here."

2 of their design principles were based on aesthetics. It’s pretty clear it was one of the larger parts of their game that they wanted to emphasize.

jheryn.8390:

ANet knows that to keep people interested in the game there has to be a constant excitement factor.

Are you sure they know this? Because all I can really recall about the game lately is hammering in signs, looking for a refugees lost wooden toy endlessly (so heroic), hitting pinatas till your head spins, betting on some random bird out of 5 turning up first past the post and hanging round a hologram projector for 10 minutes in the hope that no one else turns up.

I would say they have absolutely no idea that a game requires a constant excitement factor. Even Solitaire is more rewarding.

You guys are missing the point. What jheryn is actually saying is that none of you represent the majority opinion but that he does.

I think the whole gem store concept, is a brilliant money maker. Kudos to Anet. They know the minds of gamers, “Oh it new, shiny and hard to get…I must spend large amounts of money to get one”
Sadly I dont have large amounts of money (in game or real). The last weapon skins out (the fused ones) i spent more than my budget to try and get one.
This event around i never learned my lesson. I once again spent more than my budget in a vain attempt.
I dont care about statistics, I dont care about prestige, or bragging rights. All i know is i really loved the look of a few weapons.
It was nice of Anet to give us a small chance at getting a skin from a coffer dropped by a mob. Some of my guildees have good luck, they opened a couple hundred and got lucky. I on the other hand opened around 1500 coffers (so far), sadly my luck as usual sucks.
Im not mad or suprised. Bottom line is, after being broke again, I learned two things… Firstly, just stop trying and secondly stop spending money either in game or real.
However its doubtful i will heed my own advice… im sure next event another really cool skin will come along, i will spend more than i should, farm my butt off, and walk away broke and dissappointed.

Ruruuiye.8912:

You guys are missing the point. What jheryn is actually saying is that none of you represent the majority opinion but that he does.

Actually what I am saying is that no amount of rude complaining, “He’s got one, so I should get one… …No, I DEMAND one.” mentality, or snarky comments are going to sway anyone, least of all ANet.

And in some things I am in the majority just as you are in others. The bottom line is that ANet will do what is best for their company and its profits. Obviously that is selling RNG boxes.

So as far as this topic goes, you are right. I am in the majority of people who either like or don’t care about RNG boxes and truly understand what ‘random’ means.

pricer.5091:

I would say they have absolutely no idea that a game requires a constant excitement factor. Even Solitaire is more rewarding.

Maybe you are right, but excitement and reward are often in the eye of the beholder. Not the same for everyone.

AlietteFaye.7316:

2 of their design principles were based on aesthetics. It’s pretty clear it was one of the larger parts of their game that they wanted to emphasize.

I agree with you. I just don’t think it was one of their biggest end game factors. Even the article you posted didn’t suggest that it was great content for end game as you stated before. But I do agree that aesthetics are very important, but they can be gained through more ways than just RNG boxes.

athuria.2751:

Rarity is exclusivity. Making something rare to obtain makes it limiting, it’s literally the same sort of thing. That a handful of people get better luck than the chance doesn’t change that. If we were taking more like a 1 in 5 chance, yeah, that’s not very rare of exclusive, but we’re talking much lower than that.

I understand what you are saying, but I still have to disagree. If we go by that way of thinking, then there should be no levels of rarity at all in any part of the game. All drops should be white and that is just that. I have been playing since the head start and I have only gotten four exotics to speak of. But I don’t think my friends who have gotten dozens have exclusivity over me. Just my bad luck. I won’t complain about something is random.

athuria.2751:

[snip] You don’t care about working to make your characters look good for the sake of looking good, but a lot of people do because cosmetic progression is part of what the horizontal progression people come here for is, just like achievement points or skillful play.

Again I agree, but there is no way they are going to make everyone happy with everything. Some of the things I like most about the game have not happened or are messed up in my opinion. I want to do many things that I want, but can still many I love. Same with cosmetics, there are many, many ways to make your character cool, so the ones you may wish for you just have to accept and work around them.

athuria.2751:

And I’m well aware nobody’s forcing me to buy RNG boxes for skins, nor do I do so. But that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be annoyed with overusing it as a business practice when their alternatives past the base game have been lacking (especially when you see on the forums that a lot of people unfortunately lack that self-control and continue to buy into it).

I absolutely believe you should voice your opinion. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be annoyed with anything, I just want people to be realistic. None of us, without exception, are going to get everything we want to make the game perfect for ourselves. And as much as the “RNG” topic keeps popping up, I am sure ANet is well aware of what some people on the forums think about it. I don’t like the way many businesses practices are handled by many companies, but I don’t blame them for the lack of self-control their customers have in spending their money. If it was the company’s fault, Vegas would be a ghost town.

jheryn.8390:

athuria.2751:

Rarity is exclusivity. Making something rare to obtain makes it limiting, it’s literally the same sort of thing. That a handful of people get better luck than the chance doesn’t change that. If we were taking more like a 1 in 5 chance, yeah, that’s not very rare of exclusive, but we’re talking much lower than that.

I understand what you are saying, but I still have to disagree. If we go by that way of thinking, then there should be no levels of rarity at all in any part of the game. All drops should be white and that is just that. I have been playing since the head start and I have only gotten four exotics to speak of. But I don’t think my friends who have gotten dozens have exclusivity over me. Just my bad luck. I won’t complain about something is random.

Completely beside the point given if there’s ever an exotic skin you like that’s a loot drop you don’t have to wait for it to drop for you—you can go buy it off the TP. The only exception to this is Fractal skins, which exist permanently in the game and are acquired through gameplay luck, not spending all your money in a short timeframe luck. Legendaries require a lot of work for, making the prettier stuff rarer of okay (And while it’s a matter of taste, it’s clear the intent with current gear is “the rarer it is the prettier it looks”) as long as it is actually accessible to people who work for it.

In that, providing an in-game alternative dropbox like the dragon coffers is a good direction to go, and I’d probably be a lot less annoyed with it in regards to the dragon skins if it didn’t just come on the heels of another set of RNG weapon skins. But the rich coffers still have so ridiculously low of a chance (current estimate is about 1% I believe?) that there’s little justification for me to ever spend money on that, not only because there’s little reasonable assumption I’ll get one but because everything else out of the box just simply does not hold near the same value.

And it’s not even a matter of this RNG existing, but of it being so heavily relied on at the expense of alternative methods of getting skins. Again, the only full weapon sets that Anet had released past the base game have been RNG boxes—everything else has had certain weapons, maces, pistols, focuses, neglected from it.

If you use a greatsword, three weapon skins you might not get for the gamble doesn’t seem like such an issue. If you use a rifle, you’ve had more new skins behind RNG than you could actually outright buy or craft.

And really, there’s no reason to just not make these things tradable like Halloween and Wintersday and SAB, so those who are lucky and don’t want it can make a buck and those are unlucky and do want it can put together the money and assure themselves they’ll get it.

Like there are compromises out there that even let Anet keep their RNG model that they could be taking to make people less frustrated with them and I think they’re getting the idea with the dragon coffers but I’m still going to be on the side of people who keep nudging them until they finally get a clue.

jheryn.8390:

athuria.2751:

And I’m well aware nobody’s forcing me to buy RNG boxes for skins, nor do I do so. But that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be annoyed with overusing it as a business practice when their alternatives past the base game have been lacking (especially when you see on the forums that a lot of people unfortunately lack that self-control and continue to buy into it).

I absolutely believe you should voice your opinion. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be annoyed with anything, I just want people to be realistic. None of us, without exception, are going to get everything we want to make the game perfect for ourselves. And as much as the “RNG” topic keeps popping up, I am sure ANet is well aware of what some people on the forums think about it. I don’t like the way many businesses practices are handled by many companies, but I don’t blame them for the lack of self-control their customers have in spending their money. If it was the company’s fault, Vegas would be a ghost town.

Oh, I put plenty of blame on people who can’t control themselves and continue to enable this, or who actually seem to like the RNG box chase, but ultimately they’re not the ones holding Anet up to this practice—Anet, or some higher up, is making the decision to milk these specific people at the cost of everyone else.

Why won’t you let me edit: TL;DR BECAUSE I’VE TRIED THIS THREE TIMES NOW I am not mad at Anet or boycotting supporting them I just want to see them hit a better medium between player accessibility for these things and their own revenue.

jheryn.8390:

AlietteFaye.7316:

2 of their design principles were based on aesthetics. It’s pretty clear it was one of the larger parts of their game that they wanted to emphasize.

I agree with you. I just don’t think it was one of their biggest end game factors. Even the article you posted didn’t suggest that it was great content for end game as you stated before. But I do agree that aesthetics are very important, but they can be gained through more ways than just RNG boxes.

It’s why skins are obtained from every aspect of the game. Because there are no stat increases, the only thing to work toward after you finish leveling is skins. That is the endgame. Or it was supposed to be until they decided to RNG box everything.

athuria.2751:

Completely beside the point given if there’s ever an exotic skin you like that’s a loot drop you don’t have to wait for it to drop for you—you can go buy it off the TP.

It completely is the point and with this statement you are proving what I was saying. It is an entitlement issue with people. He has one so I deserve to have one. Why should you get to buy things other people either worked hard to get or were lucky enough to get? You will get something someday that I will want and I don’t get. That doesn’t make me deserve the thing you get just because I want one.

athuria.2751:

Oh, I put plenty of blame on people who can’t control themselves and continue to enable this, or who actually seem to like the RNG box chase, but ultimately they’re not the ones holding Anet up to this practice—Anet, or some higher up, is making the decision to milk these specific people at the cost of everyone else.

This is funny. It is their company. They can do what they want. They’re running their business in a way that best benefits them. They are not milking anyone. They are also not costing anyone by milking others. Bottom line is that it doesn’t hurt you in any way because you think you are entitled to have a skin someone else does. Do not blame ANet for your jealousy.

athuria.2751:

I am not mad at Anet or boycotting supporting them I just want to see them hit a better medium between player accessibility for these things and their own revenue.

ANet is not a charity and it is not in business to hand everything to everyone. There doesn’t NEED to be a better medium because things are working for them just fine. They are making money and the game continues on. You can’t please everyone and the majority of players are not on here complaining about any of the revenue models ANet employs. So they are going to let anyone complain if they want because they know that most players don’t care or like things the way they are. Most don’t believe they are entitled to everything.

AlietteFaye.7316:

It’s why skins are obtained from every aspect of the game. Because there are no stat increases, the only thing to work toward after you finish leveling is skins. That is the endgame. Or it was supposed to be until they decided to RNG box everything.

I don’t agree with you. Skins are not the end game. They may be a part, but they are far from the end game content. Unless you have every single achievement and all places explored, then you cannot make such a statement. Even if you have both these things finished, it does not make you entitled to have everything anyone else does.

jheryn.8390:

AlietteFaye.7316:

It’s why skins are obtained from every aspect of the game. Because there are no stat increases, the only thing to work toward after you finish leveling is skins. That is the endgame. Or it was supposed to be until they decided to RNG box everything.

I don’t agree with you. Skins are not the end game. They may be a part, but they are far from the end game content. Unless you have every single achievement and all places explored, then you cannot make such a statement. Even if you have both these things finished, it does not make you entitled to have everything anyone else does.

Nobody is saying that you should have everything that anyone else has. People are upset that they have to spend REAL money on skins without an actual guarantee of getting them. Gambling is a terrible way to have your playerbase get new skins, especially if it is the only way you can get them. There is zero skill in these RNG boxes, and a lot of players obviously don’t like it.

I like it. Mainly because some people got a weapon ticket after about 60 chests and others have gone overboard (few thousand) and gotten nothing. Like the candy obtained wing skin, there should be an ultimatum for obtaining the items we want. If I get lucky 50 chests in great, but if I’m over 600 (....) chests I’d like to see some light at the end of my wallet guarunteeing my weapon ticket is soon to come.

My answer to this issue from another thread:

“Standard coffers drop often enough that the RNG aspect is totally fine for them, no issue there. (Opened hundreds myself, still no ticket, but it’s only a few days into a month long event. There is no cause for issue here).

On the rich coffers, I don’t believe there is necessarily anything wrong with the implementation of gambling for skins, however these boxes should perhaps contain a tooltip displaying the % chance to receive tickets. It does seem that too many fools are rolling the dice without actually understanding that they are by no means guaranteed a skin, nevertheless the common opinion that all players are entitled to receive these skins is unreasonable.

The same mentality with which you approach a real life casino must remain when considering “rich” coffer purchases: If you are unprepared to lose, do not gamble."

Perhaps worthy of consideration is that assuming you play a few hours each week, you are virtually guaranteed to receive a ticket through the very numerous free coffer drops…

AlietteFaye.7316:

Nobody is saying that you should have everything that anyone else has. People are upset that they have to spend REAL money on skins without an actual guarantee of getting them. Gambling is a terrible way to have your playerbase get new skins, especially if it is the only way you can get them. There is zero skill in these RNG boxes, and a lot of players obviously don’t like it.

Some people are upset. Not the majority. Some people don’t like it, not the majority. Most just don’t care or or have any complaint about it. Random does not equal guarantee. If you are buying something that has a random factor then you take the risk and reward. No one should be upset if they take the risk.

Maybe there are a lot of players who don’t like it. So what? If you don’t like it, find something else to play that makes you more happy. Constantly complaining about RNG boxes isn’t going to change anything and shouldn’t.

And as far as this current round of boxes go, ANet has introduced coffers that are free to get and also contain the tickets. So go out and get some of those and hope for the best. You don’t have buy a thing this time to get a ticket.

They just take advantage of gambling addicts. Addiction is a disses. They make profit out of weak minded people. These random boxes are in each and every MMO out there. The difference is that in some MMOs the loot is guaranteed after a specific number (ex 24 boxes) while others like GW2 there is no guarantee,
This game is not about gear stats but about gear looks. They make it so for the people not to complain the game is a Pay to Win but they created the philosophy of a Pay to Shine game. No wonder 2 of the 3 A-Net founders left the company.
The game is just going in the wrong direction compared to GW1

jheryn.8390:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Nobody is saying that you should have everything that anyone else has. People are upset that they have to spend REAL money on skins without an actual guarantee of getting them. Gambling is a terrible way to have your playerbase get new skins, especially if it is the only way you can get them. There is zero skill in these RNG boxes, and a lot of players obviously don’t like it.

Some people are upset. Not the majority. Some people don’t like it, not the majority. Most just don’t care or or have any complaint about it. Random does not equal guarantee. If you are buying something that has a random factor then you take the risk and reward. No one should be upset if they take the risk.

Maybe there are a lot of players who don’t like it. So what? If you don’t like it, find something else to play that makes you more happy. Constantly complaining about RNG boxes isn’t going to change anything and shouldn’t.

And as far as this current round of boxes go, ANet has introduced coffers that are free to get and also contain the tickets. So go out and get some of those and hope for the best. You don’t have buy a thing this time to get a ticket.

I agree that a majority of players probably aren’t upset about the RNG boxes. But I think a majority of players will agree that RNG boxes aren’t fun. They don’t feel like a reward, they feel like a gamble.

As for it not changing, it actually already has started changing, as you’ve pointed out. They are now letting similar boxes drop outside of the Gem Store at a good rate. Do you think that they just did that because they wanted to? Or do you think that because of all of the negative feedback people have given them on it?

Criticizing aspects of the game is what helps it grow and change. If we as players don’t make ourselves clear on what we want from ArenaNet, then of course it won’t change. Players coming to the forums and making themselves heard is what is making this game evolve. You should be thanking these people, not telling them to go away.

AlietteFaye.7316:

Criticizing aspects of the game is what helps it grow and change. If we as players don’t make ourselves clear on what we want from ArenaNet, then of course it won’t change. Players coming to the forums and making themselves heard is what is making this game evolve. You should be thanking these people, not telling them to go away.

As I said in a previous post, I think everyone should voice their concerns and opinions. I think everyone has the right to disagree with something they don’t like. I don’t want any of them to go away, nor did I say that. I also said that giving your opinions are good. Even the ones I don’t agree with. That being said, however, there is a way to voice your opinions and concerns. Most of the people doing that on the forums are just nasty.

When I see comments like “ANet doesn’t know what they are doing”, “the game is terrible”, “RNG is horrible”, “ANet is milking people for their money”, “gambling is a disease and ANet is preying on those people” and yes even huge entitlement statements that are basically saying “I deserve this because he or she has it” are just wrong.

I appreciate the dialog with you. You are level headed and don’t just insult. I don’t think you are one of those entitled people, however in the post above you have said you think ANet is taking advantage of people.

I am glad people are posting their concerns. I do thank them for expressing themselves as is their right. But I am not going to praise people who are doing it in a counter-productive way. No one being mean or unrealistic deserves thanks. Being hateful to a company that has provided a wonderful gaming experience is terrible. Most of those expressing their dislike for RNG are never doing it in a way that people, including ANet, would respond positively to.

I don’t want anyone to go away, but if people are not going to be constructive, civil, realistic or congenial, then yes I think they should go away.

jheryn.8390:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Criticizing aspects of the game is what helps it grow and change. If we as players don’t make ourselves clear on what we want from ArenaNet, then of course it won’t change. Players coming to the forums and making themselves heard is what is making this game evolve. You should be thanking these people, not telling them to go away.

As I said in a previous post, I think everyone should voice their concerns and opinions. I think everyone has the right to disagree with something they don’t like. I don’t want any of them to go away, nor did I say that. I also said that giving your opinions are good. Even the ones I don’t agree with. That being said, however, there is a way to voice your opinions and concerns. Most of the people doing that on the forums are just nasty.

When I see comments like “ANet doesn’t know what they are doing”, “the game is terrible”, “RNG is horrible”, “ANet is milking people for their money”, “gambling is a disease and ANet is preying on those people” and yes even huge entitlement statements that are basically saying “I deserve this because he or she has it” are just wrong.

I appreciate the dialog with you. You are level headed and don’t just insult. I don’t think you are one of those entitled people, however in the post above you have said you think ANet is taking advantage of people.

I am glad people are posting their concerns. I do thank them for expressing themselves as is their right. But I am not going to praise people who are doing it in a counter-productive way. No one being mean or unrealistic deserves thanks. Being hateful to a company that has provided a wonderful gaming experience is terrible. Most of those expressing their dislike for RNG are never doing it in a way that people, including ANet, would respond positively to.

I don’t want anyone to go away, but if people are not going to be constructive, civil, realistic or congenial, then yes I think they should go away.

Well arguments are only heated discussions. The reason people argue is because they feel so strongly about something, and because it is something that is important to them.

As for ArenaNet taking advantage of people, I don’t believe I said that anywhere. I think that they are doing what is best for them in terms of income. Which is what any company will do. But I don’t think that what is best for their income right now is what is best for the income and playerbase longterm. Similar to WoW, you can try to expand and cater to a fanbase so that you can get a quick increase on your cashflow, but eventually that will have repercussions. People will give second and third, even fourth chances. But eventually players do get upset enough and move away. There are even several large MMOs heading their way this year, so I think it should be now more than ever that ArenaNet entices their players to stick around.

AlietteFaye.7316:

Well arguments are only heated discussions. The reason people argue is because they feel so strongly about something, and because it is something that is important to them.

I agree, but can you read some of the posts above and in other RNG threads and tell me they are just heated discussions? Some of those things are just hateful and rude. They are in no way just heated, the are attacking and mean.

As for ArenaNet taking advantage of people, I don’t believe I said that anywhere. I think that they are doing what is best for them in terms of income. Which is what any company will do. But I don’t think that what is best for their income right now is what is best for the income and playerbase longterm. [/quote]
You are right and I owe you a big apology. You did not say that, and I am sorry. There have been many above that I am sure you have read that have in fact said that. Again, proof of people just being hateful.

As far as what is best for them long term, I am in finance and what they are doing is just fine in both long and short term. Certain portions of their fan base will fall off because of many factors. Many of them will come back over and over again. Just like fame, they are going to take advantage of their good fortune and make their money while they can. And when those people who left return after new expansions or large content infusions, they will make more.

I am certain a company the size of Anet has accountants and financial planning people that know their industry inside and out. They would not have been as successful as they are without them. ANet is not just a set of programmers and fan boys sitting around putting out a really cool game. If their people who determine their ways of making profit and generating fund thought that this was not the way to go, then they wouldn’t be selling this stuff in the Gem Store. ANet has a huge track record of success stories behind them. They didn’t do it by not knowing how to make money.

GW1 lasted seven years before they introduced their next phase. I would say they were doing something right. I think they know for themselves what is best for their company for short term and long term better than either one of us.

jheryn.8390:

GW1 lasted seven years before they introduced their next phase. I would say they were doing something right. I think they know for themselves what is best for their company for short term and long term better than either one of us.

There are no lotteries in GW1 cash-shop and they never were. GW2 is run by different people than GW1. They just kept two names: A-net and Guild Wars to lure in the playes from GW1. Everything else is pure Nexon style.

Ronah.2869:

There are no lotteries in GW1 cash-shop and they never were. GW2 is run by different people than GW1. They just kept two names: A-net and Guild Wars to lure in the playes from GW1. Everything else is pure Nexon style.

I never said there were lotteries. I never even suggested “they” were. I said the company did something right. And as far as new companies go, that doesn’t matter either. The current company is doing well and probably have, as I have said before, plenty of people who are industry savvy who know how to sustain a game of this type. The longevity of GW1 and the desire for a company to acquire the rights to GW1 speaks to the profitability of the franchise. It doesn’t matter who owns it. Also many of the developers of the game are still attached to GW2. It isn’t just a whole new lot of people creating GW no matter what the business model is.

Lol leave the forum for the weekend and the thread takes off twice as well as I expected
So thanks to all those commenting.
Have said that, i’m not quite sure if the thread is going of topic or not here, I had started the thread expecting comments regarding my idea or counter ideas/improvements, instead we’ve moved on to discuss the RNG containers and whether they are a appropriate method for skin distribution, now though I appreciate the need for this kind of discussion I feel that it would be better done in a thread of it’s own.
In reply to the comments saying anet wont compliment a system like this because the RNG containers make them too much money for them to give up.
this system would not destroy that profit by much at all, if as suggested there was a limit on the number of skins the system would reward there would still be plenty of people playing the RNG game for the other skins they want from the set and if others feel the same way I do I think even more would be willing to buy a few chances at an extra skin simply as a thank you to the devs for the ‘free’ skin.

The gambling is the aspect of GW2 that I hate the most. Not because I don’t like the ‘excitement’… It’s because it is the only way to get the pretties.

So, keep the gambling. Seriously. BUT give me a ‘can buy anything from the event ticket’ for participating in the event. And another for doing something major during the event. Then sprinkle the goodies around via RNG mechanics.

Thus I can get one shiny for being here and playing the game (dead games aren’t full of people, and perception is everything in the crowded MMO market. Aside from the fact that the game is social-cooperative and needs lots of people to thrive.) and if I participate in the story fully, I can get a matched set of pistols or daggers. Or whatever.

This would be better and still give an incentive to gamble (to get more) but not exclude the folks who can’t get the @%#@^# ticket to drop.

-Sidebar Rant-ish Bit——————————————-

Now, why does this work? IMVU. That silly chat client is the shining example of people wanting a virtual closet full of stuff to play dress up. Newsflash: Gamers like to do that too, to both greater and lesser degree, depending on the gamer. The costume contests in City of Heroes (gone but not forgotten) were a huge draw and a lot of fun.

Exclusivity is a hollow and bitter nothing compared to giving players the chance to make their characters look cool and unique. (lots of options and dyes can make for some cool looks in astronomical combinations) Crafting your character’s look and checking out what others have done in that direction is far more ‘fun’ than “ooh look he has a rare bit of gear.”

I’d rather like people see my character and say “WOW… look at that! I’ve never seen someone look like that before and it’s badass/gorgeous/amazing” …. because I found a set of gear from 6 different sets that works together and dyed it creatively to bring it all together.

Once I realized what a limited palette there was in GW2 for gear, I more or less stopped looking at other characters. I checked out the armor sets online in a gallery and then tuned them out in-game. Because there is so little it is just boring.

Creativity = Fun
Creativity > Exclusivity