Guild Wars 2

It’s Halloween all over again. I have nearly 10 of each of the other minipets and have yet to see a single mini Snowman. Bought 10$ more of gems for some more boxes again tonight and this time it was just a ton of tonics and presents (a.k.a sweaters socks and hats).

Meanwhile, my friend has ~20 of each pet and can’t send me a single snowman because they’re account bound. I’m not spending another cent on gems because I know I won’t get it if after 50$ I haven’t already gotten it.

Is there any plan to make these pets from the boxes tradable? Because this is a bit obnoxious.

I would like it if it were more like Halloween, at least when it comes to mini-pets. I get what you mean though, those elusive skins.

Giles Marchand.6970:

I would like it if it were more like Halloween, at least when it comes to mini-pets. I get what you mean though, those elusive skins.

Honestly, at least with Halloween I was able to buy the pets – not have to rely on RNG to get them. And even better I couldn’t buy them from a friend or the TP because they’re account bound.

Random and account-bound? Not a cash grab at all, eh?

If your solution to the problem is to throw more money at it, I don’t see where the incentive is for the problem to be fixed on the developer’s end.

Quoting myself for truth…..

Raincrow.1840:

As long as people support RNG, Anet will keep useing it.

If you bought a bunch a chests, or threw things into the Forge hoping to win, and then came here to complain after you didn’t get what you wanted…. It’s YOUR FAULT.

You already voted IN FAVOR of RNG with your wallet. Coming here to complain after the fact is pointless.

Just remember next time, if you don’t like RNG, don’t support it in game. That’s the only way to stop ANet from using it in the future.

I’m not saying “RNG” is bad, those Halloween skins wouldn’t be half as cool had they been readily available, either remove the account-bound for the mini-pets or sell them like the Halloween mini-pets.

RNG. Fool me once, shame on you. I’ve gotten fooled once by it. That’s enough for me. ANet won’t be seeing any more of my money on these things.

Raincrow.1840:

Quoting myselfe for truth…..

Raincrow.1840:

As long as people support RNG, Anet will keep useing it.
If you bought a bunch a chests, or threw things into the Forge hoping to win, and then came here to complain after you didn’t get what you wanted…. It’s YOUR FAULT.
You already voted IN FAVOR of RNG with your wallet. Coming here to complain after the fact is pointless.
Just remember next time, if you don’t like RNG, don’t support it in game. That’s the only way to stop ANet from using it in the future.

Absolutely QFT.
I should have refused to support ANet’s RNG this holiday and didn’t. I will from now on.

I think it’s curious that they appeased the people who complained about the weapon skins in the Black Lion Chests during Halloween but made it worse buy making these mini-pets account bound and putting them in a chest that’s not only more expensive but only obtainable through gems.

Well this will be the last time I support them through the gem store. I bought a ton of their stuff in GW1 – well over 300$ worth of stuff including storage space. character slots, costumes and the bonus missions. It’s obvious their priorities have shifted since then and I will not be a part of it.

I’m just hoping that they’ll put a Winterday “mini-pet trio” in the gem store before January 3rd.

Thanks for the posts, guys. I agree and I do hope that you guys will join me in speaking with our wallets in future events. RNG + Account bound + requiring cash? Yeah, kitten that kitten.

Giles Marchand.6970:

I’m just hoping that they’ll put a Winterday “mini-pet trio” in the gem store before January 3rd.

They won’t. If they do I’ll be pretty —--ing kitten And I’m sure I’m not the only one who will be.

Giles Marchand.6970:

I think it’s curious that they appeased the people who complained about the weapon skins in the Black Lion Chests during Halloween but made it worse buy making these mini-pets account bound and putting them in a chest that’s not only more expensive but only obtainable through gems.

I agree. It’s pretty messed up.

I would be equally pleased if they removed “account-bound” from the mini-pets. I’ll just pay with gold from now on for these things. ArenaNet is not getting any of my money for a lottery ticket.

Giles Marchand.6970:

I’m just hoping that they’ll put a Winterday “mini-pet trio” in the gem store before January 3rd.

Well the item exists in the database. However it will probably end up in the same situation as the Lost Shores minis (which also has a mini-pet trio in the database) and will not be added because it would have a pretty big backlash.

They would be better off removing the account bound property from them if they were going to do anything at all.

I actually think those items were user submitted, if you look at the icon it’s still the Halloween “mini-pet trio.”

I think removing account bound would solve the issue. I’d agree this can’t hurt anyone. I do agree with the monetization of the other 3 pets from the events though, choose 2 from grinding, pay $$ for the rest. I think that’s a good way to do it. No Buy for power, and people can buy the ones that they want.

Giles Marchand.6970:

I actually think those items were user submitted, if you look at the icon it’s still the Halloween “mini-pet trio.”

That’s just how it ended up, the item was data mined during the big patch on the 14th so it doesn’t mean it was finalized just that it existed.

Kind of like how all the makeover kits and contracts were added to the database on October 8th but they were slowly rolled out instead of added right then and there.

Dungin.2983:

I think removing account bound would solve the issue. I’d agree this can’t hurt anyone. I do agree with the monetization of the other 3 pets from the events though, choose 2 from grinding, pay $$ for the rest. I think that’s a good way to do it. No Buy for power, and people can buy the ones that they want.

I agree with this more than I do account wide + RNG + cash. As kittenty as is it not being able to just get event items in game, I guess it’s better than what it currently is.

Mkalafut.1273:

It’s Halloween all over again. I have nearly 10 of each of the other minipets and have yet to see a single mini Snowman. Bought 10$ more of gems for some more boxes again tonight and this time it was just a ton of tonics and presents (a.k.a sweaters socks and hats).

Meanwhile, my friend has ~20 of each pet and can’t send me a single snowman because they’re account bound. I’m not spending another cent on gems because I know I won’t get it if after 50$ I haven’t already gotten it.

Is there any plan to make these pets from the boxes tradable? Because this is a bit obnoxious.

The only problem with GW2 is people like you.
I’m glad you have learned your lesson but you’ve done so much damage to the game now that Anet will probably just continue with this farcical excuse for content for the foreseeable future.
What happens when the next “holiday” content is released and they have a new mini that you just HAVE to have. Will you say to yourself ’I’ll just spend 20$ on keys" ?

Think of the amount of genuine content they could have released instead of putting all the dev time into new minis and costumes. More development time could of been spent on squashing bugs, fixing broken content and balancing classes.
But NOOOO, because the sheeple in the world and the Pokemon kittenen mentatlity, the genuine gamers, the people who actually want to game, and help develop the communities of the game… we have to suffer.
If I had one wish this Christmas (and if that fat, pagan, red dressed effigy of corporate greed actually existed), it would be for the GW2 community to STOP BUYING KEYS kitten img src="/include/images/smilies/smile.png" />

Cheers

Snores.7806:

Mkalafut.1273:

It’s Halloween all over again. I have nearly 10 of each of the other minipets and have yet to see a single mini Snowman. Bought 10$ more of gems for some more boxes again tonight and this time it was just a ton of tonics and presents (a.k.a sweaters socks and hats).

Meanwhile, my friend has ~20 of each pet and can’t send me a single snowman because they’re account bound. I’m not spending another cent on gems because I know I won’t get it if after 50$ I haven’t already gotten it.

Is there any plan to make these pets from the boxes tradable? Because this is a bit obnoxious.

The only problem with GW2 is people like you.
I’m glad you have learned your lesson but you’ve done so much damage to the game now that Anet will probably just continue with this farcical excuse for content for the foreseeable future.
What happens when the next “holiday” content is released and they have a new mini that you just HAVE to have. Will you say to yourself ’I’ll just spend 20$ on keys" ?

Think of the amount of genuine content they could have released instead of putting all the dev time into new minis and costumes. More development time could of been spent on squashing bugs, fixing broken content and balancing classes.
But NOOOO, because the sheeple in the world and the Pokemon kittenen mentatlity, the genuine gamers, the people who actually want to game, and help develop the communities of the game… we have to suffer.
If I had one wish this Christmas (and if that fat, pagan, red dressed effigy of corporate greed actually existed), it would be for the GW2 community to STOP BUYING KEYS kitten

Cheers

People like me? Cool bro, 7+ years of GW1 and played GW2 since the closed betas before pre-order beta invites were even conceived. I’m not crying about the game, I’m saying that RNG + Account-bound only is not a good way to go.

But thanks for your input, I guess? Even if it is worthless. I’m not a “pokemon sheeple”. I am a completionist. I strive to get achievements, pets, weapons, etc. Being a completionist has nothing to do with Pokemon you tool.

I also didn’t buy a single key. Good job reading my thread. I am bringing up an issue with the account-bound, random nature of the mini-pets available from the 10 / 10$ Christmas Gifts.

Shayne Hawke.9160:

If your solution to the problem is to throw more money at it, I don’t see where the incentive is for the problem to be fixed on the developer’s end.

Agreed. Anet will continue to push out these RNG boxes because the hardcore collectors will always dump a TON of money on them every time there is an event, because they gotta catch ’em all. It will continue to be like this because it is sooooo profitable.

Anet just needs to add a quaggan mini with a different hat to a mystery lotto box each month and people will line up to pay for it.

Humm… well, I’d understand people being upset if all ANet did was add costumes and ridiculous skins so that people can throw money at them… but let us be honest, they do add new content. And the thematic holiday events actually do have stuff to play with for fun, not so that you can get those mini toys (which are annoying anyway, especially for a roleplayer, but that’s my issue). That’s just extra.

So I figure there is very little to be upset about. Including cash-grab schemes, because if you are naive enough to think ANet is in the business of making everyone feel toasty warm inside instead of making money, then stop playing this game and get out in the real world a bit more and possibly get a job so you can understand what “business” means.

Giles Marchand.6970:

I think it’s curious that they appeased the people who complained about the weapon skins in the Black Lion Chests during Halloween but made it worse buy making these mini-pets account bound and putting them in a chest that’s not only more expensive but only obtainable through gems.

Except that it started with the Consortium chests in the Lost Shores event. They put those three in that chest at a very low drop rate. I agree that they should be a separate pack, like Halloween’s though.
They just need to make a mix of both for any future ones, that is minis and skins purchasable outright, and still in the chests at the same time. That way, they can still get the gamblers, and those of us who only want to buy stuff outright.

Yet another person coming to the forums to complain about spending all their money on gambling and not winning anything.

If this frustrates you: STOP SPENDING MONEY on that stuff. That’s the only way you can win OR affect Anet’s decisions.

The one thing I just don’t get with this whole random-boxes thing is why it’s so hard to give people at least some sense of value-for-their-cash.

I mean, let’s be realistic, it’d be easy to program something to remove doubles from minis after you get 2 of the same kind. It’d also be easy to up the droprate a bit (and since they’ve already made the model, it doesn’t matter wheter 10 or 1000 people get the mini, there are no additional costs).

They could even have added a bit of code that would ensure that anyone paying say $25 on gifts would get all minis.

But they don’t. They’d rather have upset people than happy people. Yet it wouldn’t cost them a penny to have happy people.

Tell, me, what management concept am I missing here?

RNG makes us gamblers. I am fine with that.
Account bound makes us suckers.
Buying something you know you cannot sell, and have no use for 10 of, is a sucker play.
Anet please re-examine all account bound items that you forbid us from selling. In the long run you will sell more gems. Stop making your fans into suckers.

ThiBash.5634:

The one thing I just don’t get with this whole random-boxes thing is why it’s so hard to give people at least some sense of value-for-their-cash.

I mean, let’s be realistic, it’d be easy to program something to remove doubles from minis after you get 2 of the same kind. It’d also be easy to up the droprate a bit (and since they’ve already made the model, it doesn’t matter wheter 10 or 1000 people get the mini, there are no additional costs).

They could even have added a bit of code that would ensure that anyone paying say $25 on gifts would get all minis.

But they don’t. They’d rather have upset people than happy people. Yet it wouldn’t cost them a penny to have happy people.

Tell, me, what management concept am I missing here?

It’s very simple. They will keep on selling these boxes until people stop buying them. If people stop buying them they will either increase the drop rates so people start buying them again OR they will start selling things individually.

It’s not about upset or happy people, it’s about money. When the money is flooding in, they can say that the boxes are popular as they are selling well, it must be what people want. When the money dries up they know they have squeezed as much as they can out of the boxes and try to find another way to make money off the players.

I’m kind of disappointed that not a single developer or moderator has posted anything regarding the RNG mini-pets, while there have been so many topics about it.

Snores.7806:

at least I’m not the half wit who spent 50$ of his hard earned on F all

LOL I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!! You do realize that his 50 bucks, is what pays the wages of the people making YOUR game? They’re not getting any money from you, it seems.

If I were you I’d be kissin his kitten because he is the reason your game even exists…

PS. Down w/ acct bnd mini’s. That’s just cheap tactics.

At least you got enough minis for a quaggan. The Festivoo Quaggan is all I wanted, and after buying 3x 10 chests and getting just ONE miniature Infinitarium back (of course with lots of repeat dyes, two santa hats and those crappy mortar things) I’ve had enough. With the first of 10 I was happy to fund ANet, I’m playing their game for free and it’s great. The second set I was a bit more apprehensive, not a single mini from the first 10 and I knew my luck would destroy me. The third set (I bought today) was one final chance, just in case they’d upped the ratio since I last bought gems. But alas, I’m stuck with a load of crap and £25 down.

The money’s not the issue, the RNG is. I WANT to support ANet (just like a lot of other people) but if we’re not getting any sort of “thanks” back (i.e the middle finger of RNG/Account Bound trash) then I give up.

Lost all of my golds and thousand of mats, but got him finally COOoooOOOOo!

When an addict says he will quit, chances are he’ll be repeating his behavior a short time later.

Canthan New Years is coming in February. It’s the Year of the Snake! Can’t wait for the mystery boxes in the Gem Store! I need my rare Snake minipet!

I think people are just being sore losers. Part of the reason for the pets being RNG is to make them rare. If $25 guaranteed all the pets then everyone would have them all. Maybe I’m biased though, since I got the snowman and infinitarium in my first 10 boxes.

So you spent a large amount of $ at Halloween on the RNG. You knew what to expect here with Wintersday’s RNG. You spent $25 and got 5 of each mini.
For some reason then you spent another $25.

I cannot see why ANet would want to change their model it seems to be working pretty well for them.

Borssimus.8694:

I think people are just being sore losers. Part of the reason for the pets being RNG is to make them rare. If $25 guaranteed all the pets then everyone would have them all. Maybe I’m biased though, since I got the snowman and infinitarium in my first 10 boxes.

Yeah you don’t hear of the complaining threads that they got the mini on the first try.
Stupid broken RNG!

Make the quaggan minipet,more loveable than any minipet,ever <3

so true people if you dont buy it they will see its not making them money thus changing the items that will make money. lot of ppl bought the halloween minis as it was a sure fire thing so they knew what they were paying for. now ppl are throwing all kinds of money on a chance to get one i for one refuse to pay real money for a chance at something. the player base for most games with markets like this do some reading up on this http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-market-demand.htm

Anet is getting greedy.

Epic wallet grinding

Mini pets…Lmao

Raincrow.1840:

Quoting myself for truth…..

Raincrow.1840:

As long as people support RNG, Anet will keep useing it.

If you bought a bunch a chests, or threw things into the Forge hoping to win, and then came here to complain after you didn’t get what you wanted…. It’s YOUR FAULT.

You already voted IN FAVOR of RNG with your wallet. Coming here to complain after the fact is pointless.

Just remember next time, if you don’t like RNG, don’t support it in game. That’s the only way to stop ANet from using it in the future.

Exactly why I only bought the dagger winter skins, even though I love the quaggan mini. I didn’t even bother to try and get it because of the insane amount of RNG+cash involved.

You should never pay for random stuff.

Only pay for things you’ll keep: The game, expansions, bank slots, character slots, bag slots…

As long as people keep paying for the horrible random crap, they will keep putting it in the store.

Gaudrath.6725:

So I figure there is very little to be upset about. Including cash-grab schemes, because if you are naive enough to think ANet is in the business of making everyone feel toasty warm inside instead of making money, then stop playing this game and get out in the real world a bit more and possibly get a job so you can understand what “business” means.

There is something to this, kind of.

Honestly, I think A-net is the ones being naive. In their efforts to get a smallish audience of people willing to gamble for miniatures to gamble away some cash, they are missing massive opportunity in the form of a game public that is very, very used to the concept of the F2P gaming model.

I’ll single myself out as an example. I’m 39 years old, middle class and have been playing computer games since before the introduction of the Atari 2600(I’m only quantifying this to give some idea of gaming experience and buying power). Raising kids and running a household, gaming is a very effective use of the entertainment dollar because a sixty dollar game will give many, many more days and hours of play than virtually any other expenditure of the same size. Incidentally, I’m also relatively close to the average demographic that is a solid target audience for F2P modelling—-this level of experience and buying power is the opposite of unique, it’s the norm.

With that much game experience little fluff items, especially when gambled for, are more or less a charity “tip” nod to the company that made a game. They don’t particularly extend the play time of the game and worse, if a person gets frustrated with an actual cash purchase, didn’t offer playability to keep them around to purchase the next batch. That isn’t to say offering “pay to win” items is the answer: players have overwhelmingly voted with their wallets against this model and in my opinion, rightly so.

So what’s a company to do? They need a product to sell, and it needs to be something people will actually feel gives them value. Here’s the stuff I usually see as value added:

1. Character/Bank slots, etc. They don’t affect character power, but are very value added. The game has offered them up, thankfully, and I’m sure they are among the most common purchases.

2. Just let people buy the minis, and absolutely, positively don’t give them away to those that do not. No gambling, no repeats obtainable in game. Volume makes up the added cash from the few willing to test RNG with real cash.

3. Give skins for armor/weapons that are unique to the store.

4. Let obtainable in game fluff be purchasable, in its entirety. Armor/Weapons, minis, etc. If a person would simply rather buy aesthetics, for petes sake let them. It doesn’t hurt anyone and can only help.

Some of this stuff is kinda/sorta available, but is either horrendously priced or not in a variety worthy of note. In my opinion, this is a much better model than kitten off the few people that are willing to test RNG once or twice, inevitably leaving a longer term audience with significantly less interest in purchases.

Thrym.9436:

Gaudrath.6725:

So I figure there is very little to be upset about. Including cash-grab schemes, because if you are naive enough to think ANet is in the business of making everyone feel toasty warm inside instead of making money, then stop playing this game and get out in the real world a bit more and possibly get a job so you can understand what “business” means.

There is something to this, kind of.

Honestly, I think A-net is the ones being naive. In their efforts to get a smallish audience of people willing to gamble for miniatures to gamble away some cash, they are missing massive opportunity in the form of a game public that is very, very used to the concept of the F2P gaming model.

I’ll single myself out as an example. I’m 39 years old, middle class and have been playing computer games since before the introduction of the Atari 2600(I’m only quantifying this to give some idea of gaming experience and buying power). Raising kids and running a household, gaming is a very effective use of the entertainment dollar because a sixty dollar game will give many, many more days and hours of play than virtually any other expenditure of the same size. Incidentally, I’m also relatively close to the average demographic that is a solid target audience for F2P modelling—-this level of experience and buying power is the opposite of unique, it’s the norm.

With that much game experience little fluff items, especially when gambled for, are more or less a charity “tip” nod to the company that made a game. They don’t particularly extend the play time of the game and worse, if a person gets frustrated with an actual cash purchase, didn’t offer playability to keep them around to purchase the next batch. That isn’t to say offering “pay to win” items is the answer: players have overwhelmingly voted with their wallets against this model and in my opinion, rightly so.

So what’s a company to do? They need a product to sell, and it needs to be something people will actually feel gives them value. Here’s the stuff I usually see as value added:

1. Character/Bank slots, etc. They don’t affect character power, but are very value added. The game has offered them up, thankfully, and I’m sure they are among the most common purchases.

2. Just let people buy the minis, and absolutely, positively don’t give them away to those that do not. No gambling, no repeats obtainable in game. Volume makes up the added cash from the few willing to test RNG with real cash.

3. Give skins for armor/weapons that are unique to the store.

4. Let obtainable in game fluff be purchasable, in its entirety. Armor/Weapons, minis, etc. If a person would simply rather buy aesthetics, for petes sake let them. It doesn’t hurt anyone and can only help.

Some of this stuff is kinda/sorta available, but is either horrendously priced or not in a variety worthy of note. In my opinion, this is a much better model than kitten off the few people that are willing to test RNG once or twice, inevitably leaving a longer term audience with significantly less interest in purchases.

Allow me to give some counter points

1> I agree these are great things.
2> On the fence here. While I’d love to have all the minis, they start to mean less when everyone else has them. If I saw LA full of Foostivoos, I wouldn’t care for it as much anymore.
3> It may be unique to the store, but if everyone is running around with it, it looks less cool
4> I believe there should be more fluff available in the store, but I want stuff that’s rare as well. So there should always be some items that are harder to get than others. So the ones who do end up getting it will get to enjoy that privilege. That “awe” factor.

RNG for real money is GAMBLING no matter how you look at it and it should be ILLEGAL and should be BANNED and DISCOURAGED.

I personally don’t spend money for RNG nor I even support RNG with gold in game. I hate it and ANET should be a shame for doing this with REAL MONEY.

Jrunyon.3012:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

RNG for real money is GAMBLING no matter how you look at it and it should be ILLEGAL and should be BANNED and DISCOURAGED.

I personally don’t spend money for RNG nor I even support RNG with gold in game. I hate it and ANET should be a shame for doing this with REAL MONEY.

Yeah okay Sir Vincent III, What are you, 10?

You don’t have to be a minor to see that it is gambling — with REAL MONEY — and there’s a law about that and in many States, it’s ILLEGAL.

I’d rather like to see ANET’s response to this issue since this is not just virtual money, but REAL MONEY.

To be fair I find what ANet did with the shop a good thing, the drive people have to farm and offer tons of money for minis comes from wanting to have the full collection something which is now impossible and should cure quite a few people from bad spending habits.

Whether you agree or disagree with it the games and their companies that use the Mystery Box / Gacha / whathaveyou type of system go over it very thoroughly with their legal teams to make sure it does not fall under gambling law, especially in the states that host their servers.

All you can really do is vote with your wallet and voice your displeasure and hope the commerce team listens.