Guild Wars 2

moderation action: became off topic

TravisTrout.6803:

spencerharrison.8136:

To the posters insulting people who bought keys and expected an item:

We aren’t talking about the US economy or housing market. We’re talking about a stupid video game where people want to run around with a pumpkin rifle. Based on colorful advertising and good faith, a lot of people paid some money with the understanding that doing so would give them a “chance” at those items.

That “chance” is being proven to be aggressively small. Different people came into this with different expectations, but I do think its safe to say that the cost of keys, coupled with the tiny percent chance of a skin, equates to a more cynical policy than fans of Anet anticipated.

Fair enough. Lesson learned. Personal responsibility also means licking your wounds and moving on. Those that feel they got misled, will be less likely to give Anet cash like that on impulse.

In my opinion, that’s bad business for Anet, and less fun for the players who weren’t so lucky. It didn’t have to be that way, and I don’t think there is ANY harm in lambasting Anet for this mess. They can, and should do better by their players.

Well said.

There was nothing, not a scrap of info in the advertising and blogging leading up to this event, that told people the chance of getting a holiday item would be so dreadfully low. If people are using up scores of keys and coming up blank, they have every right to feel angry and even deceived.

I personally haven’t given them a cent apart from the box price and never will, because the game is so obviously a Korean-style RNG money sponge and I won’t reward anyone for that. It was masterfully done; I have to give them that. The early game really does deliver some cool new ideas about how these games could (and maybe even should) work. It’s not until you get to the end that you realize what the game really is.

That’s why I’m puzzled over this holiday key fiasco. It’s such a blatant money grab, which is at odds with the much more subtle way they normally reach for your wallet.

People who have played MMOs for a long time know what it looks like when holiday events are actually about fun holiday times. If there are cool appearance items to be had then they are obtained by doing quest chains and such. This… is not that. This is a shameless grab for your wallet. It is too blatant to be anything else.

Some will disagree. Some will argue just because they like to. I care not. The rest of you will know better than to give Anet a single cent more in the future. Do not reward their behavior. Make your feelings known by denying them what they want from you.

This

I’ve had my say, and the above sums my final feeling about the BLC part of this event.
GW2 is still my prime time game though it’s losing my interest fast.
We as players appreciate your hard work and respect Anet as a business entity.

But we do not want to have an RNG fun and market greed driven end game. Thanks!

PotatoOverdose.6583:

Pikafan.3792:

PotatoOverdose.6583:

spencerharrison.8136:

To the posters insulting people who bought keys and expected an item:

We aren’t talking about the US economy or housing market. We’re talking about a stupid video game where people want to run around with a pumpkin rifle. Based on colorful advertising and good faith, a lot of people paid some money with the understanding that doing so would give them a “chance” at those items.

That “chance” is being proven to be aggressively small. Different people came into this with different expectations, but I do think its safe to say that the cost of keys, coupled with the tiny percent chance of a skin, equates to a more cynical policy than fans of Anet anticipated.

Fair enough. Lesson learned. Personal responsibility also means licking your wounds and moving on. Those that feel they got misled, will be less likely to give Anet cash like that on impulse.

In my opinion, that’s bad business for Anet, and less fun for the players who weren’t so lucky. It didn’t have to be that way, and I don’t think there is ANY harm in lambasting Anet for this mess. They can, and should do better by their players.

The chance isn’t aggressively small if most of the items can currently be bought for less than 10 gold, especially given how everyone seems to want these items and thus the demand is inflated.

Only 1 Item, the greatsword, costs significantly more than that (55 gold). People wanted a chainsaw greatsword. That want overcame their restraint, and many of them spent with their credit cards to buy keys. That’s a lack of responsibility.

Every single other weapon costs about as much as a decent skinned exotic in terms of gold. Every. Single. One.

Its a classic case of demand outpacing supply, in this case for one particular item. This led to many making bad decisions. We can pity them, but it is no one elses fault but their own.

In the meantime, the scythe staff skin is currently going for 40g, I am sure those “10g” and below items were skins people don’t want, or simply don’t exist. But thank you for skewing one small fact to try and suit your flawed portrayal of a larger picture.

Current Prices (1:39 am October 23):
The Chain sword (one handed) is 8 gold (and falling). No one wants a chainsaw sword. Nope. No one.
The Rifle is 5 gold.
The Shield is 20 gold.
The dagger is 8 gold. No dagger thiefs out there, mhmmm.
All 9 of the shoulder pads (3 of light, medium, and heavy) are all worth 5-10 gold. No one wants spikey skull shoulder pads. Nope, no one.

Yup, I REALLY skewed it. Those drops must be SO rare, to be worth less than typical “cool skinned” exotics.

Reality is this: The greatsword is used by Guardians, Mesmers, Warriors, and Rangers. 3 Of those classes have very popular greatsword builds.

Staves are also used by Necros,Guardians, Mesmers, and Elementalist. Again, higher demand.

Basic supply and demand. The drops are fine, judging by market prices of say…the one handed chainsaw. Demand is skewed toward the items used by most classes. Common sense.

Fact is players are succumbed to market forces, just like in the RL, when we are supposed to have fun in this game.

Rich exploiting the poor and the unknowing, to get richer and make the poor work harder.

There is a certain degree how this have to be allowed to make the market work, but the trend is worrying.
If this continues, i don’t know whether i should continue playing or not.

neon.4863:

BTIGER.3160:

If casinos had forums then it would be full of people complaining how much they lost too.

Oh, no doubt. I don’t feel sorry for people who gamble at casinos, but mostly because you should know your odds of winning are tiny, and you should also know they let you win sometimes to bait you into gambling more in hopes of increasing your winnings.

I’ll be a lot more careful about randomized cash shop items now, though. I admittedly haven’t touched an MMO for longer than a couple of days since Ragnarok Online (well before Ragnarok Online even had a cash shop) so I am pretty out of touch with how they work.

I remember RO.

This is unfortunately basically how most F2P games operate for profit, from the lowliest kind to the high profile ones

Yoshihito.5928:

This should have been solved immediately. It’s unacceptable that ArenaNet pulled this BS with the BLC’s. Time to hire more competent people.

Anet must know that the majority player’s fun cannot be at the expense of :

1. RNG, especially when it comes to RL money
2. minority of people controlling the game economy

It is not simple or easy creating balance for the game mechanism, like the Mystic Forge, but it is beyond understanding that an event that is designed to entertain players, having to have this debacle. They could have simply sold the most coveted vanity items in gem store for a fixed amount of gems. And more skin designs in BLC for those who like the thrills of gambling and winning the odds. Just costumes won’t cut it, because PvE look is what defines the character for many people.

Anet can maintain player’s fun, immersion, and attention without backlash of any sort.
If you want to make big profits not just profit, you need to get a smarter way to do it. This is as counter productive as it can be in the long run.

Thank you Regina for your patience and support.

ReginaBuenaobra.6953:

You are not guaranteed to receive a rare item after opening a Black Lion Chest. You have a chance to get a unique/rare item. Some people are luckier than others. The Halloween skins are tradeable, so if you aren’t able to get them in a Black Lion Chest, you can obtain them on the Trading Post.

I appreciate your feedback.

So i wonder, if ArenaNet’s philosophy on this Halloween event is to allow some players profit from the other’s gold, or in some cases RL money.

What about those who can’t be online at the perfect time for the event, and have to patch hours later, when the market is already inflated.
Why can’t the dev just sell the costumes, or weapon skins for gems, instead of putting them inside the gamble chest, i’d perfectly happy to pay for that.

Let’s just call the BLC the Gamble Chest from now on, and the mystic forge the Mystic Roulette.

It seems player must be lucky to have fun lately. Or grind a bloody amount of gold in Orr, and no other way.
I’ve just spent 50$ on another game where i can have a permanent in game feature, and i will be happy to spend some money if it’s not such a bad gamble.