Cartel Packs make vegas odds look great

[uziforyou]

This is more of a post for EA/Bio but feel free to comment if you think i am on point with this.

 

Overall i have picked up around 20 packs from the cartel market, out of these 20 i recived 0 sets of gear , about 5 sand whatever speeders, and for the most part nothing but those stupid see through chest parts. now the reason i tried was for the mounts, and the white crystals, no luck. so if out of 20 tries i could not get either mount, a set of gear, any new weapons, and no pets what is the point?

 

Please for our and your sake change the loot table so it stops giving us worthless crafting goods, or everyone will stop buying them. Until things change i will never buy another one.

 

I've yet to purchase any cartel packs (or anything else for that matter) even though it's tempting to do something with my cartel coins. But reading this thread has convinced me to be patient and just keep saving my coins for a rainy day.

[smellmop]

if you have cc coins, just buy the packs then list the packs on the gtn for 300-350K, then go and buy the shiny items you want from the gtn.

[Goretzu]

hey vagas has a limit on the odds, they have to have their machines set to a spicific take-in/payout. i don't believe that the cartels coin bags have any set % and if they did, their BIG PAY-OUT or the items that EA knows are the wanted items fall with in reason. im sure .01% is not what i would call reasonable.

 

In some places they are classed as lotteries, although whether that goes as far as regulating odds is another issue.

 

But yes, it's something certainly the EU law makers are looking at.

[Blackardin]

This is more of a post for EA/Bio but feel free to comment if you think i am on point with this.

 

Overall i have picked up around 20 packs from the cartel market, out of these 20 i recived 0 sets of gear , about 5 sand whatever speeders, and for the most part nothing but those stupid see through chest parts. now the reason i tried was for the mounts, and the white crystals, no luck. so if out of 20 tries i could not get either mount, a set of gear, any new weapons, and no pets what is the point?

 

Please for our and your sake change the loot table so it stops giving us worthless crafting goods, or everyone will stop buying them. Until things change i will never buy another one.

 

The chances are very slim that anyone from Bioware will read this unless it is forwarded to them as indication that their current system is working to provide additional profits beyond game subscriptions.

 

You've spent around $60.00 or so beyond your subscription because you haven not received said items. That will only motivate them to maintain the current "odds" in their favor as the insinuation is that you will continue to spend more money until you get the particular armors that you seek.

 

They are not interested in whether or not you get the gear in question. They are not interested in your frustration. They are only interested in separating you from your money, which is working. That is what gambling is, that is the motivation, that is how it works. There is only one way to beat those odds. Do not play.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Blackardin

[FooBard]

What cracks me up, is the people who have spent in excess of $500 on these packs.

 

No, actually, it is very sad.

Edited January 14, 2013 by FooBard

[Blackardin]

What cracks me up, is the people who have spent in excess of $500 on these packs.

 

No, actually, it is very sad.

 

What strikes me as even more sad is that this method of earning is going to prove to be so successful that it may very well move the genre in this new direction as it far exceeds the revenue of subscription based MMOs.

 

Players are not only killing their own wallets, they are killing the genre as we know it.

[Monoth]

What strikes me as even more sad is that this method of earning is going to prove to be so successful that it may very well move the genre in this new direction as it far exceeds the revenue of subscription based MMOs.

 

Players are not only killing their own wallets, they are killing the genre as we know it.

 

here's an interesting article on that...

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/611721-regulation-may-alter-mmo-landscape-part-1

 

One of the more interesting points in the article was that MMO's tend to spend more resources making more of these gambling boxes then quality content for the game. Mainly because the profit margins are huge for the gambling boxes....

 

I expect game content to trickle out from Bioware as we keep seeing new cartel boxes every month. I'm not going to be to shocked if Makeeb is nothing more then maybe 10 hrs worth of playable content... Basically another HK-51 let down... The story for HK-51 was paper thin, and other than a few stories he tells when you get his affection rating up he's pretty much quiet the rest of the game.

 

My prediction will be that Bioware will put the minimum resources towards content and bank on cartel boxes...

Edited January 15, 2013 by Monoth

[LogicalPremise]

The problem is not with the low rates, it's with the fact that so much of the bag content is useless.

 

STO endured this for some time before they wised up and tried to make sure each pack had something people could use, as well as a secondary currency form that allowed other purchases.

 

Things you could do to improve the packs (and sales)

 

- a chance for a 'BH pack' or 'Rak Pack' that would drop BH or Rak tokens

- powerful healing consumables

- powerful adrenal consumables

- crafting mission drops

- special item mods (enhancements, augments) that can't be crafted and that have unusual bonuses

- additional skins for companions or even our ships

 

If you open a bunch of packs and get nothing of use, at all, you are far less likely to buy additional packs. Vegas works by letting you win a little and then reeling you in. If I buy 10 packs and obtain nothing from doing so, then my cost of doing business is completely sunk.

 

If we're going to use the methodology "just buy packs sell on GTN and get credits", BW should just sell credits for $$$ and get it over with.

[Darth-Rammstein]

I bought like $20 or so of cartel packs the first day of the f2p patch. I didn't really get anything worth while, I got some speeders and I thought great those will sell! Check gtn and those speeders are super common and selling for under 10k credits. I found that if you want to make credits off the packs you are far better off just selling the packs themselves for like 250-300k a pop. People surprisingly buy them, idk why they would spend so many credits on a gamble box when they could save it and buy the actual items for alittle more.

[Gabrandt]

It's cheaper to just buy the items you want. Really. =P

[Draekos]

here's an interesting article on that...

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/611721-regulation-may-alter-mmo-landscape-part-1

 

One of the more interesting points in the article was that MMO's tend to spend more resources making more of these gambling boxes then quality content for the game. Mainly because the profit margins are huge for the gambling boxes....

 

I expect game content to trickle out from Bioware as we keep seeing new cartel boxes every month. I'm not going to be to shocked if Makeeb is nothing more then maybe 10 hrs worth of playable content... Basically another HK-51 let down... The story for HK-51 was paper thin, and other than a few stories he tells when you get his affection rating up he's pretty much quiet the rest of the game.

 

My prediction will be that Bioware will put the minimum resources towards content and bank on cartel boxes...

 

I agree and it is a very real concern. This team has taken the easiest path at every turn since launch.

[xorcist]

This is more of a post for EA/Bio but feel free to comment if you think i am on point with this.

 

Overall i have picked up around 20 packs from the cartel market, out of these 20 i recived 0 sets of gear , about 5 sand whatever speeders, and for the most part nothing but those stupid see through chest parts. now the reason i tried was for the mounts, and the white crystals, no luck. so if out of 20 tries i could not get either mount, a set of gear, any new weapons, and no pets what is the point?

 

Please for our and your sake change the loot table so it stops giving us worthless crafting goods, or everyone will stop buying them. Until things change i will never buy another one.

 

They should just put up the good stuff for a price BOP. and BOE through the packs. I bought 24 packs. got a phantom helm, 4 cyan blue endurance crystals that can't be sold on the GTN because of a bug or something, and a rifle. Sold them anyway... Didn't even come close to my monies worth. Everything else was junk. The chances are way too low for something really good, and is too rich for my blood to be worth a try.

I could dump a crap load of money on Cartel Coins for packs. But by the time I got something worthwhile that I want, I think I'd feel sick to my stomach when I find out how much real money it took me to get it. Turning a feeling of victory into a feeling of defeat and regret. "Oh the money helps them run the game". Whatever, I pay my $15 a month. That should be more than enough of a contribution from now on. I will not be buying another pack. You can take your Cartel Packs and kindly shove it Cory. But hey, thats just how I feel about the subject.

[xorcist]

I agree and it is a very real concern. This team has taken the easiest path at every turn since launch.

 

I also agree.

[Rezakh]

I agree and it is a very real concern. This team has taken the easiest path at every turn since launch.

 

I also agree with this sentiment and, at this stage, you'd be bordering on gullible if you did not think that EA/BW was just looking to take the path of least resistance rather than try for some meaningful content. This is why I am not pre-ordering the Makeb DLC (we're being charged for a content patch, its NOT an expansion).

 

As for as the drop rate from the packs are concerned, I am wondering if they actually nerfed them in a recent patch. Because I am actually watching values on some of the rarer items that come out of them go up and there seem to be a lot of complaints about them. Admittedly, none of this is mathematical and since we're talking odds, this is all just subjective reasoning...but it is still intriguing nonetheless.

 

Also, just because packs are listing on the AH for 300+K does not mean they're selling (seeing many of the GTN listings going down to minutes), just be aware of that if you decide to buy them off the CM and sell them unopened on the GTN.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Rezakh

[Knockerz]

I also agree with this sentiment and, at this stage, you'd be bordering on gullible if you did not think that EA/BW was just looking to take the path of least resistance rather than try for some meaningful content. This is why I am not ore-ordering the Makeb DLC (we're being charged for a content patch, its NOT an expansion).

 

As for as the drop rate from the packs are concerned, I am wondering if they actually nerfed them in a recent patch. Because I am actually watching values on some of the rarer items that come out of them go up and there seem to be a lot of complaints about them. Admittedly, none of this is mathematical and since we're talking odds, this is all just subjective reasoning...but it is still intriguing nonetheless.

 

Also, just because packs are listing on the AH for 300+K does not mean they're selling (seeing many of the GTN listings going down to minutes), just be aware of that if you decide to buy them off the CM and sell them unopened on the GTN.

 

Most likely people aren't buying cartel packs as much like in the beginning. There are more packs than at launch of cartel store. Thus, the price of rare items and even the more common items have gone up. On the plus side there are more variety of cartel items list on gtm, but items seem to be more expensive.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Knockerz

[Blarpped]

Casinos don't exist so people can win. They exist to make money. No different with gambling packs in cash shops.

[Knockerz]

here's an interesting article on that...

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/611721-regulation-may-alter-mmo-landscape-part-1

 

One of the more interesting points in the article was that MMO's tend to spend more resources making more of these gambling boxes then quality content for the game. Mainly because the profit margins are huge for the gambling boxes....

 

I expect game content to trickle out from Bioware as we keep seeing new cartel boxes every month. I'm not going to be to shocked if Makeeb is nothing more then maybe 10 hrs worth of playable content... Basically another HK-51 let down... The story for HK-51 was paper thin, and other than a few stories he tells when you get his affection rating up he's pretty much quiet the rest of the game.

 

My prediction will be that Bioware will put the minimum resources towards content and bank on cartel boxes...

 

I personally think mmorpg taking route is reminiscent of subscription base mmorpg. Players will eventually not buy gambling packs sorta like how players got fed up with subscription base mmorpg not delivering what they promise. Gear, pets, vehicles, or any other vanity item is fine, but if you don't have content in which to show it off with your gear stats I say it's about as pointless as like WoW model viewer. Just wait there will be some major mmorpg that will over do this and loss too many subscribers or customers due to lack of meaningful content.

[Grendelwolf]

I have spent $40.00 on cartel coins, and aside from the 2 Revans chest , Blue stamina crystal, and a couple speeders I felt completely ripped off. Thank goodness I spent some of my Christmas money on it and not my own money.

 

As much as I would like to have the Revens mask or the White LS crystal, I will not spend another dollar on buying another pack just to wind up with junk.

 

Personally I think they should have specific packs for specific things like a Revans pack that contains Revens armor set , crystal pack, etc.

 

If I knew that I was guaranteed something that I want from each pack that I buy, I might buy more.

[Goretzu]

They are not interested in whether or not you get the gear in question. They are not interested in your frustration. They are only interested in separating you from your money, which is working. That is what gambling is, that is the motivation, that is how it works. There is only one way to beat those odds. Do not play.

 

This is indeed the absolute Truth.

 

 

 

I think I'd actually have a P2W system like Planetside 2 (which is P2W, but is a very clever version of it which leaves you mostly competative without having to pay) rather than Gambling Packs.

[Shaz]

Casinos don't exist so people can win. They exist to make money. No different with gambling packs in cash shops.

They are not interested in whether or not you get the gear in question. They are not interested in your frustration. They are only interested in separating you from your money, which is working. That is what gambling is, that is the motivation, that is how it works. There is only one way to beat those odds. Do not play.

 

I was a casino dealer for years. My husband still is. The odds always, ALWAYS favor the house, often quite drastically. Gambling is not to make you rich. Gambling is not to even give you a CHANCE at becoming rich. Gambling is to make the casino owners rich, nothing more.

 

Gambling packs aren't there to make the players happy. Gambling packs are only there to make EA/BW money, nothing more. If they wanted to make players happy, they'd let players buy what they wanted... but then they'd only make their money once, off the item the player wanted. That's not enough money. They want more. That's all they want. More money. This is a business. I recognize that. Of course they want money. I just detest how blatantly they're going after it, how focused it all is on money money money.

 

To be honest, even though I mentioned casinos above, this can hardly be equated to gambling in a casino. At least if I were to go gamble at a casino, I might go with friends, we might surround a table, we might joke and have fun for a while, and when I lost, I could consider the lost money the price I paid to have fun with friends. (Unless I were a slot addict, but that's not actually gambling... that's throwing money away, kinda like...oh yes. Cartel Gambling Packs.) Cartel Gambling Packs give me nothing. They aren't a game I can play, and it's not an experience I can share with friends. It's dumping my money at the exceedingly rare chance I'd 'win'. Hell, I can't even get comp'd dinner for spending my time and money on the Gambling Packs like I can get for spending my time and money at a casino. (You Cartel Gambling Pack high rollers are really getting shortchanged here.)

 

No thank you. I refuse to support such a callous money-grabbing system. I play to have fun, not to throw my money away. I'm happy to buy items I want, but I will never waste my time or money on a slot machine.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Shaz