The Contraband Slot Machine

[lightSaberAddiCt]

I've dropped about 3 mil into this machine since the big nerf still trying to get the mount. No mount yet, and i've gotten 3 certificates. I'm wondering if the mount even drops anymore.

 

Wow blast from the past here, didnt know anyone even still bothered with that thing

[dr_mike]

Wow blast from the past here, didnt know anyone even still bothered with that thing

 

There's a few other threads on this recently including one where a staff member mentioned that it is on their list to look into.

 

Haven;t heard anything back since then.

[Loranae]

After beeing reminded of those machines by this thread, i decided by a moody day big headache to test my *luck*

 

Started with 1.5 millions credits, got 2083 coins.

 

And there started the right click mouse boring for long hours BUT i did get 3 cartel certificats, some jawas (of each sorts) and a whole lot of money back for selling the rep items wons.

 

So as i reinvested half of the selling into the machine, i spend 2m100 credits.

 

Those certificats avoided me to buy a pricey item at 45M on the gtn and to get it at the Bazar, so, for the moody day it was not bad

 

But ahhhh boring indeed

Edited June 3, 2016 by Loranae

[LordArtemis]

Are the cartel certificates still good at the bazaar, or did they remove the vendor?

[Focusangel]

The vendors should still be there, but most of the items you can buy require high reputation with the cartel market factions, which you cant get anymore.

Unless they added something recently - didn't pay much attention.

[Tsillah]

Ok last one for tonight as I really have to go....but this slot machine was also an RNG issue right?

[LordArtemis]

The vendors should still be there, but most of the items you can buy require high reputation with the cartel market factions, which you cant get anymore.

Unless they added something recently - didn't pay much attention.

 

Ah...well, that is certainly disappointing.

[bncsmom]

The vendors should still be there, but most of the items you can buy require high reputation with the cartel market factions, which you cant get anymore.

Unless they added something recently - didn't pay much attention.

 

 

Correction: You can get the reputation with those factions, as they do release the packs from time to time. They just don't release them nearly as often as they used to because they want to push the new packs from this stupidly large "shipment" they've utilized now for two expansions.

[micmitja]

Ok last one for tonight as I really have to go....but this slot machine was also an RNG issue right?

 

It was nice farming place for cartel certificates and scraps, but ppl were crying so much that few weeks later they have nerf it to the ground now its useless, only for reputation and thats it.

[Jamtas]

[Andryah]

Ok last one for tonight as I really have to go....but this slot machine was also an RNG issue right?

 

More like an RNG debate. Though really... it was the loot table.. not RNG per se.

 

Some people complaining the original was too rich in payout, or an exploit, with others disagreeing and Bioware first stated (in writing, in the forum) that it was working as intended, then shortly thereafter.... changed the loot table variables to where the drop rates on anything other then faction tokens was essentially nil. Oh, and they also raised the price on the tokens, which I never understood and really don't care.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Andryah

[Jeweledleah]

Ok last one for tonight as I really have to go....but this slot machine was also an RNG issue right?

 

after a fashion, yes. originally, it rewarded jawa scraps and cartel certificates fairly often. it was rng, but the rng that was favorable to players. so... they nerfed it. its still rng, but now its more like GC boxes. you mostly get useless rep, very rarely you may get a cartel certificate and occasional jawa scrap.. and I'm not even sure what percentage is for the mount. something ultra low.

[Andryah]

after a fashion, yes. originally, it rewarded jawa scraps and cartel certificates fairly often. it was rng, but the rng that was favorable to players. so... they nerfed it. its still rng, but now its more like GC boxes. you mostly get useless rep, very rarely you may get a cartel certificate and occasional jawa scrap.. and I'm not even sure what percentage is for the mount. something ultra low.

 

Can't even disintegrate the rep rewards for more slot tokens.

[Jeweledleah]

Can't even disintegrate the rep rewards for more slot tokens.

 

well... technically, vendoring them to buy more token could serve as equivalent. since both work at a loss.

[AshlaBoga]

Can't even disintegrate the rep rewards for more slot tokens.

 

Really, they did need to nerf the Purple Jawa scrap since it was cheaper to get it from the slot machine than from the relevant crew skills.

 

But aside from that, it was alright.

 

They made it OP, and then they nerfed it from orbit.

 

They should have followed it up with a slight buff. But they didn't and that apparently angered players.

I really never understood their shock, by the time of this incident BW had stated many things were "working as intended" only to later change their minds. Clearly different devs have different opinions, and so when they have to say something they frequently just do the exact opposite a month later.

[eartharioch]

Ah...well, that is certainly disappointing.

 

Had people not wailed and gnashed their teeth so loudly at the *possibly slight over*nerf, the galaxy might now have been filled with machines to grant the other rep.

 

For the record, I did some experiments lately, and I managed to get 3 certs in maybe 1 hr of playing (I have two machines, though) at a cost of less than CR 500K each (which is nothing in our currently inflated economy). I can do this while right-clicking in a minimized window while surfing the web.

Edited December 12, 2016 by eartharioch

[AscendingSky]

Had people not wailed and gnashed their teeth so loudly at the *possibly slight over*nerf, the galaxy might now have been filled with machines to grant the other rep.

 

For the record, I did some experiments lately, and I managed to get 3 certs in maybe 1 hr of playing (I have two machines, though) at a cost of less than CR 500K each (which is nothing in our currently inflated economy). I can do this while right-clicking in a minimized window while surfing the web.

 

Cool story bro. I maxed out the Contraband rep (which I had 0 points in before) and didn't earn a single Cartel Certificate or any Jawa Junk. A lot of people have told me the same. So you got lucky, good for you. The odds are still too low--especially since there is no other source of Cartel Certificates anymore, since they took them out of the last few shipments of packs without explanation, and ignore all questions about why.

 

Also, literally nothing is stopping EAWare from coming out with more slot machine decorations for the different reps with the same drop rates as the existing machine. People are unhappy about the drop rates, they weren't complaining about the slot machine existing at all.

Edited December 13, 2016 by AscendingSky

[eartharioch]

Cool story bro.

You know what else is a "cool story", "bro"? Everything else I've posted in this thread...which, like the thread itself, dates back to 2015-01-16 (several months before you showed up, it appears).

 

I maxed out the Contraband rep (which I had 0 points in before) and didn't earn a single Cartel Certificate or any Jawa Junk. A lot of people have told me the same. So you got lucky, good for you. The odds are still too low--especially since there is no other source of Cartel Certificates anymore, since they took them out of the last few shipments of packs without explanation, and ignore all questions about why.

Cool story, bro. Sorry you and yours were unlucky. And thanks for your opinion, backed up by absolutely 0 math at all. If you want to know why it got nerfed, you can start reading here (http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=7959582&postcount=151), although there may be a few earlier posts.

 

Also, literally nothing is stopping EAWare from coming out with more slot machine decorations for the different reps with the same drop rates as the existing machine. People are unhappy about the drop rates, they weren't complaining about the slot machine existing at all.

Also literally, "nothing" has no stopping power, so it can't be stopping EAWare from doing anything.

 

Thanks for telling me literally nothing I didn't already know (and post in this very thread).

[Andryah]

Really, they did need to nerf the Purple Jawa scrap since it was cheaper to get it from the slot machine than from the relevant crew skills.

 

But aside from that, it was alright.

 

They made it OP, and then they nerfed it from orbit.

 

They should have followed it up with a slight buff. But they didn't and that apparently angered players.

I really never understood their shock, by the time of this incident BW had stated many things were "working as intended" only to later change their minds. Clearly different devs have different opinions, and so when they have to say something they frequently just do the exact opposite a month later.

 

No disagreement.

 

In fact, that was what many people were saying.... tone down the purple Jawa junk some ... and they (the studio) said... yeah we are going to tone the jawa junk down some...... and then they nuked the whole loot table until it glowed, and added a super rare drop rate mount as their version of balance.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Andryah

[sparkdva]

I have three of those slot machines in my stronghold. They are pretty useless right now. Since the slot machine is no longer sold in a pack I think they should really buff the thing. But that is a lomg shot so they will probably continue to be useless.

[eartharioch]

[in fact, that was what many people were saying.... tone down the purple Jawa junk some ... and they (the studio) said... yeah we are going to tone the jawa junk down some...... and then they nuked the whole loot table until it glowed, and added a super rare drop rate mount as their version of balance.

 

LOL, confused <> salty. People (including me) discussed the abusive drop rate of the certs (which is what you mean when you say "the whole loot table"), they just didn't get *as much* air time because they were much less problematic -- but "much less problematic" than [purple] jawa junk is a *far* cry from being anywhere close to acceptable as was.

 

Certs needed to be nerfed -- not necessarily as hard as they were, but they needed nerfing. The only thing patch notes would have given you is another 24 hours or so of abusing the machine. Quit acting like *the lack of notice* was the straw that broke your back.

Edited December 13, 2016 by eartharioch

[Tsillah]

It was nice farming place for cartel certificates and scraps, but ppl were crying so much that few weeks later they have nerf it to the ground now its useless, only for reputation and thats it.

 

Yeah from what I remember the original iteration was really too good to be true as the risk/profit balance was way out of whack. Especially for those who spent a lot of money on cartel packs to get the certificate that was the proverbial slap in the face.

 

But basically initially the rewards were too good and then were nerfed into the ground resulting in an uproar. So BWA with that experience decided it was a good idea to do the same with endgame gearing. First it was too good to be true (4.0) and now it's nerfed into the ground with RNG.

 

Interesting choice.

[SebastiaanZ]

LOL, confused <> salty. People (including me) discussed the abusive drop rate of the certs (which is what you mean when you say "the whole loot table"), they just didn't get *as much* air time because they were much less problematic -- but "much less problematic" than [purple] jawa junk is a *far* cry from being anywhere close to acceptable as was.

 

Certs needed to be nerfed -- not necessarily as hard as they were, but they needed nerfing. The only thing patch notes would have given you is another 24 hours or so of abusing the machine. Quit acting like *the lack of notice* was the straw that broke your back.

 

The entire slot machine nerf was uncalled for. Good that this is bumped up again. They need to fix it to appease both sides. They went WAY TO FAR with the nerf. I agree the drop rate of the mat things was way to big, but nerfing it to the ground was a backstabbing move from Bioware. They need to balance it out.

[DiamondDove]

I had go and rummage around my Nar Shad stronghold after reading this necro-thread to see if I still had a CSM. I had to move a few crates, blow off some cobwebs and dust but it's still there, and it still doesn't work as intended.

[Furh]

Oh man CSM...the last time SWTOR died LOL

 

What is it like for the couple of dozen posters who have been crying the death of swtor for FIVE YEARS because of the things like the CSM and RNG?