Bristol Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Hey folks, We know that there have been many questions about the Contraband Slot Machine and its intent. Here are a few notes on it: The Contraband Slot Machine is not bugged.It is 100% not an exploit to use the Slot Machine.If you feel the desire to sell access to your Stronghold, that’s totally up to you. As a reminder, do not scam people as that is against ToS.We added the Slot Machine as a fun idea based on the positive feedback from the Nightlife event, so spend those credits to your heart’s content! With that being said, we do hear the concern from many of you around the effects of the Jawa Junk’s drop rate on the economy. We are going to take a look at it and make changes accordingly. I will let you know once I know more. In the meantime, have fun! -eric There was so much talk on the forums that the slot machines were an exploit that I did not buy any crates until I saw THIS post from Eric. I then spend 2,500 CC and got 2 slot machines. I ONLY bought the packs because of the slot machine that was, as stated by Eric "The Contraband Slot Machine is not bugged.". Bait and Switch much Guys...??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthDymond Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 "Not bugged" does not mean "will never be changed" - it has never meant that. It would have been bugged if someone misplaced a decimal point in the reward rats or if they'd accidentally flipped the drop rates of two of the items, or if there was supposed to be a lockout period like with the crafting nodes in the Strongholds that just wasn't triggering. What happened was, it worked exactly as they designed it to, then after looking at the effects they decided that design wasn't accomplishing what they intended. The enemies on Oricon weren't "bugged" when they had the aggro range they had originally, but BW still went ahead and changed that aggro range in response to how things played out after release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIVAvonFarstar Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Rolled 600 coins and the "new" results are: 117 - banned holovids (green rep) 96 - medical supplies (blue rep) 24 - confiscated artwork (purple rep) 0 - scavenged scrap 0 - droid parts 0 - jawa junk 0 - cartel certificate 0 - Mount this patch does need a hotfix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwonline Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 this patch does need a hotfix. At this point I think this game needs a management hotfix. The management of this game post 3.0 has been breathtaking, and I'm not talking in a good way. I can't wait to see their punishment for the Ravager exploit. Probably a name-and-shame, but they name innocent people by mistake and accidentally release their credit card info in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordArtemis Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 this patch does need a hotfix. It needs to be taken out to the back shed and shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadHoneyBadger Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 LOL good luck with that. He is right, since you bought the cartel packs or credits (not judging) you purchased a digital item and unless things have changed the last few years unless you are a company like Bioware suing against someone that has stolen hundreds of accounts two things will happen 1) the judge will laugh 2) any lawyer you try to hire will laugh. Another aspect is you bought the machine and are in possession, the said machine gives item that is suppose to. However when you created an account you signed the EULA http://www.swtor.com/legalnotices/euala and if you read the section "Reservation of Rights and Restrictions" even though you bought the account Bioware still owns the character and all digital items. This allows them to ban accounts for selling credits or accounts for real money. And you may say "i purchased CC with real money" you are correct and you got those CC and chose to get the slot machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaoslord Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 ok I want a Refund of our second Slot Machine that we bought yesterday night for 2,000,000 Cr, it was just fine the way it was yesterday night (Jan 20th 2015) now it is totally useless, we wouldn't had bought the 2nd machines if we had knew that you would of screw up that much with it. So you take it back. here is my numbers this morning... 3 x 99 Chips, 86 [banned Holovids], 53 [Prohibited Medical Supplies], 24 [Confiscated Artwork], 0 [scrap: Jawa Junk], 2 [scrap: Assorted Droid Parts], 0 [scrap: Scavenged Scrap] 0 [Cartel Market Certificate]. 0 Mount. RIDICULOUS!!!... I din't expect to get a mount to be honest BUT! I expected to get at least 10 Cartel Market Certificates and maybe some more crafting items, cause most of us if not all are already capped on Rep with that faction so what is the point of exchanging Credits for Chips, getting Rep Items then exchanging Rep back to Credits if you ain't gaining useful stuff and still loosing credits in the process? ..and don't tell me that out of 3 X 99 Chips getting 2 [scrap: Assorted Droid Parts] is useful. So our Guild here is really upset about how you handle the Slot Machine update and I don't think we will be using this machine anymore since it is simply ain't worth the lost of time and credits anymore. You had a great concept that you ruined in not even 10 days because of crafters/farmers whining about it. It seems that their opinions are some what heavy in this game, but what about everyone else?, aren't they important as well?. You guys Screwed up again Big Time BW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ksilvante Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 It needs to be taken out to the back shed and shot. In a nutshell this^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarathAnno Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Yeah this was an awful and uncalled for over reaction on BioWare's part. They didn't so much adjust the drop rate as murder it, burn the corpse, and salt the ground so nothing will grow there for the next 100 generations. I just wonder how anyone there though a change this extreme was a good idea,. Edited January 21, 2015 by KarathAnno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwonline Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 It needs to be taken out to the back shed and shot. "Alright slot machine, time to meet your...what the? MY CARTEL BLASTER ISN'T FIRING NOW." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordArtemis Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Heh. At any rate, this really bummed me out, I have to say. I was really looking forward to getting more machines, spending credits and getting access to more embargoed goodies. That plan is out the window now. It's disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zalio Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) As a crafter, I actually enjoyed having a Slot Machine. Sure, it made purple Grade 11 mats widely available and decreased the prices I could have sold my crafted items, but what I lost in higher priced sales I made up for it in the volume of more lower priced sales. Most people haven't focused on the green scraps but for me those were just as valuable. Why? Has anyone gone on harvesting runs in the lower level planets? Compared to Rishi/Yavin 4, the lower level planets are what I would consider to be practically barren of harvesting nodes. For example, some of the things I craft require Grade 6 green mats. I set aside two hours to harvest some mats on Corellia/Ilum and came away with approx 20 of each mat I needed. Sure, I could run harvesting missions (but they take time) or buy them off the GTN (they were being sold at high prices). The green scraps from the Slot Machine definitely made it easier to acquire the green mats I needed. I understand that BW did not want to completely eliminate the need to run harvesting missions but having a Slot Machine made up for the sparse harvesting nodes on the lower level planets. For Grade 11 mats, I usually harvest them myself on Yavin 4. My own experience with the Slot Machine this morning is similar to the OP. 200 tokens and not one scrap/droid part/jawa junk. Since I'm already maxed out on faction, there really is no point to continue using the Slot Machine except maybe to get the walker. Edit: Actually there really is no point to using the Slot Machine now, not even for the walker. From what I see in other posts, it looks like it is just a 90% speed walker. This is the super rare reward for using the Slot Machine? Why??? Edited January 21, 2015 by zalio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foambreaker Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 So, how exactly could you guys post something like this: And then change the drop rates of the machine to these extremes: EDIT: Removed the new slot machine chances because, apparantly, posts with those were being removed... I did an experiment to see if those numbers were true or exaggerated and here's what I got for exactly 100 coins: 100 coins. Gave me this. So going through exactly 100 coins I got 0 jawa junk, 0 droid parts, 0 scavanged scrap, 0 certificates, 0 mounts, 26 green rep tokes, 13 blue rep tokens and 4 purple rep tokens. This just screams of knee-jerk reaction to the whining on the forums. I'm not saying the machine shouldn't be changed (I suggested changing the odds of getting the jawa scrap to the same as the rep tokens earlier), but this has made the machine completely uninteresting for anyone who has maxed out the rep for that pack. It's not even a slightly viable option for crafters any more. The coins cost me 75.000 credits. My return on selling the rep items was 36.000 credits. And there was absolutely no gain from it whatsoever. So I ask you, how did it go from "there's nothing wrong with the machine, it's working as intended but we'll look at the drop rates of Jawa Junk because of the feedback on the forums" to "we have changed all the droprates so that you will get hardly any jawa scrap of any sort from the machine and we've also increased the price of using the machine" I'm just curious as to how you arrived that that solution. Because right now the machines are pointless to most of us. They certainly aren't "a fun idea based on the positive feedback from the Nightlife event". I seriuosly doubt anyone will use them at all now. Because I don't want to have to do missions to get Slicing mats for augments... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neoforcer Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) This is what 693 coins gets you not even worth spending 1 min doing. Now the slot machine will just be a deco kinda of a waste but good job Eric and BW. On another great waste of dev time you guys are batting 10,000 Edited January 21, 2015 by Neoforcer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiVaN_ Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) This is very much a knee jerk, over reaction. This is becoming the norm, but on a bright note ESO is going F2P with no restrictions in march so we can all hop over there and see if EA will actually fix anything or keep convulsing every time a medium sized group of people have a cow on the forums. The Slot machine was an awesome idea now it is a worthless piece of garbage in my SH. Maybe Wildstar will be F2P soon too, and I never did play Diablo 3 cause I was focused on SWTOR, those options sound better everyday and with every patch. Edited January 21, 2015 by RiVaN_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neoforcer Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 This is very much a knee jerk, over reaction. This is becoming the norm, but on a bright note ESO is going F2P with no restrictions in march so we can all hop over there and see if EA will actually fix anything or keep convulsing every time a medium sized group of people have a cow on the forums. The Slot machine was an awesome idea now it is a worthless piece of garbage in my SH. Maybe Wildstar will be F2P soon too, and I never did play Diablo 3 cause I was focused on SWTOR, those options sound better everyday and with every patch. Screw that i would rather play the EMU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordArtemis Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Because I don't want to have to do missions to get Slicing mats for augments... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesirableTom Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I'd like to preface this by stating that, for me, I never looked at the slot machine as a source of income. Did I make money off of it? Sure, but it's not the reason I used the machine, wanted the machine, anything. The reason I used and wanted this machine was for the purpose it was supposed to serve - making contraband resale & embargoed items obtainable by dropping rep items and cartel certificates. Having tried to obtain Revan's mask time and time again, yet never quite managing to build up the amount(s) asked for on the GTN, this machine was a God-send simply for that; not to mention all the other items that were now available to me. The Jawa scraps were only an extra, a bonus as far as I was concerned. In some cases, I sold the mats, in others I used them myself - but again, they neither made nor broke the slot machine for me. And I wasn't affected at all when it was said the drop rates for those would likely be altered, so that's not what gets me here. What gets me is the fact that, after stating everything was working as intended and citing possible changes for Jawa Junk, BioWare nerfed the entire PURPOSE of this slot machine into the ground with the decreased drops for cartel certificates. Because what good are rep items when you've either maxed out your rep, can't get the certs to make USE of that rep - or both? That's what gets me with this. I'm not upset about the Jawa scrap, I'm not "butthurt" about losing out on any guaranteed profit - I'm disappointed that the entire purpose behind this machine has been nerfed into the ground alongside everything else, and due to an overreaction at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dscount Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 BW - FIX IT... Was a supporter of this being balanced out, but the 99% cut for Jawa items is CRAP... Reports that Cartel Certificates got nerfed as well doesn't make sense. No mention of that being changed. Well... like every other *meh* deco this one is going back into the inventory. Sad... glad it wasn't an exploit and I got plenty of mats for my own use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infernixx Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 This is very much a knee jerk, over reaction. This is becoming the norm, but on a bright note ESO is going F2P with no restrictions in march so we can all hop over there and see if EA will actually fix anything or keep convulsing every time a medium sized group of people have a cow on the forums. The Slot machine was an awesome idea now it is a worthless piece of garbage in my SH. Maybe Wildstar will be F2P soon too, and I never did play Diablo 3 cause I was focused on SWTOR, those options sound better everyday and with every patch. Not exactly F2P. You still have to buy the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valthisia Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Heh. At any rate, this really bummed me out, I have to say. I was really looking forward to getting more machines, spending credits and getting access to more embargoed goodies. That plan is out the window now. It's disappointing. Completely agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XiamaraSimi Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) There was absolutely no reason to cut cert drops and roll the remaining percentage into LOSS. The scrap nerfs made sense...they said they did them based on their own internal goals...so I can give them a pass on that one. But to nerf the cert rates, increase the loss rate. That was just plain petty. I JUST BOUGHT THE DARN THING!!!. Now it has almost ZERO use since I am max rep. After all, that is all it was really good for in the first place, or should have been.....for rep and access to the embargoed items. They could have left out scraps completely AND PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE. Really, Bioware, you screwed the pooch on this one front and back. This really sets me off to no end. Having to agree with this post. Didn't really care about the jawa stuff, but I liked getting the occasional certificate, I use them to buy decorations for my strongholds, as well as decos I donate to my guilds flagship. After seeing the threads I tested with two stacks of coins. 43 green rep, 24 blue rep, and 12 purple rep items on top of the occasional free spin coin. No jawa mats of any kind (which again is fine, I have 16 characters to gather with for my mats needs) and zero certificates. that's so... perplexing. Yes we know you were going to nerf the machines, according to the yellow post the mats drops were being looked into, but it didn't say anything about nerfing everything else as well. Edited January 21, 2015 by XiamaraSimi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddballEasyEight Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Not exactly F2P. You still have to buy the game. Well people consider GW2 F2P and you have to buy the game there too so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branmakmuffin Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Well people consider GW2 F2P and you have to buy the game there too so... I thought GW2 was B2P. If so, perhaps people need to get clear on the differences between pure F2P, B2P, "freemium" and pure subscription-based. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JattaGin Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I would like to take a moment to thank BW for uniting this board's community. Never before have I seen a thread in which EVERYONE (except AdamLKvist) agrees with each other. Well done, BW, well done. Also, good job in making no one think about the exploit anymore. Perfect distraction plan you started last week. @Eric/Tait: I would very much like you to comment on the questions posted in the OP. I think Oddball has some very valid points. @BW: Hidden in this thread is a very interesting post about gambling odds in the USA from someone who works in the industry. You might want to have a look at it, because it explains how you keep someone playing something despite him losing something (hint: 89-90% winning ratio). And lastly: I quite like the idea someone posted that you keep the original droprates, but don't drop scrap/junk etc. but instead random mats from grade 1 to 11. That would have some extra fun effect for me and if I get 1 x Desh, it is officially a winning, but feels like a loss. My emotions would get mixed up = more fun, thrill and joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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