Tait/Eric, some of us would like to talk to you about the Slot Machine changes.

[SpectralGhost]

I just finished my own two stack sample size before coming here (it felt too much of a waste of time and credits to continue experimenting), and after reading the results from others at least I can see that my results were in line with the new rates; I was afraid I was maybe just having a bad day.

 

It must be admitted, though, that this is rather impressive as it's another instance to add to the list of things in the game since launch that were at one time enjoyable, or at least fine as they were, but have been nerfed into the ground based on foot-stamping and screaming on the forums, poor player execution enabling skewed experience complaints and stories, and usually an annoyingly persistent combination of the two. I know the usual reasoning is that said changes are made due to not being in line with the "metrics", but many times I wonder myself if the "metrics" are always the actual game data and not how close the forum whinometer is to pegging to the far right.

 

Meanwhile, actual broken game mechanics, gold spammers, and even glaringly obvious bots that I still see running around in some areas and have reported, clicking their heels as they go, remain in the game.

 

However, it's all cool. Now that the slots are worthless once reputation for them is maxed (unless you really want that mount I guess, or enjoy watching the spinner on the front go around), I'm looking forward to going back to watching the load screens while I hop around locations trying to get a crew skill mission that actually has a possibility of returning a useful material.

[AlrikFassbauer]

I'll continue to whine in general chat about my bad luck in trying to get level 11 materials.

[CloudCastle]

Does getting this contraband reputation do anything for you without the Cartel Certificates? I'm not in game at the moment, so I can't check, but I thought that last I looked everything at the vendors required rep and certificates (a minimum of 10 I think?) I don't understand what the use of getting rep items is if there are no certs to go with it.

 

For the record, I consider a drop rate of less than 1% to be essentially equal to zero. I don't even have the kind of credits it would take to get that many certs so I could buy something.

 

I not sure I understand what the point of the slot machine is anymore?

[Xeyska]

Does getting this contraband reputation do anything for you without the Cartel Certificates? I'm not in game at the moment, so I can't check, but I thought that last I looked everything at the vendors required rep and certificates (a minimum of 10 I think?) I don't understand what the use of getting rep items is if there are no certs to go with it.

 

For the record, I consider a drop rate of less than 1% to be essentially equal to zero. I don't even have the kind of credits it would take to get that many certs so I could buy something.

 

I not sure I understand what the point of the slot machine is anymore?

 

There are some items you can get without CMCs, but for the rest of them they are required.

 

You have a better chance in buying CM packs to get CMCs than from the slot machines at their current rate.

[NSaynKnutt]

I couldn't care less about the stupid mat drops. More Jawa Junk, less Jawa Junk, who cares?

 

But there was absolutely no reason to nerf the cert drops and increase the chances of losing! My guild bought a couple of slot machines and I played them a bit before the nerf for rep and certs. Now it'll be completely useless once I max out my rep. There's no way I'm spending credits on that thing when the chance of anything but a rep drop is that low.

 

• 
  The Contraband Slot Machine’s Jawa Junk, Droid Parts, Scavenged Scrap, and Cartel Market Certificate drop rates have been drastically reduced, the loss rate has been increased, and Faction-specific Walker mounts have been added at an extremely rare chance to the potential rewards.

 

Fixed it.

[BrianDavion]

the problem as I see it is there's just not eneugh on the slot machines to make em worth it. perhaps BW you could add some sort of special certificate and a vendor that sells... I dunno some unique cosmetic gear or something? the biggest problem with the slot machines is that with the rewards as they stand if they're useful they're too good, but if they're not then they're useless. the slot machines in the event worked a lot better because they had a special currancy and vendor thus people could get stuff without being able to flood the market

[CloudCastle]

There are some items you can get without CMCs, but for the rest of them they are required.

 

Thanks for the link. I'm glad to see that there are some things I can get at least.

 

I just don't understand the extremity of this change. It was fun to play the machine before - I felt like I was winning things! But from what I'm hearing now, the loss rate is so high that it feels more like throwing credits away. Where's the fun factor?

[Brayla_Sana]

You have turned a fun item into a useless credit sink that I paid REAL money to get.

 

You threw the baby away with the bath water.

[NSaynKnutt]

Thanks for the link. I'm glad to see that there are some things I can get at least.

 

I just don't understand the extremity of this change. It was fun to play the machine before - I felt like I was winning things! But from what I'm hearing now, the loss rate is so high that it feels more like throwing credits away. Where's the fun factor?

 

^ This 100%. Reputation is all well and good, but once you max it out, there is literally nothing else to win. You'll just keep getting more and more rep tokens and selling them back for less than what you paid until you get bored. It's basically become, "Spend lots of credits to see this machine spin and make noises!" Fine for RP'ers, I guess, but the rest of us would like this crazy thing called rewards.

[Xeyska]

Thanks for the link. I'm glad to see that there are some things I can get at least.

 

I just don't understand the extremity of this change. It was fun to play the machine before - I felt like I was winning things! But from what I'm hearing now, the loss rate is so high that it feels more like throwing credits away. Where's the fun factor?

 

I bought 26 x 99 chips last night to test the new rates, and I only got one CMC out of it. So much for getting the embargoed items out of the Rep NPC. There really isn't a fun factor to the slot machines now, especially if you have max rep. One thing I loved about the slot machines was getting the certificates for decorations. Now there isn't any point to it.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Xeyska

[Ryzoul]

Apparently in your excitement you skipped over:

 

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 didn't skip over that part, however I expected "Changes accordingly" would mean the slot machine would still be valuable and fun, I certainly didn't expect to go from " have fun, spend your credits, 100% not an exploit" to enjoy your very expensive, unused, uninteresting, boring strong hold decoration oh and thanks for the cash - gotcha!"

 

and yes I said fun: play this with your kid and and watch how they light up when your character jumps and down clapping, lights blinking confetti drops down and your kid yells "you won" - it is fun. > correction, was fun.

[DarthDymond]

All I know is that the Community Team is probably in for an... interesting time at the Cantina Tour event going on the day after tomorrow

[TheSeventhJedi]

All I know is that the Community Team is probably in for an... interesting time at the Cantina Tour event going on the day after tomorrow

 

Oh dear. Think they'll make any adjustments to it?

[DarthEccen]

Since Bioware seems to be caving to every player whim these days, what do you think the success would be of us demanding punitive measures against them for exploiting the player base?

[XiamaraSimi]

Oh dear. Think they'll make any adjustments to it?

 

How many do you think will suddenly come down with the flu and be unable to attend?

 

Edit* Random thought i had yesterday, made even more appropriate by todays nerf, they should make their next planned slot machine have a

Edited January 21, 2015 by XiamaraSimi

[Ryzoul]

All I know is that the Community Team is probably in for an... interesting time at the Cantina Tour event going on the day after tomorrow

 

I should have spent the 160$ for a plane ticket. instead of cartel packs.

"Every attendee will be receiving a highly coveted M8-3R Astromech code." - way more valuable than the craptel slot machine.

[OddballEasyEight]

Oh dear. Think they'll make any adjustments to it?

 

Hmm, either they'll load up on the booze thinking players will be more mellow then, or they'll remove the booze for fear of someone actually taking out their aggressions on them...

 

Tough call.

[DarkSaberMaster]

Are you harassing me now? That's against the rules you know.

 

protip: you don't speak on behalf of the community

 

In this instance, he's speaking for me and a lot of others like me. Don't like the thread, don't read it.

[Lunafox]

Well, it's completely pointless and unfun now. My husband just ran his coins through it, and got precisely **** all. I won't be wasting my money anymore with this. Thanks for nothing EABioware. You could have just decreased the junk a little tiny bit, not eliminate the living hell out of it. Honestly, what is in your heads? <.<

 

I guess we should 'pray you don't adjust it further' eh?

Edited January 21, 2015 by Lunafox

[dawg_bone]

I didn't spend $50 USD for a chance at a decoration. I also didn't spend $50 to acquire a device to let me spend credits for reputation.

 

I spent $50 USD for a chance at acquire a device that would allow me to not have to rotate between 4 or 5 characters to run missions for crafting mats. I could stay on my current character and if I didn't have the crafting gathering that I needed on them, I could instead hit the slots.

 

This would be especially useful if I wanted to gear a new toon. Instead of having to go back and run low level missions, I could simply grab some jawa scrap and trade it in for whatever low level material I wanted.

 

And yes, the benefit of having the ability to win purple gr 11 mats was a bonus as well. I bought this item in good faith expecting it was working as intended. I was also reasonable enough to think that it was awarding jawa junk at too high a level.

 

BW wanted to fix the market for the new gr 11 mats. Cool. I was okay with how things had been working (I had been picking up a lot of 500 treasure hunting missions so I had a pretty good stock of midlithe crystals, which was great for my artifice), so I didn't care what the GTN was charging for them. BW did so they tried to make a fix, but sort of screwed up their numbers.

 

The fix should have been simple. A midlithe crystal should be 100k instead of 200k? Make them cost 3 jawa junk and have the drop rate for jawa junk be 1.5% and coins cost 500 credits each. Move some of the lower level purple mats to the droid parts list (who cares if the current system is based on green/blue/purple), make it rarity. Lvl 1-6 items are scrap (with the rarer ones costing more scrap), lvl 7-10 items are blue (again, with the rarer ones costing more parts), lvl 11 items are purple (once again, with the rare items costing more junk). Then when 12 comes out you can slide 11 into blue or introduce orange or whatever.

 

If a level 11 rare mat cost 5 jawa junk, would there be much complaining? Would it still not be worth it to those who could spend time at the slot machine for their mats, while not completely crippling the economy?

[Ryzoul]

I didn't spend $50 USD for a chance at a decoration. I also didn't spend $50 to acquire a device to let me spend credits for reputation.

 

I spent $50 USD for a chance at acquire a device that would allow me to not have to rotate between 4 or 5 characters to run missions for crafting mats. I could stay on my current character and if I didn't have the crafting gathering that I needed on them, I could instead hit the slots.

 

Well said Sir.

 

As a casual player, the slot machine was a super nice alternative to leveling a character I will never play except to log on and rotate crafting missions. In fact I spend more time looking at the loading splash screen than playing my three rotate toons.

[RocketRabbit]

Hmm, either they'll load up on the booze thinking players will be more mellow then, or they'll remove the booze for fear of someone actually taking out their aggressions on them...

 

Tough call.

 

Speaking of booze, there will be a $15 cover charge but 3 free drinks.

 

Once inside people will discover those drinks are 99.99% tapwater, with a .001% chance at a Bud Light.

[Allamirr]

Dear lord, I just went through 6 stacks of tokens and got nothing but reputation and mostly just the green and blue reputation at that!

I bought 30 stacks of tokens last night at the 500 credit price knowing they were gonna up the price to 750 credits. I knew they were gonna lower the drop rate on Jawa Scraps so i was prepared for that, but i had no idea they were gonna trash the entire slot machine to that extreme. It was so bad i had to stop after wasting 6 stacks of tokens, i couldnt even finish the remaining 24 stacks. It was not fun at all, it was depressing. Had i known how bad they were gonna nerf it, i would have never wasted credits on it, ever. A Walker mount isnt worth that, your better off going to Yavin 4 and work on reputation and buy that Walker mount for 100k.

If they plan on putting more Slot Machines in the game in the future, i certainly will not waste money on Hypercrates for them like i did for the Contraband one. It is nothing more then a interactive ugly decoration, dont waste your time or credits on it, trust me it is a total waste of both. Unless you want to max out on the faction, once thats done no sense touching ever again lol.

 

Guess ill sit on these last 24 stacks and hope in the next patch they rebalance it. otherwise i guess ill have no other choice at some point to just use them and try and get back as much of my credits as possible, and never touch that thing ever again.

Lesson learned.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Allamirr

[grayblux]

Thank you for this change. There should never be a cartel item that you can use to attain large amounts of game improving items like you have said numerous times before in several posts. It was broken to an extreme and now its fixed, and while the economy will suffer for a few weeks or maybe even a few months, we applaud your sense of honesty in seeing a blatantly obvious problem and fixing it.

[Mallo]

Thank you for this change. There should never be a cartel item that you can use to attain large amounts of game improving items like you have said numerous times before in several posts. It was broken to an extreme and now its fixed, and while the economy will suffer for a few weeks or maybe even a few months, we applaud your sense of honesty in seeing a blatantly obvious problem and fixing it.

 

Sense of honesty? Musco misled people into spending a ton of credits for what is now nothing but a worthless decoration. There is no honesty in what BioWare has done here.