Let’s Chat – Cartel Market and You: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Category Packs

[Lorion]

[*]How do the new Bronze, Silver, and Gold Packs feel? Do you feel they are worth their cost? What suggestions do you have?

 

Armor and Mount Packs

 

For the Bronze Packs the price feels right and I find it real fun to spend about 2 € for the random chance at a bronze, silver or even gold armorset/mount cause if you get lucky you could get something really nice and if not the money spend doesn't feel too big a loss.

 

For Silver and especially Gold Packs the price for a random chance feels way to high cause with the sheer amout of armors/mounts the chances are way to low that you get exactly one of the 2-3 armors/mounts you want. In most cases that would mean I've just wasted 5 or 13 € for nothing.

 

The Decoration Packs are the same, with the Silver and Gold Packs being way to expensive. 3 or even 8 € for a single random decoration? Never!

 

Best solution for the future:

 

Add all armors, mounts, colors, crystals, decorations, emotes and toys as direct to buy items to the shop with double or even triple the price of the corresponding packs (except decorations, those prices have to be redone completely) and keep those packs with a random chance for a low price for those that like to play the lottery.

 

Cause for a armorset I really like I am more than willing to pay 10-20 € but I'll definitely not spend the same amount of money for a random chance (with a high probability to get something I don't want).

 

And while I am at it a suggestion for a new cartel market item I would buy right away if it were available:

 

a Covert Energy Helmet that removes the hoods of robes (like regular helmets do) but keeps the hairstyle.

 

Would be a bestseller, guaranteed!

[MeNaCe-NZ]

This thread has been nicely free of arguments, likely because we're all on the same page.

 

I don't think very many people are happy with the RNG system. My simple suggestion...

 

Put up EVERYTHING for sale directly, but at various prices. Put really rare, in demand stuff like Satele's armor for 5,500 credits in direct sale.

 

However, keep the RNG packs, the whole idea of RNG is it should let you have a chance to get rare stuff for less. But for those who just won't play the RNG game, give them a direct sale price.

 

I'm completely in favour of the RNG packs as it dictates rarity in the economy and thus can cause prices of varying items to fluctuate ( as well as the price of packs ) within the economy depdning on how many of the items are generated which ideally can't be predicted or guaranteed. Always being able to buy set item means you might as well do away with the RNG packs altogether.

 

Also BW shouldn't from a business sense be going down a path that effectively has people buying less since they would be guaranteed the item they are buying and avoid extra spent on gambling. Likewise the GTN items would become a lower static price as people would just be directly converting the item to credits thus more people would buy from the GTN as opposed to the CM.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

My two cents:

 

I've bought a few Gold Armor packs and my overall experience has been negative. I don't believe that items available for direct purchase should be included in the gold packs since they're not actually rare. That's really the biggest problem that I have with the Gold Armor packs, spending 1200cc to get something that I could've just bought direct. That also means that the sets available for direct buy generally have a low resale value on the gtn. For that reason I think that I won't be getting any more of them until/if that is addressed. Also 1200cc is a lot for one pack regardless of what it offers.

 

The general rise of prices to unlock collections items also leaves a bitter taste in my mouth since there's so much to unlock.

 

That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed opening the crystal, emote, and title packs since they're much cheaper and generally yield funner results.

 

Good points here, if it's for direct sale it shouldn't be in the gambling pack, gamble for things we can't get any other way.

 

The whole collections idea I'm against people paying for anyway and that price should be incorporated into the cost of the packs. So basically if you buy a pack and open it yourself then free collection ( or heavily discounted ) but if you buy a pack from GTN then you still have a CC cost - tracking this wouldn't be too difficult and encourage people to spend more real money.

[DrakerNoir]

Good points here, if it's for direct sale it shouldn't be in the gambling pack, gamble for things we can't get any other way.

 

The whole collections idea I'm against people paying for anyway and that price should be incorporated into the cost of the packs. So basically if you buy a pack and open it yourself then free collection ( or heavily discounted ) but if you buy a pack from GTN then you still have a CC cost - tracking this wouldn't be too difficult and encourage people to spend more real money.

 

I'd be ok with that model for the collection unlocks.

[Kheld]

Hate the whole gambling aspect of this.

 

Just put the bloody items up for direct purchase in the CM.

[SithEmpress]

I think they need to give more items in gold/silver pack or lower the price. The bronze one are ok but I still think it be nice to get more then one item, as I'm still not that likely to buy them often. I also feel that they should be broken down into shipment, each having a gold, silver, bronze of each of the armor, mounts, etc categories. The problem with this system is how many gold armor set are in the pack, whatever it is, that number will only get worse with each new pack. This mean I'll be less and less likely to get the armors or decoration I'm after. So break it down into shipment would stop them from becoming so inflated it complete pointless to even try.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I think they need to give more items in gold/silver pack or lower the price. The bronze one are ok but I still think it be nice to get more then one item, as I'm still not that likely to buy them often. I also feel that they should be broken down into shipment, each having a gold, silver, bronze of each of the armor, mounts, etc categories. The problem with this system is how many gold armor set are in the pack, whatever it is, that number will only get worse with each new pack. This mean I'll be less and less likely to get the armors or decoration I'm after. So break it down into shipment would stop them from becoming so inflated it complete pointless to even try.

 

Or maybe keep these as it is and occasionaly bring back shipment versions of them for a week every now and then like how they used to do for the old embargoed packs. I know I personally would prefer these types of packs directed towards a shipment as opposed to just bringing the shipments back because after these new style packs I'm very anti the old pack/crate style.

 

As for more items I wonder if they should put in a random rep trophy from all shipments for the current lots as well as some jawa junk, a gift with the chance for cartel certs like we used to have. Maybe only in the gold and/or silver packs to give people more reason to buy them.

No idea what rationale had them wanting to do away with the reputation concept, I personally really liked it.

[Icykill_]

This thread is more about the gold etc. packs than the other thread which is about the hypercrates etc. but I'm sure he'll get the jist of your post anyway.

 

So should I repost it there?... I was tired when I did it... I must have mixed up the thread

[MeNaCe-NZ]

So should I repost it there?... I was tired when I did it... I must have mixed up the thread

 

*shrug* I'm sure they saw it either way, it's the same guy asking for questions.

[ValkainPrime]

So when an armor piece has a gold CC logo on it. Does that mean it comes in the Gold tier armor pack? Same for Silver and Bronze. I would think so, but I would love some reassurance.

[DrakerNoir]

So when an armor piece has a gold CC logo on it. Does that mean it comes in the Gold tier armor pack? Same for Silver and Bronze. I would think so, but I would love some reassurance.

 

Yes, if the description in the collections indicates that it's a gold armor set then it's in the gold armor pack. Be warned though that the direct sale armor sets are also in the gold armor packs so you might end up getting one of those instead of a gold tier armor set.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Yes, if the description in the collections indicates that it's a gold armor set then it's in the gold armor pack. Be warned though that the direct sale armor sets are also in the gold armor packs so you might end up getting one of those instead of a gold tier armor set.

 

You can still get gold in bronze as I understand it just that you have a FAR less chance of getting one. I've had silver from bronze but not gold mostly because I only buy gold.

[DrakerNoir]

You can still get gold in bronze as I understand it just that you have a FAR less chance of getting one. I've had silver from bronze but not gold mostly because I only buy gold.

 

Interesting, I thought I'd heard that gold packs were only gold and apparently directs. I'll have to check the announcements.

Edited November 1, 2015 by DrakerNoir

[KelbornX]

Interesting, I thought I'd heard that gold packs were only gold and apparently directs. I'll have to check the announcements.

 

Bronze = Bronze, Silver, or Gold

Silver = Silver, or Gold

Gold = Gold + bonus

 

I've gotten a few Gold and a bunch of Silver armors from the Bronze packs. First Bronze I opened had Darth Andeddu's Armor Set.

Edited November 1, 2015 by KelbornX

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Interesting, I thought I'd heard that gold packs were only gold and apparently directs. I'll have to check the announcements.

 

Here is the official part from the blog:

 

Bronze Packs will contain an item of either Bronze, Silver, or Gold quality (just like a Grand Pack now), Silver Packs will contain an item of either Silver, or Gold quality, and Gold Packs will contain an item of Gold quality! This means you may purchase a Bronze Mount Pack and obtain items such as the Ikas Falchion or the Savanna Vorantikus, or go straight for the Gold Mount Pack and ensure you are walking away with nothing less than the best!

[DrakerNoir]

Here is the official part from the blog:

 

Good to know, thanks!

[DarkHayze]

Honestly, on 4 gold armor pack I got only armor sets that were obtainable through direct purchase on the market, that's a big joke if you ask me. If I wanted these sets I'd had already bought them, and you can't count on the "extra item" because all I got was level 17 torso or level 43 armor set pieces. At least put away all the items you can directly buy from the market. Edited November 3, 2015 by DarkHayze

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Honestly, on 4 gold armor pack I got only armor sets that were obtainable through direct purchase on the market, that's a big joke if you ask me. If I wanted these sets I'd had already bought them, and you can't count on the "extra item" because all I got was level 17 torso or level 43 armor set pieces. At least put away all the items you can directly buy from the market.

 

Don't entirely agree with this.

 

I bought a gold armour pack for about 1.8 million credits, got thexans set - sold it for 3.5 million.

 

Not sure but isn't the thexan set worth more than the gold armour pack in CC terms also?

 

I agree though if it's a direct buy item priced under that of the gold pack.

[Heromofo]

Hi everyone,

 

I’m Toby McCall, a designer on Star Wars: The Old Republic and a member of the Cartel Market Design Team. I’ve asked community to set up this thread so we can discuss the changes that the 4.0 expansion brings to the Cartel Market. My hope for this post is to create a place where we can answer some of your questions and clear up any confusion surrounding the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Category Packs in Fallen Empire. We would like to focus this thread specifically around the new Armor, Mount, Decoration, and other Category packs (Crystals, Dyes, Weapons, etc), all of which have been packaged into Bronze, Silver, and Gold varieties. If you have thoughts on the new Underworld Alliance pack design, I invite you to join the discussion in a separate thread, found here.

 

• How do the new Bronze, Silver, and Gold Packs feel? Do you feel they are worth their cost? What suggestions do you have?
  
• What are your thoughts on the new Category packs? Do you enjoy opening them? If so, what do you enjoy most? If not, what do you like least?
  
• Are you more or less likely to purchase packs from the Market and why?
  
• Can you share any experiences or first impressions you’ve had with the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Category packs?
  

As always, let’s try to keep the posts constructive and on point. If you haven’t had a chance to read the blog post about the 4.0 changes to the Cartel Market, you can find that here.

 

Toby it would be best to check this out

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8456258#post8456258

[Skorb]

So I bought a gold armor pack. It gave me one of the armor sets that I could have bought with CC straight from the cartel market. I will never buy one of those again unless I hear or see that changed.

 

I also bought a few color crystal packs. The fist one I opened gave me a duplicate of a crystal I already had (I had 4 total). The next one I opened gave me the same color crystal of one of the ones I had already just with a different stat. With so many color crystals available i feel like this shouldn't be possible. I did have some success getting some new color crystals but I will not be buying anymore.

 

My whole experience with the gold armor and color crystal pack have been negative and I won't be buying anymore unless you remove the stuff you can buy straight from the cartel market from the loot table and lower the price.

[Fordbird]

I think this is the problem with the gambling aspect of the packs. It's the same idea as a casino...people get the "rush of pulling the lever or peeking at their hand but in the end are disappointed with the results. The house always wins applies to the structure of the cash shop in this game too. Many people see that it is a losing proposition, but there are just as many that will fool themselves into thinking that buying "just one more hypercrate" will change their luck. I think it's time to see a major change to the gambling packs and just make items available for direct purchase. It's easy enough for me to make credits in the game and therefor won't be buying any of the gambling packs anymore. If items were available for direct purchase, I would be tempted to drop some cash on cartel coins but until that happens, no.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

So I bought a gold armor pack. It gave me one of the armor sets that I could have bought with CC straight from the cartel market. I will never buy one of those again unless I hear or see that changed.

 

I also bought a few color crystal packs. The fist one I opened gave me a duplicate of a crystal I already had (I had 4 total). The next one I opened gave me the same color crystal of one of the ones I had already just with a different stat. With so many color crystals available i feel like this shouldn't be possible. I did have some success getting some new color crystals but I will not be buying anymore.

 

My whole experience with the gold armor and color crystal pack have been negative and I won't be buying anymore unless you remove the stuff you can buy straight from the cartel market from the loot table and lower the price.

 

Really? Lower the price on the crystal packs? They're 100CC ...

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I think this is the problem with the gambling aspect of the packs. It's the same idea as a casino...people get the "rush of pulling the lever or peeking at their hand but in the end are disappointed with the results. The house always wins applies to the structure of the cash shop in this game too. Many people see that it is a losing proposition, but there are just as many that will fool themselves into thinking that buying "just one more hypercrate" will change their luck. I think it's time to see a major change to the gambling packs and just make items available for direct purchase. It's easy enough for me to make credits in the game and therefor won't be buying any of the gambling packs anymore. If items were available for direct purchase, I would be tempted to drop some cash on cartel coins but until that happens, no.

 

But we do always "win", if we're not happy with what we get we can sell it for in game credits to buy something else.

 

The more expensive pack you buy the generally better the items are and are in turn worth more.

 

I don't get why people even bother bringing up the whole "I didn't get what I want argument" since that's always been the case and the advice has always been convert CC to credits and buy what you want directly.

[Aegirson]

As a big buyer... damn guys, I hate you sometimes

First of all and it has been said, 30 x 2 items = 60 items, 24 x 6 items = 144 items.

YES, sme of the stuff in the former packs (space, discovery, class boost, etc.) was useless but Jawa stuff was nice and getting a couple of items is far better than ggeting the impression of being screwed by the system.

So, in a nutshell,

 

- Hypercrates with 30 or 24 packs, anything you want but with something in it!

- When you are on the same account, ability to send the stuff to your OWN account before the damn timer (even if it is useful to fight fraud)

- Make decoration pack but not "one item pack", get a model like 3 bronze stuff, one silver and one chance for a gold (which who would a second silver if not lucky).

- We have bank filled (and the word is weak...) with stuff we can't sell. Help us and help your servers, let us sell it for cash or gems or points. I hate to see 60 crate of serie 614 in my bank and no other than destroying them!!! Damn I paid good money for it, let me at least get something out of it.

- Have a rewarding system for regular customers, something that makes you feel appreciated... I can understand you don't want to drop 224 armor because some guys spent a lot in the cartel coins but what is the cost for you if you let the guy buy a couple of mounts, pets or some decorations items, some that are not available anymore maybe...

 

That was 2 cents

[MeNaCe-NZ]

 

- When you are on the same account, ability to send the stuff to your OWN account before the damn timer (even if it is useful to fight fraud)

 

Remove the timers even if the pack is over a week old on the CM would be nice.

 

In saying that I would love if you opened an armour crate etc. it didn't start a second bind timer ... why do we need 2 bind timers?! We already had it on the crate itself. If it's to avoid people opening crates to get around the timer just make it COPY any existing bind timer from the crate to the items within, if there is 0 timer it should be 0 timer.

 

 

- Make decoration pack but not "one item pack", get a model like 3 bronze stuff, one silver and one chance for a gold (which who would a second silver if not lucky).

 

This is a good idea, more items per packs for deco's would be nice because there is such a ton of decos in the game and growing each pack addition.

 

- We have bank filled (and the word is weak...) with stuff we can't sell. Help us and help your servers, let us sell it for cash or gems or points. I hate to see 60 crate of serie 614 in my bank and no other than destroying them!!! Damn I paid good money for it, let me at least get something out of it.

 

Well you can sell all that stuff on the GTN ... just not for much. Seems to me they need to review the drop rates so some items don't drop ridiculously high amounts of a certain type and thereby devaluing it so much its pretty much worthless for months after the pack emgargoes.