Bronze/Silver/Gold (BSG) Packs Returning for a Limited Time

[EricMusco]

Hey folks,

 

In early December we took the BSG packs off of the Cartel Market to coincide with the launch of the Strategy Alliance Pack. This certainly raised some questions on when they would be returning. We are going to be bringing the BSG packs back to the Market next Tuesday, January 12th, for a limited time. The BSG packs will remain on the Cartel Market for one week, before being embargoed on Tuesday, January 19th.

 

BSG packs will be treated similarly to other previous grand packs, we will be embargoing them but they are likely to return for limited periods in the future. If you want to get yourself some BSG packs, next week will be the time to do it before they become embargoed.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

[blindxsecrets]

Thanks for letting us know! Appreciate it, Eric. I was sad to see these go and am glad they are making a comeback, even if it's only for one week!

[Alec_Fortescue]

Meaning old and desirable items will get even more expensive and more difficult to obtain. Awesome... Off to grab some referral clicks.

 

Guys, please keep the GSB packs on CM 24/7, like originally announced.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Alec_Fortescue

[DraonaiMimnov]

Musco will the items that were removed from the Embargoed Items vendor be returning or are they shafted as well?

[Master-Nala]

Eric what happened to this:

 

http://www.swtor.com/blog/cartel-market-changes-coming-fallen-empire

 

Introducing Bronze, Silver, and Gold Packs

 

We will be introducing new Grand Packs that are permanently available on the market are updated every time we introduce a new item. These packs will change how items are available which are introduced and embargoed from the Cartel Market, including both pack and direct sale items.

 

For the main categories we will be releasing Bronze, Silver and Gold packs for each one! The categories for these packs are as follows:

 

Armor

Decorations

Mounts

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!

 

These packs will contain items from all existing (pack and direct sale) and new Cartel market items! As we add new Mounts, Armors, and Decorations to our new Shipment Packs, those items will also be added to their respective Bronze, Silver, and Gold Category Packs. This allows for the best possible list of options available to obtain the item you want in the Cartel Market.

 

For any category that does not have enough items to be split into Bronze Silver and Gold packs, we will be creating permanent Grand Packs. These packs, such as the Grand Pets Pack, contain only the item type the pack itself mentions. We have found these to be an enjoyable addition to the Market, so we are expanding the range on them!

 

We will be offering permanent Grand Packs for the following items:

 

Weapons

Crystals

Galactic Starfighter

Emotes

Pets

Companion Customizations

Titles

Dyes

Toys

These packs will contain items from all existing Cartel Market items of each category, from the Crime Lord’s Cartel Pack, Wild Space Explorer’s Pack and all Direct Sale items. If you ever wanted that Savanna Nekarr Cat Pet from the Pursuer’s Bounty Pack, or the Advanced Purple Outline Crystal from the Architect’s Stronghold Pack but grew tired of waiting for a pack Embargo, now is your time to get them.

 

This was only from 3 months ago. What changed?

Edited January 8, 2016 by Master-Nala

[BrienBear]

Eric what happened to this:

 

http://www.swtor.com/blog/cartel-market-changes-coming-fallen-empire

 

 

 

This was only from 3 months ago. What changed?

 

I'd like to know the answer too, honestly.

 

I'm kind of bummed.

[Percilator]

Eric what happened to this: http://www.swtor.com/blog/cartel-market-changes-coming-fallen-empire

 

This was only from 3 months ago. What changed?

 

People get less interested in packs the longer they are out, they'll make more money with 'limited time' releases. That's all that really matters, right?

 

After pushing so many people away with bad decisions and failures, they have to bleed as much money as possible from the remaining customers.

 

There is no Bioware, there is only EA.

[Alec_Fortescue]

Well, yes on my server GSB packs were rarely listed on gtn. Sadly and strangely, because the drop rates in gold packs were darn awesome. Well, i'll make sure to grab them when they are out. I am sure someone will list them for less than 2 mil per pack. It's gonna be worth it.

[Tachenko_Yuri]

WTB previous shipments back.

 

[Skaara]

Eric what happened to this:

 

http://www.swtor.com/blog/cartel-market-changes-coming-fallen-empire

 

 

 

This was only from 3 months ago. What changed?

 

I'm sure lots of things that we aren't being told have changed.

[Jerba]

Yeah, we'll need a little more explanation than this to explain the 180° turn in policy. Otherwise, I'm a little worried about the state the development is in. I'd expect you to learn from past mistakes, and since you specifically mentioned that putting in BSG packs permanently would be a good idea, why are you now moving away from it? Edited January 8, 2016 by Jerba

[BrienBear]

I have a feeling Eric won't be back to this thread!

 

I can't say I blame him - this is kind of an ugly turn of events.

[Alec_Fortescue]

Heh, I have already planned how to make this change benefit me....

[Esron]

seems to me the only thing we can really count on being consisten and permanent in this game is the bugs and the f-ups they keep making.

[EricMusco]

Eric what happened to this:

 

http://www.swtor.com/blog/cartel-market-changes-coming-fallen-empire

 

This was only from 3 months ago. What changed?

 

Good question!

 

In talking with the team, they have been making quite a few changes to the Cartel Market and packs since 4.0 launched. There are even more changes coming when the new pack launches in February.

 

As a part of those changes, the decision was made that BSG packs will now be consistent with the shipment packs in that they will be embargoed after a period of time. We do realize this change may be sudden but it is all a part of the evolving nature of the changes the team has been making to the Cartel Market.

 

I hope that clears up any confusion.

 

-eric

[Malachi_Bane]

This is a terrible announcement for many reasons:

 

1. As already quoted above, you PROMISED to your players and customers that the new types of packs will stay on the CM permanently. And permanently most certainly does not mean "Only two months, then another week after a month-long break and that's it". When even the basic promises made get broken so fast and so easily, what goodwill to you expect the buyers to have?
   
2. Having the new type packs being only temporary deal instead of a permanent one also breaks the entire idea of the CM packs overhaul introduces in that diary. You offered to make previous items more available, but instead you made them less so! Dozens of items were taken off direct sales (Because they will be in new packs!) and traditional packs are now embargoed only after 1 month instead of 4-5, giving us less chance to get the items (Because they will be in new packs!). The whole 4.0 CM overhaul now looks rather mean-spirited, with items from all packs becoming more rare and less available.
   
3. You're shooting yourself in the foot with this change! What kind of store tries to boosts its sales by drastically reducing the number of items they stock? Where before packs used to last on CM for 4 to 6 months, usually with a discount before being embargoed, now it's only 1 month and no discount. We went from 4-5 different packs available at the same time to 1 traditional pack + Bronze/Silver/Gold ones to just 1 pack. With that much less variety, people (myself included) are less likely to buy the new pack, because the either didn't want anything from them or got what they wanted and have nothing further to look forward to. You expect that people will be forced to spend their CC on the only pack available, but instead it makes much more sense to just let the coins pile up and wait for the GOOD stuff to finally come back on sale. 5 packs available at the same time encouraged us to gamble for the desired item in at least one of them, Bronze/Silver/Gold packs encouraged us to gamble for a desired item of a specific type, but having only 1 pack with only 20+ items in it quickly leads to over-exposure and not wanting to gamble anymore. Don't your numbers show that?
   

 

TL;DR - Are you out of your gosh-darned mind? Now only did you break the promise you explicitly made to your paying customers only 3 months ago, you're creating in a model in which people will most likely buy less packs than before. How is that going to help?

[Holocron]

Good question!

 

In talking with the team, they have been making quite a few changes to the Cartel Market and packs since 4.0 launched. There are even more changes coming when the new pack launches in February.

 

As a part of those changes, the decision was made that BSG packs will now be consistent with the shipment packs in that they will be embargoed after a period of time. We do realize this change may be sudden but it is all a part of the evolving nature of the changes the team has been making to the Cartel Market.

 

I hope that clears up any confusion.

 

-eric

 

Wouldn't it have been easier to just say the truth? At this point we all really deserve it. Here I'll show you how: Our BSG pack sales have flattened out a lot sooner than we had predicted. In order to regain BSG sales we will now roll them out on a limited time scale so we can maximize profits.

 

There is one thing you have taught me over time Bioware, and that is your word can't be trusted.

[Skaara]

Wouldn't it have been easier to just say the truth? At this point we all really deserve it. Here I'll show you how: Our BSG pack sales have flattened out a lot sooner than we had predicted. In order to regain BSG sales we will now roll them out on a limited time scale so we can maximize profits.

 

There is one thing you have taught me over time Bioware, and that is your word can't be trusted.

 

Sounds about right to me. It's going to interesting to see what changes they roll out to try and regain the subs that they lost just upsetting the people they made this expansion for. Maybe next time they should focus on customer retention instead short term profit. Now they will be even worse off when those players don't come back AND they chase their new casuals away all at the same time. Brilliant.

[DakhathKilrathi]

Good question!

 

In talking with the team, they have been making quite a few changes to the Cartel Market and packs since 4.0 launched. There are even more changes coming when the new pack launches in February.

 

As a part of those changes, the decision was made that BSG packs will now be consistent with the shipment packs in that they will be embargoed after a period of time. We do realize this change may be sudden but it is all a part of the evolving nature of the changes the team has been making to the Cartel Market.

 

I hope that clears up any confusion.

 

-eric

 

In light of this, not only will I not be purchasing them, I'll be asking everyone I know not to as well. You guys shouldn't be rewarded for this sort of thing.

 

Edit: Since you're doing this, bring back the Starfighter section to the Cartel Market. There are no other ways to obtain many of those items.

Edited January 8, 2016 by DakhathKilrathi

[gabigool]

Wouldn't it have been easier to just say the truth? At this point we all really deserve it. Here I'll show you how: Our BSG pack sales have flattened out a lot sooner than we had predicted. In order to regain BSG sales we will now roll them out on a limited time scale so we can maximize profits.

 

There is one thing you have taught me over time Bioware, and that is your word can't be trusted.

 

Yeah it's a little strange to think this sort of change could be just tossed out there without anyone noticing. When we get so few dev posts, it's a lot easier to remember them.

 

This is essentially the exact scenario surrounding NM dropping 224. They posted that it would, then 6 months later say the opposite, change the original post and apologize for the confusion.

 

Who's confused?

 

I agree with the above quoted post in that I'd rather hear them say it's more profitable to do it this way. Open, honest communication > all.

[MACharlieV]

This is a terrible announcement for many reasons:

 

1. As already quoted above, you PROMISED to your players and customers that the new types of packs will stay on the CM permanently. And permanently most certainly does not mean "Only two months, then another week after a month-long break and that's it". When even the basic promises made get broken so fast and so easily, what goodwill to you expect the buyers to have?
   
2. Having the new type packs being only temporary deal instead of a permanent one also breaks the entire idea of the CM packs overhaul introduces in that diary. You offered to make previous items more available, but instead you made them less so! Dozens of items were taken off direct sales (Because they will be in new packs!) and traditional packs are now embargoed only after 1 month instead of 4-5, giving us less chance to get the items (Because they will be in new packs!). The whole 4.0 CM overhaul now looks rather mean-spirited, with items from all packs becoming more rare and less available.
   
3. You're shooting yourself in the foot with this change! What kind of store tries to boosts its sales by drastically reducing the number of items they stock? Where before packs used to last on CM for 4 to 6 months, usually with a discount before being embargoed, now it's only 1 month and no discount. We went from 4-5 different packs available at the same time to 1 traditional pack + Bronze/Silver/Gold ones to just 1 pack. With that much less variety, people (myself included) are less likely to buy the new pack, because the either didn't want anything from them or got what they wanted and have nothing further to look forward to. You expect that people will be forced to spend their CC on the only pack available, but instead it makes much more sense to just let the coins pile up and wait for the GOOD stuff to finally come back on sale. 5 packs available at the same time encouraged us to gamble for the desired item in at least one of them, Bronze/Silver/Gold packs encouraged us to gamble for a desired item of a specific type, but having only 1 pack with only 20+ items in it quickly leads to over-exposure and not wanting to gamble anymore. Don't your numbers show that?
   

 

TL;DR - Are you out of your gosh-darned mind? Now only did you break the promise you explicitly made to your paying customers only 3 months ago, you're creating in a model in which people will most likely buy less packs than before. How is that going to help?

Err....I don't believe the word "promise" was ever used. As with all announcements, per terms and agreements and all that fun stuff: subject to change. It was intended to be permanent and now it's not.

 

That being said, I would like the packs permanent as intended as well. But the "you promised/said" argument is a fallacy.

[StefanGroenvik]

In my opinion they should stop with the cartel packs. What they should do is let us buy the items we want directly from the Cartel Market, like we're able to do with the Exterminator gear. Personally, i'd be willing to pay a higher price for specific items if i could choose what i wanted to buy. I'm tired of buying several packs, hoping to get a specific armor, but never getting it.

[MACharlieV]

In my opinion they should stop with the cartel packs. What they should do is let us buy the items we want directly from the Cartel Market, like we're able to do with the Exterminator gear. Personally, i'd be willing to pay a higher price for specific items if i could choose what i wanted to buy. I'm tired of buying several packs, hoping to get a specific armor, but never getting it.

Or this. I'd be much more inclined to spend my cartel coins if I knew exactly what I was getting.

 

Granted, this system wouldn't be as profitable since players would simply stop spending coins once they got what they wanted.

[Holocron]

Err....I don't believe the word "promise" was ever used. As with all announcements, per terms and agreements and all that fun stuff: subject to change. It was intended to be permanent and now it's not.

 

That being said, I would like the packs permanent as intended as well. But the "you promised/said" argument is a fallacy.

 

 

The promises/said sayings are being used the sense that it is a figure of speech and not necessarily an argument. The over all point that people are trying to make is that Bioware goes back on everything they claim or state will be the new permanent way.

[Mornok]

Good question!

 

In talking with the team, they have been making quite a few changes to the Cartel Market and packs since 4.0 launched. There are even more changes coming when the new pack launches in February.

 

As a part of those changes, the decision was made that BSG packs will now be consistent with the shipment packs in that they will be embargoed after a period of time. We do realize this change may be sudden but it is all a part of the evolving nature of the changes the team has been making to the Cartel Market.

 

I hope that clears up any confusion.

 

-eric

 

Appreciate the reply! This doesn't really clear up any confusion, though. It's still confusing as to why this change was made. =) Perhaps it would make sense if you could provide a little more context on what will happen in February. Without that, it just seems like a decision to go back on the previously set expectation (that BSG packs would be permanent) with no real explanation. Doesn't feel good to get jerked around like that. Especially for things some players are spending money on in-game.

 

More context or explanation as to either why this decision was made and why the CM team thinks its good for players or healhty for the game or more context on what changes are coming in February to complement this would really go a long way!