Dread Warlord Pack Changes

[Delvianseek]

When the Dread Warlock Pack drops tomorrow, let us know what you think of these changes and keep the feedback coming!

 

-eric

 

Just to Clarify Eric - is it the Dread Warlord Pack or the Dread Warlock - has someone been playing another game recently?

[Quraswren]

SNIP...

 

 

By adding an entire item slot to the pack, along with giving you items as opposed to just Grand Chance Cubes we are confident you feel more value from opening Cartel Packs.

SNIP...

 

-eric

 

Add value? I highly doubt that.

 

Now, if you want to produce some concrete numbers on the RNG percentages within the crates and the slots and let us decide the real value that might change things.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Quraswren

[Jerba]

That's disappointing.

As a veteran player, I already have all the interesting items from previous packs, I only care about the new items and this pack only has one new item each.

 

Also, I was hoping for a higher chance to get new decorations.

I don't need any more armor sets, I already own more armors than there are costume slots. Pets, mounts, the title, companion and flair are nice but I usually buy those from the GTN; I don't buy enough packs to have a reasonable chance to get those.

 

I bought 5 packs from the last round and immediately regretted it. I know I should have checked earlier that those packs only contain one new item and not two new items like they used to, my mistake.

But it was such a disappointment that not a single item of those was a decoration. And it looks like these new packs will be no different.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Jerba

[Fireswraith]

The feedback we heard pretty quickly from many of you is that due to those changes, packs didn't feel quite as rewarding when you opened them. We agree with that sentiment and we want to continue improving this process going forward.

 

-eric

 

Guaranteed platinum in every pack would feel rewarding, I guarantee it.

[spikeseti]

why put jawa junk in the packs half the time i buy a pack i get more jawa junk then anything in the pack worth having

[Nylsia]

I'm not buying any more packs until Cartel Certificates return to them.

[kodrac]

Personally, I would disagree with a change like this.

 

Yes, it would help new players but, at the same time, it would punish older players. I currently have all reputation tracks maxed and have a stack of over 200 Cartel Certificates. I don't need anymore reputation or certs and by putting these back into current packs it would just add worthless stuff (to me) to my drop chances.

 

If I could still get Cartel Certs I'd still have access to those Black Primary/Secondary dyes that I needed max rep for. So, yeah, I'd like to still be able to get them.

[Transcendent]

Personally, I would disagree with a change like this.

 

Yes, it would help new players but, at the same time, it would punish older players. I currently have all reputation tracks maxed and have a stack of over 200 Cartel Certificates. I don't need anymore reputation or certs and by putting these back into current packs it would just add worthless stuff (to me) to my drop chances.

 

I'll clarify the reputation part, because it isn't clear now I've reread my post, new reputation tokens for new reputations tied to the new shipments.

 

While that is nice that you have 200 Cartel Certificates, players like myself have access to vendors which we can't use due to no longer being able to obtain Cartel Certificates consistently (essentially they nuked the slot machine to being pointless to own).

[Xina_LA]

Each pack now will now contain 5 slots, instead of the previous 4. Here is what each slot looks like:

I like the sound of this. I will be more likely to buy packs. Thank you for listening to player feedback!

Hopefully I'll get some exciting new decorations. I don't use jawa scraps and usually don't like the armor.

Adding a small chance of a Cartel Market Certificate and old reputation items would make me buy more packs.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Xina_LA

[omaan]

Looks Like no one was buying ur useless gambling packs, and you finally started to change something

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Well this is a great change but can I ask ... why bother with the grand chance cube drop?

 

Those 2 slots are effectively grand chance cubes in of themselves so what's the point?

 

Another point is with the amount of items in the game a grand chance cube drop should be incredibly rare as a bronze drop (thinking how many bronze items there are and the cube could only have a drop rate at best of 1 / (# of bronze items) if all bronzes drop evenly) so it's going to be VERY obvious if the drop rate has been pushed towards the cubes so you might want to mention this now if that's the case.

[scardera]

its should be 5 items slots and no jawa scrap and companion gifts

[SebastiaanZ]

Uhuh thats all nice and well ... but we all know the drop chance of Grand Chance Cubes will be through the roof again. It has always been that way and never has been changed, even though you make it seem like it.

 

Rest seems good ... though why do you constantly refuse our call to add the Cartel Market Certificates to the packs again?

[JediBoadicea]

Hey folks,

Each pack now will now contain 5 slots, instead of the previous 4. Here is what each slot looks like:

1. Guaranteed new pack item. These items are all of Silver rarity or higher.
   
2. Any Cartel Market item of any rarity, up to Platinum. Armor sets will drop as complete sets and Grand Chance Cubes can drop in this slot.
   
3. Any Cartel Market item of Bronze or Silver rarity. Armor sets will drop as complete sets and Grand Chance Cubes can drop in this slot.
   
4. Companion Gift
   
5. Jawa Scraps
   

 

Eric, I think these are great changes. What some reactions to them so far seem to have been missing is the distinction in rarity that you made between slots 2 and 3. While it's true that both slots could be no different, in the end, from just a Grand Chance Cube, pulling from the whole CM loot table and also dealing with complete armor sets on that pull should result in a more interesting mix of items on the GTN; folks who are looking for something specific but who don't want to gamble on a Chance Cube for it will now have better odds of finding what they're looking for (rather than just buying a Chance Cube off the GTN). And double the chance for an influx of older items with the addition of the 3rd slot is great.

 

But I have to agree with another poster who said this:

 

See this is what I would prefer to see....

1. Companion Gift or Reputation Token.
   
2. Jawa Scraps or Cartel Certificate.
   

 

I think this is absolutely the way to go.

 

I've seen some odd comments talking about unfairness and utility, so here are my two cents with some context: I've been a continuous subscriber to the game since beta, buy multiple hypercrates a month, and do pretty much every game activity under the sun, from crafting, to Ops, to GSF, to SH decorating, to RP, and everything else in between. I've got all the CM reputation factions maxed, and over 200k base SH prestige score. So, context to underscore what I'm about to say now out of the way, here goes:

 

It baffles all comprehension why a means to restore Cartel Certificates to the game has not been reintroduced. It has been howled for repeatedly since they were first taken away. These are still active game currency. And now, with a new SH being released, getting hold of that currency to access the decorations vendor is going to be more important than ever. I still consistently want to buy things from that decos vendor and the CM reputation vendors, and I simply cannot because there are no more certificates. Anyone who spammed the slot machine to hoard up their certificates may be sitting pretty, but as an avid player who spends the certificates I can say their absence is keenly felt. This is just... ridiculous. Please restore these to the packs! Please!

 

Regarding reputation tokens, although I personally have these maxed I know that most of my fellow players (who still play avidly) do not. Yes, tokens now drop sometimes from Command Crates, but with the RNG (and the full factions table to pull from) this is not in any way a feasible means to actually build rep for the old factions. In this case, if it was a matter of being in the game at the right time to get your goodies, then that's fairly standard MMO fare and isn't a big deal. But if your intention is to give people the means to grind up these old factions, as an extra little perk or whatever, then by all means please reintroduce more means to get the tokens. The suggestion to make them a possible drop in a shared slot with companion gifts seems ideal.

 

Finally, regarding the utility of Jawa Scrap - this has been discussed in many other threads elsewhere, but since it's coming up again here, I'll say I personally find Jawa Scrap to be enormously useful. Crafters still have plenty of need for it, and if you don't want to craft then you can always buy the mats and sell them on the GTN, or give them to your guildies, or buy companion gifts for CM companions' influence. (That being said, I would still be ecstatic to see this slot shared with a chance for Cartel Certificates.) But in the interest of offering some feedback on Jawa Scraps, I would say these could be made even more appealing to more players with just a couple more uses for them added/expanded:

 

• Add more CM Companion Customizations - These haven't been updated in ages, but they're a nice little perk. I would really love to see some reskins on some of the droids especially.
  
• Make Rank 6 Companion Gifts Purchasable with Jawa Scrap - Right now these are exorbitantly priced in the hundreds of thousands of credits. I understand the purpose was to make these... harder to come by or something?... but it seems to me that you would increase the appeal of Jawa Scraps (and thereby crates) by adding this option, while simultaneously giving the folks who've already invested in the CM and have a bunch of Scrap in their hold a reward for their past investment.
  
• Have Jawa Scrap Replace Cartel Certificates as a Currency - If for some arcane reason you absolutely refuse to restore Cartel Certificates to the game, then just make all the vendors who require Certificates as the purchase currency accept Jawa Scrap instead. To my knowledge that is just the Certificate Decos vendor and all the CM Reputation vendors. (If you were to go this route, ideally you would equate items with a multiple Certificate cost to purple or blue scrap, and items with a single Certificate cost to a set number of green scrap. Or something. Just figure it out! I want to be able to buy those items again!!!! )
  

[JLazarillo]

Rest seems good ... though why do you constantly refuse our call to add the Cartel Market Certificates to the packs again?

I feel like every time the topic comes up of bringing a limited-time reward back, there's a larger crowd clamoring against it than for it. It's not something I agree with per se, but I would assume BW generally sees that crowd as more appealing, and thus prefers catering to them.

[ScottishDrunk]

How about putting things from this pack into the pack?

[Elessara]

IF (big if) I'm going to buy a pack, I want items from that pack. Not from other packs. What I personally believe it should be is TWO slots dedicated to items from that particular pack. What it looks like to me right now is:

 

1. Stuff from the new pack (the reason I bought the pack in the first place).

2. Random stuff I probably don't want and which most likely won't contain stuff from the new pack.

3. Random stuff I probably don't want and which most likely won't contain stuff from the new pack.

4. Companion Gift

5. Jawa scrap

 

I would just like there to be more slots dedicated to the new stuff actually released in the new pack. I mean I wouldn't be buying the pack to get random stuff from older packs that I probably don't want. Having more actual stuff from the new pack is what would make it feel that the pack has more value to me. I wouldn't care if they changed the jawa scrap to be scrap or cartel market certificate.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Elessara

[HuaRya]

How about putting things from this pack into the pack?

 

^!

 

That is the biggest let down of a pack to get chance cubes that drop old bronze non-sellables 98% of the time. I've opened hundreds of cubes in the last several months only to find some of the biggest let down items. Wasn't always the case when cubes were new I did get a few golds.

[kopalame]

I'll feel value when I get ONLY new pack items in a pack. Items from old packs is useless to me, as I'll buy anything I want from a particular pack in the weeks following its release (when it's easiest to get).

 

I don't see why you can't let new packs be actually new packs with just new pack items, and have chance cubes or the bronze/silver/gold packs sold individually for those that want older items.

[AscendingSky]

I appreciate that you guys are listening to feedback regarding the gamble packs, but... why are you guys so adverse to having items from the new packs actually drop in the new packs? The whole reason people buy new packs is to try to get the NEW items. No one buys a hypercrate of the latest shipment hoping to get items from all the past shipments. This is one of the reasons why I feel the gamble packs are not a good value and I have refused to buy them for a good long while.

 

Here's a suggestion for a pack arrangement with 5 slots that actually gives people what they want, new stuff:

 

Slot 1: Guaranteed Gold or better non-decoration item from the current pack,

Slot 2: Guaranteed Silver or better non-decoration item from the current pack.

Slot 3: Guaranteed decoration from the current pack.

Slot 4: Grade 6 Companion Gift OR New Reputation Token.

Slot 5: Jawa Junk OR Cartel Certificate.

 

Take Grand Chance Cubes out of cartel packs ENTIRELY. We don't need an RNG box inside our RNG box! Let people buy them directly on the CM for a reasonable price, alongside the other gamble packs. Or--and here's a really crazy idea--go with what you originally promised when 4.0 hit and keep the Bronze/Silver/Gold category packs on the Cartel Market as a permanent edition, and get rid of Grand Chance Cubes entirely as redundant.

[deltascorchfixer]

Wow BW, this change looks amazing!!!

 

Keep it up!

[deltascorchfixer]

^!

 

That is the biggest let down of a pack to get chance cubes that drop old bronze non-sellables 98% of the time. I've opened hundreds of cubes in the last several months only to find some of the biggest let down items. Wasn't always the case when cubes were new I did get a few golds.

 

I usually never open those cubes, I sell em 1 mil each

[Everrgreen]

I appreciate that you guys are listening to feedback regarding the gamble packs, but... why are you guys so adverse to having items from the new packs actually drop in the new packs? The whole reason people buy new packs is to try to get the NEW items. No one buys a hypercrate of the latest shipment hoping to get items from all the past shipments. This is one of the reasons why I feel the gamble packs are not a good value and I have refused to buy them for a good long while.

 

Here's a suggestion for a pack arrangement with 5 slots that actually gives people what they want, new stuff:

 

Slot 1: Guaranteed Gold or better non-decoration item from the current pack,

Slot 2: Guaranteed Silver or better non-decoration item from the current pack.

Slot 3: Guaranteed decoration from the current pack.

Slot 4: Grade 6 Companion Gift OR New Reputation Token.

Slot 5: Jawa Junk OR Cartel Certificate.

 

Take Grand Chance Cubes out of cartel packs ENTIRELY. We don't need an RNG box inside our RNG box! Let people buy them directly on the CM for a reasonable price, alongside the other gamble packs. Or--and here's a really crazy idea--go with what you originally promised when 4.0 hit and keep the Bronze/Silver/Gold category packs on the Cartel Market as a permanent edition, and get rid of Grand Chance Cubes entirely as redundant.

 

Oh sooo this^

Also; certificates dropping from crates is only one solution. Changing the requirement for certs is another; just drop vendor requirements for certs or put something else in-game that can be obtained to replace them.

[aetheltwo]

That's disappointing.

As a veteran player, I already have all the interesting items from previous packs, I only care about the new items and this pack only has one new item each.

 

Also, I was hoping for a higher chance to get new decorations.(

 

I feel the same way. But then again, after playing Elder Scrolls Online, I am unlikely to buy any more swtor packs here unless swtor implements the same superior system ESO has with being able to trade items back in for "pack currency" that can be used to purchase pack items, so basically you are guaranteed if you buy enough packs to get the items you want. I would also really like it (and spend way more money on swtor) if swtor had the same catalog of direct purchase decorations, but now I am just totally daydreaming...

 

I think the players made our feelings about pure RNG for gear known, I wish the point would be understood about pure RNG for cartel items too. Not just for us but for the game's financial success. I mean really, do you think Wal-mart would still be in business if when I needed a new pair of socks, I had to insert a coin and play the lottery to see if I got socks or toilet paper?

 

Businesses succeed by selling their customers what the customers want, not by making them jump through hoops to get it.

Edited June 26, 2017 by aetheltwo

[DarthDymond]

I appreciate that you guys are listening to feedback regarding the gamble packs, but... why are you guys so adverse to having items from the new packs actually drop in the new packs? The whole reason people buy new packs is to try to get the NEW items. No one buys a hypercrate of the latest shipment hoping to get items from all the past shipments. This is one of the reasons why I feel the gamble packs are not a good value and I have refused to buy them for a good long while.

 

Here's a suggestion for a pack arrangement with 5 slots that actually gives people what they want, new stuff:

 

Slot 1: Guaranteed Gold or better non-decoration item from the current pack,

Slot 2: Guaranteed Silver or better non-decoration item from the current pack.

Slot 3: Guaranteed decoration from the current pack.

Slot 4: Grade 6 Companion Gift OR New Reputation Token.

Slot 5: Jawa Junk OR Cartel Certificate.

 

Take Grand Chance Cubes out of cartel packs ENTIRELY. We don't need an RNG box inside our RNG box! Let people buy them directly on the CM for a reasonable price, alongside the other gamble packs. Or--and here's a really crazy idea--go with what you originally promised when 4.0 hit and keep the Bronze/Silver/Gold category packs on the Cartel Market as a permanent edition, and get rid of Grand Chance Cubes entirely as redundant.

If one slot is automatically Gold, and one slot is either Silver or Gold, then won't Gold items necessarily be more common than Silver under that setup?