Endless supply of snowballs still not enough

[Achnaattwo]

maybe if the cool down was not there I could get 25 day parcels,  I'm close, but after what feels like  a kazillion snow ball  thrown, I just can't reach that 25.

 My average is 21 before getting one parcel, have had it happen in 3 throws once, 🤸‍♂️

 

I want new dice

[khamseen_air]

If memory serves, you can't get a parcel from an NPC if the buff from your own snowballs or snowball cannon are currently on that NPC. It's usually best to go somewhere busy, like NS Promenade where there are lots of gift droids people cycle around, or cheese it and use it on your own companion as you can right click the buff above their portrait to remove it and then hit them again. 

Life Day Gift Droids also have a slightly higher chance to drop parcels than other NPCs and overheated versions have a chance to give decoration rewards. 

 

Edit: If you don't already (everyone should) you can enable in your interface editor to highlight buffs and debuffs placed on a target by yourself. This makes it a lot easier to tell if the NPC has been hit by someone else since you last hit them. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by khamseen_air

[ThanderSnB]

Yeah, it's a real grind, especially if there's a lot you want to buy. It took me 3 events to get everything. Even after finishing, I still throw snowballs at every mob, NPC, and player I see without the buff (as the cooldown allows) during the event and save the parcels for the next year.

Edited January 3, 2023 by ThanderSnB

[Achnaattwo]

2 hours ago, khamseen_air said:

Life Day Gift Droids also have a slightly higher chance to drop parcels than other NPCs and overheated versions have a chance to give decoration rewards. 

I have never received a reward from them

1 hour ago, ThanderSnB said:

Yeah, it's a real grind, especially if there's a lot you want to buy. It took me 3 events to get everything. Even after finishing, I still throw snowballs at every mob, NPC, and player I see without the buff (as the cooldown allows) during the event and save the parcels for the next year.

I almost wasn't going to get involved in it, cuz always the same results . .nothing.  , but thought while I was standing there giving gifts to increase influence with companions, I'd throw some snow balls, once those npcs are hit, usually 3-12 of them depending where I was at, then move to the next group of NPC's. The cooldown sucks just as bad if not worse as getting nothing

[Nee-Elder]

2 minutes ago, Achnaattwo said:

I have never received a reward from them

Then you are either AFK'ing or  have the worst  'RNG' luck in history of SWTOR.

Keep at the grind and understand, code-wise, each snowball  odds are individual & singular % unto it's own hurl.

[OlBuzzard]

If you can afford int ... snag the cannon!  Then alternate between throwing by hand and the cannon.

Also"  as already mentioned ... shoot / throw at every valid target you can.  I even got ticked off at a couple targets while fighting some Mandos and accidentally smacked one of them with a snowball!  (Don't laugh ... I got a parcel out of the deal!)

😲

[Achnaattwo]

Just now, Nee-Elder said:

have the worst  'RNG' luck

that

that's why I said I want new dice, well actual dice, never had good rolls from RNG

[Achnaattwo]

Just now, OlBuzzard said:

If you can afford int ... snag the cannon!  Then alternate between throwing by hand and the cannon.

Also"  as already mentioned ... shoot / throw at every valid target you can.  I even got ticked off at a couple targets while fighting some Mandos and accidentally smacked one of them with a snowball!  (Don't laugh ... I got a parcel out of the deal!)

😲

couple of my accounts have the cannon, not this one, it didn't help my numbers

oh I throw at ever one, even WB's,  every thing is a target, that I can target,  it doesn't cause Argo so one is safe there . .well except the gift droids, they always get mad at me

[Chryptyk]

i got bored last week and with a cannon and a snowball, i ran around the promenade on nar and got like 100ish snowballs in a couple hours.   i stopped for overheated droids, but other wise kept running circles and snowballing everything in sight.  the cannon has a much lower CD so i could throw a lot more than i could with just a snowball alone.

[Darthmoriquendi]

It is a long grind, but I think the best option would be to reduce how many parcels it takes to buy items off the vender. It is life day.  Why do these things cost so much?  I'm glad I bought all my holo trees years ago. I would never grind 60 parcels for one. 

[illgot]

1. summon your companion
2. make sure your companion is far enough away you can use your snowball on them
3. throw snowball
4. cancel snowball debuff
5. repeat

I found this more useful while playing the game. The only other method I would suggest is heading to Nar Shadaa promenade and following a large group of players spamming an Over Heated Droid with snowballs.  This will also give you trees.

Edited January 3, 2023 by illgot

[Shayddow]

I think the difference between the vendor ones and the ones you get as prizes is in size. With all the ones I've got from pelting snowballs (more trees than snow covered parcels probably), I have enough to build my own little forest, now if only I had a Hoth Stronghold to put 'em on. They are a nice decoration, although they do look a little too much like an Earth holiday that I don't celebrate.  

[Dekibra]

1 hour ago, illgot said:

The only other method I would suggest is heading to Nar Shadaa promenade and following a large group of players spamming an Over Heated Droid with snowballs.  This will also give you trees.

this and only this.

the more people throw snowballs at a single OGD the higher the chances of things (trees and parcels) to drop - then you can finish the 25 parcel quest in an hour, tops

[Nee-Elder]

1 hour ago, illgot said:

1. summon your companion
2. make sure your companion is far enough away you can use your snowball on them
3. throw snowball
4. cancel snowball debuff
5. repeat

That's technically an exploit and i believe there might be some hidden code to prevent players from executing such behavior too often (on the same player/companion) within a certain timeframe.

The reason i say this is because, while on Fleet, it gets super annoying to certain people when snowballs & snowflakes are applied constantly & repeatedly.

So i tested  right-click removing those 'buffs'  immediately and then watched the same players try hurling at me again (when they noticed) .

No subsequent 'buffs' were applied within that immediate window.

[Nee-Elder]

4 minutes ago, Dekibra said:

the more people throw snowballs at a single OGD the higher the chances of things (trees and parcels) to drop -

This ^ is a common misnomer and misperception of how 'RNG' code works.

Every  'throw' has it's own individual % chance to hit or miss ( including sub-percentages for  decos vs. parcels vs. both ) .

*There might be a slight % bump for being grouped while hurling though , but i haven't tested a large enough sample-size to say definitively.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Nee-Elder

[Dekibra]

Just now, Nee-Elder said:

This ^ is a common misnomer and misperception of how 'RNG' code works.

Every  'throw' has it's own individual % chance to hit or miss ( including sub-percentages for  decos vs. parcels vs. both ) .

I don't care as long as it works
I recieve WAY more rewards when at least 2 others throw snowballs as opposed to throwing balls alone

[Nee-Elder]

5 minutes ago, Dekibra said:

I don't care as long as it works
I recieve WAY more rewards when at least 2 others throw snowballs as opposed to throwing balls alone

That is your feeling.

Not based in hard data. ( unless you can provide some?  -- At least 1000 throw sample size, grouped vs. ungrouped x 2)

Same thing happens to me whenever i open Cartel Crates.

I'm not saying feelings, beliefs, & superstitions in MMO's aren't  valid to enjoy or indulge. ( i do it too )

But i am saying, from a CODE perspective, they aren't real.

In other words, as the late great Han Solo might say: Full of delusions of grandeur. 

[illgot]

23 minutes ago, Nee-Elder said:

That's technically an exploit and i believe there might be some hidden code to prevent players from executing such behavior too often (on the same player/companion) within a certain timeframe.

The reason i say this is because, while on Fleet, it gets super annoying to certain people when snowballs & snowflakes are applied constantly & repeatedly.

So i tested  right-click removing those 'buffs'  immediately and then watched the same players try hurling at me again (when they noticed) .

No subsequent 'buffs' were applied within that immediate window.

there isn't and has never been.

[Nee-Elder]

1 minute ago, illgot said:

there isn't and has never been.

My tests say different.

Or perhaps you could please explain why  whenever i right-click remove the 'buff' , and the same snowball throwers try again (quickly) , their 'buff' doesn't apply anymore?  (until a few minutes later )

[Dekibra]

17 minutes ago, Nee-Elder said:

That is your feeling.

Not based in hard data. ( unless you can provide some?  -- At least 1000 throw sample size, grouped vs. ungrouped x 2)

Same thing happens to me whenever i open Cartel Crates.

I'm not saying feelings, beliefs, & superstitions in MMO's aren't  valid to enjoy or indulge. ( i do it too )

But i am saying, from a CODE perspective, they aren't real.

In other words, as the late great Han Solo might say: Full of delusions of grandeur. 

I play this event for years, so yes, I have tons of data and my assessment is based on that

but, idk- you seem to be a coder or sonething, I am not, so I can just tell you my personal experience (call it feeling if you like) with the 10000s of snowballs I have thrown over the years /shrug ... and what works best is throwing balls with other players on the same targat (aka overheated gift droid)
most importantly: I experience a very good time-reward-ratio and have fun - what's more to want from a video game

 

[Nee-Elder]

14 minutes ago, Dekibra said:

but, idk- you seem to be a coder or sonething,

For better or worse, i have indeed done some basic rudimentary code work and therefore seen behind the proverbial code-curtain (on another SW mmo) , but i haven't ever delved into SWTOR specific code.  Never claimed to have either.

Instead, i'm basing my statements on common knowledge (to coders at least) about how & when 'RNG' actually functions, typically case by case.

Some people refer to this topic as: "The Gambler's Fallacy" .

14 minutes ago, Dekibra said:

and what works best is throwing balls with other players on the same targat (aka overheated gift droid)

Those  overheated droids have inherent increased %'s  though, regardless of being grouped/ungrouped  or how many other players may or may not also be nearby.  ( BioWare, feel free to correct me if your code says different )

Additionally, as i already mentioned above ,  there could be some hidden bonus % to being in a GROUP. ( like there is for other aspects of the game )

But i haven't personally tested  grouped vs. ungrouped  with a large enough sample size to prove as hard data nor as fact.

14 minutes ago, Dekibra said:

most importantly: I experience a very good time-reward-ratio and have fun - what's more to want from a video game?

Not much tbqh.

Money well spent, yep.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Nee-Elder

[JediQuaker]

To throw in my 2 cents:

Get the Snowball Cannon - the Cannon has a much shorter cool down time than the Snowball. You can get about 3 Cannon shots off for every Snowball.

Don't bother throwing snowballs (or cannon balls) at individual targets. Go to Nar Shadaa and join in with a group pelting an "overheated gift droid". The droid's 'snow' gets reset every time it's hit by a different 'snow' shot (snowball or snow cannon), and therefore you can just continuously throw at it as long as at least one other person is also.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by JediQuaker

[Traceguy]

Have you tried hugging wookies? 2 parcels for 10 wookies.

ETA: You don't have to snowball players. It can be any clickable NPC, including enemies. I made a few hundred parcels by just snowballing enemies in FPs and Ops.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Traceguy

[OlBuzzard]

I've always just used the whole Life Day thing as an opportunity to have some fun.
** Yes I use the cannon (faster reset)
** NO .. I don't hang out at the GTN next to the Life Day revelers (anymore) ... that area is totally dead now!  
(BTW ...  is that the only area to redeem parcels?)
** The best place to find the overheated droids ??  Hoth??

I've actually spent so much time on the new 7.2 area that I've found myself preoccupied with stuff other then just Life Day!
(Hmmm ... there might be a message in there somewhere) ! 😉

At any rate ... I still do the Life Day stuff just for fun.  It's the one part we should be able to approach in a light-hearted fashion.  And for me (personally) that works.  I wouldn't mind if we had a springtime event (like a fishing expedition ... complete with boat).

(Yeah ...  I KNOW ....  keep that last idea to myself!!) 

[Nee-Elder]

6 hours ago, Dekibra said:

I recieve WAY more rewards when at least 2 others throw snowballs as opposed to throwing balls alone

5 hours ago, Nee-Elder said:

  there could be some hidden  bonus % to being in a GROUP.

4 hours ago, JediQuaker said:

  join in with a group pelting an "overheated gift droid". The droid's 'snow' gets reset every time it's hit by a different 'snow' shot (snowball or snow cannon), and therefore you can just continuously throw at it as long as at least one other person is also.  

So there ya go ^ ,  @JediQuaker comes in with the solid specific  intel.