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Broken Forum Malvan Lockboxes?

mensarmensar Posts: 294 Arc User
Might want to check the drop rates on the chariot and imperator drops.

I've opened over 200 boxes and I know people that have done 3x that many and nobody has seen the chariot or the imperator drop yet. I heard a RUMOR that someone found the chariot, but that's it.

I'm hoping it doesn't have somethign to do with the reduced drop rates glitching the actual drop rates of the items in the boxes.

But if I whine that I want boxes to drop more often, will that maybe fix the drop rates of the items in the boxes also? Well.. let's not go there. There's enough whining for 8 games in here.

Anyway.. please check the drop rates and see if anyone's actually even found one yet, based on the number of opened boxes (which I'm sure is well into the thousands) SOMEONE should have found one by now.

ANd based on the fact that there isn't one on the AH for 15,000,0000 globals yet. I'd say it's broken.

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  • mensarmensar Posts: 294 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I just saw someone flying aorund in the chariot.. so maybe everyone is just that unlucky. But I'd still check the imperator rate.

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  • mensarmensar Posts: 294 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Nevermind, someone else found one and I bought it... saves me money on keys.

    Pretty massive though. Doesn't work well with mag.

    EDIT: Doesn't work at all with mag unless you reload the map.

    And.. it's BoE. Seems odd for a become.

    I like that it's so rare. I just was afraid it wasn't dropping at all.

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  • baroness1980baroness1980 Posts: 268 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    mensar wrote: »
    You know.. I told myself I wasn't going to bother writing in here anymore.. but I have to say it.

    If you want to stay, stay.. make suggestions and enjoy the content that is provided.

    If not, leave..

    And that means forum, game, planet. Whatever it takes.

    Very sick of all the whining on here.



    Seems legit
  • cellarrat33cellarrat33 Posts: 399 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Seems legit

    Stop it!

    You made me snort my Dr. Pepper!


    CellarRat33 :: formerly Bsquared

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  • jayleia1jayleia1 Posts: 63 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Stop it!

    You made me snort my Dr. Pepper!

    This is why I read posts by Nesa ONLY when not drinking carbonated beverages.
  • honestresearcherhonestresearcher Posts: 657 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I find it incredible people are still (even those who are aware of the current state of the game) giving them money...especially for worthless items.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    It's a video game. Everything in it is worthless, beyond any derived entertainment value. Why is one worthless item in this game any less deserving than another worthless item in this or any other game?
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  • thatcursedwolfthatcursedwolf Posts: 484 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I find it incredible people are still (even those who are aware of the current state of the game) giving them money...especially for worthless items.

    You might want to look into the Questionite Exchange, you can use an in-game currency to buy Zen that can buy your worthless items without needing to use cash.
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  • deviousideviousi Posts: 27 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I find it incredible people are still (even those who are aware of the current state of the game) giving them money...especially for worthless items.

    Tbh, it's easy to get keys without need of cash. They sell for about 80-120g each, which is rather cheap and easy to get. People who simply buy the keys with cash are just too lazy to do the grind of collecting in-game money or questionite.

    They may also have a little to much money to through around, but that's an entirely different topic.
  • draogndraogn Posts: 1,269 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    deviousi wrote: »
    Tbh, it's easy to get keys without need of cash. They sell for about 80-120g each, which is rather cheap and easy to get. People who simply buy the keys with cash are just too lazy to do the grind of collecting in-game money or questionite.

    They may also have a little to much money to through around, but that's an entirely different topic.

    Those keys on the ah had to get there some how, and it isn't through PW's good will. Sure some use Q, but I suspect that with all the stuff Q buys not many are.
  • atompenguinatompenguin Posts: 93 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    mensar wrote: »
    Might want to check the drop rates on the chariot and imperator drops.

    I've opened over 200 boxes and I know people that have done 3x that many and nobody has seen the chariot or the imperator drop yet. I heard a RUMOR that someone found the chariot, but that's it.

    I'm hoping it doesn't have somethign to do with the reduced drop rates glitching the actual drop rates of the items in the boxes.

    But if I whine that I want boxes to drop more often, will that maybe fix the drop rates of the items in the boxes also? Well.. let's not go there. There's enough whining for 8 games in here.

    Anyway.. please check the drop rates and see if anyone's actually even found one yet, based on the number of opened boxes (which I'm sure is well into the thousands) SOMEONE should have found one by now.

    ANd based on the fact that there isn't one on the AH for 15,000,0000 globals yet. I'd say it's broken.

    WHIIIIIIINE! I didn't get my random drops from my lockboxes! WHIIIIIINE!

    But no whining guys, seriously, gawd!
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  • squidheadjaxsquidheadjax Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    WHIIIIIIINE! I didn't get my random drops from my lockboxes! WHIIIIIINE!

    But no whining guys, seriously, gawd!

    I'm baffled as to why he's complaining, since he got the zen he bought. And that's all that matters, supposedly.
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  • frankendreadzfrankendreadz Posts: 75 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    mensar wrote: »
    Might want to check the drop rates on the chariot and imperator drops.

    I've opened over 200 boxes and I know people that have done 3x that many and nobody has seen the chariot or the imperator drop yet. I heard a RUMOR that someone found the chariot, but that's it.

    I'm hoping it doesn't have somethign to do with the reduced drop rates glitching the actual drop rates of the items in the boxes.

    But if I whine that I want boxes to drop more often, will that maybe fix the drop rates of the items in the boxes also? Well.. let's not go there. There's enough whining for 8 games in here.

    Anyway.. please check the drop rates and see if anyone's actually even found one yet, based on the number of opened boxes (which I'm sure is well into the thousands) SOMEONE should have found one by now.

    ANd based on the fact that there isn't one on the AH for 15,000,0000 globals yet. I'd say it's broken.


    so obviously the drop boxes are aimed at people like yourself..
    well if you want to spend your money on them...
  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Posts: 2,075 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Seems legit
    WHIIIIIIINE! I didn't get my random drops from my lockboxes! WHIIIIIINE!

    But no whining guys, seriously, gawd!
    I'm baffled as to why he's complaining, since he got the zen he bought. And that's all that matters, supposedly.

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  • atompenguinatompenguin Posts: 93 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I'm baffled as to why he's complaining, since he got the zen he bought. And that's all that matters, supposedly.

    Delicious.
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  • monaahirumonaahiru Posts: 3,073 Arc User
    edited March 2013
  • rokurocarisrokurocaris Posts: 1,074 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    The box is out for three days now. I got all the costume pieces, but saw only one person with the Become Imperator and no chariots.

    I think this just needs some time. By the next stage of the event, becomes and chariots won't be so rare anymore.
  • monaahirumonaahiru Posts: 3,073 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    The box is out for three days now. I got all the costume pieces, but saw only one person with the Become Imperator and no chariots.

    I think this just needs some time. By the next stage of the event, becomes and chariots won't be so rare anymore.

    Wish so, but I already spend 150Dollars for it and got none of becomes and chariots. :eek:
  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,145 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    monaahiru wrote: »

    Wow, I'd wish I'd seen this before I opened over 60 boxes.. oh well..I guess I'll make sum o dat G selling keys and boxes :p
  • fantasycharacterfantasycharacter Posts: 458 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Where are you guys getting so many boxes? I played for about 2 hrs last night doing missions and only got 5 :(

    Seeing as it potentially takes hundreds to get anything, new drop box rate has became a grind in itself, le sigh.:frown:
  • cellarrat33cellarrat33 Posts: 399 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I just ran a UNITY daily mission (3 minutes) and picked up 3 lockboxes. Yesterday I picked up around 30. Again just running UNITY missions.


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  • thearkadythearkady Posts: 337 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I just ran a UNITY daily mission (3 minutes) and picked up 3 lockboxes. Yesterday I picked up around 30. Again just running UNITY missions.

    I think you may be onto something. I didn't think about it yesterday, but lokking back, about two thirds of the lockboxes I got yesterday came from UNITY missions, when that amounted for only about a quarter of what I did.

    Maybe the drop rate is higher in UNITY?
  • flyingfinnflyingfinn Posts: 8,408 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    The box drop rate SUCKS!
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  • fantasycharacterfantasycharacter Posts: 458 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Ok I will try some UNITY tonight. I was doing the Vibora Apoc.
  • beldinbeldin Posts: 1,708 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    mensar wrote: »
    I've opened over 200 boxes and I know people that have done 3x that many

    Now i know for sure that all this lockbox terror will never stop when people spent points for that you could get 40-100 costume sets just for a stupid vehicle.
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  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I don't understand all the hate. If scallawag (mensar) and people like him want to spend their money on things like this, more power to them. As long as the game stays profitable as a result of it, it's is less likely to be closed down by the true overlords at PWE. We should be thanking them.

    Who knows, if they throw enough money at them, perhaps we'll get some additional developer attention.
  • squidheadjaxsquidheadjax Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    helbjorn wrote: »
    I don't understand all the hate. If scallawag (mensar) and people like him want to spend their money on things like this, more power to them. As long as the game stays profitable as a result of it, it's is less likely to be closed down by the true overlords at PWE. We should be thanking them.

    Who knows, if they throw enough money at them, perhaps we'll get some additional developer attention.

    The hate is directed at demonstrated hypocrisy.

    Me, I'm only directing mild annoyance at these lockboxes.
    I'll freely admit the selfish reason that one of my chars finally picked up gear that fits her build.
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  • beldinbeldin Posts: 1,708 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    helbjorn wrote: »
    I don't understand all the hate. If scallawag (mensar) and people like him want to spend their money on things like this, more power to them. As long as the game stays profitable as a result of it, it's is less likely to be closed down by the true overlords at PWE. We should be thanking them.

    Who knows, if they throw enough money at them, perhaps we'll get some additional developer attention.

    As long as these people spent masses on money on crappy Grabbags .. err .. Lockboxes, we won't get new content or at last normal Costume sets to buy for a fixed amount of points, since why should they sell them for 500 points if people are willing to pay 10.000 to gamble for stuff.
    R607qMf.jpg
  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    beldin wrote: »
    As long as these people spent masses on money on crappy Grabbags .. err .. Lockboxes, we won't get new content or at last normal Costume sets to buy for a fixed amount of points, since why should they sell them for 500 points if people are willing to pay 10.000 to gamble for stuff.

    This is no more a fact than the statement you quoted. They're both assumptions.
  • ashensnowashensnow Posts: 2,048 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    helbjorn wrote: »
    I don't understand all the hate. If scallawag (mensar) and people like him want to spend their money on things like this, more power to them. As long as the game stays profitable as a result of it, it's is less likely to be closed down by the true overlords at PWE. We should be thanking them.

    Who knows, if they throw enough money at them, perhaps we'll get some additional developer attention.

    Agreed.
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  • quasimojo1quasimojo1 Posts: 642 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I don't think there is any hate directed at the OP for spending crazy money on lockboxes. That is their prerogative. But I can see how some might enjoy pointing out the hypocrisy at calling out "whiners", fervently denying that lockboxes are gambling, and then starting a thread complaining about the win rate from his hundreds of gambleboxes.
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  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Posts: 2,075 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Where are you guys getting so many boxes? I played for about 2 hrs last night doing missions and only got 5 :(

    Seeing as it potentially takes hundreds to get anything, new drop box rate has became a grind in itself, le sigh.:frown:
    flyingfinn wrote: »
    The box drop rate SUCKS!

    No, the reduced drop rate is just fine. It's actually a fresh breath of air that I'm not drowning in the damn things anymore.

    Well, they did manage to get me a lot of Resources on the Market when I kept selling them off at their previous rate, but that was because I just wanted to be rid of the damn things.
  • flyingfinnflyingfinn Posts: 8,408 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I wanted to spend 50 keys to open the boxes but got bored because the droprate is so low you can do all the AP's and CS's before you get to even 40... So i went and spend that money to beer. Because doing the same **** you've done 3 years is boring.
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  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Posts: 2,075 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Eh, then hit the Market. I'm sure there's plenty of folks like me who keep selling them.
  • oyo32oyo32 Posts: 141 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    So working with another player who was opening a bunch of lock boxes, we came up with some rough figures.

    Out of 361 lock boxes opened...
    • 1786 Drifter Salvage = An average of ~4.9473 Salvage per box
    • 34 pieces of Mercenary's Gear = 34/361 or ~9.4183%
    • 23 pieces of Legion's Gear = 23/361 or ~6.3712%
    • 0 Become Gladiator devices = 0/361 or 0.0000%*
    • 0 Chariots = 0/361 or 0.0000%*
    *The probabilities of the become devices and chariots aren't really 0%, seeing that some people have them. At this point, it seems that the probability of obtaining one though is very very small.
    **All decimals have been rounded to 4 places.
    AOyJ2f6.png
  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    oyo32 wrote: »
    Out of 361 lock boxes opened...

    That's a pretty good sample size. 1000 would be better, but those statistics are still dismal.
  • oyo32oyo32 Posts: 141 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    helbjorn wrote: »
    That's a pretty good sample size. 1000 would be better, but those statistics are still dismal.
    We're planning on opening more later (as in tomorrow), and I'll post the updated results, but yeah, 361 boxes and no becomes or chariots is worrying.

    But on the bright side, look at all that Drifter Salvage you got. You could buy a third-world country or something with all that useless currency.
    AOyJ2f6.png
  • crypticbuxomcrypticbuxom Posts: 4,626 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    The chances of getting the vehicle or the become device is abysmally low. I think the boxes really are bugged.

    The costume pieces are clipping horribly. The become device being BoE and Enrage not working. Its not proven but judging from everything that has to do with the box, the drop rates might as well be considered to be bugged too.

    I never thought they would have gotten the loot involved with lockboxes to break, but here we are.

    I put 60 keys into this and got just 1 costume piece. I don't think I'll be putting any more into this box. I should have traded the keys for the pieces and become directly.
  • chaelkchaelk Posts: 7,732 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Just remember that;
    1. Just because there is a Percentage chance of something happening, that doesn't mean that it will, unless it is 100%

    2. opening boxes does NOT give you a cumulative chance to get something. It is the same chance per box. Regardless of how many you open.


    For those that like quoting the law of averages. tHERE IS NO SUCH THING.

    when tossing coins , you have exactly the same chance of getting HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AS
    HTHTHTHTHTHT.
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  • cutter187cutter187 Posts: 30 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    oyo32 wrote: »
    We're planning on opening more later (as in tomorrow), and I'll post the updated results, but yeah, 361 boxes and no becomes or chariots is worrying.

    But on the bright side, look at all that Drifter Salvage you got. You could buy a third-world country or something with all that useless currency.

    Worrying? I call that criminal.
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  • somebobsomebob Posts: 980 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    oyo32 wrote: »
    1786 Drifter Salvage = An average of ~4.9473 Salvage per box

    Interesting, considering that the last lockbox had an average of 2.8 Salvage per box. That's quite a jump up in fact.
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  • squidheadjaxsquidheadjax Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    chaelk wrote: »
    For those that like quoting the law of averages. tHERE IS NO SUCH THING.

    when tossing coins , you have exactly the same chance of getting HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AS
    HTHTHTHTHTHT.

    Except, now you're coming at it from the wrong direction too.

    For any two specific sets of trials, what you present is true, but the chance of getting a series of all heads is much lower than getting a series that has one or more tails in it, as the latter case refers to many more possible outcomes. As number of trials increases, it is indeed more likely that the aggregate results will closely fit their actual fractional probabilities, and as the trial series become larger, the rare cases should (but will not necessarily, either) pop up.

    361 and not either of the 'tops' (make that about 400, counting mine) does suggest a low probability, but I don't know offhand the equations to establish an upper bound for a certain level of confidence for rare-event cases like this.
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  • lucyinspacewithdiamondslucyinspacewithdiamonds Posts: 1,746 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Oh, look, it's THIS thread again.
  • cutter187cutter187 Posts: 30 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Oh, look, it's THIS thread again.

    I'm hoping you get banned. You may make light of that if you wish.
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  • lucyinspacewithdiamondslucyinspacewithdiamonds Posts: 1,746 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I won't make light of it because you made me speechless.
  • jonsillsjonsills Posts: 6,318 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I won't make light of it because you made me speechless.
    Would that he had...

    RE: random chance: The odds of HHHHHHHHH are actually much higher than HTHTHTHTHT. The thing is, if you flip HHHHHHHHH, the odds of the next flip being H again are 50%, because in the wise words of Louis Wu in Ringworld, Lady Luck has no memory.
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  • thearkadythearkady Posts: 337 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    jonsills wrote: »
    RE: random chance: The odds of HHHHHHHHH are actually much higher than HTHTHTHTHT.

    Only because you miscounted and 9 consecutive H is indeed more likely than 5 HT pairs. But basically, giving exact sequences, the odds are theoretically the same, (1/2)^n, with n being the number of flips.
    The thing is, if you flip HHHHHHHHH, the odds of the next flip being H again are 50%, because in the wise words of Louis Wu in Ringworld, Lady Luck has no memory.

    The thing is irrelevant, because people are looking at aggregates. The odds of tails not coming up at least a single time in n flips is (1/2)^n, which is below 0,1% after as little as 10 flips.
    chaelk wrote: »
    2. opening boxes does NOT give you a cumulative chance to get something. It is the same chance per box. Regardless of how many you open.

    Which is, mathematically speaking, the wrong approach to the problem. Consecutive boxes give you a cumulative chance of not not getting anything.

    If p is the percentage change of getting what you'd consider a rare (say, the chariot or the become), then x = p/100 is the mathematical odds of a rare. Consequently, (1-x)=(1-p/100) is the odds of not getting a rare.

    The odds of not seeing a single rare in n boxes is (1-x)^n.

    What would be a reasonable chance to see one of the top-tier "rare" drops (chariot or become)?


    Let's assume p=1, that is, one in a hundred boxes gives one of the top-tier rares. That sound reasonable - Cryptic wants to make money, but a virtual good not dropping even once per about 100 dollars spent on Zen would be bad enough to maybe even make even hardened lockbox cheerleaders think again about wheter the business-model is shady bordering on fraudulent. Surely the company couldn't want that?

    For p=1, the odds of not seeing a top-tier rare in 361 boxes is a mere 2,7 percent. That makes it statistically unlikely the odds are actually that "good"!

    Only assuming a p as low as 0,2 (i.e. one in 500 lockboxes having a top-tier drop) do I get to a point where there's almost even odds of 361 consecutive boxes not yielding a rare.

    While this doesn't conclusively prove anything (which, I might add, is a core argument for shady gambling-like business models that refuse to publish odds), statistically speaking, the 361 box test points to the chance for a top-tier drop (chariot or become) from a Forum Malvanum Lockbox very likely being below 1 percent and quite possibly as low as 1 in 500.

    What I'd like to know is the number of costume drops n those 361 boxes - they're the second-tier rares, after all, and you'd wish there was at least one every 20 boxes or so (I mean, four times the cost of former costume sets for one piece, surely even Cryptic can't be even greedier than that?).
  • quasimojo1quasimojo1 Posts: 642 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Kudos to thearklady for understanding quantitative analysis. It's refreshing to read a post from a grown-up once in a while.
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  • squidheadjaxsquidheadjax Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    chaelk wrote: »
    While this doesn't conclusively prove anything (which, I might add, is a core argument for shady gambling-like business models that refuse to publish odds), statistically speaking, the 361 box test points to the chance for a top-tier drop (chariot or become) from a Forum Malvanum Lockbox very likely being below 1 percent and quite possibly as low as 1 in 500.

    Do you know the form of the t-test and test of statistical significance for a situation like this (trying to put a bound on the probabilities of rare events)? I'd like to get some numbers in that form, but my statistics background doesn't make it much past ANOVA (and I remember it somewhat fuzzily).
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  • thompkinsthompkins Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    True, we can't determine an unknown distribution perfectly by randomly sampling it. However, if we assume a certain chance, and compare it to what we saw, we can say how likely it was to get what we saw given those hypothetical odds. This can be done with the the cumulative distribution function of the binomial distribution.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_distribution

    IMPORTANT CAVEAT: It's been a while since I used this math so please take my numbers with a grain of salt.

    If we assume a drop rate of 1%, the odds of seeing what oyo32 saw are only ~2.7%. If we assume a drop rate of 0.1%, then the odds of seeing what oyo32 saw rises to 70.0%. In other words, the 0.1% drop rate is more likely than the 1% drop rate. This doesn't mean that it isn't 1%, it just means it's less likely than other possibilities based on our current sampling.

    It's a bit sketchy estimating an actual drop rate since we don't have ANY drops in the sample. About all we can say is what thearkady already said: with ~50% confidence the rate is ~2/1000 or lower.

    This is also the same estimated chance of me getting a pet triceratops, as I have checked my backyard for a pet triceratops 361 times so far, and have not got one yet.

    EDIT: thearkady already said the same thing in a slightly different way, sorry I didn't catch that. Anyway, what I said can be seen as supporting them. AFAIK they were right and what I did was just a different approach with the same results.
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    @Thompkins
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