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Lockbox Resurgence - Unfortunate Timing
tripsofthrymr
Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,624 Community Moderator
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/6007493-lockbox-resurgence-strikes-back
People used to trade stuff for keys. Not possible anymore.
People used to trade AD for Zen, to buy keys. Very, very limited by ZAX backlog.
This event only serves to remind me that the only way to open a lockbox anymore is to pay cash to buy Zen, to buy a key, to open the lockbox.
I have spent significant money on the game and am happy to support something I enjoy. However, this event underscores the slow erosion of the initially very well balanced F2P model that distinguished Neverwinter from most other "free" games.
For the sake of the F2P option, I hope we see non-cash options for players to open lockboxes again in the future.
People used to trade stuff for keys. Not possible anymore.
People used to trade AD for Zen, to buy keys. Very, very limited by ZAX backlog.
This event only serves to remind me that the only way to open a lockbox anymore is to pay cash to buy Zen, to buy a key, to open the lockbox.
I have spent significant money on the game and am happy to support something I enjoy. However, this event underscores the slow erosion of the initially very well balanced F2P model that distinguished Neverwinter from most other "free" games.
For the sake of the F2P option, I hope we see non-cash options for players to open lockboxes again in the future.
Caritas Guild Founder (Greycloak Alliance)
Sci-fi author: The Gods We Make, The Gods We Seek, and Ji-min
Sci-fi author: The Gods We Make, The Gods We Seek, and Ji-min
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You can still get zen through AD, but you gotta wait for some time. I think that is a fair approach. The people who spend real money and PAY for the servers get instant gratification. The backlog on the ZAX also inflates the value of their money spent as seen in how all the lockbox item prices increased. They win.
Now if you are a F2P player, you can still get zen, but it will take some time. I've gotten 30k zen over the past month but I did have to wait for quite a bit. There is nothing exclusive in the lockboxes that is essential plus you can still buy those items at the auction house.
Fact is, nothing in life is free. Devs gotta eat. Servers cost money. You either spend money or time and effort to get anything in life. I personally think the ZAX at the moment is mostly fine as it is. As for improvements, they could introduce more AD sinks and go after the exploiters who have billions of exploited AD. We'll see how that fares.
Actually, that is exactly what I said. "Very, very limited by ZAX backlog."
Of course. "I have spent significant money on the game and am happy to support something I enjoy". Also, I am a software developer too, and I enjoy eating.
Neverwinter decided to position itself as a game with a legitimate F2P option. Either you invest time or you invest real money. It was their choice to position the game that way, instead of for example a subscription model. Early on, there were many players that wanted top-end gear for free, without trying hard. I consistently defended the fairness of the F2P model. It was well balanced. Various actions on the part of Cryptic (coal. binding, key binding, price level selected for the coal. ward in the cash shop) have undermined the viability of the free option that they elected to offer. The unfortunate, rampant cheating that created an unknown-but-probably-large amount of counterfeit AD only made matters worse.
Sci-fi author: The Gods We Make, The Gods We Seek, and Ji-min
So you understand why they decided not to take drastic measures to combat the backlog in the ZAX and why as a business, that isn't exactly a bad move, yes?
I'd say rampant exploiting in this game throughout its infancy has created a big big divide between those that benefited from it (not necessarily exploiters) and the new players rather than the ZAX backlog.
Take for example CN: How many players are now able to clear it within 30minutes today with their fully geared toons because they exploited it months ago endlessly? Another one: How many people benefitted from 80k coal wards back then because there were several entities that LITERALLY created thousands of praybots to devalue its price? What about another exploit to cheaply create enchants which temporarily devalued it so that all the old players have rank 9s and 10s now while new players have to play by the rules and cannot possible compete with the exploit-tainted players we have now
Worse for players that is. Cryptic is pretty happy with AD inflation and ZAX backlog as it makes it more likely that people buy Zen directly.
What should happen in my opinion to fix the market and keep it stabilized while still allowing PW to make money:
1. Remove the Zen to AD cap...the 500 AD per zen cap makes no sense to me, it limits the paying players by forcing them to use the auction house to make their moneys worth from zen. That doesn't make any sense.
2. Unbind keys. Bound keys also limit paying players by not allowing them to buy and sell what they want. I think PW is losing money by not allowing keys because like I said, there exciting. If you have never opened one and your not a regular paying customer, you might not ever open one. Lost money.
3. Create a better AD sink to help stabilize the market. I would suggest making ALL forms of marks of potency only be available from the AD woman in PE. No more from kits, events, bosses, chests, etc. Still very affordable but this would be a mega sink in my opinion. Also could make a legendary mark of potency to have to use instead of the 5 greaters for making an artifact legendary. make it 1000 zen so PW can make some money from it. Another sink could be to actually lower the cost of upgrading mounts to a reasonable amount. So ppl will actually do it, and so we don't keep seeing the same mounts running around everywhere (cause there epic)...
The ZAX backlog might be making PW happy but it is frustrating to paying customers I would think. I don't buy zen weekly, but when I do but it I usually have leftover, like 50 or something. I dont want to sit on it for a month or more until I buy more zen, I want the payoff, so I post on the ZAX and take a loss...this is paying customers taking a loss, im not the only one cause the only ppl with half a brain aren't buying 5000 zen and selling it for AD, thats why there is a backlog cause its just nickel and dime at a time. The few things I mentioned above would stabilize the market, and help keep it stabilized for a long time. PW still makes money, retains more players, and makes the game funner for everyone. Will they read this or consider it? Probably not. But players have a right to be heard and there are many that are saying these same things.
So, every lockbox resurgence/new lockbox will suffer from the same problems as this event. Unless backlog shrinks to 1/5 of what it is currently, which I don't know if that's likely.
Just like any other loot - vendor sell at 8 Copper each.
Um... If you're a paying customer, you don't have to wait for the ZAX to get zen. You pay for zen.
If you pay for zen.... and then *sell* that zen on the ZAX, and you know, later on, want zen? Who's fault exactly is that?
The logic fail here is just so profound, I don't know what to say.
okay but riddle me this batman, if someone buys a key with AD from the TH someone had to pay zen for that key right? So now I won't be buying keys to sell on the TH. Which right now is when I would be buying a ton of them to sell That would have eaten up a lot of the ads in the econ and sold a lot of zen. So they basically kissed 40 bucks goodbye that would have come out of my pocket. How does that help them make money. sounds like morons are developing PWE's financial strategy
Keys were being used to subvert the economy. There was a clear drop in the ZAX backlog immediately after keys went BOA. This is because buyers of Zen wanted AD, but wanted > 500 AD/zen for it. Cryptic would prefer that 1 Zen be worth 500 AD. So they closed a loophole.
If Coal Wards get too out of hand, you can expect to see them go BOA as well.
If you want keys, you'll pay with dollars. Or, you'll use the ZAX, and wait to get them.
Cryptic would prefer that you pay with dollars.
If you want to be upset with someone, be upset with goldseller sites, and exploiters.
Nope. ZAX drop was a result of an event encouraging people to buy Zen with the real money.
Exactly.
Also to highlight: 'poorly mismanaged' leads to the game going under.
So people aren't going to put more money into a game that isn't going to be around in a few months?
Aelar Hawkwind - Archer
Karrin Feywinter - Mistress of Flame
Errin Duskwalker - Executioner
Darquess - Soulbinder
I'm kind of happy enchanted keys went BoA. Probably should have been since the beginning. I really don't care though because I don't often do the lockbox thing unless keys are on sale then I might dabble. The only reasons keys were ever on the AH are 1) More profit selling keys than the contents of lockboxes other than companions and mounts and 2) flipping Zen for AD above the exchange rate and 3) outright ripping people off (which #2 was heading in the direction of #3).
In either case and on-topic: Part of the reason for all this brouhaha is that Enchanted Keys were a *large part* of player exploitation by nefarious other players (a.k.a. "exploiters") and too many people were also getting outright ripped off. Cryptic did what they should: protect their player base, their legitimately paying customers are unaffected, the free-to-play customers are inconvenienced.
As the all-knowing great philosopher genius once said (or is it: will eventually say?):
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one".
So go ahead and close your wallets, be angry at Cryptic and do whatever you can to (wrongfully) insult the Devs and Staff. Down inside you know damned well it was nefarious exploiters that brought us to where were are now. So who are really the stupid ones in this?
I think we can agree that the game is currently having some growing pains. I will be interested to see the solution Cryptic has for this unsolvable problem.
As I said above, why on Earth should I throw money at a game that's being poorly managed? To say that Cryptic is perfectly blameless in all of this is somewhat dishonest. I've played every single game made by Cryptic and a friend of mine worked for them. I know just how closely they track their games. On City of Heroes, they even had records of the rates at which individual characters gained XP and kept logs of every single communication that took place in game. Do not try to tell me that they are not capable of going through their logs and finding the people that have used bot programs to farm for things like enchants or which people have been selling items like a single, low level potion on the auction house for millions of AD, or which players have been abusing any of a number of exploits and then permanently banning those accounts. People are bringing a lot of harm to this game's economy, and in the process its community, and Cryptic seems to be somewhat slow in dealing with these issues as well as punishing most people rather lightly which only encourages them to do it more.
Once I see action that suggests that Cryptic is genuinely interested in turning this into a long lasting and thriving game I'll support them financially, not before.
Wow! That is an excellent analysis. I think you are right on target. But some people will never really understand the facts . . .
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!"
pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all."
looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
I'm not sure I understand how the current Zen backlog undermines the position, "Either you invest time or you invest real money." Currently, you either invest the time (time spent gather AD and having it get traded in the ZAX), or you invest real money. The length of time has changed since I started playing, but the premise hasn't.
Does the current length of time now make the premise untenable?
Then why do you keep playing? If it's so easy then where is your full outline explaining how you would manage it? I invite anyone to do the same.
~shrugs~
What this leads to is a lack of supply of zen at the ZAX, a longer and larger backlog. Basically, right now if you buy AD from the ZAX it's only because you don't know any better. The number of players who will use the ZAX to get AD is going to dry up and dwindle to nothing the longer this goes on.
It's kinda a problem.
Is Rhix's store still disabled? It was right after the pink bunny incident, and I haven't checked in with him since.
Because lockboxes still drop idols, and if Rhix has no store option, they're a bit screwed.
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Its the same argument here.
Hardly the same argument. If the watch is broken you stop using it.
You can agree my argument is meaningless and I'll agree you're whiny for the sake of whining and nothing else. The entire debate is completely academic and moot.