So, Are doff packs are the new lockboxes?

caliban149

These last 2 promotions, whilst still rolling the RNG for money are a damn sight better than the lockboxes IMO.

Its no longer a pure gamble, you buy something and you get that thing, nowt wrong with that. You may also get something else as a nice surprise.
And they don't spam everywhere during gameplay, making the whole thing easier to ignore.

Much better, two more changes I'd make to this system and then I'd be happy with it:
1) Publish the actual odds for the gamble drops so ppl can make an informed decision when gambling their money. (Hell even casinos do this!)
2) Make all the ships dropped available in the C-store after a bit of time has passed. . . say 6 months?

So:
- Are lockboxes gone for good?
- Have Cryptic managed to convince PWE to monetise their F2P in a way that everyone might not hate with quite such a passion.
- Did they actually listen to all the lockbox vitriol?
- Starbases are going to be a massive Doff sink . . . . this will probably make Doff packs better sellers and mean those that are just ship gambling will at least get something guaranteed of value to flog on the exchange and get some of their money back as EC.

Discuss . . .

mandrake45

I doubt that lockboxes are gone for good. As to the c-store issue, it's been said many times the special ships won't end up there.

anazonda

DuOff packs ARE a safe way to circumvent the whole "Gambeling" issue.

As the ships and other items are secondary to the DuOff's it simply becomes a bonus since they are not the primary content.

mustrumridcully0

anazonda wrote: »

DuOff packs ARE a safe way to circumvent the whole "Gambeling" issue.

As the ships and other items are secondary to the DuOff's it simply becomes a bonus since they are not the primary content.

Yes, probably. And it works much better for me, since I have an actual reason to want DOFFs, and I'll get them. The gamble part is a pure bonus.

mikewendell

fulleatherjacket wrote: »

And players won't be so annoyed about not winning because they're still getting a bunch of doffs out of the deal.

No offense but we still had people complaining about them. Some folks didn;t understand the concept that they were still getting something of value.

thay8472

Most Likely

captainrevo1

They said in the last state of the game that they are trying different thing, and there probably will still be lock boxes in the future. hopefully if they do use them again they will take what they have learned from this one and improve them

reducing the drop spam would be a major win in itself.

if they stay with the doff pack only then that is just fine with me as i enjoy the doff system and it feels like a win/win.

eiledon

if they follow the pwe route for prize boxes they did in the Perfect World game they will expand the Lobi store to have some items that are also boutique items and standardize the minimum prize from a box to be a set number of Lobi - e.g 10 or 15. This would then at least give you the opportunity to purchase cash items and recoup some of your "losses" rather than ending up with a small number of supplies etc.

In the PWI Token store there are lots of items that were previously boutique exclusive - socketing stones, material cupboard expansions, wardrobe expansions, also there were mana and health pots (good ones) which you could get a few hundred for a relatively small number of tokens. That sort of thing. Also within the token store were quest (mission) books that could be exchanged for to get additional XP/SP for levelling. Actually useful stuff and not just cosmetic. The token price for items was also pretty reasonable. The majority of items from the token store were also tradable as were the tokens themselves. One of the good prizes from the box was a Perfect Token (two of which would get you 10million in game coin) and could be used to exchange for other better rewards. The other good rewards were pretty much endgame gear at the time, fly gear, mounts etc depending on the theme of the pack.

If they must have lockboxes but changed them along with the lobi more in line with the above, I think that would go a long way towards appeasing the crowd. Also make lobi tradeable item like the tokens in PWI. There is a whole section of players who buy and sell tokens and it is still pretty lucrative although lots of competition.

one last thing - the prize boxes in PWI did not drop randomly, you actively made the choice to buy them and there were discounts for bulk buying etc. So no lockbox spam, although when someone did get a major prize you still have the annoying red system text telling everyone (and by effect inviting everyone on the server to spam said person with ludicrous offers to buy it)

mailman650

I prefer the doffs packs over boxes. Doffs are more useful then some of the junk you get from boxes alone.

dublinraider

I didn't buy any keys (for the lockboxes) nor would i.
However, i have a no problem buying the Doff packs since i'm a fan of the Doff system and i see the chance at a ship as just a bonus.