Paying for nothing...and D3 is okay with that.

jollyrogercjf

So I want to discuss the drop rates for the game and in particular the stuff that matters, rares and mythics.

I got my first lesson in how little the game makers care about collectors for this game. There needs to be a sign when you first log in:

If you are a collector please leave or give us several thousand dollars.

I have been playing since bfz launched, I have been able to rack up a decent collection without breaking the bank. I have an almost complete BFZ common and uncommon set, but not many rares so I said I'll buy a big box see if I can smooth it out, went and spent the money to get a big box, didn't finish my common and uncommon sets, I got 6 rares... all duplicates.

I don't have a ton of rares from the set, I have 14 out of the 50 possible, so 6 complete duplicates wow that sucks. So bad RNG lets take another crack at it one more box, 6 rares and a mythic, sweet! Wait its a duplicate of my only mythic, and of the 6 rares, 4 are duplicates again. I essentially bought 2 boxes and got 2 rares, didn't even finish my common uncommon, collection either.

There are many different people who play magic, and a very important part (at least for the $$$ side of things) is the collectors. Basically since selection is completely random, you may never complete a set no matter how much money you spend on it, this is terrible planning on the game designers part.

In magic duels you can eventually work your way to a complete set, in cardboard magic, you have various ways to complete your collection, here its just a shrug of the shoulders and a maybe if you spend some more you'll get what your looking for.

There is no crafting mechanic, you can convert duplicates to planeswalker points, but what can I do when everyone is already level 60.

Would it not make sense to put in a system that checks what you already have and generates the pack accordingly? People could actually collect a full set, and how many more people would be inclined to purchase towards a full set rather than aimlessly buy boxes and hope for the best?

It doesn't matter, customer service assured me they are okay with taking your money and you getting nothing?

This post is mostly salt, but it does have merit, the system right now is a collectors nightmare, even if they do produce more content, more and more people will stop trying to keep up once it's obvious how futile it is get the needed cards.

I guess they know it too with the cash grab early access planeswalkers they offered at the beginning of BFZ.

I'm interested in hearing others thoughts on this issue.

EDHdad

I agree with the general points that the prices they charge are much more than I'm willing to pay, that trying to complete a set of cards is a pointless endeavor, that the people who actually pay cash money get very little bang for their buck, and that the pricing structure shows a general lack of respect to the player base among the people who set the prices.

I would point out that the people who design, develop, play test the game, write the computer code, fix the bugs and adjust the power level of cards are different from the people who price the cards, set the drop rates, establish the prize pool of PvP games, etc.

There are like 3 people who actually make this game work, and they generally do an excellent job. They are active on this board, take player suggestions into consideration, and buff / Nerf cards and planeswalkers frequently to improve the game.

It should be pointed out that Wizards of the Coast has dozens or even hundreds of people who do similar work for the paper game, and it often takes Wizards several years to design, develop and play test a card.

From a player perspective, I think it's healthiest to treat this game like an elaborate Sealed league, where you only play with the cards you happen to get by randomly opening packs, and where sometimes you get new cards added to your pool. When you draft or play sealed in paper Magic, you don't have the expectation of getting a complete set with the handful of packs you open. Most of the cards you play with are commons and uncommons, and you do the best you can. Your opponents are also working under a similar constraint.

I'd love to see some way to be able to obtain specific cards, or even a product which gives you one random card you don't already own. But the few times they've offered specific cards don't give me much hope that the deal will be reasonable. The last time they offered a specific rare card, it was $9.99. When they offered a specific Mythic, it was $29.99. When they introduced a package with a "Guaranteed Mythic", it cost the equivalent of $34.99, if buying crystals $100 at a time.

There are some whales which do spend hundreds of dollars on this game, and that appears to be the focus of the sales department. The good news is, you can build good decks in all colors using nothing but commons and uncommons you pick up for free. Maybe the guy who spent $1,000 wins 30 seconds faster than you. But even then, you're far better off with good strategy, deck design, sequencing, gem matching, etc, than you are spending a zillion dollars for random stuff.

shteev

6 Rares is pretty good for a Big Box. Last time my group ran the numbers, we reckon on about 1 rare per Fat Pack and 1 mythic every 3 Fat Packs. That's an average, of course, you might get less. Or more.

zaann85

How about a 3-pack that you can buy with Mana Runes?..

Plastic

zaann85 wrote:

How about a 3-pack that you can buy with Mana Runes?..

They used to have this but decided against it. So, we're probably not getting those back.