Dear Marketing Team

ZW2007-

Let me start by asking this, do you exist?

If so, I'm curious about your sales strategies. Is this game really making that much money that you can completely ignore your customers? I'm not referring to the threads about stuff needing to be fixed, etc. I'm referring to the threads by players begging you to give them opportunities to spend currency, be it in-game or real world currency. The more options players have to spend in-game currency on, the more reason for players to acquire more in-game currency. Sure, top players can amass a large amount of crystals in a week just by playing, but if there are more and better options to spend those crystals, those same top players won't have a surplus of crystals. The incentive for buying crystals is having something to spend those crystals on.

Here's an example, rotating card sets. If a player currently wants to buy BFZ cards, they cannot. If a player wants to buy BFZ cards, then one could assume that player has the currency to do so. If the player only wants BFZ cards, where is that player supposed to spend their currency? If I go to the store to buy a sweater and the store is currently rotating it's sweater stock, I will go to another store and buy a sweater there. I might even spend more money on other things besides the sweater since I'm already there. Obviously I can't go to another app and buy BFZ cards for this app but I can just go and spend my money elsewhere, money that I would have otherwise spent on this game. Maybe I'm wrong and you have the data to prove that rotating card sets was a good idea and that's fine but I do have some more examples.

The mythic card set is another example. When it first became available, players were very excited to have an outlet to spend crystals and get a mythic. Prior to this there were no other options that guaranteed a mythic (at least not in a while - I've heard tales of a Big Box that cost 1050 crystals and guaranteed a mythic). This offer was available for one week and allowed a player to purchase a maximum of 3 mythics. I believed this meant I would be limited to purchasing 3 mythics within that one week period and then, perhaps someday, the offer would return and I could gamble away more crystals on 3 more mythics. Alas, that was not the case. I got a notification today in my in-game inbox that the mythic card set was available again, only to find it missing from my vault. What is the harm in allowing players to purchase 3 mythics each time the offer is available? I personally had approximately 1/3 of the mythics available and bought 3 mythics. My first 2 mythics were dupes, my third was lackluster but it was a new mythic. The higher a players mythic count, the more likely that player is to receive a dupe. I'll ask again, why limit it to 3 lifetime purchases? This seems so counterintuitive. Players will likely spend 1050 crystals each time it's available, if they have the crystals to spend. Some players may even purchase more crystals since a shot at 3 mythics isn't an opportunity you want to pass up. I essentially wasted 700 crystals because of dupes (or 1050 since my new Tree of Perdition isn't all that great) but I'm still lining up to spend another 1050 crystals.

Next up we have the coveted Saheeli Rai. Where is she? Some players earned her months ago. Most players assumed once Kaladesh made its way into Puzzle Quest, Saheeli Rai would be there to great us. Once again, that assumption was wrong. Instead we got Dovin Baan (not that I'm complaining) and then another Chandra (yes, I am complaining but that's for another thread). Next up we will probably get another Nissa. Point is, you guys missed out on the hype train. Everyone was ready for Saheeli to come with Kaladesh and they probably had their wallets ready as well. By the time she does become available for cash, it's likely those people will be willing to wait a little while longer to get her with crystals. Will people still by her for cash? Probably, but you have to consider that there were likely people willing to buy her before than there will be once she finally shows up. It's one thing to be fashionably late, it's another to show up at the end of the party when most guests are supposed to be leaving.

Lastly, there's Dynavolt Tower. This card is an amazing example of what energy can do. It opens up so many new deck building opportunities for all planeswalkers. It is likely one of the best, if not the best card in the set. It was an event reward exclusive that only 55 players (assuming 4 silver brackets, 2 gold, and 1 platinum) were able to acquire. The event was grueling and stressful and the card was well earned by those who won it (even though gold should have awarded it to the top 10 and this was a shameless push to get people to tier up in a broken system). That said, I expected (or was really hoping) to see it available for purchase today. Who would it hurt to sell it for $30 to those willing to buy it? Surely those who won it couldn't complain that they saved $30 by doing the exact thing a game wants you to do, play. Being an exclusive mythic means it won't be available in boosters until the next set is released in-game. This means anyone that now wants it will need to wait an unknown amount of time. This also means players are less likely to ever get this specific mythic since the card pool will only increase once that set is released. Fortunately it is in the larger, first set and not the smaller, second set so there is a higher chance of eventually getting it (since players will still be opening large quantities of Kaladesh/Aether Revolt boosters). I've resigned myself to accepting the fact that I will never get Dynavolt Tower. The worst part is, it's thrown in our face in almost every Kaladesh PvE encounter from training mode to events.

For the record, I'm in the Gold tier and I finished in 16th place with 10 points shy of a perfect score and 9 of those points were lost to Gaea's Revenge. I came very close to uninstalling the game when I lost my last game of the second to last recharge (4th to last game of the entire event) because I knew with that loss that I wouldn't have a shot at the top reward and it really sucked to put that much time in only to lose out at the very end. Anyway, I am almost certain I will never get this card unless it becomes available to purchase. It's a safe bet I'm not the only one that feels that way. Some would buy it, others would gamble and wait for it to become available in boosters. Again, who would this hurt? It was already an exclusive. I applaud the fact that it was available as an event reward. Now please just let this sore loser have another chance at it. Obviously I'd prefer another shot at winning it but it was already stated in another thread that the event would run again but the reward would be different. Then again they said the Saheeli event was a one-time only thing too...

TL;DR
Give us more stuff to buy.

Springs

What he said.

khurram

Totally behind you.
Wouldnt mind buying more mythic packs even though i got 2 dupes and one not-so-impressive mythic last time.

Saheeli Rai is indeed too late to the party. I can understand how frustrated i would be if i hadnt gotten her the first time around.

Dynavolt tower is well earned by everyone who got it but there should have been more brackets. The saheeli rai event certainly did and If memory serves me right there was another event with max 500 persons in each bracket.

Theros

Saheeli late to the partY indeed. the changes to her ult requiring a vehicle and a specific vehicle for effectiveness makes saheeli less existing

Reaganstorme

ZW2007- wrote:

Next up we have the coveted Saheeli Rai. Where is she? Some players earned her months ago. Most players assumed once Kaladesh made its way into Puzzle Quest, Saheeli Rai would be there to great us. Once again, that assumption was wrong. Instead we got Dovin Baan (not that I'm complaining) and then another Chandra (yes, I am complaining but that's for another thread). Next up we will probably get another Nissa. Point is, you guys missed out on the hype train. Everyone was ready for Saheeli to come with Kaladesh and they probably had their wallets ready as well. By the time she does become available for cash, it's likely those people will be willing to wait a little while longer to get her with crystals. Will people still by her for cash? Probably, but you have to consider that there were likely people willing to buy her before than there will be once she finally shows up. It's one thing to be fashionably late, it's another to show up at the end of the party when most guests are supposed to be leaving.

You may / may not be happy to know that they are skipping the direct purchase option for Saheeli Rai and going straight to Crystals:

LakeStone wrote:

bken1234 wrote:

I haven't seen any word on this, so can someone from D3 / Hibernum please chime in?

Hi Everyone - I just wanted to jump in and provide an update that Saheeli Rai will be available at some time in early 2017 in the Vault for crystals. I can't provide any details on how much or exactly when but rest easy knowing she will be available. She came out as an exclusive in the Saheeli Rai Challenge last September and those lucky enough to win her, earned an awesome reward from their efforts to enjoy that nobody else received. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks. Thanks!

From this thread.

losdamianos

ZW2007- wrote:

Who would it hurt to sell it for $30 to those willing to buy it? Surely those who won it couldn't complain that they saved $30 by doing the exact thing a game wants you to do, play. Being an exclusive mythic means it won't be available in boosters until the next set is released in-game.
TL;DR
Give us more stuff to buy.

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

khurram

losdamianos wrote:

ZW2007- wrote:

Who would it hurt to sell it for $30 to those willing to buy it? Surely those who won it couldn't complain that they saved $30 by doing the exact thing a game wants you to do, play. Being an exclusive mythic means it won't be available in boosters until the next set is released in-game.
TL;DR
Give us more stuff to buy.

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

Olivia, Gisela, ulrich, omnath


Too late, already happened.

Steeme

losdamianos wrote:

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

Good idea. Let's just let the top players who already have all the mythics and fully optimized decks lock out the rest of the player base from any rewards. Then we'll let mega-coalitions lock the rest of the coalitions out of the mythics as well. That way, only the top 0.1% of the player base will have access to the cool cards.

Oh wait, that's not entirely a good idea. We better let the rest of the players have a fighting chance by allowing purchases for some of those cards with cash. Oh wait, that's.. kinda.. like.. what.. we.. have.. now.

Mind = blown

losdamianos

Steeme wrote:

losdamianos wrote:

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

Good idea. Let's just let the top players who already have all the mythics and fully optimized decks lock out the rest of the player base from any rewards. Then we'll let mega-coalitions lock the rest of the coalitions out of the mythics as well. That way, only the top 0.1% of the player base will have access to the cool cards.

Oh wait, that's not entirely a good idea. We better let the rest of the players have a fighting chance by allowing purchases for some of those cards with cash. Oh wait, that's.. kinda.. like.. what.. we.. have.. now.

Mind = blown

having Over Powered exclusive cards for $$$ was a mistake and should never happen you should only be able to get exclusives through random chance in boosters this would put everyone on the same level.
Events rewards are different matter, you are rewarded for being the best player and being priviliged to live in the particiular timezone dont like the timing of some events ? Move out to different country, simple.

jackvett

losdamianos wrote:

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

There are people on this forum who will begin screaming at you that this is exactly how they like the game. Don't disrupt these sensitive whales, they aren't good at anything except spamming these forums with excessively long posts.

bk1234

Steeme wrote:

losdamianos wrote:

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

Good idea. Let's just let the top players who already have all the mythics and fully optimized decks lock out the rest of the player base from any rewards. Then we'll let mega-coalitions lock the rest of the coalitions out of the mythics as well. That way, only the top 0.1% of the player base will have access to the cool cards.

Oh wait, that's not entirely a good idea. We better let the rest of the players have a fighting chance by allowing purchases for some of those cards with cash. Oh wait, that's.. kinda.. like.. what.. we.. have.. now.

Mind = blown

Your assumption that putting money into the game makes you good enough to be top 10 is completely misguided.

You do understand that the top players got there by working hard and getting good at the game, right? It's not something magical that just happened i.e.: some fairy put me on a top 10 team and I just became good enough to get an endless stream of mythics --- no --- I am a 95% + player and I earn those mythics every week.

Skill can't be bought and mythics don't make you good. I have someone on my team who has been playing for 2 months and he doesn't whale it up at all. He's just good.

For reference, find the TR survey -- we don't ask about cards or mythics at all. They will never substitute for skill.

Steeme

bken1234 wrote:

Steeme wrote:

losdamianos wrote:

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

Good idea. Let's just let the top players who already have all the mythics and fully optimized decks lock out the rest of the player base from any rewards. Then we'll let mega-coalitions lock the rest of the coalitions out of the mythics as well. That way, only the top 0.1% of the player base will have access to the cool cards.

Oh wait, that's not entirely a good idea. We better let the rest of the players have a fighting chance by allowing purchases for some of those cards with cash. Oh wait, that's.. kinda.. like.. what.. we.. have.. now.

Mind = blown

Your assumption that putting money into the game makes you good enough to be top 10 is completely misguided.

You do understand that the top players got there by working hard and getting good at the game, right? It's not something magical that just happened i.e.: some fairy put me on a top 10 team and I just became good enough to get an endless stream of mythics --- no --- I am a 95% + player and I earn those mythics every week.

Skill can't be bought and mythics don't make you good. I have someone on my team who has been playing for 2 months and he doesn't whale it up at all. He's just good.

For reference, find the TR survey -- we don't ask about cards or mythics at all. They will never substitute for skill.

I don't think you read the post correctly. My point was that if losdamianos had his way, and no cards were available for purchase, then the top players and coalitions would just lock the rest of the player base out of accessing the mythics. This seems to imply that only the most skillful players would have access to the Mythics. Hence the "top 0.1% of the playerbase".

buscemi

ZW2007- wrote:

Is this game really making that much money that you can completely ignore your customers?

You're asking, have their business practices made them go out of business yet?

No, they haven't.

/thread.

paralistalon

The marketing team has a strict policy of not communicating with the player base. They never have since the start of these forums, and they never will. I'm not sure how all the "departments" are set up at D3, but the Devs we sometimes hear from have in the past indicated they don't have anything to do with special offers or pricing or drop rates or anything. My biggest complaint is the lack of reporting the drop rate chance of getting a mythic. They don't do this because it's proven to make them more money, but it's also considered one of the single most exploitative practices in the industry, and many games have been mandated by law to release their drop rate chances publicly. Overall, I think they're making good business decisions. If I was an investor, I'd be happy. Rotating sets is done because it's too overwhelming for a new player to know what to buy if they are given every set as an option. It also gives them some impulse buys the last day before a set or PW rotates out as people realize they have to buy crystals because there isn't any time left to earn them in events. Also, by having most of the cards as only obtainable from random packs, this ensures that people can easily spend thousands of dollars and still not be able to get all the specific cards they want. They never complete their collection so there is never a reason not to keep spending money. From a player perspective, I enjoy the game well enough as a free player. If you are a skilled deck builder, you can do pretty well in most events with an average collection. And by skilled I really just mean that you've had enough experience to know how weak you can make your deck (in order to beat the objectives) while still being able to reliably crush the poorly designed computer AI. If you really have complaints about how this game is run, I think a more effective channel would be to complain directly to Wizards of the Coast. They licensed their property to D3, but they still have a stake in how their brand is being handled.

octal9

paralistalon wrote:

The marketing team has a strict policy of not communicating with the player base.

As a member of the player base that has personally spoken with people on D3's marketing team, I can personally attest that this is false.

paralistalon

Interesting! I have never seen any public communication from them, so if you have any information that has been provided on an individual basis, I'm sure we would all be grateful if you could share!

madwren

losdamianos wrote:

Steeme wrote:

losdamianos wrote:

Please dont make this game Pay to Win

Good idea. Let's just let the top players who already have all the mythics and fully optimized decks lock out the rest of the player base from any rewards. Then we'll let mega-coalitions lock the rest of the coalitions out of the mythics as well. That way, only the top 0.1% of the player base will have access to the cool cards.

Oh wait, that's not entirely a good idea. We better let the rest of the players have a fighting chance by allowing purchases for some of those cards with cash. Oh wait, that's.. kinda.. like.. what.. we.. have.. now.

Mind = blown

having Over Powered exclusive cards for $$$ was a mistake and should never happen you should only be able to get exclusives through random chance in boosters this would put everyone on the same level.
Events rewards are different matter, you are rewarded for being the best player and being priviliged to live in the particiular timezone dont like the timing of some events ? Move out to different country, simple.

Though, really, people aren't rewarded for being the best player. They're rewarded for being good players and somehow managing to avoid game client crashes.

buscemi

Perhaps the mere existence of ludicrously OP cards is a mistake, regardless of whether they are available as pay to win, exclusive rewards to the highest echelons of the game, or just as random giveaways in a tiny proportion of lucky players in boosters.

SpaceDuck

buscemi wrote:

Perhaps the mere existence of ludicrously OP cards is a mistake...

...but then it wouldn't really be Magic the Gathering and that's at least half the reason to play. Cards aren't ludicrously OP, they are gloriously OP.

octal9

paralistalon wrote:

Interesting! I have never seen any public communication from them, so if you have any information that has been provided on an individual basis, I'm sure we would all be grateful if you could share!

Yes, nothing public. I assure you it's not been anything to write home about - I reach out to D3 on occasion to obtain some help with some things on my card catalog, and they respond. In fact, every D3 employee (well, outside of support.) I've reached out to has responded within the next 24 hours. The Hibernum developers have been faster than that, even.

There's definitely a "don't release info on future content" policy, but there's no "don't interact with the community" policy.