Game economy issues/fixes

Ohboy

Sarahschmara wrote:

span_argoman wrote:

He just means waiting till the set of cards which the Elite pack draws from has minimal or no cards which you own. Meaning each player can optimise their chances of getting a new Mythic by spending their 400 Jewels only when they have a lower (or zero) chance of getting a duplicate.

The rotation is 2 weeks per set so in another 9 days or so, the cards in the Elite pack will be a different bunch (tap the i on the top right to see which cards the pack draws from).

Well, sure. I get that they cards rotate in and out. But I was wondering what the formula was for figuring out which ones are optimal. Like this current set; I don't have any of those cards so it's optimal because I will get something new, but I don't really want any of those cards so, even if it's new, it's not optimal for me.

Chances are, the cards I want will be included in packs with cards I already have, right? I doubt we'll see a hixus, ulrich, deploy, crush, GAH, dynavolt, avaricious dragon set rotate (feel free to substitute your own list of "do want" cards)

This is why higher rotation periods of cards that come from all sets is the thing everyone should be petitioning for.

This could have been so good for everyone. Literally the answer to all the dupe complaints. The value of an elite pack isn't the same as getting a random mythic.

The devs are listening. Everyone is just not thinking about it enough. We're all bogged down by arguments to go back when we should be suggesting things to step forward.

toastie

I didn't read through the whole thread, so sorry if I reiterate points already made.

Here's my two cents:

The single biggest problem with the economy is by far duplicates. They take the experience of opening a rare / mythic / masterpiece from being fun and exciting to being nerve-wracking and disappointing, and are handled the worst out of any CCG I have ever played by a mile.

First of all, opening new cards is a wonderful experience, and I would gladly pay for it. GLADLY. It is fun to get new things, and even more fun to try them out and see how they work. If you want people to enjoy spending money on the game, guarantee them new cards when they do. It's really that simple. I would suggest that super packs guarantee a new card, and premium packs guarantee a new rare+. Now I know this eats into the potential profit margin you get with your whales, since it adds a limit to how much can be spent on each set, but realistically that limit is still reasonably high. There are 103 rare, mythic, and masterpiece cards in KLD / AER packs, or up to $1,030 per block ($2,060 / year) to buy everything. Obviously it will work out to a bit less than that due to free crystals and "natural" rares from packs, but assuming you can only get at most ~25% of the set for free it represents probably around $500 per block per person willing to buy out the set. On top of that, it makes it FAR more worthwhile for someone to throw $10-20 at packs, because that know they will get new cards. And as long as you keep making new cards (4 times a year), and can keep people playing the game, they will keep buying packs. The dev time to implement something like this should* also be relatively low. I'd even volunteer my free time to write the code for that if my contract allowed it.

Secondly, the reason opening duplicates is a miserable experience is because they are worth nothing. A duplicate mythic gives you roughly the same number of runes as 3 quick battles, which I can get in in a bathroom break. I have never seen a rate so low in any other game. I have not seen a rate as low as even 10 times that in any other game. Frankly, it is embarrassing for you and insulting to us. Because of this opening dupe rares / mythics / masterpieces is a soul crushing experience, exactly the opposite of how you want someone to feel in response to giving you money. My suggestion here would be to give a currency for duplicates that allows you to upgrade cards to premium versions. This is a nice cosmetic only feature that I for one feel is lacking from MTGPQ. It is fun to have shiny cards, and it is fun to show off shiny cards to the other people who see your decks in PvP. And since it is cosmetic only, players will tolerate much longer timeframes for how long it takes to upgrade a mythic to premium than for how long it takes to save up for an elite pack. This also gives back an near-infinite money sink for people who really must have the best of the best looking decks. Bonus points if you also include promo versions of cards that could be won as special rewards for the top players. The dev time here is more considerable, and this is not a feature I would expect to be high priority or rolled out quickly, but I think it would be a wonderful addition that gives opening a duplicate mythic a "well, now I'm that much closer to foiling out my deck" feel rather than a "well now I want to cry myself to sleep" feel.

Cheers,
-Toastie

*Yes I am well aware of how should works in software development

Solfury

I have spent $700 since masterpiece set was released. I opened two packs of the new currency and 50 packs of kedesh. I only received 2 or 3 mythics I didn't have and 1 rare. Not one masterpiece. I also have yet to play anyone who used one. Witch makes me think that there is an issue with them and they have yet to be added into the game. Getting people to dump all they can into the game trying to get masterpiece cards that are not yet released.
I am curious to know if anyone to date have any? If so, how many? How much have you spent since MP release, to get it/them. I agree with you completely especially about the duplicates. I have so many duplicates. If they were to release a, decent new planeswalker once a month so, we can spend it leveling them up. It might help with that and the boredom. I am close to quitting for good with over 3k into my account.

majincob

Solfury wrote:

I have spent $700 since masterpiece set was released. I opened two packs of the new currency and 50 packs of kedesh. I only received 2 or 3 mythics I didn't have and 1 rare. Not one masterpiece. I also have yet to play anyone who used one. Witch makes me think that there is an issue with them and they have yet to be added into the game. Getting people to dump all they can into the game trying to get masterpiece cards that are not yet released.
I am curious to know if anyone to date have any? If so, how many? How much have you spent since MP release, to get it/them. I agree with you completely especially about the duplicates. I have so many duplicates. If they were to release a, decent new planeswalker once a month so, we can spend it leveling them up. It might help with that and the boredom. I am close to quitting for good with over 3k into my account.

Anecdotally, I've heard of one player getting the wurm, one of my coalition mates got Ornithopter, and one of my coalition mates played vs a deck with a sword in it.

mouser

The two week rotation introduces more questions.

With 18 masterpiece cards the current 5 mythic/3 masterpiece card pool would require 3 months for all masterpieces to cycle through once. WotC has said they'll be introducing masterpiece cards into each block, i.e. Every 6 months.

Are the mythics in the masterpiece pack rotations the next 6 months only going to be AER? That thematically matches with paper magic. Note there are only 16 AER mythics.

ridfrenzy

Solfury wrote:

I have spent $700 since masterpiece set was released. I opened two packs of the new currency and 50 packs of kedesh. I only received 2 or 3 mythics I didn't have and 1 rare. Not one masterpiece. I also have yet to play anyone who used one. Witch makes me think that there is an issue with them and they have yet to be added into the game. Getting people to dump all they can into the game trying to get masterpiece cards that are not yet released.
I am curious to know if anyone to date have any? If so, how many? How much have you spent since MP release, to get it/them. I agree with you completely especially about the duplicates. I have so many duplicates. If they were to release a, decent new planeswalker once a month so, we can spend it leveling them up. It might help with that and the boredom. I am close to quitting for good with over 3k into my account.

Two people in my coalition have had them drop but from random KLD boosters (Petal and Vise). I also played against a guy with the Wurmcoil engine in EO.

With regards to the masterpiece collections I would like to see the collection change so it is a personal collection of cards you do not own. I don't really care how often it changes but I don't think it should contain cards that you already have. Part of the problem is I don't want to waste these when they are so incredibly hard to accrue. I am not sure I would chance it if there was even a single card I already owned in them.

I would also like to say I am hoarding my way more than before just because it is so much rarer. I don't feel I can just drop it on a 5 booster pack because it will take me over a week to replace it. I think I am more likely to save it for the next set now if I continue to play this game. It is a shame because part of the allure of this game is to get new cards to try new decks but they just keep finding new and inventive ways to thwart you getting new cards.

I used to regularly buy crystals but they just don't seem worth the money you pay for them now.

madwren

ridfrenzy wrote:

With regards to the masterpiece collections I would like to see the collection change so it is a personal collection of cards you do not own. I don't really care how often it changes but I don't think it should contain cards that you already have. Part of the problem is I don't want to waste these when they are so incredibly hard to accrue. I am not sure I would chance it if there was even a single card I already owned in them.

I would also like to say I am hoarding my way more than before just because it is so much rarer. I don't feel I can just drop it on a 5 booster pack because it will take me over a week to replace it. I think I am more likely to save it for the next set now if I continue to play this game. It is a shame because part of the allure of this game is to get new cards to try new decks but they just keep finding new and inventive ways to thwart you getting new cards.

I used to regularly buy crystals but they just don't seem worth the money you pay for them now.

Ditto to all of this.

It's hard to get excited about masterpieces when I'm pretty sure it'll just be another Yahenni or Basker. However, the decreased crystal revenue has also meant that I not only want to avoid spending crystals, but avoid buying them because their value has been decreased.

As I said elsewhere, when we're given things that we're excited to spend money on, we do just that. There are so many better crystal sinks than simply devaluing everything.

Zustel1

Solfury wrote:

I have spent $700 since masterpiece set was released. I opened two packs of the new currency and 50 packs of kedesh. I only received 2 or 3 mythics I didn't have and 1 rare. Not one masterpiece. I also have yet to play anyone who used one. Witch makes me think that there is an issue with them and they have yet to be added into the game. Getting people to dump all they can into the game trying to get masterpiece cards that are not yet released.
I am curious to know if anyone to date have any? If so, how many? How much have you spent since MP release, to get it/them. I agree with you completely especially about the duplicates. I have so many duplicates. If they were to release a, decent new planeswalker once a month so, we can spend it leveling them up. It might help with that and the boredom. I am close to quitting for good with over 3k into my account.

This will probably only increase your frustration, but I got the Sword of Fire and Ice (it's awesome!). Got it from a normal KLD Booster in a Super Pack I won in QB. Haven't spent any cash nor crystals on the game since the update and probably won't till the issues are at least addressed. That there's no statement from D3H is what's pissing me off the most.

Infested

I dont see any reason to spend crystals or cash at the moment. There are obviously issues with all in game currency. If the devs do something about it then any currency that I spend now will be wasted. If they do nothing then I still have that currency, but I have to think if I enjoy the direction of the game.