Elite Pack #8 - Masterpiece Collection

Machine

Got Temmet. I would have loved any of the MPs, but since I didn't have ANY of the AKH mythics (how is that even possible after opening several premium packs and a gazillion boosters?? Have the drop rates decreased even more or is my luck waning?) I warmly welcome him. Also very useful in the Embalm 3 event as already mentioned.

Captsquee

HomeRn said:

Mythics in this batch aren't that bad - the only real bad mythic would be Samut... unless you can work a way to cheat Samut out instead of the 24 mana cost.

Masterpieces are also solid.  Pact of Negation is effectively a better Insidious Will, Loyal Retainers can really cause problems if there are a number of creatures already in the graveyard, and Consecrated Sphinx will grow rather quickly (especially if you play Lost Hope as Tezzeret [eek!]).

However I have no plans on buying since I already have 3 of the Mythics already... and I really don't want to contend with the dupe problem right now.

You're right about the manature issue with Samut. I have a build that putshe it out quick. I put out 2 Samut and an honored hydra in 3 turns. Granted they were the only creatures in hand. I use Nissa 1 for it as well. 

hawkyh1

Brigby said:

@hawkyh1
As of right now, if you purchase an Elite Pack, and receive a duplicate card, you can submit a support ticket to be credited another Elite Pack. This policy will no longer be available after Booster Crafting is implemented.

Hypothetically if you had a support ticket that was still in progress both before and after the implementation of Booster Crafting, I would recommend requesting it be escalated at that point.

took a chance(I already have 2 of the mythics so I
believe my odds are 60+% for a new card) and got
a dupe rhonas. opened a ticket in game. have yet
to receive a confirmation email, is this correct?

HH

Thuran

Pulled a nondupe "as foretold" ^^ seems line a pretty nasty card to ude with fabricate, except cycling is just way better than anything else in the game

Infested

hawkyh1 said:

Brigby said:

@hawkyh1
As of right now, if you purchase an Elite Pack, and receive a duplicate card, you can submit a support ticket to be credited another Elite Pack. This policy will no longer be available after Booster Crafting is implemented.

Hypothetically if you had a support ticket that was still in progress both before and after the implementation of Booster Crafting, I would recommend requesting it be escalated at that point.

took a chance(I already have 2 of the mythics so I
believe my odds are 60+% for a new card) and got
a dupe rhonas. opened a ticket in game. have yet
to receive a confirmation email, is this correct?

HH

I have 2 tickets open for 48 hours. No confirmation email and no update here.

Might be backed up

andrewvanmarle

Thuran said:

Pulled a nondupe "as foretold" ^^ seems line a pretty nasty card to ude with fabricate, except cycling is just way better than anything else in the game

it's'a great card with tezz 2

ZW2007-

I have a ticket open for over a week now from the previous elite pack, their response to me was that the elite pack I am referencing does not exist so they will do nothing for me. I've PM'd @Brigby about the situation but haven't heard back yet.

For this pack I was hoping for cruel reality but ended up getting temmet. I was pretty disappointed at first but after using him in last weeks Trial of Ambition, he's actually pretty solid for the white node. 

Matthew

I got Temmet on the first one, and on my second one as well. Contacted support and they credited me with a new pack, which ended up giving me Cruel Reality.

I'd say I'm ok with all of this, but honestly I'm not. The dupe should never have happened in the first place. It's even more irritating knowing that very soon, we won't be able to request a re-roll from customer service any more.

Beutimus

Where's the 'not enough pink crystals and probably not going to have enough' option?

Edit: Nevermind, found it. XD

hawkyh1

my re-roll got me my first masterpiece, pact of
negation so I ticked that.

HH

Steeme

Matthew said:

I got Temmet on the first one, and on my second one as well. Contacted support and they credited me with a new pack, which ended up giving me Cruel Reality.

I'd say I'm ok with all of this, but honestly I'm not. The dupe should never have happened in the first place. It's even more irritating knowing that very soon, we won't be able to request a re-roll from customer service any more.

You keep re-hashing this over and over, ie. "dupes shouldn't exist".

Before you continue, can you explain how to combat the problem of allowing players to acquire all cards in one shot by buying them with cash?  Under your system, I can simply buy all cash packages, save up jewels, then wait for the best showcase to arrive and get all of them guaranteed.  Then I will stuff them into my decks for you to face in PvP events.  Is that the type of game you're looking for?

Matthew

Steeme said:

Matthew said:

I got Temmet on the first one, and on my second one as well. Contacted support and they credited me with a new pack, which ended up giving me Cruel Reality.

I'd say I'm ok with all of this, but honestly I'm not. The dupe should never have happened in the first place. It's even more irritating knowing that very soon, we won't be able to request a re-roll from customer service any more.

You keep re-hashing this over and over, ie. "dupes shouldn't exist".

Before you continue, can you explain how to combat the problem of allowing players to acquire all cards in one shot by buying them with cash?  Under your system, I can simply buy all cash packages, save up jewels, then wait for the best showcase to arrive and get all of them guaranteed.  Then I will stuff them into my decks for you to face in PvP events.  Is that the type of game you're looking for?

Well, I'm not really going to be able to add much to what I've already said, but I'll try. It is completely your prerogative to do what you've outlined. There will always be people willing to spend unreasonable amounts of money on completely intangible content whales, no matter what you do. This is a fact that most developers actually count on and rely upon quite heavily, so that section of the player base won't be going away.

But more to the point, I'm continually bringing this up because as abysmal as the drop rates are, they can afford to throw us just such a bone. More than likely, it would rarely result in any one player who wasn't completely pay-to-win getting every mythic in the set. Furthermore, you would certainly have to be a whale in order to exploit a system resembling what I have proposed, and since whales make up such a small portion of the player base anyway, who cares if they decide to spend stupid amounts of cash? Since they have fixed matchmaking (minus a couple glaring bugs), I almost never see top-tier players whose decks I know for certain are overflowing with mythic cards. And even when I do, those players' decks aren't completely insurmountable because I'm a competent enough player with a decent enough collection.

But on top of all that, I think implementing this system would see an increase in spending from players, a state which D3 has made quite clear is their desired goal. You yourself have even given evidence to my assertion in your own comment just now about spending money. What is unfortunate is that they seem to be working towards this goal without any regard for the players. Sure, you can say that they don't owe us anything, and to a certain extent that is true. But they won't be around for much longer if they don't figure out how to make a profit while also entertaining their customers. Recurring revenue sources are what keep a business alive, and a happy customer is more likely to be that kind of source. As it stands, they have been driving people away in droves. They need to give people incentive to stick around, and I think the best way to do that is to guarantee an acceptable/desirable return on investment.

DuskPaladin

I agree with @Matthew . What you are saying @Steeme doesn't in the least reflect the reality.

It takes 3200 mana jewels EVERY two weeks to collect all the mythics and Masterpieces from the elite packs. That's an insane amount of mana jewels. Even with the special offers, it's not enough to reach that amount.

But, for the sake of argument, let's say it was enough, It would cost them a crazy amount of money. (Could someone comes up with the calculations for how much it would cost such players every two weeks, please?) They would not be able to spend like that for long.

But once again, let's say they have unlimited resources, and they bought all the mythics. It would still not be a problem. The players topping the rankings don't have decks filled with mythics. That's bad deck building skills if you think that you'll win just because of you have a deck of 10 mythics. In reality, not only do you need to consider deck synergy, but it is also usually preferrable to play with weaker cards to be able to meet the secondary objectives without destroying the opponent right away.

Like Matthew said, we also need to consider the financial aspect from D3H's side. If they can attract huge money spenders, collectors and completionists ready to spend huge chunks of money, more power to them. They will be sustaining this wonderful game. It won't make them totally crush us, though.

Lastly, rather then complain about a fringe case of potential "perceived exploit", why not focus on the more realistic case of normal players just wanting to know that their hard earned mana jewels and money were not spent in vain? For the game to strive, you need costumer's trust, money needs to have value.

babar3355

Steeme said:

Before you continue, can you explain how to combat the problem of allowing players to acquire all cards in one shot by buying them with cash?  Under your system, I can simply buy all cash packages, save up jewels, then wait for the best showcase to arrive and get all of them guaranteed.  Then I will stuff them into my decks for you to face in PvP events.  Is that the type of game you're looking for?

In the standard format that PQ has gone to there simply isn't a reason that top players and or top spenders shouldn't be able to collect every card.  Three months later there is plenty of new content.  I just don't understand the obsession of people thinking that full sets of cards are bad for the game.  The base game that most of us love is literally the example of how you can create a collect them all game and still drive strong revenue to the company.  If someone aquires 3600 mana jewels and wants to unload them all on one set, then more power too them.  It would be an expensive but great way to chase cards (similar to just buying individual cards).

Corn_Noodles

I had received As Foretold as my first open (which I put on the poll) and I have now received a second As Foretold.

I had 3 Rhonas in a row in the last offered packs and now 2 As Foretold in a row this time.

bk1234

Super happy with Temmet. 

madwren

Rhonas (dupe, voted for), Cruel Reality (dupe, not voted for), and As Foretold (lame, not voted for). 

Corn_Noodles

Corn Noodles said:

I had received As Foretold as my first open (which I put on the poll) and I have now received a second As Foretold.

For my replacement pack, I pulled Cruel Reality.

Laeuftbeidir

Second Pull:
As Foretold ( not voted for)

The_Silverhawk

I opened Samut.