400 Purple Crystal Elite Pack Discussion

span_argoman

Nalthazar said:

span_argoman said:

I don't think Jewel Packs should be giving a guaranteed new card from the pack.

In terms of Orbs, if you're opening a Jewel Pack where you only own half the Mythics, your expected Orbs per Jewel is already triple the expected value for Crystals, or double of Crystals spent on a first-month bonus set. If it's all new, then it's 7.5x (or 5x vs first-month bonus).

And though people may argue that Jewels are supposed to be endgame currency for elite players to round out their collection, I'll argue that Orbs is the great equaliser that has made that role irrelevant. They can now be just a more selective means of acquiring new cards.

Making Jewel Packs yield a guaranteed new card could create perverse incentives like making TotP a must-play since for Platinum it would quadruple your invested resources. It would also incentivise players to hoard Jewels to spend on packs where they have all the Rares and Mythics. 120 Jewels for a Masterpiece anyone?

@hawkyh1 Why not go all the way to have a Masterpiece for 120 Jewels?

*edit*
Perhaps each pack could have an option for a guaranteed new card as well for 1,000 Jewels?

Jewels aren't endgame currency exactly, they are more of a way to ensure mythic pulls since the drop rate in this game is so low. They were also implemented to remove certain mythics as rewards so that mythics would be more broadly available to the whole player base. The more cards you add to your collection, the more you can actually play with the mechanics designed by the devs and play the game thoroughly. In response to what you are saying though, I think there is a necessary change that would need to happen to the purple crystal packs.

120 crystal packs can only give rares, but no dupes
400 crystal packs can only give mythics/masterpieces

Would you please first do the math and calculate how much more valuable that makes Elite Packs compared to Premium Packs? Throwing out numbers based on what one feels is right usually just reflects what one is willing to pay for something rather than what value might actually be better for the sustained health of the game and community in general.

Do you realise the consequences of having distorted options in a game? It's like New Perspectives and Drake Haven in our meta now except without the grindy downside. Everyone would have to go for it cause no other option compares.

Nalthazar said:

wereotter said:

Here's the problem with your proposal as I see it:

Let's say there's an elite pack with four mythics I do own and four masterpieces I do not own. Under your proposal, it means I've spent 400 jewels for a guaranteed masterpiece while another person who doesn't own all four mythics spends the same amount of currency and doesn't have that same guarantee. It directly contributes to the problem of those who already have getting more than those who don't.

This was already something that could theoretically be abused under the old reroll system, but now that booster crafting is a reality and having every mythic rare card on offer is much more likely than it was, I think it would be unfair to allow people to have that kind of access to the most powerful cards in the game.

To your first point, I think that if someone has earned all of the mythics in a pack, then they deserve to be able to complete the pack if they have grinded for the pinkies. That is basically what Booster Crafting does. 

To your second point, masterpieces aren't significantly more powerful than mythics apart from Omniscience and arguably Platinum Angel. Most masterpieces are largely niche cards that can be fun to use in decks, but aren't strictly and/or significantly better than their rare/mythic counterparts. Finally, lets pretend for a second that they are the most powerful cards in the game, why make it so that people wouldn't have at least attainable access to the game's most powerful cards? That is another issue altogether, but why release a card into the pool if it isn't going to be available for people to play with. It is nice to have cards to chase, as that is what keeps most of us slavering at the grind, but if you don't have a reliable way to get those cards you are chasing, then you are going to burn out and lose interest in the game.

Sure they deserve the chance to be able to collect the remaining cards which they have not collected. That is very different from them deserving a chance to collect all the remaining cards at a discounted price relative to the rest of the community.

The cards are available for people to play, like all other cards in the game. They're just harder to get. Stop making it seem like there's no way to get the Masterpieces. There are. People just want an easier time to get them because they've already managed to get the other cards. There's no end to it. People will always want more for less as long as they can get away with it.

TheDragonHermit

I am of the opinion that the elite packs have lost a great deal of their value by making them not produce a non dupe (after bugging CS). I can understand how there could be issues with orbs farming by waiting for a pack where you have most of the Mythics, but the simple solution, and the one that should have been implemented the instant it was decided the packs would eventually give a non dupe, would be to do a simple search of the player's library and pop the options that would result in a dupe. I am not sure exactly how this game is coded, but it should only be a few lines of extra code, one would think.

EldrosKandar

What about a pity timer,  let's say for each pack you buy, the chance to get the dupe is reduced, until it is 100% chance to get non-dupe after say 25 of the 120 jewels pack, or 8 of the 400 jewels pack, which would come to about 3000-3200 jewels max for a guaranteed non-dupe. Any way, as soon as you get a non-dupe, the pity timer is reset. Of course it would still be easier to get a non-dupe if you don't possess a lot of the cards available.

I'm not sure I'm getting the gist of the idea over.

hawkyh1

EldrosKandar said:

What about a pity timer,  let's say for each pack you buy, the chance to get the dupe is reduced, until it is 100% chance to get non-dupe after say 25 of the 120 jewels pack, or 8 of the 400 jewels pack, which would come to about 3000-3200 jewels max for a guaranteed non-dupe. Any way, as soon as you get a non-dupe, the pity timer is reset. Of course it would still be easier to get a non-dupe if you don't possess a lot of the cards available.

I'm not sure I'm getting the gist of the idea over.

maybe something like mythics opened in elite packs are
removed from the list the next time you open the same
elite pack? hence you can't get the same dupe over and
over. open enough ie 8+ packs and you will definitely
end up with masterpiece/s. get a new card and the elite
pack is reset to include all again. is this the gist of it?

HH

Krishna

span_argoman said:

Krishna said:

Avahad said:

Why not just have a masterpiece only section with non dupe guaranteed but charge maybe 1000 purples for it........

this concept has been discussed before... I recall "educated" speculation that such a pack would have to cost at least 3000 purple jewels lol. personally I would love to see an all masterpiece elite pack, but with a few worthless masterpieces mixed with the "real" masterpieces, that way it can at least be a little balanced

Let's try to figure out how close that is. Crystals tend to yield 2.3 Orbs each if spent on Premium Packs. 3.3 if we're looking at Ixalan in the bonus Orbs period. A dupe Masterpiece gives 2,500 Orbs. So going by the exchange rates for Mythics and Rares, a new one should be worth 10 times of that at 25,000 Orbs.

3,000 Jewels for 25,000 Orbs would be 8.3 Orbs per Jewel which is still way above what Crystals yield. Seems like the base of 3,000 Jewels isn't actually that bad an estimate.

I understand the math that leads to an estimate of 3k jewels for an all MP pack. This same type of math led to predictions of a $100+ Bolas PW. The reality is that there are other factors in play. Public Opinion is one of them, and it is quite low right now and it is being rebuilt in the wake of D3/ Hibernum screw-ups. 
Another factor is that Purple Jewels cannot be purchased the same way that Crystals can, and while some view that Jewels have depreciated, as soon as Oktagon puts out a new way to spend Jewels that doesn't burn the **** out of you with a dupe mythic, their value will be high again.

Szamsziel

Why just not allow second currency for Booster crafting? Mythics you can craft either with orbs or purples (400). Masterpiece you can craft with 1000 purples.
So either you feel lucky and buy purple pack (Hazzard way) or craft (stable way)

Theros

Szamsziel said:

Why just not allow second currency for Booster crafting? Mythics you can craft either with orbs or purples (400). Masterpiece you can craft with 1000 purples.
So either you feel lucky and buy purple pack (Hazzard way) or craft (stable way)

Masterpieces are so mediocre (except 2 or 3) they don't even worth 400 jewels. Most of them are useless compared to mythics. 1000 purples is way too much.
Therefore, I'm more than OK if they remove masterpieces from elites to make them not give dupes. This is probably the best compromise.

wereotter

khurram said:

Sirchombli said:

Plus, with how much people want certain masterpieces nerfed, asking for more of them in circulation would not help community morale. I'd love to be able to chase masterpieces. I'm also not one of the myriad of people crying about them being op. Be careful what you wish for. 

Not certain masterpieces... Just the one. And let's be honest, 90+% of people posting to get Omniscience nerfed don't have it and aside from their exaggerated claims that it's making them quit 9 out of 10 games every day, the real reason is that they don't like the idea of potentially losing to a deck they can't  make for themselves. Not really because it's broken and they want the game to be "balanced".

PS: a little off topic rant. Sorry. I blame the delay in release of Ixalan. 

There are absolutely other powerful masterpieces that can cause you to win once you play them. Sword of Fire an Ice is a real beast once it hits the field, for example. So we can't just say that you have a right to get these cards just because you've spent the money to buy enough packs that enabled you to get the orbs and craft all the mythics. Given that there are incredibly powerful cards out there in masterpiece status, that takes the game too close to "pay to win" status for my liking.

Nalthazar said:

wereotter said:

Here's the problem with your proposal as I see it:

Let's say there's an elite pack with four mythics I do own and four masterpieces I do not own. Under your proposal, it means I've spent 400 jewels for a guaranteed masterpiece while another person who doesn't own all four mythics spends the same amount of currency and doesn't have that same guarantee. It directly contributes to the problem of those who already have getting more than those who don't.

This was already something that could theoretically be abused under the old reroll system, but now that booster crafting is a reality and having every mythic rare card on offer is much more likely than it was, I think it would be unfair to allow people to have that kind of access to the most powerful cards in the game.

Please keep in mind that if we follow the paper schedule, we aren't getting masterpieces starting in Ixalan. Additionally, lets say that someone has actually gotten all of the mythics in a pack, then they deserve to get the Masterpieces too (assuming they're being printed). The amount of time it takes to actually obtain all of the cards in an Elite Pack or the money is astronomical. This isn't a game where the cards have real money, and apart from Omniscience, none of the masterpieces are significantly more powerful than mythics either. There SHOULD be a way to complete your collection. 

If we're following paper magic, then masterpieces also shouldn't be legal in standard events. Legacy only.

span_argoman

Krishna said:

span_argoman said:

Krishna said:

Avahad said:

Why not just have a masterpiece only section with non dupe guaranteed but charge maybe 1000 purples for it........

this concept has been discussed before... I recall "educated" speculation that such a pack would have to cost at least 3000 purple jewels lol. personally I would love to see an all masterpiece elite pack, but with a few worthless masterpieces mixed with the "real" masterpieces, that way it can at least be a little balanced

Let's try to figure out how close that is. Crystals tend to yield 2.3 Orbs each if spent on Premium Packs. 3.3 if we're looking at Ixalan in the bonus Orbs period. A dupe Masterpiece gives 2,500 Orbs. So going by the exchange rates for Mythics and Rares, a new one should be worth 10 times of that at 25,000 Orbs.

3,000 Jewels for 25,000 Orbs would be 8.3 Orbs per Jewel which is still way above what Crystals yield. Seems like the base of 3,000 Jewels isn't actually that bad an estimate.

I understand the math that leads to an estimate of 3k jewels for an all MP pack. This same type of math led to predictions of a $100+ Bolas PW. The reality is that there are other factors in play. Public Opinion is one of them, and it is quite low right now and it is being rebuilt in the wake of D3/ Hibernum screw-ups. 
Another factor is that Purple Jewels cannot be purchased the same way that Crystals can, and while some view that Jewels have depreciated, as soon as Oktagon puts out a new way to spend Jewels that doesn't burn the tinykitty out of you with a dupe mythic, their value will be high again.

There's a huge difference between a one-time discount on a planeswalker bundle and a permanent change to the game's reward structure.

One of them can only be enjoyed once per player, and ends after a set amount of time. The other can be enjoyed multiple times and will last for a much longer period of time, and be hell to retract if they ever have to deal with how problematic it will be.

As I've explained in my reply to others, proposing to make Elite Packs non-dupe greatly increases its value relative to other options for obtaining cards. It's a similar effect to say them announcing that HOU will have Big Boxes available but every other set only has Premium Packs. I hope no explanation is necessary as to how that can distort things.

Using public opinion is a low blow. Oktagon has already done a lot to increase rewards and give us players what we want. And here we are claiming that they have to do more to make up for the sins of their predecessors. Here we are asking them to permanently increase rewards in one aspect of the game which means they will have to keep bearing the cross for sins they did not commit.

If public opinion is considered quite low now, I wonder when public opinion of this game was ever not low. People are excited to hear about Ixalan. People have been happy about increased rewards over the holidays. People have been asking for old paid bundles which have returned as requested and people have bought them.

Look, I wouldn't mind having more free stuff, easier rewards and easier means of completing one's collection. I'm not a masochist. But people have to do more to justify their requests than "dude, I want this reward but I don't want to bother trying for it".

If we entertain that, we will continue to have endless threads asking for various packs to be cheaper, asking for events to have smaller bracket sizes yet more rewards, asking for higher drop rates (how much higher? Who knows, high enough till people stop complaining ie. never.), asking for matches to be easier or whatever strikes a player's fancy when they get out of the wrong side of the bed that morning.

If it is a legitimate complaint, we will be able to logically deduce the problems and the arising issues. If people are willing to logically discuss these issues, we can make actual progress on a topic instead of people just saying their fill and then digging their heels in.

For the record, so far I quite like the idea by @Drewster suggesting to give more Orbs for Elite Pack dupes. It makes people who got a dupe less disgruntled but doesn't change the pack's effective value that much.

I'm thinking if so many people want an option for a guaranteed new card from the Elite Pack, give it to them. People just shouldn't expect to be paying the same price because there should be a premium for a guaranteed new card versus drawing from a pool.

And personally I would say the option should be deactivated once a player has all the Mythics in that Elite Pack. While I think it would be nice to be able to eventually collect all cards including Masterpieces, I don't see Masterpieces as a segment where the developers need to guarantee a clear path to full completion.

If they have capped Booster Crafting at Mythics, my interpretation is that their long-term plan for the game involves balancing the game assuming players have many/all of the cards up to Mythics only. Like how they don't have to worry as much about Legacy, they can choose to worry less about Masterpieces especially since it isn't even going to be a persistent feature in paper MTG.

Krishna

span_argoman said:

There's a huge difference between a one-time discount on a planeswalker bundle and a permanent change to the game's reward structure.

One of them can only be enjoyed once per player, and ends after a set amount of time. The other can be enjoyed multiple times and will last for a much longer period of time, and be hell to retract if they ever have to deal with how problematic it will be.

 
That's all true with the exception of 'hell to retract' because of problematic. That's more speculative of a system that doesn't yet exist.

This is also being viewed in a bubble of a single event. Personally, I believe Omni (and definitely HUF, which is a RARE) needs to be 'Re-tooled' and I do own Omni and HUF and use them every single chance I get.
I would keep the 400 and 120 packs, and add a 2000 (maybe less) cost Elite pack that has 2 or 3 killer MPs, 3-5 good MPs, and 3-5 Meh MPs, while still keeping the 400 and 120 packs. And hell, you could hang that pack out there for a month at a time. Depending on whether you take 1st in HoD, Stacking 2000 jewels could take several months, and since Oktagon has stated that they have the best interest of the game in mind and want to capture the essence of Magic more, they will ensure that their choices for Ultra Elite Packs are not over-OP cards. Or it would ruin the game and send us to hell because everyone has a one turn win deck lol. Just kidding

I bring up public opinion not because I feel they must suffer for the sins of the past, but because they are actively doing great things with this game BECAUSE they are taking the reins and leading the game in a different direction, a more rewards friendly direction. A lot of people left and took breaks, and moves by Oktagon brought them back (I still wish we would get adequately compensated for event errors that cost us rewards...). Oktagon and D3 are seeing the results of their actions, and I have to believe they want to keep doing what they're doing. I would like to think that with Ixalan, they will be releasing a new type of pack, or at least their spin on an Elite Pack. The fact that they have 100% recycled Elite Packs for months tells me that they may be planning to release something.

And I don't mind the "If you give a mouse a cookie" argument. People will always ask for more whether you give it to them or not. But I know that when Crafting hit, I didn't have s*** to complain about for a while. In-game life was good.

I hadn't seen Drewster's Idea, I like that. Dupes can sell at 'newest set' rate, or have its own rate.

span_argoman

Krishna said:

span_argoman said:

There's a huge difference between a one-time discount on a planeswalker bundle and a permanent change to the game's reward structure.

One of them can only be enjoyed once per player, and ends after a set amount of time. The other can be enjoyed multiple times and will last for a much longer period of time, and be hell to retract if they ever have to deal with how problematic it will be.

 
That's all true with the exception of 'hell to retract' because of problematic. That's more speculative of a system that doesn't yet exist.

This is also being viewed in a bubble of a single event. Personally, I believe Omni (and definitely HUF, which is a RARE) needs to be 'Re-tooled' and I do own Omni and HUF and use them every single chance I get.
I would keep the 400 and 120 packs, and add a 2000 (maybe less) cost Elite pack that has 2 or 3 killer MPs, 3-5 good MPs, and 3-5 Meh MPs, while still keeping the 400 and 120 packs. And hell, you could hang that pack out there for a month at a time. Depending on whether you take 1st in HoD, Stacking 2000 jewels could take several months, and since Oktagon has stated that they have the best interest of the game in mind and want to capture the essence of Magic more, they will ensure that their choices for Ultra Elite Packs are not over-OP cards. Or it would ruin the game and send us to hell because everyone has a one turn win deck lol. Just kidding

I bring up public opinion not because I feel they must suffer for the sins of the past, but because they are actively doing great things with this game BECAUSE they are taking the reins and leading the game in a different direction, a more rewards friendly direction. A lot of people left and took breaks, and moves by Oktagon brought them back (I still wish we would get adequately compensated for event errors that cost us rewards...). Oktagon and D3 are seeing the results of their actions, and I have to believe they want to keep doing what they're doing. I would like to think that with Ixalan, they will be releasing a new type of pack, or at least their spin on an Elite Pack. The fact that they have 100% recycled Elite Packs for months tells me that they may be planning to release something.

And I don't mind the "If you give a mouse a cookie" argument. People will always ask for more whether you give it to them or not. But I know that when Crafting hit, I didn't have s*** to complain about for a while. In-game life was good.

I hadn't seen Drewster's Idea, I like that. Dupes can sell at 'newest set' rate, or have its own rate.

Well actually we did have a precedent when they rolled back ( ) the reroll policy for Elite Packs. There were already concerns raised up when the ambiguous single-reroll policy wasn't actually a single-reroll policy for some. Then it was changed to a 2-reroll + additional ones being subject to review, then to the reroll till you get a new card policy. And then the unlimited reroll policy persisted for a few months or so. And ever since it was retracted, we see topics pop up once in a while asking for guaranteed new cards back in Elite Packs. But I must admit that the backlash for this issue wasn't all that problematic compared to the austerity backlash.

I think Omniscience and HUF (and personally I'll add Deploy too) should be retooled too. Anything that is a card multiplier like will restrict future card design because you can no longer design powerful cards restricted by exorbitant mana costs. Likewise, mana-related effects like Emerge, Madness and Crew or any future ones become much diminished when under the shadow of cards like Omniscience, HUF and Deploy.

I like the idea of a 2,000 Jewel Masterpiece-only Elite Pack. It gives people who want Masterpieces an avenue to get them, though I'd still say it should be like the current Elite Pack policy with the chance of duplicates. But it does give people who are hoarding Jewels, because they don't want any risk of hitting dupes in the Mythic Elite Packs, something to target.

Now that you've explained a bit more about the public opinion bit, I see what you're getting at. Crafting and greater rewards no doubt have generated more interest in the game, bringing more players into the game whether new or old. But considering that the Elite Packs being discussed are something which are primarily relevant to Platinum players, I'm not sure it'll be a very effective tool for drawing people back. If it's just to make rewards sweeter in general, I still maintain that it has to be balanced vis-a-vis the other packs in the game.

Yeah, I know that there will always be people who ask for more. But it gets tiring coming to the forums and hearing the same old record playing again and again, y'know? And we know that people eventually get used to the new norm. So then by constantly going for more rewards, are we just consigning the game to a path of 'reward creep'? That's my concern.

Nalthazar

span_argoman said:

Nalthazar said:

span_argoman said:

I don't think Jewel Packs should be giving a guaranteed new card from the pack.

In terms of Orbs, if you're opening a Jewel Pack where you only own half the Mythics, your expected Orbs per Jewel is already triple the expected value for Crystals, or double of Crystals spent on a first-month bonus set. If it's all new, then it's 7.5x (or 5x vs first-month bonus).

And though people may argue that Jewels are supposed to be endgame currency for elite players to round out their collection, I'll argue that Orbs is the great equaliser that has made that role irrelevant. They can now be just a more selective means of acquiring new cards.

Making Jewel Packs yield a guaranteed new card could create perverse incentives like making TotP a must-play since for Platinum it would quadruple your invested resources. It would also incentivise players to hoard Jewels to spend on packs where they have all the Rares and Mythics. 120 Jewels for a Masterpiece anyone?

@hawkyh1 Why not go all the way to have a Masterpiece for 120 Jewels?

*edit*
Perhaps each pack could have an option for a guaranteed new card as well for 1,000 Jewels?

Jewels aren't endgame currency exactly, they are more of a way to ensure mythic pulls since the drop rate in this game is so low. They were also implemented to remove certain mythics as rewards so that mythics would be more broadly available to the whole player base. The more cards you add to your collection, the more you can actually play with the mechanics designed by the devs and play the game thoroughly. In response to what you are saying though, I think there is a necessary change that would need to happen to the purple crystal packs.

120 crystal packs can only give rares, but no dupes
400 crystal packs can only give mythics/masterpieces

Would you please first do the math and calculate how much more valuable that makes Elite Packs compared to Premium Packs? Throwing out numbers based on what one feels is right usually just reflects what one is willing to pay for something rather than what value might actually be better for the sustained health of the game and community in general.

Do you realise the consequences of having distorted options in a game? It's like New Perspectives and Drake Haven in our meta now except without the grindy downside. Everyone would have to go for it cause no other option compares.

Nalthazar said:

wereotter said:

Here's the problem with your proposal as I see it:

Let's say there's an elite pack with four mythics I do own and four masterpieces I do not own. Under your proposal, it means I've spent 400 jewels for a guaranteed masterpiece while another person who doesn't own all four mythics spends the same amount of currency and doesn't have that same guarantee. It directly contributes to the problem of those who already have getting more than those who don't.

This was already something that could theoretically be abused under the old reroll system, but now that booster crafting is a reality and having every mythic rare card on offer is much more likely than it was, I think it would be unfair to allow people to have that kind of access to the most powerful cards in the game.

To your first point, I think that if someone has earned all of the mythics in a pack, then they deserve to be able to complete the pack if they have grinded for the pinkies. That is basically what Booster Crafting does. 

To your second point, masterpieces aren't significantly more powerful than mythics apart from Omniscience and arguably Platinum Angel. Most masterpieces are largely niche cards that can be fun to use in decks, but aren't strictly and/or significantly better than their rare/mythic counterparts. Finally, lets pretend for a second that they are the most powerful cards in the game, why make it so that people wouldn't have at least attainable access to the game's most powerful cards? That is another issue altogether, but why release a card into the pool if it isn't going to be available for people to play with. It is nice to have cards to chase, as that is what keeps most of us slavering at the grind, but if you don't have a reliable way to get those cards you are chasing, then you are going to burn out and lose interest in the game.

Sure they deserve the chance to be able to collect the remaining cards which they have not collected. That is very different from them deserving a chance to collect all the remaining cards at a discounted price relative to the rest of the community.

The cards are available for people to play, like all other cards in the game. They're just harder to get. Stop making it seem like there's no way to get the Masterpieces. There are. People just want an easier time to get them because they've already managed to get the other cards. There's no end to it. People will always want more for less as long as they can get away with it.

I'm not complaining about Masterpieces not being easy enough to get. My beef is that I don't think you should be able to get a duplicate from an Elite Pack given how much time it takes to get the purple crystals. This isn't a game with monetary value and on top of that, don't forget that it is a game. Games should be fun. Games should feel rewarding to the people playing them. Asking to not get duplicates from a pack like an elite pack isn't much to ask for

No I'm not going to crunch pointless numbers to see how much more valuable it would make elite packs over premium packs. I honestly don't care. Elite packs take a lot of time to gather the resources for, while premium packs are easily earned. The drop rate is already low in my opinion, but it is still manageable. Given that this is a free-to-play game, the devs need to be paid somehow, and having a lower drop rate on desirable cards inspires the players to pay money. I understand that and I am fine with it. 

What you are getting to is a point of contention with design, but not about duplicate mythics, which is what I started this thread for. If you don't think it is fair for a player to complete their collection due to the power of the cards, then you should start a thread about the power level of cards. If you don't have an issue with the power level of cards, then there is no problem with a player having multiple avenues to complete their collections. 

Kinesia

There shouldn't be dupes because purple crystals take effort to get and any disappointment is bad.

This is the key point. The _details_ on what packs should be or the costs, that is totally separate to the main point and should be worked out by the developers after doing maths!

We say the packs should be "all rare", "all mythic", etc because that removes the _other_ point of disappointment.

We _guess_ at reasonable costs but all that is up to the devs, the only thing we _care_ about is that they remove the disappointment aspect somehow.

Urzashead

Personally saving mine for the new set. Wont have to worry about a dupe then.

Nalthazar

Urzashead said:

Personally saving mine for the new set. Wont have to worry about a dupe then.

I am also saving mine for Ixalan, but I have over 1600 of the things now and a few thousand yellow crystals, so when the first pack comes out, it will be possible that I will have already gotten a mythic or two from the premium packs I will get. Given my luck, I suppose I probably won't, but nonetheless, it would be nice to be able to start using the resources I have been saving for the past few months to get new cards.

Snappyturtle

I'm liking the more orbs for Elite dupes idea.

Krishna

Urzashead said:

Personally saving mine for the new set. Wont have to worry about a dupe then.

only on the first pack. after that dupes are fair game, especially if cards are not weighted equally

Nalthazar

Is it possible to make Masterpiece Boosters award a non-duplicate card?
For now, a couple of things will change regarding the newly-named Elite Collection (the name change will be explained in the upcoming developer blog post for Ixalan):

• We’ve adjusted the drop rates and card pool for the Elite Packs in Ixalan.
• This means that you should have a much lower chance of getting a duplicate from your Elite Packs, and opening them will get you right on the way to becoming a resident, if not the mayor, of Valuetown!
• Finally, new bundles will almost always contain some accompanying Mana Jewels with them.

We believe that these changes, coupled with the slightly increased earning rate of Mana Jewels, should make for a more enjoyable experience overall. We will continue to keep a close eye on the Elite Collection/Mana Jewel situation, and will be making further adjustments as we move forward.

Gilesclone

I’m saving mine for Ixalan, but the current offering is very tempting.  If I didn’t have 5 out of the 8 mythics I’d pull the trigger for sure 

Nalthazar

What we got from the January Q&A regarding this thread.