Please sir, may I have some more? (runes!)

babar3355
babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
edited April 2018 in MtGPQ General Discussion
I have played since nearly day 1. I played every node in most events, tons of QB each week, and spent hundreds of dollars on cards, crystal and bundles.  Yet, I still don't have remotely enough runes to take every PW to level 60.

Why in the world are you guys so stingy with runes? 

Even when you offer them in bundles it is a laughable amount. The most expensive current bundle is selling for $39.99.  It comes with a pathetic 35,000 runes.  That is not enough to level Nicol Bolas from 58 to 60.

In fact, to get Nicol Bolas to level 60 here are some options:
  • Buy 380 Premium Packs of all dupes (Assuming a generous 150 runes per booster + 100 for the rare). That would only cost a cool $4000 if you bought the necessary 121,600 crystals via 3000 crystals packs for $100 each.
  • Play  WIN 3240 games of Training Grounds.
  • Buy 10 Epic Starter Pack Bundles for $39.99 each.  That would only cost $400, except you are only allowed 1 purchase...
  • Buy 65 Training Packs at $4.99 each... that would run you about $324.
I mean honestly... ridiculous.

And here is the catch.  Let's just say that you are a bunch of greedy people trying to milk us for all our worth.  Don't you realize that I am not going to spend $40 for a PW if I can't afford to level them?  I can just be patient and let my runes build until they are available in the vault, or maybe not get them at all (Looking at you J3, Angrath, H1).  

It's just not a reasonable model and I can't for the life of me understand how it is good for the game or the developers.

If you are worried about players progressing through the game too quickly, then simply be stingy with runes in story mode and in lower tiers.  You can't possibly want to avoid a whale from spending so much money that they progress very quickly.

Anyway, I think you guys should really take a look at the poorly thought out rune distribution.  After all... no reason to buy Karn with cash if I can't get him past level 10. 

@Oktagon_Daiane I rarely tag.. but this has been a problem for a very long time.  Please pay attention.
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Comments

  • wereotter
    wereotter Posts: 2,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    'member when people were complaining they were swimming in runes and how useless they were?



    Also your figures are if you're trying to do it all in one day. Traning Grounds is an extra 1050 runes a day for meeting progression plus any other events that might be going on.

    I also don't have all my planeswalkers leveled up to 60, but I'm not stressing about it. Matchmaking has been improved so that my walkers I'm still working on aren't being paired off against level 60s.
  • babar3355
    babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2018
    Ok,, so we can deduct 3 games because you got those extra 1050 runes in the same day.... so 1077 games.

    And fine, if the developers have a rationale reason why they want top end platinum players to be running walkers below level 60, I would love to hear that answer too.

    Perhaps you are missing the point a little bit?  We don't get nearly enough runes NOW... WHY?

    I actually wonder how some of those players are doing rune-wise now.  @fiddler, are you still swimming in runes?

    I was never one that was grinding QB like those cats.

  • GrizzoMtGPQ
    GrizzoMtGPQ Posts: 776 Critical Contributor
    edited April 2018
    I ground through 5,824 games in QB. Playing TG nets less runes but still enough to get you where you need to be. I have all PW leveled and 1.3M extra to boot. You can get runes if you want them. I guess you have to decide if you want them.

    A better question might be, "What do you think is an appropriate amount of play to get your walkers leveled?" Would you pay $15 or $20 to level a single PW?
  • GrizzoMtGPQ
    GrizzoMtGPQ Posts: 776 Critical Contributor
    @Kinesia that's a really cool idea!
  • Brakkis
    Brakkis Posts: 777 Critical Contributor
    edited April 2018
    I started playing at the end of last April, almost a year ago. Should be a year in about a week.

    This is my current list of Planeswalkers and their levels


    I feel like runes come in at a rather steady pace. If I owned more than 22 Planeswalkers, I would certainly want more runes for them and I can absolutely understand the desire for runes to come in at a greater rate but I don't feel it's a priority. Even if I did have more Planeswalkers, I can effectively run every node of every event without much trouble with the ones I already have so I wouldn't really be pressured to acquire and level more. That's another issue though is what about a new Planeswalker is supposed to appeal to me enough to use it over one I currently have, at 60, with the same color scheme?

    Addendum: I haven't spent a single cent on this game; I don't spend money on mobile games for one, and for another, this game does not understand microtransactions at all.
  • TomB
    TomB Posts: 269 Mover and Shaker
    I think you guys are over-thinking this. The point is, many people are finding it difficult to level their PW's because they don't have the runes. QB used to give out significant runage when grinding, but with QB gone that is no longer an option. There are other methods of grinding runes, true, but they're not as productive (nor as fun), and since runes can be used for only 1 purpose (well 2, but unlocking deck slots shouldn't be a deterrent either) can we try to find a better way for people to earn a more reasonable amount of runes? Especially since the rapid-fire onslaught of shiny new PW's has us rune tapped and yearning for more?
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,731 Chairperson of the Boards
    I think this argument here boils down to what I was debating with a few other players in the "Not Enough Mana Crystals Anymore," thread.

    https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/71961/not-enough-mana-crystals-anymore#latest

    Point is, we aren't short on runes per event, as most of the rewards in events have been shifted to almost only runes.  We're short on everything because the number of events have been lowered, and the rewards per event (runes, crystals, event rewards of a rare card) have also been lowered.

    It's a flat-out mtgpq award Recession.

  • babar3355
    babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
    FindingHeart8 said:
    I think this argument here boils down to what I was debating with a few other players in the "Not Enough Mana Crystals Anymore," thread.

    https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/71961/not-enough-mana-crystals-anymore#latest

    Point is, we aren't short on runes per event, as most of the rewards in events have been shifted to almost only runes.  We're short on everything because the number of events have been lowered, and the rewards per event (runes, crystals, event rewards of a rare card) have also been lowered.

    It's a flat-out mtgpq award Recession.

    This makes it seem more like an oversight than a greed move.

    Sure they might want to reduce our crystals and jewels to entice us to buy some, buy why would they want to massively restrict our runes which incentivizes us (or at least me) to not pay cash for PWs.
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,731 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2018
    Clarification: are you saying the thread I'm linked makes the scenario appear more like it's an oversight instead of a greed move (meaning you think it's a greed move) or are you saying that you personally have concluded that it seems more like an oversight than a greed move?

    My leading theory is that they're super busy working on Dominaria (a trend I'm noticing with Octagon, they do really well on delivering results but can appear a bit neglectful in the meantime in the matters of what comes out each day), so whoever is responsible for deciding what events are coming out each day is either super busy juggling other tasks in-house or is spending a lot of time sleeping on the job.
  • babar3355
    babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
    FindingHeart8 said:
    Clarification: are you saying the thread I'm linked makes the scenario appear more like it's an oversight instead of a greed move (meaning you think it's a greed move) or are you saying that you personally have concluded that it seems more like an oversight than a greed move?

    My leading theory is that they're super busy working on Dominaria (a trend I'm noticing with Octagon, they do really well on delivering results but can appear a bit neglectful in the meantime in the matters of what comes out each day), so whoever is responsible for deciding what events are coming out each day is either super busy juggling other tasks in-house or is spending a lot of time sleeping on the job.
    I am saying that the entire scenario, including your thread, suggests oversight.  I agree, I think they are just focused on other things right now.

    But I disagree with some people that it isn't a somewhat urgent issue.  Can't see myself buying J3 or H1, because I need my crystals and I can't level them anyway.  Thats bad for D3's wallet.
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,731 Chairperson of the Boards
    Oh yeah I agree with you that there's a problem here.  A mtgpq recession is not going to make players spend more real money.  More likely it will make them more aware of their limited resources and reduce all forms of purchase (in-game currency or cash) which, if this recession goes long-term, will also reduce player activity.
  • madwren
    madwren Posts: 2,259 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2018
    There's definitely a rune shortage. However, it may not be an accidental oversight if they've changed their philosophy.

    For awhile, the Powers That Be clearly wanted to force us to buy every planeswalker by mandating them in events.

    That doesn't seem to be the case anymore--at least there haven't been any restricted Huatli/Nuatli/Jace events--which means they may have shifted to a "We don't expect (or want) everyone to own every planeswalker". 

    FindingHeart8 said:
    Oh yeah I agree with you that there's a problem here.  A mtgpq recession is not going to make players spend more real money.  More likely it will make them more aware of their limited resources and reduce all forms of purchase (in-game currency or cash) which, if this recession goes long-term, will also reduce player activity.

    I agree. This is the same thing that happened in the Days of Austerity.  I used to purchase every planeswalker, which means continually spending crystals and runes. Now, however, because there's a shortage, my inclination--and that of many I talk to--is to hoard resources and NOT spend them. I'm sure as heck not going to pay cash (or crystals) for planeswalkers that I can't even level.

    It seems like basic economic philosophy. When no one has anything to spend, nothing gets spent.


  • Krishna
    Krishna Posts: 205 Tile Toppler
    Embrace the Smurf...


  • mrixl2520
    mrixl2520 Posts: 240 Tile Toppler
    Kinesia said:

    Money is the wrong thing to focus on, they want people to spend money yes, but they also want people motivated to _play_ more and that's the bit there's little driving for.

    I've suggested in the past that everytime you Master a card with a PW you get a "burst" of experience on that specific PW and a small amount of runes. (Numbers to be experimented with). This would be a driver to just _play_ the PWs you want to level and I think that that would be good for the game overall. You'd get people playing with their low level folk and doing crazy silly things with them to master odd unused cards and it'd engage people with their new PW.
    I love this card leveling idea!

    An idea I have is that every time you win with a PW, that PW gets an amount of xp. Maybe like 100, just a bit to keep leveling them up. That way you could slowly level all your PWs and have extra runes to allocate however you like
  • Gabrosin
    Gabrosin Posts: 259 Mover and Shaker
    mrixl2520 said:
    Kinesia said:

    Money is the wrong thing to focus on, they want people to spend money yes, but they also want people motivated to _play_ more and that's the bit there's little driving for.

    I've suggested in the past that everytime you Master a card with a PW you get a "burst" of experience on that specific PW and a small amount of runes. (Numbers to be experimented with). This would be a driver to just _play_ the PWs you want to level and I think that that would be good for the game overall. You'd get people playing with their low level folk and doing crazy silly things with them to master odd unused cards and it'd engage people with their new PW.
    I love this card leveling idea!

    An idea I have is that every time you win with a PW, that PW gets an amount of xp. Maybe like 100, just a bit to keep leveling them up. That way you could slowly level all your PWs and have extra runes to allocate however you like
    Please let's not do this.  Some of us prefer to hit a certain level with our PWs and then stay there.  Not every PW is best at level 60.
  • Kinesia
    Kinesia Posts: 1,621 Chairperson of the Boards
    Gabrosin said:
    mrixl2520 said:
    Kinesia said:

    Money is the wrong thing to focus on, they want people to spend money yes, but they also want people motivated to _play_ more and that's the bit there's little driving for.

    I've suggested in the past that everytime you Master a card with a PW you get a "burst" of experience on that specific PW and a small amount of runes. (Numbers to be experimented with). This would be a driver to just _play_ the PWs you want to level and I think that that would be good for the game overall. You'd get people playing with their low level folk and doing crazy silly things with them to master odd unused cards and it'd engage people with their new PW.
    I love this card leveling idea!

    An idea I have is that every time you win with a PW, that PW gets an amount of xp. Maybe like 100, just a bit to keep leveling them up. That way you could slowly level all your PWs and have extra runes to allocate however you like
    Please let's not do this.  Some of us prefer to hit a certain level with our PWs and then stay there.  Not every PW is best at level 60.

    Yep, I was thinking about this with Samut in particular, some people don't want her berserk to go on everyone.
    In my original plan there is a solution... Don't master new cards with Samut. If you need a new card master it with someone you _do_ want to level and only put it in Samut afterwards.
  • FeralSkald
    FeralSkald Posts: 43 Just Dropped In
    edited April 2018
    To answer the swimming in runes from old players.

    I just spent 323,750 leveling Karn, and 20k for the extra card slot. Took me down to 1.6 million runes. Have all PW maxed and extra deck slots. Not posting to brag, posting to assure you there are players still swimming in runes from the old days.

    As an aside, I master all cards I get in heroic story mode. Typically doing that keeps me pretty even on runes. Literally thousands of games.
  • ZW2007-
    ZW2007- Posts: 812 Critical Contributor
    edited April 2018
    I had over 1.3 million not that long ago. I picked up Karn and took him all the way to 60. I'm down to 600k. I refuse to level my Bolas past level 53 because it isn't worth wasting the runes. That speaks to the failure of the current system. There is literally no incentive for me to dump another 100k runes into Bolas and the (perhaps perceived) scarcity of runes reinforces my desire to keep on hoarding. I own all PWs besides H1 and J3, 4 duals are not 60 and 10 mono-colored are below 50.

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