Daily pay for Across Ixalan or save for planeswalker

Paran007
Paran007 Posts: 8 Just Dropped In
Hello, I would like to know your opinion: would you pay for Across Ixalan every day to get a booster plus some runes etc. or would you save up more to buy better planeswalker sooner? Currently I have only Saheeli Rai and basic planeswalkers. On the other hand booster and something extra for 20 seems like a very good deal to me. Also, do you know how long will we keep getting this event?
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Comments

  • Froggy
    Froggy Posts: 511 Critical Contributor
    edited April 2018
    I don’t see that there’s any loss in playing AI. As you pay 20, get a booster pack, the pinkies and 30 crystals back. It’s a win-win.

    edit: wait - what tier are you in? I’m referring to platinum rewards...
  • Paran007
    Paran007 Posts: 8 Just Dropped In
    I am still in silver, slowly moving to gold.
  • Firinmahlazer
    Firinmahlazer Posts: 417 Mover and Shaker
    I wouldn't suggest doing it in silver. Better to save for the next set/PW
  • Furks
    Furks Posts: 149 Tile Toppler
    edited April 2018
    I think it's stupid that on lower tiers it's actually a net loss to play these events. (in terms of crystals) 

    Either have a lower entry fee or make the crystals reward the same for every tier.

    The lower tiers are the ones that need the crystals the most so they can get cards to move up in tiers, but they can't because playing events isn't worth it.

    It took forever to get in platinum, but now I'm swimming in card packs and crystals. 

    Personally, I would even remove the entry fee all together and adjust the rewards accordingly. Never understood what that fee was about anyway since you just earn it back playing the event (provided your are in platinum) 
  • ZW2007-
    ZW2007- Posts: 812 Critical Contributor
    I'd advise skipping Across Ixalan (AX) and just focus on saving your crystals. XLN booster packs have very poor drop rates compared to other sets so you aren't likely to get anything good from them. You also only get 14 jewels in Silver so the return on crystals probably isn't worth it there either. It would cost you roughly 170 crystals to get 120 jewels which gets you a shot at an elite pack of rare or better. 320 crystals would get you a Premium Pack of RIX and at least 2 rares and/or a mythic (unless you are extremely unlucky—which can and does happen.) We can expect Dominaria to come soon. I think it would be best to save your crystals to spend on a Premium Pack or two of that set and then focus on getting some of the better planeswalkers.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Just Dropped In
    I started doing it in Gold but only after my important PW collection was complete.
  • Paran007
    Paran007 Posts: 8 Just Dropped In
    Thank you all for your advice. I will stop playing paid events for now and wait to buy better planeswalkers and maybe Premium Packs of the new set.
  • HomeRn
    HomeRn Posts: 328 Mover and Shaker
    Yeah... if you are in silver, then avoid doing Across Ixalan if you are in silver still.  Most events have rather poor rewards until you get into Gold and even more so Platinum tiers.
  • Mojo
    Mojo Posts: 44 Just Dropped In
    Sad that people in the know are basically saying don't play parts of the game because it costs too much.  Has to be a better way for us that haven't made it to plat other then waiting for our daily rewards to accumulate to play or improve.
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,730 Chairperson of the Boards
    Mojo said:
    Sad that people in the know are basically saying don't play parts of the game because it costs too much.  Has to be a better way for us that haven't made it to plat other then waiting for our daily rewards to accumulate to play or improve.
    If the entry fee stays, I think the final reward for bronze and silver players should be a refund on their crystals, gold players should get 5-10 more crystals, and plat should get 15 to 20 more crystals.

    That way everyone benefits, but there's still incentive to master each color so you get *slightly* higher rewards.
  • Mburn7
    Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
    Mojo said:
    Sad that people in the know are basically saying don't play parts of the game because it costs too much.  Has to be a better way for us that haven't made it to plat other then waiting for our daily rewards to accumulate to play or improve.
    If the entry fee stays, I think the final reward for bronze and silver players should be a refund on their crystals, gold players should get 5-10 more crystals, and plat should get 15 to 20 more crystals.

    That way everyone benefits, but there's still incentive to master each color so you get *slightly* higher rewards.
    The thing is, Across Ixalan is modeled after Trial of the Planes.  Trial was made, basically, for top players only as a way to convert excess crystals into Jewels for masterpieces.  That's literally all it was.  The crystal refund was added in later after people complained about it being too expensive, but you were never supposed to MAKE crystals off of it, just Jewels.  The disparity in rewards was put in to encourage people to get to platinum, since sandbagging was such a huge issue.

    I don't think that everyone should get a full refund for playing.  This is just a symptom of there not being enough events.  ToTP, and now Across Ixalan, were made to be supplementary, optional playing for top players who don't need crystals for new cards but want jewels for new masterpieces.  They weren't made to be the only events running on any given day.

    Long story short, we don't need to change ToTP or Across Ixalan, we just need to have more stuff running during the week.
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,730 Chairperson of the Boards
    Mburn7 said:
    Mojo said:
    Sad that people in the know are basically saying don't play parts of the game because it costs too much.  Has to be a better way for us that haven't made it to plat other then waiting for our daily rewards to accumulate to play or improve.
    If the entry fee stays, I think the final reward for bronze and silver players should be a refund on their crystals, gold players should get 5-10 more crystals, and plat should get 15 to 20 more crystals.

    That way everyone benefits, but there's still incentive to master each color so you get *slightly* higher rewards.
    The thing is, Across Ixalan is modeled after Trial of the Planes.  Trial was made, basically, for top players only as a way to convert excess crystals into Jewels for masterpieces.  That's literally all it was.  The crystal refund was added in later after people complained about it being too expensive, but you were never supposed to MAKE crystals off of it, just Jewels.  The disparity in rewards was put in to encourage people to get to platinum, since sandbagging was such a huge issue.

    I don't think that everyone should get a full refund for playing.  This is just a symptom of there not being enough events.  ToTP, and now Across Ixalan, were made to be supplementary, optional playing for top players who don't need crystals for new cards but want jewels for new masterpieces.  They weren't made to be the only events running on any given day.

    Long story short, we don't need to change ToTP or Across Ixalan, we just need to have more stuff running during the week.
    I get what you're saying, and agree that more stuff running during the week would be a step in the right direction.

    I was originally making my suggestions under the presumption that the crystal drought would continue.  With barely even 1/3 of the potential crystals that we were getting in previous months (partially due to lack of events, partially due to crystal rewards being stripped as rewards for the events that do occur), I can't really blame players for getting a bit more picky with spending crystals.  If we could go back to a steady income of crystals for time investment, I think it would bother players less to pay the entry fees.
  • Kinesia
    Kinesia Posts: 1,621 Chairperson of the Boards
    At lower levels Across Ixalan was still worth playing early on after set release because it was the cheapest way to get cards, my alt profitted a lot from it.
    _But_ now I'm in the position the original poster is in I have the basic planeswalkers and Bolas and the only other planeswalker I want is Huatli 2 so I have 2 options for each colour and I can't afford it.
    So now I'm holding back saving.

    I think the crystal reward should be there for every tier, or (since nodes regen and people aren't usually playing the whole thing) add a new reward at 50 points for all tiers which is the 30 crystals for bronze-gold and something _token_ but cool for platinum like 20 orbs or something.
  • Enygma6
    Enygma6 Posts: 266 Mover and Shaker
    One thing that I thought would help Across Ixalan would be a change to the reward structure.  
    It still follows the TotP reward payout and node unlock rule, but it has its own ribbon allocation system.  Which makes it so that I can often obtain maximum rewards on the initial charges of the first node, not even having to wait for a refresh.  
    If it were adjusted so that each node is unlocked by default, and provides 2 rewards (at say 10 and 20 ribbons), that would give me incentive to play more than the first 2 nodes.  
    They could even mostly keep the same reward prizes.  i.e., for Platinum, node1: booster pack + 3 jewels; node 2: 4 jewels + 5 jewels; node 3: 6 jewels + 15 crystals; node 4: 7 jewels + 15 crystals.  
    Lower tiers could have a 5-10 jewel payout on each node (totaling at least 20 to match the entry fee).  
  • span_argoman
    span_argoman Posts: 751 Critical Contributor
    FindingHeart8 said:
    I get what you're saying, and agree that more stuff running during the week would be a step in the right direction.

    I was originally making my suggestions under the presumption that the crystal drought would continue.  With barely even 1/3 of the potential crystals that we were getting in previous months (partially due to lack of events, partially due to crystal rewards being stripped as rewards for the events that do occur), I can't really blame players for getting a bit more picky with spending crystals.  If we could go back to a steady income of crystals for time investment, I think it would bother players less to pay the entry fees.
    Oh come on, 1/3 is a ridiculous estimate. Where did you even get that figure from?

    I've posted figures a few times on the forums about how Crystals and rewards in general have not really decreased as much as people have felt. And people still keep insisting on it. At some point you figure your words are falling upon deaf ears.

    But going to the extent of saying it's 1/3 of what it used to be? I would like to hear the breakdown.
  • Mburn7
    Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
    FindingHeart8 said:
    I get what you're saying, and agree that more stuff running during the week would be a step in the right direction.

    I was originally making my suggestions under the presumption that the crystal drought would continue.  With barely even 1/3 of the potential crystals that we were getting in previous months (partially due to lack of events, partially due to crystal rewards being stripped as rewards for the events that do occur), I can't really blame players for getting a bit more picky with spending crystals.  If we could go back to a steady income of crystals for time investment, I think it would bother players less to pay the entry fees.
    Oh come on, 1/3 is a ridiculous estimate. Where did you even get that figure from?

    I've posted figures a few times on the forums about how Crystals and rewards in general have not really decreased as much as people have felt. And people still keep insisting on it. At some point you figure your words are falling upon deaf ears.

    But going to the extent of saying it's 1/3 of what it used to be? I would like to hear the breakdown.
    I'm pretty sure crystal accumulation has slowed down quite a bit, since we have 2-3 less events every week (plus no permanent legacy PvE).  Of course, all that means is I'm only getting about 150-200 per week instead of 300-350, so its not a huge issue, and certainly not 1/3.  But there are definitely less rewards to be had based on what we got during AMK/HOU.

    Now, compared to what it was when I first started playing back in Zendikar, we're still making bank.  But nobody likes it when I point that out
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,730 Chairperson of the Boards
    FindingHeart8 said:
    I get what you're saying, and agree that more stuff running during the week would be a step in the right direction.

    I was originally making my suggestions under the presumption that the crystal drought would continue.  With barely even 1/3 of the potential crystals that we were getting in previous months (partially due to lack of events, partially due to crystal rewards being stripped as rewards for the events that do occur), I can't really blame players for getting a bit more picky with spending crystals.  If we could go back to a steady income of crystals for time investment, I think it would bother players less to pay the entry fees.
    Oh come on, 1/3 is a ridiculous estimate. Where did you even get that figure from?

    I've posted figures a few times on the forums about how Crystals and rewards in general have not really decreased as much as people have felt. And people still keep insisting on it. At some point you figure your words are falling upon deaf ears.

    But going to the extent of saying it's 1/3 of what it used to be? I would like to hear the breakdown.
    Prior to Ixalan, we had (on average) 2 active events at a time,

    on the low end, the crystals of each event like Terror in the Shadows had at least 30 crystal rewards for playing through the entire event (plat level), and additional crystal rewards for completing in a high enough rank.  As noted by other players in previous threads, those rewards have been changed in recent releases of those events.

    on the heavier side were the Hour of Devastation/Hour of Revelation events were the rewards were almost entirely crystals, with extra crystals rewarded for ranking high.

    Apart from that, I can tell you that (without spending money) I used to be able to purchase every planeswalker upon release in the vault, participating in ToTP every day of the week, and buy a premium pack once every 1.5 weeks.  Now I can barely afford one the walkers before they leave the vault, I don't play ToTP anymore to conserve crystals, and I can buy a premium pack once a month.  That is a notable change.
  • FindingHeart8
    FindingHeart8 Posts: 2,730 Chairperson of the Boards
    Mburn7 said:
    FindingHeart8 said:
    I get what you're saying, and agree that more stuff running during the week would be a step in the right direction.

    I was originally making my suggestions under the presumption that the crystal drought would continue.  With barely even 1/3 of the potential crystals that we were getting in previous months (partially due to lack of events, partially due to crystal rewards being stripped as rewards for the events that do occur), I can't really blame players for getting a bit more picky with spending crystals.  If we could go back to a steady income of crystals for time investment, I think it would bother players less to pay the entry fees.
    Oh come on, 1/3 is a ridiculous estimate. Where did you even get that figure from?

    I've posted figures a few times on the forums about how Crystals and rewards in general have not really decreased as much as people have felt. And people still keep insisting on it. At some point you figure your words are falling upon deaf ears.

    But going to the extent of saying it's 1/3 of what it used to be? I would like to hear the breakdown.
    I'm pretty sure crystal accumulation has slowed down quite a bit, since we have 2-3 less events every week (plus no permanent legacy PvE).  Of course, all that means is I'm only getting about 150-200 per week instead of 300-350, so its not a huge issue, and certainly not 1/3.  But there are definitely less rewards to be had based on what we got during AMK/HOU.

    Now, compared to what it was when I first started playing back in Zendikar, we're still making bank.  But nobody likes it when I point that out
    back in Zendikar, we had nothing to buy except premium packs (which the fat packs were double the size and double the price) and the new planeswalker that was released once every 3 months.  Now it seems we're releasing 3 planeswalkers every 2 months ;)
  • madwren
    madwren Posts: 2,226 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2018
    I suspect a large part of the crystal shortage perception is due to the rapid-fire release of two sets. Now that we finally have stuff to buy constantly....