Presents & Gifts

Arcanis

Estarra said:

Why would removing the present counter be nicer? The more you open, the better your odds of getting something good!

@Estarra saw this comment and thought to give my perspective on this on. I would like to state that this is not a 'whine' or 'complaining', but simply the system in perspective from a player and suggestions for enhancements.


- Yes the idea that we can open more presents to get better presents seems nice but in its current mechanics, the present counter feels more like a chore. The standard present percent barely drops by 1% for every gift opened, and the chance of getting one starts at roughly 80% as is, which means alot of basic herbs, commodities, gold, things we generally already have an abundance of.

- Additionally, having in each present category another percentage of what gifts you would get (determined by their rarity) feels like a slap in the face. We not only are being forced to open lower-quality gifts, but also have a chance to get the lowest quality item in said gift? It feels overworked, and not in the good way.

- The old gnomes will -always- be cherished for how great they were, but I admit they were problematic. The current system could work but in its current state, only the 'Elite' players are really experiencing the 'joy of solstice' since they are buying presents in bulk and dont really feel the effects of this new system as much as regular players. The idea of solstice was giving to all players, in its limited time available in lusternia, the chance for great gifts....but with the current system, that chance seem like a dim spot in the distance.


- Gnomes were nerfed in 2 ways, first it was made that one can only gain 1 gift from a gnome every hour, and then it their quality of getting an artifact was put into the current system; this felt like overkill. I'd have suggested one or the other (preferably the first) but it seems a bit too late for that, so below will be my suggestions to try and make this system more likeable.



Suggestions:

• Change it that each present will increase the counter to get superior gifts by %5-10%, and then divided by 2 for Exceptional and then again for Ultimate (so it could be %6, %3, %1). If you wish to go into it deeper, make the percentage based upon the rarity of the gift gotten.

• Alot of the gifts in each categories seem to be of the same concept (such as a doll) but each is given its own percentage. This not only feels like it is cluttering it up, but also is taking away chances for other gifts (I know for a fact some people are drowning in dolls currently). Change it to all be in one percentage, as I did below to it and beepbeep toys.
  

                       [ CHANCE FOR STANDARD PRESENTS ]
Type                                                Min     Max     Chance    
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold                                                5000    10000   27%
Dingbats                                            10      15      <1%
Credits                                             10      15      <1%
Commodities                                         50      150     18%
Liquid                                              50      150     18%
Talking doll                                          1         2     20%
A pack of five Ikons                                1       1       3%
A package containing five magic item curios         1       1       1%
A package containing five damage resistance curios  1       1       1%
A package containing five damage enhancement curios 1       1       1%
A package containing five travel curios             1       1       1%
A Czigany coin                                      1       3       2%
A dose of wackodoru reagent                         1       3       1%
A dose of kikikoru reagent                          1       3       1%
A Beepbeep Toy                                         1      1        3%
Prayer Beads of the Gods                            1       1       <1%
Wakabidrome tickets                                 3       5       <1%
Aethergoop                                          1       3       <1%
A package containing five vivid hair curios         1       1       1%
A package containing five posh hair curios          1       1       1%
A package containing five fine hair curios          1       1       1%
A package containing five exotic hair curios        1       1       1%

• Several of the gifts in each category are just a copy but with a bit of an increased amount gained, specially the general items (liquids, commodities, etc.). Though the intent here is good, this roughly just translates to us having a -much- bigger chance to get these general items which, truth be told, is considered the worst thing someone can get. Put the general items (Liquids, Commodities, Gold) only in one category, Standard. If you would insist one, then perhaps just gold in superior, but no one wants to open their first superior or exceptional gift and find commodities or liquids inside.

• Some items in categories dont feel like they should be so high. For example, I'd remove the bandolier and deck of fates from exceptional and put it in superior.  Additionally, I'd start placing the gifts obtainable into categories, such as below:

Ultimate Gifts:

Utility Gift (pogo stick, yoyo, etc.)      5%

Damage enhancement (Runes, etc.)  3%

Trade gifts (paintbrush, etc.)  10%

• Lastly, I'd ask that a timer be placed in the PRESENTS command, that shows us how long ago we had obtained a gnome present and when we may open another one. This is more just for utility reasons.
  

Rialorm

Was expecting another "remove the counter" post but actually found myself reading an "improve the counter" post which I am in agreement with.

I like the counter because to me it feels like saving money to get rich versus buying lottery tickets to get rich. The former sucks at the start, you put 5 of a currency into an account and find yourself wondering how you will ever buy a house, but by doing that you are far more likely to ever achieve your house instead of hoping the lottery will grant you the money for one.

I do understand it takes the fun out of things in a way, but there is still a chance that you will get something which builds up over time. As such, it is less than saving and more like investing but without a crashing market.

It also awards loyalty and honestly if Lusternia is to last it needs to motivate players to continue to put money into it. Not saying a novice who gets a cubix will never pay again, but it does mean said novice will not later pay a lot of money for one. It also means that if the novice trades it in and gets stuff like lessons and such, that's missed income right there too. Plus, I'd actually argue that such an easy start, despite by amazing chance, may backfire. See real world examples of people who stumbled into success and felt it was worse than having to claw their way up. Doesn't have to be, and chances are so slim, but still from an economical point of view it makes more sense to delay big rewards.

Rivius

Just get rid of race tickets from ultimate and lower the chance of gold all around. Gold is almost as good as nothing.

Arcanis

Now that you mention it @Rialorm, I had not thought of lessons as a gift. Since it seems newcommers cant expect a big artie to trade in from gnomes anymore, why dont we make lessons as a possible gift (admittedly would have to be a good amount). Perhaps within Standard presents, something of 150-300 lessons? I wouldnt mind that.

Portius

Lessons in presents is a pretty good idea. I know when I was a true newb lessons were the best thing ever. I didn't know which artifacts I cared about or anything like that, but I did know that lessons were visible progress in a skill that would give me a new ability to play with.

Enyalida

That said, just offering credits would be better for a wider range of people. The younglings can convert them to lessons at their leisure, and more established players can put them towards purchasing artifacts.

Steingrim

Enyalida said:

That said, just offering credits would be better for a wider range of people. The younglings can convert them to lessons at their leisure, and more established players can put them towards purchasing artifacts.

I've been thinking about this a bit. In Achaea if you get 6k gold you can buy a credit. I am under the impression that the the general contents of presents are set by IRE.

I think some minimal amount of credits per gift would not be game breaking. A lot of people seem to like or at least not mind pulling a dingbat doll since it has some tradein value.

I think if people received something along the lines of a credit a random ikon and a random curio bit with a standard package it might help. At some level even a coin, second chance lottery tickets sell for a reason!

Steingrim

On the 'rarity' issue is this an error?

                       [ CHANCE FOR STANDARD PRESENTS ]
Type                                                Min     Max     Chance    
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold                                                5000    10000   27%


                       [ CHANCE FOR SUPERIOR PRESENTS ]
Type                                                Min     Max     Chance    
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold                                                15000   20000   28%

Maligorn

If credits went down to 6k or even 10k, life would be a lot easier for people and many more things like lessons and arties would be accessible to everyone. That means a lot less time spent gold grinding, and more time enjoying the better parts of Lusternia.

Though I know crazy people like @Vivet that grind for fun.

Cadwyn

So far I have gotten over 100 credits (via tradeins), 40 dingbats, about 200k gold (which is a lot to me, I can now afford a manse & throne!), a ridiculous amount of palemalt (which is awesome because I drink so much of it), and over 100 purity dust (though it's the only new cure I haven't needed yet). Seems pretty good to me. Am I just lucky?

Kurut

I've gotten a grand total of 10 dolls, a parafilament purse, 5 sketch seals, 3 or 4 packs of ikons/curios and various amounts of gold/comms/liquids so far this solstice. The presents aren't amazing by any means, but they're still good if you can manage to get enough of them.

Kaimanahi

In the least it would be nice to remove the "Liquid" present, since I've found more often than not I get some random (not useful) poison or irrelevant potion (stagnant water?!) that I'm really just looking to dump. I'm not complaining, just advising that it can be disappointing for folks who don't get too many presents.

Raeri

Swapping the old herbs and stuff out for the new curatives would be neat too

Qistrel

You do get new curatives in presents. I did. I tihnk it's just...there's so many other herbs and liquids it's quite a small chance.

Steingrim

Qistrel said:

You do get new curatives in presents. I did. I tihnk it's just...there's so many other herbs and liquids it's quite a small chance.

It would be nice if some stuff could be selectively removed, but if say, the items are being pulled from the liquid items database rather than having been individually added that could be a pain or more work than worth. Still worth crossing fingers over.


edit: While I admit there's a certain amount of tradition at play, Tully's Golden Broom doesn't really seem like an Ultimate present. Also, perhaps the diamond chalice (exceptional) could possibly be removed since willpower is going away.

Synkarin

+1 for removing herbs and potions that'll become obsolete with overhaul

Rialorm

Synkarin said:

+1 for removing herbs and potions that'll become obsolete with overhaul

How about changing them into new cures as a form of compensation? Although just removing them so they are no longer cluttering would be fine too.

Synkarin

Either way