An expansion giveaway does not equal a discovery elixir

[mbartol]

Or flag your account to grant a boost for 24 hours (or whatever time span) when you choose to claim it.

And yes, an increased percentage is also needed.

 

[Randomdude1223]

This is a perception of customer valuation, Jack.

I had not bothered to write because although I actually consider the elixir useless (10% is nothing, I have never seen it increase my loot probabilities significantly - they are overprized elixirs in the store), since it is a gift I am not worried that be good or bad. Thanks for the gift. It worries me much more when the things I pay for are not worth what they ask for them (eg VIP)

But by offering something so unequal, SSG effectively creates a perception that they value their paying customers less. The xpacs are a selection to choose from, probably if they had offered a selection of xp pot, slayer pot, loot pot, cake, they would have pleased more people. If I had been them, I would have offered 3 pots to choose from these types or three cakes. They probably wouldn't have gotten any criticism, since almost everyone would almost certainly have found a useful item on the list.

It's a gift, so I'm not complaining, but when it comes to marketing, Jack, SSG has a lot to learn.

The player base of this game exhibits a peculiar sense of entitlement. If the argument is that better marketing is needed, one could counter that offering a free expansion pack is an effective strategy to draw in more players.

"I'm more concerned when the items I purchase don't seem to justify their price (e.g., VIP packages)."

It's unclear how this relates to VIP status.

Purchasing the expansion grants you early access to content, which free-to-play gamers must wait months for. Additionally, it includes a permanent hireling, cosmetics, tomes, and other items, though this varies depending on the expansion and tier chosen. The criticism appears to stem from self-entitled players who believe they deserve more than what they received, despite having gotten exactly what they paid for. I find this puzzling since the gift is free. It wasn't a mandatory move by the developers, but a generous one. Perhaps this month's reward isn't meant for everyone but rather a specific minority who would benefit from a free expansion.

You mention that you’re "not complaining" yet your remarks suggest otherwise. Nevertheless, you’ve articulated your stance more constructively than many others on the forums. Still, I’m inclined to think that this opinion might be rooted in a misconception.

 

[Sympl]

A few points of order...

Perhaps there is some sort of disconnect on what these elixirs are worth? The 10% named item boost is fairly worthless. Especially when compared to +10 treasure hunter weekends where named items (often with reaper attributes) drop all over the place.

Despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, SSG maintains that Treasure Hunter weekends increase the likelihood that you will get maximum effects on loot and that it does not affect named item drop rate or the chances of getting mythic and reaper bonuses on items. You cn believe what you want, and I'm not weighing in on opinions. This is what SSG has stated.

I do agree they are pretty worthless elixirs. I call them placebo elixirs for a reason.
Recently ran a 15% one through quick runs of Abbot about 4 times, and pulled a named item once, and a pretty crappy one at that. lol. It's kind of a joke.

heck even upping that potion to the 3 hour variant would be better. a one hour pot doesn't give many runs to make it really worthwhile.

(10% is nothing, I have never seen it increase my loot probabilities significantly - they are overprized elixirs in the store)

I would rather it be a better percent rather than run longer. I would prefer a +50% or +75% elixir that runs 10 minutes.

Give us a percent that really gives a decent chance of actually getting something.

So....historically, Elixirs of Discovery only come in 5/10/15% increments. and with one exception, only 1 hour lengths (paused in public areas).

You could have gotten a 15% 3-hour potion if you were a VIP who bought Saltmarsh.
You could have gotten a 5/10/15% 1-hour potion from a DDO point bundle purchase add-on promotion.
You could have gotten a couple if you were part of the Wayfinder apology rollback situation.
Two 10% 1-hour potions come with every Improved Epic Otto's Irresistibile Box.
And you can get them on lucky gold rolls......so a chance at one once a week during normal conditions (for free).

These aren't available on the DDO store. Those are treasure hunter's elixirs and elixirs of Hidden Potential - neither of which provides the bonus associated with an Elixir of Discovery.

Not weighing in on whether this makes a difference in the value of the freebie. Just irritated by the lack of facts flying around.

Carry on.

 

[Kobay]

A few points of order...


Despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, SSG maintains that Treasure Hunter weekends increase the likelihood that you will get maximum effects on loot and that it does not affect named item drop rate or the chances of getting mythic and reaper bonuses on items. You cn believe what you want, and I'm not weighing in on opinions. This is what SSG has stated.






So....historically, Elixirs of Discovery only come in 5/10/15% increments. and with one exception, only 1 hour lengths (paused in public areas).

You could have gotten a 15% 3-hour potion if you were a VIP who bought Saltmarsh.
You could have gotten a 5/10/15% 1-hour potion from a DDO point bundle purchase add-on promotion.
You could have gotten a couple if you were part of the Wayfinder apology rollback situation.
Two 10% 1-hour potions come with every Improved Epic Otto's Irresistibile Box.
And you can get them on lucky gold rolls......so a chance at one once a week during normal conditions (for free).

These aren't available on the DDO store. Those are treasure hunter's elixirs and elixirs of Hidden Potential - neither of which provides the bonus associated with an Elixir of Discovery.

Not weighing in on whether this makes a difference in the value of the freebie. Just irritated by the lack of facts flying around.

Carry on.

These Greater 10% ones were also available from Jubilee the Discover in Hall of Heroes for those of us that had already purchased certain things prior to 16th anniversary event. You could unlock one for each of the following.

Monk
Druid
Warlock
Half-Elf
Half-Orc
Dragonborn
Drow
Wood Elf
Gnome
Tiefling

Kind of funny really, cause it shows a pattern of them offering these as rewards to players who already bought content that they later gave away.

So, not really the first time this has happened. lol

I bought ALL of these, so I had a pretty little stack of these placebo elixirs.

 

[seph1roth5]

They seem to think that because the discovery elixirs can't be purchased normally, they're priceless. But priceless and worthless are the same thing? They just think that in this case it's something people would find super valuable, which doesn't seem to be the case. More of a booby prize.

Plus with the way pots work, you're not getting an hour of increased loot. Maybe if you use friends/other clients to actually run quests, and just run your pot-guy in at the very end to zoom to the chest you'd get a good use out of it.

This really needs to be more of a treasure map system, a short-term loot buff where you get one group of chests per use. Give us like 50 of those.

 

[Lazuli]

So....historically, Elixirs of Discovery only come in 5/10/15% increments. and with one exception, only 1 hour lengths (paused in public areas).

You could have gotten a 15% 3-hour potion if you were a VIP who bought Saltmarsh.
You could have gotten a 5/10/15% 1-hour potion from a DDO point bundle purchase add-on promotion.
You could have gotten a couple if you were part of the Wayfinder apology rollback situation.
Two 10% 1-hour potions come with every Improved Epic Otto's Irresistibile Box.
And you can get them on lucky gold rolls......so a chance at one once a week during normal conditions (for free).

These aren't available on the DDO store. Those are treasure hunter's elixirs and elixirs of Hidden Potential - neither of which provides the bonus associated with an Elixir of Discovery.

Not weighing in on whether this makes a difference in the value of the freebie. Just irritated by the lack of facts flying around.

Carry on.

What facts do you want? People don't value these pots because they are too poor for the way the loot works. I have gone to raids with one of these pots active, and I have not obtained any items. If I had gotten an item, it would most likely have been one I didn't want. The potion does not last more than two raid chests.

10% means a 43% chance that you will get an item - not necessarily the one you want. You still have more than half a chance that you won't get anything. It's very poor. And we are talking about playing in Elite. Many raids are done on hard.

For normal quests the chances of obtaining the items in the potion time improve only because it is easier to farm a quest than a raid. But it doesn't even eliminate the need for farming, and I honestly can't think of a single normal quest that's worth spending an elixir on. Since I have to farm, I can either use my army of alts for that or wait for it to come out in one of my multiple TRs.

If these pots worked on two or three chests, but gave a guaranteed 100% drop, they would be more useful. But 10%? Meh. Big meh, really.

And from experience of using them... they have not brought me any benefit.

As I said, it is a gift, and I accept it saying thanks. But I don't see any use in it. If they give me a selection of elixirs as I said before, I would without hesitation choose one of the others.

 

[Sympl]

These Greater 10% ones were also available from Jubilee the Discover in Hall of Heroes for those of us that had already purchased certain things prior to 16th anniversary event. You could unlock one for each of the following.

Monk
Druid
Warlock
Half-Elf
Half-Orc
Dragonborn
Drow
Wood Elf
Gnome
Tiefling

Kind of funny really, cause it shows a pattern of them offering these as rewards to players who already bought content that they later gave away.

So, not really the first time this has happened. lol

I bought ALL of these, so I had a pretty little stack of these placebo elixirs.

Thanks. Forgot that grant. I can't be on top of everything all the time. Heh. Anyways....my point remains unscathed by the additoon of another grant source.

 

[Sympl]

What facts do you want? People don't value these pots because they are too poor for the way the loot works. I have gone to raids with one of these pots active, and I have not obtained any items. If I had gotten an item, it would most likely have been one I didn't want. The potion does not last more than two raid chests.

10% means a 43% chance that you will get an item - not necessarily the one you want. You still have more than half a chance that you won't get anything. It's very poor. And we are talking about playing in Elite. Many raids are done on hard.

For normal quests the chances of obtaining the items in the potion time improve only because it is easier to farm a quest than a raid. But it doesn't even eliminate the need for farming, and I honestly can't think of a single normal quest that's worth spending an elixir on. Since I have to farm, I can either use my army of alts for that or wait for it to come out in one of my multiple TRs.

If these pots worked on two or three chests, but gave a guaranteed 100% drop, they would be more useful. But 10%? Meh. Big meh, really.

And from experience of using them... they have not brought me any benefit.

As I said, it is a gift, and I accept it saying thanks. But I don't see any use in it. If they give me a selection of elixirs as I said before, I would without hesitation choose one of the others.

You're talking past the facts I wanted straightened. Lots of opinions. Some, if not all of them, that I agree with. I'm just pointing out what these potions are...because that seems to be a confusing point for a lot of people based on the referenced posts, yours included.

 

[Ahpuch]

For those who have all the expansions think of the bonus this way: you get an elixir of nominal value AND more people to play the expansion content with. (and possibly more game life to play that content).

 

[Smokewolf]

Discovery Elixirs fall under the category of, useless fluff.

 

[Konsumer]

It's a free gift.... ? Imagine complaining about something that's free

Don't know how many times this needs to be said but... NOTHING is free when you're paying a subscription. The question is whether or not you're getting your moneys worth.

 

[Randomdude1223]

Don't know how many times this needs to be said but... NOTHING is free when you're paying a subscription. The question is whether or not you're getting your moneys worth.

The monthly giveaways are not part of the subscription plan; therefore, yes, they are free. If you don't think you're getting your money worth when you pay for VIP, then fine, but that's a whole different topic that is not relevant to this subject. I'm not really sure what your point was.

 

[erethizon1]

It's a free gift.... ? Imagine complaining about something that's free

The problem is the lesson learned. If you wait long enough you can get very valuable items for free, but only if you were smart enough not to pay for them. That isn't the lesson SSG should be wanting to teach their players. If anything, the reward for people that own everything should be slightly better than a free expansion so the lesson is, "I better buy every expansion so I am eligible for the best reward." These events are opportunities to train the player base to behave the way SSG wants and this is training in the wrong direction. At the very least it could have been a stack of 5 of the two best types of elixirs (one to increase drop % chance like the one we got, and one to increase drop quality like on a treasure hunter weekend).

 

[Konsumer]

The monthly giveaways are not part of the subscription plan; therefore, yes, they are free. If you don't think you're getting your money worth when you pay for VIP, then fine, but that's a whole different topic that is not relevant to this subject. I'm not really sure what your point was.

The monthly giveaways came about because people felt VIP wasn't worth purchasing.

 

[erethizon1]

They should have gave away single Potion of Rage. It would have been more usefull and would reflect the players sentiment at the same time.

SSG, if you need to be "Fiscaly responsibleTM"´, at least be funny and honest. Thats all i ask.

Potion of Extended Rage: Your character remains raged for as long as you are upset about receiving this reward.

 

[SquireZed]

This is a perception of customer valuation, Jack.

[...]

But by offering something so unequal, SSG effectively creates a perception that they value their paying customers less. The xpacs are a selection to choose from, probably if they had offered a selection of xp pot, slayer pot, loot pot, cake, they would have pleased more people. If I had been them, I would have offered 3 pots to choose from these types or three cakes. They probably wouldn't have gotten any criticism, since almost everyone would almost certainly have found a useful item on the list.

It's a gift, so I'm not complaining, but when it comes to marketing, Jack, SSG has a lot to learn.

Nailed it.

 

[Randomdude1223]

The problem is the lesson learned. If you wait long enough you can get very valuable items for free, but only if you were smart enough not to pay for them. That isn't the lesson SSG should be wanting to teach their players. If anything, the reward for people that own everything should be slightly better than a free expansion so the lesson is, "I better buy every expansion so I am eligible for the best reward." These events are opportunities to train the player base to behave the way SSG wants and this is training in the wrong direction. At the very least it could have been a stack of 5 of the two best types of elixirs (one to increase drop % chance like the one we got, and one to increase drop quality like on a treasure hunter weekend).

Are you willing to wait months or even years to access the latest content? While it's true that some content is eventually given away for free to those who prefer not to spend money, this comes at the cost of a significant delay. Purchasing expansions not only grants immediate access but also additional perks. As for the discovery elixir pots, they may not be game-changing, but they're certainly not 100% useless as some suggest. They're free, after all. Comparing the benefits received by paying players to those who play for free seems unnecessary.

 

[Ostwind-Cannith]

been trying to farm an Eye of Mabar for a month using a plethora of named item boost potions (the 15% variant and the 10 percent) and have yet to pull one. I've been very careful to avoid any potential ransack - taking days off when necessary and at this point I highly suspect these things do nothing.

People who haven't paid for an expansion are now getting a tangible expansion for free, while those of us who have paid for every expansion are getting a potion that often times gives no tangible results. I think a Sovereign Experience Potion would have been a better gift, as that actually yields tangible results.

between the balance pass nobody asked for, the less than stellar VIP program and this I think the devs are trolling at this point.

 

[Kobay]

The monthly giveaways came about because people felt VIP wasn't worth purchasing.

Wrong monthly Giveaways dude.

This is a part of the Year of the Dragon Event.

Not the VIP Monthly thing.

 

[Randomdude1223]

The monthly giveaways came about because people felt VIP wasn't worth purchasing.

No there's a different program specifically designed to enhance VIP benefits. As for the monthly giveaways, they may serve as incentives. The rationale could be to draw in new players or retain existing ones, but the exact motives can only be speculated.