SSG question: Does some of RARE items even exists in game?

[Chaotix]

Like above was said, do we even have some of apparently "rare" drops in game, eg. I was hunting for bee shot runearm in ettercap incursion for over 150 runs and I didn't even saw dropped for someone else. In new pack runearm apparently should drop in cold front, also shtload of runs and guess what, nada.
I believe most of us can name bunch of named items never sawn, so my simple question is does that items even exist or they are just fairy tale for us suckers. I mean saddest thing is that some of apparently "rare" items are not game changers, so why we have that ****** drop rate if they are even implemented in game?

 

[vryxnr]

Because the higher ups wanted higher numbers in a quarterly report, thinking only of the short term boost that extra Astral Shard purchases would give as a result of constantly rerolling chests without getting what you want so you spend more to reroll again and again and again. And that first time around introducing "rare" loot tables did see the numbers go up because people were rerolling without realizing how bad the chances were, so now "rare" loot tables continue because that first time saw a rise in AS sales, so it must be working and will always work!

(I'm not supporting this. I hate it, and I refuse to reroll any chest for any reason anymore. for me, rare loot may as well not exist, and I'm happy gearing my characters as such)

 

[Dude]

Because the higher ups wanted higher numbers in a quarterly report, thinking only of the short term boost that extra Astral Shard purchases would give as a result of constantly rerolling chests without getting what you want so you spend more to reroll again and again and again. And that first time around introducing "rare" loot tables, the numbers did go up because people were rerolling without realizing how bad the chances were, so now "rare" loot tables continue because that first time saw a rise in AS sales, so it must be working and will always work!

(I'm not supporting this. I hate it, and I refuse to reroll any chest for any reason anymore. for me, rare loot may as well not exist, and I'm happy gearing my characters as such)

Sadly, I have to assume it works. Otherwise they'd stop doing it.

 

[Chaotix]

Truth is that they never gave us any numbers of rare drop %, which leads me to thought could be that enforced during some legal actions, since they are selling this game in EU, which have, guess what, LAWS for gambling and chance of winning disclosure!!!!

 

[saekee]

I assume the Hydra’s Heart is an uber rare?

 

[Dude]

Truth is that they never gave us any numbers of rare drop %, which leads me to thought could be that enforced during some legal actions, since they are selling this game in EU, which have, guess what, LAWS for gambling and chance of winning disclosure!!!!

I wonder how that plays out. Does EU law trump a contract that we agree to? It may. I really don't know. We, as users, agree to a Terms of Service, which says the following:

• GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION​

  The validity, construction, interpretation and legal effect of this Daybreak Terms of Service shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the judicial decisions and internal laws of the State of Delaware and the United States of America, without giving effect to any choice of law rule that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the internal laws of the State of Delaware and the United States of America. Subject to the below provisions of Section 25, if any Dispute is determined not to be subject to arbitration, the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for proceedings concerning such Dispute shall be the state or federal courts of competent jurisdiction in Delaware or San Diego County, California, and you and Daybreak each agree to submit and consent to the personal jurisdiction of, and venue in, such courts.

 

[Chaotix]

True, but theres a catch, they r selling something in EU, which means u need to OBEY EU laws if u want to sell that in EU. Since chest rerolls needs shards aka real money, I think that can easily go under gambling, and gambling laws in EU r strict no matter what we agreed downloading game if im not mistaken. After all playing field slighly change with movin server to Amsterdam which is in EU last time I checked.

 

[vryxnr]

I've heard numerous accounts of contracts and terms of services and such being overturned by a court due to being unreasonable or noncompliant with relevant laws. However, this only comes about in a court, meaning someone would have to bring a lawsuit and follow through with the process. Unfortunately, that costs a lot of money, and most people with the funds to be able to do so often do not find the time, effort and costs to be worth it, especially for a game that has consistently less than 4k concurrent players. Who knows, it could happen, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[Dude]

I've heard numerous accounts of contracts and terms of services and such being overturned by a court due to being unreasonable or noncompliant with relevant laws. However, this only comes about in a court, meaning someone would have to bring a lawsuit and follow through with the process. Unfortunately, that costs a lot of money, and most people with the funds to be able to do so often do not find the time, effort and costs to be worth it, especially for a game that has consistently less than 4k concurrent players. Who knows, it could happen, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I think the end result, if they lost, would be SSG leaving the market where the lawsuit occurred.

 

[Smokewolf]

True, but theres a catch, they r selling something in EU, which means u need to OBEY EU laws if u want to sell that in EU. Since chest rerolls needs shards aka real money, I think that can easily go under gambling, and gambling laws in EU r strict no matter what we agreed downloading game if im not mistaken. After all playing field slighly change with movin server to Amsterdam which is in EU last time I checked.

Then complain to the EU.

 

[Dude]

True, but theres a catch, they r selling something in EU, which means u need to OBEY EU laws if u want to sell that in EU. Since chest rerolls needs shards aka real money, I think that can easily go under gambling, and gambling laws in EU r strict no matter what we agreed downloading game if im not mistaken. After all playing field slighly change with movin server to Amsterdam which is in EU last time I checked.

There are really two things that tie the game to the EU. One is the Amsterdam server. The other is that EG7 is headquartered in Sweden.

 

[Smokewolf]

I think the end result, if they lost, would be SSG leaving the market where the lawsuit occurred.

That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

 

[GrizzlyOso]

At least everyone feels special though

 

[Blaster]

Sadly, I have to assume it works. Otherwise they'd stop doing it.

It did. In the first two quarters of 2024, DDO under-performed as reported by EG7 in their quarterly financial reports. Quarter three saw improvement (attributed to the release of Myth Drannor) but not enough to make up for the first two quarters of the year. Finally in the quarter four report, EG7 reported, "Dungeons & Dragons Online experienced increased player activity in 2024."

Following a dismal first half of the year, something happened over the last two quarters -- and mainly the fourth quarter -- to bring up those numbers. While "player activity" is kind of nebulous, it most likely meant engagement and spending, to which I'd attribute rare loot and people spending money on shards for re-rolls as part of that spending. (Additionally people returned to check out Cormyr and spent money on their fresh start toons there, as well as perhaps raid timers for Threats.)

When it came to financials for this year, EG7 said, "Dungeons & Dragons Online are preparing new initiatives to build on the increased player engagement seen last year." So basically more of the same of what worked for DDO financially last year. I take this to mean the 64-bit expansion and continuation of the rare loot mechanic.

The next financial report is due on Nov. 11. We'll see what impact DDO's poor handling of the 64-bit transfers and ensuing server issues had on their financials then. (I do note that DDO does not always get a specific mention in financial reports; only when something significant enough happens either positive or negative to warrant such a mention.)

 

[Bricks]

True, but theres a catch, they r selling something in EU, which means u need to OBEY EU laws if u want to sell that in EU. Since chest rerolls needs shards aka real money, I think that can easily go under gambling, and gambling laws in EU r strict no matter what we agreed downloading game if im not mistaken. After all playing field slighly change with movin server to Amsterdam which is in EU last time I checked.

Technically astral shards don't cost real money though, you could in theory take the astral shards from your monster manuel rewards and use them to build up a bank, technically. I don't like this loot model and a few other things and have stopped spending money altogether, if they only understand numbers so be it. The fact that no dev will come out and publicly confirm that these items are even dropping in the game tells you everything you need to know though. And I also remember the producer explaining the loot model as wanting to make you feel special, that's how completely out of touch she is.

 

[MrBill]

Like above was said, do we even have some of apparently "rare" drops in game, eg. I was hunting for bee shot runearm in ettercap incursion for over 150 runs and I didn't even saw dropped for someone else. In new pack runearm apparently should drop in cold front, also shtload of runs and guess what, nada.
I believe most of us can name bunch of named items never sawn, so my simple question is does that items even exist or they are just fairy tale for us suckers. I mean saddest thing is that some of apparently "rare" items are not game changers, so why we have that ****** drop rate if they are even implemented in game?

That's the problem with ultra rare loot. Now I'm sure a bunch of folks will post saying they've gotten 10 of those items...for each of their 20 alts.

 

[Felsyn]

Truth is that they never gave us any numbers of rare drop %, which leads me to thought could be that enforced during some legal actions, since they are selling this game in EU, which have, guess what, LAWS for gambling and chance of winning disclosure!!!!

Ddo was basically the first game to turn free to play. Not sure legal action will work after 2 decades

 

[Jasparius]

That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

You'd want upwards of 1/4 of the players/revenue to disappear?

 

[azrael4h]

The problem is that you are looking for it. That you need it.

I pulled both those runearms you're looking for as some of the first things I pulled out of those expansions. Why? Because I never run Artificer. I don't even build splash builds with it.

DDO never drops gear you can use on a given life. I get rune arms on a Druid build. I get caster gear for INT casters and Necro on a Rogue. I get a set of Golden Age weapons on an Alchemist. Rune Arms are among the easiest things for me to get because I never run any sort of build with Artificer in it; in fact I dread having to fill out two Artificer lives on my main in the future. So I get Rune Arms all the time.

Stuff I need or want? Nope.

 

[hit_fido]

I was hunting for bee shot runearm in ettercap incursion for over 150 runs and I didn't even saw dropped for someone else.

The fact that no dev will come out and publicly confirm that these items are even dropping in the game tells you everything you need to know though.

Coincidentally, pulled the Legendary Rune Arm of Nature's Wrath a few days ago. So it exists, and it does (still) drop. I thought the actual drop rates were discernible through some kind of reverse engineering anyway?