I got a Dusker Coat from one of those. Then agiain, I had used a vial to check what was inside of it before opening...

If you're 4 players that's 3 energy for 4x30 = 120 crowns. That's almost as much as you get per energy from an average level anyway, plus the chance to get tokens, so some might say it's worth it.

It's definitely stupid if you're less than 4 players, though.

And you're right about the robots. They should cost 1 energy. I have seen several poor newbies waste 15 energy at once on those things.

Energy gated doors are only worthwhile when you can check the contents. Before the hearthstone bug was patched, I would open gates if I could see a primal spark (240cr). I would still open a gate for a forge or grim spark, though probably not primal sparks anymore. The exception are some of the gates in the Aurora Isles levels- particularly a Jelly Farm gate that has tons of slimes and treasure boxes, and a Stone Grove? gate that has treasure boxes behind about a dozen gun puppies. These two gates are well worth the 3 energy.

The problem with being able to check the contents ahead of time is that it completely removes the element of chance that is part of the point of Energy Gates. A simpler solution would just be to increase the rewards therein.

Let's assume a base Cr5k for 100CE - I know, I know, but for the sake of argument, that puts the "real" cost of a Gate at Cr250. Even without increasing item drops, upping the minimum prize money to, say, 150Cr or so, and increasing the maximum to Cr500-750 or so, would make it a more attractive gamble - you might end up Cr100 down, sure, but that's what gambling is, you know?

>>If we are talkin aboult gambling lets just make a gambling hall

That's...really not what I'm talking about at all. To stray off-topic for a moment, I really don't think that loading a bunch of extraneous extras into the game is the way to improve it; refining the extant mechanics and improving the depth and character of the gameworld is. I'll be titanically surprised if Three Rings ever implements features that allow players to gold-farm via any mechanic other than dungeon crawls - you know, actually playing the game - hell, even the Auction House is largely dependent on recipes and materials acquired on delves. The addition of a gambling minigame has the potential to allow players to start a new character and raise enough Crowns to get top-tier gear without ever setting foot on an elevator. I mean, it's gambling, there is of course a great risk of losing everything attached, but that doesn't stop people becoming successful professional gamblers in the real world.

Anyway, my point is this: Energy Gates should continue to be potentially loss-making. That way, choosing to open one is just that - a choice, a tactical decision, made by weighing the EN expenditure against the potential rewards. The problem is, as it stands, that those rewards simply are not worth it, never worth it, and so nobody but very new players ever really bothers. At best, it's a potentially great but flawed idea; at worst, it comes across as a slightly grubby and underhand way for Three Rings to get more money.

Energy gates are terrible? HUH? Guess what, danger room's gates are energy gates.

"If you're 4 players that's 3 energy for 4x30 = 120 crowns. That's almost as much as you get per energy from an average level anyway, plus the chance to get tokens, so some might say it's worth it." --Goremand

It also helps to understand game mechanics. If a member in a party of four picks up 100cr, the party itself divides the crowns just like mats. The party doesn't get 400cr total, only 100cr. Maybe Bill gets 30, Frank gets 37, Suzy gets 34...

Frederf: "If a member in a party of four picks up 100cr, the party itself divides the crowns just like mats. The party doesn't get 400cr total, only 100cr. Maybe Bill gets 30, Frank gets 37, Suzy gets 34"

I was under the impression, and am actually pretty sure that's not the case - everyone gets 100cr each. Otherwise it would be too much of a disadvantage to go into the clockworks with a party, no?

As for the energy gates: I tend to only run one tier a day. That means I'm spending 60-80 energy per run. I almost always hit up bockes behind Energy-gates 'cause whatever happens, I'm always going to end up with unused 20-40ME that would otherwise go t'waste. I've had about 60 tokens from those boxes alone, and have used them for mats I would otherwise have to buy on the AH [being un-cleared at the time for T3 on any gate most of].

While on the whole it's not worth it when you consider the Energy cost, with ME that's almost irrelevent. So rather than a Newb-tax, it's more of a bonus for F2Pers in my opinion.

{EDIT:} In fact I just checked the Wiki about the crowns. Check out this page for more info.

"Energy gates are terrible? HUH? Guess what, danger room's gates are energy gates."

...don't you love forums.

Jooozek, don't be a dick.

Besides, they're right: Danger Rooms are different. They're a good source of Heat, materials from downed enemies, typically more lucrative (although just barely), and besides, they're fun; big, silly, improbable fights that challenge players and which can be enjoyable enough to do on general principle. I didn't even start considering the Crown potential of Danger Rooms until relatively recently; I like the fights, that's what I'm there for. This is not the same thing as chucking 3EN into a mechanism that might give you an item, but which is much more likely to give you an insulting handful of pocket change, and which involves no fun fights what so ever.

Probably like they've made a mistake, first couple of times! And then we do a bit of simple maths and never do it again. Continuing to spend EN on gates where you can't test the contents (by flinging pots or vials at the boxes, where applicable) is, in my opinion, indicative of one of three things: 1. Not paying attention, 2. Having more money for CE than sense, and/or 3. Having brutally stunted pattern recognition.

My, somebody really is spoiling to turn a civil discussion of a perceived problem into a dumb ol' internet fight, aren't they?

The thing is, CE is what drives the game; accessing higher Tiers is based on upgrading gear, which is dependent on a combination of Energy and Crowns. Particularly for F2P players, this eventually leads to runs being virtually entirely about Crown acquisition; later on, sure, Tokens can become higher priority as players strive for to acquire Token-only gear and trinkets, but even then, I stopped using Energy Gates within about a week of playing and have still amassed a reasonable stack of the things; the advent of the Auction House may eventually lead to such kit being freely available for Crowns alone anyway. I don't know what the odds are like, but you can acquire Tokens through enemy drops and regular crates; maybe if Energy Gates were definitely the best way of getting them, or if there was a higher chance of getting rarer ones, they'd be worthwhile.

It's not just a case of the Crowns involved; the overall reward doesn't seem worth it. If it's working out for you, fine, each to their own, but there does seem to be something of a consensus that they're rather a waste of Energy; the number of Gates left unopened, not just by me but by virtually every party I've been in once I got past Tier 1, is testament to that.

It's...not an exploit to recognise a pattern with an extant, optional mechanic and then decide not to use it. That is not what that word means.

@Effrul The exploiting part is when you check the contents of the gate without paying for it.

And they would contain what?

I was asking what would make blue chests special. What would a blue chest contain that would stand out? Just more wealth? Or a new something to make energy gates more interesting?

Effrul, you probably don't care that I am not new or rich, but I open the gates if I still have the ME. Your argument only stands for CE, therefore I find they are still useful to open and grab me 50 crowns, tokens, or potentially a 3-5* item. Never opened a mechknight gate though.

gell and others with 'leftover' ME: You can always craft something that can be sold for 'breakeven' to convert your mist into CE, and with the auction house this doesn't even involve finding someone in person. Treasure rooms are not the only way to make use of extra energy.

Also, I agree, and it makes me rather frustrated when people open energy gates and -more- frustrated when everyone in the party takes turns opening them and then looks at me funny when I say they aren't worth it and don't want to pay to open them... even though they clearly aren't worth it! (Except the one with the gun-puppies, and even that, really only if you're in a party of 4 and get a fairly decent number of coin drops or need the heat.)

Danger rooms are marginally worth it -solo-, and are certainly overall worth it in a party. (Actually, strata 1 danger rooms are not quite worth it solo at current CE prices, don't open them unless you need heat or are in a big party that you want to give a gift to.)

And re, 'Blue Treasure Boxes'... yeah, if energy treasure rooms had treasure boxes that were more likely to contain large coins and/or item drops, maybe. But still, on the whole, I'd just as soon energy treasure rooms just went away and got replaced with something else. Also, in a month, CE prices could be 3000 or 9000. Keying treasure room rewards to CE being worth any specific number of crowns is problematic, but scaling the reward to the latest trade price might be tricky to code. I don't imagine the objects in the CE exchange are particularly suited to talking to treasure box objects...