Spiral Knights - Possible Solutions/Changes to Make the Shadow Key Strike Go Away

Possible Solutions/Changes to Make the Shadow Key Strike Go Away

11 replies [Last post]

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 00:52

Invincibility

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE THING $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

If you look at all of these topics and comments, obviously The Spiral Knights Community does not like this shadow key update one bit. I'm sure that Three Rings is trying to fix this issue. In my opinion, I like this update, except that the key's cost of getting it is too high. If they get rid of the update completely, i will be sad. I want to explore the shadow lairs, its just that I can't due to expenses. This is why we protest.

Three Rings is probably trying to think of a way to edit and solve this issue. I think we should help and give our suggestions. It will help Three Rings and make this issue disappear quicker. Please post some possible solutions to this. I'll make a few myself to start.

1.) Maybe they could get rid of the whole "find the keys in lockboxes" thing and have boost the special items merchant sell them, like silver keys. Also maybe lower the price of the key from 750 to oh say... 300 from the fact that it's only one run with a good chance of dying anyway.
2.) Drop the "find in boxes" and have boost sell many different kinds of keys; a certain one for a certain lair (the level clearance still in tact). examples: Friminous Key, Frosty Key, Firepower Key, Undead Key, ect. I'm not good at names :P.
3.)Just make the freaking trip free, but make it a lot harder.

You, me, and Three Rings are counting on us to help each other! Please post some possible solutions and help stop the madness! (Or should i say Sparta?... See what i did there? LOL.)

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 01:08

Retequizzle

Just feel like I should point

Just feel like I should point out before this discussion goes anywhere:

The community as a whole isn't being represented here by just a couple dozen people on the forums. It's nothing more than a very vocal minority speaking for a very unaffected majority; unaffected in that they are neither positively nor negatively swayed by the content's existence.

Other than that, this thread's been done at least two other times that I know of, with all of your suggestions already being suggested and otherwise ignored.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 01:19

Kawaiido

Striking about Keys? They

Striking about Keys? They should be striking over the latency/lag issue that will get you killed in this game. That seems to be more important because if that issue is STILL AROUND and if it effects you in a Shadow run...

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 01:59

Tablechair

why dont u look at the

why dont u look at the problem from a different point?

The keys r very expensive/hard to get, what does that mean??? It means only ppl with alot of cr/ce can obtain them, and those ppl would have alot of good 5* gear, and they r also supposed to have alot of experiance, so who can affor the key is supposed to make it out of the lairs alive. However, who cant affor it has a very low chance of surviving there, that may not apply to all players but its true in general
so heree u r, theres no problem at all ;)

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 02:46

Starlinvf

@Tablechair: More precisely,

@Tablechair: More precisely, its intended for players who have done everything else in the game and need a new mid term goal. A lot of people look at the odds of getting a key from an individual perspective... and yes, looking at it that way its prohibitively expensive. But 1 key is capable of taking 4 people on 1 run. Now for most players, this isn't going to be treated as a normal clockwork dive. Theres a high degree of preparation both in terms of gear and skill level. Theres also a high degree of trust needed in the group that your going with, and its otherwise wasteful to go it alone when you could bring 3 friends to help reap the benefits.

This is where having a network of friends or a large guild is highly beneficial. Only 1 out of 4 members would need to find the key. To help soften the cost of finding one, the other 3 can assist in opening boxes (with a side reward of accessories), or pay into the run to the player who found the key as a way to compensate them for the cost of obtaining it. This is very typical for Elite dungeons where theres an actual cost of entry into the area.

The CE gambling of boxes is only a problem for players who are Content tourists. Since the prize is not functionally superior to most other 5* armors, theres no logical reason a person would "NEED" to obtain this gear to operate in the clockworks, or even stay competitive in PvP. Enter the Content tourist... a person whose primary goal is to experience all content in the game, more then to actually play it. These are your gear/costume collectors, your explorers, and your compulsive achievement farmers. Most are pretty benign in nature, but there are the vocal minority that get upset when they think the barrier for entry on something is too high... often times involving content thats intentionally meant to be rare or difficult to obtain.

To any other player, the key would be considered an excellent opportunity to either take a shot at getting the new armor, or consider it too much of a risk and would rather sell it off for a tidy profit. But they wouldn't proactively pursue it, knowing it takes an inordinate amount of effort when they could put that energy into something more immediately useful... like making a new armor set for PvP.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 03:17

Stelli

Its too late, people gambled

Its too late, people gambled much already.

I can't imagine what will happen if they remove the keys and just allow easy entry now.

Even though I couldn't win a shadow key bid yet, but I will be against removing the keys or changing them now.

But OOO should seriously reconsider their marketing and business development model and updates in the future.

Tablechair above has a point though, I'm for the idea of those gears obtainable only by small % of players.

It can act as a motivation and a strong rewarding feeling after obtaining it, other than looking at its stats, I would think of it as an expensive costume.

Think about it, people will spend so much CE for a wolver tail, sparkle aura... in some sense these new sets can act as cosmetic items too.

Some say that obtaining a key to access Shadow Lair is nearly impossible for F2P players.

Common, it's not suppose to be something you should be able to obtain easily in a few days of gameplay unless you buy CE.

I see people on my friend list doing FSC runs almost every time I peek at the list. If they show up with a Snarby set, I wouldn't be surprised, because they worked for it.

One run of FSC will allow you to profit a good amount of crowns, farm it. If one run is not enough, do 10 runs, 20 runs a day. In a week's time I wonder how much crowns you will be able to net.

Everyone will have an equal chance if they work hard enough for it... but there's a little slacker inside everyone of us, when thing's start to appear out of reach... we find something to blame on.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 04:29

Bopp

Retequizzle is exactly right

Yes, Shadow Keys are very expensive. But it is not obvious that the community is in uproar. A vocal minority is in uproar.

The other posters here (except for the original poster) also raise good points, but Retequizzle really hit the core of the issue.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 05:26

Cherubrock

Suggestions: -make shadow

Suggestions:

-make shadow keys useable every 10 days... so that you buy it once but can play shadow layers 3 times a month or so.

-allow you to trade 50 Almirian Seals for a shadow key.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 06:29

Martinsen

If you actually KNEW how to

If you actually KNEW how to play the game, you'd be able to afford a key at the AH for about 60 k crowns, like I did :l

That's a small amount of money to a lot of players. Besides, I also found a key in one of those lock boxes, on one of my first tries, but it wasn't my first try, so don't get mad if you can't find one at your FIRST try.

If OOO ever choose to reduce the price on a silver key to open a lock box, I'll frikkin kill them, because I spent a lot of CE on those keys :l

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 07:00

Shidara

@Martinsen

I'm pretty sure most players went through a lot more than "their first few boxes" before they struck a Shadow Key.
If they are made cheaper, you don't really hold a right to get angry compared to others. Not everyone gets lucky, you know.

---

Sure, I am displeased that our apparent end-game content ended up as a gambling prize on a slot-machine, but I'm not going to create a massive rant. Seeing the odds of acquiring these keys doesn't exactly encourage me to spend my energy, much less invest money in energy to open up any acquired lockboxes that are in my posession. As it stands, the Shadow Lairs will remain as bonus content for when I run out of recipes to buy and items to alchemize, or for whenever a friend strikes lucky and decides to invite me. Personally, my only reaction would be to refrain to purchase any energy until content that I can appreciate is being released - this is my course of action against published content that I disagree with; I don't like it, I won't fund it.
Give me some months, if not a year, and you might see me opening some lockboxes, but as of right now I cannot agree with Three Rings' decision in publishing Shadow Lairs.

All I can do is wait and observe, and then hope for the best. If it is as bad as the vocal minority make it out to be, a change should be in its course, if not, I'll come back later when I have nothing to lose.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 09:29

#10

Hetero

Everyone who is 'striking' is

Everyone who is 'striking' is actually farming the crap out of this content and selling snorbolax cotume armor for 15-20kce per piece, Keyser Söze style. You are the 99%(of saps) if you aren't doing the same.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 09:44

#11

Wuvvums

It's funny, when we (my

It's funny, when we (my boyfriend and I) got a shadow key we were just so disgusted we auctioned it off right away. He only used the lockbox in hope of getting a mustache, and the shadow key was the last thing he wanted on the principle that it's so dang CHEAP to make us gamble for a level. And I think auctioning the key off probably netted him more crowns than the run would have.

They could have made a better sense of risk and reward with this update, IMO

(Also I would call out the people who are protesting the shadow keys and still pursuing the content as hypocrites.)

Search

Possible Solutions/Changes to Make the Shadow Key Strike Go Away