Spiral Knights - My energy-buying dilemma

My energy-buying dilemma

16 replies [Last post]

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 00:45

arkke

Legacy Username

So, I love Spiral Knights. This game is a ton of fun, and a great way to pass time casually, maybe even while a little drunk. ;) So far, I haven't paid to play, but I'm nearly geared enough for T3, so I've made a fair bit of progress on my own.

Now, I want to buy energy for two reasons. The first is that I know this game isn't free to run, and I want to help pay the guys and gals responsible for it, because I think they deserve it, and the second is that I want to be able to play more without feeling restricted by how many crowns I have lying around to buy CE with. Herein rests my dilemma - I want to buy the energy, but I don't necessarily want to have it.

Let me explain what I mean. I find no issue with buying energy as I'll get a ton of play time for less than it would cost me to spend 2 hours at the movies. All things considered, online gaming is actually one of the cheapest forms of recreation out there. Hell, you can theoretically play WoW for a quarter an hour if you get online enough. However, being the kinda guy who gets the most enjoyment out of the 'sense of accomplishment' that gearing the hard way gives me, I know that I can basically gear up overnight and not need any more crowns/items ever if I sell the CE I buy.

So, basically what I'm trying to do is decide how I can buy CE and use it without feeling like I've given myself some unfair advantage. I thought about buying the energy and then slowly giving it away to nubs in need (really, I did), but I've instead settled on vowing not to sell my CE at all. I won't exchange it for crowns at any point, instead opting to gain the crowns the way most free players do, by running the tiers and selling materials. In this way I feel like I'll have the most fun and still feel like I'm not 'buying my way' through the game, while still getting tons more time to play whenever I like and a slightly easier time doing alchemy. I'm thinking of it simply as 'buying game time'.

For the sake of conversation, I submit the following question: do you feel like buying CE gives you an unfair advantage or devalues the game experience? If so, how would you handle my situation given the way I want to approach things? I think my idea is sound, but I'd love to hear what others are thinking about it. Alternatively, if you think I'm a nutjob and am putting way too much consideration into this, I'd love to hear what you think too. :)

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 00:54

Shani

Legacy Username

Personally, I feel that the

Personally, I feel that the grind is, more or less, "the game" here. By buying CE and selling it to purchase top gear straight off, you've effectively placed yourself at the end of the game in a "what now?" situation.

If you already purchased the CE and want to avoid the "unfair advantage" situation that you outlined, I'd say to not sell CE and give yourself a strict limit on CE-resses, even if it means that the run is a loss.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:02

Feynt

Legacy Username

I don't think buying energy

I don't think buying energy puts you at an advantage. Certainly at some point you MUST buy energy to craft gear (4 star gear and higher requires it, ME alone isn't enough). Even if you aren't buying it and pay someone else for your 4 star or higher gear, someone's buying it. But CE is an over used variable. It's necessary to craft, and it's necessary to do runs (if you don't stick to just ME per day). It's easy to spend it. Certainly also, as you said, you can sell your CE for crowns, and that's another way to spend it, but you get something in return of a known quantity (a decent sum of crowns).

The selling of crowns however doesn't help you at all. You can buy recipes sure, but you still need CE and materials to make the gear. You can also buy the materials, but again you need more CE. Eventually you can throw enough money at Spiral Knights to make everything, selling some of your CE for crowns, but you'll probably go broke in real life before that happens.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:11

tysta

Legacy Username

Energy

I started in the preview weekend, so had an easy first few days with cheap energy prices and low competition/spam on the market. I'm currently content with the situation, but if I had started 4 days later I would now be getting angry.

Having an energy market is a constant hatred/love situation. I have bought energy, and saw that energy disappear in a few days. It didn't leave me with a good feeling at all, but it gave me a bit of a stepping stone and allowed me to familiarize with the game. The constant need of more is starting to annoy me now, as prices rose and my source of crowns-income vanished by the amount of new players, and spam/competition on the market. I end up sitting in Haven all day, and not actually playing. Since going into dungeons means I'll run a loss.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:12

arkke

Legacy Username

"give yourself a strict limit

"give yourself a strict limit on CE-resses"

This is something I hadn't thought of. I most definitely don't plan to go rez-happy, for two reasons - one, because I honestly it feels like it would be a serious waste - where the hell are my teammates? :-P

And second, yeah, again, really devalues the inherent 'difficulty' of the game. I definitely won't be using a CE rez unless I would have otherwise. Probably not for more than 5-10 a rez.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:16

Pupu

Legacy Username

Get the ce, use it to craft a Calibur with high fiend damage UV for me.

You know, you could just buy the ce to support the devs, and save it for when you need it. Make your purchased ce your "floor" and make sure it never goes under that. Then spend your savings when something really rare that you wants appears on the market, after you're done with your normal gear and start looking for other stuff.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:29

arkke

Legacy Username

This idea is good too. I'd

This idea is good too. I'd just have to be careful to remember how much I actually bought. haha

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:38

Shani

Legacy Username

Well, the starting price of

Well, the starting price of resses depends on the tier; 2/5/10, so if you don't go above 10... =P

CE resses are probably the easiest and most foolish way to use up energy. I've seen plenty of people res themselves while I'm literally standing over their corpse trying to fight things off of it so I can res them. Seriously people, WHY?

The burn rate of your energy really depends on your playstyle; between ME and what crowns I'm able to produce in runs, I've gotten enough over ~90 hours to put together a 4/5* set without any CE purchases. If I ever bothered to sell my materials, I'd probably be sitting in a full 5* set.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:44

Feynt

Legacy Username

Another idea, and perhaps a

Another idea, and perhaps a more prudent one, would be to limit your expendatures toward CE per day/week/month to a certain dollar value. Place the value low so you aren't tempted to over spend on CE for that item you just have to get, but still allows some leeway for when you need another 100 to keep going with your current party. Like maybe no more than $1.50 a day for example. 400 CE lets you craft a 5 star item and still adventure with your friends for the day.

Addendum:
The idea of "don't go over 10" makes sense, even in tier 3 where you start at 10. You get one continue, and if you fail, game over. But then that's what parties are for. Teamed up with my friend, we've double teamed tier 3 and only once had to pay energy to revive.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:49

Shinritzu

hmmmm

i also started to play at the weekend preview week..so i saw how the ce price increase..but even at high price it didnt require me to be desperate as paying real money for ce..now i have almost 400k crowns and 10k CE but i earned it for long hours of sitting in the bazaar and less dungeon runs..but i really enjoyed playing like a merchant..besides my goal was to learn all the recipes in the game so i need to earn a lot XD well it still in the player wether buy CE or not what important is they enjoyed the game..XD

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:55

#10

ringmaster23

Legacy Username

i know where you are coming

i know where you are coming from and when the game lets me buy CE with my cellphone ( :/ ) im gonna find a couple random folks to give like 100 to, just to hopefully make someones gaming more enjoyable. I only started playing today and quickly realized that, without buying at least a little CE, you cant really do as much as you want. Id buy the CE, yes it does feel a little cheap but why not?

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 07:15

#11

GeistZero

Legacy Username

I know where you are coming

Hey,Ringmaster23.

Not to sound selfish or greedy, i wouldnt mind being one of those random people lol, if you can still spare sum energy. i have goals in mind that id like to reach concerning my desired equipment. If you are willing to help in my goal reaching that would be sweet. In return i can be a helping hand(so can anyone else) when it comes to doing sum quests to help with your personal goals. id say it can be a good hand-and hand piece of work.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 07:49

#12

Icee

I don't sell CE for crowns.

I use CE that I bought for elevators (I want to play more!) and crafting, but I promised myself not to ever sell it for crowns. This means that sometimes I see a recipe that I want from Basil and I can't afford to buy it, but that's ok. I'll just have to visit Basil again when I have earned more crowns and that means I have a reason to play more, which is why I bought CE in the first place. I've found that this use of energy - for play and crafting, but not to get crowns - has made the game more fun for me without putting me at endgame too quickly. (I only just purchased the last recipe I need for entry to tier 3, and I won't have enough crowns to craft it until after I play through tier 2 tonight.)

I also use my purchased energy to buy the occasional danger room and allow myself up to two resurrections in that room, because the extra challenge is fun.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 09:22

#13

Cyberhaven

Legacy Username

I agree

I agree with Icee, I did the same thing. I have used it for crafting some items but only ones that i really need and I don't plan on making many and selling them. I bought CE with the intention of playing in dungeons because when I first started this game i used up my 100 ME and my extra 100 ME that they gave me and I still wasn't satisfied lol ( well I did ress alot but that was before i learned my teammates could ress me). 24 hours for a full recharge is way too long. I was hoping it would be more along the lines of ten hours or something.

Anyways, $10 bucks is alot of play time and I doubt I have to make another purchase as long as I place restrictions in my spending and I also have the option of buying CE with crowns which isn't a big deal at this point in the game. CE helps out alot and if you can afford it I recommend it. ( everyone else as well for that matter.)

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 14:34

#14

leecadet

Legacy Username

Since there is no in-game bank

Have somebody you know in real life create an account to help you hold the extra CE. My significant other has an account. She doesn't play very often, so most of the time, the account just holds extra CE and crafts lowbie gear.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 14:46

#15

ZealousD

Legacy Username

Purchase about $5 worth of

Purchase about $5 worth of energy. This'll give you a nice energy buffer, enough that you won't feel restricted when you play the game. When you start to get low on CE, start buying it for crowns.

I doubt you'll feel like you have a major advantage, it'll just make playing the game more comfortable.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 19:52

#16

Griffinbane

I bought the highest package

I bought the highest package (I look at value, shaddap) and stuck the majority on the market for 10k each 100 to prevent myself from going hyper with spending and since it's out of sight, it's not as tempting to use it all. If people buy out all my CE, I applaud you all and I'll cringe once I see what the price is set at. /shudder

Biggest advantage you'll have from buying CE is in spamming stuff for UVs. If you decide to walk that path, good luck with that, because it'll eat up your money, materials and CE incredibly fast.

/me stares forlornly at her empty crown purse.

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My energy-buying dilemma