Spiral Knights - Why the new prize box system?

Why the new prize box system?

13 replies [Last post]

Thu, 09/26/2013 - 23:38

Amnimonus

It's the the third prize box event that we have had since the release of battle sprites and hey all have one thing in common, boxes being available via supply depot.
The first time (since the update) we had the Moorcroft prize box, just like every other promo you got a free prize with every purchase of 9.95 USD worth of energy however this time you could also buy it from the supply depot for a decent price (cheaper than what most people sold it for in the last promo). It was a good idea, there are some player that have lots of energy to burn due to the sprites update.
Then came are second promo since the update with Gourmet Prize Boxes which compare to the Moorcraft promo was fresh and new. When I saw this update I though it might be a good time to buy some energy but after logging I saw that this time you have to BUY the prize WITH energy, no free prize box for every 10 dollars you spend. To top things off the prize box was relatively more expensive than what boxes sold for in the past being worth 2600 energy or a 6 USD.
I thought this promo was an exception to the rule for just this once (well I was thinking with a positive outlook, that I was hoping that they just forgot to out the tag on energy buying options) but then comes our newest promo and once again the box can only be purchased with energy.

I always though prize boxes were suppose to be a small incentive/thank you/bonus you got for buying energy which really convinced me to buy energy several times. Prize boxes were always meant to be the little extra you got for buying energy not the actual reason you need to buy energy.

Then again in this new system energy has lost most of its purpose, there is no real reason to buy energy in terms of game progress, at most you'll buy a few trinket/weapon slots but there a low monthly cost (which anyone can easily earn up with a few runs).

But this is my opinion what do you guys think? Is this better? Are there more prize box items flowing through the market? What are your thoughts about this?

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 00:15

Fangel

It's better for the players that are completely free to play

But a little compensation for buying energy would be nice, like a chance to get a variant ticket when you buy $9.95's worth of energy. Not set in stone that you'd get one, but I'd encourage me to buy energy more regularly.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 15:24

Writhes

Well, I won't be spending money in this promo...

Yep, I will not be purchasing energy until they add free prize box promos again. The funny thing is that I was fully prepared to purchase energy with the recon knight promo that we have now but once I discovered that Id have to spend energy instead of getting them with a 10 dollar purchase I decided to hold off.

I suspect OOO is doing this on purpose to create an energy dump to drive up the value of energy which in turn will instigate more energy purchases instead of trading even after the promo is finished... The best solution is to simply not buy energy during this prize box promotion to discourage this style of prize box promos in the future.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 02:51

Mickmane

Yeah I think it's kind of double cost for those who support the game when instead of getting a box with their Energy purchase, they have to spend said Energy on the box. No fair.

Personally, I'd like them getting a box for purchases along with having the box in the Supply Depot. (It could also increase the overall number of boxes/items that come out of them, and thus control the price of the items a little. Let the re-sellers rage (in Hell ;P ): I doubt anything in the game is intended to make players rich.)

For me, buying Energy for the sake of getting Energy, promo or not, was never tempting. But after 21 months of fun I want to support the folks that work hard on a game that I'm having said continued fun with.
(So yesterday I finally got a means to do that, and had my alt do a small Thank You donation. Dude now sits on a little Energy that I intend for him to keep, piling up more in the future as the war between my funds and my conscience continues. I like my main to be self-supportive.)

But then, I'm from the Shareware generation. Playing first, then paying, works out fine for me. While my mind is totally incompatible with the new online generation's normal procedures. But on the bottom line, both should work out fine for the Gods of SK. :)

And I happily blew roughly 1/3 of my main's Crowns and Energy savings on boxes.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 04:35

Hexzyle

"I was never fond of the previous distribution system, if only because it favored people who dropped bigger bucks, who were already getting more bang for their buck buying mass quantities of CE.
At least this way it helps keep the supply in check and keeps people from price gouging the everliving [redacted] out of something that's essentially gotten for free."
~Retequizzle

"By changing it so that boxes can only be purchased with an average dollar payment worth of CE, it reduces the benefit that real money players get compared to how it used to be.
But at the same time, it encourages broader real money payments across the playerbase to get the boxes specifically. Whoever came up with that sure earned their paycheck."
~Asthix

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 05:07

Krakob

The whole thing with more promos and less energy uses in the non-aesthetical aspects of the game means that free to players aren't as encouraged to buy energy for the sake of progress, making the whole game less pay to progress/win while OOO continues to gain money through end-game players using energy to buy boxes, which enhances the aesthetical aspects of the game for those who are interested in it.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 05:21

Shidara

Yep. As much as I'd love to

Yep. As much as I'd love to get free boxes with my energy purchase and get extra boxes for my investment, this method is fair and doesn't put the ball entirely in the buyer's palm. I agree with both Retequizzle's and Asthix' statements, as quoted by Hexzyle.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 08:35

Traevelliath

While this method is fair, I still liked the other method better.

Boxes with energy purchases was designed to lower CE prices, by flooding the market with more CE. This new system encourages the opposite; it encourages people to buy energy with crowns, thus raising the CE price.

I wouldnt mind both at the same time, but just the new distribution is a bit "eh..." in my eyes.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 08:38

Khamsin

It may be to balance out the price of the Guardian Armor pack coming down, I dunno.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 17:45

Amnimonus

Personally the only reason I

Personally the only reason I don't like this new method is because one box literally cost more than 6 dollars worth of energy, yes it does give the opportunity for f2p player to purchase them but its still a quite a bit of energy. Many people who have saved up energy from previous events or got energy back from there elevator pass could easily buy a box with out purchasing new energy but to earn 2600 energy from pure farming take a while. You would need over 200k cr or about 17 vana runs (each vana run taking about an hour so about 17 hour of playing)

Actually after thinking about it might just as harder for an f2p player to get a prize box, well unless they actually have time to grind 200k cr (which can take a while). In past promos some boxes sold for 2200 energy (they fluctuated in price but this is an average),it may not look like much of a difference but these kind of promos brought energy into the market, as well as more player that were will to sell energy for crowns in order to use it via auction house (to actually buy stuff from the promo) so it was actually better off for everyone.

Then again past is dead now since let me say it again energy is basically useless in terms of actual game play (which I will rant about some other time). I can't blame three rings for have to do this, they tried to solve some of the major "flaws" in spiral knights and energy becoming useless was one of the byproducts.

Is spiral knight better than before with these new promo? I have no idea all I know is that by checking the AH its seem to be worse since there about 6 page worth of prize box related stuff if I'm recalling correctly from the forged in thunder promo there was probably more than 6 pages worth of eyes of fury alone (in some past promo I remember that there were well over 20 pages worth of promo related item on the AH, not counting confetti).

I feel that this might be evidence that some part of the july/august update (orbs mainly) made things worse rather than better.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 19:34

#10

Whimsicality

"more than six dollars"
you used to have to pay at least ten.
this new method gives EVERYONE an opportunity to buy boxes, cash or otherwise
boxes are CHEAPER
this is an issue, why?

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 19:47

#11

Writhes

They are not cheaper. You can

They are not cheaper. You can't get cheaper than free.

People didn't pay 10 dollars for boxes rather they payed 10 dollars for energy and got the boxes as a free bonus . If someone chose to with the old system they could buy energy to get a box and turn around and trade their energy for another box.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 19:44

#12

Meta-Knight-Kirby

@Whimsicality

I prefer the Moorcroft Prize system, with both purchase and energy options.
The reason people complain is because before, $10 would get you energy and a box, while now, $6 would only get you a box.

Fri, 09/27/2013 - 19:48

#13

Writhes

@Meta-Knight-Kirby

I completely agree. It would have been best to leave both options available.

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Why the new prize box system?