So starting off, we all know this is a gold-sink event. Which is wise since the game market is bloated with extra credits. Also, if players enter the Housing update with too much automatically, they'll blow through it and get bored quickly (which is not to say I'm not looking forward to it - the Tatooine Homestead pics released earlier today blew me away!). That being said, I have a few thoughts and ideas for improvement for when the event returns next year (after all, it's described as an annual event).

As a disclaimer, after dropping about 2 mil, I've gotten every single reward possible.

1. Reward percentages for both Smuggler and Kingpin machines are totally fine. They should not be tweaked.

2. Despite this, however, all rewards should be purchasable. I'd say the Rancor should cost around 100 certs, and the Magnus should cost around 75 certs. This is because, over the course of 2 mil credits, I've gotten about 45 certs. So if you wanted to just buy the mounts, it would still take A LOT to do so. Then again, people could also get lucky and score the mounts via the machines with very few tokens/tries. So this would fulfill the gambling requirement, but also allow people who are unlucky a way out. However, the numbers I offered are completely flexible and just suggestions. They're not to be taken at 100% face value.

3. Make certs redeemable for money or more tokens or both. This would actually feed back into the system and allow for more people to play more. (poorly worded, I know)

4. Make it so you can sell the Rancor and Magnus for credits. Again, maybe like 1 mil for the Rancor and 750k for the Magnus. That way, people who gain too many of a specific type can again feed back into the system and keep playing.

5. Make the mounts Collectible. Maybe for an exorbitant amount of Cartel Coins (2-2.5k), but still Collectible nonetheless. This would make the appeal of the Magnus and Rancor increase even more, and it would result in more people buying Cartel Coins, which equates to more profit for the game.

6. Make the Casinos more lively. Add more patrons, more dancers, more/better/new music, different lighting, etc. This would make the atmosphere much more interesting and fun.

7. Add WAY more machines. Fighting over machines or not having any available gets really tiring really quickly.

8. BONUS SUGGESTION: Add in pazaak tables. Make it so you have to gamble a kingpin token to participate. Then, keep the rewards for the Kingpin machines (maybe boosting the chances just a little bit). So that way, if people win a game of pazaak, it's the same as entering a Token into the Kingpin machine, but a lot more fun. Since pazaak has been one of the most highly-request features since launch, this would make A LOT of people happy, and it would get people spending more time in-game, as they would literally be gambling for highly-attractive rewards.

So yeah, those are my thoughts! Thank you for your time and consideration!

Being able to win and/or purchase the stuff with Certs you do win would be a nifty idea.

I didn't read the rest of it so pardon me if this was said.

But how about trading in the mounts you win but don't want for Certs?

Being able to win and/or purchase the stuff with Certs you do win would be a nifty idea.

 

I didn't read the rest of it so pardon me if this was said.

 

But how about trading in the mounts you win but don't want for Certs?

I think the problem with that would be that too many people would just trade in 1-2 Magnuses for a Rancor. The Rancor must still be very difficult to obtain, and having them tradeable for certs would lesson that a lot. This would cause the scarcity of the Rancor (which is one of the reasons it's so attractive) to decrease significantly.

Being able to win and/or purchase the stuff with Certs you do win would be a nifty idea.

 

I didn't read the rest of it so pardon me if this was said.

 

But how about trading in the mounts you win but don't want for Certs?

I like the idea of trading in gold certs more... you get them alot more than you get mounts (well... unless you have wierd luck), and if you have 100+ gold certs but want that rancor, it's pretty pointless to win more certs...

I am against the idea of allowing the rancor or speeder to be bought with certificates. These are items that are meant to be rare or very rare, and you know it is a great feeling when you win one. If you allow people to sell what they win, then you eliminate the purpose of a credit sink.

What I would suggest is more items for certs. Ive got the armor, pets, weapons and speeder, I have won the magnus and rancor, so what purpose do I have to go back? Id suggest throw up some color crystals, new armor etc once a week or so(while keeping the old stuff) so people have a reason to come back.

Another thing I would suggest is allowing a certain about of certs(say 5) be tradeable to the vendor for a Kingpin token.

The ability to trade certs for tokens/chips would be great, as would the addition of more prizes to the vendor. With how rare it is to win a rancor, I'm sure there are a lot of people that are trying to get one and have more certificates than they know what to do with.

As an example, I spent 2 mil and got enough certs to buy everything I could possibly want from the vendor, so any future certs I get will be utterly useless to me. For this reason, I have decided to stop, despite not having won a rancor. I was okay with spending the 2 mil and not getting a rancor, because I got a bunch of other goodies. But knowing that I could potentially spend another 2 mil and get absolutely nothing of value back made me want to stop.

As it is, I also worry that Bioware may severely devalue the certs and/or change the event currency entirely (see Rakghoul DNA) if they bring this event back next summer with new items. Wouldn't be quite as effective of an event/credit sink if a bunch of people already had loads of certificates sitting around from the previous year!

I am not concerned with items being rare or nearly rare. I do not concern myself with what other players have or do not have.

I am more concerned with providing the kind of fluff that players desire so they keep playing the game. Just my slant.

A direct trade of certs for the Jackpot items would be too much, but they should be up for trade for more Kingpin tokens. One Kingpin per Cert doesn't seem unreasonable, but I'm all for a different rate if others feel there's a better one.

The reason I'm saying certs should be tradeable for jackpot items is because it encourages further playing, along the lines of what Gwena said in his post. If people are able to aim for 100, they'll keep playing until they get that much. Despite varying luck with Magnuses and Rancors, people generally seem to have around 40-50 certs for every 2-5 mil spent. So 100 would be quite the goal, and would very much promote more playing of the slots.

EDIT: Oops, did not mean to post a second time. I meant to modify my original post. My bad.

I am against the idea of allowing the rancor or speeder to be bought with certificates. These are items that are meant to be rare or very rare, and you know it is a great feeling when you win one. If you allow people to sell what they win, then you eliminate the purpose of a credit sink.

You're making two completely separate/different points here, but I'll address it anyways. Just in order.

1) With a ~100 requirement for the Rancor and a ~75 requirement for the Magnus, they still will be super rare. Getting certs will still be a matter of luck, just with a goal in mind. And not many people are gonna have the will, the time, or the money to win enough certs to buy one.

2) Allowing people to sell the rare mounts wouldn't unbalance the sink. Instead, it would promote more participation in the sink, as people would be willing to spend more for actual/further rewards.