Hi,

I bought one of the new hypercrates yesterday to check if they are worthwhile. Spent an additional 35€ to get the coins for my purchase and opened all 24 packs afterwards.

Most obviously and independant of luck, you only get about 10000 reputation for the Contraband Resale Corporation, which means you will have to buy roughly 7 hypercrates for 49000 cartel coins (315€) to get to Legend standing. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Also there are cartel market certificates to buy special items from the Contraband Resale Corporation. In 24 packs I got exactly one cartel market certificate. So at that rate I have to spent several hundred Euro just to get one of the more fancy items from the vendor. AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Drops from the packs were mixed, some were okay, others just worthless bull****. Overall I dont feel they were worth my money. With 24 packs opened I guess there was a somewhat fair chance for good items, but most rares didnt sell for more than 100k each. Would have been better to buy those from GTN directly.

A microtransaction store is supposed to add microtransactions to a game, but that latest addition hardly is micro anymore. 35 Euro means 3 months of gametime in other MMOs and from my point of view thats a major investment (espacially in cosmetic stuff) but with the Contraband Resale Corporation you literally have to spend hundreds of Euro to get to the fancy items you see at the vendors.

For 4 months there was almost no (free) new content and dont tell me you cant create content and dont have the ressources. Obviously you have, because you add new Cartel Market items on a weekly basis. I dont like that, but at least give us something worth our money!

i have opened 30 packs so far and my reputation reached 1/4 Hero... I spent 8 million credits and i found nothing to at least make half of the money i spent. Sad.

I know this is a strike to the completionists but you'll have to pass on that crown/mount... :'(

I think I will. I'll just get the speeder. It sucks that you need to be legendary in order to buy old stuff.

I have to agree. The amount of REP required to purchase stuff is too high. PLUS the fact that it will required you to do it all over again when the next series of packs come out is even worse.

Drop rate on Cartel Certificates is TERRIBLE. I would be OKAY with getting a certificate one in every 20-30 packs if the items didn't require REP + 10 Certificates + Cash Credits. (Pick two and drop one)

I purchased 10 packs thinking I could at least get ONE to see what it's about and nothing. So I'm back to not buying anymore packs as the VALUE of the REP points is crap and the drop rate on certificates is worse.

Not sure how I feel about this, I mean, I'm personally fine with it, but I'm god awful with money.

Seeing all the complaints, I feel like if the rep items were patched so they aren't bound and could be sold on the market would be the best way to go, not sure about the cartel certificates though.

seriously the new shipment's legendary reward will have to be far more attractive than a dumb crown!

A full set of orbalisk armor - that would be something.

The contraband pack is the first pack of a shipment of 4 packs.

So yes, getting full rep will take quite an investment, but no, you don't have to buy the same hypercrate 7 times. Basically, if you buy 2 hypercrates of each set from the shipment, you should max your rep.

One set down, 3 to go.

The contraband pack is the first pack of a shipment of 4 packs.

So yes, getting full rep will take quite an investment, but no, you don't have to buy the same hypercrate 7 times. Basically, if you buy 2 hypercrates of each set from the shipment, you should max your rep.

One set down, 3 to go.

Yeah, this is the key part a lot of people are missing.

I bought 1 pack, got some stuff I liked, and now im leaving it at that. I may grab one of the new ones when they get released, depending on what is in them.

One good part of this is the gtn is so over bulging with gear, the prices have plummeted to all time lows, because people have no patience and are trying to get rep straight away, rather than wait for the next 3 packs that will be released.

Hi,

 

I bought one of the new hypercrates yesterday to check if they are worthwhile. Spent an additional 35€ to get the coins for my purchase and opened all 24 packs afterwards.

 

Most obviously and independant of luck, you only get about 10000 reputation for the Contraband Resale Corporation, which means you will have to buy roughly 7 hypercrates for 49000 cartel coins (315€) to get to Legend standing. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

 

Also there are cartel market certificates to buy special items from the Contraband Resale Corporation. In 24 packs I got exactly one cartel market certificate. So at that rate I have to spent several hundred Euro just to get one of the more fancy items from the vendor. AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

 

Drops from the packs were mixed, some were okay, others just worthless bull****. Overall I dont feel they were worth my money. With 24 packs opened I guess there was a somewhat fair chance for good items, but most rares didnt sell for more than 100k each. Would have been better to buy those from GTN directly.

 

A microtransaction store is supposed to add microtransactions to a game, but that latest addition hardly is micro anymore. 35 Euro means 3 months of gametime in other MMOs and from my point of view thats a major investment (espacially in cosmetic stuff) but with the Contraband Resale Corporation you literally have to spend hundreds of Euro to get to the fancy items you see at the vendors.

For 4 months there was almost no (free) new content and dont tell me you cant create content and dont have the ressources. Obviously you have, because you add new Cartel Market items on a weekly basis. I dont like that, but at least give us something worth our money!

You're paying money for vanity. That is by-and-large what the Cartel Market provides: A new look here, a new speeder there, some cool /emote to show off and enjoy the animations of. You are not forced into purchasing the packs. The fancy items you see at the vendors have no bearing on the gameplay. Does having the Overlord's Command Throne make you do more damage? Not that I know of. If one of the Cartel Market mounts say... were... 200% speed, then you could arguably get up in arms about it. Until then, not really.

Reputation capping is not necessary, unless you are a completionist. If that's the case, then I can empathize. However, maybe an MMO that utilizes microtransactions isn't the best idea.

Also, as far as content creation goes, the staff that work on an MMO is incredibly departmentalized. Refer to this wonderful quote from Phillip_BW. He said it much better than I ever could.

Why are you wasting all this time on changing something that I don't think needs changing? Make better graphics! Put in more flashpoints! We want more content, not more security! *peck!*

 

I have to say I am constantly amazed at what our artists can do. Lets just say I'm artistically challenged and my stick figures are pathetic and quite ugly to behold... I'm also not one of the server or game engineers and I don't think any of us want me messing around with code that could create full-scale blackouts across entire shards if it is written incorrectly. Basically we have many teams here and my specific team will continue to focus on the security aspects as that is what we are actually here for. Think of it as an added bonus.

So please, rethink next time you wish to raise a complaint about something that comes up on the Cartel Market.

seriously the new shipment's legendary reward will have to be far more attractive than a dumb crown!

 

A full set of orbalisk armor - that would be something.

That crown is amazing. I would never stop using it.

The contraband pack is the first pack of a shipment of 4 packs.

So yes, getting full rep will take quite an investment, but no, you don't have to buy the same hypercrate 7 times. Basically, if you buy 2 hypercrates of each set from the shipment, you should max your rep.

One set down, 3 to go.

^ Exactly. Or you can be like me and buy say... 4 Hypercrates to max rep in the first week. Have to refrain from trying to cap rep this week too... my poor wallet.

Don't forget that EACH new shipment will have it's own rep track. That means you'll need to get 70 - 90 million credits worth of packs every 5 months.

Well, they have their money sinks, now they need more ways of making money, though crafting is very viable, players just don't know how to make money on that, not without being greedy d**ks anyway.

I blew roughly 200-250$ on them and I feel entirely ripped off.:

I haven't blown quite as much, but I know how you feel. I was after one item in particular, but I would have been happy with at least a few half reasonable items to make a little cash back. 34 packs later and I've got a whole bunch of speeders that will be lucky to sell for 5-10k each and a metric assload of useless (and worthless) crafting mats.

I did get a few crystals, but they were all exactly the same type so it'll takes weeks to move them if they sell at all.

But.....it's a lottery, I knew that going in. It's a lottery I won't be playing again and to be honest just to be sure of it, it's a lottery that will probably see me unsub.

It is very simple. You don't have to stop playing the game. You just need to stop giving them money by the cartel market. If all people do that you will all see that they will give up and they will stop adding more stupid things like this to the CC.

Just try and see.

I haven't blown quite as much, but I know how you feel. I was after one item in particular, but I would have been happy with at least a few half reasonable items to make a little cash back. 34 packs later and I've got a whole bunch of speeders that will be lucky to sell for 5-10k each and a metric assload of useless (and worthless) crafting mats.

 

I did get a few crystals, but they were all exactly the same type so it'll takes weeks to move them if they sell at all.

 

But.....it's a lottery, I knew that going in. It's a lottery I won't be playing again and to be honest just to be sure of it, it's a lottery that will probably see me unsub.

You're absolutely right - it's a lottery. You are not guaranteed a single good item from a pack, let alone a hypercrate, let alone ten. Some people get super lucky and get everything they wanted (and more) from a dozen packs. Some go four hypercrates without seeing the thing they want.

However, to unsubscribe over a lottery that you chose to participate in (that had no bearing on the actual gameplay, mind you) seems like a bit of an overreaction. I guess to each their own.

It is very simple. You don't have to stop playing the game. You just need to stop giving them money by the cartel market. If all people do that you will all see that they will give up and they will stop adding more stupid things like this to the CC.

 

Just try and see.

They make a killing from the Cartel Market. And they will continue to do so as long as they keep coming up with new models/reskins of existing stuff in the game to appeal to us completionist collectors. I highly, *highly* doubt enough people will stop spending money on it to make it not worth their time. Also. to say that the new shipment of cartel packs is stupid is... a rather subjective view. I personally find it ingenious. You let players pay to support to game whilst getting a chance at, again, *vanity*.

Pay for vanity is a great model. Please, continue BioWare. You have my wallet's support.

^ I still have some hope that people will open their eyes and stop wasting their money.

It is their money to *spend* as they see fit. And as someone that spends a decent amount of money on the Cartel Market, I'm slightly... insulted at the insinuation there.

Don't forget that EACH new shipment will have it's own rep track. That means you'll need to get 70 - 90 million credits worth of packs every 5 months.

More like 110-120, packs have risen to 800k on Jung Ma

I see people ************ about the drop rates of the certificates and rep tokens. I bought two Hypercrates worth of these packs and got enough rep tokens for Legend standing and then some. I also have 20 certificates. What sucks is that they are bound to individual characters forcing you to open them all on one character. Which bites because my cargo bays on my main are full.

I'm pleased with the design of most items save for the hilts on the new lightsabers. I'm also a fan of the increased drop rate of actual useful items. I do believe however that some of these items should be bind to legacy if equipped so they can go to other characters as you change them out. Currently if you aren't using an item after it's equipped it can't be sold at any vendor, nor can it go to another character / player. I think that's BS.

I see people ************ about the drop rates of the certificates and rep tokens. I bought two Hypercrates worth of these packs and got enough rep tokens for Legend standing and then some. I also have 20 certificates.

I just ran the numbers. You get one green (270), blue (630) or purple (1,440) rep token per pack. If you get a certificate, it will take the place of the rep token. You do not get both from the same pack.

Two hypercrates = 48 packs. Having received 20 certificates, you got 28 packs worth of rep tokens.

Even if every single pack that did not give you a certificate gave you a purple rep token, you would only have 40,320 rep. Legend requires 70,000 rep. With that amount of rep you would have just exceeded Champion.

Also, two hypercrates and you got 20 certificates? That is some amazing luck, sir.

I just ran the numbers. You get one green (270), blue (630) or purple (1,440) rep token per pack. If you get a certificate, it will take the place of the rep token. You do not get both from the same pack.

 

Two hypercrates = 48 packs. Having received 20 certificates, you got 28 packs worth of rep tokens.

 

Even if every single pack that did not give you a certificate gave you a purple rep token, you would only have 40,320 rep. Legend requires 70,000 rep. With that amount of rep you would have just exceeded Champion.

 

Also, two hypercrates and you got 20 certificates? That is some amazing luck, sir.

Very interesting points there. Care to explain how you did something both improbable and impossible at the same time?

This complaint is like a complaint about going to Vegas, playing slots for a week, then getting pissed at the casinos when you lose all your money.

Because that's all these cartel rep things are - Variable ratio schedule conditioning.

From wikipedia: "a reinforcement schedule in which the number of responses necessary to produce reinforcement varies from trial to trial. A VR schedule of VR10 means that if one averaged the number of reinforcers, on the average every tenth desired response was reinforced....Real-world example: slot machines (because, though the probability of hitting the jackpot is constant, the number of lever presses needed to hit the jackpot is variable)."

It's a method designed to condition you to keep doing something. In this case, buying cartel packs.