Cartel Packs Feedback

[Arlee]

Dev response in a thread about cartel packs.

Originally Posted by SWTOR

There are a few questions raised in this thread.

Do items put in the Galactic Trade Network sell?
Yes. We have metrics, as well, on what sells, and for what price, which we compare to their drop rates. This gives us a great idea on adjustments we should make for future packs (the drop rates and the pack contents themselves) - which means that our next round of packs will be better, and the ones after that will be better again.

Here are some fun stats
* The White indestructible crystal Median Buyout price = 1.4 million credits
* The Overlord’s Command Throne Median Buyout Price = 1.75 million credits
* The Dominator’s Command Throne Median buyout price = 1.50 million credits
* The imperial banner Median buyout price = 250 credits
* Ruddyscale Kowakian Monkey-Lizard median buyout price = 500,000 credits
* Elegant Loungewear Top median buyout price = 22,000 credits

This is interesting, in that the thrones are much less rare than the crystal. The metrics we have on what sells and what doesn't are excellent, which means that we should get better and better at pushing our resources towards things that players actually want.


Are there any truly absurd prices out there?
Absolutely. I can tell you one person bought an Imperial Banner off the GTN for 310000 credits.


Are we aware that some items can't be sold on the GTN (i.e. the game won't let you)?
Yeah, those are bugs, and in the case of the lightsaber crystals, ones that we should have caught easily, since it's happened multiple times. In every case I can think of off the top of my head, these are unintentional bugs, and should get fixed. It's not our intention that people should be standing around spamming the fleet about these.


Are you guys aware that there's a ton of dupe items clogging our inventory?
We totally are. This is particularly true of the more common bonus items that are repeated through multiple packs. We are constructing our next round of packs (i.e. the round that will start when Rise of the Hutt Cartel ships) with a definite eye on reducing this level of suck.


Why can't I sell some of this junk that is worthless on the GTN?
We are examining that possibility, and even if we did so, we would likely make the sale price negligible, to avoid having too harsh an effect on the economy (I don't want buying Cartel Packs to be a particularly effective and reliable way to get credits). That being said, there's a very good chance that some of these items may be retired in the future - an Imperial Banner or Dominator Throne that enjoys a certain value now might find that value greatly increased once the packs that sell these disappear - so you might want to selectively choose some of these to bank, rather than junk. This retirement may be permanent, or a temporary removal from service (like the McRib or the Disney DvD releases) That being said, we are still developing our strategy for how these items are retired and/or cycled into service. Once we have a plan, I will be sure we communicate it to the community at large.


It sucks that the Cartel Market/Cartel Packs takes away resources that could be spent on (my pet feature)!
It's quite the opposite, actually. The success of the market (and it has been quite successful) has given us the time and resources to do some ambitious things on Makeb, and plan some very ambitious things beyond. The success of the Cartel Market means that there will be more good stuff for ALL players, paying, subscribers, and free.

(Source)

[Edge-]

Dat last question/answer. It's nice to hear a developer finally address the issue and speak to it.

[Deleted]

Dat last question/answer. It's nice to hear a developer finally address the issue and speak to it.

I'm happy he mentioned it but have some trust issues with Bioware regarding what is said and what is delivered. A step in the right direction though and if Makeb and 1.7 are done well then I'll honestly start to look forward to the long term additions to this game.

[Arlee]

Dat last question/answer. It's nice to hear a developer finally address the issue and speak to it.

Yes but at the same time the impatient sob in my yells "stop hinting about the awesome ambitious things you have planned and tell me what they are". But you know... I'm impatient

[Edge-]

I'm happy he mentioned it but have some trust issues with Bioware regarding what is said and what is delivered. A step in the right direction though and if Makeb and 1.7 are done well then I'll honestly start to look forward to the long term additions to this game.

Yes but at the same time the impatient sob in my yells "stop hinting about the awesome ambitious things you have planned and tell me what they are". But you know... I'm impatient

Yup, I'm skeptical of the grand statements from them as well, and would much rather have specific information that they can actually deliver on, but at least they're giving us something with this : )

[Parrin]

Did he just compare an Imperial Banner to a McRib?

[Snorkle]

Nice one. One of the best I've seen in swtor. not bad!

[Razael]

I agree the last answer was pretty clean , and left no room for misinterpretations , other that they need to deliver on these ambitious plans. Looking foward to see what Makeb will bring.

[Edge-]

Nice one. One of the best I've seen in swtor. not bad!

This is the kind of thing they need to do for everything when they make a post from the devs. This is how you provide meaningful and insightful communication to your fans and allow them to connect a bit with with developers. Honestly, this is the best thing their community team has turned out in the year+ of this game (at least that I can remember).

[Argroth]

Dat last question/answer. It's nice to hear a developer finally address the issue and speak to it.

Just because they say it dosn't mean it's true.

They have already shown they arn't good at keeping their word. Nothing they say can be taken to have any meaning. MMOs just can't deliver on anthing they say as many companies have proven.

That being said. Those items they listed will now never sell for less then that because people will feel that that is the justifiable low price (even though they are medians)

[Alvito]

I would have liked to have seen something touching on the GTN or straight from the cartel vendor unlocks that aren't working. Having just let my sub run out I was rather unhappy to use unlocks I had purchased only to have then not work then have the ones I bought with cartel coins also not work, the kicker no support for non subbed players.

[moff]

ambitious plans for makeb. dont make me laugh, calling it an expansion.

[Deleted]

ambitious plans for makeb. dont make me laugh, calling it an expansion.

It's a $10 expansion. Had it been $50 like other expansions then I too would laugh.

[moff]

thats my point, there is nothing ambitious about it. calling it an expansion is a joke.
also, the 10$ dont matter here, they said the money from the market went to a more ambitious makeb.

sure, they might still announce content that is so ambitious that we think "wow, thats where all our cartel point money went to!"
but who believes that?

[Edge-]

I would have liked to have seen something touching on the GTN or straight from the cartel vendor unlocks that aren't working. Having just let my sub run out I was rather unhappy to use unlocks I had purchased only to have then not work then have the ones I bought with cartel coins also not work, the kicker no support for non subbed players.

You can still get support through their website, or their non-toll free number... It's strange that we've not heard a peep out of them despite how common it is to see people complain about unlocks not working on their characters, or only working on a single character instead of the full account (when the full account unlock is purchased).

calling it an expansion is a joke.

Yup, I still refuse to call it an expansion. I view it much more in line with an Adventure Pack from EQ1/2, or a few DLC's from DCUO put together. Don't know why, but the fact that they're calling it an expansion really annoys me. Level cap increase doesn't mean expansion -_-

[Alvito]

You can still get support through their website, or their non-toll free number... It's strange that we've not heard a peep out of them despite how common it is to see people complain about unlocks not working on their characters, or only working on a single character instead of the full account (when the full account unlock is purchased).



Yup, I still refuse to call it an expansion. I view it much more in line with an Adventure Pack from EQ1/2, or a few DLC's from DCUO put together. Don't know why, but the fact that they're calling it an expansion really annoys me. Level cap increase doesn't mean expansion -_-

I opened tickets on cargo bay unlocks that didn't work and even the ones I got off of the GTN were refunded to me in cartel coins, it was more then the single player unlock cost but less then the account versions, which are what failed. So even when trying to make it right they short you, all of this has just left me with a sour taste. I have given away what I could and told a few ppl i was tossing other things up in the GTN cheaply so they could snag them. It is time to move on from this, great game in many ways just filled with far too many issues and nonsense, almost all of it is brought on by BW/EA which just makes it even more frustrating.

[notorious98]

This is the kind of thing they need to do for everything when they make a post from the devs. This is how you provide meaningful and insightful communication to your fans and allow them to connect a bit with with developers. Honestly, this is the best thing their community team has turned out in the year+ of this game (at least that I can remember).

If only any of their Q&As earlier in the game's life were anything like this. Usually it was just a giant suckfest with a bunch of fluff questions. Finally something of a hardball type Dev tracker response. Too little too late though.

[Armourboy]

I'm trying to figure out what was so great about it. Basically what I read was them once again promising something awesome, without giving anyone a clue what this awesome is, and them saying that based on the numbers they have a better idea how to get more money out of players.

I'm not really seeing anything that was hard to answer.

[notorious98]

I'm trying to figure out what was so great about it. Basically what I read was them once again promising something awesome, without giving anyone a clue what this awesome is, and them saying that based on the numbers they have a better idea how to get more money out of players.

I'm not really seeing anything that was hard to answer.

Hard to answer? No. But several of these questions would have been completely avoided months ago. The fact that they are admitting that many of the Cartel pack items suck is something they wouldn't have done in the past. Going head on with the last question instead of completely omitting it was promising. It's not what is being promised, it's addressing actual issues that people have with things like Cartel Packs and what things like that have done to other games in the past. This wasn't a complete fluff piece or a self-suckfest. THAT'S what is good about it.

And, yes, they DID say they have a better idea how to get more money out of players. By offering them things that they want. I don't know if you're business savvy, but that's usually how you retain customers.

[Deleted]

Well I certinately enjoy being able to buy Cartel stuff on GTN. Bought Unify Color, Hide head Slot, naked torso armor (what, it was 200 credits :P ) and Access X already Now saving up for some more inventory slots, maybe another cargo bay, hmmm, don't need anything else for now. Maybe I'll buy some pet