The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Promotions

Tiur

This is why our metrics of promo success do not just include money generated, but also activity.

All the same, I think we have a resounding "giftbags suck" this month. Unless.. well, be honest. You can tell me you hate minipets, crucibles, molds, entomb relics, etc. I won't cry. It'll just help me not make the mistake twice.

Axius

Trust me, @Tiur it's not a matter of 'minipets, crucibles, molds, entomb relics, ect.' it's actually a matter of 'nobody likes giftbags.' sadly. With cryptic chests being a problem of introducing excessive credits into the market from artifact returns. -but-, I'd indicate that those wheel spins were awesome, do something like for every 25/30 credits you buy, get a wheel token, and it'd be cool. But I -loved- the concept of the minipets and stuff. I just wish that the giftbags were just.. not such a bad investment -_-

Phoenecia

The giftbags aren't a bad idea, but the prize pool can be very hit or miss like cryptic chests. I think giftbags might be a little more desirable if some of the older minipets/mounts were to be cycled in again, or there were higher chances of getting stuff like arti vials, pipes, and bandages. At least with the latter three, a giftbag wouldn't be a write-off since you can use them if you didn't have them before, or you can simply trade them in.

Another way to sell more giftbags? I hate to say it, but incorporating some kind of raffle always seems to get people going. XD

I'm gonna bring up the Christmas stocking promo from just this past year again because I felt that it was such a good promo. Depending on how many regular stockings you got, you also got a golden one that'd make you eligible for one of four or five highly desirable and rare artifacts that would be drawn for at the end of the month. Even if you didn't win one of the big prizes, you still got something decent. I bought quite a few myself (but not an insane amount), and I happened to get lucky enough to win one of the prizes.

Another promo I kind of like is artifact bundles, though, if they were to be done again, I'd like to see them done a bit differently. In the past, you'd get an artifact bundle like the Celestine girdle (all +3 stat enhancements), or complete crafting boon (all craft boons on one item), a homin pigeon/letter satchel combo. What I'd like to see is the option to create your own bundle, but still get the special price.

So for the girdle, for example, you could have a 'pick two' option (because some people don't need all of the stat boons if they've bought some previously. Or maybe a 'pick two' for crafting boons. Or how about a set of kegs or casks for a discounted price?

An artifact bundle promo could probably do really well if done right. Hell, guaranteed I'd be going for some if the right bundle showed up.

Razmael

Phoenecia said:

What I'd like to see is the option to create your own bundle, but still get the special price.

This is actually what we did last time we ran that promotion.

Koda

For me personally, it was a mixture of not really being a huge fan of minipets, and that the payoff for cryptic chests definitely seemed a bit higher. It's hard to go from being super successful with some cryptic chest purchases to sorta meh returns on giftbags in back to back promos. I get that giftbags tend to be lower because they come with the credit package you're buying, 9 times out of 10 I think people are buying said packages for the giftbags instead of them being a pleasant little addition to a purchase you were going to make anyway.

Rhyot

So, I bought Coribhell and myself some giftbags. Attached in the following spoilers are both mine and her's.

You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A minipet exchange token falls into your hands.
A relic crucible falls into your hands.
A page from the Compendium falls into your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
3683 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 3683 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
A page from the Compendium falls into your hands.
12778 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 12778 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
A minipet exchange token falls into your hands.
2133 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 2133 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
An underhanded technique scroll falls into your hands.
2142 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 2142 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A minipet exchange token falls into your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
4300 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 4300 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A cowardly technique scroll falls into your hands.
A cowardly technique scroll falls into your hands.
7708 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 7708 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into
your hands.
A preserved, yellowed eye falls into your hands.
A silver chalice falls into your hands.
4513 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 4513 gold.
----
An elemental water conduit falls into your hands.
A tub of black warpaint falls into your hands.
A page from the Compendium falls into your hands.
7445 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 7445 gold.

Total: 34,852 gold, 15 credits (scroll trade-ins), a few worthless custom certificates, some Compendium pages (that probably will never be used or sold because the market is FLOODED with them and very few people actually USE the Compendium), some minipet stuff that is completely asinine to all but maybe a few minipet hoarders, and a chalice (which sure, saves 30 credits but is completely unnecessary unless you're going for enhancements which at Coribhell's level, is difficult).

You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A stealth vox iterator falls into your hands.
10 Iron Coins falls into your hands.
10 Iron Coins have been added to your account, and item 10 Iron Coins#225039 has been deleted.
A mirror bomb falls into your hands.
3538 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 3538 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A defensive technique scroll falls into your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
2202 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 2202 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A silver chalice falls into your hands.
4864 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 4864 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
A silver chalice falls into your hands.
4803 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 4803 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
A lacquered minipet cage falls into your hands.
3776 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 3776 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A relic crucible falls into your hands.
A relic crucible falls into your hands.
7989 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 7989 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
An imbued quartz of rebirth falls into your hands.
13394 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 13394 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
An arcane vox iterator falls into your hands.
A knockoff vox iterator falls into your hands.
10 Iron Coins falls into your hands.
10 Iron Coins have been added to your account, and item 10 Iron Coins#228200 has been deleted.
3431 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 3431 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
A steed whistle for a mud-coated hippo falls into your hands.
2527 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 2527 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A relic crucible falls into your hands.
A page from the Compendium falls into your hands.
14440 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 14440 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A page from the Compendium falls into your hands.
10 Iron Coins falls into your hands.
10 Iron Coins have been added to your account, and item 10 Iron Coins#229497 has been deleted.
4217 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 4217 gold.
----
You turn a heavy iron-link giftbag upside down and give it a shake, emptying its contents into your
hands.
A page from the Compendium falls into your hands.
A customization certificate falls into your hands.
8850 gold sovereigns fall into your hands.
[Gold]: You have gained 8850 gold.

Total: 74,031 gold, 30 iron coins, a mount whistle (which I can't trade in/sell), some compendium pages (which are worthless overall, nor will get sold/traded in), 6 MORE customization certs (I now have 21 of these things), some relic crucibles that can be used for relic pieces that I ultimately either a) already have or b) have plenty of, 25 credits (iterator/scroll trade ins) and some chalices which I won't use.



In essence, while the giftbags provide free stuff (so long as you purchase the credits for them), they're usefulness is quite piss poor when compared to Cryptic Chests because of the minimal items available through them and is highly repetitive. Even so, every event seems to be filled with "Get more minipets", "Get more mounts", "Get more relic pieces".

Problem with this is the fact that not everyone (read very few) even care for the vast amount of minipets in the game. Most people just get whatever minipet tickles their fancy because they think its cute... like a quokka or a dormouse (Side note: If you don't think either of those are cute, you're fucking insane). The problem with mounts is the same thing. And relic pieces just seem to cause more trouble with quality of life issues and cause slight imbalance to the game depending on what they are and what they do.

To conclude this post, I'd much rather have Cryptic Sales, special monthly promos where you can get essentially limited edition items, tiered credit prizes up to 2000 credits in a month (which can then go for doubles if you so chose to), antiquated artifacts, lesson packages, etc. Most promos I don't have issues with, but when it comes to giftbags... I can't help but think when I read it "Now, this month's a fucking worthless promo."

Zaila

Last I checked, you can trade in mount whistles (50cr) and compendium pages (3cr), you can trade in the minipets you got out of chests and gift bags, as well(5cr). Unless this was changed when I wasn't looking?

Axius

You can also trade in customization certs for about 6 Iron Coins too, I think they're bloody iron coins, but IC is IC, and at 21 of them, that's worth at least 3 or 4 cryptic chests.

Razmael

Rhyot said:

So I know the direct credit worth turn-in isn't the primary motivation of giftbags for most people (nor should it be) but I do feel like I should point out the credit worth you got in return from those bags, because I think this is a factor that often gets overlooked.

First lot of bags came from a 200cr purchase, so 8 bags total. If we were running our normal bonus credit sale, you'd get an extra 30% credits on that purchase, so an extra 60cr.

These are the items you got in that lot of bags that can be traded in for credits or iron coins.

Tokens: 3x 5cr Crucible: 1x 5cr Pages: 3x 3cr Style: 3x 5cr Consumables: 3x 3cr Chalice: 1x 20cr Customizations: 5x 6ic

Total bonus credit outcome from trading all those items in:
73 credits
30 iron coins
34,852 gold

So you can see this is a bit more than the 60cr bonus you'd get in a regular sale. Also worth noting that those 30 iron coins is enough to buy yourself a cryptic chest, potentially increasing your credits even further.



The second lot of bags came from a 300cr purchase, so 12 bags total. With a 30% bonus credit sale, this purchase would usually get you an extra 90cr.

Vox: 3x 3cr Consumables: 1x 3cr Style: 1x 5cr Chalice: 2x 20cr Minipet: 1x 5cr Crucible: 3x 5cr Rebirth quartz: 1x 5cr Mount: 1x 50cr Page: 3x 3cr Iron Coins: 30 Customization: 6x 6ic

Total bonus credit outcome from trading all those items in:
136 credits
66 iron coins (turn into 2x cryptic chests potentially!)
74,031 gold

So again, in terms of pure credit trade-in, still did alright yourself. You did note in your post that you cannot trade in your mount whistle, but as far as I can tell this definitely works. Are you using the correct command? PROMO TRADEIN <item> should work on all those items I listed apart from chalice and customization certificates, which you use the artifact tradein command for.


Anyway, to reiterate, direct trade-in values should not be the primary motivator for buying a giftbag, and obviously our giftbags just aren't hitting that mainstream appeal we want from them. My primary intent here is to point out that as far as credit worth goes, that turned out pretty well for you.

Koda

I think another aspect here worth considering is that there were two "gambling" promos back to back. Many people seem to be in agreement that the cryptic chests yielded a higher payout (or at least felt that way) than the giftbags, so that could have watered it down a bit too with those being so fresh. I'm not going to be as excited about driving a VW Jetta today after driving a Corvette yesterday type deal.

Tbh if I was the one making these calls, and engagement/login time counted as an acceptable metric for a successful promotion from the higher ups, I'd alternate between gambling/purchase-oriented promos and login time promos every month to diffuse the risk of purchase burnout.

I see it kinda like this:

Month 1 - Gambling/purchase promo.
I spent a chunk of money, got some good stuff that was of value to me. Feeling good.

Month 2 - Login promo
I'm not going to be super excited about dropping more money knowing I already did last month unless there's something that pops up that I absolutely must have. Login promo keeps me logging in, playing, and getting put in situations where I have the opportunity to be thinking about needing X credits for Y thing I want to do.

Month 3 - Gambling/purchase promo
It's been a whole month since I've spent money on the game, dropping some more doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I'm also still in high spirits/focused on playing since I put in the effort to spend more time IG the last month and was exposed to umpteen different scenarios where a purchase sounds like a good idea.

/2 cents

Erzsebet

Can we have a way to trade in or trade away antiquated salvage? Because I have it and can't get rid of it. I know plenty of people who want it, but I don't. Also I have a ton of minipets and things I can't trade in because for whatever reason they don't default have my mark on them, despite me pulling them directly out of the bag or chest or what have you personally.

Otherwise, I like the login promos quite a bit.

As for new ideas, maybe include a token you can get that will guarantee a relic or whatever will reroll, instead of turning into 5cr?

Razmael

Erzsebet said:

Can we have a way to trade in or trade away antiquated salvage? Because I have it and can't get rid of it. I know plenty of people who want it, but I don't. Also I have a ton of minipets and things I can't trade in because for whatever reason they don't default have my mark on them, despite me pulling them directly out of the bag or chest or what have you personally.

Otherwise, I like the login promos quite a bit.

As for new ideas, maybe include a token you can get that will guarantee a relic or whatever will reroll, instead of turning into 5cr?

You can sell the salvage to someone who wants it. Anybody can use salvage to upgrade an existing antiquated artifact. It's just only the owner can use it to turn it into a new antiquated artifact.

Rhyot

Razmael said:

So again, in terms of pure credit trade-in, still did alright yourself. You did note in your post that you cannot trade in your mount whistle, but as far as I can tell this definitely works. Are you using the correct command? PROMO TRADEIN <item> should work on all those items I listed apart from chalice and customization certificates, which you use the artifact tradein command for.

Yes, I've used the PROMO TRADEIN command on the pet cages and a majority of them don't even enter my inventory with my mark on them. So I can't trade them in anyway. Which begs the question, if they're meant to be traded in why aren't our marks on them? Is this intentional or is this a bug??

Tiur

If they don't have marks, they weren't meant to. Whenever they were added, they were set up that way. Generally, cryptic chests don't even count them as value, just bonus.

Rhyot

That makes way too much sense...

Xenia

I rarely participate in purchase promos simply because I'm frugal with my money. This month I got credits and was pleasantly surprised by the giftbags (I had every reason to know this was the promo but I didn't). The contents of the bags were satisfying despite containing nothing I wanted because it now meant I had loot to give away as reward for IC purposes. Even if I turned in those things, the value would be satisfying. My thoughts: Gift Bags were good -- I'd have bought them stand alone for more in quantity if that could have been an option.


As far as what promos do I like, the log in ones are cool, I don't particularly care about the wheel spin, and tend to neglect my free spin, even though

Lin

I greatly prefer chests, but yeah, gotta agree, the giftbags felt somehow chunkier this month.

Vash

Feedback from a new player with respect to the racetrack promotion:

This is my first ever racetrack promotion and I can see why the announce post mentioned that many players do not like it. As a new player I have no mini-pets so that aspect means nothing to me. I have only made a few bets so far, all conservative, and I am ahead of the 3 credit value, but I still feel like I have no control over the outcome. I appreciate that the races seem to start instantly though (which does not match the HELP file) but I also think the number of status updates is a bit silly.

Overall I would not buy extra credits just for racetrack tickets. I do appreciate that the no-brainer package gave me tickets though, I was actually not expecting it.

Tiur

Hmm.. fair enough! It should be easy to get your first minipet, though. They come from so very many places!

And you do have control over the outcome. Winning record and handler matter a LOT.

Demarcus

Echoing Vash's compliments...

1) I know how to obtain a minipet for approximately 5k* gold. So they're accessible if you know where to go/how to get them. For a truly new player, this is probably not the easiest thing in the world, but there is one on the auction house for 10cr, so in theory you could drop the 10cr, get the minipet, enter the minipet, and somehow win a 10cr bet and you've gotten a free minipet.

*5k is the cost I recently incurred to obtain said minipet. The free racetrack ticket for entering a pet then turned into an 11cr bet that came to fruition. #BigMoney

2) I did not know the No-Brainer package gave tickets. This is intruiging. Was it the no-brainer credit package I'm assuming, since the lesson package isn't exactly credits? Either way, very awesome and generous.

3) I don't give a flying flip about Vakmuts. Racing minipets is... AMAZING. @Tiur, give whomever came up with this idea a HUGE cookie. Literally the same system, but somehow I actually give a crap about it and find it entertaining.

I doubt I would buy credits just for racetrack tickets, to be honest. I haven't caught the bug to do that. But it has been a lot of fun and gotten me to play a lot more than I normally would. So there is that.

Also, why are the skull tokens SO expensive? I went there to browse the prices and was floored when it was what, $45 for 5 of them? I have absolutely no idea what the "paid" prize pool looks like, but at almost $10 a spin I'm going to have lots of badfeels if I end up with 2934 gold. Would it be possible to get a single token for puchase at like $9.99 instead of 5 for $44.99 or whatever the price is? I'm much more likely to gamble at a $10 buy in than a $50 buy in. (Note that any amount over $40.99 is going to round up to $50 in my mind. Just how it is). I can swallow a $10 badfeels. A $50 badfeels and I'm going to go, "ALL THE BEER I COULD HAVE BOUGHT!!!"

~Demi

Tiur

@Demarcus

2) It's sneaky that it doesn't directly say this. Spending money gets tickets.

3) I love utilizing minipets! I'm glad you're having fun. This has inspired me to do more with the little guys. While I might lay off promos a -little-, I'm liking the idea of a promo demoing a new minipet concept. Maybe fights, exploration, etc next!

4) I don't get to set the price of the tokens, sadly. I can tell you that their expected value is a better return than the cost of equivalent credits. So $50 in tokens is going to give a return > $50 in credits. Just might be a mix of gold, artifacts, prizes, etc.

And the free spins are way different than token spins.

Koda

I agree that the entry price point for tokens is a little high up there. I bought a 5 pack just out of curiosity, and just barely clicked purchase there since that's a pretty big gamble.

For those curious about a standard 5 roll, it's something like this:

The massive wheel comes to a stop with a sickly flash of green light. It shudders for a moment
before rewarding you with Chocolates.
You have been given an almond chocolate.
You have been given a fudge chocolate.
You have been given a strawberry chocolate.
You have been given a strawberry chocolate.
You have been given a strawberry chocolate.
You have been given a caramel chocolate.
You have been given a cherry chocolate.

The massive wheel comes to a stop with a sickly flash of green light. It shudders for a moment
before rewarding you with relic pieces.
You have been given a carved limestone ear.
You have been given a chittering headstone engraving.

The massive wheel comes to a stop with a sickly flash of green light. It shudders for a moment
before rewarding you with 200 lessons.
You have been granted 200 lessons.

The massive wheel comes to a stop with a sickly flash of green light. It shudders for a moment
before rewarding you with Compendium Pages.
You have been given a page from the Compendium.
You have been given a page from the Compendium.

The massive wheel comes to a stop with a sickly flash of green light. It shudders for a moment
before rewarding you with 200 lessons.
You have been granted 200 lessons.

$45 is worth about ~112 credits.

Lessons there alone were worth about 66, and the remaining chocolates, relic pieces, and compendium pages I'm sure can sell for kinda close to the remaining credit value had I just bought credits?

Definitely don't have that happy money well spent feeling I got from chests, or even close to it (opposite, really, there was a tank of gas in exchange for lessons I don't need at the moment and relics that'll be tricky to sell), but such is the nature of gambling!

Rilath

@Koda But the important question on everyone's minds is... did you get racetrack tickets, too?

Koda

Rilath said:

@Koda But the important question on everyone's minds is... did you get racetrack tickets, too?

Not that I saw, I believe they only pop up with actual credit purchases, not skull token purchases.

Emir

Tiur said:

3) I love utilizing minipets! I'm glad you're having fun. This has inspired me to do more with the little guys. While I might lay off promos a -little-, I'm liking the idea of a promo demoing a new minipet concept. Maybe fights, exploration, etc next!

Pokemon pls

Vash

If I buy chocolates from the artifact cart as part of July's promotion will they begin to decay immediately or can I save them for later?

----

As if I could resist that sweet minty taste. The answer to my question is they show up immediately and entropy starts working.

Rhyot

All chocolates have a decay timer. If you have the chocolate bag relic, you can save them for later. Otherwise, you have 30 days to use them.

Vash

If we use iron coins this month to create chests will they still contain the same items as last month (excluding salvage I assume)?

Tiur

Until one of us fixes it, yes. I'm off for a funeral and living in a disaster area, so I forgot.

Allant

Anyone else growing tired of the promotion being a different kind of loot box every month?