Staff: Revisit the Event Crystal System

[Young Star]

I know there are a lot of things on the staff's list to change and update when it comes to content but I think that the event crystal system really needs to be put near the top. To be blunt, it was not implemented in the way that was proposed and does little for replacing the incentives of the leader board system for major invasion events.

I have been on the server long enough to know what it was like with the older invasion and event scoring system where power gamers would grind 24/7 through events to try to get the high score with the hopes of getting a unique reward. I know that it discouraged some people from trying because they knew there was no chance of getting near the top. That really didn't seem to stop the majority of the people from trying to at least get into the window for a special reward. That was because even getting a lower tier reward was still pretty valuable. I know that Shane doesn't like someone that wins an event to all of a sudden become an instant billionaire because they get enough points to buy tons of reward items but there are limits that can be put in to prevent that.

The event crystals were meant to eliminate the all-or-nothing feel to events where if you couldn't take vacation from work and grind all day you wouldn't get any rewards. There are many event crystal rewards that are desirable to players, especially meta steeds, but there are not very many people that even try to collect crystals because of how rare event crystals really are to get. There was a small window of time for a few months where there was usually bi-weekly events where crystal drop rates were reasonable and the market of people buying and selling was really active. The value of the crystals was high enough that people made decent money selling them and people didn't have to buy 95% of the crystals they needed to get something from the rewards menu so they were willing to spend some money to get to their goal.

OK so for a few solutions that I think would make the event crystal system work a little better:

• Remove the steeds and find some other in-game content for them to be used as a reward. They have been in the game long enough now and since there are spiders for gold sink pets, the steed isn't the end game pet it was before. It also makes it so no one really buys the other items in the reward menu even if they actually like the other items.

• Event crystals should decay or items on the reward menu should have a limited time offer. This would go along with increasing the drop rate at events slightly. The goal for this being that each event will have a handful of rewards specific to the event and those that participate will have a change to collect crystals and get a reward from that event. The decay time can still be long so people that may fall short during the event could still buy what they need to get to their goal item.

• Use crystals similar to how power scrolls and dragon fruit are used to build credit towards the highest end items. Not all event reward items need to be event specific so for those that want to go for long term goal items like the steed egg or slayer book can first buy an item that you load up over time to get. This will also be a way to bank your crystals before they decay.

• Add some old dono wearables, dyes, and items to the event rewards. I know some vets will grumble at this if they own something that is no longer on the dono vendor and was said to never return. Technically it isn't on the dono vendor and it will still hold a ton of value since it is still a challenge to get enough event crystals to get them. They will maintain their value a lot more than if they were put back on the dono vendor.

• Rewards should automatically expire on the reward menu. Making it coded to automatically drop limited time rewards. Having things stay on longer than they should devalues the items and people want to feel that if they invest their event crystals into something that it isn't going to be devalued because it sits in the shop for over a year.

Sorry for the long post. I know the staff has been doing a lot of good things lately to bring us desirable events. That is why I thought it was all the more reason to speak up now while staff is active in developing content for events.

Thank you @Shane

 

[Shane]

I can agree with this total revision as it goes hand and hand with revising all the systems that we are already.
Great post.

 

[Kyain]

bumping this as it was the main item I could gripe about in regards to meta pets. Event crystals as a currency in their current form just aren't working due to lack of availability. Even with 3 weeks of events dropping them, they're still in a shortage, still overpriced, and still a pain in the keester.

It was easier (albeit more expensive) to finish a spider with 4 relics then it is to get frags together to get a steed. And then for the spellbook to be even more expensive then the steed is even crazier in my mind.

I don't mind grinds, or expensive items (I have a steed, a 30 x 30, a spider) but it's just the obtainability of the required items that's out of line. Honestly these items could be straight up gold sinks and the frags themselves could be eliminated completely in my opinion.

 

[lollo]

• Add some old dono wearables, dyes, and items to the event rewards. I know some vets will grumble at this if they own something that is no longer on the dono vendor and was said to never return. Technically it isn't on the dono vendor and it will still hold a ton of value since it is still a challenge to get enough event crystals to get them. They will maintain their value a lot more than if they were put back on the dono vendor.[/USER]

No. Just No.

Some players spent hundreds of millions on those items just for the fact that they are supposed to never come back and actually be rare.
I swear to god this server already has a HUGE problem with nothing being really rare and so many people quit because of this.

There's a reason why blaze sandals are worth 30-50m (if you can even find a pair, I would not sell mine for 50m) and glacial ones are selling for 8-9m on the "2nd hand" market.

UO needs rare items that are actually rare

 

[Young Star]

No. Just No.

Some players spent hundreds of millions on those items just for the fact that they are supposed to never come back and actually be rare.
I swear to god this server already has a HUGE problem with nothing being really rare and so many people quit because of this.

There's a reason why blaze sandals are worth 30-50m (if you can even find a pair, I would not sell mine for 50m) and glacial ones are selling for 8-9m on the "2nd hand" market.

UO needs rare items that are actually rare

That would be something I wouldn't even expect until the crystal system itself was changed and the market established under the revised system. Those ultra rares would still be just as valuable if the price to get them with event crystals was set properly. I don't think the server is lacking on rare items. If anything, many ultra rare items are only deemed so because they are in the possession of players that don't even play anymore.

Instead of being just a time limited item, some could be limited by count. Like only 1-5 will be available. I am sure some items may still go for 50m but once you get to a certain point an ultra rare's value is only speculative because the owner wasn't actually going to sell it anyways.

 

[eric_azria]

No. Just No.

Some players spent hundreds of millions on those items just for the fact that they are supposed to never come back and actually be rare.
I swear to god this server already has a HUGE problem with nothing being really rare and so many people quit because of this.

There's a reason why blaze sandals are worth 30-50m (if you can even find a pair, I would not sell mine for 50m) and glacial ones are selling for 8-9m on the "2nd hand" market.

UO needs rare items that are actually rare

ha ha ha . . .

 

[lollo]

That would be something I wouldn't even expect until the crystal system itself was changed and the market established under the revised system. Those ultra rares would still be just as valuable if the price to get them with event crystals was set properly. I don't think the server is lacking on rare items. If anything, many ultra rare items are only deemed so because they are in the possession of players that don't even play anymore.

Instead of being just a time limited item, some could be limited by count. Like only 1-5 will be available. I am sure some items may still go for 50m but once you get to a certain point an ultra rare's value is only speculative because the owner wasn't actually going to sell it anyways.

For how I see it, as long as you can buy one from some sort of npc vendor, I don’t consider it rare. Even if the price is 100m.

Maxed spiders are 100m and everyone has one

 

[Silence Scoop]

I got all the frags for a steed in less then 7days, they are out there people are just hoarding them. You can do invasions aswell to farm them.

 

[Titanium]

Why change something that isn't broken .. I mean can use some updates... But some of these changes are very drastic.. and mainly aesthetic.. need content to be focused on in my opinion.. to get peeps playing again

 

[Young Star]

I got all the frags for a steed in less then 7days, they are out there people are just hoarding them. You can do invasions aswell to farm them.

How many did you already have? What % did you have to buy to get enough? You are also kind of proving my point considering the timing of when you say you collected them. I wrote this close to the Zombieland event which brought in a decent amount of crystals back to the market. This was similar to how the market was when they were first implemented and had decent drop rates at invasions.

Why change something that isn't broken .. I mean can use some updates... But some of these changes are very drastic.. and mainly aesthetic.. need content to be focused on in my opinion.. to get peeps playing again

Some may be drastic but most are small tweeks. All are meant to improve content. Mainly I am speaking about major invasions. I am not talking about the quick MOTM invasions or mini invasions. I am also not delusional in thinking that staff will take my suggestions verbatim and code them in. I threw out several ideas hoping to spark some inspiration into the staff to fully build out the event reward system. It was never really finished. They got the crystal drops in and a few items then never really finished. After some nudging a few years later we got them to add a few of the zombieland reward items.

 

[Krampus]

Too little, too l8 m8

 

[Silence Scoop]

How many did you already have? What % did you have to buy to get enough? You are also kind of proving my point considering the timing of when you say you collected them. I wrote this close to the Zombieland event which brought in a decent amount of crystals back to the market. This was similar to how the market was when they were first implemented and had decent drop rates at invasions.



Some may be drastic but most are small tweeks. All are meant to improve content. Mainly I am speaking about major invasions. I am not talking about the quick MOTM invasions or mini invasions. I am also not delusional in thinking that staff will take my suggestions verbatim and code them in. I threw out several ideas hoping to spark some inspiration into the staff to fully build out the event reward system. It was never really finished. They got the crystal drops in and a few items then never really finished. After some nudging a few years later we got them to add a few of the zombieland reward items.

I started with 0 crystals and bought for 500k >600k

 

[Young Star]

I started with 0 crystals and bought for 500k >600k

That is roughly 30m give or take a few mil. That really speaks to my motivation to re-evaluate the event crystal system when it takes that much while many people have crystals coming out of Zland. As we move farther away from that event and the flow of crystals in the market goes back to a trickle it will be even worse.

Now with all that being said. I do see that staff has been providing more content that is yielding more event crystals. I think it is a positive step in the right direction. After the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas event marathon is done I would like to see what they do during the in-between times before the next major event. I also understand that there needs to be some downtime otherwise "major events" aren't very major when they happen too frequently. Its not special if it happens all the time. I think having a slow trickle is OK as long as every now and then the faucet gets turned on for events once a month or so.