Self-Style Hair Kit and Total Makeover Kit no longer a Black Lion Chest drop?!

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

I could have sworn that Black Lion Chests with RNG loot and the keys needed to access them have been in the game since launch, or close to it.

 

I suggest you ignore them. They’re only cosmetic items and odds and ends not needed to play the game.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> With the focus on “keys” and loot boxes, I feel like I’m playing an RNG cash grab game now. Can anyone lift my spirits up and remind me that this is the same game it was before those things became a huge, predatory thing?

 

The chests work the same as they have for 7 years: some stuff is locked by them. If anything, they are better than before because everything cycles (eventually) through statuettes or another guaranteed source.

 

Moreover, literally nothing changed this week, except what was in the chests. So I suspect that it's the OP's perspective on the game that is coloring their view, rather than any actual practice by ANet.

 

I'm sorry, @""Mortifera.6138", that the game has stopped bringing you joy.

 

_edit: updated this reply, because it was unfortunately merged from an entirely unrelated thread_

 

[crepuscular.9047]

they are just cosmetics offering not materialistic benefit, just like CS:GO, i still cannot understand people paying thousands of $$$ for a virtual skin that can be easily manipulated by the developer.

 

at least unlike other toxic publishers, in GW2 you can get the keys to open them for free, and the effort isnt that great either

* Tyria world map completion, these days are so much faster with mounts and you about 14-16 keys (including story reward), takes around 12 hours to get it done

* join those farm maps and cash up in gold and trade in for gems

 

i don't think there is any other game that currently exists gives players so much ease to gain access to real money purchases

[Metasynaptic.1093]

I want true advertised odds. Would it really be 'uncommon' if the drop rate was 100:1?

[Vayne.8563]

> @"Metasynaptic.1093" said:

> I want true advertised odds. Would it really be 'uncommon' if the drop rate was 100:1?

 

Well it's probably not 100:1 because of the number of uncommon items I get when I buy keys. In fact, usually in 25 keys, I get what I was looking for. If it was 100:1 that would be unlikely. In fact, I usually get several uncommon drops. I used 20 keys this time, and got the outfit on the 18th try but before that I got other uncommon drops.

[Emberstone.2904]

> @"miraude.2107" said:

> All the main content is in the game itself and living seasons are free to own until the next one arrives. The cash shop is more or less cosmetics and only add a 'look at me, I have disposable income' to someone's account. They have added events (Boss Rush, Event Rush) to entice the player base to participate in events that usually either have to wait for a daily for or organize a group for.

> They could...make so that you have to pay for the living seasons even when they are current (ESO), add all legendary gear behind a irl paywall instead of a grindwall(ArcheAge), gate it so that each race is only able to choose 3 professions (like only elementalist, guardian and engineer is available to you) and you have to pay to unlock the rest...for each race (Wild Star). That if you spent even a dime in the cash shop, if you don't do buy anything again they have your account banned and have a 'all bans are final' so you can't even dispute or find out why you are banned(Aura Kingdom), or simply be owned by EA.

 

I can't even make one character of each profession in this game unless I pay up.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Though, you _could_, if you exchanged Gold for Gems.

[Clyan.1593]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> > @"miraude.2107" said:

> > All the main content is in the game itself and living seasons are free to own until the next one arrives. The cash shop is more or less cosmetics and only add a 'look at me, I have disposable income' to someone's account. They have added events (Boss Rush, Event Rush) to entice the player base to participate in events that usually either have to wait for a daily for or organize a group for.

> > They could...make so that you have to pay for the living seasons even when they are current (ESO), add all legendary gear behind a irl paywall instead of a grindwall(ArcheAge), gate it so that each race is only able to choose 3 professions (like only elementalist, guardian and engineer is available to you) and you have to pay to unlock the rest...for each race (Wild Star). That if you spent even a dime in the cash shop, if you don't do buy anything again they have your account banned and have a 'all bans are final' so you can't even dispute or find out why you are banned(Aura Kingdom), or simply be owned by EA.

>

> But Fashion Wars 2 is a cosmetic game, so why lock cosmetics behind RNG or an absurd price?

>

 

No it isn't and unfortunately this is a wide spread fallacy.

[Mortifera.6138]

> @"Clyan.1593" said:

> > @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> > > @"miraude.2107" said:

> > > All the main content is in the game itself and living seasons are free to own until the next one arrives. The cash shop is more or less cosmetics and only add a 'look at me, I have disposable income' to someone's account. They have added events (Boss Rush, Event Rush) to entice the player base to participate in events that usually either have to wait for a daily for or organize a group for.

> > > They could...make so that you have to pay for the living seasons even when they are current (ESO), add all legendary gear behind a irl paywall instead of a grindwall(ArcheAge), gate it so that each race is only able to choose 3 professions (like only elementalist, guardian and engineer is available to you) and you have to pay to unlock the rest...for each race (Wild Star). That if you spent even a dime in the cash shop, if you don't do buy anything again they have your account banned and have a 'all bans are final' so you can't even dispute or find out why you are banned(Aura Kingdom), or simply be owned by EA.

> >

> > But Fashion Wars 2 is a cosmetic game, so why lock cosmetics behind RNG or an absurd price?

> >

>

> No it isn't and unfortunately this is a wide spread fallacy.

 

Care to elaborate?

 

 

[Tukaram.8256]

You mean microtransactions? Like shiny stuff for sale? Just don't buy it. No is forcing you. I got 4,000 gems when I upgraded to Path of Fire and still have 3,600 left because there is nothing for sale that I want/need. I thought there might be... guess I was wrong. I am not paying real money for a skin, or some shiny toy. Other than pack/bank upgrades they got nothing there.

[mercury ranique.2170]

I have looked into your past when it comes to posting on this forum. If I wouldn't know it better, you would enjoy playing other games a lot more (looking at the way you describe this game as dead). You said that you have issues with social interactions and anxiety. I applaud you with posting here, but I also recommend understanding the audiance you are adressing.

 

I would like to ask you what you want to accomplish. To react to a few possible answers that comes to mind:

 

1: Arenanet. Do not think they care

Actually they do give a lot on our opinions, but they know the forum is a poor source. They use other ways to stay in touch with us as well and they have to cather each and every player, not just you. So in the grand scheme, they care close to nothing at all.

2: Do not think we care.

Most of us are here cause we actually like the game, and some will defend it to no end. We have in common that we play a game as part of our leissure activities and I think most of us do it cause we like it and it is fun. off course, I am critical, but I am here to discuss the game I love so much. Not to have it burned down with selfish critisism from a narrow point of view.

3: The third option that comes to mind is that it is written with the attention to annoy (or to troll). I do not think it is, but it is how you come across.

 

A good advice is to look at the way you discuss. Socrates was a wise man, but he almost never dropped an opinion in his efforts to teach people. He asked questions. The art of conversating is to understand that you have yourself (the sender) and the reciever (whoever reads this). By asking questions you show interest in our opinions and show you want to know them. Maybe we think alike and you can symphatise (Hey, yeah, I dislike those lootboxes as well!). Or maybe you have a different opinion.

 

A good question for this subject could be:

I wonder what motivation people have to buy lootboxes. They seem addictive and overpriced to me. To those actually buying them, why do you do that?

I'll be honest to you. I do not care a thing about the content of the boxes. I would like to have something very expensive out of them, but chances are slim. They are addictive, but I control it to only allow myself on buying a fixed amount of them. I negotiate that with myself before buying and stick to it.

The main reason however is that by buying these boxes, I support this game and all the free content with it.

[Clyan.1593]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> > @"Clyan.1593" said:

> > > @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> > > > @"miraude.2107" said:

> > > > All the main content is in the game itself and living seasons are free to own until the next one arrives. The cash shop is more or less cosmetics and only add a 'look at me, I have disposable income' to someone's account. They have added events (Boss Rush, Event Rush) to entice the player base to participate in events that usually either have to wait for a daily for or organize a group for.

> > > > They could...make so that you have to pay for the living seasons even when they are current (ESO), add all legendary gear behind a irl paywall instead of a grindwall(ArcheAge), gate it so that each race is only able to choose 3 professions (like only elementalist, guardian and engineer is available to you) and you have to pay to unlock the rest...for each race (Wild Star). That if you spent even a dime in the cash shop, if you don't do buy anything again they have your account banned and have a 'all bans are final' so you can't even dispute or find out why you are banned(Aura Kingdom), or simply be owned by EA.

> > >

> > > But Fashion Wars 2 is a cosmetic game, so why lock cosmetics behind RNG or an absurd price?

> > >

> >

> > No it isn't and unfortunately this is a wide spread fallacy.

>

> Care to elaborate?

>

>

 

What is there to explain really?

Ultimately the game is about AP and not skins. Yes, I know, there are the BL skins that award AP aswell, but still you don't have to play fashion wars 2 if you don't want to.

But even that is up to you. You could set other goals like getting really good at a class, clearing CM fractals, raids, climbing PVP ranked or just dominate in WVW. You could try to get every class up to 80, doing 100% world completion on every alt, every continent, finishing all story missions, equipping your main and toons with full sets of ascended gear, hunting titles, getting minis, novelties and so on.

Like really, skins are meaningless. Skins are just shiny cloths. They don't do anything for you when it comes to any mechanical or practical part of this game.

 

Let's imagine you have unlocked every skin without doing much of anything else. Well buddy, you missed 99% of the game.

[crepuscular.9047]

> @"Emberstone.2904" said:

> > @"miraude.2107" said:

> > All the main content is in the game itself and living seasons are free to own until the next one arrives. The cash shop is more or less cosmetics and only add a 'look at me, I have disposable income' to someone's account. They have added events (Boss Rush, Event Rush) to entice the player base to participate in events that usually either have to wait for a daily for or organize a group for.

> > They could...make so that you have to pay for the living seasons even when they are current (ESO), add all legendary gear behind a irl paywall instead of a grindwall(ArcheAge), gate it so that each race is only able to choose 3 professions (like only elementalist, guardian and engineer is available to you) and you have to pay to unlock the rest...for each race (Wild Star). That if you spent even a dime in the cash shop, if you don't do buy anything again they have your account banned and have a 'all bans are final' so you can't even dispute or find out why you are banned(Aura Kingdom), or simply be owned by EA.

>

> I can't even make one character of each profession in this game unless I pay up.

 

??? it's about 150g for a character slot, you get that much gold in a week just spending 5min chopping wood at malchor's node going there once every hour 3-4 times a day by parking multi toons there

 

should check out BDO, it's pretty much $50 per character if you even want to be remotely keeping up in pace with others, and majority of pearl store items are non-transferable or shareable across toons, I burnt up $500 in a few months, GW2 I've only spent bout $800 on gems in 6 years

[mindcircus.1506]

Your post history shows that you are mainly just latching on the current meme to be sour about.

[zoejo.2317]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> Care to elaborate?

>

Since you advanced the claim, I suggest you google burden of proof.

 

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> I'm sorry, OP, that the game has stopped bringing you joy.

 

Frankly, this seems to me to be the only reasonable reply to these topics. I suggest we adopt it en masse.

 

[Etria.3642]

How many statuettes do they cost?

[Rauderi.8706]

> @"Blocki.4931" said:

> This is a huge boon to everybody who owns even a single one. They're a dead roll. I have over 100. I don't need any more. Now if only revive orbs were gone...

 

I have to wonder how many tickets Support has gotten over "hi I have permanent contract and keep getting bilked by hair kits". Because I've had to do that once already. ...and then I got more. It's just so aggravating.

 

I wouldn't have wanted the kits removed, but at least allow me to turn them in for statuettes or something...

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

For those confused, two threads were merged that have different topics. Thus, some posts referring to the 'OP' are referring to the previous non-merged thread's OP, and not the OP of this (now merged) thread.

[Ashen.2907]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> > @"miraude.2107" said:

> > All the main content is in the game itself and living seasons are free to own until the next one arrives. The cash shop is more or less cosmetics and only add a 'look at me, I have disposable income' to someone's account. They have added events (Boss Rush, Event Rush) to entice the player base to participate in events that usually either have to wait for a daily for or organize a group for.

> > They could...make so that you have to pay for the living seasons even when they are current (ESO), add all legendary gear behind a irl paywall instead of a grindwall(ArcheAge), gate it so that each race is only able to choose 3 professions (like only elementalist, guardian and engineer is available to you) and you have to pay to unlock the rest...for each race (Wild Star). That if you spent even a dime in the cash shop, if you don't do buy anything again they have your account banned and have a 'all bans are final' so you can't even dispute or find out why you are banned(Aura Kingdom), or simply be owned by EA.

>

> But Fashion Wars 2 is a cosmetic game, so why lock cosmetics behind RNG or an absurd price?

>

 

You answered your own question:

 

"Why lock cosmetics behind RNG...?" because, "FW2 is a cosmetic game."

[TheGrimm.5624]

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> For those confused, two threads were merged that have different topics. Thus, some posts referring to the 'OP' are referring to the previous non-merged thread's OP, and not the OP of this (now merged) thread.

 

Thanks for that, didn't catch that fact. Was wondering where some of the sideways direction came from.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> But Fashion Wars 2 is a cosmetic game,

This is the wrong game to play if your primary interest is cosmetics.

 

> so why lock cosmetics behind RNG or an absurd price?

There are all sorts of unlocks, only a fraction of them are locked behind RNG and "absurd" isn't a price; it's an opinion. If you don't like the cost, don't buy; there are tons of alternatives.

[TheGrimm.5624]

> @"otto.5684" said:

> > @"Blocki.4931" said:

> > This is a huge boon to everybody who owns even a single one. They're a dead roll. I have over 100. I don't need any more. Now if only revive orbs were gone...

>

> Unless you buy a significant amount of BLCs, you would not have that many of them. This is most definitely a huge nerf to the pool. It was one of the average drops that have any value. It was a good deal, since it gave the ability to not spend gems for changing hair or face, while hoping to get rarer items from BLCs. Now, I am very unlikely to even consider buying them. They drop nothing of value, unless you get really lucky.

 

This is the double sided effect of them being there, I have destroyed them in the past and currently have 108 of them. So that's the crux of the issue, if you are a regular they are a worthless roll versus people looking for them who aren't they might be a loss not being there. Any solution needs to look at this from both angles. The solution we have right now covers that but may need some adjustment. So what form does that come in that covers both frequent and infrequent users? Again if need be, leave them out of there, add/increase them to the black lion crates from the daily and/or reduce their price from the statuettes and/or allow people with excess to be able to sell them. But no, prefer them out versus in personally but also don't want to remove them from others that might want them.

[TheGrimm.5624]

> @"Mortifera.6138" said:

> With the focus on “keys” and loot boxes, I feel like I’m playing an RNG cash grab game now. Can anyone lift my spirits up and remind me that this is the same game it was before those things became a huge, predatory thing?

 

When I like the direction the game is in, I support via the purchase of keys. I use real money for the most since that is my intent is support. The chests have been the same RNG element overtime. I have said to others, don't buy them if that is not your thing. Instead if its an option buy the internal drops from the TP since supply and demand will get you a better deal if that is an option. There has been a change in the chests overtime but I would call it more a devaluing versus them increasing in value. When the term predatory is used you would think they would be adding must haves and in reality they have been adding re-releases and things people have already collected. The addition of equipment drops and resource drops have devalued them even more. Why would you buy a resource drop that you can just go and farm in a couple of minutes. If you are trying to make the case that ANet is being predatory I would look more towards they are looking to move people away from chests and more to gems to gold conversions since the value of the items in the chest continue to fall. So no if you are feeling doom and gloom from BL drops if anything you should look up at that since their value has been falling over time. At least from the opinion of one overtime frequent key buyer.

[Trise.2865]

> @"Tukaram.8256" said:

> You mean microtransactions? Like shiny stuff for sale? Just don't buy it. No is forcing you.

 

 

Except that's not true. The community, by design, puts extreme pressure on players to have the nicest skins, "Fashion Wars 2", some call it. Whether real or imagined, cosmetics coupled with "it's no big deal" community attitudes *are* "forcing" people to pay in order to remain invested in the game.... "Making paying the default". (Ref. Fortnite, and that whole [bullying scandal](https://www.polygon.com/2019/5/7/18534431/fortnite-rare-default-skins-bullying-harassment "bullying scandal"), for a more obvious example.)

 

It affects some more than others, and *can* be combatted by reinforcing self-control and discipline... but those aren't the people being targetted by this, are they? No, this preys specifically on people who **don't** have strong self-control; who **lack** discipline for whatever reason (up to and including mental illness and flavors of autism). By specifically targeting vulnerable individuals, by definition, this practice is "predatory".

[Tasida.4085]

GOOD RIDDANCE to all the kits since they cant be traded in.