Halloween Event

[hawkeyeguy99]

Creds for this go to @calysto1395 which he posted in the announcements page, but I think this deserves a full thread.

"I love Halloween thing which is why this event hurts so much. The prices are way to high, I’d have to grind 40+ hours or pay 10 bucks to get a skin that I cant choose the loadout or the merc for. I’m a student. I have a life outside of gaming even though it’s a huge part. But I can’t spend all this time or money on this game for cosmetics and have no control over.

There is nothing else to get with the event currency like trinkets we had in other events. Usually the Equipment cases were replaced by the Event cases or cost like 300~ Event Credits now that price is double for 2% possibility of - again - a random loadout and merc.

I get you guys need to make money but I rather spend money when I have the choice to do it because I want to because it supports a good cause like the Humble Bundle or because there is cool content like the Obsidian skins (although the Loadouts there are garbage usually) or the trinkets that give boosters and the kill icons.

I feel forced to spend money on this event or get nothing and honestly I’d rather stop playing because this isn’t fun. I grinded my way to the snowman back in the first Dickens Event and got so sick of the game I didn’t play for weeks after it was over. This shouldn’t be your goal here."

I couldn’t agree more, but how do we encourage change/how can it be fixed? It’s been done so many times and we complain so many times. How can we actually get the message through that this sucks?

[Meerkats]

Splash Damage is so disconnected from the real world there probably isn’t anything we can do. They live in denial of the systematic rot, and as long as just a handful of people support them ( of which a few are on this forum ), they’ll continue with their ways.

What really upsets me about this “event” is how obviously phoned in it is. A Halloween event is supposed to be fun. A celebration cause we like Halloween. Look at Overwatch’s Halloween event or Fortnite’s Halloween event. They’re really throwing a party.

Some not very creative peeps are gonna immediately go, Overwatch has more resources or whatev… but it’s not about the money, it’s about how much they care. Watch this, I’mma blow your mind:

Announcement: “We love Halloween so much, we want to see your Halloween-themed Dirty Bomb creations! Poems, drawings, costumes, whatever! Winners get prizes like Halloween cases!”

Halloween-themed homepage splash, some spooky GUI elements and sfx ( homepage only ).

Ingame announcer: “Objective delivered, candy for everyone!” “Objective failed, I hope you get toothpaste.”

Just to show, “we’re not hosting this ‘event’ only so that you give us money; we gon’ have a fucking party!”

The whole continual event strategy I see in games now too… I hate it. So many games now, especially F2P ones, they just host non-stop events. It’s how they keep players hooked, cause those players want to get the LE loot. To keep them from trying other games. But at the same time, it’s so short sighted. Players start to get really burned out, like the guy said:

@calysto1395 said:
I feel forced to spend money on this event or get nothing and honestly I’d rather stop playing because this isn’t fun. I grinded my way to the snowman back in the first Dickens Event and got so sick of the game I didn’t play for weeks after it was over. This shouldn’t be your goal here.

There will always be people who say, “nobody is putting a gun to your head” or whatev, ignoring that this is a practice spreading throughout the gaming industry because it works. But the truth is these events are all noise. Splash Damage, focus on making the best game you can, and that is what we will truly appreciate you for.

[ImSploosh]

I just realized that they updated the event based on feedback and you now earn 50% more shrieks and you can now purchase cases for 1k credits each. That’s a step in the right direction I suppose.

Before that small update, it cost 7800 credits for one case at the best possible rate (buying the 800k Shrieks credit conversion package). The only upside I see to the event currently is being able to obtain a guaranteed case. However, that case requires a TON of playtime so if you’re not no-lifing the event, you MIGHT be able to get one case.

Now my real gripe comes with trying to support the devs. I do spend money on DB, and have spent a decent amount considering I’m in the same boat as you hawk. But I can’t justify paying the prices for most of the things they’ve been releasing. If RNG was excluded, then the prices become a bit better, but still expensive. Let us gamble and offer other options like purchasing 2% chance cases for 10 cents each, so 100 for $10. Seems more reasonable to me if they still want RNG to play a factor.

Their business decisions amaze me most of the time. I feel like they’re missing out on profit in various ways. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t feel enticed to spend money. Also, as already mentioned, my hopes were that this event would be fun somehow and not just another grindfest. Gotta say, I love the trinket though!

[Meerkats]

@ImSploosh said:
I just realized that they updated the event based on feedback and you now earn 50% more shrieks and you can now purchase cases for 1k credits each. That’s a step in the right direction I suppose.

Before that small update, it cost 7800 credits for one case at the best possible rate (buying the 800k Shrieks credit conversion package). The only upside I see to the event currently is being able to obtain a guaranteed case. However, that case requires a TON of playtime so if you’re not no-lifing the event, you MIGHT be able to get one case.

Now my real gripe comes with trying to support the devs. I do spend money on DB, and have spent a decent amount considering I’m in the same boat as you hawk. But I can’t justify paying the prices for most of the things they’ve been releasing. If RNG was excluded, then the prices become a bit better, but still expensive. Let us gamble and offer other options like purchasing 2% chance cases for 10 cents each, so 100 for $10. Seems more reasonable to me if they still want RNG to play a factor.

Their business decisions amaze me most of the time. I feel like they’re missing out on profit in various ways. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t feel enticed to spend money. Also, as already mentioned, my hopes were that this event would be fun somehow and not just another grindfest. Gotta say, I love the trinket though!
We should have a thread on how much peeps have spent on this game.

I’ve bought… four trinkets ( 2x Sparks, 1x Halloween, 1x Shellshock ), one starter pack, an expert case bundle, Guardian, Turtle, Javelin bundles and 2x ReV bundles…

So about $200.

Welps, guess I’m a sucker. I’m assuming Splash Damage has a separate marketing division that handles this stuff when I say this, but I can’t think of another company where the hard work and good intentions is so completely and utterly squandered by shitty marketing. Like Law Breakers? Law Breakers never had a chance to start. But Dirty Bomb? The monetary policies that we don’t know were either imparted by Nexon or by Splash Damage? Poison.

[blufflord]

@Meerkats

Announcement: “We love Halloween so much, we want to see your Halloween-themed Dirty Bomb creations! Poems, drawings, costumes, whatever! Winners get prizes Halloween cases!”

Halloween-themed homepage splash, some spooky GUI elements and sfx ( homepage only ).

Ingame announcer: “Objective delivered, candy for everyone!” “Objective failed, I hope you get toothpaste.”

See, this is really nice actually. Just simple little things things that I can’t imagine would’ve taken too much time/ resources. Way better than your original comment on the other thread where you were unfairly comparing to OW’s event, cause there’s no way db could’ve possibly done new character models etc. But it would’ve been really nice just to switch it up for 2 weeks with little halloweeny stuff. I get that it’s completely unnecessary for the long term game progression, but they would’ve been fun.

[Meerkats]

@blufflord said:
@Meerkats

Announcement: “We love Halloween so much, we want to see your Halloween-themed Dirty Bomb creations! Poems, drawings, costumes, whatever! Winners get prizes Halloween cases!”

Halloween-themed homepage splash, some spooky GUI elements and sfx ( homepage only ).

Ingame announcer: “Objective delivered, candy for everyone!” “Objective failed, I hope you get toothpaste.”

See, this is really nice actually. Just simple little things things that I can’t imagine would’ve taken too much time/ resources. Way better than your original comment on the other thread where you were unfairly comparing to OW’s event, cause there’s no way db could’ve possibly done new character models etc. But it would’ve been really nice just to switch it up for 2 weeks with little halloweeny stuff. I get that it’s completely unnecessary for the long term game progression, but they would’ve been fun.
I said it was never about the money. Multiple times. I don’t know why you didn’t see that part.

Overwatch can just afford to do expensive things. But the thing is… they’re creative people who love their game. Even with just a tiny fraction of their current budget, I bet they could’ve pulled off many times more than what Dirty Bomb has.

There are game constraints. Having Fragger run around with a glowing pumpkin head? Doesn’t work. It’s not Dirty Bomb, and I would hate it if it were in the game. So Splash Damage doesn’t have that kind of leeway regardless. But there are things they can do, and in fact, have done in the past…

https://www.twitch.tv/twitchypixie carved a Proxy pumpkin two or three years ago and won a mechanical keyboard.

Either ZorlaLau or EgartNelis, I forget who, gave away handmade chibi keychains.

Right now, Andarne is 3D printing and hand painting Dirty Bomb logo keychains and mini-busts of Proxy and Phantom that he plans to give away ( iirc ).

I’m not saying to give away keyboards… what I’m saying is the community seems to have more far more passion for Dirty Bomb than Splash Damage does.

[blufflord]

@Meerkats

I said it was never about the money. Multiple times. I don’t know why you didn’t see that part.

You say that followed by something that completely contradicted it. That being your first example where you suggested, new models, thematically changing the map aesthetics, game modes in your comparison . You say it’s about intention, not money/resources, but your initial suggests were 100% reliant on money / resources. That’s why I said your second example of giveaways for themed contests, little in game changes are way better, as that shows intention without restraining (too much) money/time/ resources.

[Meerkats]

@blufflord said:
@Meerkats

I said it was never about the money. Multiple times. I don’t know why you didn’t see that part.

You say that followed by something that completely contradicted it. That being your first example where you suggested, new models, thematically changing the map aesthetics, game modes in your comparison . You say it’s about intention, not money/resources, but your initial suggests were 100% reliant on money / resources. That’s why I said your second example of giveaways for themed contests, little in game changes are way better, as that shows intention without restraining (too much) money/time/ resources.
Think big picture. The most important thing I said about their event was that it was replete with creativity, effort and joy. Look at what Andarne is doing.

I don’t think Splash Damage has even acknowledged Andarne once.

Nobody will judge you poorly for not spending money you don’t have. You just do what you can. Not discussing Overwatch as a game, but Blizzard clearly loves their game and it shows.

[neverplayseriou]

Hmmm now what to spend money on…?

[Album] Imgur

[AlbinMatt]

@neverplayseriou said:
Hmmm now what to spend money on…?
https://imgur.com/a/SyFrL

Well one seems to be a demonic delegate sent by Satan himself, and has been bestowed the powers of hell, and the other one is a German lawyer with a grenade launcher. Actually nevermind, those two are the same aren’t they?

[anon41468043]

@ImSploosh said:
I just realized that they updated the event based on feedback and you now earn 50% more shrieks and you can now purchase cases for 1k credits each. That’s a step in the right direction I suppose.

Before that small update, it cost 7800 credits for one case at the best possible rate (buying the 800k Shrieks credit conversion package). The only upside I see to the event currently is being able to obtain a guaranteed case. However, that case requires a TON of playtime so if you’re not no-lifing the event, you MIGHT be able to get one case.

Now my real gripe comes with trying to support the devs. I do spend money on DB, and have spent a decent amount considering I’m in the same boat as you hawk. But I can’t justify paying the prices for most of the things they’ve been releasing. If RNG was excluded, then the prices become a bit better, but still expensive. Let us gamble and offer other options like purchasing 2% chance cases for 10 cents each, so 100 for $10. Seems more reasonable to me if they still want RNG to play a factor.

Their business decisions amaze me most of the time. I feel like they’re missing out on profit in various ways. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t feel enticed to spend money. Also, as already mentioned, my hopes were that this event would be fun somehow and not just another grindfest. Gotta say, I love the trinket though!

See, that’s what I was kind of getting at in my other thread. It’s still a terrible model, but this is the only event I can recall recently where we’d get a guaranteed skin for 10 bucks on top of the other options (albeit a grindfest and more RNG in regular cases) to obtain them. It still sucks, but I hope they’re very slowly inching their way towards better pricing and more flexible options. Emphasis on hope…

[bgyoshi]

These threads amuse me, always.

A person, it’s never just one guy nor always the same person, without fail, will present this argument: “SO SIK OF THE RNG SD U SUK I WANT GUARANTEED SKINS NO RNG NO EARNING NO TRINKETS NO NOTHING JUST COOL SKINS ONLY PLZ”

And then turn around and go: “UR SKINZ SUK N E WAY Y WUD I BY THIS TRASH LUK AT THIS OTHER OVERWATCH CLONE MAKES THINGS LIEK SATAN IN THIR GAEM”

And then they post pictures of Fortnight or something and praise it after SD and players have said “Please god don’t make stupid costumes we don’t want another overwatch clone”

Like I get it. If you want fancy costumes, literally, stop bringing this game down and halting progress and leave.

It’s pretty clear at this point that the draw of the alternative skins are in the loadout icon and not really in the skin itself. Recoloring the weapons and showing off a token (not trinket) at the start of the matches is what they’re for. If you want spoopy halloween costumes and CRAEZY hats and dorky ironic humor then go play TF2 or Overwatch or… something else trying to imitate them. It’s actually one reason why I’m annoyed that they don’t have more options for showing off that loadout icon in matches. It should be really visible in the death cam and on the scoreboard.

Now to actually respond to OP:

Every event reduces the time it takes to get the event skins. They always change something, and though it never feels like enough, at least it’s something. Two events ago, they made a trinket to boost your special event credit rate. Before that, they added special event credits so that you can buy the skin cases. Before that, it was just pure 2% RNG luck per case. Before that, it was pure RNG to even find a case that gave you RNG to get a skin.

Last event, the trinkets all boosted each other. This event, the trinkets boost more than the last trinkets, combine with each other, also boost the players in the server that don’t have the trinket, AND they increased the base earn rate over the last event.

Every single one makes event skins more accessible.

If you REALLY want to get the message through, don’t participate in events. Don’t buy the trinket, don’t buy credits, don’t use the event credits. Hell, don’t play the game. Money talks and if these trinkets and cases are raking in money for them, why would they stop?

But if you ask me, SD changes more and more with every event and they have been listening to complaints, so it’s worth it to toss some money for a trinket or one event case.

[STARRYSOCK]

I do like that they improved the event based on player feedback, but it’s really not enough imo. I mean, the other events have been fairly bad, lots of complaints about RNG and the grind. With this event, they made it even worse, but then improved it slightly so it’s about on par with other events.

I just wish they’d listen to that other feedback too.
And, I get games take time to develop (even though it shouldn’t take too long to fix things like people have suggested), but why continue to push events like this until you have something to address these concerns with?
RNG has been complained about for so long, but it hasn’t been mentioned at all from what I’ve seen.

It’s like how the devs forced ranked when the game was in major need to balance and bug fixes, AND they didn’t change most of the major complaints people had about ranked. Waiting until you have things sorted out isn’t a sin. I guess it’s better than how things were with nexon, but still. I’d expect content to be finished and enjoyable before it’s released (cough-javelin).

[ThePigVomit]

I want my damn boosters back. Boosters were the best.

[GatoCommodore]

@ThePigVomit said:
I want my damn boosters back. Boosters were the best.

the working as intended boosters?

9/10 i would not buy boosters anymore

[ThePigVomit]

@GatoCommodore said:

@ThePigVomit said:
I want my damn boosters back. Boosters were the best.

the working as intended boosters?

9/10 i would not buy boosters anymore

The REV boosters sucked. But the Turtle boosters were as advertised. Got probably 7 event cards from my booster/trinket combo.

[GatoCommodore]

@ThePigVomit said:

@GatoCommodore said:

@ThePigVomit said:
I want my damn boosters back. Boosters were the best.

the working as intended boosters?

9/10 i would not buy boosters anymore

The REV boosters sucked. But the Turtle boosters were as advertised. Got probably 7 event cards from my booster/trinket combo.

got 0