Pod Experiments (UPDATED with Rarity Classifications)

[airham]

Super rares should be won by skill, not dumb luck

I totally agree with this on principle, but we're also talking about a game in which skill isn't really a factor in much of anything. The richest people in the game just play friendly pirates all day, and the vast majority of events are based almost entirely, if not entirely, on random number generation. The most you will ever see "skill" matter in myVMK is when it comes to being attentive and clicking quickly and precisely. And pods at least kind of have the potential to at least satisfy that low threshold of skill, so long as people don't feel entitled to their "one pod per person" every time they spawn and demand that people accommodate them. Of course, the results of a pod opening will always be completely RNG-based, and I definitely feel you on the whole never getting anything good point. Super frustrating.

Yeah the thing with the pods is, and mostly other events like this, easter baskets etc, people only want the 1 or 2/3 ultras(usually hats) from the pods. People end up with so many experiments/eggs, that no one wants them, everyone is just after the ultra.

There are a couple of ways to fix this. One would be to decrease the incidence of pod spawns (which would likely be a bad idea - since people are already pissy when they miss out on a pod even though they spawn frequently). The other would be to decrease the odds of getting all of the more common items in the pods. Maybe add some credit drops into the pods to make up the difference. That way, pods still have some value, and so do the items contained therein. I think people would be more willing to drop a couple hundred credits on a Finder if they didn't already have 25 of them sitting around.

 

[xCharlottex]

I totally agree with this on principle, but we're also talking about a game in which skill isn't really a factor in much of anything. The richest people in the game just play friendly pirates all day, and the vast majority of events are based almost entirely, if not entirely, on random number generation. The most you will ever see "skill" matter in myVMK is when it comes to being attentive and clicking quickly and precisely. And pods at least kind of have the potential to at least satisfy that low threshold of skill, so long as people don't feel entitled to their "one pod per person" every time they spawn and demand that people accommodate them. Of course, the results of a pod opening will always be completely RNG-based, and I definitely feel you on the whole never getting anything good point. Super frustrating.



There are a couple of ways to fix this. One would be to decrease the incidence of pod spawns (which would likely be a bad idea - since people are already pissy when they miss out on a pod even though they spawn frequently). The other would be to decrease the odds of getting all of the more common items in the pods. Maybe add some credit drops into the pods to make up the difference. That way, pods still have some value, and so do the items contained therein. I think people would be more willing to drop a couple hundred credits on a Finder if they didn't already have 25 of them sitting around.

Definately, Im thinking maybe, if the rate of getting an experiment/item from the pods is say, 1/50(this is for getting an item at all, different items would have different rates), but the empty pods give you 50-100 credits, then standing around collecting pods all day becomes less worthless and less time wasting. getting an experiment would be a rare and surprising event to see what u got and if the rate of getting an experiment was harder then we wouldnt have 100s of finders(for example) laying around so there could be more trading made from the event. Though, some people would/have complained that it was annoying not getting an experiment in a pod, maybe having some credits in empty pods would have resolved that issue and it could have stayed rarer to receive an experiment/item? People would want to trade for the commons/rares this way.

 

[saturn]

you both bring up really good points on how to change the situation (@xCharlottex and @airham), but at this point i would argue that re-working the entire thing to add in more items and alter the probability for all items would be messy (which is why i focused specifically on upping the probability for one last weekend and then closing the experiments). these ideas should be noted for similar events that may occur in the future. this is obviously a personal opinion; however, i would really rather not have pods spawning for the next few weeks. it would be more beneficial for us all to move on from the pods and look forward to christmas crates or something else.

 

[xCharlottex]

you both bring up really good points on how to change the situation (@xCharlottex and @airham), but at this point i would argue that re-working the entire thing to add in more items and alter the probability for all items would be messy (which is why i focused specifically on upping the probability for one last weekend and then closing the experiments). these ideas should be noted for similar events that may occur in the future. this is obviously a personal opinion; however, i would really rather not have pods spawning for the next few weeks. it would be more beneficial for us all to move on from the pods and look forward to christmas crates or something else.

I was talking in respect for thoughts for future events to make them better . I think id much rather get credit drops in empty crates/pods and then get an experiment rarely then we wont all have inventories crowded with hundreds of experiments we dont need. And we might see more trading come from it as people trade for the commons/rares they don't have. and standing round all day collecting experiments would at least be worth something as we would be getting credits too. Id probably try and find the average credits per hour playing pirates, and then match that with how many credits the crates/pods would give.

Also to add - yes im so ready to move on from these pods now.

 

[CoralHibiscus]

Yeah the thing with the pods is, and mostly other events like this, easter baskets etc, people only want the 1 or 2/3 ultras(usually hats) from the pods. People end up with so many experiments/eggs, that no one wants them, everyone is just after the ultra.

I only want one thing from these pods. It just happened to end up as the ultra. Wouldn't you want an item that seemed like it was made for you? I mean the hat is covered in hibiscus flowers!

I've given up all hope on ever obtaining the hat though. I've stopped collecting pods for the most part, and I'm honestly losing the motivation to log in to the game now that I know I'll never really be able to get the hat that seems so perfect for me.

 

[xCharlottex]

I only want one thing from these pods. It just happened to end up as the ultra. Wouldn't you want an item that seemed like it was made for you? I mean the hat is covered in hibiscus flowers!

I've given up all hope on ever obtaining the hat though. I've stopped collecting pods for the most part, and I'm honestly losing the motivation to log in to the game now that I know I'll never really be able to get the hat that seems so perfect for me.

Yes but, thats all everyone wants. no one wants any of the experiments infact people are giving them away for free lol. its the same with all of these events. weeks after people are always giving away eggs for free etc. and like ive said in my earlier post, i think this might be because the rate of getting an item/egg/experiment is wayyy too high(we get too many) so people end up with hundreds of them they dont need. if it was rarer to receive an item in the pods, theyd actually be worth something and people would want them. not give them away for free

 

[CoralHibiscus]

Yes but, thats all everyone wants. no one wants any of the experiments infact people are giving them away for free lol. its the same with all of these events. weeks after people are always giving away eggs for free etc. and like ive said in my earlier post, i think this might be because the rate of getting an item/egg/experiment is wayyy too high(we get too many) so people end up with hundreds of them they dont need. if it was rarer to receive an item in the pods, theyd actually be worth something and people would want them. not give them away for free

The other experiments aren't bad, but I don't think anyone really wants more that 2 of each of them.The commons I have are in the 20s of each while the rares are in the 10- 18 of each range. Not a single super rare in sight for me, and at this point, I can't exactly say I'll give x number of commons or rares for 1 super rare because they're worthless. We're all stuck, and have no idea what to do with them other than give them away.

I'm not really sure there is a way to fix the huge difference in items that were/are rewarded at this point. I think it's been going on too long for them to care about changing it.

 

[xCharlottex]

The other experiments aren't bad, but I don't think anyone really wants more that 2 of each of them.The commons I have are in the 20s of each while the rares are in the 10- 18 of each range. Not a single super rare in sight for me, and at this point, I can't exactly say I'll give x number of commons or rares for 1 super rare because they're worthless. We're all stuck, and have no idea what to do with them other than give them away.

I'm not really sure there is a way to fix the huge difference in items that were/are rewarded at this point. I think it's been going on too long for them to care about changing it.

Yeah nothing can change about the current event but its something for staff to think about in the future for other events, maybe christmas crates?

 

[CoralHibiscus]

Yeah nothing can change about the current event but its something for staff to think about in the future for other events, maybe christmas crates?

that's a possibility. Unless we scare them away from going the crate thing again because of our critiques.

 

[VMK_Rapunzel]

No one is scaring us away with the critiques. Admittedly, a lot of us staff members have even raised concerns about the odds being off/not what they should be. I assure you, we're actively working to find a solution and fix this problem. Hang tight, it's a trial and error with events like this as they're not a constant occurrence in the game.
I really like the discussion happening, though, and have to commend you all on it. Everyone's been very respectful and has brought up really great ideas and concerns that I'm sure we'll take back and review for next time we do a "drop" event like this. :}

 

[xCharlottex]

I think something along these lines would work good. The rate of getting an item in a pod/crate at around 1/100. Then if youre lucky to get that 1 another random number is generated to then decide what you recieve from the pod. Be it common rare super or ultra. The chance of it being common 60% rare 30% super 8% and ultra 2%. This would mean youre looking at around 5000 pods at average for the ultra. Which seems like a lot, but for it to be ultra not everyone can get one. If you dont recieve an item from your pod you get a random credit drop from say 10,20,50,100. Making all those empty pods worth your time collecting. And having a happy little moment when youre lucky enough to get an item in your pod.

 

[Peasy]

I love the idea of getting some credits as a compensation for the dud pods.

 

[Matt]

I just started playing again. What exactly are these?

 

[Expect]

@Matt Basically pods spawn in any of the public rooms and you pick them up. Once you have some, you place them in your room(make sure your standing next to them when your in your room).Once placed in the room, double click the pod and you can win a aloha flip hat, babyfier hat, rueben hat, along with super and non rare experiments.( the list is on the first page of this). Sometimes you won't get anything at all from the pods..

 

[Matt]

@Matt Basically pods spawn in any of the public rooms and you pick them up. Once you have some, you place them in your room(make sure your standing next to them when your in your room).Once placed in the room, double click the pod and you can win a aloha flip hat, babyfier hat, rueben hat, along with super and non rare experiments.( the list is on the first page of this). Sometimes you won't get anything at all from the pods..[/QUOTE

That sounds real cool! I cant wait till I find some!

 

[riddleguy]

No one is scaring us away with the critiques. Admittedly, a lot of us staff members have even raised concerns about the odds being off/not what they should be. I assure you, we're actively working to find a solution and fix this problem. Hang tight, it's a trial and error with events like this as they're not a constant occurrence in the game.
I really like the discussion happening, though, and have to commend you all on it. Everyone's been very respectful and has brought up really great ideas and concerns that I'm sure we'll take back and review for next time we do a "drop" event like this. :}

For future drop events, the events shouldnt be longer then a month. I thought the pods event went on too long. Secondly, the drops should be balanced better so people are motivated to partipate but on the same token we dont want items being too common. I like the idea of credits as compensation for dud crates/pods/chest etc. Even better you could have a set of compensation items that are meant to be really common and users can use those items or sell them back for credits and each compensation item could be worth a diff amount of credits.

I loved the items the drop event gave....but the drop rate wasnt rewarding enough to keep me motivated to try for the super rares/rares i still need. Even though im kinda dissapointed its over now and i missed the notived, im ultimately glad to finally be moving on.

 

[xCharlottex]

For future drop events, the events shouldnt be longer then a month. I thought the pods event went on too long. Secondly, the drops should be balanced better so people are motivated to partipate but on the same token we dont want items being too common. I like the idea of credits as compensation for dud crates/pods/chest etc. Even better you could have a set of compensation items that are meant to be really common and users can use those items or sell them back for credits and each compensation item could be worth a diff amount of credits.

To be honest the commons in the chests were like "compensation" id like it if we could sell these back for 50c each. then at least id be able to do something with the mass amount of commons i have

 

[CoralHibiscus]

For future drop events, the events shouldnt be longer then a month. I thought the pods event went on too long. Secondly, the drops should be balanced better so people are motivated to partipate but on the same token we dont want items being too common. I like the idea of credits as compensation for dud crates/pods/chest etc. Even better you could have a set of compensation items that are meant to be really common and users can use those items or sell them back for credits and each compensation item could be worth a diff amount of credits.

I loved the items the drop event gave....but the drop rate wasnt rewarding enough to keep me motivated to try for the super rares/rares i still need. Even though im kinda dissapointed its over now and i missed the notived, im ultimately glad to finally be moving on.

If they make them longer than a month, they should rotate items in and out of the drop. They did do that for a little bit with the green crates, and I think they could do it again.

I also think the items were really great for this drop event, and I completely agree with you about the drop rates, i did actually slowly start giving up because of them. I'm going to miss seeing all the people it brought out hiding for the duration of the event though.