Where's my Super Pack: Lords of Winter Sale?

[Seed22]

17 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Actually last year I did buy about 300 Winter packs during the last (smaller discount) holiday sale.  I still have about 200 winter i/o in my base.  The others have gone into my builds or i gave to SG members.  I do the same with Villain packs.

 

Look.  Let me break this down.  My character.  Forum name, in game name, and global is Snarky.  I am a villain.  It is a persona.  As a PLAYER I do not need to cut a fellow player so i get more.  To make money I run content at 50 (generates drops/cash) or do what I am currently doing and craft convert and sell all the recipe i/os I get.  This provides a SERVICE to the COMMUNITY by increasing supply of what people WANT.  

 

Demanding the Devs give me a cut price break for two weeks so I can then resell those all year long to broke players at a premium markup (and near the Dev set normal price) is not a service or helpful.  It is whining until the Devs help me make money off my fellow players.

 

Do you F-ing get it?  Sheesh.  

Are you alright there snark?

 

Do YOU get it? Let me break it down.

 

I. AM. NOT. DIRECTING. THAT COMMENT TO YOU. it was more actually to well...kito. The whole time.

 

I don't personally care what YOU do in any capacity. I was simply piggybacking off of what you posted(which was a conspiratorial level rant, btw) to try and prompt kito into elaborating THEIR(not yours) point of view on WHY they consider themselves a have-not, and (admittedly in a not so concise manner) tried to give a scenario that could alleviate the have-not status of generating inf.

 

I don't care what you think about inf or the people who generate it for this or that reason.

 

I care to understand, from kito's PoV and those who identify as Have-nots 

 

I am also not asking for a discount. I have several billion across my toons. I don't need a thing from the devs, other than buffs to MA and other underperforming sets, dangit! 😛

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Seed22

[Luminara]

Ooo, drama.  Better get my 3D glasses.

[Snarky]

4 minutes ago, Seed22 said:

Do you F--ing get it now?

i just crawled out of the crypt and am looking for blood and/or coffee.  bonus if i can just drain a highly caffeinated individual.

 

do you get it?  DO YOU?

[Mopery]

Well, thank you all SO very much...

Now I've got it, and the Doctor says there is no cure. 😞

[Seed22]

14 minutes ago, Snarky said:

i just crawled out of the crypt and am looking for blood and/or coffee.  bonus if i can just drain a highly caffeinated individual.

 

do you get it?  DO YOU?

Jokes on you im nothing but walking talking caffeine. Maybe I need to see a doctor about that

[Snarky]

51 minutes ago, Seed22 said:

Jokes on you im nothing but walking talking caffeine. Maybe I need to see a doctor about that

thats cool.  you should come over and join me.  for a bite.

[Glacier Peak]

Jokes aside, can these packs be earned in game? Like for the Winter Event? Never bothered to find out until now I guess. 

[SeraphimKensai]

I think the main reason the sale stopped is that people would buy 200 of them at 10 mil a pop then hold that until the sale was over and resell the contents back on the market once the market price had stabilized to their non holiday level.

 

It was an easy way to take say a 2 bil influence investment and turn it into potentially 10+ billion influence after finishing the sales back on the market.

[Snarky]

25 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Jokes aside, can these packs be earned in game? Like for the Winter Event? Never bothered to find out until now I guess. 

This would be excellent.  I honestly do not know.  I do know there is  tradition (in past years) of people just handing these out in AP and such.  

 

They are a little expensive.  Until you know how to make money.  Once you start earning they are just a blip.

[Erratic1]

25 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

I think the main reason the sale stopped is that people would buy 200 of them at 10 mil a pop then hold that until the sale was over and resell the contents back on the market once the market price had stabilized to their non holiday level.

 

It was an easy way to take say a 2 bil influence investment and turn it into potentially 10+ billion influence after finishing the sales back on the market.

 

That there is a marketplace means people will make money (influence). Seems odd to be opposed to it in only one fashion.

[Luminara]

31 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Jokes aside, can these packs be earned in game? Like for the Winter Event? Never bothered to find out until now I guess. 

 

No.  Inf* purchase only, and only through the AH.  You can purchase most of what's in the packs, though, in other ways.  Merit vendor sells Winter enhancements for reward merits, the Candy Keeper sells the winter buffs and Universal Travel recipes, et cetera.  The packs themselves don't drop or sell in any other way than the Special Salvage section of the AH.

[kito]

2 hours ago, Snarky said:

Look.  I finally started the tedious process of something I dislike.  Not farming.  I hate that.  But let me tell you

 

Do you ever notice that you get recipes for I/Os randomly?  I get them too!   Do you ever run TF/SF and get merits?   I do.   Now i take the merits and go to the ATM machine at the AH.  I use the merits to buy Enhancement Converter salvage.   Now I craft the recipe.  Then i use the converters to turn the I/O into something selling fir 3-4 or 6 million in the auction.  I post at about 85% reserve price.  I make money

 

Now back to my story.  I dislike doing this because even with OCD it is tedious.  So I had built up approx 400 recipes.   I have made my way through nearly 150 and have generated about 1 billion in profit after salvage purchase, crafting cost, and auction fees. Sigh 250 to go. There are faster ways to make money.  Read guides.  Farm.  Or just run content that generates merits and drops (usually 50 content) and raw sell whatever you get. 
 

But do not stand around whining about how people destroying the planet should continue to be able to so your house is warm and you do not have to do anything.  Plant a garden and put solar panels up    Ride a bike.  
 

Why do I bother.  Smoke tobacco products, run with scissors, big oil loves you, the government will protect you. 

I mean I HATE farming as well, I only do it to PL people I would love the devs to make a "farming" option for the maps that would give no EXP and more INF or no INF and more EXP But *shrugs*.

I don't Recall ever whining My only issue is with you somehow seeing people buying things and selling them as evil. I don't care they did not lower the winter packs I have been in the game for year got more inf then I can ever spend.( hell I give most of it away) I'm sure you are much the same. I just never saw people buying packs for 10 mill and then selling them for 22-24 mill later in the year as evil. just a lazy way to make inf and its a game IDC how people make there INF. I still argue Everything should more or less be free as I hate the grind and spend a good 70% of my online time RPing over running content. 

No idea what you mean on the Planet thing. but happy holidays all the same.

[Snarky]

6 minutes ago, Erratic1 said:

 

That there is a marketplace means people will make money (influence). Seems odd to be opposed to it in only one fashion.

Personally I am not opposed to "it" in only one fashion.  If you are referring to this method. I am anti people scalping/flipping/overcharging and abusing in the meta.   If you are referring to using the market to scalp other players while adding nothing to the game, then I am opposed to "it."   

[kito]

2 hours ago, Seed22 said:

Expand on this.

 

This isn't RL markets with RL billionaires. It's CoH. I'd like to understand the concept of "Haves" and "Have-nots".

was just using the words snarky did. that is about it. I been in the game for years now I have Billions of Inf and Give away Billions Every year.

Edited December 25, 2022 by kito

[Nyghtmaire]

1 hour ago, Snarky said:

thats cool.  you should come over and join me.  for a bite.

This thread is getting too hot for me…

[lemming]

I haven't done the math to see what's a more efficient method.

Sell converters bought with merits to buy the winter packs, or just buy the winter enh I want via merits.

So, if we go with converters at 65k, it takes 385 sold for 25m which you can get for 129 merits (slight rounding there)

 

I'll assume (which may be wrong) that you'll get 1.2 enh for each pack which seems to be what Super Packs give on average.  So they're pretty much priced at market value with some extra stuff.  Sorta...

 

 

[nihilii]

1 hour ago, kito said:

I mean I HATE farming as well, I only do it to PL people I would love the devs to make a "farming" option for the maps that would give no EXP and more INF or no INF and more EXP But *shrugs*.

I don't Recall ever whining My only issue is with you somehow seeing people buying things and selling them as evil. I don't care they did not lower the winter packs I have been in the game for year got more inf then I can ever spend.( hell I give most of it away) I'm sure you are much the same. I just never saw people buying packs for 10 mill and then selling them for 22-24 mill later in the year as evil. just a lazy way to make inf and its a game IDC how people make there INF. I still argue Everything should more or less be free as I hate the grind and spend a good 70% of my online time RPing over running content. 

No idea what you mean on the Planet thing. but happy holidays all the same.

 

I don't think there's anything evil with players behaving rationally either, but I think the Winter Pack sale was a pretty poor system objectively because 1) it scales so well 2) it's limited in time.

 

It breaks the risk/reward formula in a way almost unlike anything else in game. Even AFK farming is more linear, as you at least have to log on your characters and enter/exit a mission every few minutes.

I bought something like 40B or 60B inf worth of Winter Packs 2 years ago (when they were 10M), and resold most of them for a 2x+ profit. I completely abandoned doing anything for inf in the game, this netted me more than I could ever need. I'm still not done burning through that inf, and who knows if I ever will be.

[JasperStone]

45 minutes ago, nihilii said:

 

I don't think there's anything evil with players behaving rationally either, but I think the Winter Pack sale was a pretty poor system objectively because 1) it scales so well 2) it's limited in time.

 

It breaks the risk/reward formula in a way almost unlike anything else in game. Even AFK farming is more linear, as you at least have to log on your characters and enter/exit a mission every few minutes.

I bought something like 40B or 60B inf worth of Winter Packs 2 years ago (when they were 10M), and resold most of them for a 2x+ profit. I completely abandoned doing anything for inf in the game, this netted me more than I could ever need. I'm still not done burning through that inf, and who knows if I ever will be.

And this is why they are not on sale anymore.

 

Happy for you, by the way 🙂

[roleki]

14 hours ago, Snarky said:

Still you do not ask why?

 

Damn.  You can lead a horse to water.  But sometimes you gotta hit them over the head with a brick and hold them under to really get the full effect.

 

So, I will tell you why.  Ready?   (I still have more bricks…)

 

When the packs went on sale those who knew how to make infamy and had massive influence stashed (we will call these people “the haves”) bought LOTS of them.  The Winter Packs.  Are you still following.  (*picks up brick, holds in hand loosely)

 

When the sale ended these people (the haves) took the hundreds and thousands of packs they bought and relisted them. For slightly below the regular rate the AH charges.  Making a guaranteed profit on every pack.  All year long.   But wait, they also opened them and sold the parts individually.  Who bought these?   Those people who are new to the server.  Those people who do not follow the sales news.  Those people who do not know how to make tons of cash in game.  (We will call these people the “have nots”).  
 

So here is the interesting part. (*throws brick right over your head). Do not let this go over your head!  If the Devs put these (winter oacks, or any packs) on sale for a couple weeks the “have nots” get a little discount on stuff they want for a while.  The “haves” get a warchest of influence making ammunition to last all year long.  (*picks up three bricks) Now, there is only one problem with a few “the haves” raking in vaults of influence.  They “the haves” use this to further manipulate and skew the market in their favor.  Basically making the “have nots” fund their takeover of the in game cash machine. 
 

Care for a brick?

I'll never understand the greed that leads to such a scenario in any video game, let alone THIS video game.  There's only so much shit you can buy in CoH, and the vast majority of shit you can buy in CoH is shit nobody WANTs to buy in CoH.

 

As an occasional farmer, I've got about 90BN in resources in CoH across two accounts; that is a pittance compared to what people who are purposely attempting to accumulate inf are sitting on.

 

I wouldn't be able to consumet90BN in inf if I played 24 hours a day, let alone the hour a week I play anymore.  There's only so much shit to BUY.

 

So while I understand that many scenarios can lead people to accumulate Scrooge McDuck levels of inf, I'll never understand WHY they bother.

[Snarky]

I fully agree.  I have been sitting on 2 billion or so for a couple years now.  It just slightly grows over time, even as I build out alt after alt.  How/Why do people think they need this much?  Then the fact they are getting that from fellow players?   there are people who will manipulate the market, screw people over just so they can say they have X amount. 

[Erratic1]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

Personally I am not opposed to "it" in only one fashion.  If you are referring to this method. I am anti people scalping/flipping/overcharging and abusing in the meta.   If you are referring to using the market to scalp other players while adding nothing to the game, then I am opposed to "it."   

 

The entire concept of "buy low, sell high" is pretty basic. If that is off the table then when are enhancement converters going to be removed as those are another mechanism towards that?

 

Edit; There are many valid criticisms of capitalism, especially of the unfettered variety. It just seems odd to me to be concerned about a once a year opportunity anyone could save up for. If flipping and scalping are to be reigned in (and trust me, given that what white salvage is going for currently I am not opposed), then how about the developers clamp max selling price and bids to no more than ±7%* of what current market average is.

 

*IIRC that was the rate which Usry laws used to specify before they were thrown out.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Erratic1

[Glacier Peak]

I start new characters and accumulate wealth the old fashion way, then spend more than I take in from my various activities. At that point I'll have asked others for inf and shiny things, and once I'm tapped out on other people's humility, I'll sell inspirations to vendors for cheaper than it costs to buy them. 

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Erratic1 said:

 

The entire concept of "buy low, sell high" is pretty basic. If that is off the table then when are enhancement converters going to be removed as those are another mechanism towards that?

 

Edit; There are many valid criticisms of capitalism, especially of the unfettered variety. It just seems odd to me to be concerned about a once a year opportunity anyone could save up for. If flipping and scalping are to be reigned in (and trust me, given that what white salvage is going for currently I am not opposed), then how about the developers clamp max selling price and bids to no more than ±7%* of what current market average is.

 

*IIRC that was the rate which Usry laws used to specify before they were thrown out.

I am not against capitalism.  I do have an issue with people who generate funds with an activity that adds nothing of value to the game.  
 

I make the bulk of my funds by 1) running content, the more at 50 the faster. 2) crafting recipes, converting and selling. Both these activities ADD to the game.  

 

An argument can even be made buying things from the market, changing the product, and relisting. Converting or catalyzing. This is a service in modifying what is there to what people want

 

There is no value added to relisting a product with no change.  At best it could be said you are keeping the market moving   A more cynical view (*waves a brick) is that you are making money off fellow gamers good will and/or ignorance.  
 

The saddest thing is that  people who make money off flipping generally do not need the funds.  They just enjoy the rush.  It would be like people who are scalping concert tickets but have win three lottery jackpots.  They have nothing better to do with their time than force people struggling to get by to pay the highest possible price for entertainment.  Not because they need the funds.  But because they think it is funny

[Erratic1]

6 minutes ago, Snarky said:

I am not against capitalism.  I do have an issue with people who generate funds with an activity that adds nothing of value to the game.  

 

By definition if you have something someone else will pay for and you make it available, you've added something to the game--you have fulfilled a player need.

[lemming]

Really if they wanted to make it seem like a deal, they should say that they are on sale at 50% off of 50 million.