Windfalls... Not impressed.
I'm damned if I don't back up what I say in some form, and I'm damned if I do back up what I say with what I have available. Worse, it is always from the exact same people.
It wouldn't matter if I had shown 100 runs with and without windfalls, or no run data at all, because the same people posting here would still find a way to start flinging mud. We both know it. |
Honestly, you present four trial runs, which is a statistically insignificant amount of data, and suggest that the devs go check whether Windfalls are working properly. That's not how it works. If you want to convince the devs that the game is not acting in accordance with the stated behavior, then you need to compile that information yourself. There's a reason Arcanaville has credibility: she's willing to go that extra distance to back up what she says, and she says what the data says, not what she would like it to say.
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You could always try option C: don't make statements about the game with little to no evidence to back you up. If what you have available isn't sufficient, then don't rely on it.
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But I won't add anything else, since I think the majority of the helpful information in this thread has already passed.
Tiny chance for a few more random rewards for real cash.
I'll just stick with the standard random for free.
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I share your lack of enthusiasm for Windfall. I had heard of others getting one or two purple drops on smash all ITFs so I reserved them for such an outing. After 5 runs with windfalls I hadn't had any valuable drops. Random is random, but I hate random.
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It's not a guarantee that they will be GOOD drops.
I mean, it's not called "Purple Drop Temp Power" is it?
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
That would be fine if I did, in fact, get the 50% increased drop rate as claimed. I did not. I got +33%, -14%, and -33% thread drops. No amount of hand-waving will get around that.
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Not to mention, if you take account of your drops as a whole, not just threads. You get an increase on the controls all three times, as much as a 70% increase one time.
You say you made this thread in the hopes the developers will look into it.
If you think they might, then either you have no understanding of statistics, or you believe that the developers don't.
Because no-one with such an understanding would ever think that a single test with three controls would be enough to justify a retest of the entire system.
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The Windfall gives you MORE drops.
It's not a guarantee that they will be GOOD drops. I mean, it's not called "Purple Drop Temp Power" is it? |
Soooo, yeah windfalls . . . not impressed.
The inf it gives is insignificant, if one has any market usage knowledge at all.
With that said if others find it useful and worth spending cash on, be my guest. I don't think the Paragon Market or the devs will oppose more funds.
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The problem with the data is that it is not uniform. You are using 4 different UGTs as your test. Did anyone DC during it? Did you kill the EXACT same amount of enemies? There are way too many variables and too small of a sample size to give an accurate reflection on whether the power is WAI. If you are truly trying to test Windfall you need to do it on a much smaller team (preferably solo) on the same map, with the same amount of enemies etc. As far as I can tell from your data Windfall is working in that it provided you with the promised inf gain...everything else is random especially with such a large player base absorbing the rewards.
I've used two windfalls and gotten a purple drop both times. I popped them before soloing -1x8 with bosses for the whole duration of the first one, and for the second about a quarter of the time solo -1x8, half the time doing 54x8 missions with 2 friends, and the last part of the time before it wore off doing a 3 person MoITF on +0. I think I got the second purple during the ITF but I'm not positive (it was a crappy one, the first one was a Hecatomb proc though.)
And is precisely why I don't use Windfalls. We get enough crap drops (temp power overload anyone?) clogging up our storage. We don't need more. I actually never expected it to do anything but what it does.
Soooo, yeah windfalls . . . not impressed. The inf it gives is insignificant, if one has any market usage knowledge at all. With that said if others find it useful and worth spending cash on, be my guest. I don't think the Paragon Market or the devs will oppose more funds. |
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
*tosses name in hat of not impressed with Windfalls* crank it to a 50% increase and I'll start using them again.
I also don't think WE are the people they are aimed at.
Has it occurred to anyone else that they may be focused at people who just started playing and don't even have access to the market. let alone the knowledge to earn money in it?
A 25% boost is pretty nice when you are totally reliant on what drops for you to fund your character.
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
I also don't think WE are the people they are aimed at.
Has it occurred to anyone else that they may be focused at people who just started playing and don't even have access to the market. let alone the knowledge to earn money in it? A 25% boost is pretty nice when you are totally reliant on what drops for you to fund your character. |
I'd agree here with the last statement.
For totally new people (or people coming back) without a lot of money, getting all those common recipe drops are really nice; the person can either sell them for a good chunk of change or use them to craft IOs.
I know I haven't used all of my Windfalls that I've received from vet rewards (2 left I think)...I never saw a "purple drop temp power" so..yeah, it's not that great for me.
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How I would fix windfalls:
currently, as indicated upthread, they just multiply existing drop rates. I'd tag a solid n% add on to the end of that formula.
Pulling numbers out of the air for demonstration-sake and going with windfall=a % chance multiplier of 1.25 (or a 25% boost to existing percentages for drops):
Current formula:
<existing chance of drop>*1.25
Proposed formula:
(<existing chance of drop>*1.25) + <n value>
So using something like an inspiration, say that natively drops at 25% and putting n at a mere .5% value, you get a change from current windfall drop rate of 31.25% to 31.75% with the new proposed rate. Not much difference.
But where it would matter is the sort of stuff people are *expecting* to FEEL boosted when using a purchased consumable like a windfall--the much rarer drops. For demonstration sake, let's assume purples drop at a .3% rate. With the current windfall, you go from .3% to a meager .375% chance at getting a purple. A number so small that you will likely not see a purple regardless. (Though yes, some outliers report netting 5 purples on a very lucky streak.) But with the new formula, you'd go from .3% to .875%, or more than double the odds of getting the good stuff.
Additionally, I'd add a 0% or negative% chance that ALL mobs will drop the recipes that were once reserved for TF and trial random pools. These recipes, such as the Numina proc, currently have a tiny chance to drop from bosses. By adding a null or slightly negative percentage (say -.1%), when crunched through the new formula, all mobs are now imbued with a tiny chance to drop things like a Numina proc (if in level range) when using a windfall.
These two changes I believe could be balanced to make windfalls actually FEEL more like a windfall while not destroying the market. For good reason, the devs don't want to see purples become so entirely common. But as it stands now, I agree with sentiments in this thread that report being drastically underwhelmed (and as a result highly disappointed) when using these things in their current state.
I would also say that people aren't using them under ideal conditions for valuable drops. They can be claimed on any character, pick one with decent or better survivability and good AOE. Use Windfall when you have time to devote to drop farming, ie: beating the hell out of Council and the like on -1x8. Spend the duration of Windfall doing this, and you'll probably get something good out of it. Don't blame the power itself because you chose to be on a team or play a slow paced character when you used it.
To be fair - I have never bought XP Boosters or Windfalls from the market - I've only used my T9 Paragon Reward tokens to get them, so I feel they provide satisfactory benefit in that regard.
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I would also say that people aren't using them under ideal conditions for valuable drops. They can be claimed on any character, pick one with decent or better survivability and good AOE. Use Windfall when you have time to devote to drop farming, ie: beating the hell out of Council and the like on -1x8. Spend the duration of Windfall doing this, and you'll probably get something good out of it. Don't blame the power itself because you chose to be on a team or play a slow paced character when you used it.
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I thought the way they tested these in house was to spawn a map full of baddies use the kill command and auto tally the results.
I'm sorry that a 50% increase to a random chance event isn't enough for you. Good thing they are optional.
If you're the kind of person who plays like that, you don't need the boost.
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I don't do nothing but play like that, but if I'm concerned with getting the most out of Windfall I'll definitely make an actual effort to do so. I just don't think it's fair to use the power under suboptimal conditions and then complain about the results.
I know the OP does not want to hear this...but i have a plant/thorns dominator, and i used a windfall this evening, and i got THREE PURPLES!!! Sadly, they were none of the big money makers, but i may just save them till i can get some of those converters i have heard about and make better ones...
Personally, I love Windfalls. I recognize that the drop rate of purples is so low that boosting it by 50% is not an immediately visible change (in fact I wonder how many test runs you would have to perform to get statistically significant evidence verifying its effect on purples), but for what it's worth I've gotten more purples than usual recently while under the effects of windfall.
The higher drop rate of good inspirations helps too because it helps me burn through enemies even faster, further reinforcing the increased reward rate. Suddenly, I can go through a mission with 2-3 medium/large reds active nearly all the time.
I wouldn't buy them outright, but since I freely admit that I am a sucker for super packs, I'm glad I have like... 40 of them.
I would probably be very disappointed with them if I didn't constantly play at x8 on a character with at least decent AoE DPS. However since my main is a plant/fire/fire dominator, I'm pretty pleased.
It wouldn't matter if I had shown 100 runs with and without windfalls, or no run data at all, because the same people posting here would still find a way to start flinging mud. We both know it.
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