You are welcome to read it or even comment but where we would really appreciate your constructive comments is when the final version is posted in the aquarium discussion forum. I'll be sending out a guild announcement with a link. This is really a project on behalf of the Aquarium Defenders guild.
Thanks, smile
David
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THREAD TITLE
STRIKE PACKS - Panagrammic please read
POLL:
I prefer Decorative Strike Packs
I prefer High Trigger Strike Packs
Sell all Monsters & Fish in Phin Phang
Poll Whore - clicking here to not mess up your poll
@Panagrammic
On 5/12 you posted monster strike packs were removed due to numerous complaints and new strike packs may be added later. The purpose of this thread is for aquarium owners to communicate with you what we would like to see in future strike packs / future sale of certain monsters. Initial post is distilled from the discussion of a number of tank owners but we also hope to generate interest and entertain other ideas.
@Tank Owners
Your CONSTRUCTIVE feedback / opinions / ideas are welcome in this thread. It is okay to disagree with what we posted or what Panagrammic replies to but please be nice about it. The purpose of this thread is to encourage conversation about strike packs so when Gaia brings them back they have a better shot of supplying a product that will sell and satisfy more users.
SUMMARY OF STRIKE PACK 'WANTS'
(Listing this first for folks who don't want to read the 'why' discussion below.)
- Make strike packs targeted by type instead of 'one size fits all'. Some for lower end monsters targeted at decorative tank owners and some targeted at users who want high end monsters.
Significantly increase the odds of getting decent (medium to high trigger) fish out of a strike pack
Publish the odds of getting the 'prize' fish in each strike pack.
Also sell the HT monsters directly in Phin Phang for users who prefer to purchase directly.
Structure pricing so users providing HT tanks for others to play can at least turn a modest profit in exchange for their time and effort.
OBSERVATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS:
(The thoughts below are the basis for the requests above)
Any aquarium strike pack product offered by Gaia Interactive should adequately address three main areas of concern.
1. Tank Owners
Predictability of purchase, HT tank owners not having to buy a lot of low end fish they don't want in order to obtain what they do want, the ability to purchase at a price that will allow them to turn at least a modest profit. Decorative tank owners not having to pay a premium for packs that include high end fish.
2. All Users / Gaia overall
The whole inflation thing. "Cheap fish that drop tons of gold destroy the economy and make it impossible for me to purchase (insert inflated rare here)".
3. Gaia Interactive as a company.
Obviously what ever Gaia does needs to be good for their cash flow as a company, both directly as in "sell more stuff for Gaia cash" but also indirectly as in "If what we do ruins the economy and annoys too many users then we lose customer base in the long run".
It appears the main complaint among tank owners about the previous strike packs is the old structure was weighted too heavily on number 3 (cash income to Gaia) and gave too little consideration to number 1 (HT tank owners not paying too much for lots of strike packs full of low end monsters).
Panagrammic has stated he feels HT tank owners should be able to turn a profit on their tanks that takes into account the risk, effort and time delay on earnings. Not surprisingly most high end tank owners agree. Few tank owners were able to do that with the odds / pricing of the old strike packs. However, requests for how the new strike packs should be structured need to be realistic about their effect on numbers 2 & 3 above.
The idea behind asking for the high end fish to be sold directly as well as in strike packs is some users don't want to gamble with strike packs. Presumably they would pay a bit more to get the fish they want directly rather then gambling on a win via strike pack.
In this sense a strike pack would be similar to the 'grab bag' some stores offer. You don't know what you are getting but you are usually guaranteed the value will be at least 'X' and in exchange for buying more sight unseen you have a chance of getting something more valuable.
Selling high end monsters directly from Phin Phang would also help drive down Marketplace prices for these fish. This would enable more users to turn a profit on these fish even with the reduced gold earnings from recent BG changes.
Some users would like to see the low end fish removed from strike packs entirely. This is the thought behind asking for a separate strike pack targeted at users who are just interested in a low gold decorative tank.
If high end monsters are not made available for direct sale in Phin Phang then at least remove the low end, available for gold, monsters from the strike packs. People were getting upset when they bought a strike pack, only to get one or even FOUR fish worth 2500 gold.
Please help us help Panagrammic by commenting on which suggestions you support or adding your own constructive ideas to this thread.