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BHVR, Capping vials for the event is a PR MISTAKE!

Troylus
Troylus Member Posts: 40
edited October 2018 in General Discussions

There is no reason to cap the number of vials that players can earn during the Hallowed Blight event. Why? Because the Event is already capped by TIME. You can't get any more vials after Nov. 2.

So, this is a significant PR mistake that BHVR is making here. By capping the number of vials that players can earn, they are capping the incentives to continue participating in the event. This, in turn, is already generating some ill-will among the player base.

Your players want to play their little bloody hearts out and be rewarded for it.

You should let them!

Generating bad sentiment is the exact opposite of what you want a free event to do.

For example, compare how this Hallowed Blight event is being received by the players to how the "free" XCom 2 content patch that was released a couple weeks ago from FIRAXIS was received. The catch there was that the patch is only free for a limited time, but the player base absolutely LOVES them for it because there was NO CAP on their playtime.

See the difference BHVR? Show some love for your players and they will show you some love back.

(And, yes, I am a professional game developer with over two-decades experience, so I do know a thing or two about Developer-Gamer relations).

Post edited by Troylus on

Comments

  • Broccoli_Jaeger
    Broccoli_Jaeger Member Posts: 252
    The cosmetic shouldn't be available forever. This makes them completely worthless because everyone can get them
  • Zanfer
    Zanfer Member Posts: 647
    edited October 2018

    @Troylus said:
    There is no reason to cap the number of vials that players can earn during the Hallowed Blight event. Why? Because the Event is already capped by TIME. You can't get any more after Nov. 2.

    So, this is a significant PR mistake that BHVR is making here. By capping the number of vials that players can earn, they are capping the incentives to continue participating in the event. This, in turn, is already generating some ill-will among the player base. They want to play their little bloody hearts out and be rewarded for it.

    Let me guess you play the game already when there is no event. Since this event caps vials you/other players are willing to not play the event anymore after you/other players are done with getting vials even though you will gain more bp during this event compared to not having the event at all? Yet after the event you/other players will continue playing the game? Am I hearing this correct @ScottJund

  • HulkHodn
    HulkHodn Member Posts: 116
    The cosmetic shouldn't be available forever. This makes them completely worthless because everyone can get them
    So you need cosmetics in a videogame to feel special or to boost your ego? Kind of sad...
  • Zanfer
    Zanfer Member Posts: 647

    @Broccoli_Jaeger said:
    The cosmetic shouldn't be available forever. This makes them completely worthless because everyone can get them

    Isn't that the point of a skin so people who want it can wear the skin...

  • Gilly
    Gilly Member Posts: 10

    I read you, RuneStarr. I think you made a lot of good points in your response.

  • FayeZahara
    FayeZahara Member Posts: 965
    You will finish one side in three days 
  • BottledWater
    BottledWater Member Posts: 248

    I would allready be fine with the event if you could Unlock 2 skins with playtime but this is kind of a bummer

  • Dreamnomad
    Dreamnomad Member Posts: 3,850

    @Troylus said:
    There is no reason to cap the number of vials that players can earn during the Hallowed Blight event. Why? Because the Event is already capped by TIME. You can't get any more vials after Nov. 2.

    The reward after you have earned the cosmetics is a buttload of bloodpoints. That is the reward to continue playing.

  • Gilly
    Gilly Member Posts: 10

    @Dreamnomad said:

    @Troylus said:
    There is no reason to cap the number of vials that players can earn during the Hallowed Blight event. Why? Because the Event is already capped by TIME. You can't get any more vials after Nov. 2.

    The reward after you have earned the cosmetics is a buttload of bloodpoints. That is the reward to continue playing.

    Only if someone makes the offering though, right? We're not getting double bloodpoints.

  • Dreamnomad
    Dreamnomad Member Posts: 3,850

    @Gilly said:

    @Dreamnomad said:

    @Troylus said:
    There is no reason to cap the number of vials that players can earn during the Hallowed Blight event. Why? Because the Event is already capped by TIME. You can't get any more vials after Nov. 2.

    The reward after you have earned the cosmetics is a buttload of bloodpoints. That is the reward to continue playing.

    Only if someone makes the offering though, right? We're not getting double bloodpoints.

    If it is like basically all their events then yes. But basically, it is double bloodpoints. Sometimes more. If you have 7 special hooks and gain 5k for each of them that is 35,000 bonus bloodpoints which is more than double what you could have earned. If you don't burn an offering then you are shooting yourself in the foot. During the event you should be able to stockpile a large number of Escape Cakes or Survivor Puddings if you do it right. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

  • Troylus
    Troylus Member Posts: 40

    @Dreamnomad said:

    The reward after you have earned the cosmetics is a buttload of bloodpoints. That is the reward to continue playing.

    Totally true - but its more like a consolation reward for no longer being able to participate in the event properly. Many players are expressing disappointment rather than excitement - and that's the opposite of the reaction you want.

    To clarify, I'm not a naysayer on the event at all. As a fan of the game, I think it's great that they're doing this!

    I just think BHVR could've been smarter in the conditions of the event and got a more universally positive reaction rather than the mixed one they're getting now.

  • Troylus
    Troylus Member Posts: 40

    As a further thought, after uncapping the limits on the vials, BHVR could've said that the option to get the new skins (by play or by purchase) would end with the event.

    They could've said the skins MIGHT be available in the future, but that they would NEVER be available again via an event OR AT THE REDUCED PRICES that they are being offered during the event.

    This sort of explanation creates perceived value in the players via market scarcity. Players who couldn't complete enough vials to unlock everything would feel compelled to purchase the rest.

    Bam! BHVR makes more money on sales AND the player base is happier because they feel like they're getting stuff for free or they're making the choice to buy what they don't have the time to play to get at a discount.

    See how this PR stuff is supposed to work?

  • Gilly
    Gilly Member Posts: 10

    @Troylus said:
    As a further thought, after uncapping the limits on the vials, BHVR could've said that the option to get the new skins (by play or by purchase) would end with the event.

    They could've said the skins MIGHT be available in the future, but that they would NEVER be available again via an event OR AT THE REDUCED PRICES that they are being offered during the event.

    This sort of explanation creates perceived value in the players via market scarcity. Players who couldn't complete enough vials to unlock everything would feel compelled to purchase the rest.

    Bam! BHVR makes more money on sales AND the player base is happier because they feel like they're getting stuff for free or they're making the choice to buy what they don't have the time to play to get at a discount.

    See how this PR stuff is supposed to work?

    If, if they offered them at a steep discount during the event-- 75% off-- I would probably think really hard about buying some of them. 50% would make me feel hesitant, but I'd probably buy 1 just because discount. 25%? Yeah, right. Mhm. Real generous.

    But you're right, offering a discount goes a long way towards getting that dollar. In general, scarcity improves the value-- but artificial scarcity is a lot harder to work with. We KNOW BHVR is setting the prices for all of these things internally, without showing us any figures like-- how many people normally buy a cosmetic? How much does it cost to make a 4K cosmetic set? I assume it costs a week's wages to make a 4K cosmetic, 1000$, but if ten thousand people buy each and every cosmetic then it ought to have a price that reflects the cost properly, something like 1$ each or 2$ each.

    Lootbox games like Overwatch get away with scarcity by also artificially imbalancing the scales-- however, they actually make their cosmetics more rare than other cosmetics and not just labeled 'rare'. I hate lootboxes, but they're a really good example of how to actually create scarcity and not just arbitrarily determine how scarce something is.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited October 2018

    @Gilly said: Lootbox games like Overwatch get away with scarcity by also artificially imbalancing the scales-- however, they actually make their cosmetics more rare than other cosmetics and not just labeled 'rare'. I hate lootboxes, but they're a really good example of how to actually create scarcity and not just arbitrarily determine how scarce something is.

    There's another huge difference with Overwatch as well. They not only give you a free lootbox every account level, which is an average of 8-10 matches, but things like their events are also in the arcade mode. Which means that in addition to the lootbox per account level, you also get a lootbox for each time you win three event matches (which in this case, is the easy Halloween PvE mode), or up to 3 extra lootboxes per week. And their event also runs for roughly 3 weeks time.

    Not to mention, if you were a steady player before the event, you likely have coins already saved up.

    The wife and I bought, with the in-game coin currency, all the new Halloween skins we wanted, and so far have all but one of the others just from the free arcade-wins and account-level lootboxes. We haven't spent any real money on the event, and haven't even played more than we usually do.

    For newer players, yeah, they're probably buying lootboxes if they want everything. But so did we as new players back in 2016.

    What's interesting is that I will gladly spend some money on Overwatch or Heroes of the Storm, despite my loathing of lootboxes, because Blizzard leaves it as a choice. After this event in DBD, Behavior Interactive isn't even getting DLC money out of me in December or moving forward into 2019. This game is very much an occasional side thing now. I'm a new player, this was my first DBD event. It will also be my last DBD event. Good job BHVR.

  • HellDescent
    HellDescent Member Posts: 4,883
  • ACEvHEARTS
    ACEvHEARTS Member Posts: 403

    I would allready be fine with the event if you could Unlock 2 skins with playtime but this is kind of a bummer

    That’s kind of what I’m thinking. I will happily buy the rest with cash, but I think being able to earn 6 pieces of the possible 21 would have been a good balance. 
  • NMCKE
    NMCKE Member Posts: 8,243
    edited October 2018
    Troylus said:

    There is no reason to cap the number of vials that players can earn during the Hallowed Blight event. Why? Because the Event is already capped by TIME. You can't get any more vials after Nov. 2.

    So, this is a significant PR mistake that BHVR is making here. By capping the number of vials that players can earn, they are capping the incentives to continue participating in the event. This, in turn, is already generating some ill-will among the player base.

    Your players want to play their little bloody hearts out and be rewarded for it.

    You should let them!

    Generating bad sentiment is the exact opposite of what you want a free event to do.

    For example, compare how this Hallowed Blight event is being received by the players to how the "free" XCom 2 content patch that was released a couple weeks ago from FIRAXIS was received. The catch there was that the patch is only free for a limited time, but the player base absolutely LOVES them for it because there was NO CAP on their playtime.

    See the difference BHVR? Show some love for your players and they will show you some love back.

    (And, yes, I am a professional game developer with over two-decades experience, so I do know a thing or two about Developer-Gamer relations).

    I agree, not everyone has a lot of time to play DBD and the cap just adds more insult to injury. I seen someone else say that they should increase the amount of vials required to buy cosmetics:

    25 Vials Per Cosmetic Peice: For the first 3 cosmetics peices bought from the store.
    50 Vials Per Cosmetic Peice: For the next 3 cosmetics peices bought from the store.
    100 Vials Per Cosmetic Peice: For the next 3 cosmetics peices bought from the store.
    200 Vials Per Cosmetic Peice: For the rest of the cosmetic prices.

    To grind every single cosmetic peice, it would cost 2,925 Vials. This would take a while to grind but players are rewarded for putting the time into earning the full 7 cosmetics sets 21/21.
  • Broccoli_Jaeger
    Broccoli_Jaeger Member Posts: 252
    Zanfer said:

    @Broccoli_Jaeger said:
    The cosmetic shouldn't be available forever. This makes them completely worthless because everyone can get them

    Isn't that the point of a skin so people who want it can wear the skin...

    But these are EVENT skins. They should only be available during the event and not like a collection like the "Fog Travelers". The Hound Mask for the Huntress isn't available anymore because it was an EVENT COSMETIC

    Thats the point of event cosmetics...