It is in EA's best interest to fix the Shard Shop

TheGreatBlakes
37 posts Member
edited February 2016
Some may argue that because there was nothing given for excess shards before, there doesn't need to be a decent exchange system in place for them. I would say, however, that this is not the case.

We have just seen the release of a new chromium character (Rex), and eventually we will see the introduction of more. The problem is, for people who already have all, or most, of the characters already, it's somewhat silly to buy more packs in hopes of unlocking the new toon/toons. You could spend hundreds of dollars on packs without seeing him, and currently, anything that is non-Rex is useless (due to the horrible rate and design of the shard shop). What this means, is that to a high spending whale, the value of a pack is close to $0... you reasonably aren't going to get anything.

For people to continue to spend money on packs, they need to actually be worth something, and with the current system, the more you spend the less valuable the packs become. I imagine this is not the way that EA want their game to work, they should want to encourage the people who are willing and able to spend money, to spend even more.

Offering more comprehensive rewards for excess shards would increase the value of packs, and encourage people to continue to buy them.

Replies

  • This game has a Huge flaw, and will be the death of the game. Greedy CG and absolutely no value for paying players. It's downright robbery the way this system devalues it's top spending customers.
  • Agree with the OP, and it's the reason I won't be buying any more Chromium packs in the foreseeable future without a pretty significant change to the shard shop. I know a guy who went through 100s of thousands of crystals and still only ended up with a 6* Rex, and now has enough Shard Credits to last a lifetime at the current rate he can spend them. The rate of diminishing returns is simply too high for anyone but the deepest of pockets to spend.

    I'd like to see the following changes:
    1) the Shard Shop doesn't offer you a character you already have at 7 stars. The code for this is so simple, it's embarrassing...
    2) the Shard Shop refreshes more often and/or offers more shards per purchase.
    3) there's a better exchange rate, approaching 1:1 for Chromium exclusive characters. I would actually a tiered exchange rate based on the exclusivity of the Shard you're trading in. For example, Darth Maul shards would be worth maybe 100 Shard Shop crystals, while shards farmable in SA/GW/Cantina would be worth 25. This would help the whales maintain the value of the Chromium-exclusive characters (making them more likely to continue to buy Chromium packs and thus crystals), while lessening the value of easy-to-farm shards that can't just be translated into Chromium-exclusive characters.

    What I was hoping to see when the Shard Shop was announced was an ability to convert the 1000s of extra shards for exclusive chars like Leia, Darth Maul, Kit, etc into similar chars I'd gotten a lot less of (Old Ben, mostly). Instead what we got was a reason never to buy Chromium packs ever again. Seems like that doesn't make a lot of business sense.
  • QGJM
    318 posts Member
    Wait for the shard Shop exclusive char...

    Did u really think u could get "free" Ben Shards for ur Leyla or Lumi Shards?
  • with the current system, the more you spend the less valuable the packs become. I imagine this is not the way that EA want their game to work, they should want to encourage the people who are willing and able to spend money, to spend even more.

    Offering more comprehensive rewards for excess shards would increase the value of packs, and encourage people to continue to buy them.

    So perfectly put. The more you spend, the less they're worth. Worst business model ever.
  • QGJM wrote: »
    Wait for the shard Shop exclusive char...

    Did u really think u could get "free" Ben Shards for ur Leyla or Lumi Shards?

    No, but I would expect to be able to with my leftover Leia and Darth Maul shards, for as long as they remain in the Chromium exclusive packs.
  • QGJM
    318 posts Member
    FireWater wrote: »
    QGJM wrote: »
    Wait for the shard Shop exclusive char...

    Did u really think u could get "free" Ben Shards for ur Leyla or Lumi Shards?

    No, but I would expect to be able to with my leftover Leia and Darth Maul shards, for as long as they remain in the Chromium exclusive packs.

    Since there is no difference in shards (farmable or exclusive ones) when transferring into the shard Shop currency, i think there will be no chromium exclusives in the Shop. Otherwise they ll ruin their chromium sales with it.
  • QGJM wrote: »
    Wait for the shard Shop exclusive char...

    Did u really think u could get "free" Ben Shards for ur Leyla or Lumi Shards?

    No, I don't, and from the perspective of someone who has a 7* Ben, this wouldn't make a difference.

    If I spend 315 crystals on a pack, most likely I get 12 shards of a character already at 7*, so then those 12 shards get me 180 currency. What I would think, is that EA would want that 180 units of shard shop currency to be able to get me something worth 315 crystals, otherwise I really have no reason to buy packs. I don't think I'm crazy to think that they want me to have a reason to buy packs.

    The exclusive character is also only going to be a temporary fix, once he/she is 7* it's right back to square one.
  • QGJM wrote: »
    FireWater wrote: »
    QGJM wrote: »
    Wait for the shard Shop exclusive char...

    Did u really think u could get "free" Ben Shards for ur Leyla or Lumi Shards?

    No, but I would expect to be able to with my leftover Leia and Darth Maul shards, for as long as they remain in the Chromium exclusive packs.

    Since there is no difference in shards (farmable or exclusive ones) when transferring into the shard Shop currency, i think there will be no chromium exclusives in the Shop. Otherwise they ll ruin their chromium sales with it.

    that's actually one of my criticisms. My spare chromium shards SHOULD be worth more than my spare shipment shards, approaching a 1:1 value in the shard shop. That's IF they want me to keep buying crystals to get chromium packs. As it is, I have reached the point where I don't buy chromium packs b/c when I do, they're nearly ALL extras. Not having anything of value to do with those extra shards is costing EA money.
  • I think that chromium-exclusive characters should have shards purchaseable in the shard shop.
    Also, selling shards from chromium-exclusive characters should have a much better exchange rate, to reward big spenders.
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