Loot Chest System Update

We have gotten a lot of feedback about the new loot chest reward system released earlier this week, and it's clear that we need to make some changes to the system and also provide more transparency around the numbers. As a result we plan to implement the following changes tomorrow, Thursday, February 6th, around 9 - 10 AM EST.

Normally we try to give at least 7 days notice for changes, however since this change is an update to what was released earlier in the week and is in response to significant player feedback, we thought it would be better to get it fixed quickly and not make everyone wait a week. Please let us know if you feel that will be an issue.

Loot Chest Updates

Instead of getting a certain level loot chest with a random amount of items inside, we are changing it so that you will receive the same number of individual loot chests as you would previously have received reward cards. For example, if previously you would have received 12 reward cards for completing a quest, now you will receive 12 loot chests. Similarly, if you would have received 80 reward cards for your season reward you will now receive 80 loot chests. This should make it very simple and clear to see that you are receiving more loot at higher leagues.

The goal of the changes to the reward system is to reduce the speed at which the Reward edition cards get released and to allow for a variety of different items to be given out as rewards. It is not meant to reduce the value of the rewards that players are earning, and we hope these changes will make it more clear that that is the case.

Loot Chest Contents

The contents of the individual loot chests will be randomly determined as follows:

  • Reward Card (33% chance) - Will contain a random card from the Reward edition as normal.
  • Potion (33% chance) - Will contain exactly one charge of either a Legendary or an Alchemy potion.
  • DEC (33% chance) - Will contain a random amount of DEC using the same probabilities as Untamed edition card burn rates. This means that typically it will be around 10 DEC, but it can be higher, and there is even a small chance of receiving around 50,000 DEC which is the burn rate for an Untamed edition Gold Foil Legendary card!
  • Essence Orb Pack (1% chance) - Will contain exactly one Essence Orb pack.

This model should again make it more simple and clear to see that the average DEC value of the loot chest rewards will stay roughly equal to what it would have been under the old system.

Quest Potions

With this update the description of the Quest Potions will also be changed so that each charge gives 5 additional Loot Chests for a single quest reward.

Different Types of Rewards

We want to reiterate that going forward we plan to add a number of additional types of rewards to the loot chests as new features are added to the game. To start we plan to add some new card skins as loot chest prizes, which a number of players have requested. The details of the new skins are still TBD, so please stay tuned for updates on that!

Also, don't forget that 10 new Reward Cards are scheduled to be released on Monday!

Developer Note

For any third party developers working with the reward transactions, this update will change the structure of the claim_reward transaction results. Now each chest reward will be listed separately rather than grouping rewards of the same type together as had been done previously. Please reference the following example:

{
    "success": true,
    "rewards": [
        { "type": "reward_card", "quantity": 1, "card": { "uid": "C3-96-XZ0EV4LIK0", "card_detail_id": 96, "xp": 0, "gold": false, "edition": 3 } },
        { "type": "potion", "quantity": 1, "potion_type": "legendary" },
        { "type": "potion", "quantity": 1, "potion_type": "gold" },
        { "type": "reward_card", "quantity": 1, "card": { "uid": "C3-95-1I73A884MO", "card_detail_id": 95, "xp": 0, "gold": false, "edition": 3 } },
        { "type": "reward_card", "quantity": 1, "card": { "uid": "C3-91-VTA8APLMQ8", "card_detail_id": 91, "xp": 0, "gold": false, "edition": 3 } },
        { "type": "dec", "quantity": 110 },
        { "type": "pack", "quantity": 1, "edition": 2 },
        { "type": "reward_card", "quantity": 1, "card": { "uid": "C3-106-PCTE5J7XWW", "card_detail_id": 106, "xp": 0, "gold": false, "edition": 3 } }
    ],
    "potions": {
        "legendary": { "potion_type": "legendary", "charges_used": 7, "charges_remaining": 5521 },
        "gold": { "potion_type": "gold", "charges_used": 7, "charges_remaining": 158 },
        "quest": { "potion_type": "quest", "charges": 1, "charges_used": 1, "charges_remaining": 2 }
    }
}


Stay tuned for more updates from the Splinterlands!

Website | Blog | Discord | Telegram | Shop


NOTE: All rewards from this post will go to @steem.dao to support the development of the Steem platform.

Sort:  

As I'm usually the loudest in favor of the seven day rule I feel like I should say - this is fine with me.

The DEC value of 1 potion charge is really low compared to cards, though. I would suggest this should be one charge of each potion. Having unequal numbers of them is annoying for players anyway.

As I'm usually the loudest in favor of the seven day rule I feel like I should say - this is fine with me.

Thank you. We appreciate your feedback in particular on these things as you definitely understand the math and details of the game far more than most people and your comments and criticisms are usually spot-on.

Regarding the single potion charges - the average expected DEC value of an Untamed edition card (which is what we are using for rewards going forward) is approximately 60 DEC. Legendary potion charges are 40 DEC and Alchemy are 50 DEC, so on average 1 of those potion charges is worth 15 DEC less than a card. That discrepancy is currently made up by the 1% chance of getting an Essence Orb.

so I did the exact maths on this and the EV goes down from 93,61 DEC per reward card to 91,33 DEC per reward card.. doesn't seem like much but it actually is...

Completely agreed. Equal Legendary and Alchemy potions pls.

Posted using Partiko Android

so 1% is an Orb. But what if ORBS run out, and while we wait for a replacements do we have 1% to get absolutely nothing from some of the chests ?

And also I'd like to say that I really like this update, and I would actually love to see skins from rewards (But as I saw someone point out in discord, that in that case skins should be made tradeable, since if you aquire multiple of the same skin it becomes useless)

100% agree with this for the exact reasons specified. I might possibly go mad watching a useless pile of cards stack up in my deck with no way to do anything with them, but also, if I like the original art better than the skin I'd like to be able to sell or trade for one I do want.

Honestly, I just want options. As much as I love and enjoy this game and community one of the biggest draws for me is having control over my assets... unlike every other game on every other platform, and I think as long as that promise remains fulfilled I'll be pretty content with whatever rolls out. 😁

Yes, we plan for skins to be transferable. Also when/if orbs run out then they will either be replaced by something else or you will just get one of the other items in the chests that would have contained orbs. There will never be nothing in a chest.

I think skin should be made limited, just because it's available and useless, don't over give it and make it a junk item.

This is goodnews.... infact better than the former news....Having the exact amount of loot as reward is awesome..........

bcx.png

Add a total BCX counter for selected cards. Ty

I am very happy that you added transparency. I was in favor of the reasons you stated for the change, but I felt that you should tell us how the prizes were derived. With this update, mission accomplished! Good job once again!!!

Will skins have a resale value? While I appreciate some people have expressed an interest in them. There are also a number of people who have expressed having no interest in them whatsoever. Myself being one of them. 😁

Yes, we plan for skins to be transferable.

Alchemy and legendary potion? It will be also transferable?

For any third party developers working with the reward transactions, this update will change the structure of the `claim_reward` transaction results.

So this is a change only to the API response to transaction lookup, with no change to the custom JSON or quest lookup in the API?

Posted using Partiko Android

Yes, the only thing that will change is the structure of the transaction result JSON.

This is (almost) exactly what I wanted to see. I didn’t even realize I was bothered by the aesthetics of seeing less, even though in retrospect I don’t think I ever got used to cards being stacked instead of shown individually, but reading this made me realize it was a bigger deal than I thought.

I still don’t really like playing for potions, but I get the reasoning behind it, and hope I have enough sense to save a few for a future market (hopefully).

Also, breaking down the odds of possible rewards and further clarifying the rewards available to win released a little anxiety. I didn’t know orbs were a possibility. Even if it’s just 1% it’s a counter balance to the potions I don’t want... and having potions around when I open an orb I won doesn’t sound particularly bad so I’m definitely feeling much better about these changes. Thanks to the team for getting this update out so quickly and for continuing to surprise and, more often than not, delight.

Man!! I completely forgot about skins! I’m a little mixed on this, too, as I appreciate them but personally don't t really see the value in them while I still have so many cards to collect, it getting them for rewards will probably be a pleasant sprinkling of delight and I think it’s a pretty fine idea. Kudos for tossing that into the mix.