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This is the 'real' reason farmable dragons aren't in game.
I'll start this by saying this is of course speculation. But its met with reason.
We all know of the debacle that happened on patch day, and the big let downs that followed when not only did we not get the dragon drops, but instead only got the lootboxes instead. As many of you already speculate, this is a cash grab on EME's side to maximize profits before releasing alternative methods. For those who think that me and many others who think this are just nay sayers and conspiracy theorist consider the following:
The dragon models are already in game
Can't be a problem with the 3D models of the dragons being not functinal, we've seen them in our build on Spacecat's stream. If you have to know how to do so you can easily find graphics packages and view them. Here is the Iron Dragon added to client Sept 20th:
and the crimson
The actual dragon tokens we are waiting to farm are already in game
What is that you say? Yes the items we are all waiting to drop are in the game right now. As many of you already know, dragon tokens are a obtainable prize from opening the dragon lootboxes seen in this drop list https://store.enmasse.com/tera/item/royaldiamonddragonlordbox/royal-diamond-dragonlord-box and confirmed on your server's broker.
What does this really mean?
It means EME simply doesn't want to release the dragons now. The item to obtain them already exists, the graphical representation already exists, the skills are already function, so do the animations. All there is to do is modify loot tables of bams and bosses to drop these items that already exist in our client. This is something well within EME's power. They have shown and done this numerous times before, on the fly with timed drop events or special mobs (literally think of any event). If you were to muster up enough gold right now and buy the necessary tokens from your broker, you could have a dragon right now, if they only decided to add them to the table of purchasable items (we already know they can easily modify token shop contents, think festival tokens). Meaning there is no 'problem' implementing them, as they are already implemented, just purposely omitted.
3D model + functioning skill + existing item + power to modify drop potential or rates. We will most likely see them after the climax of sales is accomplished by people who would have bought in anyway, those who preferred those dragons and those who are too frustrated and cannot wait. This all equals big wins for EME. Your satisfaction compared to the profits that can be made is not important. You'll be mad, but you're stuck, you'll still play and they still win. I'm all for this company thriving but it sucks being one of the playthings at the end of what many are seeing as an obvious ploy.
Many people are asking I see around, so I thought i would lay it out in an easily digestible format so close the gap on speculation and reality. I know this is the forums and by its nature there will be hate speech and trolling of this post. Of course, EME could respond with an actual reason, but as it stands now, this is pretty irrefutable to me.
We all know of the debacle that happened on patch day, and the big let downs that followed when not only did we not get the dragon drops, but instead only got the lootboxes instead. As many of you already speculate, this is a cash grab on EME's side to maximize profits before releasing alternative methods. For those who think that me and many others who think this are just nay sayers and conspiracy theorist consider the following:
The dragon models are already in game
Can't be a problem with the 3D models of the dragons being not functinal, we've seen them in our build on Spacecat's stream. If you have to know how to do so you can easily find graphics packages and view them. Here is the Iron Dragon added to client Sept 20th:
and the crimson
The actual dragon tokens we are waiting to farm are already in game
What is that you say? Yes the items we are all waiting to drop are in the game right now. As many of you already know, dragon tokens are a obtainable prize from opening the dragon lootboxes seen in this drop list https://store.enmasse.com/tera/item/royaldiamonddragonlordbox/royal-diamond-dragonlord-box and confirmed on your server's broker.
What does this really mean?
It means EME simply doesn't want to release the dragons now. The item to obtain them already exists, the graphical representation already exists, the skills are already function, so do the animations. All there is to do is modify loot tables of bams and bosses to drop these items that already exist in our client. This is something well within EME's power. They have shown and done this numerous times before, on the fly with timed drop events or special mobs (literally think of any event). If you were to muster up enough gold right now and buy the necessary tokens from your broker, you could have a dragon right now, if they only decided to add them to the table of purchasable items (we already know they can easily modify token shop contents, think festival tokens). Meaning there is no 'problem' implementing them, as they are already implemented, just purposely omitted.
3D model + functioning skill + existing item + power to modify drop potential or rates. We will most likely see them after the climax of sales is accomplished by people who would have bought in anyway, those who preferred those dragons and those who are too frustrated and cannot wait. This all equals big wins for EME. Your satisfaction compared to the profits that can be made is not important. You'll be mad, but you're stuck, you'll still play and they still win. I'm all for this company thriving but it sucks being one of the playthings at the end of what many are seeing as an obvious ploy.
Many people are asking I see around, so I thought i would lay it out in an easily digestible format so close the gap on speculation and reality. I know this is the forums and by its nature there will be hate speech and trolling of this post. Of course, EME could respond with an actual reason, but as it stands now, this is pretty irrefutable to me.
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Comments
Any publisher will pull off a stunt like this. Claim something went wrong when in reality they just want more money especially when evidence show that there's really nothing wrong to begin with (the sheer fact that cash shop dragons are working as intended is proof enough).
be careful what you post........this could be perceived as " spreading rumors " or " defaming eme/bhs ". just trying to help you out before you get a warning or getting hit with the ban hammer.
While we all 'know' this to be 'true', that is obviously not the official word. All we got that there were 'problems' and 'issues' with 'moving pieces' and how things 'weren't ready'. Basically intending for us to take it at face value and move on. It just would have been met with more consideration if they just came out and said that. I only laid this out so that it may debunk any fancy politi-speak so the confusion i keep seeing in game, and around these parts can be put to rest.
But yes, this is all speculation ofc, I'm no EME insider, and don't wish to be met with a silencer from any overlords. This was said in literally first line of post ^^
If you're right, there's little to discuss. My argument would be, if that was the plan, there is absolutely no benefit in not outright saying it. People are getting more mad/worked-up because they think there's a big conspiracy then if they had just said "hey, look, we decided to do a timed exclusive on the cash shop, but we will have it in-game in <x> time" and be done with it. People would be mad, but less mad if they just stated the date. To do this last minute switch "for marketing reasons" would be foolish, in my opinion. But hey, no company's above making foolish decisions, so let's consider that it is possible.
So, for the sake of fairness, let's consider that maybe something is actually wrong and requires some time and consideration to fix. Given that the mounts were shown and working on Friday, what might those be?
1) Perhaps the method for rewarding the tokens from BAMs and battlegrounds were not working properly, or the rate that they were dropping was going to cause a giant controversy. Someone may decide it's better to delay it to get the balance right before releasing. (Even if it's true they can change drop rates, that doesn't mean it's a one-button-press, particularly when they implied it's supposed to be pervasive throughout the content.)
2) Perhaps the iron and crimson mounts do not have the same passive skills as the cash shop versions, as had originally been explained and advertised. Perhaps, for whatever reason, their tests revealed that the cash shop versions had more powerful buffs, and they knew this would not go over well at all when it was revealed. Fixing this would require going back to BHS and having them correct it, and this would take time. But given that the cash shop ones were at the promised levels, they decided to release those. (Wouldn't have been my call to split, but okay.)
3) Perhaps there is something wrong with the tokens themselves that are not working as planned. Perhaps they are not tradable, or cannot be stacked properly to the expected quantities, or have some other malfunction that was going to cause a lot of grief.
Or if you want to go semi-conspiratorial, maybe they had everything all set for release and someone from on-high at BHS forced them to put a stop to their marketing plan for political reasons, or had demanded they make some change that was counter to what EME had wanted to do, and they knew was going to get people upset. So rather than simply adhere to the demand, they delayed it until they could work out the disagreement and find a solution that would be acceptable to BHS and players. In such a situation a) you wouldn't be allowed to explain why because it's confidential and b) you wouldn't be allowed to give a date until it's resolved because you don't know.
Anyway, of course all this is speculation. But there are a ton of possible reasons why this could happen beyond just "EME didn't want to do it because they're greedy, and they're just lying." As I said before, if that's the reason, it's worse for them to lie -- just own it, let people be mad, provide the date, and deal with it. It'd be insane for the management team to agree to a strategy of "make up a non-existent reason, lie to all the users, rake in the profits" as if there'd be no fallout. Players aren't that forgiving. So I think it's more logical to believe that there is some sort of actual problem. The real problem is, of course, that -- for whatever reason -- they haven't explained what the problem is, or when it will be resolved. My guess is that it's either they don't want to make a statement that turns out to be untrue (and just want to wait until their ducks are in a row before making a statement), or they are not allowed to say anything for political reasons.
This is exactly why I think the prevailing theory doesn't hold water. That is an okay strategy, and they would be allowed to just own it. Having it be a timed-exclusive on the cash shop would be annoying, but people would live with it if they at least knew what the date was going to be (it won't prevent them from farming when the time comes). So even if this actually were the true and actual reason deep down, the way they went about it would be completely illogical (to me, anyway). I don't buy it.
If you are still not happy with what happened, then be a developer, join eme and change the situation yourselves instead saying negative stuff about them and disputing their efforts.
It's so demoralizing when here you are trying to fix the issue and then players are directing their unfounded anger at you. Behind you, you have your higher management holding on to your KPI(key performance index) folder; in front of you, the players (customers) are raging and flaming you.
Come on, give them a break already.
You know what, I really thought someone with an EmE logo said it. I was practically cross eyed reading all these different posts Tuesday night when we couldn't log on cause the servers were down. So, my bad there.
they can't just outright say they are doing this so that the stupid, rich and desperate kids will spend real $$ to spam the loot box so
they just give a reasonable excuse for dumb people to believe in.
if this is not obvious enough to you, you must be really gullible on how this world works.
Sorry but the three points you've made are literally basic level QA Testing. Any QA Tester with experience can easily spot those problems and have them reported to developers and developers will have fixed them quickly long before the patch even made it out into the live server. And they will have done multiple tests by then before release (they will have literally patched their Test Server like 20 times to ensure that said content is tested and ready for release). And not just that, both free and cash based items, if contents are the same, will have been tested as a bulk within the patch, if one is tested and working properly, the other is always tested to ensure they are working properly just as well and most developers will ensure that the bulk of the patch will have been fixed and ready for release.
I don't even need to look into the game's data to see that the whole free dragon delay was complete bs by EME, the sheer fact that they were supposed to come in as a bulk patch yet one half is delayed is obviously cash grab tactics. I can even tell it was an excuse because they could easily hold off on the content yet they decided to release the cash only as apparently it was either 'hold off free or no dragons'. Many developers have used this excuse in the past and it's nothing new. If they held off the Dragon Patch as a whole then it would have been understandable that there is an issue with the content and that it's not yet ready as the content as a whole is not 100% completed. Yes people will rage, but it will have been more believable that there is indeed an issue.
Honestly, from my experience both in the software industry and in seeing EME's work... their QA Testing is honestly lacking to that degree. Consider the sheer volume of regressions in this patch alone -- goldfinger tokens, scores of account-bound items, multiple lootboxes and cosmetic items (some of which have had the very same regression before!) and so on. Changes made in the last two weeks were literally not made in the build they were testing at the very same time. You don't even want to get me started on the basic failures I've troubleshooted in the past regarding their patch build process. The QA people seem like nice guys from what we've seen on stream and interacted on the forum, but they are woefully underfunded and patches are incredibly undertested both by EME and BHS.
The way EME is distributing these mounts is unique to our build, and not something BHS set up for them. So if you ask me to believe that this sort of failure could be caused by a QA fail (perhaps compounded by changing directions from management/marketing -- because they never change their minds in any company), I'd absolutely believe it... sorry to them.
Holding off the whole patch just because the in-game dragons aren't working right I don't think would pass management review; there'd be too many cascading consequences to the schedule. Now, I personally would have held off on all dragons just to avoid this perception, and that's where I think they erred. But to explicitly come out with the full release plan and preview the methodology on-stream and then pull it at the last second isn't some brilliant master marketing plan ("let's tell them they'll be able to get it in game, but then pull it, and maybe in their confusion and impatience they'll spend hundreds of dollars on lootboxes!"). It could be some top exec balked at the last minute, and that probably would explain it, but it wasn't exactly graceful execution.
Anyway, we don't know so all we can do is wait.