COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
Longest Night Locked

A little surprised to see this announcement locked so quickly!

All I was going to add was for those worried about not knowing what you are going to get, don't forget about the Elyrian Marketplace on Discord.

I imagine there will be plenty of trades going on once this little event ends.

If I was to add anything else it would be only that these events do price some people out, myself included. I've splurged initially but only maintained a trickle since.

Even though I got a couple of tokens and a catapult in the last event I didn't even manage to make a purchase in all four weeks.


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11/28/2019 1:06:34 PM #1

In light of the backlash EA received over "surprise mechanics" this year I'm not sure why Caspian was surprised by the response received, but clearly he was.

From Discord

"Caspien: Aww. My news item about the advent calendar has gone negative. ? It's possible people genuinely don't want the 3x advent calendars. That really surprises me."

Perhaps in order to better show his appreciation to backers he should consider "gifting" one calendar to each package holder?


You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. JAMES 1:19 NLT

11/28/2019 2:09:06 PM #2

I honestly see nothing wrong with the advent calendars

People whining over nothing - you don't like it? don't buy it!


11/28/2019 2:29:11 PM #3

I agree with Maul (yes one of the signs of the coming apocalypse). If you don't want it, don't buy it. I love advent calendars and think the studio is trying to offer something new to the community.

As far as gifting, the studio has given us a number of gifts with the last Kickstarterversary. Yes, we raised the funds, but even those who didn't contribute benefit from those who did.

Why do people have such a hard time realizing the company needs to raise money to keep development going???


11/28/2019 2:44:21 PM #4

When I first heard about this I was like "wtf they're doing lootboxes?" but then I actually read the article and realise it's just an advent calendar and realised the items you'll get by the end of it will be worth more than what you actually pay so I wasn't that bothered about it and this discount of items fits in with what a Black Friday sale is so really it's a nice mixture of Black Friday/Christmas.

Let's recap:

Regular Calendar - Price is $60 and all items inside are worth $175 to $200 in total.

Premium Calendar - Price is $75 and all items inside are worth $275 to $300 in total.

Those are pretty nice discounts. One qualm I see is, if 18 items in the regular come out at a cost of around $175 then each items original worth was about $10 one average and most $10 items in the store in the past wasn't that great. If one of the items was $40 for example that would mean 8 of the 18 total items would cost about $6. It's basically a balancing act.

Other negatives I can think of is you end up with items that to you personally may seem pointless or worthless cos you don't like them or they're useless to you, such as getting a tropical rainforest seedling kit when you're not even in the rainforest (as a random example, seeds might not even be an item in it) so in the end the worth to you personally may not match the price paid but then I suppose since all items can be giftable you could potentially trade with other people or sell in the marketplace.

I don't think this is as big of a deal as a lot of people are making it out to be and having a surprise item is always exciting. Had this been done at any other time of the year and were genuinely just lootboxes I'd see an issue but it's Christmas and this is more like an advent calendar so to be fair it sits with the season and advent calendars are traditional.

I think SBS should make sure all the items are really awesome just so those who complained ended up missing out so they'll kick themselves for not getting one. lol


11/28/2019 2:48:13 PM #5

Posted By Stelaphina at 09:29 AM - Thu Nov 28 2019

I agree with Maul (yes one of the signs of the coming apocalypse). If you don't want it, don't buy it. I love advent calendars and think the studio is trying to offer something new to the community.

As far as gifting, the studio has given us a number of gifts with the last Kickstarterversary. Yes, we raised the funds, but even those who didn't contribute benefit from those who did.

Why do people have such a hard time realizing the company needs to raise money to keep development going???

Because Caspian explicitly mentioned Loot Boxes as one of the reasons he turned down publishers. It was one of the things I admired. Now it's trying to justify the mechanic based off the value of virtual items or saying Advent calendars existed a long time ago.

At the end of the day they are $75 Loot Boxes. You can debate the perceived value of the loot boxes but you cannot debate what they are.


11/28/2019 3:10:08 PM #6

I don't think it's just a money problem this time. Sure getting new things feels nice and we continue to show our support to soul bound by buying the items in store. However it's missing the season of giving feel by being behind a pay wall for the poorer members of our community. Just giving everyone a present box with a random item in it that is unlocked at the end of the long night would be fun the entire community can experience together during unwrapping time. Then we can also buy the calendar to show our support for the team. I will always support soul bound from both my pocket and heart. Just would like something that has no intrinsic value, a Q&A video, pictures of the team, something that we don't have to buy to accompany the in store, support for the team and our collective dream, items. On that note thank you Soul Bound for the hard work you always put into COE can't wait to celebrate with you on launch day!


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11/28/2019 3:36:35 PM #7

A typical loot box comes with few guarantees in regards to desirable items, this advent calendar comes with a guarantee of the 3 new items, which are the primary highlight, this at a price which is comparable to what 3 promotional items could end up costing anyway. For those of us who buy most of the new stuff that goes up on the store anyway that's not a bad deal.

Don't get me wrong, the typical loot box and gacha mechanics are about as obnoxious and unwelcome as something can get within the context of gaming, particularly because they often are integrated in the game mechanics to the point of being necessary to fully enjoy the game (e.g. the mechanics take away from the complete experience you would had without them). This isn't the case here, and as the price could very likely be comparable to the three items guaranteed it's hardly fair to brush this off as your traditional loot box offering.

Is an advent calendar gambling? If you know it's chocolate inside it, is it gambling? Similarly you know the three new items is going to be in there.

Of course, if you're selective about your store purchases then skip the deal. Does it bug you that you might miss out on something relevant to you? Don't be, most things can be replicated within the game.

11/28/2019 3:42:42 PM #8

Posted By ShadowTani at 10:36 AM - Thu Nov 28 2019

A typical loot box comes with few guarantees, this advent calendar comes with a guarantee of 3 new items, this at a price which is comparable to what 3 promotional items could end up costing anyway. For those of us who buy most of the new stuff that goes up on the store anyway that's not a bad deal.

Don't get me wrong, the typical loot box and gacha mechanics are about as obnoxious and unwelcome as something can get within the context of gaming, particularly because they often are integrated in the game mechanics to the point of being necessary to fully enjoy the game (e.g. the mechanics take away from the complete experience you would had without them). This isn't the case here, and as the price could very likely be comparable to the three items guaranteed it's hardly fair to brush this off as your traditional loot box offering.

Is an advent calendar gambling? If you know it's chocolate inside it, is it gambling? Similarly you know the three new items is going to be in there.

Of course, if you're selective about your store purchases then skip the deal. Does it bug you that you might miss out on something relevant to you? Don't be, most things can be replicated within the game.

No. What bothers me is that we were told they skipped publishers because they did not want lootboxes. Now they have lootboxes and the game is not even in Alpha yet.

These are $75 lootboxes. They contain random items with a perceived value greater than the $75. I say perceived because they actually have no tangible value. If they did we would have to pay taxes on them.

It started with buying stuff to receive surprise gifts in the recent sale. Now it's flat out lootboxes for cash.


11/28/2019 3:57:12 PM #9

Are you telling me people are upset with the black Friday promotion?


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11/28/2019 4:08:04 PM #10

Eh, not all fruit are apples, an advent calendar that guarantees that you get the three items that are the most desired for this event is not fairly compared to a traditional loot box where you only have a microchance of acquiring the most desired items. Try not to let your dislike for something narrow your perspective.

The only aspect they share is that there's an element of chance there, but the only random stuff in this advent calendar are the replicate items that most people aren't going to be getting the calendar for anyway, they will purely be a bonus. I dunno, I'm certainly not getting the advent calendar for the repeat items, as I most likely have them already, I'll be getting it for the three new items which are guaranteed, thus from that perspective there is no gamble about it.

11/28/2019 4:09:30 PM #11

My main problem with these fundraising events is the blurred line between people buying because they still believe in SBS, and those that are buying due to psychological "pressure" of FOMO.

Obviously, SBS will present it as "don't listen to the complaints, look at all the people spending money - they must approve or they wouldn't buy!"

The reality is, these types of manipulations are common monetization schemes for all sorts of games these days, and companies do it because it works.

I view it as just another domino in the line.

They know perfectly well what they are doing, and what gray areas they are flirting with, regardless of the spin they put on it.

But, then again, as the years have shown, spin is what they are great at.


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11/28/2019 5:55:52 PM #12

Some people will bitch about anything!


11/28/2019 7:11:17 PM #13

FOMO is definitely playing in here. I’m not against the calendars, not at all. Just wish there was something also down at the $20 price point.

But even then I’d still be wishing I had more disposable income to splurge on the premium calendar.


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11/28/2019 8:20:15 PM #14

Posted By Darkax at 12:55 PM - Thu Nov 28 2019

Some people will bitch about anything!

Some people view it as something worth "bitching" over, given the progression of actions over time.


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11/28/2019 8:36:26 PM #15

While the optics of introducing something along the lines of loot boxes for a holiday promotion aren't great, I think the community is focusing on the wrong points.

As Caspian stated in discord almost exactly 2 years ago: Caspian ☁11/27/2017 We did not. As people pointed out, we have to be careful about sales, etc. We don't want to devalue the people who came earlier by providing advantages to people who wait for sales.

2 years later, this is exactly what is happening. Old promotional items are being bundled and sold at small fractions of the original cost. I can imagine that many people sought out most of the box items specifically and bought them at full price during the original sales. These same items are now available for around 30-40% in aggregate cost.

I imagine that a small group of whales are going to purchase many of the premium boxes, cashing in on the value to hoard and distribute. Meanwhile the elyrian/gentry type who maybe bought the occasional 1-2 items per sale for full price are forced to either watch their old purchases get devalued, or get sucked into the $60 (price of a AAA game) RNGfest.