I have listed some points in a random order that may hopefully bring a fresh perspective to the issue.
I'm no expert in economics, but from what I can see, the endless character cards are a way to keep giving something to people buying packs once they max most weapons. You could replace the character cards with equipment, but at a certain point people would be having much more equipment then the realistically need. Someone more knowledgeable then me might be able to better understand and explain it, but I see the character cards like a kind of "filler" in the sense that Bioware can keep on giving them in infinite amounts without severely affecting a players abilities (i.e. equipment makes a player better or more powerful, character cards only increase levels, something a person can do without buying packs).
Personally I am not extremely angry or annoyed with the store system. Before someone says I don't know what it is like when you max out the rares, I have maxed out my rares, uncommons and commons, feel free to check my manifest. I do understand why some people would be frustrated by the low drop rates of even the PSPs. I currently am content with my Ultra Rare weapons, though obviously I want to continue upgrading them at a reasonable rate.
Greg, what do you think about people leaving the game, either because they are not getting the weapons they want, or people leaving once they max out their weapons? I hear the argument that people get tired of not getting the weapons they want fast enough and then leaving.
IMHO if your primary motivation is to accumulate weapons to the highest level, and if this desire is so strong you would stop playing because you are not getting the weapons fast enough, would a person really continue to play for much longer after you theoretically manage to get all weapons to X? I do not think so. I had a friend who got a BW X. He stopped playing a couple of weeks ago and I have not seen him since. I do not mean to say that everyone who gets X weapons would quit, but I think the majority of people would stop playing. Therefore if these people decide to leave now because they aren't getting ultra rares fast enough, is it truly a loss since they would have left anyways once they had maxed out their weapons?
You may ask what then should people play for? I can't speak for everyone else, but I enjoy using different characters and different builds. This is my primary motivation for playing and I have fun doing so. I think this will keep me playing for longer than a lot of people who's primary motivation is weapon collection, but this is just my opinion.
I also feel that while as a gamer, I find certain elements about the store frustrating, the business thinking side of me understands a lot of the decisions that Bioware has made. They have a responsibility to their shareholders or in the case of Bioware their parent company, EA, to make a profit. Some of their decisons, such as the RNG, and offering packs for cash are simply good business decisions, and I do not think there is anything wrong with them. I think it is good that you acknowledge that Bioware has to look at ways to make money and that any solution must take this into account. Lest we forget, Bioware is not a charity or a public service organization. It is a business and sometimes business decisions have to be made that consumers don't like.
I do not believe that there should be a way to guarantee N7 upgrades. This would make it too easy for people to reach X weapons quickly, and as I said above would result in people leaving the game in substantial numbers. While you may disagree, I think it is telling that so many people are happy with this solution. I think that is a sign that the solution is too favorable to us the gamers and it probably isn't going to be a good solution for Bioware. After hearing how people can save huge amounts of credits, I think it is clear this solution of guaranteeing weapons for a fixed amount would not be good for the games longevity unless the amount of credits were reasonably high, such as 2 million, but then since PSP's drop N7s at an unofficial rate of around 9-10%, would it be worth it to spend 2 million for a guaranteed level when odds seem to favor buying 20 PSPs. The drop rate figure I remember from another forum post, but I won't argue if someone else has a better source. Also do are you suggesting that you can choose which N7 weapon gets a level or would be at random? I think it would be unbalanced to allow people to choose and that the random option is the only viable solution.
I also do not think their should be a guarantee of a N7 weapons for cash either. Unless it is going to work out to something like $5 USD for an N7 level. Even then how many people would spend $50 to get 10 N7 weapon level upgrades, especially if it is at random. Again I don't think it should be possible for people to pick which weapon they want to upgrage due to issues of game longevity. I think there are too many issues about price and balance between people using credits and people using cash to get a realistic solution involving cash for guaranteed N7 packs.
I think a better idea would be to offer an initial N7 weapon at a fixed price, similar to how some N7 weapons were offered in the single player. The price would be significantly higher than the cost of buying 10 PSP's due to the guarantee and ability to choose which weapon you were buying. Off the top of my head, I think 10 million might be too high and 2million would be too low. I think 2.5 million would be acceptable to most people, though I personally feel it should be a bit higher, maybe 3 or 4 million.
Now this pack only can be used once for each N7 weapon, and will give you a level 1 weapon. In truth, it will not help people who have already got their weapon of choice and are looking to upgrade said weapon. It will help people who have not got their favorite weapon such as a BW or whatever else a person might want. Any further upgrades would be left with the RNG and the normal store system.
The reason I don't think upgrades should be made so easy, is because in my opinion, while some of the N7 weapons are underpowered when compared to their level X rare counterparts, generally once you get an N7 to about level 3 or 4 you can feel the benefits of an N7. One weapon that seems to do badly in comparisons is the Paladin vs the Carnifex. However I think the benefit of a BW can be felt at level 1, since it is the only sniper rifle besides the valiant that has multiple shots with a high level of damage. Personally I use my BW 1 and I find it effective enough. I hope to get it higher, but if it takes a month to get it up two levels then thats fine to me since I use other weapons as well and have just as much fun.
As far as N7 upgrades go, unfortunately I don't see many ideas that can be done in terms of drastic solutions being put in place. I think there could be some minor changes that might alleviate the anger such as giving more equipment like amps, armor and ammo if you don't get an N7. Maybe percentages could be weighted so that it is easier to get N7's to level 5 and more difficult to get them from 5-10. Maybe making it so that subsequent promotions increase drop rates (before I get slaughtered, this is only a suggestion, the idea being that if you get lots of character cards, you can promote easily, and then your chances of getting an N7 weapon improve. I don't want to start a debate about N7 rankings and promotions and what not).
I think the idea of an N7 pack, that upgrades a random N7 weapon, for more than 2.5million credits seems like a decent balance. I think it must be a random upgrade to preserve longevity. Though I would ask how much would this pack cost in cash, or if it should even be made available for cash. I don't think making it available for cash is fair though. Better to make people play and earn credits instead of just swiping a credit card to get a bunch of new weapons, but thats just my thought. Personally I would not pay cash for an N7 upgrade, I would play, save and use credits.
A few last thoughts about your poll. I voted in it, can't remember which one, but I know i did choose somthing that liked the system. I think most of the people who vote in it will be people who don't like the system and want change, meaning people who are motivated to do something. I think there could be a case of a silent majority, who do not feel the need to vote in a poll that is calling for changes in the store system since they are fine with the current system. I applaud your iniative in creating the poll and marketing yourself, but i'm not convinced the data is useful considering there must be at least a million multiplayer players across the different platforms.
EDIT: Sorry this is so long, I started writing and it just kept going and going.
Modifié par ismadiis, 05 mai 2012 - 01:27 .
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And N7 might be misleading when I join a lobby: they might think I am good or something...
, although lvl 1 N7 weapons are only good as fillers on your manifest. Rares outperform them, so they are useless compared to how difficult they are to obtain. Anyway, check out ABjerre's idea, which is close in nature to this one. 
