Chests making me go broke

cthulhu reborn

cthulhu reborn

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2007

the Netherlands

W/Mo

I just got a req 9 highlander sword with 10% furious and +30hp on it....it dropped from a random enemy and 2 weeks ago I got Ebonhand Aegis req 9 str...

I don't buy lockpicks.

I did use the free lockpicks we get as quest rewards...nothing nearly as good came from them and I have 12 chars so 12 lockpicks from the initial Vanguard quest and nothing but crap...you have to buy like 50 or 100 I think to make it worth it and then only if you are in luck and get something good.

Gattocheese

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: May 2007

New Mexico

GWEN

Yeah locked chests are basically a gold sink. Everyone agrees its rather irritating to lose lock picks consistantly, especially on purple items. But i have a lil money in storage and nothing to spend it on seeing how most the armors for me are dissappointing, so i dont mind blowing a lil money on lockpicks. To me its the thrill to find something cool in a chest or rare, but even now that GWEN is out there is no rarity in items anymore. But i still cant help myself, no matter on any campaign, i have to open that locked chest, if i dont have a lock pick i feel bummed.

freekedoutfish

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2006

E/

Wait for it....... wait...... here it comes....

DONT BUY KEYS FOR CHESTS THEN!!!!

....is anyone holding a gun to your head and forcing you to open chests in GWEN? I'd be worried if you replied with "yes", but i expect you'l say no!!

I expect everyone else has said exactly the same to you...

Scarred

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2006

Fading Twilight [dusk]

Mo/Me

A true sample size is what you wanted me to look at ??

From what i can gather from this thread , the only true sample size is ONE lockpick since the percent chance of retention is the same each time you use a lockpick and is not an accumulative based percentage. So by using 100 lockpicks for a sample size does nothing to prove the reliability or unreliability of the percent given by the game for retention. Therefore my initial sample size of 9 will show the same results as someone who "wasted" gold coins on 100 lockpicks. Unless buying 100 lockpicks improves your percentage, it does nothing to improve your chances.

HawkofStorms

HawkofStorms

Hall Hero

Join Date: Aug 2005

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scarred
A true sample size is what you wanted me to look at ??

From what i can gather from this thread , the only true sample size is ONE lockpick since the percent chance of retention is the same each time you use a lockpick and is not an accumulative based percentage. So by using 100 lockpicks for a sample size does nothing to prove the reliability or unreliability of the percent given by the game for retention. Therefore my initial sample size of 9 will show the same results as someone who "wasted" gold coins on 100 lockpicks. Unless buying 100 lockpicks improves your percentage, it does nothing to improve your chances. Failure.

God, why did I take 3 semesters of honors calculus, matrix, and number theory in college when so many people don't even understand basic statistics?

CHunterX

CHunterX

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

Washington

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by HawkofStorms
Failure.

God, why did I take 3 semesters of honors calculus, matrix, and number theory in college when so many people don't even understand basic statistics? LOL!!1 YOU'RE E-PENIS JUST LEVELED UP! CONGRATULATIONS!

The problem is that the chests aren't geared towards level 20 characters, regardless of normal mode and hard mode, even though the expansion supposedly IS geared towards level 20s. Take 100 lockpicks to endgame Nightfall Normal mode (IE, Domains and Wurm areas), and then 100 lockpicks to anywhere in GW:EN (since it is completely endgame, seeing how its for level 20s). You'll see that the drop rates between golds and purples will very greatly between the chapter and expansion, with more golds being in Nightfall. The chest drops in GW:EN are more closely related to those of the Desert Ascension missions, which they shouldn't be.

Sergeant of Marines

Sergeant of Marines

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

Japan

[트두므s], Guild Leader

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gattocheese
Yeah locked chests are basically a gold sink. Everyone agrees its rather irritating to lose lock picks consistantly, especially on purple items. But i have a lil money in storage and nothing to spend it on seeing how most the armors for me are dissappointing, so i dont mind blowing a lil money on lockpicks. To me its the thrill to find something cool in a chest or rare, but even now that GWEN is out there is no rarity in items anymore. But i still cant help myself, no matter on any campaign, i have to open that locked chest, if i dont have a lock pick i feel bummed. Or you just bum one off of me , it goes the other way around as well...

xiao1985

xiao1985

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2005

i thought one should figure it out long by now that chests are high risk gambling stuffs.

i only open chests with dropped keys these days.

wetsparks

wetsparks

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by CHunterX
LOL!!1 YOU'RE E-PENIS JUST LEVELED UP! CONGRATULATIONS!

The problem is that the chests aren't geared towards level 20 characters, regardless of normal mode and hard mode, even though the expansion supposedly IS geared towards level 20s. Take 100 lockpicks to endgame Nightfall Normal mode (IE, Domains and Wurm areas), and then 100 lockpicks to anywhere in GW:EN (since it is completely endgame, seeing how its for level 20s). You'll see that the drop rates between golds and purples will very greatly between the chapter and expansion, with more golds being in Nightfall. The chest drops in GW:EN are more closely related to those of the Desert Ascension missions, which they shouldn't be.
We were talking about lock pick retention, not the drops that come from the chests. We all know that the drops suck for the most part, we have been complaining about that for months now.
Quote:
A true sample size is what you wanted me to look at ??

From what i can gather from this thread , the only true sample size is ONE lockpick since the percent chance of retention is the same each time you use a lockpick and is not an accumulative based percentage. So by using 100 lockpicks for a sample size does nothing to prove the reliability or unreliability of the percent given by the game for retention. Therefore my initial sample size of 9 will show the same results as someone who "wasted" gold coins on 100 lockpicks. Unless buying 100 lockpicks improves your percentage, it does nothing to improve your chances. This is like saying that if you flip a coin once, and it comes up heads, then obviously it should always come up heads. If you flip a coin 200 times, then you should get ~100 heads, and ~100 tails. It is the same with lock picks.

leprekan

leprekan

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

Posers and Wannabes [nubs]

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChoKILLate[FDG]
Well I have a 55% chance of success, and usually when I buy lockpicks 12.5k for 10, I end up making back about 8k by the time the 10 lockpicks are used up. I never sell stuff to anyone but the merchant, rune trader, or material trader.

Although I loose money overall, I am going for treasure hunter, lucky/unlucky, and wisdom titles, so I don't see it as a loss. Right now I am at Lvl 3 treasure hunter, 3 lucky, 3 unlucky, and 3 wisdom.

BTW the perfect salvage kits pretty much nerfed the need FOR a wisdom title! Actually it didnt nerf it ... I am rank7 treasure 6 wisdom 5 lucky. With a 10% chance to break I manage to break about 50%. The need was still there because Anet has problems with basic math.

Master Sword Keeper

Master Sword Keeper

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2006

Dead Isle

Farmers Of Woe [FoW]

W/

agreed.

wtf is happenin....who's hacking/complaining/cheating to allow such annoyances........

What happened to an Expensive market? BRING BACK THE OLD GOLD Rush days...back when ectoes were used as currency.... Game has become a pussy whipped version of itself...I've played for 2years now and I'm not proud of it anymore.

As for chests....Gawd...

"Just because you guys make games doesnt mean you passed Math...Go back to school!"

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

Lockpicks = GW lottery.
You waste a lot of money for the chance to get something really valuable.


But as almost only some perfect upgrades sell nowadays at all and the number of really rare skins and expensive items gets lower and lower...

I have thought to stop buying Lockpicks, too.


BUT: So far they only REDUCE my net income, and if one of say 20-25 chests holds something good, I am making money again.

I do it mainly for the TH title track. If you want worthwhile freebies, try LIGHT OF DELDRIMOR.

Usually, 80-90%, you get some 150 money or a silly dwarf. But I also got Diamonds, Onyx and Sapphires, Spiritwood Planks and Deldrimor Ingots.

Rusty Deth

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2005

Woodland Realm

Mo/N

I buy Lockpicks in huge bulks still ( 40-60 at a time )

And I always make my money back, I only got 30% save rate in HM, but in the end I always open about 20-30% more chests then I had lockpicks to begin with.

I ussually get Elite Tomes and alot of sellable mods that I sell for cheap to make it all back. Then Merch the rest.

Oh and I got an Elemental Sword once as well. So yeah, because of that I keep going. I do enough UW runs and 55 the hot spots to fund my addictive urges.

Sparks Dawnbringer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2005

Los Angeles

none

E/Mo

First, don't buy the picks from the trader at 1500 each. Find a player who is in a guild that owns a town in Factions. They will usually sell them for 1250. That's just 25 dollars each more than two 600g keys. Then, if you buy in bulk you can sometimes get 80 for 98k. That's 1225g each. I know it's a lot of money but buy them with a friend and split them. I have 60% chance of retaining on Gwen keys and keep quite a lot of them.

I do think the gold drop rate should be a bit higher and the weapons cooler. I think they don't adjust for how many players are actually doing an area. I find I have better luck in getting golds in areas that are not being played in at the moment. One in five chests in Gwen will give a gold, but I go to Vabbi and can get 3 out of 5. I think there is a finite amount of golds in a area that can drop over a time period and when they are gone you get grape.

Captain Herbalife

Captain Herbalife

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Central United States

The Lords of Doom [LOD]

W/Mo

The drop rate in GW:EN from chests is crazy low. I am using a lockpick which at the trader costs 1500gp and i get an average of 1 gold for every 10 chests. That alone doesnt sound bad but, around 60 percent of those are either non-max damage or req.12-13 which basically makes them junk. So for every 100 chests opened i am getting 90 purples that seldom even have a max mod worth pulling off and 10 golds....6 of which are utter trash. Of the 4 golds i find that are max damage and req.11 or less, they are either the MOST common skin attainable or item types that nobody wants. How many req.9-10 Dolyak Prod Staffs have you guys gotten. COOL looking skin but very few ppl run an air build. Get the point?

And to the above comment. I don't believe that the drop rate is 1 in 5. 1 in 10 i would believe.

Angelic Upstart

Angelic Upstart

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2006

South Coast UK

[SBS] [RETIRED]

W/E

I stopped buying lockpicks when i got my first req 13 purple from a locked chest.
Waste of money imo,i use the ones i drop occasionally.

The Little Viking

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2006

innergalactic gargleblasters

W/Mo

I miss the days (not so long ago) when occationaly you actually got a lockpick drop. Granted it was in HM...but still. In GWEN we have to use them for the chests, they should also sometimes drop. I havent seen it happen yet, nor any of my guild mates. Bit depressing. And what about non max golds out of the end dungeon chests??? (I know wrong department).

odly

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

N/

I have not bought a single lockpick since the start of eotn. I have only opened a chest after a lockpick dropped. It makes opening a chest exciting again instead of just costing money.

BradNess

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2006

Theives of the Abyss

P/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gli
When you're getting non-max purples out of chests in elite dungeons (Slaver's Exile) you know there's something wrong. Seriously. Your not kidding, I was expecting a lot more from those chests...instead I got a reminder...I can get more gold drops and max dmg weapons from NF chests just outside Yohlon Haven then anywhere in GWEN right now.

Griff Mon

Griff Mon

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2005

In the Elfen Forests of Washington State

Damage Radius

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by BradNess
Your not kidding, I was expecting a lot more from those chests...instead I got a reminder...I can get more gold drops and max dmg weapons from NF chests just outside Yohlon Haven then anywhere in GWEN right now. I use a lot of lockpicks and although I retain them pretty good at 57% chance I found that I was getting more purples than anything else. I went back to NF to do some mapping and used them for Vabbi Chests and was getting a lot more gold than in the tougher areas of GW:EN. Maybe it is just luck, but it doesn't seem right. And yes, I do know that Hard Mode is the way to go if you want a lot more gold drops.....

Kwan Xi

Kwan Xi

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2007

Writhe in Pain

Mo/

I just wish there were other ways to actually progress through the Lucky Title Track. Right now you can only make some quick progression only when the Shing Jea Boardwalk is open... and only after litterly throwing away 100's of Platinum too.

I can't believe it took about 150K to make it up to Lucky. There needs to be other CHEAPER ways of going up the Lucky Title track. Yes I know not loosing your lockpick gives you 250 points, but come on! only 250 points? Hell I loose my lockpick on the first chest 75% of the time.

CronkTheImpaler

CronkTheImpaler

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Apr 2006

midwest

AE

W/Me

ive seen a few people say they have had lockpicks drop. i read on wiki they dont drop as of yet. is this since the HM update?
if so that seems par. i mean they only drop in HM in factions or NF. however i think it is entirely bunk that you HAVE to use picks in normal in EOTN but they dont drop in NM. Bah who cares i buy a pick when i feel the urge otherwise ill run dungeons and take my chances on the big fancy foot lockers at the end.



Cronk

sevendash

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2006

Flaming Turtles [FT]

E/R

Lockpicks do drop in GWEN Hard Mode. I got one last night.

L|S >+>+G+<+<

L|S >+>+G+<+<

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by sevendash
Lockpicks do drop in GWEN Hard Mode. I got one last night. confirmed, I've been farming the wind riders today & had about 5 lockpicks in gw:en.

as for nm, i have still yet to see one drop in gw:en

and on the topic, yeah i totally agree, the items i get from the chests are usally pretty bad.
I think i have either merched or given away to guildies / allies 70% of them.

Still....thats the chance you take i guess....though the gwen drops could be a bit better, wouldn't mind seeing gems added to the locked chests in hm :P

Konrow

Konrow

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

NY, New York

Warlords of Earth [WAR]

lockpicks do drop in nm in gwen as well. At least they did before Hard Mode b/c i know my friend got one when we were in a party. This may have been changed due to hard mode being introduced.

Hengis

Hengis

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

London

Better Than Life (BTL)

R/

I got two lockpicks whilst vanquishing one of the Asura areas last night in Hard Mode.

That probably only makes five that I have had drop in total since GW:EN started.

It's a bit like those elusive Charr Battle Plans. I reached rank 9 Vanguard before I had one drop, then I had three drop in one run. (Haven't seen another one since though! LOL)