Behold - No Useable Choice

Sexy Alice

Hi,

I am aware this was raised some months ago, and I thought it had been sorted out.

However in recent days I’ve had a couple of beholds where the three options on offer were already immortalised in my crew.

Beholds were always something I wanted to get when buying a pack, I looked forward to receiving a useful character, now they are now becoming a disappointment.

Tickets to customer support produce no response.

I would ask the players community to get behind this post and ask DB to sort this
Problem out with a either providing a viable behold option or an exchange option of some sort.

If you are as disappointed as I am, tell DB below.

Thanks

Andrew
Playing for over two years
Currently play as Sexy Alice
Admiral of Red Matter Solution to Everything Fleet.

Ironagedave

I am not there yet but it will be a matter of time, this is why the differential cost between citation and behold in honor portal is flawed the easiest solution would be that this gives a purple citation - however the abuse would be farming citations at a cheaper rate. So the fix would be to make beholds and citations the same price in honor (preferably slightly lower in cost as well to a behold). You eliminate players gambling tendancies of trying to knock off a bit of honor debt by taking a punt on a behold.

Another avenue explored is the one-three spins on the behold selection. Sadly there hasn't been anything from DB how they intend to improve this, the only other option would be quicker portal updates but again that would compete with aspects of the game the developers are banking on, 'scuse the pun.

Captain Paddy

Personally I'd like it if you could nominate up to 4 characters you are working on (say 2x 4* and 2x 5*), and you then have a higher probability of those characters appearing in Beholds...

Thurthorad

The easier solution is that if there is at least 1 SR in the available pool that you don't have that at least one option in the pool shoud be from that set of SRs. It's not that crazy a thing to do, they just don't want to do it. The alternative is just to allow more honor for trade ins, which they also don't want to do. They are intent on taking as much as they can and giving back as little as they can.

Jhamel

I am aware that I have all the currently available super-rares from the regular purrtals immurrtalized. The only reason I'm still steampulling is for the begolds to get additional stars for the leggies and purrhaps to get a fresh 1/4 Mirror Ezri Tigan and a fresh 1/4 Commander Barak for purrviding replications for 1* Klingun Stoles or 0* Klingun Warnug (Barak Level 20) and 1* Terran Emblems as well as 2* Rules of Acquisition (Ezri Level 40).

Jim Steele

It happens, and as is evident from @Admiral Princes April statement, they have zero intention of increasing honour or fixing duplicate beholds.

I suggest not buying/redeeming packs until they update the SR cards in the Portal.

Jim

[FF] Frylock IBOL17

I am certainly in support of the OP here, i've made similar posts of my own. Beholds are one of the best moments in the game. To have them turn into a disappointment is very disheartening.

Althea Biermont

Sexy Alice wrote: »

Hi,

I am aware this was raised some months ago, and I thought it had been sorted out.

However in recent days I’ve had a couple of beholds where the three options on offer were already immortalised in my crew.

Beholds were always something I wanted to get when buying a pack, I looked forward to receiving a useful character, now they are now becoming a disappointment.

You think you are disappointed now? Wait until it's a Legendary behold where all 3 offers are crew you already have at 5/5. That's a kick in the marshmallows. Woo hoo, 550 honor

GhostStalker

Althea Biermont wrote: »

Sexy Alice wrote: »

Hi,

I am aware this was raised some months ago, and I thought it had been sorted out.

However in recent days I’ve had a couple of beholds where the three options on offer were already immortalised in my crew.

Beholds were always something I wanted to get when buying a pack, I looked forward to receiving a useful character, now they are now becoming a disappointment.

You think you are disappointed now? Wait until it's a Legendary behold where all 3 offers are crew you already have at 5/5. That's a kick in the marshmallows. Woo hoo, 550 honor

Well, no. Objectively speaking, you're better off than if you had encountered a fully immortalized SR behold. You FEEL like you lost more, but mathematically speaking, you ended up with an extra 350 honor than you would have had. Plus if you're at that point, you've already got all the win.

PrylarDurden

Althea Biermont wrote: »

You think you are disappointed now? Wait until it's a Legendary behold where all 3 offers are crew you already have at 5/5. That's a kick in the marshmallows. Woo hoo, 550 honor

I only have 4 non-mega Golds immortal and have already gotten a beGold with 2 immortals (I obviously picked the other one). That's why I haven't been adding stars to 3 and 4 star golds so I can avoid that situation for a while.

Jhamel

They have updated the purrtal quite recently, so I don't expect another update this year, to be honest.

Dark Matter

This is pure greed, nothing else. DB is greedy as hell and the only way to fight this greed back is to stop spending/wasting your money which is my sincere advise for you and everybody else.

Nero84

I made a post in "Make It So" about increasing the chance for legendary drops as a band-aid to these types of problems. If people got more legendary characters there is a smaller chance that people will care about issues like this with Super-Rares.

Uebermind

Dark Matter wrote: »

This is pure greed, nothing else. DB is greedy as hell and the only way to fight this greed back is to stop spending/wasting your money which is my sincere advise for you and everybody else.

Agreed, it's well within DBs abilities to prevent this kind of thing from happening. The events are becoming really stale and repetitive as well, it's the same every week now. And this is what, the third time this year we've had Acting Nagus Brunt as an event reward?

Secret Journey

This is a top 3 player frustration it would seem. I would speculate it’s also the worst failing for long time player retention. How many posts have we read about $$$ players getting sick of the constant slap in the face and just stopping spending, myself included. I throw away money on beer now not this pit of despair...

CS response does suggest that at some point DB is more than satisfied with what I’ve spent and I am free to check out...and many have, making room for the next wallet...

SSR Barkley

diminishing returns

[KM] WOLF 359

I would love them to revisit honour compensation but I cannot imagine that happening, no matter what they do, everyone will still be unhappy.

However, what I would like to see, is a rethinking of rewards. I am going to get 4 Pel's this event for ranking below 1000. They are going to go whoosh! for a measly 800 honour. Let me have a citation instead.

Giving out 1000 super-rare citations ain't gonna break the game but is going to make 1000 people very happy every week.

Confused Klingon

I got a Legendary behold two weeks ago and two of the options were the same, immortalized crew member.

So this is definitely jacked up.

Peachtree Rex

Confused Klingon wrote: »

I got a Legendary behold two weeks ago and two of the options were the same, immortalized crew member.

So this is definitely jacked up.

If you had two of the same crew in a single behold, you should screenshot it and submit a ticket. Often, they will give you the crew of your choice as a replacement.

If I'm misunderstanding and the same crew showed up twice in separate beholds, then that's kinda tough nuggets.

[STJ] Wendell

Yeah you need to be able to refresh your behold at least twice.

[STJ] Wendell

But to be honest the garbage honor Exchange rate is the only reason this is a problem at all.

Data1001

This happens to me so often now, I no longer get excited about Beholds, because I expect them to be all airlock fodder.

Sexy Alice

Is there any response from DB?

Is this your latest debacle.?

More questions than answers.

Althea Biermont

This isn’t a new issue. It’s been this way since the game began more than two years ago. That’s the whole point to the random chance gambling packs. They want you to keep buying them. If they guarantee you someone that you need every time then there would be a finite number of packs that you needed to buy.

Would I love to see them change this? Of course I would. Do I think they will change it? Not a chance in H E double hockey sticks.

[7TW] UnkieB

Sexy Alice wrote: »

Is there any response from DB?

Is this your latest debacle.?

More questions than answers.

It's how they've designed things to be.

You mentioned something else that should not and normally does not happen. If you receive a behold that is all crew that you already have, you will not be offered an exchange. However, if you get two of the SAME crew in a single behold, we will offer to swap the result.

https://forums.disruptorbeam.com/stt/viewthread/67475/#367159

Marko Ramius

Listen, I know that this situation is frustrating for players, but I feel that there are bigger issues that we should be pressing. Yeah it's terrible when this happens but keep a few things in mind.

1. The more crew that you acquire and immortalize, the more often that this will happen.

2. We get duplicate 4* crew all the time in voyages and pulls that don't include a behold, but no one flips out over that. Why go crazy when you get a behold? It's more than you would have gotten otherwise.

3. Offering a citation (as nice as it would be) is WAY overcompensating for an all FF/FE behold. Instead of getting a copy of a specific crew, you get a chance to fuse ANY crew? Think about it, why would they do that? Beholds are already a gift.

4. Complaining about this and then asking for a citation is like complaining to your mother that the Christmas present that she got you is not the correct model or type, and then demanding that she give you the cash value of the gift. How spoiled are we? With all this complaining, if I were in charge, I'd eliminate beholds completely, thus eliminating the problem.

5. If you're not already used to RNG kicking you in the face and dealing with it (gauntlet crits, voyage drops, shuttle fails, arena evasion, as well as 10x packs) then this may not be the game for you.

Let's remember, getting a behold may be disappointing at times when you don't get something useful, or get what you want, but they're still nice surprises that DB has included as a nice "thank you" for us spending our hard earned money on this game. Don't push the issue too far, or you may be like the spoiled kid at Christmas who ruins it for everyone.

Data1001

I generally agree with you, Marko. And just speaking for myself — as I stated above, I expect to run into all-FF Beholds frequently, but I also accept that it's part and parcel of a player who has reached a certain point in the game.

Voyages also stopped dropping crew I needed long ago — for the most part anyway... once in a blue moon I get someone who I've been chasing for months but haven't been lucky enough to acquire — so I accept that as a fact of life, now, as well. The Behold thing is why I stopped buying regular premium packs some time ago — at least with event and special offer packs, I know who I have a shot at getting.

Jim Steele

Data1001 wrote: »

The Behold thing is why I stopped buying regular premium packs some time ago — at least with event and special offer packs, I know who I have a shot at getting.

I'm in the same boat; the last 10 for 10$ I bought gave all crew I had (including multiple purple beholds) already and no golds.

Its quite an easy choice to avoid spending when that happens; Id probably spend more if the honour rate was better but hey, DB don't want my money.

Jim

Thurthorad

Jim Steele wrote: »

Data1001 wrote: »

The Behold thing is why I stopped buying regular premium packs some time ago — at least with event and special offer packs, I know who I have a shot at getting.

I'm in the same boat; the last 10 for 10$ I bought gave all crew I had (including multiple purple beholds) already and no golds.

Its quite an easy choice to avoid spending when that happens; Id probably spend more if the honour rate was better but hey, DB don't want my money.

Jim

And this is the heart of the argument for reform. Not only is it accentuating the gambling side of the game and leaving them open to regulation in certain territories, but it's also not clear that it is a profit maximising strategy. Yes, a citation is too much, but the honor rates are terrible, so I can understand why people go for that as a solution.

There are a huge number of us I am sure that are essentially no longer seriously interested in the gamble they present.

AviTrek

I don't know their sales numbers. I don't know if people getting crew they already own cause them to buy more packs hunting for crew, or buying less packs. But I'm willing to bet DB has looked at the data and has their conclusion. The fact that we still see these repeated crew likely indicates that the extra sales from people hunting for new crew outweighs the lost sales from people who stop buying. If you're unhappy with that, stop buying packs. If enough people stop buying packs then their sales will drop and they will re-evaluate that decision. Until then, this is what they've done to optimize sales.

Marko Ramius

Thurthorad wrote: »

There are a huge number of us I am sure that are essentially no longer seriously interested in the gamble they present.

I agree, but it's only a gamble after a certain point. New players look at the pulls as crew acquisition. To them, the honor return rates aren't really an issue... yet. I also agree that honor rates aren't spectacular, particularly for a 5*, but still, they didn't have to give THAT to us either. Remember when we used to just flush crew for nothing?