[NEW MERCENARIES] Please note that all new forum users have to be approved before posting. This process can take up to 24 hours, and we appreciate your patience.
You weren't bamboozled. Unfortunately, so long as players support the boxes in droves they will be the name of the game. There's nothing wrong with people getting them going in knowing their odds, but it's clear that a lot of people really can't help themselves. There's a thread on TERA about their current RNG boxes and someone dropped $1,000 on them and didn't get the desired prize. I doubt that person would have paid $1,000 to direct purchase that mount, but people will spend quickly again and again on micro transactions because each one really isn't "that much".
These boxes are exactly why China's law just went into effect forcing publishers to disclose the drop rates for their items. Some are creative with even that, though. Blizzard, for instance, says that players, on average, will get one of X item every thirteen boxes, rather than explicitly saying there's a 7.7% chance to get X, which has 20 different variants between all the characters, meaning there's a .39% chance that a player actually gets that specific item they're going for.
China is also supposed to have included in the law that all RNG items in the cash shop must also have a means of earning them in game by playing or with in game currency. I don't know that the items in these boxes can skirt that, since even though they're airtight, the airtight versions can only be won by someone paying real cash first. I'm also not sure how this will be put into effect for Global or even KR and other Asian regions once it's in place. Here, for instance, Nexon has started disclosing the drop rates for the major prizes on the News page when they're released, following what's been established in KR. Perhaps all regions will follow the requirements and change the system to match China's going forward.
TL;DR, your friend's odds of winning were displayed. I think the rates should be higher and there should be direct purchase, but as long as people are buying up 1,000 boxes, which I know of at least one player definitely doing, or buying a few hundred worth at the least, they really have no incentive to change anything.
Odds of getting a pet for reference: 1.1%, so on average, someone should get a pet every 100 boxes in the long run. To each their own, but I don't think a convenience item is worth $100, and that's if RNG holds to the averages for you.
Odds of getting Succubus Queen: 0.27%, so on average, someone would likely get one every 370 boxes. Again, much more than I'd spend for an outfitter.
The event is worthwhile, people are just lazy and like to complain. My only gripe is the one prize I need I won't likely get.
You do you, boo. I don't think Skill Runes are worth hours a day, and I never will. Gnoll Chieftain, Bingo, and the Wheel of Misfortune were so much better in items rewarded and time requirements to get them. I think it's strange that you know you'll probably never get what you're after but you still think it's worth the effort.
I try to leave sold prices up at least for a time for that reason. It can be hard to get a real estimate of what the market has been like when there's nothing on the forum to gauge things by, and the community isn't active enough to count on those who used to keep up with pricing. Most of the market hounds have either taken a break or quit the game entirely.
