Patch 1.09 adding more items in multiplayer

Can't we move onto a system that let's player build towards the specific things they want? Overtime while still having the RNG system for the bulk of the items and characters, there should be a system in place that allows players to slowly work towards specific things.

I know some people might say but than people will get what they want and not play...

I'll use single player as my example, even though in NG++  I have all my favorite weapons unlocked I still feel driven to get everything and play around with the stuff I wouldn't normally use. However if I try something I decide I hate I can always switch back to the things I like. Also it is so much more fun to grind for the things I don't have using the things I actually enjoy.

Random is better for selling packs.

It's why I stopped buying cartel packs in SWTOR and will never buy these packs with real money.

I get your complaint and I think you're right but I fear that as long as people are spending enough on these packs they'll keep it random.

I've just finished a rather monumentally long reply or two about exactly this in the technical help section of these forums:

http://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Patch-1-09-IMO-feels-like-more-punishment-for-hardcore-MP/m-p/6148135#M15574

This afternoon I sat down and produced a current model of the loot table in excel and crunched the numbers so that i could see two things...

1.  How much games and game time I would have to play in order to max all my common/uncommon/rares again.

2. How much game time i would then effectively have to put in on various difficulties (Bronze, Silver and Gold) in order to gain the MP credits to buy all the packs neccessary to then max all the Ultra Rares.

3.  I also did a calculation for how much it would cost in real world money if you bought andromeda points to get you there if the ultra rare card drop rate was 1 in 6

4.  I Calculated how much it would cost  in real world money if you bought andromeda points to get you there if the ultra rare card drop rate was 1 in 6

Needless to say, none of the answers for 1-4 above were anything that i would describe as acheivable to any sane healthy person.  In fact the numbers and amounts were nothing short of frightening.

Do a number exercise yourself, do some math, its fun when applied to real world things. .not like that Algebra stuff at school 😉

Have a look, open your eyes completely.. then you'll have a full understanding of what this developer seem to think is acceptable for their customers and how well you are regarded in their eyes.

As long as a game trades digital currency and items for real cash there will always be flooded and randomized loot and equipment tables because there will always be people willing to pay. If you haven't figured out why companies do this by now you live under a rock. Intangible content for cash is what drives gaming now because it is literally getting something for almost nothing delivered free of shipping. I am actually surprised it stopped and gear and didn't flow into character knickknacks.

Folks like you who actually do the number crunch and prove through hard evidence what a travesty this is.. You sir have my thanks and appreciation. I agree math and statistics can be fund when applied to fun things or to prove a point.

While i don't shy away from the arduous task of endless games to get these card turns done.. i also wanted a more realistic view of how the new loot cards had affected me in general (as well as others).   I love that that they added new things into the game and that there was cards to turn that meant something again, but what really rocked my drive and determination was the fact that it was every single weapon in the game except for the common weapons (only 5 of them) suddenly having 3 new variants for each weapon.

Eg.

Uncommon Weapons that you draw mostly from the 20k Advanced Packs:   there was 10 of these weapons in this class before... now there is 40.  So if you had maxed these before you now have to draw 300 cards to max them again.  (30 cards in total)   that is 300 * 20k on average if you only got 1 card per pack.  (6 Million in MP Credits)  Yes you sometimes get 2.. and sometimes you get a rare card instead of an uncommon weapon.   It does not look nice in numbers though, and if an average silver game took say.. 9 or 10 minutes which they often do in a public game, that is a heck of a lot of game time.

Rare  Weapons that you get from the 50k Expert pack:  Ok here is the biggest impact.    There was 26 of these before 1.09.. now due to the 3 new variants there is 104!  So that is 78 new cards with cards for each of them to max that you are seeking from the 50k packs (780*50k = 39 Million MP Credits).    Yes sometimes you get lucky and get 2 in an expert pack but more commonly you get 1.  So you play the balance game between buying expert packs at 50k a pop or saving 100k MP credits and chancing for 2 rare cards.   

All that is in the hope that you just turn over character and weapon cards.. the reality is though there is also the weapon mods that are now sat in the the mod pool in the same class that have potential to turn too.   If you start getting those then all the odds of card turning for that many cards for characters and weapons makes it a very very very long toil indeed.

If you do manage to get all that done.. well fair play to you, you've really stuck at it.. that was a stupendous amount of games..  then you are back to where you were before.. needing Ultra Rares. and likely just buying the 100k boxes now to open.

The Ultra Rares with there 1 in 6 or more likely 1 in 10 chance of a card turn is now where you were before.. wishing the rate of drop would be increased, yet now knowing that the other ratio of 'number of cards vs the card you are after has now increased by 300% too.

I said carrot on a stick a little bit tongue in cheek.. but sometimes you gotta wonder where the carrot is actually tasty enough any more if it never gets any closer.

 I just got something else that bothers me.  Opened an arsenal pack.  Supposed to be rare with chance at ultra rare and favors weapons as everyone has seen.  Got two characters which isn't the problem.  The problem is that one of the characters was a common character xv.  So when you max your common characters your ultra rares will get even slower because apparently the maxed out lower characters count as rare or ultra rare.

That was the reason i have not bought any arsenal packs etc since they launched them, i was getting that exact same scenario.

I stick to the Premium Packs if i'm buying the 100k ones right now.

I'm currently done with basic packs.. i'm now on the advanced packs.

In ME3 I would always spend $20ish dollars after each new DLC dropped. I appreciated the work that went into the new characters, maps and weapons. I have no plans on spending anymore money on MEA until they really change what they are delivering.