QUOTE From Wyrom: http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/Paid%20Events:%20Adventures,%20Quests,%20and%20SimuCoins/Duskruin%20Arena/view/7143
Going to answer a few questions and concerns that came up in various areas here.
X/day charges
I forgot to add that all the new x/day items are 20 charges. So they will be pretty useful, compared to something only good for 1 or 2 charges.
TITLES
I forgot to mention that the temporary titles are completely gone this run. We added 19 permanent postname titles and 6 prename titles. All your accomplishments from April will go toward unlocking these titles.
High End Scrip Shop: Prices
There are a few things here when we go into the pricing. The biggest concerns are always things like over-availability. We experiment a lot when it comes to pricing. Not just with pay events. But for Duskruin specifically, we try to let the market control itself, which is really hard to do. We get one shot to handle it properly. Look at Dark and Dangerous as an example of what can go wrong. Whether you think the price was fair or not, look at how we struggled with that one.
There is also a sense of panic when we release something we weren't confident to release in large quantities. After each run, we look at the numbers that sold and decide if we want to roll the dice again. Not in all cases we feel comfortable with giving it another try. We do not look at banked bloodscrip as a pricing structure for items. And millions aren't accumulated on single characters or even players. The circulation of bloodscrip isn't that deep.
Item pricing in the Scrip Shop is also not intended to be flipped in many cases. You look at the market in the beginning of the event, and yeah, those prices are tough to swallow if you're buying bloodscrip from other players. I saw people using 1500 silver per bloodscrip in a discussion. But come next week, it drops to under 1000 per bloodscrip. Every run has been the same. This is very normal in limited markets. Not just in this game.
High End Scrip Shop: Rotate vs. Retire
I feel like I'm being confusing here, because I'm inside my own head when I talk about these things. Part of the reasons are described above why we might retire something. But one thing I know I'm not being clear on is rotating. That's on me and I apologize for that. Mostly rotate means to rotate to another event. Sometimes we might rotate them back into Duskruin after we solved why we pulled them in the first place.
I'll use two examples of items that feel good at Duskruin, but it's tough to solve the release distribution. VolnArmor and IthzirArmor. Both are high demand unlocks. Armor can have a lot of properties. Enchant, padding, TD, AS bonus, bless, flares, spikes, banes, temp (everything), and a bunch of other very specific things. We generally have to price things with many of those properties in mind. When we move into more automation, we have to account for it. We were going to try for that this run, but it's a lot of stuff, and it just didn't make it into the final production of Duskruin. Those two services are a bit better when we limit offerings by other means (raffles, auction, spinners, etc). Until we can solve that component, it's hard to offer those things at Duskruin at a price point that is more appealing to a wider variety of players.
Item Limits
The Scrip Shop has a one certificate per item rule, but the weighting, padding, and sighting area is not part of that. And the 25 services per item will make sense when more information is released there.
Closing Notes
I know the way I post sometimes comes off as arrogant to some of you. I'm not an arrogant man. I'm very humbled to be honest. I work on this game because I want to see it prosper. I work at all staffing levels personally and I'm very hands on. When I post something that you feel should not be said by the Product Manager, it's not that I'm being snide. I'm being honest with you. I don't sugar coat it or manipulate the words. Sure I spend some time choosing my words, but I rather be honest with you and myself. I could do what other companies do and have my responses go through some sort of QC and approval (if you didn't know that, now you do), but it would likely stifle communications pretty severely.
I know people don't play this game specifically for Duskruin. There are things you enjoy with GemStone IV outside this. If this event disgusts you or a specific aspect of this event disgusts you, I hope there is still enjoyment elsewhere in the game. I feel that we have people who get upset that OTHER people will buy items or have fun. I never understand that mindset, but it's real.
I want you guys to have fun. Focus on what is fun for you. Ignore the rest! Good words to live by even outside this game.
Wyrom, PM