Why Drops like the Adventurer Pack Are Bound to Fail in Lockboxes

When I did the piece about the Soulmonger’s Lockbox yesterday, I mentioned I would dedicate a full own article to the Adventurer Pack. You might ask yourself why it’s worth writing about a pretty common blue drop within a lockbox? It is because the pack is not worth anything! It just contains some potions and consumables that not many people care about. When I previewed the lockbox a month ago, I already singled out the Adventurer Pack one of the weaker rewards. And surprise, one week into the module, it’s selling for roughly 2,500 AD on the Auction House. That means 20% of the time somebody opens a Soulmonger’s, they essentially draw a blank. You know what? That ain’t fun!

What’s the Story Behind the Adventurer Pack?

But before we get into full rant mode, let’s try to understand why the pack made it into a lockbox. Although drops are changing with each new module, the reward structure of lockboxes more or less stays the same. You have exclusive rewards at the top while the “blue” packs change based on the current content. When the new Mount system hit, Insignias made it into lockboxes. When the new refining system was introduced, Enchanting Stones followed. Also the contents are often an alternative way of obtaining Artifacts and Artifact Gear, and the devs use them to regulate the market. Including The Quartermaster’s Professions Pack is such a move as the profession market was drying out.

Rarely however the devs also try something new. Module 11 featured the Ascendant Fashion Pack, which probably was an attempt at monetizing fashion through a lockbox. Now the Adventurer Pack aims to give players supply for their everyday adventure.

Can We Already Call It a Fail?

To be honest, I like the intention. If you open a lockbox you rarely get something that you can use right away. Companion, Artifact, and Enchantment Packs are put away for the next Double Weekend for example. And generally getting something useful is way too dependent on RNG. First you have to get the pack you want and then also the drop you need. Otherwise it’s a “meh” experience. The Adventurer Pack kinda changes that. It always drops something of use, be it potions, a Scroll of Mass Life or Identification Scrolls. That’s why I think putting “everyday” consumables into a lockbox is not a bad idea per se.

But here comes the “but”, and it’s a big one. As regular drop, this absolutely makes no sense. You can sell the RNG, but you can’t sell crappy rewards. The ones that open boxes in bulk simply don’t need the Adventurer Pack and just throw it on the Auction House. And the players that could need a few more dungeon keys or a Stone of Health aren’t rich enough to buy Enchanted Keys, because they are most likely brand-new players. And even if they save some ADs to open their first lockbox, they surely hope to see more than just a few ID scrolls that also drop frequently in the open world.

It speaks volumes that the Adventurer Pack sells for less than the Epic Dungeon Chest Key it contains. It’s so bad that it isn’t even worth the sum of its contents. I’m not sure who thought that this was a great concept. Neither did the game need an influx of the included consumables, nor is targeting a casual audience a really good idea. Lockboxes are premium items that are opened by premium players that expect premium rewards. That’s why these type of drops are bound to fail.

The Silver Lining

As always though, there is a silver lining. If you’re a casual, Epic Dungeon Keys, ID scrolls, and all the other stuff just turned really cheap on the Auction House. That’s surely a plus. Also the market will recover once the next lockbox is introduced. The already mentioned Ascendant Fashion Pack once sold for 500 AD, and now is up to 20,000 AD again on PC. It’s simple supply and demand. The fashion pack however dropped rarely from the Many-Starred Lockbox (~4% or once every 25 boxes), a far cry from the 20% (once every five boxes) of the Adventure Pack. Plus its contents, even though not great, were at least exclusive.

That being said, I still think something like the Adventurer Pack has its place in lockboxes, just not as regular drop. Coming back to the “everyday” reward, or consolation prize if you will, isn’t that what Trade Bars are supposed to deliver? Even if you miss out on the lockbox, you can always get a piece of gear, salvage, or refining points. Why not add the Adventurer Pack to the list? Imho it would fit there much better than blocking a spot in the Soulmonger’s Lockbox.


What’s your take on the Adventurer Pack and its viability in lockboxes? Share your thoughts on our social channels, in the comments below, or visit the corresponding thread on our message board!

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j0Shi

j0Shi plays the Neverwinter MMORPG since the open BETA in 2013 and is a regular contributor to the blog and the whole UN:Project. Originally a Guardian Fighter, he has built up ALTs of all classes and plays on BIS/near-BIS level.

6 thoughts on “Why Drops like the Adventurer Pack Are Bound to Fail in Lockboxes

  • March 6, 2018 at 7:14 am
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    This is a watered down version of saying “I hope I don’t get it often”

  • March 6, 2018 at 2:33 pm
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    Personally, I think that such garbage has no place at all in a lock box.

    I forget the actual lockbox, but the worst one was the great TAH-DAAAH! You have an EPIC PRIZE!

    And it was just another box. a Purple Box.

    Open the box, and it’s not even a crappy transmute. it’s just some Elemental Cultist sigil that did absolutely FA and sold for 1 AD.

    I thought it was a bug and I was supposed to get an artifact as well! Like, get the Elemental Air Cultist Sigil and you also get a Symbol of Elemental Air artifact. That would justify the EPIC PRIZE! hoo-hah.

    But, no. It was just some absolutely useless, junk “vanity” item.

    Crap like that should never even be in a lock box, let alone inside another box and masquerading as an Epic Prize.

    I have so many Stones of Life and Potions of Mass Life in the bank already, I don’t know what to do with them. Many are account-bound, but I don’t seem to need them at all.

    Maybe when I get to ToNG?

    And every level 70 character has 4,500 bound ID Scrolls from VIP and I have 2000 unbound Greater Scrolls in the Guild Vaults. I sell them off now and then in batches of 100 so newer players can afford them, or give 100 to new friends who need them. The bound ones, I sell 500 to my Professions Vendor when I reach 5000.

  • March 6, 2018 at 10:05 pm
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    They should add Preservation Wards to the Adventurer Pack as an uncommon drop. Coal Wards with a .1% chance.

    Doesn’t affect the real average value of the packs much, but it adds enough that they’re not quite useless as far as drops are concerned. If we assume the sale value of a Coal ward is 475k, drops about .1% of the time, that adds 475 to an adventurer pack sale price. Pres wards dropping at 25% could add 1250 or so to the sale price. So we go from 2500 to ~5000. That’s still *bad* as far as a miss is concerned, but not the sheer awful that is the current Adventurer Pack.

    And since you can only get it because someone somewhere used zen on it, it doesn’t violate the “Wards are only cash shop items” principle.

  • March 19, 2018 at 10:39 pm
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    Correct me if I am wrong, but weren’t the epic keys selling at 5K each prior to this box? It seems to me, I would just toss them in storage until they go away and the keys jump back up to 5K in value. Open and sell the keys in the future. At this rate it could be a very long time before that happens, but it will happen.

  • May 7, 2018 at 7:51 am
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    I sell or discard these boxes as soon as I get one now. They also ruined the resurgence lockbox by addng this crud to it. I am actually opening merchant prince boxes instead of these now. If I didnt already have VIP for awhile I would reconsider spending the money on keys for this.

  • June 20, 2018 at 11:10 am
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    Has this garbage infested every lock box? It seems to be getting into more and more of them.

    Now I am having trouble deciding what to open this 2xRP, as I certainly don’t want utter, utter, utter shyte like potions and healing stones. Absolutely fecking useless.

    This is a scam item to make keys and lockboxes worthless, but Craptrick are too bloody stupid to realise it.

    😡
    x:

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