$75 USD New Year's Bundles

[Rezzy]

20 hours ago, XRay said:

We have no clue. They were doing fine before, or at least it seemed financially sustainable. There was an interview with one of the developers I think, and he did say they were making a profit, although no one knows how big that profit is since he did not spill the beans.

I think they're still making a profit, but it seems you can only milk the alt cow until people get tired of it.

19 hours ago, Dr. Tarrasque said:

If the executives were expecting profits to remain average or bad, then yeah their monthly results are dropping over the past few months due to the recent banners that have been pissing people off.

June: $23m

July & August: $40m combined

September: $16.8m

October: $17m

November: $13.8m

They need to stop with the Fates alts and they pretty much shit on Aether raids when they announced that Mythic hero merges would affect the scores.

Maybe if they didn't go a year between banners from Tellius and Elibe, they'd draw more old fans in.

I'm not even against 3DS games being over-represented per se, but they are very bad about being flooded with alts of characters we already have, when guys like Vaike and Forrest have been forgotten.  The Adrift Banner was particularly bad about this, being pretty much all alts.

Another problem is having way too many girls and not enough guys, which is alienating fans who don't just want a waifu fest.  In the last 3 months, we've gotten like 3 guys and a dozen girls.  September was the last time we had a banner (including TT and GHB) that had more guys than girls.  We're lucky to get equal numbers anymore.

[Landmaster]

The price for what you're getting is not bad, but it's like they threw all that extra stuff in there purely to up the price. I would have been fine with maybe 50-60 Orbs, small amount of feathers, and no Grails (though they'd be nice) for something around $20-$40. I'd even go up to $50 but I've already bought too many Orbs this month for the Christmas units~

I was considering buying for Laevatein but at $75, that's unlikely and I honestly don't like Laev that much to justify buying this pack~

[Rezzy]

3 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

The price for what you're getting is not bad, but it's like they threw all that extra stuff in there purely to up the price. I would have been fine with maybe 50-60 Orbs, small amount of feathers, and no Grails (though they'd be nice) for something around $20-$40. I'd even go up to $50 but I've already bought too many Orbs this month for the Christmas units~

I was considering buying for Laevatein but at $75, that's unlikely and I honestly don't like Laev that much to justify buying this pack~

My problem is that I was planning to buy Orbs this month anyway, since Tellius is finally getting a banner this month, and it's best for me to get the most value for my dollar, but I don't want IS to think I'm condoning this by buying their bundles.

[Landmaster]

3 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

My problem is that I was planning to buy Orbs this month anyway, since Tellius is finally getting a banner this month, and it's best for me to get the most value for my dollar, but I don't want IS to think I'm condoning this by buying their bundles.

See, I also considered buying for the Orbs and I would just skip the monthly packs for the next couple of months because I honestly value the Orbs the most, 140 is nothing to slouch at~

If I was planning on mass pulling for the Beasts, I'd honestly go ahead and get this bundle even if it would be sending the wrong message you'd want to send to IS, the value is just better~ 

[Rezzy]

1 minute ago, Landmaster said:

See, I also considered buying for the Orbs and I would just skip the monthly packs for the next couple of months because I honestly value the Orbs the most, 140 is nothing to slouch at~

If I was planning on mass pulling for the Beasts, I'd honestly go ahead and get this bundle even if it would be sending the wrong message you'd want to send to IS, the value is just better~ 

Yeah, I was planning to buy anyway, and I blew all my Orbs on the Legendary Banner.  Too bad Hrid's not the free one.

[bottlegnomes]

@Rezzy I suppose one possible approach  would be to get the package and then send feedback explaining your scenario and that the package didn't say your decision. It might be kinda weird and they might not take it seriously, but at least they'd be somewhat aware that you weren't necessarily condoning the package. Of course the alternative is just buying the orbs. You do lose out but you make it abundantly clear how you feel. No real ideal outcome for you though :\

[Rezzy]

1 hour ago, bottlegnomes said:

@Rezzy I suppose one possible approach  would be to get the package and then send feedback explaining your scenario and that the package didn't say your decision. It might be kinda weird and they might not take it seriously, but at least they'd be somewhat aware that you weren't necessarily condoning the package. Of course the alternative is just buying the orbs. You do lose out but you make it abundantly clear how you feel. No real ideal outcome for you though :\

I don't know if it's even worth to bother complaining anymore.  I've already voiced my displeasure, and they don't seem to respond to feedback anymore.

[ArgentSable]

Well, honestly though it's pricey, it's not really a bad buy mathematically speaking. The chance of getting a 5 star from a random pull is total ass, like, you could waste 400 orbs and get nothing (experience), versus a free pull. The best thing about this is if you want to buy orbs. For example, if you were planning to buy orbs for let's say the current LHB, or maybe for the RD banner (this is around for a month), then this is a good deal. You could buy orbs (since the price is pretty much the same as the orb pack) and get some extras.

 

However if your entire reason is to buy this for Fjorm or Lae, unless you really, really need her or Lae. Or if you didn't plan on buying orbs before, just skip. Truth being told, this was pseudo smart. I'm pretty sure alot of people are planning to drop some money for RD (I know alotta people that are planning to do so cause they wanna talk with their wallets) so in a way, we'll have to see how this works out.

 

Also, comparing to an earlier post about monthly revenue going down. It's maintained itself near the 20 mil mark, dipping low to 17 except for last month. However my guess as to why it dipped so bad was for more than just Fates banner reasoning. There was only 1 actual new units banner, no seasonals, and all the banners were OC's that, to be fair, alotta people didn't want. Didn't really make it easy for IS to make money off of not very popular characters.

[Othin]

2 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Another problem is having way too many girls and not enough guys, which is alienating fans who don't just want a waifu fest.  In the last 3 months, we've gotten like 3 guys and a dozen girls.  September was the last time we had a banner (including TT and GHB) that had more guys than girls.  We're lucky to get equal numbers anymore.

To be fair, we did get Brave Redux as a majority-male banner in October.

Looking back over the past three months:

• October: 4 male (Niles, Dorcas, Owain, Kliff), 6 female (Myrrh, Mia, Kagero, Loki, Aversa, Eirika)
• November: 4 male (Corrin, Surtr, Gharnef, Hrid), 5 female (Corrin, Camilla, Mikoto, Azura, Ylgr)
• December: 2 male (Ephraim, Hrid), 9 female (Eir, Eirika, Fae, Cecilia, Azura, Fjorm, Gunnthra, Laevatein, Laegjarn)

So December is where it gets especially skewed. Overall over the three months is 10 male and 20 female, which is... not great.

[Rezzy]

4 minutes ago, Othin said:

To be fair, we did get Brave Redux as a majority-male banner in October.

Looking back over the past three months:

• October: 4 male (Niles, Dorcas, Owain, Kliff), 6 female (Myrrh, Mia, Kagero, Loki, Aversa, Eirika)
• November: 4 male (Corrin, Surtr, Gharnef, Hrid), 5 female (Corrin, Camilla, Mikoto, Azura, Ylgr)
• December: 2 male (Ephraim, Hrid), 9 female (Eir, Eirika, Fae, Cecilia, Azura, Fjorm, Gunnthra, Laevatein, Laegjarn)

So December is where it gets especially skewed. Overall over the three months is 10 male and 20 female, which is... not great.

Brave Redux was 50/50 including Aversa.  I'm happy with 50/50, but there are far more guys than girls that still need to get in, so having 2-3 girls for every guy added is not sustainable without making the alt problem worse.

[Othin]

Just now, Rezzy said:

Brave Redux was 50/50 including Aversa.  I'm happy with 50/50, but there are far more guys than girls that still need to get in, so having 2-3 girls for every guy added is not sustainable without making the alt problem worse.

If we include Aversa, there's also a case for counting Gharnef with Ylgr and Surtr.

Plus, banner vs associated free units is a pretty important distinction, since that's come up regarding gender balance before.

[Rezzy]

3 minutes ago, Othin said:

If we include Aversa, there's also a case for counting Gharnef with Ylgr and Surtr.

Plus, banner vs associated free units is a pretty important distinction, since that's come up regarding gender balance before.

It used to be we'd usually get 2 girls on the banner with 1 guy, then the second guy as a TT or GHB, now we don't even get guys for that anymore.

[Othin]

1 minute ago, Rezzy said:

It used to be we'd usually get 2 girls on the banner with 1 guy, then the second guy as a TT or GHB, now we don't even get guys for that anymore.

It depends. The Christmas banner is a step down from that, and the New Year's and Adrift banners even more so, but the Brave Redux banner is a step up.

Hopefully the upcoming FE10 banner, too. Most people seem to be expecting a four-character all-Laguz banner, which suggests Tibarn is unlikely to be the only guy. There will probably also be a GHB, and like with Laguz, there isn't much in the way of female candidates. I'm hoping for Sephiran, personally.

Now I'm curious about the full year of 2018. Counting both New Year's banners for the preceding year, since that's when the data and trailers were added:

• January: 5 male (Zelgius, Sothe, Oliver, Lyon, Ike), 5 female (Micaiah, Eirika, Myrrh, L'Arachel, Marisa)
• February: 7 male (Roy, Hector, Eliwood, Hardin, Grima, Takumi, Ephraim), 3 female (Lilina, Lyn, Celica)
• March: 4 male (Chrom, Morgan, Gerome, Alfonse), 5 female (Morgan, Sharena, Catria, Kagero, Robin)
• April: 7 male (Leif, Reinhardt, Finn, Saias, Shigure, Kana, Kaze), 5 female (Nanna, Olwen, Hinoka, Kana, Lyn)
• May: 4 male (Ares, Julius, Marth, Ryoma), 5 female (Ishtar, Lene, Tharja, Ninian, Sanaki)
• June: 5 male (Legault, Canas, Linus, Innes, Hector), 5 female (Nino, Karla, Tana, Cordelia, Noire)
• July: 3 male (Takumi, Libra, Walhart), 7 female (Tiki, Linde, Camilla, Olivia, Sumia, Maribelle, Lucina)
• August: 5 male (Ryoma, Xander, Hector, Ephraim, Marth), 4 female (Micaiah, Elincia, Celica, Veronida)
• September: 6 male (Quan, Lewyn, Jamke, Silas, Garon, Helbindi), 8 female (Silvia, Ethlyn, Flora, Ophelia, Nina, Laevatein, Laegjarn, Tiki)

So the totals for the year are 56 male and 67 female. The first half of the year actually had more male than female units, but the second half turned it around.

[Rezzy]

3 minutes ago, Othin said:

It depends. The Christmas banner is a step down from that, and the New Year's and Adrift banners even more so, but the Brave Redux banner is a step up.

Hopefully the upcoming FE10 banner, too. Most people seem to be expecting a four-character all-Laguz banner, which suggests Tibarn is unlikely to be the only guy. There will probably also be a GHB, and like with Laguz, there isn't much in the way of female candidates. I'm hoping for Sephiran, personally.

Now I'm curious about the full year of 2018. Counting both New Year's banners for the preceding year, since that's when the data and trailers were added:

• January: 5 male (Zelgius, Sothe, Oliver, Lyon, Ike), 5 female (Micaiah, Eirika, Myrrh, L'Arachel, Marisa)
• February: 7 male (Roy, Hector, Eliwood, Hardin, Grima, Takumi, Ephraim), 3 female (Lilina, Lyn, Celica)
• March: 4 male (Chrom, Morgan, Gerome, Alfonse), 5 female (Morgan, Sharena, Catria, Kagero, Robin)
• April: 7 male (Leif, Reinhardt, Finn, Saias, Shigure, Kana, Kaze), 5 female (Nanna, Olwen, Hinoka, Kana, Lyn)
• May: 4 male (Ares, Julius, Marth, Ryoma), 5 female (Ishtar, Lene, Tharja, Ninian, Sanaki)
• June: 5 male (Legault, Canas, Linus, Innes, Hector), 5 female (Nino, Karla, Tana, Cordelia, Noire)
• July: 3 male (Takumi, Libra, Walhart), 7 female (Tiki, Linde, Camilla, Olivia, Sumia, Maribelle, Lucina)
• August: 5 male (Ryoma, Xander, Hector, Ephraim, Marth), 4 female (Micaiah, Elincia, Celica, Veronida)
• September: 6 male (Quan, Lewyn, Jamke, Silas, Garon, Helbindi), 8 female (Silvia, Ethlyn, Flora, Ophelia, Nina, Laevatein, Laegjarn, Tiki)

So the totals for the year are 56 male and 67 female. The first half of the year actually had more male than female units, but the second half turned it around.

Wouldn't Sephirin being a Beast unit be lore breaking?

Spoiler

Since he lost his Laguz powers by mating with a human.

 

[Punished Dayni]

Man, why are they doing it like this? Seems a bit of the wrong way to handle it overall. Not necessarily on the scale but it's so much that it will intimidate those who wouldn't spend much to begin with.

Also, I ain't got that kind of money to just throw away, bit of a shame I'll be missing out on this. Definitely a less enticing bundle than last year, which is what broke my FTP status.

[Jingle Jangle]

13 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

Wouldn't Sephirin being a Beast unit be lore breaking?

  Hide contents

Since he lost his Laguz powers by mating with a human.

 

Heroes doesn't always care about cannon or spoilers. Ninian is able to turn into a dragon offensively. Deirdre is uses the Naga tome despite never touching in FE4. And mage Erikia was never a thing in FE8.

[Othin]

Digging deeper into those 2018 numbers:

If we look only at 5* exclusive units, we get 31 male and 58 female. That's a lot more striking.

On the other hand, if we look only at fully new characters rather than alts (while including lower rarities), we get 29 male and 26 female.

10 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

Wouldn't Sephirin being a Beast unit be lore breaking?

  Hide contents

Since he lost his Laguz powers by mating with a human.

 

I mean as a blue tome unit. Free units don't have to be a perfect match. I don't think we're getting a beast GHB quite this soon, especially since the most fitting candidate is Naesala and I imagine they're even more reluctant to give out a free bird.

[Jingle Jangle]

1 minute ago, Othin said:

I mean as a blue tome unit. Free units don't have to be a perfect match. I don't think we're getting a beast GHB quite this soon, especially since the most fitting candidate is Naesala and I imagine they're even more reluctant to give out a free bird.

I hope the free Laguz won't be someone lame like Kyza or Nealuchi.

[Othin]

1 minute ago, Jingle Jangle said:

I hope the free Laguz won't be someone lame like Kyza or Nealuchi.

As I said, I don't think there will be a free Laguz with this banner at all. It's how Heroes usually works: release something new and make people have to summon for it, then release a free one later.

[Rezzy]

24 minutes ago, Othin said:

Digging deeper into those 2018 numbers:

If we look only at 5* exclusive units, we get 31 male and 58 female. That's a lot more striking.

On the other hand, if we look only at fully new characters rather than alts (while including lower rarities), we get 29 male and 26 female.

I mean as a blue tome unit. Free units don't have to be a perfect match. I don't think we're getting a beast GHB quite this soon, especially since the most fitting candidate is Naesala and I imagine they're even more reluctant to give out a free bird.

 

21 minutes ago, Jingle Jangle said:

I hope the free Laguz won't be someone lame like Kyza or Nealuchi.

 

13 minutes ago, Othin said:

As I said, I don't think there will be a free Laguz with this banner at all. It's how Heroes usually works: release something new and make people have to summon for it, then release a free one later.

To be fair, we've never had a new weapon type before.

The first time we got a new weapon/movement combo was Brave Lyn, and you could get her for free.

[SSbardock84]

Too much money, doesn't seem worth it at all.

[Othin]

15 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

 

 

To be fair, we've never had a new weapon type before.

The first time we got a new weapon/movement combo was Brave Lyn, and you could get her for free.

The first time we got a new weapon/movement combo was Spring Camilla. Unless you count Olwen and Reinhardt, although by the time they released, Ursula was already in the game and we knew how GHBs worked.

Going through the chronology of new unit types:

1. Green tome flier: Spring Camilla
2. Blue tome flier: Summer Corrin
3. Bow cavalry: Brave Lyn
4. Axe / Tome / Dagger dancers: PA Azura/Shigure/Inigo/Olivia
5. Bow armor: Halloween Jakob
6. Green tome armor: Halloween Henry
7. Red tome flier: Halloween Nowi
8. Red tome armor: Christmas Tharja
9. Flying dancer: NY Azura
10. (Green) flying dragon: Myrrh
11. Blue tome armor: Valentine's Lyn
12. (Green) armored dragon: Fallen Robin
13. Dagger flier: Spring Kagero
14. Colorless breath: Legendary Robin
15. Bow flier: Warrior Hinoka
16. Green bow: Legendary Lyn
17. Dagger cavalry: Summer Linde
18. Red flying dragon: Summer Tiki
19. Blue bow: Legendary Lucina
20. Blue and Green daggers: Hoshidan Ryoma/Elincia
21. Red dagger: Flora
22. Blue armored dragon: Legendary Tiki
23. Staff flier: Halloween Mia
24. (Green) dagger armor: Halloween Kagero
25. Blue bow armor: Halloween Niles
26. Red breath armor: Halloween Myrrh
27. Staff armor: Christmas Eirika
28. Colorless dagger armor: Christmas Cecilia
29. Green bow flier: New Year's Fjorm

So, outside of potentially getting Lyn as the CYL free pull, the only one not introduced as some sort of 5* exclusive (and usually the seasonal or legendary kind) is Christmas Cecilia being the first colorless dagger armor. She's one of the more questionable examples, too, since she's not the first dagger armor and certainly not the first colorless dagger unit. (Halloween Myrrh/Niles, NY Fjorm, and both Tikis are the other ones to have that distinction of just being a different color variation of an existing weapon/movement combination, without being the unit to introduce the weapon color in the first place.)

[Lord-Zero]

Hmmm...the BK happy meal was a far better deal, Anna. 

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Oh...ew. The game just assumes I'm buying one of these bundles.

[TheWill]

14 hours ago, Othin said:

If we include Aversa, there's also a case for counting Gharnef with Ylgr and Surtr.

I'm not sure that's entirely fair. 

Farfetched/Brave Redux has 3-banner units and one-freebie (I think the one who scored the lowest out of the four). Joshua was a TT, now Aversa is a GHB. They're intended to be grouped together, whilst Gharnef isn't meant to be grouped with the OCs.