http://tera.enmasse.com/news/posts/federation-gem-crates-now-in-the-tera-store
A short term “experiment” (can only be purchased until February 27th @11AM Pacific) which needs to go back to the dark hole that it spawned out of.
This is plain and simple a blatant lousy short term cash grab by En Masse Entertainment (which has been happening with more regularity).
I’m well aware of the pay 2 convenience angle with certain TERA (EME) cash shop items. And unlike Kakao with Black Desert Online, the developer doesn’t keep trying to develop end game systems and mechanics that compels their most dedicated players to keep feeding the machine several hundred dollars every month (I have a draft that has been sitting for several months now regarding that aspect of Black Desert Online which is why I refuse to play it and potentially other Kakao published games in the future including Ascent:Infinite Realm).
The above is the usual loot box crap shoot where the majority aren’t hitting the jackpot though (shades of Trion Worlds with their constant pump of overpriced packs or discounts on supply crates). Directly selling the box on the broker has been yielding an above average exchange rate when trading EMP for gold (that is, someone buying a cash shop item for EMP and then selling that item for gold on the trade broker).
When the box went live, people were selling them at a 1:50 ratio so around 9750 gold for a crate. On average, players have settled on a 1:30/35 ratio during low demand periods so selling the crates have been worth it for those selling that EMP for gold. For those looking to open the crates and get gems that are actually worth their price in gold (or get the higher end ones for their crafting needs), it has been less than stellar (which should not be surprising).
It’s why I am waiting for the details on how EME will be monetizing the new hairstyles. I know that kind of RNG B.S. is Nexon’s area of expertise as they did it in MapleStory with a quest which awarded special beauty coupons and the selling point of generating additional revenue was probably an easy sell to Bluehole.
