Loot chests can no longer be purchased with money

General Discussion
1

Now we’re entering the realm of ethical monetization. Well done, Blizzard.

18 Likes
2

I think it’s just that you can’t buy Loot b-… Chests on the PTR with $, €, ¥, ₽, ₴, etc.

1 Like
3

They’ve never made the distinction before. I believe this is a global change.

4

:exploding_head:h my g :exploding_head:d

1 Like
5

This is incorrect.
We are entering the realm of non-profitability.
You see with the ability to purchase loot boxes comes the ability to support the game and given how the things provide you no actual advantages in-game the idea of monetizing them is actually comparably ethical compared with other games most specifically on the Ios market.

4 Likes
6

It was in the patch notes:

  • Loot chests are no longer available for Gem purchase
  • Rare loot chests are now available for Gold purchase (3000 each)
7 Likes
7

In the ptr notes right?

8

i guess i was t :exploding_head: :exploding_head: lazy then :sweat_smile:

9

Yes

1 Like
10

We can buys skins directly now instead, which is probably going to be more profitable. Who even bought loot boxes? I thought people just coasted off the bazillion free ones they already handed out.

28 Likes
11

mabye hots 1.0 made more money? mabye loot chest are not the best way to make money

12 Likes
12

More likely Blizzard saw the writing on the wall about all of the anti-gambling laws that people are trying to get passed that specifically targeted lootboxes.

16 Likes
13

That, and I think they’re not trying to make this game a primary revenue source any more, which means they can go back to a more relaxed model.

14

With the side benefit of people hating them less/liking them more. That is good.

2 Likes
15

This is a smart change. Some countries have laws against gambling like this, so it is likely to allow those markets

9 Likes
16

It’s still a source of income, just not predatory.

This is a nice change. Loot boxes are fine in games when you can’t purchase them.

7 Likes
17

3,000 gold for a single rare box eh? That’s 30% for a premium hero. And there’s no discount if you buy it in large number (10, 20, 30, etc…). I think this is gonna be a very hard sell. Even worse if this is the rumored “gold to shard” conversion system.

Also, I don’t see how this could affect their income. Like, at all. After the “purchase everything with gems”, I don’t see anyone would be foolish enough to gamble with the lootboxes anymore. But if they turned it into purchasable with gold, they would be able to:

  1. Keep the lootbox system.
  2. Dodge the gambling allegation.
  3. Act as a gold sink for those players with a mountain of unspent gold.

That’s killing 3 birds with one stone. There is also no telling if they would remove the lootbox that would be awarded when you level up. That would hurt, a lot.

1 Like
18

I mean, all the HotS team really has to do to make money is to keep making good-looking skins. I’m already about to lose however much the new Chromie and Lucio skins will cost me. Now that you can actually buy what you want for reasonable prices, it’s pretty sweet.

1 Like
19

Yeah, it’s a shame that the Gold to Shard conversion system isn’t “live” in the PTR.

Oh, wait. It is “live” in the PTR.

The numbers, imo, work out very simply:

  1. if you want to just get cosmetics, and don’t care what you get… Loot chests are a better purchase unless you own probably somewhere in the realm of 40-60% of hte rare items.
  2. If you want to get specific cosmetics, the gold conversion is better.

On average if you own all the items, a rare chest should get about 80-100 shards.

The gold conversion is 2K to 100 shards (10K to 500 for those who wish to go fast).

2 Likes
20

I actually didn’t see that coming.

Oh well, at least in-game gold has its usefulness now.

I can see that Boost sale is going to sell well in the next patch.