Given the recent update from @Brigby that this is now definitely being worked on and some timing expectations provided, there is a huge question mark over what happens to existing dupes with strong feelings both sides. Some have saved them in the expectation that a new system will give them more value than pure rune conversion. Others have converted along the way as they either needed or runes or did not believe they would ever have more value.
As this topic crops up on various threads, interested to gauge what the forum users think. I’ve added some different versions of yes or no to capture what I’ve heard about motivations to date from altruism to a focus on self.
I just believe everyone should start off on even footing here since the word all along before this was that dupes had no foreseeable uses other than for runes.
It would be hugely unfair for devs to punish players for listening to them.
I’d like a “no preference” option. I’ve been converting my cards, primarily to get rid of the green bar across the screen, and wouldn’t begrudge an extra Mythic or two to those who have kept the green bar across their screen. But I also don’t want that to be the sticking point which prevents us from doing something useful with our cards going forward.
I’ve always been of the opinion that people should be able to obtain specific cards of their choosing at a reasonable price. My impression is that the people most in favor of auto-conversion tend to be the most adamant against people obtaining specific cards in the first place.
Perhaps a compromise would be to forcibly convert everyone’s cards, but to convert the Mythics and Rares into Crystals or Purple Things, rather than runes. In fact, I would be in favor of a system where Mythics, Rares, and especially Masterpieces are converted into Crystals or Purple Things. I can’t imagine there’s any more of a feel-bad in this game than converting a duplicate Masterpiece into 5,000 runes.
I have a few dupes, not very many but I would like to get more value for the ones I still have than I did for the ones I have already converted.
We don’t yet know what this new system will be but I have a hard time believing it will give anyone much of an advantage.
I think it would be unfair for players to be punished just because they hoped for something better.
Indeed. This poll, is, in fact, ILLEGAL under current forum rules:
Along with having no neutral option, I’d say it’s not in the least bit unbiased; You’re asking brand new players trying to eek out an advantage for themselves whether they would like the resources of players who started playing way before they did to be shredded. I know what I’d answer if it was me.
[edit] Also, reading my option again, I find myself agreeing with ‘I’ve been saving dupes specifically for this new system’ but that ‘any auto-conversion would be a terrible idea’ is kinda putting words into my mouth.
See, that’s the problem I have. I hate that this is such a hot-button issue. I want there to be a system where people can convert duplicates into something useful, and also for there to be a system where people can obtain specific cards. But I don’t want good players to be bashing each other over the head simply because we’re converting from the “dupes are worthless” stage to the “dupes have some marginal value” stage.
The actual amount of conversion is likely to be very low. For example, an extra deck slot costs 45,000 runes or 200 crystals. That puts the value of a crystal at 225 runes. Recently, a random rare was offered for 150 crystals, which would be the equivalent of 33,750 runes at that conversion rate. If you convert your duplicate rares into runes, you’d get 200 runes per rare. So, a random rare is worth about 1/187 as much as a duplicate rare.
They’ve never offered a specific rare of someone’s choice for any price, but if they did, I imagine it would probably be worth 2 to 10 times as much as a random rare. So, it would take 337 to 1,875 duplicate rares to get one specific rare of a person’s choosing at the current conversion rate.
So, I doubt that anyone who has never converted their duplicates has enough to get more than 1 or 2 specific rare / Mythic cards, even if they’ve been a top performer in a top 10 coalition for 9 months and also spending several hundred dollars per month on the side.
The developers have been kicking this problem down the road for the entire history of this game. We need some way to convert our duplicates into something useful, and we need some way to be able to obtain specific cards. But I don’t think it’s worth taking a pitchfork in hand to fight for either side of the auto-convert issue.
I voted yes with the some dupes option because I accidentally tapped the conversion button some months back. But my stance wouldn’t change even if I hadn’t.
As I commented in another thread (Booster pack screen - #40 by span_argoman - MtGPQ General Discussion - 505 Go! Official Forums), forcing a conversion before the new duplicate system is implemented would justify better rates for duplicate conversion considering the developers probably don’t want to give any group of players an easy route to having all (or many) of the cards they desire.
@EDHdad
My hope is that without the overhanging shadow of the massive stockpile of duplicates that veteran players possess, the developers can agree to give a better conversion rate than what you just calculated.
I am saving for this and will be a bit upset if all my dupes are made worthless. I would get over it though.
That said, it’s dumb to force convert dupes because it doesn’t actually solve anything. Players who are hoarding packs will still have a huge influx of dupes immediately once this goes live, and be able to make whatever they want anyways.
What if there was a cap on how much currency could be derived from dupes? So, those players that have been hoarding dupes since beta can at least get some value from their decision, but not so much that they gain a huge advantage over others who took D3 at their word.
Personally, I was one that took D3’s comments at face value and converted everything extra. However, once the announcement went out about this, I’ve been holding everything in hopes of using them to get new cards. I’d like to get some value from them - especially since I have statistically more dupes than I “should” (but that’s another issue).
Chances are the bigger the stockpiles, the worse the conversion rate will end up. Or if they are uncertain about what players will hoard, we might just get a bad conversion rate anyway.
I was one of those who always converted. So I have well over 3 million runes stockpiled, and all my PW at level 60 (just missing Ajani Unyeilding). I have maybe a hundred or so duplicates since I stopped converting. So I guess I am part of the problem and am not deserving of equal compensation. Those extra deck slots barely made a dent.
Interesting discussion so far. Really useful to see where different people are coming from so appreciate all of the insights shared. Clearly the chances of a solution that yields no outcry is minimal, but useful to see the balance of opinion.
Side note, I accidentally set the poll to public (I typically would set as anonymous to get more votes) however, I’m liking the fact that the option chosen is shown with the post so you can see where an allegiance sits and provides context for the post. A great feature of the forum IMO.
I’ll vote when there’s a neutral option. However, I do believe that when it’s possible to convert duplicates into specific cards, the conversion rate is likely to be in the neighborhood of 1,000 rares to get one rare, or 1,000 mythics to get one mythic. So, I think people should start to temper their expectations about the pile of Mythics which awaits them, forced conversion or no.
