The Economy of Stars

[Swanky]

I've read the threads about stars failing and losing stars. I'm aware of how the game has been programmed for this function. I just want to walk through this logic.

You can buy 50 gems for ~$5 (to keep the math simple).
You can buy a blue star for 10 gems at full price (or $1 per blue star)
It requires 3 blue stars for a star upgrade on a gold hero (or $3 per hero star)

So, if I upgrade my hero from 4 to 7 stars I will undoubtedly fail at some point there because the success rate is minimal and compounded (Tynon loves compounding risk). If I'm at 6 stars and fail back to 4, what I'm essentially doing is paying $3 to have Tynon take $6 from me. I'm not gambling $3, I'm gambling $9 with very poor odds and that is if I make it through the upgrade process without a failure. The dollar figures go up very quickly in reality. Also, the blue stars are worthless at some point down the road so your $1 becomes $0.

To me, it's the same as when you would sanctify a hero and get magic attack on a physical attack hero. You have to spend resources to get the card, risk failure on the card upgrade and then hope you get something useful. The benefits do not outweigh the cost and risk. The game is good, the scenarios where they compound risk are purely a scam and would be illegal in Vegas. I'll keep playing the game but Tynon will not get anymore of my money.

[RiverBummer]

Sounds like you're as suspicious as I am about the operation being run by the same sort of underground economy sort of shady people that run casinos.

They're the same sort who have found that they can extract grossly higher margins and with no regulation here n the kids' gaming community where odds don't have to be disclosed, there's no oversight. Since "money" is converted to in-game currency (gems) they can get away with anything they want irrespective to gambling laws and fairness as long as the credit cards keep spending.

I think there's going to soon be a major shake up in the online gaming community since they're in many ways no different than online gambling. The only difference that saves them from international law is that there's no way to cash out - even better for a casino style of business model...

[Klepto]

This is why you wait for the good prices. Either buy only on Fridays (due to the new patch), or only buy when you see them in the fair for 2-3 gems. You don't HAVE to spend the full 10 gems/$1 cost per medal.

[Swanky]

All the Friday patch will get you is more stars if you buy them with gems. So, you can cut your blue star cost in half. Remember the point about the value of a blue star though. At some point it has no value because you can't use it or it will cost you more money to use it.

So, there are ways to reduce the dollar values in the equation but you can't modify the equation. Maybe you're risking $0.50 to lose $1.50 instead of $3/$9. It's still not very good economics and those numbers only apply if you have consecutive successful upgrades. If you fail just once on the 7th star attempt then you've spent $18 at full price stars. Your risk is exponential. It can be very easy to lose over $100 trying to go from 4 stars to 7 stars and you could ultimately wind up with fewer hero stars than when you started. You can be worse off, exhibiting a lower value, after having purchased, or invested in, these items.

[Klepto]

All the Friday patch will get you is more stars if you buy them with gems. So, you can cut your blue star cost in half. Remember the point about the value of a blue star though. At some point it has no value because you can't use it or it will cost you more money to use it.

I don't get what you mean by at some point you can't use it. You can always use blue medals until you reach 10 stars on all five main heroes in your formation. Yes, at that point they're "worthless", though I have at least 7 heroes that are worth starring up.

So, there are ways to reduce the dollar values in the equation but you can't modify the equation. Maybe you're risking $0.50 to lose $1.50 instead of $3/$9. It's still not very good economics and those numbers only apply if you have consecutive successful upgrades. If you fail just once on the 7th star attempt then you've spent $18 at full price stars. Your risk is exponential. It can be very easy to lose over $100 trying to go from 4 stars to 7 stars and you could ultimately wind up with fewer hero stars than when you started. You can be worse off, exhibiting a lower value, after having purchased, or invested in, these items.

That's the risk you take, but there's nothing saying you have to waste all that cash. Many blue medals I get, I get for free from the Labyrinth Shuffle tiles or from the Arena. No money lost there. Just because you CAN waste money doesn't mean that a little money spent in something is a terrible idea. You're paying for entertainment, of course it's going to be a money sink. That's generally what entertainment is.

[7gill7_9904855]

Something need to be done ,the fail rate of stars even when is says 88% success is like 10 fails to 1 success.
And for each star lost 1 star is taken away form which ever hero.
I have had more stars lost than I have gained ,buying a stars or getting stars in game makes no difference.
I will not spend another dime
And now after writing this post I'm being punished ,i went to play Banish Baal
after spending just about 1.9 Million (kept clicking to see if it was just my luck) in credit to get a power boost Surprise I got 0% Boost