Diablo Immortal-style loot boxes criticised for “killing” Marvel Snap
Marvel Snap, the upcoming, superhero card duelling game from former Hearthstone director Ben Brode, is facing criticism from players during its closed beta period, owing to microtransactions and loot boxes which some fans say could end up “killing” the game.
Particularly contentious are Marvel Snap’s newly launched “Nexus Events”, whereby players can spend real money to purchase in-game gold, which is then exchanged for the opportunity to win powerful cards. Ten chances of claiming the cards, or ten “pulls”, currently cost 1,800 gold – the minimum a player can buy is 300 gold for $4.99 USD, meaning that ten pulls costs precisely $29.94. The percentage chance of winning one of these cards, which in the first Nexus Event are designed after either Mighty Thor Jane Foster, or the archvillain Destroyer, according to figures published in game is 1.5%.
However, Marvel Snap features a “pity” system, whereby a card is automatically awarded to a player after 50 pulls – this may be a new card, or a duplicate of a card that a player has already obtained. Since it takes 50 pulls to trigger the pity system, and there are, in the shape of Thor and Destroyer, two ultra-rare cards to earn during this Nexus Event, it means that players would need 100 pulls minimum to absolutely, completely, totally guarantee both cards, and that’s if they receive them both first time, without getting any duplicates.
Ten pulls cost 1,800 gold; 100 pulls therefore cost 18,000 gold. The most gold you can buy at one time in Marvel Snap is 8,000, for $99.99 USD. You can also buy 2,600 gold for $34.99 USD.
Some quick maths, then, reveals that the quickest way to accumulate the 18,000 gold needed for those 100 pulls is to spend $234.97, exactly, on 18,600 gold.
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