r/JimSterling Sep 23 '17

About Bandai-Namco manipulating pull rates in a mobile game NSFW

Hey everybody. I know many oof you may not care about this little rant, given it is about a mobile game, however there seems to be some kind of manipulation from people in Bandai Namco, of course the purpose seems to be to get more money coming from the global version of One Piece: Treasure Cruise. For anyone interested to know what the hell is going on, let me explain: About three years ago, Bandai Namco released this mobile game in Japan, the Global version has been around for two years and a half, kinda. In the global version, one thing to note is the community it has formed over the years, with people being serious and direct about how to clear new content, pass events coming from time to time, but most important for everyone there, the pull rates in Sugo-Fest, an event every two weeks where you can get the best characters in the game, including legends (Only available in those events). Over the time Global and Japan version have seen a big difference: It's so, so much easier to pull a legend in Japan. Not only that, but in the last Sugo-Fest, reddit users made some statistics on the pulls like many other time, showing the chances to get the characters available in this event, thus showing that it's highly possible that Bandai is either making false advertising about the rates (chances to pull legendary characters) or outright manipulating those chances, making harder for players to get them, in a game where a big part of it's community is spending money each time a Sugo-Fest comes around. If anyone wants to check more about what i'm talking about here, you can check the following Reddit posts:

Global controversy megathread: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71yym6/global_controversy_megathread/

Rates in the last Sugo-Fest: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71geii/rare_recruit_rates_220_sugo_version/

A better explanation on this controversy: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71ulgr/memo_to_the_optc_community_regarding_rheathtechs/ Other controversial posts:

Is Global dead? https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71yjch/is_global_dead/

I think it's time for us to do something: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71yki8/i_think_its_time_for_us_to_do_something/

Can we 1* the game in the store? https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71xom4/can_we_1_the_game_in_the_store/

Memo to the OPTC community regarding r/heathtech's rate info https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71ulgr/memo_to_the_optc_community_regarding_rheathtechs/

Chimbowling's rates in this last sugo (User who spent lots of money to get only shit) https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceTC/comments/71j90q/1870_gems_this_sugo/

I don't really think this case will cause troubles for Bandai-Namco, or that this controversy will go a long way, given it's a mobile game, however i do think it's sad to see a community like the one of this game being scammed, seeing how it's one of the least toxic and salty communities i've seen in many mobile games, even if it's also one of the bigger, most actives, and consistent. I can't say i'm affected by this, seeing how i only ever wasted around 10 bucks in this game, but many people have spent lots of money here just to see their chances to get something good manipulated. I hope this subreddit can help us (and thanks for getting this far if you're reading this)

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u/StNowhere Sep 23 '17

Considering Jim's coverage of lootboxes as of late, I think this is a story he'd be interested in. Gacha games follow much of the same logic as lootboxes, and probably inspired their creation in the first place.

This is a company taking advantage of it's player base because it doesn't have to tell people the chances they'll actually pull what they want. It's disgusting.

7

u/Leonel96 Sep 23 '17

I don't think this will get the same attention as scams in other games, given this is not a pc or console game, however i really hope that this gets somewhere, even if it is a half minute mention in any of Jim's videos, or some tweet, anything.

7

u/StNowhere Sep 23 '17

He's talked about stuff like the Simpsons and Dungeon Keeper mobile games in the past, but you're right this isn't really his usual wheelhouse.

2

u/Deadpeasant13 Sep 24 '17

Looking at the kind of crap the mobile industry comes up with is effectively looking into the future of AAA gaming since it all came from there originally anyway. So it is relevant for everyone i think.

2

u/Targren Sep 25 '17

I don't think this will get the same attention as scams in other games, given this is not a pc or console game

It might. Jim gave Dungeon Keeper (mobile) and it's ilk a whole (albeit short) episode.