How is collectability treating you?

[jonboyjon1990 958]

 

Starting to get salty about this game now - have bought x1 of each starter and 19 boosters so far. Have only pulled one character - Rebel Trooper. 

 

So I'm £80+ in and can't build any decks...

For a game where the primary requirement for decks are two or more compatible characters, the decision to make characters so hard to get feels like a big mistake. Reading about people who pay $100 for a box only to get two or three characters...

 

 

Just to be fair - roughly one third of the set's rares/legendaries are Characters so they 'should' be in every third pack. Obviously I've been quite unlucky with 1 character out of 19 packs. At least I've had the 3 'expected' legendaries. 

 

 

Starting to get salty about this game now - have bought x1 of each starter and 19 boosters so far. Have only pulled one character - Rebel Trooper. 

 

So I'm £80+ in and can't build any decks...

You can't make it to 30 cards? I find that hard to believe.

 

 

Obviously I can make both starters into 30 card decks with the cards I have. I just find it to be INCREDIBLY bad value that I've spent close to £100 on cards and can't make any new decks. 

[NetCop 107]

I've been on the same side as you jonboyjon not so long ago.  My story is:

 

After 14 boosters: 2 characters (Padme and Padawan) and 0 legendaries and then I decided to buy boosters from different boxes. After 4 more boosters I've got 2x Luke and one more Padme. Then I've bought 4+4+2 boosters and after 28 boosters I had 8 characters and 4 legends (and of course Kylo, Rey, Finn, Stormtrooper form starters)

2xLuke (AT ST and Thermal Detonator)

2xPadme

1xPadawan

1xAckbar

1xJango

1xDooku

I had some 3xTie Figher, 3xOutpost, 2xSurvival Gear and I found local people with plenty of characters so I've traded for Stormtrooper, Night Sister and Tusken Rider. I can easly trade for Qui Gon, Grievous, Veers and even Han Solo but I don't have spare cards right now but I'm going to continue my buying strategy of 1-4 boosters at a time.

I played with my son: 2xLuke + Padme; Jango + Kylo + Nighsister; 2xRey + Padawan + Padme; 2xKylo + 2xStormtrooper - all with cards from 2 starters and 28 boosters. It's all not perfect but It's very very playable.

Edited December 13, 2016 by NetCop

[ScottieATF 2,867]

Poor distribution in booster boxes is why this problem exists.

You mean actual random distribution as opposed to fixed distribution?

I think he means that the random distribution isn't so random.  The shuffling, by most reports, is absolutely awful.

In what sense?

Someone pulling a glut of a certain card within a box isn't evidence against the distribution being random. That happening is absolutely the type of thing in play if distribution is relatively close to random.

This comes up all the time in regards to people's expectations regarding shuffling. People think randomly distributed means evenly distributed. But that isn't the case.

What the poster I quoted seems to want isn't random distribution, which would at times mean you'll see 8 of one rare before ever seeing one of another, but a set distribution in which your guaranteed certain ratios.

But one poster seeing few characters and another a bunch of them is not evidence of poorly randomized distribution, as both instances would be equally possible under a truly random distribution.

[executor 658]

 

Woahhh -- your Rare list is identical to my booster box, card for card. My legendaries were a little different: Jabba, Crime Lord, Thermal Detonator, Han, Millenium Falcon, Kylo's Saber. But this definitely gives some credence to the "random distribution isn't so random" camp. And if the sets are fixed like this, I don't know why they would print booster boxes that come with so many doubles. I'd be curious to see what Uncommons you got, to see if those match up too.

 

 

that'll take quite some time,  if i'm bored tomorrow afternoon (which i likely will be due to having the next few weeks off of work) i'll get you the list

 

Cheers, no rush (or pressure). In fact, I can give you mine (I bought 12 booster packs at a prerelease, so don't let that throw you):

 

1 Endless Ranks

1 Tactical Master

2 The Best Defense...

0 Local Garrison

2 Abandon All Hope

1 Force Strike

2 No Mercy

1 Emperor's Favor

0 hidden in Shadow

1 Nowhere to Run

0 Ace in the Hole

1 Confiscation

0 Fight Dirty

1 Underworld Connections

1 Prized Posession

1 Commando Raid

1 It's a Trap!

1 Rearm

1 Retreat

2 Resistance HQ

1 Anticipate

1 Return of the Jedi

1 Willpower

1 Jedi Council

2 Daring Escape

1 Hyperspace Jump

2 Let the Wookie Win

0 Shoot First

1 Play the Odds

0 Second Chance

2 Dug In

2 Leadership

1 Suporting Fire

3 Mind Trick

2 It Binds All Things

2 All In

3 Flank

2 Electroshock

1 Reversal

1 Infamous

1 Command Center

1 Echo Base

1 Throne Room

 

 

i've only went halfway through the list and it already seems vastly different, a few matched up, but ones where you have none i have 1 or 2, others you have 2 i have 1 or none

[Buhallin 4,563]

 

In what sense?

Someone pulling a glut of a certain card within a box isn't evidence against the distribution being random. That happening is absolutely the type of thing in play if distribution is relatively close to random.

This comes up all the time in regards to people's expectations regarding shuffling. People think randomly distributed means evenly distributed. But that isn't the case.

What the poster I quoted seems to want isn't random distribution, which would at times mean you'll see 8 of one rare before ever seeing one of another, but a set distribution in which your guaranteed certain ratios.

But one poster seeing few characters and another a bunch of them is not evidence of poorly randomized distribution, as both instances would be equally possible under a truly random distribution.

 

I understand probability  But a lot of people are reporting very strange distribution in a lot of cases.

 

I opened two boxes, each of which gave me exactly 2 copies of each of 14 rares.  Out of six boxes total, I've pulled 3-in-a-row legendaries from half of them.  Yes, that can happen...  but happening from half my boxes?  You're right that clumping is valid, but I've reliably seen not only clumping, but consistent clumping, and clumping of different cards when I've bought from different sources (i.e. the two from my LGS clumped different cards than the two from MM).  After six boxes (216 packs) there I'm still missing 4 of 43 uncommons.  Others I have nine of.

 

This is of course all possible - but at some point you can't just wave the "any outcome" flag.  The odds of pulling three legendaries in a row, even if you're halfway through the box and haven't hit any, is about 2%.  Fair enough.  Doing it from three boxes in a row?

 

If we really wanted to there are tests that could be run on the collections to see if it's purely a random distribution, but I'm tired of doing math for people whose prime concern is that FFG can't be wrong.

[ScottieATF 2,867]

We also likely wouldn't have a sample size large enough unless we spent a substantial amount of time collecting info from people.

Are you talking physical distribution of packs within a box and also distribution as far as general alocation of rare and such? I don't want to address a point you aren't trying to make.

[TylerTT 1,295]

Random distribution is a horrible idea. boxes should likely not contain duplicate rare or uncommon cards.

[Stone37 3,353]

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Stone37

[WonderWAAAGH 7,153]

Random distribution is a horrible idea. boxes should likely not contain duplicate rare or uncommon cards.

Hmm, if only there was something we could do with duplicates...

[Darksbane 82]

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

pretty sure it is 3,720 to 1

[executor 658]

1x Luke Skywalker

2x Nightsister

1x Jabba the Hutt

1x Padme Amidala

1x Hired Gun

2x Tusken Raider

1X Bala-Tik

2x General Veers

1x First order Stormtrooper

1x Leia Organa

2x Admiral Ackbar

2x General Grievous

1X BB-8

1x Infantry Grenades

1x DH-17 Blaster

1x Outpost

1x Black One

1x IQA-11 Blaster Rifle

2x Scout

1x AT-ST

1x Black Market

1x DL-44 heavy blaster

1x Flame Thrower

2x Jetpack

1x Thermal Detonator

1x Force training

1x Sith Holocron

1x Force Protection

1x Force Choke

 

after going through the checklist i saw that i still had a whole lot of rares and legendary's to go to fill up my roster, so i decided that a 2nd box would be worth the purchase.  and because my wife was sad that she couldn't open any from the last box, i let her open all the packs tonight and WOW, was i ever happy that she did,  some great pulls to add to the collection and there should be more than enough for both of us to create some good decks

1x Han Solo

1x Captain Phasma

1x Darth Vader

1x Commanding Presence

1x Thermal Detonator (2nd copy)

1x Luke Skywalker (2nd copy)

2x Count Dooku

1x Leia Organa (2nd copy)

1x Rebel Trooper

1x Padawan

1x Bala-Tik (2nd copy)

1x Padme Amidala (2nd copy)

1x Nightsister (3rd copy)

1x Jango Fett

1x Qui-Gon Jinn

2x Diplomatic Immunity

1x Survival Gear

1x Comlink

2x Immobilize (3rd copy)

1x Cunning

1x Promotion

2x Infiltrate

1x Holdout Blaster

1x Black Market (2nd copy)

1x On The Hunt

1x Speeder Bike Scout

1x Data Pad

1x Outpost (2nd copy)

1x DH-17 Blaster (2nd copy)

1x IQA-11 Blaster Rifle (2nd copy)

2x Force Protection (3rd copy)

this 2nd box was definitely a very nice set of pulls, which helped me complete a lot of 1 off rares into a playset along with a whole bunch of characters and upgrades that i didn't get in the previous box

Edited December 14, 2016 by executor

[WonderWAAAGH 7,153]

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

pretty sure it is 3,720 to 1

[Buhallin 4,563]

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

It's a Birthday Paradox problem, so getting a duplicate is more likely than most people think.

 

But having 28 of 36 uncommons split exactly down to two copies each?

 

The legendary problem is one of shuffling.  It's VERY common to find legendaries clumped next to each other in a box.  Far more than should be if the legendaries are mixed in randomly.  I suspect that in order to maintain the 6-per-box they add them later, and the mixing isn't effective enough to distribute the legendary packs throughout the box.

[Stone37 3,353]

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

pretty sure it is 3,720 to 1

[Robin Graves 6,054]

 

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

pretty sure it is 3,720 to 1

 

[Stone37 3,353]

This got silly quick...  

 

[ScottieATF 2,867]

There are only 17 legendary cards. The chances of getting 2 of the same in a box are probably pretty good.

It's a Birthday Paradox problem, so getting a duplicate is more likely than most people think.

But having 28 of 36 uncommons split exactly down to two copies each?

The legendary problem is one of shuffling. It's VERY common to find legendaries clumped next to each other in a box. Far more than should be if the legendaries are mixed in randomly. I suspect that in order to maintain the 6-per-box they add them later, and the mixing isn't effective enough to distribute the legendary packs throughout the box.

But is that an issue?

Box mapping has been a thing in CCGs in the past, but does what you're describing apply? That the Legendary packs will sometimes be clumped together at some spot within the box, is that something someone can use to gain an advantage on their pulls? Is it a reliable enough phenomenon to be predicted and utilized?

I've opened 4 boxes personally, 2 of which were split between multiple player. I've also had an additional 6 boxes opened in front if me. Only twice has there been a Legendary after Legendary after Legendary type situition. Neither of which occurred in the same part of the box. The first 3 boxes opened in front of me had a suspiciously spaced out seeding of the Legendary cards. Had I not then had a box with 3 crammed in the top I may have thought they were purposefully evenly distributing things.

So can I go up to a sealed box and say this is where the Legendary packs are? No. Can I buy in a way that would give me an advantage in pulling Legendary cards? I suppose I could buy single packs until I hit a Legendary and then buy a bunch of packs around it to hope they are clumped. But in my experience that will backfire more often then not. And even if some are clumped in the box, that might one might be the outlier pack.

Edited December 14, 2016 by ScottieATF

[jc1138 11]

 

1x Luke Skywalker

2x Nightsister

1x Jabba the Hutt

1x Padme Amidala

1x Hired Gun

2x Tusken Raider

1X Bala-Tik

2x General Veers

1x First order Stormtrooper

1x Leia Organa

2x Admiral Ackbar

2x General Grievous

1X BB-8

1x Infantry Grenades

1x DH-17 Blaster

1x Outpost

1x Black One

1x IQA-11 Blaster Rifle

2x Scout

1x AT-ST

1x Black Market

1x DL-44 heavy blaster

1x Flame Thrower

2x Jetpack

1x Thermal Detonator

1x Force training

1x Sith Holocron

1x Force Protection

1x Force Choke

 

after going through the checklist i saw that i still had a whole lot of rares and legendary's to go to fill up my roster, so i decided that a 2nd box would be worth the purchase.  and because my wife was sad that she couldn't open any from the last box, i let her open all the packs tonight and WOW, was i ever happy that she did,  some great pulls to add to the collection and there should be more than enough for both of us to create some good decks

1x Han Solo

1x Captain Phasma

1x Darth Vader

1x Commanding Presence

1x Thermal Detonator (2nd copy)

1x Luke Skywalker (2nd copy)

2x Count Dooku

1x Leia Organa (2nd copy)

1x Rebel Trooper

1x Padawan

1x Bala-Tik (2nd copy)

1x Padme Amidala (2nd copy)

1x Nightsister (3rd copy)

1x Jango Fett

1x Qui-Gon Jinn

2x Diplomatic Immunity

1x Survival Gear

1x Comlink

2x Immobilize (3rd copy)

1x Cunning

1x Promotion

2x Infiltrate

1x Holdout Blaster

1x Black Market (2nd copy)

1x On The Hunt

1x Speeder Bike Scout

1x Data Pad

1x Outpost (2nd copy)

1x DH-17 Blaster (2nd copy)

1x IQA-11 Blaster Rifle (2nd copy)

2x Force Protection (3rd copy)

this 2nd box was definitely a very nice set of pulls, which helped me complete a lot of 1 off rares into a playset along with a whole bunch of characters and upgrades that i didn't get in the previous box

 

My first box was exactly that (the second one above), legendary-wise.

Edited December 14, 2016 by jc1138

[VanderLegion 4,939]

11 packs now

 

2 Vaders and Kylos saber in there, then 2 starter rares (bb8 and tie fighter).  Veers as well for villain, 2 DL44s to go in my rey/finn deck (no hero characters yet)

[phocion 386]

Having pulled some extra packs now, I am really convinced there is something weird going on. Definite skews appearing. Next to no blue characters in 50 packs (1x Qui Gon). What I have got is 4x IQ11 rifle, 4x scout, 3x Holocron, 4x Grievous, 3x Jetpack. Also though I have got blue dice they are mainly support or abilities, i.e. Force Choke and I have doubles, at least, on those too, plus 2x Cunning. Each time I have pulled a character I have pulled a second of THAT character, not complaining, it's just weird. Elite Leia, Bala Tik, Jabba, 2x Tuskens, but only one or two other characters. I am also pulling a lot more reds and yellows than blues, noticeably so, and every time I have bought a handful of boosters they are predominantly red/yellow.

It appears the Force does not want me running a blue deck any time soon

 

(edit) wrong rifle and forgot cunning....

Edited December 15, 2016 by phocion

[faxhandle 1]

Out of 9 boosters, I have pulled:

2 Legendaries: Captain Phasma, Commanding Presence

3 characters: Captain Phasma, General Grievous (traded away for Admiral Ackbar), Padawan

No repeats from the starter Rares (yet).

So I've done pretty well, not necessarily money-wise, but deck building-wise.

Captain Phasma is a perfect complement to the Kylo starter, and the Padawan is a perfect complement to the Rey starter.

I do have Jabba the Hutt, Bala-Tik, Jango Fett, General Veers, Poe Dameron, and a second Kylo Ren (plus his lightsaber) and First Order Stormtrooper coming in the mail, theoretically. Not random of course.

Summary: 3 starters (2 Rey and 1 Kylo) and 9 boosters in and I have two very solid decks built, one Hero and one Villain.

With the non-random stuff I have coming in the mail, I should be able to put 4 good decks together.

I do wish there were more characters in the set, even non-dice characters, or support characters like BB-8.

[Stone37 3,353]

Just bought the last 9 boosters a LGS near me will have until the end of the month. Not a single Legendary 

 

I did get a pair of Tuskan Raiders though (and previously I didn't have this character).

[Crabbok 9,869]

Just bought the last 9 boosters a LGS near me will have until the end of the month. Not a single Legendary 

 

I did get a pair of Tuskan Raiders though (and previously I didn't have this character).

So YOU are the one who cleaned out Campus Cards and Games!  

=P

[Robin Graves 6,054]

I seem to have a nack for getting doubles of legendary hero vehicles. 2 falcons,and 2 black one.

 

I did trade a few non char dice and a few cards for a padawan.

[phocion 386]

Bought a new box tonight.  Well my better half did, which was a nice surprise.  I am, however, rationed to 4 boosters per day, until Christmas.  I am thinking of it as an ultimately cooler advent calendar.

First 4 boosters I pulled tonight: 2x Cunning (so now I have 4x of those too), Launch Bay and Promotion.

So, now I have 4x Cunning, 4x IQ11 Blaster rifle, 4x Scout as well as all the other spikes.  Would someone please tell me who is packing these booster boxes?  Anyone else think this is a bit weird?