Hello again everyone and welcome to the second edition of The Drop Reset Report. This week we take a look at the first week of the new Mann vs. Machine maps and a new promo item.
Botkiller Is Credit To Valve!
It has been a week now since the two new Mann vs. Machine tours have been released and the numbers that are coming forward are not surprising. Looking at how many of the new Botkiller Weapons are in the Mannconomy gives us a glimpse of the income the new tours have generated for Valve. In the first week here 2,213 Rust or Blood Botkillers and 3,024 Carbonado or Diamond Botkillers were awarded. Based on the fact that it takes six Tour of Duty Tickets to complete Operation Oil Spill and receive a Rust or Blood Botkiller, we can determine that 13,278 tickets were purchased at 99 cents each for a total cost of $13,145.22. Only three tickets is needed to complete Operation Gear Grinder and receive a Carbonado or Diamond Botkiller so 9,072 tickets were purchased for $8981.28. Valve’s two new tours have generated $22,126.50 in revenue on just Tour of Duty Tickets in seven days. These new tours did not even include new maps and that total doesn’t take into consideration Squad Surplus Vouchers.
Farming Squad Surplus Vouchers Buys The Farm
For the players who just wanted to play, it was aggravating. A loophole was there for those who wanted to exploit it, and until the update on Wednesday, there was no downside for them. I’m talking about farming Squad Surplus Vouchers. The exploit went like this; a farmer would have to acquire at least two Tour of Duty Tickets, which can be easily traded for. Then they pick their favorite mission and beat it once. Having a second ticket and not completing the tour allows them to play that mission as many times as they want, win or lose. If they happen to join a group and no one they get matched with is generous enough to have a Squad Surplus in play, they disconnect and get back in line. If there is one or more Squad Surplus Vouchers in play, they play to beat the mission. Upon victory, they collect Squad Surplus loot. Repeat taking advantage of the kindness of strangers until their heart’s content backpack’s full.
Wednesday’s update put a penalty system in play. If a player abandons a mission before an attempt at the first wave is complete, they are penalized with lowered priority in the queues. Valve very finely defined what is considered ‘abandoning’ a game in the MvM FAQ. Repeated disconnection will build up longer and longer wait times to give it another try. While this should cut down the practice of farming, loopholes still exist. I will not be detailing them here as to not bring them to the attention of the farmers. Valve will see them and hopefully tweak the system to not allow them further.
What’s in the Portal 2 Soundtrack Box?
What's in this one?
In last week’s Small Change, I mentioned eight Mysterious Promo bundles that were added to the game files. In Wednesday’s update, one of these mysteries was revealed to be What’s in the Portal 2 Soundtrack Box. Game and Music lovers who purchase the soundtrack Portal 2: Songs to Test By will reportedly receive a code to redeem for the new What’s In Box.
The previous What’s In Boxes that were given out with toy pre-orders at San Diego Comic Con 2012 are very rare, with less than 130 of them given out and two thirds of them already being opened. The What’s on the Portal 2 Soundtrack box won’t even hold a candle to those numbers. The soundtrack pre-order on Amazon is already #66 on the top selling albums, #5 in best selling soundtracks and the listing on Amazon doesn’t even have an image yet.
Small Change
- An issue with the Crafty Hair’s styles for the yellow and brown hair has been fixed
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown Promos—Area 451, Crafty Hair, Vigilant Pin—are now tradable, giftable and craftable
Question Of The Week
Have you tried the expert Mann vs. Machine Mann Up missions in Operation Gear Grinder yet? How did you do? What did you think? Get any good loot? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
This is Digi signing off. Keep on grabbing those items and I’ll see you next week right here on The Drop Reset Report.
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